Here it is, the not-so-long awaited review of www.prettylilface.com!

As I mentioned in my unboxing, I love this site. I’m really excited to write this review.

I actually heard about this site from The Beauty Breakdown (Morgan is lovely—more on her later). I wanted to purchase from a US-based site… I hate paying for shipping, and some beauty and skin care products are heavy! Heavy = expensive shipping = DO NOT WANT.

Pretty lil Face being based in Canada didn’t bother me – I live in North Dakota and grew up in Maine. I’m close to Canada, and aware of the exchange rate. For people who don’t interact with Canada on the reg, the rate is currently USD$1.00 = CAD$0.77. This can change daily, but it usually hovers around that much.

The shipping is free for orders over CAD$50.00. This is equivalent to roughly USD$38.00. Not bad, a lot better than most US retailers.

Their prices are… wow. Yes, I bought a lot of things on clearance, but there was a LOT on clearance. Clearance shopping is my jam. It’s where I reside. Fire sale announcements are the song of my people. Here’s a quick price comparison of a few products I bought from Pretty lil Face:

Etude House Baking Powder Pore Cleansing Foam – 3 in 1 Type

Pretty lil Face – C$7.99 (USD$6.15)

com – USD$7.67

W2beauty – USD$12.34

TesterKorea – KRW$5,525 + 208g shipping (the cheapest shipping is KRW$32,320 for 1700g, which is about KRW$3,955. All together, equivalent to roughly USD$8.51)

TonyMoly Red Appletox Honey Cream

Pretty lil Face – C$12.99 (USD$10.01)

com – USD$10.99

Jolse – USD$11.98

eBay – USD$9.99

Skinfood Premium Lettuce and Cucumber Watery Essence

Pretty lil Face – C$12.80 (USD$9.86)

com – USD$17.96

W2beauty – USD$20.10

TesterKorea – KRW$10,200 + 130g shipping (using the above formula for the cheapest shipping, roughly USD$11.37)

HolikaHolika Jewel Lights Waterproof Eyeliner

Pretty lil Face – C$6.40 (USD$4.93)

com – USD$5.97-6.98 (varies based on color)

Jolse – USD$5.80

TesterKorea – KRW$4,165 + 10g shipping (using the above formula for cheapest shipping, roughly USD$3.91)

They also have AMAZING customer service. They send personalized notes with the invoice, attach their adorable business card (it’s cute without being TOO cutesy), and they respond to customer messages right away. Here’s my message with them:

“Hi! I just received my order today, and it’s fantastic, thank you so much! You have such reasonable prices, and the shipping was faster than I expected.

I wish you guys had a bigger selection! It would be great to see you carry some products from The Face Shop, Too Cool for School, or even the Tomato Cool Jelly Lip Tints from Skinfood. (I’m also really surprised that you guys don’t carry any Mizon products, or the Black Sugar Wash Off from Skinfood, or the Clean it Zero from banila co.)

Anyway, thanks again! I’ll certainly be reordering!”

Their response:

“Hey!

Thanks for the awesome review and for your insightful message. We are proud to offer reasonable prices for Korean beauty and skincare products – because, we too, are customers ourselves!

Yes, we are definitely going to be carrying a broader selection. Our motto is that if it’s on the shop available to purchase then we probably have tried and tested the products out ourselves! We like to be a part of the experience and want to share our experiences of products with our customers.

We are currently looking into carrying more brands and are anxiously awaiting some great new arrivals and you have been bang on – it’s like you’re psychic too

Expect to find some new products from Innisfree, Skinfood, Too Cool For School, Mizon, Banila Co and Holika Holika

psstt… you may find more shades for the jewel eyeliner from Holika Holika and the black sugar mask from Skinfood

Again, thanks for the great feedback – We love hearing from you guys!

All the best,

Minh

Pretty lil Face Co.”

So great. Also, the orders come with samples, but I think I covered that in my unboxing.

I don’t have a formal review structure yet, still winging it, but here we go!

Site design: Clean, easy to navigate. Prices are in CAD, but the conversion isn’t hard. Other international sites do usually have an option to view USD or put the conversion rates on the site. 8/10.

Selection: There were a couple of instances of listings remaining up, but the products were out of stock. A bit disappointing that it wasn’t displayed before I clicked on the listing. Some products did not have the full range of color choices available. It’s still very good for a beginner, though, and I found plenty to buy. Their selection does appear to contain a lot of ‘drugstore’ brands, and certain staples (such as the Nature Republic Aloe Vera Gel, the MISSHA Time Revolution First Treatment Essence, Skinfood Black Sugar Wash Off Mask and Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream) were not present. If you’re looking for higher end products (DHC, su:m37, Sulwhasoo), this site is probably not for you.**I would like to note that they are currently in South Korea, and will likely be updating their stock soon.** 6/10.

Ease of purchase: The products have great images, it’s organized, and easy to pick from different color choices. The prices are clearly displayed. Adding to cart and checking out is quick and functional. My card went through without a hitch. 9/10.

Customer Service: Fantastic. They respond very quickly, and really pay attention. They have a great focus on keeping their customers happy. 10/10.

Shipping: The estimate they gave for my orders was 6 to 10 business days. My first order took 10 calendar days (about 6 or 7 business days), and my second order took 3 business days. Very fast, and it was free. The only strange thing I found was that my first order shipped from Canada, and my second order shipped from Washington state. Odd, but not really a big deal. 8/10.

Packaging: Their packaging is very economical. They seem to prefer bubble wrap and bubble envelopes, and they’re tasteful, not plain. The first order arrived in perfect condition. The second order had a few things smushed. Nothing was actually damaged, and it did not bother me, but I could see things easily becoming damaged or customers being off-put by larger orders packaged in a large bubble mailer. In the case of my second order, I do wish they had used a box, but I really appreciate that they don’t use fillers like shredded paper and do not include tons of advertising material. Sending just the business card and a personal note is very professional. 7/10.

Prices: They have amazing deals! Granted, most of the things I purchased was on clearance, but half the site was on clearance and I will not apologize for liking a good bargain. Comparatively, they beat out Amazon.com on a few things, and after approximated shipping based on weight, beat out koreadepart.com and w2beauty.com. 9/10, if you don’t like to purchase overseas. 7/10 if you don’t care about shipping waits/international purchasing.

For me, Pretty lil Face gets an 8/10. For you, it might be lower depending on your preferences for prices, shipping, and selection.

I’ll definitely be purchasing from them again as soon as they update their selection.

I am also active on /r/AsianBeauty as aleebsi, so you’ll probably see me there!