Sleek Makeup Haul ~ If you thought online shopping was easy, think again!

*UPDATE: mybeautyexpress is now crazybeautyland.blogspot.com

I hope that through this post I can spread a little hope to any of you who are waiting since a while for your package from overseas to be delivered. When I placed an order with Sleek Makeup last year(in October) I came quite close to losing my money because the package didn’t reach me. Luckily, thanks to the cooperation of the company, though quite belated, I managed to receive the items I ordered. There are alot of dates and emails involved, and I think the best way to relate my experience, if you genuinely want to know how much effort it takes from both ends, is a timeline. If you just want to see what I purchased then scroll downwards.  Also, my home is in Mumbai, so I ordered the package to be sent there 

First I’d like to give you  a little introduction about Sleek Makeup, if you don’t already know them:
With over 20 years in the beauty industry, Sleek MakeUP has built a loyal following.  As one of the fastest growing brands on the high street, we create innovative, superior performance makeup, with strong pigmentation and high quality at the heart of everything they do.


Sleek MakeUP understands skin tone, catering from fair to dark and everyone in between. We know the importance of looking and feeling good in your own skin, so we deliver prestige products at an affordable price.


Forging an iconic following among makeup professionals and beauty enthusiasts worldwide, with products that aim to make the latest beauty trends truly accessible, there’s something to suit each unique style with Sleek MakeUP.


All beauty blogs I read RAVE about Sleek Makeup products; apparently they are cheap, but high quality products, so basically any makeup addicts dream! 

My experience:
Before we begin, I need to warn you that if your one of those lucky ones who has never lost a parcel, you may find this section boring! It contains lots of dates and snapshots of many emails exchanged between with Sleek Makeup customer services. So continue to read at your own risk ! Also, in the emails, time seems to be wrong at many places, probably because of the time difference between India and U.K

14th Oct ’13: I placed my order on this date. Since it was my first time shopping from Sleek Makeup, I decided to order just 2 products.
My Bill:

(Sleek Makeup has increased the prices of their products at the start of 2014)
I choose the untracked shipping method, which takes 15-20 days and costed me an addional $3.64.

3rd Nov ’13:  I had not yet received my order and I had to leave for college (which is in another city) for the entire November month, so I contacted Sleek Makeup through their “Contact Us” page on their website. This is what I wrote-


5th Nov ’13: I received a reply from Sleek Makeup on my registered email id-


1st Dec ’13: After that, I got busy with exams(which were till 2nd December) and just prayed that the parcel would reach my house. Then on 1st December when I checked my order on their website it showed the status of “completed” when it was by no ways complete, I had still not received it! So I sent the following mail to Sleek customer services:


11th Dec ’13: I received a reply from them, by this time I was back at my home in Mumbai. I even paid a visit to the post office to check if any international parcel had come. Given that it was pre-Christmas time, along with Black Friday/Cyber Monday, the delay in reply was expected:


So I mailed them my address on the same day itself.

23rd Dec ’13: I received this mail from Sleek Makeup customer services.


To which I replied:


31st Dec ’13: Yes, on New Year’s eve, someone at the customer services made an effort to reach out to me. They sent this mail:

<image001.jpg> is a an image file which contained my address details in image form. In reply, I sent my updated cell phone number.


03rd Jan ’14: The customer services sent a mail informing me that they had sent a tracked replacement for my order. This was something I hadn’t expected at all. I thought they would wait for my order to reach back to them, but they kindly issued a replacement without charging me anything for it.


10th Jan’14: The package arrived to my home! Unfortunately I wasn’t at home then, I was in college(in another city), it took another month before I could get a couple of days off college and come home and see it with my own eyes.

Also, I did not have to pay any Custom Duty on the package!


*UPDATE: mybeautyexpress is now crazybeautyland.blogspot.com

The package!

weight, custom duty charge($0)
the bubble wrapped goodies!
Invoice (my address and other personal details have been cropped out, see the $0 charge??)

*UPDATE: mybeautyexpress is now crazybeautyland.blogspot.com


Overall Experience: 3/5
I received my order 70 days late, but, there was a good chance of me not receiving it at all! At least Sleek Makeup went through the trouble of making sure I got what I paid for. They could have blamed the Indian postal service, or me - because I changed my contact number in the middle- but they decided to take the responsibility to ensure I received my order. For that endeavor itself I rate them 3 out of 5. I'm not sure if I will be ordering from them, again and hence I don't recommend anyone else too either. I did send them a mail requesting them to help me place orders in future and ensure delivery but I didn't get any reply! The best option would be to choose the delivery with tracking, if at all you wish to place your order. Also, I'm happy I wasn't charged anything for customs, I have no idea how that happened!

Other online shopping experiences:
*UPDATE: mybeautyexpress is now crazybeautyland.blogspot.com