Saturday, January 17, 2009

Vendor Review: 88 Beauty Supply

Recently, I ordered some nail products from 88 Beauty Supply.  I believe that they also have a brick and mortar store in NYC.  There are a few things I want to say about 88.  First and foremost, they have really, really good prices on higher end nail products.  I ordered several China Glaze polishes.  They were mostly $2.68 each; at Sally Beauty Supply, the same product starts at 5.99.  In fact, recently Sally's was having a Buy 2, Get 1 sale on China Glaze--88 still has the better price.  88 also sels OPI products.  OPI polishes are around 4.50--I think I saw them for 8.00 at K-Mart the other day.  Clearly, 88 has really good prices.  They also have a hugh selection of colors for both OPI and China Glaze.  I don't know that I've ever seen a better selection. 

88 also sells a number of other nail products.  I didn't really explore most of these, as they weren't of interest to me.

There are a few drawbacks to the site itself.  It's not particularly easy to find what you want.  I was looking for a particular OPI shade.  I typed the name of the shade in the search box and was directed to a page with a minimum of 75 different products.  It was impossible to find what I wanted.  Also, when you check out, they do not give you a total that includes shipping, just a total for the product.  You have to send a card number and they later e-mail an invoice that lists shipping charges.  I think there's an 800 number you can call if you want a shipping price, and their FAQ page explains the whole shipping thing.  Still, it's a pain and a little annoying.  I sorta don't understand why they can't just charge for shipping on checkout--everyone else seems to.

I ordred a couple of OPI nail treatments and several China Glaze colours.  Maybe I'll post swatches or a haul video later.  The best is this China Glaze polish called "For Audrey;"  of course they can't advertise it this way, but it's Tiffany Blue.  I LOVE that.  I've been using OPI's Avoplex oil; I'll post a review after I've used it for longer, but so far, it's really, really great.

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