High End Skin Care Products and
Wonderful Customer Service
The Skin Store
I love bargain beauty products like at BuyMeBeauty.com but sometimes, I want higher end things. Good skin care can be expensive and confusing. I have shopped at many websites, looking for certain products or just to try new things. One site is The Skin Store.
What Is The Skin Store?
This website carries a huge variety of higher end skin care products, anti aging items, and products for specific skin problems and disorders. It is a veritable candy store of creams, serums, treatments, and lotions for your face and body.
This is from The Skin Store's website:
SkinStore.com was founded in 1997 by a team of physicians who recognized that by using the Internet they could bring dermatologist-created and recommended skin care products to a much larger audience. SkinStore.com was developed to give consumers and patients a convenient and reliable source for all their skin, hair, and nail care needs.
Navigation
Navigation is fairly straight up. If you know the brand you are looking for, you only need to click on the brand's link to pull up all the offerings for that brand. If you are looking for a particular product, you can input the name into the search box and see if it is being sold on the site.
The site is a very simple light blue and white with no flashy stuff to detract you. It loads up fast and is easy on the eyes. The prices aren't always easy on the eyes, but the site is.
Site Features
The site has live online assistance from Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. EST. If you want to contact them outside those hours, you can leave a message which will be answered on the next business day.
They have a 115% price guarantee policy. If you find a product for less on the net, they will refund 115% of the difference in cost. That is, if you purchased something there for $100.00 and see it for $90.00 elsewhere, they will refund you the $10 plus another 5%, making your item only $88.50. It is a bit of a hassle to compare prices and to go through the form to get the money back but, at some of the prices this stuff is selling for, it's worth it.
There is a section with helpful media articles about common skin conditions, aging, and other relevant topics called "The Education Center." Some of these articles are very enlightening and don't push or advertise certain products they sell.
Join the Skin Care Club and get 5% off every purchase. It's free and you will get periodical newsletters and promotions in email.
One of my favorite features is the "Best Sellers" area. I like to see what people are buying and this is a comprehensive list of the week's top sellers with all the info on them. While that doesn't mean I will buy anything from the list, it's a tool to gauge what others are buying and what may be worth a look.
Variety
Tons. There are so many name brands sold on this site that you could browse it for hours. Names like City Cosmetics, Elizabeth Arden, and Bare Escentuals share the site with names like Revision SkinCare, Dermanew, and Dr. Brandt. There are about 120 brand names represented on this site.
My Experience
I was looking for Revision Teamine Eye Cream which I can't live without. I did find it at this site for $55.00. Because of the price guarantee, I didn't worry too much that it was grossly overpriced. Because my order was not over $99 to qualify for free shipping, I paid the flat $4.95 shipping fee.
Once I had the product in the shopping cart, I had to fill out the usual info about myself and pick a user name and password for future visits. The next screen took me to the check out one where I had to choose a major credit card and input that info. Upon doing that, my order was processed and I got an email while I was still on the site confirming it.
I received another letter the next day telling me that my order was sent out and giving me a tracking number. I received my order in about six days.
All was fine as far as shipping and the condition of the order BUT in the time I made the order and received it, I found it elsewhere for cheaper. Not one to throw out even a couple bucks, I immediately went to the site and clicked on the Price Guarantee link. Because you only have five days to dispute a price, I just got in under the wire on day five.
I had the option of giving all the info via email or calling customer service. I chose to call. I was asked the name of the website I saw the lower price and the full url. As I waited, they checked out my info and asked for my order number which I gave them. After a bit, it was verified that the price was lower at the other site. The rep wanted to give me trouble because I called on the fifth day after placing my order but I threatened to simply cancel my order and not come back and I was refunded the difference -- which was a hefty (in my mind) $8.50 plus $.42 for a total of $8.92. Not bad! (In actuality, I only saved 42 cents off the other website's cost but that and another five bucks will buy me a gallon of gas these days. Ha!)
I still really don't like the whole price guarantee procedure thing and prefer to comparison shop before I buy rather than after and to have to deal with refunds and forms or phone calls. This site is good and has everything, but it is not the cheapest on the web. However, although I got a little attitude at first from the customer service rep, they did come through as promised with their price guarantee.
Shipping and Returns
Shipping is free for orders over $99 and $4.95 for orders under that. There are several options for expedited shipping and they do ship overseas.
You may return any product within 30 days. (StriVectin SD is 60 days). You need to contact the site for a RMA number and then can ship the unused portion of your item back for a full refund minus shipping charges. The return process seems very pain free and they don't require a reason why you are returning an item. I like this policy and feel it protects me in case I don't feel a product lives up to my expectations or if I have a reaction to it. You never know until you try a new product for a few weeks whether you truly like it. An expensive one could really hurt your wallet if you bought it and didn't like it. You're pretty well covered on this site so you don't have to worry too much about dropping dollars on a never before tried expensive skin care product.
Contact Info
They have a full page of contact information for individual needs. Here are just a couple of ways to get a hold of them:
By Phone:
To place an order by phone or to speak with customer service, call us toll-free at 888.586.SKIN (7546) or 916.475.1464. Monday through Friday, 9AM - 11PM EST
By Mail:
SkinStore
ATTN: Customer Service
11344 Coloma Road Suite 605
Gold River, CA 95670
Conclusion
If you like good skin care products and a huge variety of names and formulas to choose from, you will love the Skin Store. The selection is amazing. Prices are by no means cheap, but they do have the 115% price guarantee that you should take advantage of if need be. Shipping prices at $4.95 with tracking or free above $99 are good. This is a professional site with wonderful, high quality skin care items.
The navigation is simple and the 5% club helps defray costs as you get an extra 5% off everything you order simply by supplying your name and email address.
The site has a lot of variety and customer service is available online, by email, or by phone. I wasn't totally thrilled with the person I spoke to but I was given the price guarantee and all is well.
I still check this site out but I also comparison shop before I buy to avoid the hassle of the price guarantee. Still, this site is a veritable wonderland of skin care products all in one place and it's great fun to look at all the many brands and products and, now and then, to splurge on one or two.
Four stars!
Recommended:
Yes
