Japanese brands online
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enjoys freebies · Fri Jun 02, 2006 6:41 am Quote

I noticed a few people asking about where to buy Japanese brands besides Ebay recently.

I just remembered that there are several brands available at SASA (www.sasa.com) They are HKG based so the pricing is pretty good and they do free shipping if your order is over $75. Of course they have loads of other national brands, but they do sell:

Kose
Shiseido
Biore
DHC
"Japanese Brands" (misc stuff)
SKII
Shu Uemura

They also have quite a few Korean brands too

They sell the Shiseido Anessa and also the blue-botttled line in the sunscreens!

enjoys freebies · Fri Jun 02, 2006 6:57 am Quote

Thanks for the info tiger_tim. I had looked at this site a long time ago and was wondering if they were reputable or not. It always helps to have someone give a recommendation. After my last EDS order I said, "I shouldn't have to buy anything for a while now". I will see if I can resist buying something from Sasa! I think if they had the Sofina sunscreen that I have been wanting I would have ordered before I even replied to your post. Laughing

enjoys freebies · Fri Jun 02, 2006 7:31 am Quote

Thanks tiger_tim.

enjoys freebies · Fri Jun 02, 2006 9:50 am Quote

When I had a trip in Hong Kong last year, I tried to purchase something from SASA for their prices are so low in comparison with the department stores but my friend who lives in Hong Kong put me off.

She said she has bought one skincare item months ago from SASA and found out that it was not exactly the same as the one she had and the texture was somewhat different.

enjoys freebies · Fri Jun 02, 2006 11:11 am Quote

strawberrynet.com also sells a number of Asian brands they carry Sofina but I didn't see any sunscreen Crying or Very sad

. Perhaps you could write to them.

enjoys freebies · Fri Jun 02, 2006 2:45 pm Quote

What exactly is strawberry.net? I have looked at their website and they carry so much stuff. They say their products are genuine but for the brands that I checked they are not listed as an authorized dealer. Does anyone know what country they are based in? I don't feel totally comfortable buying from strawberry.net, can anyone reassure me that they are safe to deal with? I don't just mean safe in the sense that they might take my money and give me nothing in return but safe also as in are their products real and not expired?

enjoys freebies · Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:37 pm Quote

Hi Theresa,

I they are out of HK.

I bought my Valmont Renewing Pack from them, and everything turned out fine. I got it for much cheaper, but I forgot about duty Rolling Eyes

. Even with duty, it was still cheaper than the prices I have seen.

I had no problems dealing with them.

enjoys freebies · Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:44 pm Quote

my purchases were for Suisse Programme - but that line was actually developed by them with some company in Switzerland

enjoys freebies · Fri Jun 02, 2006 9:52 pm Quote

I recall some forum members have said that the skincare products they ordered from strawberrynet.com were not fresh at all.

It all depends on your luck when you do online ordering. If you order those products which are not best sellers, you may find that they have been sitting in the store for quite a while. Some of them may not have expiry date on the box for you to check.

enjoys freebies · Fri Jun 02, 2006 11:12 pm Quote

As far as I know they procure their products from other countries where the prices are low.....something called parallel import....as far as freshness of the products...i have heard both negitive and positive things. But I certainly think they are genuine products. SASA is a very huge chain here and not one tiny little shop tucked away in a dark alley so i doubt they can get away selling fake products.....Just my two cents!

enjoys freebies · Sat Jun 03, 2006 1:25 am Quote

To mithai,

yes SASA has got several branches over there in Hong Kong and it has been expanded so rapidly. Most of their customers are tourist coming from mainland China and Asia.

enjoys freebies · Sat Jun 03, 2006 11:09 pm Quote

Theresa-

A beautician friend of mine said that members of their profession were warned against strawberry.net due to fake products or something? I have never even looked at the site tho. If other people have had success maybe ok?

Hope this helps a little

enjoys freebies · Sun Jun 04, 2006 6:45 pm Quote

Theresa - I order from Strawberry quite regularly, never had a problem with their skincare products. But I do think if it is a obscure/unpopular product for them you may experience (like one EDS member with the Shu Uemura Principe lip serum) some bad products. But their perfumes and mainstream brands are all really great. I think there are many alternatives from U.S sites, like fragrancenet and such.

SN have pretty good customer service, they are willing to refund you any duties that were incurred. The biggest bummer is that they hardly carry hard-to-find products or the range is very incomplete, so you end up buying from Sephora or something anyway.

The main reason for their *cheap* (sometimes only barely cheaper) prices is because they are based in HK, and with parallel imports etc they can avoid many taxes and duties.

enjoys freebies · Mon Jun 05, 2006 6:53 am Quote

Thanks everyone for your replies about strawberry.net and sasa. I think that I might be willing to give them a try but only for products that I cannot find elsewhere.

Does anyone have any experience with the following:

www.neobeauty.com
www.beautykat.com
www.sunpowerusa.com

These are all companies in the US that carry Asian brands.

enjoys freebies · Mon Jun 05, 2006 8:09 pm Quote

Just want to share my experience with Sasa.

While I was in HK last year, I got the SKII treatment masks from sasa coz they were really cheap but was really disappointed because the masks are kind of different from the one I bought from the department store (Sogo). First, it's a paper mask and it didn't fit to my face like the normal ones do. Second, the textures are different, both the mask and the lotion (essence). Third, it's so watery ...

Well, that was my bad experience with Sasa and I never bought any other brand name stuff from them since then. However, I also bought some shampoo+conditioner, beauty tools, mascara, and sunscreen from them and they are totally fine. So I guess it depends.

enjoys freebies · Mon Jun 05, 2006 11:32 pm Quote

I've purchased from neobeauty and had no problems.

enjoys freebies · Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:30 pm Quote

I have ordered from both strawberry.net and neobeauty. From strawberry.net i ordered the versace translucent powder which seemed fresh and new, but it did take awhile since shipping was from hong kong. neobeauty is in the los angeles area so shipping was quick and they give free samples too!

enjoys freebies · Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:46 am Quote

I sometimes order from Sasa as well, also very fast... Smile

enjoys freebies · Wed Jun 28, 2006 6:10 am Quote

Sasa is good, I have no problem and I buy there when I am in HK because they are cheaper. But just a fact, and actually this is well known to people who are from HK, that their products are not obtained from authorized distributors, that is why they are so cheap. They don't go through the normal route of customs therefore their stock is cheaper without paying the duties and tax - thus the cheaper pricing. However I have never had a problem and they are definitely not "fake" products. Basically the only difference is that the WAY in which they receive their products, their products are still the same as those you will find at department stores, so I hope I didn't scare you all away. My mother, when she lived in HK a long time ago, used to work for a big distributor/dept store type company and used to be familiar with how other companies get their products and why they can offer better pricing, so you don't have to worry about the authenticity of Sasa's products.

Not all branches of Sasa in HK carry the same amount of stock either, there are specific brands or specific products that they do not offer or that you would have to go to the bigger stores to get them. I've been to the website and it lacks a lot of brands or products that you can actually buy at the stores, but it is an alternative.

enjoys freebies · Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:01 am Quote

I've never ordered online from Sa Sa but I do on occasion buy from their stores in HK and never had a problem. They are a large listed company in HK and they have a huge turnover so the chances are they won't have out of date stock.

As for strawberry, I have bought from them online as I'm in HK and they deliver next day to HK, plus with an extra 10% discount for HK. Also, never had a problem.

I think the rumours about "fake" products from these companies are cos they source their products all over, and products/packaging varies between countries.

enjoys freebies · Fri Jul 14, 2006 10:13 am Quote

christine wrote:

Just want to share my experience with Sasa.

While I was in HK last year, I got the SKII treatment masks from sasa coz they were really cheap but was really disappointed because the masks are kind of different from the one I bought from the department store (Sogo). First, it's a paper mask and it didn't fit to my face like the normal ones do. Second, the textures are different, both the mask and the lotion (essence). Third, it's so watery ...

Well, that was my bad experience with Sasa and I never bought any other brand name stuff from them since then. However, I also bought some shampoo+conditioner, beauty tools, mascara, and sunscreen from them and they are totally fine. So I guess it depends.

SK-II does actually carry different kinds of paper mask

here is the link from Saks:
http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/main/ProductDetail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=282574492047695&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524446138635&R=737052046419&P_name=SK-II&sid=10C6E064A0DF&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395222441&bmUID=1152897146665

enjoys freebies · Mon Aug 28, 2006 8:51 am Quote

I always to go neobeauty.com... not so bad. but the available brands are limited, most are korean.

enjoys freebies · Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:11 pm Quote

i've purchased products from sasa and never had any problem
there r also bonjour, aster, angel etc..which r stores similar to sasa but smaller companies..some of they do carry brands u can't find at sasa

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