Still working on what to get this holiday season for the special people in your life? This week, rather than our usual reviews, I'd like to share my experiences with some of the more popular online stores. Shopping online is a great way to get your shopping done when it's convenient for you, and without all the crazy crowds. Happy Shopping!

Sephora.com
Sephora.com is one of my favorite stores, both online and off. I only wish we had a store here in Portland! I've visited several in New York City, and one in San Francisco, and they are a makeup diva's delight. The online store does a great job of capturing the experience of the stores, so it makes it just as easy to shop and browse. The site has tons of photos of the products, fairly true-to-life color swatches, ingredient lists for most of the products, and easy navigation so you can browse by brand, by type of product, or go right to the gift section. I have to admit, there is just something about Sephora.com that makes me want to buy stuff. I think it's the clean black and white design with all the photos of the products; they make me feel like I am right there in the store, but without having to push past all the other shoppers.

On November 19th I placed an order for Naturopathica Aqua Latte, Fresh Formula f21c Milk Hand Wash, Hair Sticks by Mei Fa in Rose, Flower Pony Holder by France Luxe, and Aromapharmacy Body Moisturizer AM (reviews to come!). I had browsed around for quite a while, trying to find things that appealed to me but were different from what I would normally choose (like face cream or foundation). I set a budget of $100, so when I reached it, I had to stop myself :)

I found shopping on Sephora.com to be easy. When you find something you like, just click "place in basket" and the item is added to your shopping cart. When you are ready to check out, you can click on "shopping basket" at the top of the page to see your total. Go to "proceed to checkout" to sign in if you are a registered customer, or you can create a new customer account if you have never shopped on Sephora.com before. At the next step, you enter your shipping address, plus your choice of "Elegant Gift Box" or "Black Felt Bag" to have the order wrapped in at no extra charge. Click "continue" to enter payment information, including any coupons or gift certificates you might have. The final step is confirming and submitting your order. If at this step you need to change anything, you can simply click on any of the previous steps to go back (like if you forgot to enter your coupon code, or you decide you want an extra bottle of lotion). If everything looks good, click on "place order now" and that's it! You get a confirmation email that your order was received, and soon after, another email letting you know that your order has shipped.

For me, the process was pretty speedy. I placed my order just before 9pm on Monday, November 19th. I got my order confirmation right away, and the next day, November 20th, I got another email stating that my order had shipped. My package arrived in the mail (I had selected USPS Priority Mail for shipping) just a few days later, on Friday, November 23rd. My order came in a large box filled with shredded paper, with the black felt bag tucked inside. There were also samples of some fragrances, a Peter Thomas Roth eye cream, and a coupon for $5 off my next order.

For an incredible selection of brands, an easy-to-navigate browsing and shopping environment, and fast turnaround time from order to delivery, I enthusiastically recommend Sephora.com!

Gloss.com
After a very long break, Gloss.com is finally up and running again. What used to be just another beauty portal is now a partnership between Chanel, Clarins, and Estee Lauder Companies. If you are a diehard "mainstream" department store brand fan, Gloss.com is for you. These are all brands that you've heard of and have probably used - Bobbi Brown, MAC, Stila, Prescriptives, Clinique and more.

I decided to try Gloss.com to pick up a few things that I probably wouldn't buy in the high-pressure department store environment. On November 19th I ordered Bobbi Brown Extra SPF 25 Moisturizing Balm and Chanel Holiday Aqualumieres water palette. I needed a new heavy-duty daytime cream, and I thought the Chanel color palette would be fun to play with.

All of the brands on Gloss.com have their own look and feel - colors, navigation, and style. The one constant is the choice to "add to favorites" (a list you can keep of the things you want but aren't ready to buy), a way to select purchasing more than one of the item, and the "add to cart" button. When you add something to your cart, you are brought to a page showing what you added, how many, and the price. You also see right away how much the standard shipping charge is ($4.95). At the bottom of the page you can choose gift wrapping for $3.75. If you want to add more things, you can click "return to shopping", or if you are done you can click on "check out". The check out page asks for billing and shipping information, then you continue to a page for verifying and placing your order. If it looks right, you can click on "order now"; if you need to change something, you can use the links at the top of the page to go back to the shopping cart or your billing and shipping information.

I quickly got a confirmation email that my order was received, then another email on the 21st saying that my order had been shipped. I was hopeful that I would have my goodies within a few days, but it ended up taking a week to get here. I suppose with the hightened security surrounding any kind of deliveries, I shouldn't be surprised, but I was still disappointed considering how quickly my Sephora.com order arrived. I was also slightly letdown by the presentation of my order - a plain brown box with my two items shrink-wrapped to a piece of cardboard. No pretty paper, no samples, no coupons. It may not have been a gift, but I still want the ooh and aah factor when I open the box.

If you are a regular Clinique, Bobbi Brown, Chanel, Estee Lauder or Prescriptives user and find you don't have the time (or the inclination) to shop at the counters, Gloss.com is a convenient way to stock up on your favorite products.