A forwarding address may be your best beauty purchase this year

Alison Vullings writes.

Whilst Mecca Maxima exists in Sydney’s peripheries, and global beauty giant Sephora is due to open shop in December this year, there are always those niggling new releases – promoted by our favourite beauty insiders from across the globe – that are impossible to get in Australia for months after they’ve hit international shelves.

Australian beauty is certainly making great progress with price levelling tactics, but we are still undeniably one hemisphere removed from the beating heart of the cosmetics industry. And to add insult to the injury of remaining perpetually behind the latest beauty trends, we still pay premiums on products that are not even “new release”.

First world problems, it’s true, but for any beauty enthusiast, access to the latest and greatest in the industry is paramount to remaining relevant.

But there's a solution:

All hail the forwarding address. This wonderful creation allows you to order online from American stores, get your product shipped to an address in the United States, and then mailed on to Australia for an additional fee. It also works great for buying from Amazon.com, in case you're wondering.

Thanks to the advent of this magical phenomenon, access to the latest and greatest in international beauty is no longer an issue. With just a few clicks of the mouse, you can unlock the beauty of the Neiman Marcus "pre-order", (which is a wonderful thing if you're dying to own a product that is predicted to sell out in minutes) and you can purchase a tonne of brands at up to 50% less than the Australian RRP.

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Yes, it may seem trivial to some, but when your excitement levels are raised to the point of hysteria over the latest collection from your favourite brand, it's nice to have access to it at the same time as the rest of the world.

If you feel that you might benefit from access to a U.S. forwarding address, here are a few reliable sites that deliver to Australia:

Ship It To 

My US  

USA Box 

For your viewing pleasure, we've compiled  a gallery of just a few products available (for the moment) exclusively overseas.

 Are your favourite beauty products cheaper or easier to access abroad? Would you consider a forwarding address?