GOODIES: First Online Sephora Purchase

helloooo everybody!
i wanted to share my experience with placing my first Sephora order online. i've always ooh-ed and ahh-ed at all the fancy products they have on the website. i love checking out new palettes or makeup sets. but then i never go through with an actual order since i live close to a number of Sephora locations and in order to get free shipping, i have to spend at least $75.

in case you haven't ordered online with them before, it came in a cardboard box with lots of paper stuffed inside.

well, one day i decided that i should get my sister something for Sister Day (the first Sunday of August). i mean, why not get her something and have her feel guilty for the rest of the year? hahaha, i am kidding ...
here is what i got:

sorry for the bad photo! there will be better ones later!

seeing that my sister lost a tokidoki lipgloss (that i also bought her) and that Sephora was no longer going to be carrying tokidoki, i thought i should grab a few items while i had the chance. my sister is just venturing into the land of makeup so i decided to get her a super cute tokidoki Airways Palette. it has 8 eyeshadows and a keychain. one of the eyeshadows is called "Los Angeles" which fits in perfectly with our upcoming vacation! the little tin suitcase as well as the sale price was more than enough to convince me.

from here on, i just had to get to $75 to get free shipping, so i indulged a little. just a little.
i decided to also get two tokidoki Nail Confetti & Nail Art Stickers in "Stellina" and "Savana" since i have succumbed completely to the nail glitter craze.

next, i placed the Buxom Travel in Style set in my cart so i could try out their lip polish and lip stick in my current favorite lip shade of the moment - peach. it didn't hurt that it was a dollar off and made it to the sale section (i have a keen eye for this!).

another Buxom product i picked up is the Buxom Armed and Gorgeous. it is consisted of 3 double-ended eye sticks. i've been eyeing this for so long but i've heard mixed reviews about them. i figured i needed to reach the $75 mark so if anything, i'd give it a go. note, this was the most expensive item in the order!

i also threw in a Sephora Wave Hair Clamp which i have never heard of but was intrigued. reviews were good so i thought $5, why not! thinking back, it was definitely an impulse purchase. the clamp turned out to be much smaller than expected. i think i would need two (or maybe even 3!) in order to get all of my hair. it would look odd with just half of my hair done.

and some happy extras!! i love promos!!!
* Benefit Cosmetics - Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in "Silver Spoon" (free with $25 purchase or something like that!)
* Sephora/Fresh - Sugar Kisses Mini Lip Duo (hooray for being a beauty insider and birthdays!)

with this purchase, i threw in 3 samples i was very excited to try:
* Urban Decay - Naked Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup
* Kat Von D - Lock-It Tattoo Foundation
* Benefit Cosmetics - 'Hello Flawless!' Oxygen Wow Liquid Foundation
most unfortunately, Sephora only sent me one of the three samples (the Benefit one). i was so excited thinking that i could test all 3 of these liquid foundations out. i have emailed them about the issue. has anyone else had this problem before?

-- update Sept 4, 2012 -- i am sorry i didn't update you on what happened with this Sephora order and the missing samples earlier. after my first email, Sephora emailed me back saying that they could not give me replacement samples because it is not something their warehouse can do. i found this answer ridiculous because it does not solve my problem at all. i sent them another email explaining how the samples were a key reason why i ordered online in the first place (i live close to a number of Sephora stores and the items were available there too). customer service replied, offering me a "one time courtesy" of $5 to be used online. this doesn't help at all since this means i have to make another online order, and $5 would not even cover the $7.95 shipping if i chose NOT to spend over $75. to add on top of this, i checked my Sephora account and cannot find this $5 credit so i have to email them AGAIN. bah!! not liking the online Sephora experience. --

the order was made on July 26, 2012. Sephora notified me that they shipped it on July 27. from this day on, I kept trying to login to my account and track my package but I kept getting an error message. this is because i did not know that there would be two different shipping notifications. the first being that it was shipped to their Canadian border facility (Borderfree) and from there, shipped to your address. i got another notification that Borderfree shipped it on August 7. by this time, i was hoping that the package will arrive since it says on the site that total delivery time is 6-12 business days. i received it on August 13. exactly 12 business days. if you count weekends, it was a very long wait! especially since Sister Day was on the 5th. oops!

so anyways, i am quite excited to try out everything i ordered. do not worry, i hope to share my experiences soon! i'll also borrow the tokidoki palette for some swatches - i'm sure she won't mind. i hope i sort out the issue with the samples too.
do you guys like to order online with Sephora?