Grace C.

The bright red Lady Danger lipstick from Mac costs about $35USD a pop, but carries the same pigmentation as almost any $3 drugstore lipstick. If you're looking for fancy packaging or a pleasant scent in your lipstick, this is the one. Otherwise, I'd recommend sticking with your good old drugstore.

Bought gold bracelets and rings from Alibaba - would not recommend! After one use they were tarnished and left green residue on wrists and fingers. Made poorly clearly.

After purchasing a plethora of jewellery off Etsy, I must say that the quality and result of what you buy is quite a large range. Often things arrive and they are exactly what they looked like on the website and pretty decent quality. But sometimes they are also 2 dollar store quality. Just ensure that you read customer reviews for the seller before you buy from there!

If you're looking for timeless pieces to last you for the rest of time, Tiffany and Co is the place to go. The high prices will buy you longevity in your jewellery and guarantee of good quality.

If you're looking for the latest trends and want to buy them at an affordable price, Lovisa is the way to go.
Their jewellery definitely doesn't last long and often corrodes/rusts, but lets you stay on trends for a good price.

Sketchers quite literally last a lifetime - I bought my first pair back when I was ten or so, and they are still perfectly intact today (I'm 18 now). Very comfortable shoes that are easy to slip on and off.

Although Dr Marten boots are notoriously known for being on the pricier side, you are paying for high-quality boots that will last you a long time. I owned a pair of Dr Marten boots myself that lasted for more than half of my time at high school. That's around 300-400 days of 6-hour wear and tear. Quite a lot if you think about it.

I have always loved Converse due to the versatility of their shoes. They can be worn in all seasons, to all sorts of events. I would just be wary if you have wide feet though - the shoes do crease and end up tearing around the toe region after a lot of wear. Just something to be aware of.

When I ordered my 35A palette from Morphe, it took much longer than the shipping date they originally proposed to me. More than a week late. Buy these palettes in-store if you want them in a rush, their shipping is NOT reliable. The product itself however is undoubtedly great quality and almost worth the wait!

I own many products from Benefit including almost all of their brow products, all of their concealers and a mini eyeshadow palette and Roller Lash Mascara. I always come back to Benefit's brow products the most out of anything. Their pencils, volumising gel and clear brow setters are my favourites. They make brows look NATURALLY beautiful. Their concealers are also pretty good but I would recommend the brightening concealer the most - it was the only one that didn't make me break out after use. I wouldn't recommend eyeshadow from Benefit as you could get a much better one from another cosmetics brand such as Too Faced or Morphe, but their mascaras are pretty decent. For someone who has non-existent Asian eyelashes, the Roller Lash Mascara did quite a lot for me.

I have personally purchased and used the Too Faced Peach Eyeshadow palette and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The palette itself smells divine and works beautifully as well. All of the shades are easy to blend and apply. They can create a wide variety of looks, from smoky evening looks to simple daytime looks, so the palette is therefore worth every penny in my books. Would highly recommend this palette.

North Beach offers a diverse range of clothing items despite having a name that suggests it only sells beach clothing. On the website, you can find just about anything, from swimsuits to skateboards, rollerskates to semi-formal dresses, they have just about anything you'll need for any event. The stand-out thing about North Beach is its quality. It is a store that stocks items from a range of hand-picked brands, all of which are crafted either locally in New Zealand or through other ethical companies. These pieces will last and hence are often worth the slightly higher price than you'd see on your generic sweatshop brand website.

Aliexpress is known for its insanely low prices but do not be fooled by the photos on the website! Although everything is an abnormally low price, 90% of the time, the things you order will not look exactly like they do in the photos or will be of poor quality. I live in New Zealand and the shipping often takes extremely long too (ie. 3-6 weeks) so don't order anything off this site if you are looking for it to arrive immediately. The website is good if you're looking for cheap dupes of certain designer items or expensive products.

Although Motel has super trendy, cool clothing, the website often doesn't capture the true quality of the clothing. Just be wary when purchasing things from them; I purchased an angel crop top, faux leather jacket and zebra-patterned jeans from them, all of which has worse quality than depicted on the website. The leather jacket was thin and the jeans contained a huge amount of elastane in them. Still look good in photos but just be wary, don't buy any 'long-term wear' items from them.

For its price, the Arctis 1 Wireless Headset is great value. Great beginner headphones that are within a reasonable price range. I had difficulty setting up the wireless functionality and it can only connect to devices when the Bluetooth Switch is plugged in, but other than this, a great pair of headphones for its price!

I swear anyone and everyone looks hot in I Am Gia. Yes, the clothing looks risque and like it'll only look good on tiny models, but I can guarantee that literally anyone who puts these pieces on will look good in them. The quality of I Am Gia clothing is superior to other online stores and their pieces are so unique - you'll never show up to a party wearing the same thing as someone else. I have only ever gotten compliments on my I Am Gia fits - love them!

If you're looking for the latest clothing this season and want to buy it at a reasonably affordable price, Princess Polly is the place to look. Princess Polly supplies clothing from a range of partner brands such as Motel, Levi's, Doc Martens and Lioness. This means you can get a range of different items from them; shoes, skirts, jeans, accessories, swimwear and even makeup!
The only concern I would look out for is quality - sometimes the clothing is slightly worse quality than it appears on the website but I've never had any major issues.

I have been an avid shopper at Glassons for years now. This store is suitable for all ages and body shapes, with clothing that can be worn by young teenagers all the way up to grandmothers. The size ranges are considerably inclusive (sizes 6 to 16 available) and are usually very true to size. For the quality and trendy designs, you are definitely getting your money's worth on this website, with the typical clothing item costing around $30-50 ($NZ).