By Sheila, 21, Canada, Global Contributor

Sheila is a Chinese-Canadian blogger in her early twenties with a passion for beauty. You can pretty much find her on Twitter at all waking hours of the day. She makes irrational judgments when it comes to purchasing decisions and would choose a $70 foundation over a $30 blouse any day.  For those who wonder, Sheila has dehydrated normal skin that occasionally breaks out. Her foundation shades are MAC NC25, Chanel B20 Beige Tendre and Guerlain #2. Check out her blog, Maddy Loves!

Shopping Guide for Canadian Beauty Products

If you find yourself shopping for cosmetics in Canada, here is a guide to help you find the brands and products you are looking for. The two main places you should visit are Shoppers Drug Mart (Pharmaprix in Quebec) and Loblaws (or Real Canadian Superstore). These stores offer the widest selection of Canadian beauty and cosmetic products. You will find brands such as Marcelle (one of my favorites) and Annabelle at any of these stores. You can also find Quo, which makes high quality makeup brushes, at all Shoppers Drug Mart locations, as well as Cover FX, Lise Watier and Vasanti. Loblaws/Superstore offers Joe Fresh Beauty exclusively, as well as at Joe Fresh Boutiques (including the one to open on 5th Avenue in New York).

If you happen to have some additional time and you’re in Western Canada, also check out London Drugs, which has extensive cosmetics departments and offer brands such as Lise Watier and Vasanti.

Some websites that ship Canadian beauty products include:

• Marcelle is one of my favorite beauty brands, and they’ve just recently opened their online store, which ships to Canada and the United States. They offer free shipping for orders over $50, or if your order is under $50, then shipping costs $14.95 to the US and starting from $7.95 within Canada.
• eBeauty offers a very wide selection of Canadian beauty products that you cannot find elsewhere. They only ship within Canada and they normally offer free shipping with orders over $75, but they often have promotions where free shipping is offered with orders of $25 or more.
• Vasanti Cosmetics’ online shop ships worldwide! They have their entire lineup of products available online with very reasonable shipping rates starting at $7 for Canada and the US and $13 for international. Their lip products are highly recommended, as well as their Liquid Cover-Up foundation and concealer in one.

Generally, prices in Canada for non-Canadian brands are anywhere between 10-40% higher than the United States for the same product. If you are going to be visiting the United States, I would recommend waiting to purchase the products there. We also tend to get products later than the United States, so not everything that is out in the US is already out in Canada!