If you're anything like me, you probably always worried about shopping online (or maybe you just had very wary parents who did not trust the internet one bit, which was also my case). For whatever reason, you never shopped online, but I'm here to show you a completely safe way to do so, by sharing my shopping experience at asos.com and giving you some tips!

First of all, when you're picking a website, you have to make sure it's trustworthy - after all, you are giving them important information that you do not want in the wrong hands. Usually, online stores that have a great reputation are a good place to shop (for example, Asos has a great reputation amongst youtubers and bloggers all around, so I knew they could be trusted). Any clothing brand that is well known and has physical stores will also be a great place, since you're ordering from the actual brand, not some online retailer. 

Wherever you end up shopping, try googling what was other people's experience with shopping online there, hopefully that will tell you if they're reliable and if their shipping is actually up to standards. Shipping will be the trickiest part of it all, since you have to make sure your order won't get lost in the way. For that, looking up other peoples' experiences will be the best way to assess if you're going to have any trouble or not. Of course, sometimes accidents happen, but if they happen to everyone, there has to be something about it online, so you know exactly what you're getting yourself into. I did all of this before I placed my order at asos.com and I noticed everyone usually had no problems with the shipping or the actual shopping, so I knew I was choosing the right place.

Once the actual order was done, it came the time to pay. Of course, I'm not going into very precise detail about how I paid, but I will tell you I first consulted my bank to find out what the safest option would be. They suggested the MBnet platform, since it allows you to create a temporary credit card, without having to share the information of your original banking account. Personally, I only owned debit cards, so making a temporary credit card was perfect since it would expire after a month and you can only make one payment with it before it gets blocked, so nobody else can use it. I do recommend talking to your bank first, just so you know what they suggest to make your shopping experience as safe as possible. I had no problem whatsoever with paying for my order through this method, so if you have heard of it and it's something your bank offers, I definitely recommend it.

I also didn't pay for any shipping, since my order was over 30€, which meant I got free shipping. Otherwise, I would have had to pay 3€, which isn't a fortune, so I wouldn't be too upset. However, I do advise you to check out what the shipping costs are since they change depending on what website you're ordering from.

Once everything is paid for, comes the waiting. I chose the standard delivery, which meant I'd had to wait up to six working days for my order to arrive. My order was first shipped from the UK to Spain, where it would then be shipped to Portugal, where I live. The first shipping took around three or four working days, while the second shipping to my house took only a day. It did arrive within the six working days, so I have no complaints there, but it did still arrive late (they said it should be here from 5 to 6pm and it was almost 8pm when it arrived). Still, it's a minor detail that doesn't stop me from wanting to shop more at Asos. They also provided me with a link so I could track my order (which was great when it came to knowing if everything was going well) and they also texted me asking which day would be more convenient for the delivery to my house to be made, so you do have some control over the delivery. This, however, is only Asos case. I know some sites do not offer tracking unless you pay more for it, which is a bummer (I'm looking at you, Topshop EU), so it's up to you if you want that little extra control.

As for the order itself, there were no problems. Everything I asked for arrived here in one piece, all the shades were correct, everything was perfect. There were no dents on the packaging, you could tell they had been careful with it, so I couldn't be happier (see this post for pictures of everything I bought). Overall, I definitely recommend shopping online at Asos, and I have to confess I'm looking forward to shop in other places online: Forever 21 and Maquillalia are two big favourites of mine, so stay tuned, I might have a new post talking about my shopping experience from those websites in the future.

Overall, I think online shopping is great and you can benefit so much from it, as long as you do it properly. Do your research, ask around, ask experts (aka the banks and other people who already shopped there) and only go forward with it if you feel confident you're spending your money well. Have a great day and I'll see you guys on Wednesday with a brand new post!