How to import bulk cosmetics from the USA to Kenya? 

Beauty products like body lotions, shower gels, and anything in this category remain one of the most lucrative businesses in Kenya.

In both air shipping and ocean shipping, beauty products are among the most shipped products by Kenyans, either for personal use or for a business.

If you're looking to ship beauty products for business, this guide is for you. Here is the cheapest way to ship a beauty product from the U.S. to Kenya.

The Cheapest Way to Ship Beauty Products from the U.S. to Kenya

1. It is important to do beauty products by ocean freight only. Most beauty products tend to be liquids, and liquids are heavy, making it not so cost-effective to do by air.
   
   If you are shipping small products like skin serums, you can use air shipping to keep your customers going while you wait for ocean shipping.
   
   I would highly recommend, if you are in the cosmetics and beauty products business, switching to ocean shipping 100%, if that is possible. That is when you're going to make a lot of money.
2. Stock up for 3 to 4 months in advance. While we ship every few weeks by ocean, it is important to have enough stock that can last you a couple of months every time.
   
   Over time, you are going to come up with a monthly schedule where, every month, you have a shipment coming that is just enough to wait for the next 1 month.
   
   At the beginning, it might feel like you need a lot, and this can be overwhelming. The idea here is to have a shipment every month: affordable, no stress, yet you have enough stock that can push you past 1 month in case of shipment delays.
3. Understand who your supplier is. In the cosmetics business, it is very important to keep a tight list of your suppliers. You do not want to jump from one supplier to the other.
   
   You have to be very careful not to get a fake product. Please note: it doesn't mean that you cannot get fake products from the United States. If you're buying beauty products from stores like eBay, there is a good chance that you might end up buying something fake, thinking that you're buying authentic for cheap. Beauty products are sensitive.
   
   The moment a customer discovers that you sell fake products, they will never come back to you again.
   
   On the other side, the moment a customer discovers that you always have their favorite products that are authentic at an affordable price, they are likely not to go anywhere. You can keep such customers for years and years.
4. Ship your beauty product in small bits if possible. The reason that I advise that you ship in small bits, if that is possible, is that some beauty products have short expiry dates. It is not uncommon to order goods from a supplier, and by the time they get to Kenya, you realize you have a year or less than a year to sell those products.
5. Customers need to be able to keep those products for at least 3 to 6 months from the day they buy them from you before they expire. If the average shelf time for those products in your store is 2 to 3 months before you can clear out the full shipment, some of your products might actually not sell just because the expiry is too short.
6. When you order products in smaller bits, you are able to mitigate your risks and losses. If you have a batch of beauty product and the expiry is less than a year, you can prioritize those products or even offer a clearance sale while you wait for the next month's shipment to arrive.
7. Beauty product wholesalers in the United States: There are many wholesalers in the U.S. specializing in beauty products. You also can get wholesale and distributorship deals straight from manufacturers. You just need to meet certain minimums for them to accept giving you a wholesale deal or even exclusivity.

That is the best and the cheapest way to get beauty and cosmetics products from the U.S. to Kenya:

• Ship them by ocean.
• Ship every month.
• Open a business account so that you can get business discounts and business packaging with ad-to-ad seamless logistics.