Buy L'Occitane from France.
Deliver it to Australia.

Here is the version most forwarders won't tell you. Australia has a high duty de minimis: if the customs value of your parcel is AUD 1,000 or less, there is no customs duty and no import processing charge (alcohol and tobacco are the exceptions). Above AUD 1,000, customs duty (often around 5% MFN on apparel, footwear, leather and cosmetics; many electronics 0–5%) plus the import processing charge are collected at the border. The EU–Australia free trade agreement is not yet in force, so standard MFN rates still apply—there is no preferential discount on EU-origin goods.

The catch is GST. Australia charges 10% GST with no tax-free threshold, so even a low-value parcel is taxed. On goods valued at AUD 1,000 or less, that 10% is collected up front at checkout by the overseas seller, the platform, or the re-deliverer/forwarder (vendor-collected, DDP-style). Above AUD 1,000, GST is paid at the border together with any customs duty and the import processing charge. And to be straight with you: shipping to your EU forwarding address means EU VAT is charged at purchase and is generally not reclaimable by a private consumer—the tourist refund scheme requires you to personally export the goods with a customs stamp, which forwarding does not provide.

We estimate your full landed cost—item + shipping + estimated duty and GST—before you ship, so you can plan with a realistic estimate. Create your free EU forwarding address and run the calculator.

Be clear-eyed: the EUR price you see on fr.loccitane.com already includes EU VAT, and shipping to an EU forwarding address does NOT let a private shopper reclaim that VAT — we will never promise a refund. So where's the value? It's in the price itself: even VAT-inclusive, French RRP in EUR typically lands below Australian shelf prices, which carry an import and distribution premium. The Almond Shower Oil 250ml is about EUR 25.70 on the EU site (roughly A$42 converted) versus ~A$49 on Amazon Australia, and the gap is wider on hero anti-aging lines and on EU-exclusive formats and refill packs. Add access to the full European range, and the real win is cheaper authentic product plus selection — not a tax trick.

Here's an illustrative, dated example for a typical beauty order forwarded to Australia. Imagine a basket of an Almond Shower Oil 250ml (~EUR 25.70), two Shea Butter Hand Creams 150ml and an Immortelle Divine Cream 50ml — roughly EUR 170-180, about A$280-300 converted. Because the customs value is well under the AUD 1,000 duty de minimis, there is 0% customs duty and no import processing charge. Australia has no tax-free threshold, so 10% GST applies in principle even on low-value goods. In practice, GST on low-value goods is vendor-collected (by an overseas seller, marketplace or re-deliverer that is registered for Australian GST) — when shipping to an EU forwarder, the French store will not add Australian GST at checkout, so for a low-value parcel GST is often simply not collected. Above AUD 1,000 the picture changes entirely: GST plus any duty plus the import processing charge are assessed at the border instead.