The Best Places to Buy Beauty Products

What can I say, I love to shop! Being a student and an all round makeup hoarder, I like to search out the best deals on beauty products to make the spending that little less painful. I have quite a few go-to stores/websites for buying new beauty products that I thought I would share with you with an emphasis on some of the great deals that you can pick up on too! Obviously all of my picks are UK based although many of these options do ship internationally.

Feel Unique

Probably one of the best online beauty retailers around.

+ Feel Unique have an incredible range of products and brands and pretty much stock all of the big mainstream globally recognised beauty brands.

+ In the UK, Free shipping when you spend over £15!

+ Ships internationally to many worldwide locations.

+ Regular discounts and sales – I picked up so many great deals through Feel Unique!

+ Occurring Student Discount via Unidays which is usually 10% off however can rise up to 20% occasionally.

Boots

Of course I couldn’t go without mentioning the home of the drugstore in the UK.

+ Houses all of the main drugstore brands in the UK and many exclusive brands such as Soap & Glory, No7 etc.

+ Both online/physical stores.

+ Free Click and Collect in stores.

+ Also has great range of luxury brands too.

+ Advantage card loyalty scheme (more details here) – the chance to be rewarded.

+ Regular great offers – such as 3 for 2! (Classic!)

Space NK

The home of unique luxury beauty brands.

+ Has many exclusive brands that are hard to source elsewhere

+ Online and physical stores

+ Free Click and Collect in stores

+ Great N.dulge reward scheme (mentioned here again)

+ Occasional offers/sales great for when getting spendy!

+ Free samples online and in store

+ Really helpful in-store staff

+ International delivery

ASOS

The popular fashion retailer often overlooked for beauty!

+ Small but good range of beauty brands including Nars, Benefit, Rimmel etc.

+ Free delivery over £20 in the UK.

+ Worldwide shipping.

+ Student discount

+ Regular discounts e.g. 20% off

Cult Beauty

A online retailer I have only used once but I really recommend!

+ Many exclusive hard to find brands, many similar brands to Space NK.

+ Free worldwide shipping over £50.

+ Really quick efficient shipping.

+ Free samples.

+ Occasional discounts/sales.

Fragrance Direct 

An underrated discount beauty retailer for both fragrance and makeup.

+ Sells great range of brands from drugstore to high end.

+ Sells many discontinued/hard to find products.

+ Great lower discounted prices on many popular brands.

+ Cheap delivery/also free over certain amount.

+ International shipping.

House of Fraser

The department store overflowing with all the best luxury beauty brands.

+ Stocks many popular mid-range to high-end brands from Mac, Urban Decay, Chanel, Tom Ford etc.

+ In store/Online.

+ Free delivery over £50.

 + Free Click and Collect in stores.

+ 10% student discount

+ Beauty Reward card – offering £5 reward for every 500 points

+ International shipping.

+ Occasional offers/sales.

Look Fantastic

An online retailer always bursting with discounts. 

+ Great range of brands from Benefit to Illamasqua.

+ Free worldwide shipping to many locations!

+ Regular discount codes e.g. 20% off.

+ 10% Student discount.

Escentual 

One of my favourites for a bargain, totally underrated!

+ Good range of luxury brands.

+ Cheap UK delivery or free over £30.

+ Worldwide shipping.

+ Regular discounts e.g 20/25% off.

+ Regular offers e.g. 1/3rd off.

+ Low Special prices across many top brands!

+ Pretty pennies reward scheme – earn on each purchase and money off on the next.

+ Free gift wrapping for present buying.

Where do you like to shop for beauty products?

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A Space NK Haul

This month has had me haulin’ to the extreme. I already showed you some bits I got from Cult Beauty in a separate haul post you can check here but I also made a little trip to Space NK to pick up some more beauty pieces (as if I need any more…). With their fab explore offer on and having a little reward on my points card I didn’t need to feel too guilty and I also finally picked up some pieces I have been after for so long! I have actually tried out all these products (once anyway) as I just couldn’t resist so I will be able to provide my first impressions on each!

When the explore offer started there was one product I knew I had to pick up. That was the Becca Ombre Rouge Eye Palette, a gorgeous 5 shade eyeshadow palette full of warm rouge-y matte tones. I have seen numerous people using this palette and it looked so beautiful so I just had to snap it up. It is a little pricey for only containing 5 shadows but it has such a great selection of shades that I can see myself using daily. All of the shades are super wearable too and it is easy to take this palette from day to night. From first application, all of these shades are greatly pigmented with great blend-ability and the shadows lasted really well on my lids too! So I am very much looking forward to getting more wear out of this one!

A product that I’ve so desperately wanted for a long time, it was even mentioned on my 2016 wishlist, the Beauty Blender is now finally checked off my list. I’ve been enjoying using the Real Techniques sponge for the last while however it is not the best sponge around and I had heard so many people say that the beauty blender was well superior so I obviously had to try it. When I first received it actually I was a little surprised by the size, whilst I know it ‘grows’ once it’s wet, it looked much smaller than I expected in the packaging. I did pick this up in a set including a mini of the solid cleanser so I was thinking maybe it is a smaller one however when I actually tried it, it did seem to grow to a decent size! Sizing troubles aside, on first use I could definitely see how much better this is compared to the RT one. I won’t say too much as I may do a comparison post but I really like this and I definitely think it is worth the money!

Lastly, Kevin Aucoin is a brand I’ve been longing to try and particularly the Sculpting powder from the line has been at the top of my list! I definitely had a bit of luck with timing as the brand have just launched two new shades of the powder (which always had one being Medium) so now there is a light shade perfect for my pale skin. I obviously picked up that shade and it is perfect for my skin tone. The pan size is rather small but the product is super pigmented and you only need so little product. It is pricey but it is the perfect little contour powder. I am definitely looking forward to getting more use out of this one!

Are you a fan of any of these products?

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Monthly Roundup: November

Just one more day until we will reach the final month of the year… how scary! November has been another busy month in terms of work and shopping, usual really! Things at uni are beginning to quiet down which is a big relief for me so I can finally feel a bit more organised again and get excited for the festive season! The pressure has really been on with blogging over the last couple of months as well as I’ve just had hardly any time so I am looking forward to a bit of free time again and I just need some early mornings for photo taking cause blog photography has been a nightmare recently with the gloomy days! Anyway enough of the oh so negative chat, I hope everyone survived Black Friday! It is safe to say November was another spendy month for me! I picked up a couple of things on offer and some holiday sets which I will be talking about on the blog a bit later on but my star buy of the month obviously had to be the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit which I spoke about here. I am well and truly obsessed! I mean just look at, it’s so beautiful! Speaking of shopping, I also went back to the mother-ship for the first time in ages, Space NK! Oh yeeesss! It was just so nice browsing the aisles of such dreamy skincare and makeup products and I made a couple of purchases that will be making there way round here soon!

Also over the month I grew a strong bond with Urban Outfitters. I cannot even remember how many times I have found my self popping in store for a look or a little online browse but I just became so obsessed this month and I totally just want everything in that store especially their amazing home stuff which is super gorgeous! I also got a little crazy this month with magazines. I have a whole stack of magazines waiting to be read that I picked up over the month (mostly due to hella good freebies!). Its been a while since I picked up a good magazine so obviously I made up for that this month but I do have a big reading list ahead!

As you can tell my month was very spendy! As Christmas time has rolled in, I am trying to cut back quite a bit to save money for presents so budgeting is definitely something I am trying to get used to! I was thinking of doing a spending ban (me I know, what a laugh!) but I will maybe delay that for just now! I have been putting money aside to save up which makes me feel so much more happier, I don’t know I just feel better knowing I have much restricted funds to spend! My Christmas shopping is getting there and not many presents left to buy but I really do love buying presents, anyone else? Although I can’t wait until I’ve done all my shopping and I can just sit back wrapping presents with the fire on and a candle burning. Ahh December feels!

Catch up on November posts: Urban Decay Smoky Palette, When you need a little TLC, Autumnal Eyes, End of Year Goals and My favourite drugstore foundation.

What did you get up to during the month of November?

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Loyalty Cards

There is no denying we all love a bargain, a freebie and just a bit of love from our favourite retailers after spending countless amounts of times browsing their shelves, menus etc and of course parting with our “well earned” cash on their products. As the retail industry is bigger than ever and consumers now have more rights, its the retailers responsibility to deliver the best service and give a little back to their customers. There is no better way to do this than a good loyalty card. I have gathered quite a selection of loyalty cards, some good and some not so great…

Costa Coffee Club – Now this is one of my most used loyalty cards… despite hating coffee. For every £1 spent you get 5 points with each point worth a penny. Costa also occasionally do double points events so the card is always worth while. When I said I hate coffee, I do love Costa’s hot chocolate and most of all their Red Berry Fruit Cooler *heart-eyed emoji* and I have used my loyalty card quite a few times to pay for my drinks so if you enjoy a drink or snack from Costa once in a while its worth picking up a card!

Boots Advantage Card – Now this is the one. If you are from the UK I would be a tad surprised if you didn’t own this card already. For every £1 spent you get 4 points with each point worth a penny. Boots always have a variety of offers on with 100/200 point events or even 500 point offers on purchases which can be put towards treating yourself to a new product such as a Chanel lipstick. However only downside is that you need to have enough points to cover the cost of an item if you were to use your points to pay as they do not accept paying part of the cost with points. Nevertheless its a very worthy card to have and who wouldn’t want a Chanel lipstick payed for with points. After all points make prizes!

Nandos Card – One for the chicken lovers *slowly raises hand*. For every £7 spent in Nandos you receive a chilli… a virtual chilli that is! If you get 3 chillies you can get a 1/4 chicken or appeteaser. 6 chilies equal to a 1/2 chicken or a wrap, burger or pitta and if you collect 10 chillies you can get a WHOLE chicken or single combo meal. Come on who doesn’t love chicken!

Superdrug Beauty Card – Now is where things get a little less exciting. Well I will start with the benefits, a card with a mirror how handy! Anyway for every 100 points earned is £1 to spend in store. The good thing is unlike Boots you can pay partly by cash and partly with points. Now there is nothing bad about this card in fact it is great like the boots card if you shop in Superdrug. However for me its pretty useless because I now only shop in boots because they sell more brands and I can get everything in the one place aswell as having points in the one store is more beneficial than between two.

Paperchase Treat Me – Now this is quite an unusual card. There is no points, just perks. You scan this with each purchase and you get closer to a new perk. I haven’t used it too often but I did manage to get a 15% off in my first usage so not too bad. I believe this card is only a trial so it may not be available in all stores. Other perks are said to include money off on birthdays and free coffee.

Space NK N.dulge card – Now in terms of premium beauty this is your top dog. This is my most recent loyalty card and it could be becoming one of my faves. Its very simple 1 point for every £1 spent and when you reach 100 points (£100) you get a £5 incentive. With Nars and Hourglass filling the counters it can be fairly easy to blow £100 in the space of a year so this card is pretty useful for making you feel that bit better about buying that pricey Hourglass blush palette.

What is your favourite loyalty card?

 

Nars Lip Pencil Coffret

Now if there is one brand that I have became a little obsessed with this year then its Nars. When I heard about their limited edition Holiday sets I pretty much squealed with excitement and considering how amazing they are you can understand why. I jumped on the Nars Lip Pencil bandwagon not too long ago when I purchased the also holiday edition Lip pencil in the shade Mandore which I love and I did a little review here. So obviously when I seen this Nars “coffret” of lip pencils on sale as part of their Christmas range it was of course top of my list for gifts… for myself (obviously). This set is exclusive to Space NK and retails for £32 which is incredible considering one lip pencil retails for £18, these pencils are a tad smaller than the usual ones but its still unbelievable value.

The set contains five very wearable shades with nudes to pinks and red. There are three Satin lip pencils: Descanso, Torres Del Paine and Yu; and there are two Velvet matte lip pencils: Iberico and Cruella. You can probably tell from the swatches above the finish of these formulas, the satin lip pencils of course have a very smooth finish and glide on easily and while the other two matte pencils are still smooth they have a more thick matte finish. Descanso is a pretty nude pink shade perfect for everyday wear, Torres Del Paine has a slightly brighter toned light pink shade, then Yu is a striking bold fuschia pink. Iberico is probably the scary one but no need to worry its a nice and different orangey shaded red and then there is Cruella which is just a nice matte red.

This set is perfect as a Christmas gift for a beauty lover or if you are like me then a great gift for yourself! 🙂

So are you a fan of the Nars Lip Pencils?