Best UK Beauty Sites and how to save money

Happy Bank Holiday Monday everyone! I've been planning this post for a while and scheduled it last week without realising today was a bank holiday so if you are planning a splurge - now is the time! The majority of my spending is done online because more often than not there will be a discount code flying around or my favourite brands are only sold online but yeah mainly the discount codes, with an expensive beauty habit I need all the money off I can get! I’ve put together a list of my favourite online shops for beauty and skincare and what I like to buy from them! A lot of the brands crossover but some sites have better offers/more frequent offers/a better loyalty card etc. so I’ve tried to make it as detailed as possible without writing a dissertation on it!

Boots

Probably my most used beauty site and where half my wages seem to disappear every month - good old Boots! As well as shopping frequently in their stores I seem to make orders regularly too as a lot of my local stores don’t stock what I want!

Best time to buy?

Anytime! Boots always have 3 for 2 or buy one get one half price offers on but I also like to wait for a coupon with a points offer like 400 points when you spend £40 (easily done)! The advantage card is my favourite loyalty card and the points add up quickly so you can treat yourself and feel a little less guilty! Oh and they do the best Christmas/Boxing Day sale but you need to get in quick!

Brands to check out?

Soap and Glory, Bondi Sands (their dry tanning oil is amazing and exclusive to Boots), No7 (Perfect Light translucent setting powder in particular), SEVENTEEN, NYX, Smashbox, Origins, Liz Earle…I’ll stop now!

Beauty Bay

Ah Beauty Bay, probably the most controversial of the shops I’ve listed as a lot of people seem to complain about their delivery service. I’ve never had a problem though and they are my favourite place to get my Makeup Geek and Zoeva fix! They don’t usually have many offers on, things go out of stock fast and bear in mind that discount codes don’t work on a lot of items because they are excluded but delivery is quick (for me anyway) and they have a great range of hard to find brands!  

Best time to buy?

Wait until you have a few things in your basket – their deluxe gifts are brilliant, I’ve gotten a High Definition Eye and Brow palette and a deluxe Kevyn Aucoin Flesh Tone lip pencil before and been really impressed with both! The best offer I’ve seen was the half price Makeup Geek sale but as I’ve mentioned, things went out of stock fast and I know people had trouble getting it to apply to their basket (they have also now upped their prices too)! See my Makeup Geek collection here! 

Brands to check out?

Makeup Geek and Zoeva as previously mentioned as well as Morphe LA Girl, Z palette and Spectrum! Gerard Cosmetics are next on my hit list and I may have placed an order on Friday with the money off spend code Beauty Bay have up for the weekend!

Escentual

I love Escentual for their skincare offers, they seem to have a new one every week and a great range of products from some of my favourite brands!

Best time to buy?

Wait for a big percentage off – they do them all the time and I think the most I’ve got off was 25% which was applied to everything on site! Their 1/3 off French pharmacy offers are also very regular and great for stocking up on your faves!

Brands to check out? Hylamide, Vichy, Eucerin, La Roche Posay, Bioderma. 

Cult Beauty

A little more luxe and edited, Cult Beauty stock - you guessed it - cult beauty and skincare products!  

Best time to buy?

Wait for the gift with purchase offer! I always splurge on things I’ve been wanting for a while when this offer comes round then feel a little less guilty because the GWP is always filled with loads of new products to try from amazing brands! I am hoping they have another one soon because I have my eye on quite a few things!

Brands to check out? Pixi, Becca, Huda Beauty, Beauty Blender, Anastasia Beverly Hills, OUAI, MOA, Stila.

Feel Unique

Another great site that stocks loads of brands and always seems to have an offer on or 10% off! They also have a new Pick ‘n’ mix service where you can try five samples of products out for £3.95 shipping then get the money back on your next order!

Best time to buy?

Wait for 10% off site wide or a save on spend offer and have a splurge!  They also do 10% off for students if you have an account with something like Unidays (but this can’t be used with other offers!)

Brands to check out? Urban Decay, Estee Lauder, Giorgio Armani.

Look Fantastic

I literally get an email from this site every day, it’s a pity most of their discount codes have a lot of excluded items but like all the websites I’ve mentioned, they have a good range of brands and other offers like free gifts on constantly! They also do a monthly beauty box which you don’t have to subscribe to for £15. I like to check any reviews at the start of the month for spoilers to see if I want it – I haven’t bought one in ages but it can include products from brands off their site so NUXE, Caudalie and Ren pop up quite a bit!

Best time to buy?

They do timed offered like the first 200 people to checkout get 20% off quite often though see above note about excluded items!

Brands to check out? Illamasqua, Deciem, Trilogy, Shiseido.

Space NK

Like Cult Beauty, Space NK to me is a little more luxe and on the expensive side of things! I have managed to get a few good things from the sale but you have to be quick as things sell out so quickly!

Best time to buy?

Wait for a £15 off £60 spend offer, the sale, or until you have enough N.centive points to get some money off!

Brands to check out? NARS, Kevyn Aucoin, Hourglass, Grown Alchemist.

Debenhams

I thought it was worth mentioning Debenhams too as they often have 10% off beauty and do a loyalty card. I never get much use out of mine but I suspect this will all change as Kat Von D is coming next month! Exciting times!

Best time to buy?

A 10% off beauty offer, they do them regularly and they last for a good few days!

Brands to check out? Too Faced, MAC, Urban Decay, Benefit, Kat Von D.

House of Fraser

Very similar to Debenhams in my opinion and I am just realising they do a loyalty card too, I don't order off these two websites as much as the ones at the start of this post so I think my points expire before I get a chance to use them! They do student discount like Feel Unique so you can get 10% off!

Best time to buy?

They do 10% off beauty offers too and a regular £10 off £50 spend when you buy one of their favourite beauty products but if you are a student, any time really!

Brands to check out? Charlotte Tilbury, Laura Geller.

Special mention also goes to ASOS who have a pretty good beauty section with brands like NARS and Illamasqua and regularly have offers on (as well as doing student discount). Marks and Spencer are great for Pixi and Emma Hardie, Cloud 10 Beauty for The Balm, The Body Shop for their 30% and 40% off codes and Superdrug for most things that Boots does as well (I just don’t have one near me so rarely shop in it!).

I’m signed up to all of these sites email newsletters and while some can be a bit overkill with how often they send them out most are great informing you of offers or new arrivals to the site! I also always google discount codes before I buy something in case I've missed an email so it’s good to check before you hit buy!

Like I said, I’ve added a brands to check out list under each online site but obviously a few of these crossover into different stores, I’ve just went with where I’ve found the best deal!

I may have also made a few orders this weekend as it was payday on Friday and there were some offers on that I couldn't resist! I post a lot of my hauls to Instagram so follow me there if that’s the type of thing you like to see!

Let me know if you bought anything this weekend! What’s your favourite online beauty site?

Danielle xx

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