7 easy hacks to save money on luxury beauty items
If you have read my earlier post all about beauty downshifts, you will know that I have taken inspiration from grocery downshifting and applied it to my beauty products. However, a little luxury now and again never did anyone any harm and let’s face it, I think everyone has their own “swear-by” items that are worth paying extra for. So, if you can save money on luxury beauty items, even better!
Here’s 7 ways I save money on luxury beauty and get my favourite brands for less.
Gift sets – especially if reduced after Christmas
It has always baffled me how gift sets containing several products can often wind up being cheaper than one or 2 of the individual same-size products, and that can often be before any post-Christmas reductions.
My absolute personal favourite of these is from Elemis through the QVC shopping channel. The 6 piece skin and body care set was £49.95 and included a 50g cleansing balm, 30g marine cream moisturiser, toner, handwash, handcream and shower gel.
The moisturiser alone retails at £28.00 for the 30ml size, so it really did prove good value for money. QVC have run this offer every November for several years now, with the contents of each year’s kit differing, but keeping me well stocked in Marine Cream Moisturiser and Cleansing Balm for a fraction of the cost!
Elsewhere I have always had success with Boots – the brands I tend to look out for in the sales are Umberto Giannini, St Tropez and Soap and Glory, as well as perfume gift sets. You can check out my Boxing day posts to see what I blagged last year. The No 7 advent calendar is also great value (and always very popular) – I was lucky enough to receive it as a gift from my Mum last December, and the mini size products are great for nights away.
This year one of the advent gifts was a voucher to redeem in store for a bronzer to match your skin tone. I was very impressed to find this was actually a full size product worth £12.50 which I now use every day!
Obviously with gift sets all contents vary, and sometimes there can be some that fall short of the mark in terms of value, so it is always worth doing your homework and checking the product sizes and price per ml when sold separately.
Save up and cash in loyalty points
I do love my Boots Advantage card and make a special effort of saving up all my points each year to use in the post Christmas sales. When combining this method with the one above, you can pick up products for even less – or practically free!
I also make sure that I maximise my points by checking the Boots app – there are often offers on there that you simple ‘load’ onto your card by clicking on the app, and the best thing is, they are stackable too. So for example, if there was an offer to receive 200 points when spending over £20, 50 points when buying any hair dye and 100 points for buying a No 7 product, you could receive all of these points on the purchase of, for example, a £7.50 hair dye and a £13 No7 mascara.
I never go out of my way to buy things I don’t need simply for the points, but I do make sure that provided there isn’t a much better offer available elsewhere, I buy my more expensive items (such as Lancome foundation or gifts for others) at Boots.
Beauty boxes
There seems to be a subscription box for everything these days, from gourmet cooking to dog treats, and beauty boxes have been doing the rounds for a while now. I have never subscribed to one as I don’t like the idea of being suckered in by a free offer and then missing the cancellation date – been there, done that!
However, Latest in Beauty boxes are fab because alongside a subscription service they offer individual purchases too. Prices range from between £20-£40 for a box full of travel sized treats usually valuing well over £100-£150.
I have bought them for myself in the past a couple of times and was impressed with the contents. Even though not all the products suited me it was still good value for money and a few items did make it into my essentials collections. I have also bought them as gifts for friends as I think they make the perfect present!
Discount websites / online offers / outlet shops
There are an absolute multitude of beauty websites out there, some of which claiming to be “discount” suppliers might not actually work out any cheaper than elesewhere, so I always do a price check first. However, there are plenty of sites that do offer fabulous discounts. One of my favourites is Skinny Tan who always do fantastic offers on their tanning products. Last year I posted on Instagram about how I got £120 of products for £35!
If possible, makes sense to combine this with codes and offers that can bring the costs down even further. Whenever I am purchasing anything online, I always check sites such as Voucher Codes and hotdeals for any discounts on products or delivery as well as cashback sites such as Topcashback and Quidco for money back on your purchase.
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Free Delivery Trick To Save on Luxury Beauty
Catalogue shops like Very and Asos often have sales or offers on across the entire range, and it can be forgotten that they stock beauty products too. High end products can end up with large discounts so these sites can be good places to stock up.
Additionally if I have had an offer such as “spend over £50.00 and get free next day delivery”, but the dress I want is £38.00, adding in a beauty item to qualify for the offer means you get a product for a discounted price – if you were going to have to pay for the delivery, you can deduct this from the cost of the product! Of course, it is only a true saving if its a product you would have bought elsewhere anyway, but definately one to keep in mind!
Compare and Save
They say comparison is the thief of joy, and it certainly will be if you pay out for that expensive must-have foundation or new shade of lipstick, only to find it a lot cheaper elsewhere. Luckily, the online nature of everything makes comparison shopping a lot easier.
Never make a purchase without trying at least three different stockists. Sites are always running special deals, promotions, new user discounts and brand offers, so it’s worth checking multiple sources to find the best price. There are even sites like FeelUnique that let you pick one favourite brand to always receive 10% off on – for life! So if there’s a brand you know you love and always want to try the latest new product from, that’s well worth it.
This applies to all areas of your online shopping – it really is shopping made easy, whether you’re sourcing contact lenses, in the market for clip-in hair extensions or wanting a pricey new concealer. Never purchase from the first website you land on – you might just miss an amazing deal.
If you can, ASK for specific presents or vouchers!
Ok, this one seems a bit of a cop out and stating the obvious a little, but when you are short of money and your birthday or Christmas rolls around, it can feel frustrating if you receive an unwanted gift you know cost a certain amount of money but there was something else you may have preferred.
Of course, this principle could be applied to any gift, but if you’ve had your eye on a particular perfume or mascara, asking for it as a gift is one way to save money on luxury beauty, as well as the bonus of receiving a gift you truly wanted in the first place!
It might sound ungrateful, but when buying gifts most people simply want to know that they are buying something you will like. Obviously gauge this one accordingly – if offence is likely to be taken for asking for something specific, or for vouchers, then steer clear. I am lucky that this does not apply in my family!
Some people may say that spending vouchers in the sale isn’t really in the spirit of Christmas – but if you are in need of saving some money, I feel it’s a worthwhile use of something that could otherwise be an unwanted, expensive piece of clutter in your house.
What do you think of these tips to save money on luxury beauty? Are there any you are going to try, or any you would add? Let me know in the comments below!
About the Author
Melissa is a working parent who left behind a senior management salary for a better work/life balance. Following her own money saving and money making strategies she was able to clear debt and live a life she loves. Blogging, selling digital products on Etsy and selling preloved items on eBay are her favourite side hustles. Read her story here.
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Loved this!
Thats great article!Its very useful information for us.Thank you