Whilst I love visiting make up counters and finding an consultant as enthusiastic as me about skin care and to colour match me, it often works out a little cheaper to buy those products online. If you know me at all, you’ll know I’m always shopping around to save a few pennies! Hence my Dad’s nickname for me…the Coupon Queen. Thanks Dad. I’ve seen countless posts about counterfeit products being shipped from different websites, claiming to be cheaper, so I thought I’d do a little guide to my favourite beauty buying tips.

Feel Unique are my go-to for beauty browsing and buying. They stock so many brands, from high street to high end and offer pretty much daily discounts. If 20% off would convince you on your purchase – hold your basket for a little while. Newsletter discounts often come out over the weekends, so hold tight! And there’s always that sneaky 20% off birthday discount code!

Feel Unique also have a new loyalty programme called MyFeelUnique Platinum you can add to your account which lets your pounds turn into points (I love these). The thresholds after £50 are pretty high, but at least every little purchase helps.

You can also select a ‘brand for life’ to match to your loyalty account. I’ve selected Elemis as mine, which gives me 10% off every time, and selected 20% off days. Amazing, right? You can change your brand for life every 6 months, if you ever feel the need!

Oh, and they have free delivery over £15.

Buying direct from a retailer often opens you to a realm of not only samples, but 10%+discounts. Which is always worth checking in my opinion! For example…

Bobbi Brown
Bobbi Brown offer 15% off your entire first order – and free delivery – which is well worth having! The website has a live chat with a MUA feature, who can advise you if you’re looking for products to suit your skin concerns.

You can also upload a photo to your customer profile, and they can match you with a foundation colour. Be careful with this one though, I tried this and was matched with 3.0. before I headed in store and discovered I’m actually a 1.0!

The other amazing thing about buying direct from Bobbi Brown is the free samples! If you spend over £50, you can get yourself some luxury samples (which are in the cutest of packaging). With my first order, I got a mini face tonic and mini hydrating moisturiser. There are also sometimes general freebies to throw in, such as a serum sample – on top of the £50+ samples. Thank you Bobbi!

Pixi Beauty 
As well as 10% off your first order, Pixi has (an amazing) loyalty scheme in place, meaning you can swap the points you earn for dollar off your purchases. Perfect!

ASOS
ASOS have majorly upped their beauty game in recent years, slowly gathering an eclectic range of products to suit everyone. Including brands like The Ordinary and NYX. Take advantage of their student discount for 10% off all year round, or use your VIP points to work your way towards a voucher. Their flatlays on their product pictures are pretty damm good too.

Marks & Spencer
I am a big Marks & Spencer fan when it comes to food, but I love that the added everyday luxury flows through into their clothing and beauty departments too. I’ve learnt from my Mum that M&S means quality – especially is cashmere. M&S have an amazing beauty range, both in store and online. From branded skincare and make up, to their own Formula & Rosie range, M&S means business in the beauty industry. Free next day Click & Collect, and free home delivery over £50 – the M&S staff at the one near our home have started to recognise me coming in for my parcels…

If you have a Sparks card, watch out for the offers on selected lines or M&S Beauty – I’ve seen up to 20%! Their own brand Formula Range has kept on surprising me – I’ll be stocking up when the next offer rolls around!

Cult Beauty
I actually walk past the Cult Beauty offices in Clerkenwell everyday, but that’s not why I spend most of my time browsing! A collection of ‘cult’ products chosen very carefully means that this website is full of all sorts of treasures. A lot of them are pretty expensive – a £150 serum, anyone? – but some concepts are just plain interesting. There are plenty of smaller, less heard of brands in here – and you can often find things Caroline Hirons mentions in her posts here.

If you sign yourself up to the newsletter, you’ll not only be introduced to all these cult brands, but they’ll also send round offers. Most noteably, 15% off in your birthday month. Helloo birthday gifts!

P.S if you have a spare half an hour – Anna & Lily have just interviewed the Founder of Cult Beauty, Alexia Inge, as part of their “At Home With…” podcast which gives you a little insight behind the business and some beauty recommendations!

Beauty Bay
While I don’t appreciate Beauty Bay advertising sales of 3 for 2 on brands like Jeffree Star and then taking down all the good colours while the ‘sale’ is on. It is pretty good for finding brands like Zoeva and Jeffree who are based in another country, making the shipping and customs not-so-desirable. Beauty Bay offers free standard shipping over £15, and free Next Day Delivery over £40 – not bad hey!

It doesn’t offer many discounts, but there are usually brand specific 3 for 2 events on, or “get one free with 2 other product” sales. Just as I said, don’t expect the full range of products to be available when these discounts go live.

Do you have any websites I should know about? Or any discount tips I’ve missed? Let me know!

C x

*All thoughts on here are my own and researched through visiting beauty blogs, counters, and articles. I am not a skincare expert, but I do love new products! This post is 100% not sponsored.