9 tips on how to save money on beauty products & gifts
Emma-Jade Stoddart
Beauty & skincare
Reading time: 8 minutes
Get the most for your budget when shopping for beauty staples with these tried & tested, money-saving tips & tricks
On a mission to spend less and save more? Same here. With the cost-of-living crisis taking hold, many of us are keen to double down on our spending. And where shopping for beauty and skincare products is concerned, value’s becoming increasingly important with more of us likely to be swayed by a good deal.
In addition to seeking out discounts and offers, there are several other money-saving techniques that can be easily incorporated into your beauty-buying plans, whether you’re shopping for yourself or a loved one. Here, we break down 9 tips on how to save money on skincare, make-up and beauty products – including affordable gift ideas for Christmas and beyond.
Top tips to save money on beauty products
Tip #1: Stockpile the essentials
Beyond Christmas, it’s worth keeping your eyes peeled on boots.com (or sign up to our email) to make sure you’re the first to take full advantage of the mega discounts, deals and offers throughout the year.
Try to resist the temptation to make impulsive beauty purchases just because they’ve been heavily discounted and instead, take this opportunity to stock up on the staples that you actually need. This tip will help you save money later on.
Try: No7 Ultimate Glow Beauty Bundle
• Contains 15 products
Packed with 15 full-size No7 skincare and make-up essentials, this beauty bundle could be your new secret weapon for mastering an all-year-round glow. From the No7 Laboratories Line Correcting Booster Serum to the brand’s The Full 360 Mascara in Black, Perfectly Bronzed Dual Bronzer and more, it’s jam-packed with beauty inspo. Plus, it gives you a saving of more than £130.
Try: Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Daily Skin Ritual Gift Set
• Contains Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser 200ml, two pure cotton cloths and a cotton cloth hook
• Suitable for all skin types, including sensitive
• Cruelty-free
If, like us, you consider this Cleanse & Polish cleanser an everyday essential, then nab this quick. Not only do you get the full-size cleanser, but two pure cotton cloths and a hook, letting you leave the cloths to dry naturally until the next day.
Try: Clinique Great Skin Everywhere 6-Piece Skincare Gift Set
• Contains six products
• Fragrance-free
Fans of Clinique can top up on their skincare essentials with this six-piece set (including cleanser, exfoliator, lotion and more) that has a brilliant saving of £40. If this set includes a product you know you won’t use, you can always gift it to a friend. Speaking of which…
Tip #2: Break up gift sets
The gift set is a Christmas go-to and when used wisely, it can be the gift that keeps on giving. Often worth a lot more than their recommended retail price, they can be easily broken down to create several thoughtful gifts.
This year’s choice at boots.com is bigger and better than ever, with beauty heavyweights such as Liz Earle, Fenty Beauty and Soap & Glory providing something for every taste and budget.
Try: Fenty Beauty Glossy Posse Volume 5.0
• Contains three Gloss Bombs
Makeover someone’s lip colour wardrobe with this limited-edition set of three full-size Gloss Bombs. The trio includes Gloss Bomb Heat in Fenty Glow Heat, Gloss Bomb Cream Color Drip Lip Cream in Cupcakin’ and Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer in Fushcia Flex – a collection of fan faves and a set-exclusive shade that’s guaranteed to bring a smile to anyone’s face.
Try: Soap & Glory Pinkly The Best Original Pink Collection 5-Piece Gift Set
• Contains five products
• Housed in a reusable white and pink tin
This gift set’s range of pampering essentials are perfect for treating friends, your children’s teachers or to use as stocking fillers. Inside its white and pink tin, you’ll find a bevy of generously sized beauties – a 500ml Clean On Me Hydrating Body Wash, 200ml The Scrub Of Your Life Exfoliating Body Scrub, 300ml The Righteous Butter Body Butter, 125ml Hand Food Hydrating Hand Cream and a Bright & Beautiful Radiance Boosting Sheet Mask.
Explore more top gift sets in our full range.
Tip #3: Shop mini beauty products
There’s so much to love about mini beauty products. Not only do these dinky, travel-sized essentials look adorable, but also allow you to try new beauty products without having to make a big monetary commitment. They’re the perfect way to inject some fun into your make-up bag and help you try out on-trend or seasonal items, without the price tag.
After a new lipstick or fragrance for the festive period? Treat yourself to a mini and save money on your clutch bag essentials. For a luxury beauty gift, introduce your friends to bestselling brands with miniature products or gift sets.
Try: Sol de Janeiro Bum Bum Jet Set
• Contains three products
• Free of SLS, SLES and mineral oil
• Suitable for vegans
• Cruelty-free
This travel-ready body care set features three bestselling minis including Brazilian Bum Bum Cream, Brazilian 4 Play Shower Cream-Gel and Brazilian Crush Cheirosa 62 Fragrance Mist. Spoil yourself or treat three friends to a new softly scented staple.
Try: NYX Professional Makeup Born To Glow Liquid Illuminator Mini
• Size: 18g
For when you want to glow-on-the-go, reach for this convenient, travel-sized mini. The multifunctional formula can be used as a foundation base or over cheekbones, décolletage, and cupid’s bow for a natural-looking radiance that works for Christmas and beyond.
Discover more mini must-haves in our full range.
Tip #4: Shop from your own beauty stash
It can be hard to resist the lure of a shiny new product that everyone’s talking about. But a good way to save money, and be less wasteful, is to use every last drop of your current products before you make a repurchase. Our advice? Once you reach the end of a product, have a look at your current beauty routine collection to see if there’s anything else you can use up before buying something new. Who knows, you might even end up finding a new favourite, making it all the more satisfying.
Tip #5: Embrace the world of samples
Sampling allows you to try products before you buy – which can really reduce the risk of wasting money on something that isn’t quite right. Be it foundation, concealer or skincare, drop by your local Boots store and speak to our friendly teams for advice on a product’s formula or finding the right shade. Then, you can test it over the course of a few days to make sure it’s ‘the one’. And if you’re running low on your everyday must-haves, a sample can be a handy way to see you through until next payday.
Tip #6: Collect Boots Advantage Card points
If you haven’t already, get a Boots Advantage Card so that you can start collecting points when you spend in-store and online. Once you build up enough points, you can make a purchase using your points value instead of cash*.
That’s not all, Advantage Card holders can also access exclusive deals and money off hundreds of products. A total no-brainer to help you save money on make-up and other beauty essentials, sign up for your card here.
Tip #7: Earn points with the Recycle at Boots scheme
Thanks to the Recycle at Boots scheme, you can help save the planet while saving money. Using Scan2Recycle technology, developed by our partners Metrisk and MyGroup, it makes it easier to recycle products that can often be difficult to recycle at home.
After registering online, simply scan your finished products and upload them onto the site. After 24 hours, bring your empties into a participating store and scan the QR code on the deposit box. Bring five empty products to one of the in-store recycle bins, and we’ll give you a total of 500 Boots Advantage Card points when you spend £10 or more (see coupon T&Cs here – offer 32). We’ll also track how many empties you bring back, so you can see the impact you’re making towards the journey to a greener planet.
Tip #8: Look out for gifts with purchases
Is there anything better than a freebie? We think not! More and more beauty brands are offering consumers free gifts when they make a purchase – something that’s extremely helpful for not only Christmas, but for birthdays and anniversaries. Be on the lookout for products you need or can stock up on, and if there’s a freebie involved, snap it up and gift it to a loved one. The best place to spot or keep up with what gifts with purchases are available is via boots.com as the site is regularly updated with the latest offers and deals.
Tip #9: See what’s trending
Affordable switch-ups that provide results to rival more expensive buys out there are taking over our social feeds atm (so much so that we even had a dedicated ‘Best Beauty Dupe’ category at this year’s Boots Beauty Awards). These viral value buys save on the pennies while serving up big results, and can be a welcome addition to yours or a loved one’s beauty bags. Here are three of our current faves.
Try: Maybelline Sky High Mascara
• Size: 9.6ml
• Allergy tested
• Ophthalmologist tested
Not only is this the mascara that broke the internet, but this beauty buy is a Boots Beauty Awards 2022 winner in the I Saw It, I Bought It – Social Media Sensations category. Great if you’re looking for lightweight length, its ‘Flex Tower’ brush grabs, elongates and defines every last lash.
Try: Real Tech Miracle Complexion Sponge
• 3-in-1
• Latex-free
• Antimicrobial properties
This pick beat off stiff competition to win this year’s Beauty Dupe Award at this year’s Boots Beauty Awards. With three distinct surfaces that give you three ways to apply liquid or cream foundation – a rounded side for stippling, a precision tip for smaller areas and a flat edge for hugging the contours around the eyes and nose – it makes seamless base control super easy.
*You must have the full amount of points available to cover your total, you cannot split paying with cash/card & Advantage Card points
