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Best online beauty stores for makeup, skincare and beauty tools

 (Shutterstock)
(Shutterstock)

Shopping online for beauty products was once a serious challenge. You needed to go in-store to test, trial and match the item to your skin. But no more. You can have access to millions of beauty products at your fingertips and have them delivered directly to your home.

Thanks to online beauty retailers, you can invest in boundary-breaking beauty and discover niche, lesser-known labels where detailed descriptions and an endless databases of reviews help take the guessing game out of buying beauty online. For foundation and concealers, you just need to colour match your previously worn product with online tools like Match My Makeup to get the equivalent hue from a different brand. There are also virtual consultations where experts will guide you with helpful advice onto the best products to suit your concerns.

Delve into the treasure troves of the beauty world to find the latest and greatest ingredients, hall of famers or the next big thing in beauty where you can often find discounts and deals - and even have it delivered within 24 hours.

Whatever you are looking for - be it super-charged skincare, innovative tools and gadgets or just to top up your beauty heroes - we have gathered our favourite online beauty destinations where you are guaranteed to find them.

Cult Beauty

Cult Beauty offers one of the best curations of beauty products out there with a treasure trove of the latest innovations as well as those that stand the test of time. Each item is presented alongside detailed descriptions written by experts in the field with everything you need to know before you purchase. While they still have an extensive offering, Cult Beauty will only offer products that have been recommended or tested by those in the know to help you find what works for you instead of just taking up space in your cabinet. They aim to decode the often confusing jargon and claims made by beauty brands through a helpful glossary. The online retailer also offer a filtering system where you can detail your specific beauty concern and find the products to suit.

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FeelUnique

With over 30,000 products to scroll through from over 500 brands, FeelUnique is one of the largest online beauty retailers in Europe. As well as playing host to the products themselves and some of the biggest names in the biz, there are honest reviews and insider top tips to allow you to get the full feel of an item before you purchase it. The global destination has a mix of cult products with new kids on the block and can be delivered to 120 countries worldwide with fast delivery and a rewards programme that offers discounts and gift vouchers. When you spend over a certain amount, you can add samples to your order so you can effectively try before you buy or instead make use of the Pick & Mix service where you can choose up to five in a calendar month for free. There is an extensive selection of men’s grooming and sexual wellness essentials.

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Escentual

Premium beauty retailer Escentual is the place to go for luxury brands at purse-friendly prices and squeal-inducing gift sets. It stocks hair, beauty and fragrance from the likes of Acqua di Parma, Dior, Burberry and Michael Kors all in one easily navigable location with impressive offers that you won’t find anywhere else. The online store has a Pretty Pennies loyalty scheme where you earn points on spenditure for money off future orders.

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lookfantastic

You will always be able to find impressive deals over at lookfantastic. The online beauty retailing giants offer the latest and greatest from the world of hair, fragrance, skincare, makeup and men’s grooming as well as a monthly beauty box that delivers a selection of beauty goodies direct to your door. Shop the likes of GHD, Urban Decay, Anastasia Beverly Hills and Pixi as well as around 660 other premium brands shipping to 200 countries worldwide. From cult products, to the latest trending items - whether that’s vegan, clean or organic - you will be able to find it all at this ultimate beauty destination.

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Beauty Pie

Beauty Pie is the brand disrupting the traditional beauty retailing model. Marcia Kilgore - the woman behind such brands as Soap & Glory, Soaper Duper, Bliss and FitFlop - launched this label to bring products direct to consumers at a fraction of the cost. How you may ask? By cutting out the middleman - aka without shops or retailer markups or even marketing. The brand produces luxury makeup, skincare, fragrance, candes and haircare from the world’s best labs where you sign up as a member to reap the rewards of the heavily reduced price tags. Hero products include the Super Healthy Skin Daily Moisture Lotion, Super Retinol (+ Vitamin C) Night Renewal Moisturizer and the Plantastic Micropeeling Super Drops.

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LoveLula

LoveLula specialise in natural and organic beauty products that do not contain parabens, SLS, animal by-products or nasties. The retailer plays host to 200 brands sourced globally to treat its customers to the very best of clean skincare, body, bath, makeup, hair and even babycare. Each product has been carefully tested with premium and ethically sourced ingredients. Shop the likes of Antipodes, By Sarah London, Dr. Hauschka and Kure Bazaar.

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Beauty Bay

From Korean skincare favourites and next-gen labels, to well-known and beloved brands, Beauty Bay plays host to a varied selection of products from beauty faves around the world. With over 10,000 items to choose between, you can invest in playful products from the likes of Jeffree Star, Stila, Mario Badescu and more. Also check out the retailer’s blog with tips, tricks and tutorials on how to nail the latest trends and techniques.

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Cosmetify

Revolutionising the way you shop for your beauty heroes, Cosmetify is a discovery platform that gives you the opportunity to compare the costs of hundreds of thousands of products from brands like Elemis, Urban Decay, MAC, and Clinique to name but a few. The site weighs up the prices from different retailers to find you the cheapest taking into consideration delivery and deals. The huge selection ensures that you will find what you are looking for where you can set up an alert if the product is out of stock.

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Space NK

The luxury beauty retailer Space NK opened its first brick-and-mortar location in Covent Garden in 1993 and now boasts 75 stores across the UK. But do not underestimate its impressive online offering. The selection includes over 100 all-star labels where you can discover globally acclaimed brands and pioneers all housed in one convenient location. Shop favourites like Drunk Elephant, Eve Lom, Fresh, Sunday Riley and Amanda Harrington and collect N.Dulge points as you go that equates to gift vouchers. There is even a virtual consultation service so you can get skin, hair and makeup advice from experts without even having to leave your home.

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Birchbox

You may know Birchbox from the brand’s hugely popular beauty subscription service where they offer a selection of skin, hair, and makeup treats to your door handpicked to suit your preference, but they also have a more traditional online store with access to fan-favourite full sized items from the likes of Sand & Sky, Pixi, Benefit and REN. The products are displayed alongside instructions on how to use it and a huge database of reviews.

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Boots

Popping into Boots to pick up refills of your favourite products may already be part of your routine but make it even easier for yourself and have the items delivered straight to your door. The online selection at Boots will allow you to shop skincare, hair and makeup essentials as well as toiletries, prescriptions and baby necessities all under one roof. There are always offers to make the most of and irresistible bundle deals.

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Net-A-Porter

Since its inception in 2000, Net-A-Porter has redefined the luxury online shopping market securing its place as the ultimate premium fashion destination. After you have added all your designer wares to basket, check out the offering of lesser-known and luxury beauty labels like 111Skin, Dr. Barbara Sturm, La Mer and Augustinus Bader. It stocks skin, hair, and makeup as well as tools, fragrances and wellness.

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AllBeauty

Specialists in fragrance and beauty, AllBeauty is here to help you discover global labels at low prices. The retailer has two brick-and-mortar stores in Southampton and Guernsey as well as an impressive online directory with brands like YSL, Lancome, and Guerlain. There are almost 14,000 lines available with new products added constantly, from the well-known to the niche and at all price points.

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Superdrug

One of the largest pharmacy chains alongside Boots, Superdrug is a one-stop shop for all your beauty, health and even optical needs. You’ll find drugstore favourite brands like Rimmel, Revolution and Barry M as well as the retailer’s own brand labels. Tick off all your skincare, makeup and hair needs, while also investing in fragrances and electricals.

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Selfridges

Selfridges may have been established in 1909 but the beauty selection is as fresh as it gets. The department store plays host both online and in its world-renowned brick-and-mortar locations to some of the biggest and best names in the business from Jo Malone to Dyson where you’ll find the latest innovations as well as your cult products.

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Harrods

Harrods has just had a major revamp and expansion of its beauty floors doubling its previous size to become one of the ultimate and premium offerings of luxury products in the world. It has concessions from some of the most covetable brands under its roof including Clé de Peau, Decorté, Chanel and Dior as well as 14 spa treatment rooms. If you can’t get down to the Knightbridge-based location, the online selection mimics that of the department store and even has exclusive items you won’t find anywhere else.

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Harvey Nichols

Just a stone’s throw away from Harrods, Harvey Nichols holds its own beauty-wise as the first retailer to stock Rihanna’s epic Fenty Beauty line. Alongside the inclusive range, it also houses Chantecaille, Charlotte Tilbury, Beauty Pie and many, many others both in-store and online across skincare, supplements, tools and makeup.

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Verdict

When it comes to finding a treasure trove of beauty heroes, Cult Beauty should definitely be one of your port of calls. The website is clear and easy to use, helping you find the product that suits you best through specific filters. The offering is carefully curated and each item is presented alongside detailed, clear descriptions.

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