Thanks to a bird's eye view of the saturated market, the ELLE Editors have perfected the art of shopping for beauty products. Here's how to navigate a less-than-straightforward beauty aisle.
Medina Azaldin: The Beauty Concierge
The luxury beauty hall is a wonderland of bright lights, alluring scents and artfully curated counters of potions, lotions and beyond. Exciting, but overwhelming, especially when shopping for skincare, which has a bit more riding on it than picking out a new lipstick.
That’s where beauty concierges come in. These personal shopping services – available in most luxury department stores such as Selfridges, Harrods and Liberty – offer expert hand-holding to guide you through. I approached my 90-minute ‘Become A Skincare Guru’ session at Selfridges with a healthy level of cynicism: would I be sold products I didn’t need? But beauty concierge Cat Mannarino’s approach is anything but intimidating.
Biossance Squalane & Copper Peptide Rapid Plumping
Kylie Skin Hydrating Face Mask
Kiehl's Hydro-Plumping Serum Concentrate
It began with an in-depth chat about my current regime, concerns, lifestyle, budget, and how informed I was about ingredients. A scan of my complexion using the Derma Reader Pro-Consultation machine revealed that I would benefit from an extra hit of moisture.
Mannarino curated a selection of products from results-driven brands such as Biossance and Kiehl’s and also revealed that Kylie Skin is an underrated line that won’t break the bank. After talking through each product, we tested the textures and delved into how they’d fit my routine. Since she isn’t tied to a brand, Mannarino’s honest take allows clients to make informed purchases. The £65 fee is redeemable against products, too.
The whole experience felt like shopping with a well-informed, skincare-obsessed best friend – one that will lead you towards a clearer, more radiant complexion.
Katy Young: The Derms
If you were reading this in the U.S, chances are you would have your own dermatologist on speed dial. But the idea of enlisting a private skin doctor hasn’t quite taken off in the UK.
But now that skincare has gone from soap and water to rocket-science levels of complexity (not a joke: Estée Lauder uses software based on Nasa’s lunar research to evaluate its ingredients), expert advice – preferably from someone with a medical PhD and then some further specialist training – is precisely what we need.
Which is why GetHarley piqued my interest. It is an online platform connecting users to the most reputable dermatologists for video calls from the comfort of our sofa, concluding with
a bespoke skincare edit which is then posted to your front door days later (many of the products will be prescription only, and more potent than what you find in the shops). Skin+Me is a good alternative. Upload a photo of your (make-up free) face and let the in-house derms create a super serum for your complexion.
Dr Sam's Flawless Nightly Pro Serum
Skin + Me Daily Defence Oil-free SPF 50 Sunscreen
Murad Rapid Dark Spot Correcting Serum
If you don’t want a consultation but want to benefit from the know-how, test one of the very good dermatologist-owned brands before you try their services. ELLE favourite Dr Sam Bunting has launched a great range of products that simply do it all.
And do what the beauty editors do: whenever you are in a clinic (for facials, Botox or anything else) pepper your practitioner with questions about their skincare recommendations. Chances are your clinician will be only too happy to share their expertise.
Jennifer George: International Shopping
You'd think a beauty editor in Paris for work would spend any downtime sipping champagne or shopping at Chanel. But no; sadly, the truth is far less glamorous. Instead, we hunt down a pharmacy – whatever’s nearest, nothing fancy – to top up on our favourite skincare finds.
Functional French brands – Avène, La Roche-Posay, Vichy – offer some of the best affordable skincare out there, especially for sensitive skin. These days, you can get a great selection in the UK, but not le tout shebang, including Biafine, a rich, barrier-repairing cream great for extra-dry skin or eczema.
The same goes for the US, where Sephora stocked a plethora of brands that weren’t available in the UK: Thank You Farmer and Ilia, for example. We now have a store here, but the Americans still tend to get extended ranges that don’t make it across the pond.
Supergoop! Every. Single. Face. SPR Shield Water Lotion SPF50
La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Balm B5 Multi-Purpose Repairing Balm
Santa Maria Novella Acqua di Rose
Supergoop!, a brilliant suncare brand, for instance, is always worth looking for State-side, as it has a much wider selection including SPF lip balms and a sun-safe body oil. And if you find yourself in Florence, a must-visit is the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, aka the oldest pharmacy in the world. This treasure trove of an apothecary, first opened to treat the neighbouring monks in 1221, is a world away from a lunchtime dash to Boots: chandeliers dripping from ornate ceilings and sky-high wooden cabinets housing their famous scents and skincare.
In addition to bottles of their best-selling rose water (first made in 1381), I somehow found myself buying a £20 bag of pot pourri (something I last saw on my nan’s coffee table in 1998), after seeing it displayed in full glory in the window. Whether it will look as chic in my south-London front room is yet to be seen...
Katie Withington: Online Shopping 2.0
One of the joys of online shopping is that the internet is stocked with pretty much every product ever made, anywhere. From niche dermatologist brands to independent Korean skincare gems, buying your beauty routine online allows you to expand your horizons with formulas for any skin dilemma, snag some deals without any haggling and have a shiny new product in your hands often in less than 24 hours, without ever leaving your house.
The question is, where do you even start? And who has the time for scouring the big retailers? Not me. Instead, I veer towards next-gen websites using modern tech to tailor all my browsing for me.
Sourcerie, a new virtual beauty marketplace, takes the ‘Your skin type’ questionnaire to detailed new heights. If you have oily, blemish-prone skin, you can refine your search right down to specific hormonal causes or places your acne manifests. Whether you’re on prescription medication for eczema or you’re affected by topical steroid withdrawal, this intelligent tool sifts through a plethora of high-end, high-street and niche indie products to present a storefront that best represents you and your skin. And it all takes five minutes max.
Medik8 Hydr8 B5™ Liquid Rehydration Serum
Pai Light Work Rosehip Cleansing Oil
If you prefer to stick to a single brand, Byoma’s nifty skin-analysis tool will also do the hard work for you. From just one selfie, it will score your skin based on a variety of factors such as shine, sagging, surface damage and hyperpigmentation, then suggest a routine of barrier-protecting products, all under £20.
George Driver: The Secret Indie Spots
Like most beauty obsessives, my internet history is more niacinamide than breaking news. Our digital beauty shopping baskets are intrinsically tied to being part of the Meta generation, but perhaps it’s time to get back to a pre-next-day-delivery dynamic. This is why I’ve started dipping my toe back into the world of IRL shopping – but at lesser-known indie spots complete with curated product edits and staff ready to educate.
In a world that’s increasingly less tangible, Wilder Botanic’s Broadway Market store is a sensory remedy. Stepping into the apothecary feels like a welcome return to what shopping for beauty used to be – walls lined with 100% organic formulations and the adorably named ‘Winter Love Drops’.
Wilder Botanics Winter Love Drops - £16
Haeckels Algae Plump Serum
The Seated Queen Restoring Face Oil - £65
Take a trip to Margate where Haeckels’ innovative, sustainable store (complete with living-moss floor) is setting the tone for locally made, quality skincare. Meanwhile, The Hambledon in Winchester is leading the way for a new wave of boutique department stores flipping mass-brand beauty halls on their heads. Expect to see edits of up-and-coming British skincare brands like The Seated Queen, Heath and C.Atherley.
It’s more than a moment but a movement. And the best bit? It doesn’t involve any delivery updates from DPD.
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