5 Lesser Known Online Beauty Retailers to Try

So you have your Boots card, you've collected more Advantage Points than you'd care to admit to, you know all about Superdrug's reward system and you've placed several orders with both Sephora and Space.NK. Heck you are so familiar with certain online retailers, that you don't even need to bust the matte black envelope open to know inside nestles your latest MAC order,  but I'm willing to bet you won't be familiar with at least one of the merchants below. If you are feeling adventurous, grab your bank card and let me talk you through five of my must-try online beauty haunts.

5 Lesser Known Online Beauty Retailers to Try

Luna Tu - As many will know, I am hugely enamoured by Korean and Asian beauty products and find myself trawling the internet for the latest innovations and launches. One late night lead search lead me to Luna Tu and as they say the rest is history. Luna Tu stocks everything from general Korean skincare (Innisfree, Etude House, Missha etc) must haves such as sheet masks and nose strips, to cleansers you really need to try to believe, along with make-up, foot care and even circle contact lenses - and the postage to the UK is not only affordable but quick as it is a UK based retailer.

Love Aroma - The dark nights - and days - seem to be quickly rolling in and I don't know about you but I use the Autumn and Winter seasons as the perfect excuse to purchase a candle or two. As you may have noticed along the way, I am quite the candle obsessive and do like to not only mix and match brands but home fragrance options too. The downside with such habit does mean that in the past I have forked over a lot of money on postage and handling alone, so imagine my glee when I stumbled across Love Aroma - an online store that sells all the best selling high street home fragrance brands and some lesser known options too. At the moment I am having a Woodwick Candle moment (who can resist the flickering, crackling sound of the wooden wick) but often use Love Aroma to purchase Yankee wax tarts and candles as well as the odd Lily Flame splurge.

Haus of Gloi - This is my suggestion that I am a little hesitant to share as it is not a stockist for large, well known brands but rather an independent creator of wonderful fragrances and bath and body products. Typically I do count down the days to the launch of the Haus of Gloi Autumn/Halloween as the scents really appeal to me - forget candied pumpkin notes and imagine deep and often mysterious blends that perfectly encapsulate the season (and make me think of movies such as Hocus Pocus). Don't take my word for it, pop over at some point and marvel at the beautifully created handmade soaps, dream about just how fluffy and soft the Pumpkin butter is and generally indulge. As a side note products do sell out quickly - don't say I didn't warn you.

5 Lesser Known Online Beauty Retailers to Try

Amazon - Yes seriously. Forget eBay and running the risk of purchasing a knock-off product, Amazon is a beauty treasure trove waiting to be discovered. The next time you are ordering a book, dvd or whatever you may need search their beauty department and I think you may be pleasantly surprised what you find. Personally I often use it to stock up on sheet masks and hard to source US beauty items.

& Other Stories - Yes chances are you are more than familiar with the store and clean aesthetic of the brand, but I'm willing to bet that as this is not a well represented store here on the UK high street you may well have forgotten completely about the wonders of & Other Stories. Admittedly the shipping fee is not the cheapest but if you are in the mood to splurge on gloriously scented bath and body products, I can think of no better place. Personally I rate the hand care items - I know hand wash is pretty boring but there is something special about the & Other Stories offerings. A quick Google search will also lead you to plenty of beauty reviews - I hear the blushes are a must have.

Feel free to add to the above list, let's make beauty shopping more interesting than it has been of late.