8 Boots tips & tricks incl how to get £43 of No7 cosmetics for £10ish & nab £60ish of beauty products for £20
Plus hidden beauty dupes & 'free' £3 worth of Boots points
Boots is a high street stalwart and always popular with MoneySavers. Whether you're a fan of big brands, No7, or even just a sandwich, we've been busy filling our boots with deals to bring you eight ways to save right now so you can bag some Boots bargains.
Trick to get £43 of No7 beauty cosmetics for £10ish in store (and online for some)
The MSE Deals Hunters have spotted some No7 stackable deals, where you combine certain deals with a 'free gift' offer, but you'll need to follow these steps in order to get this nifty trick...
First I'll explain how to get it in store, but there's another way some can get a similar offer online via your Boots Advantage card.
1) Make a small purchase in store to receive a '£5 off when you spend £15 on No7' voucher. Until Wed 30 Jun, if you go into a store and make a purchase, you'll receive a voucher to get £5 off a £15 spend on No7. There's no minimum spend to get the voucher and Boots says you can buy anything – it doesn't need to be a No7 product.
I went into my local Boots on Mon 7 Jun and picked up a Shapers 'salted caramel' bar for 40p, which was the cheapest item I could find. However, make sure to ask for the voucher before you purchase, as the lady at the till forgot to hand me one initially. MSE Laura B received the offer as a receipt when she went to the self-service checkout.
MSE Laura B received this receipt via the self-service checkout. Can be used in-store only
I received this voucher from the checkout. Can be used in-store only
2) Choose £15 worth of selected No7 products to get a 'free gift'. Boots currently has an offer where you can choose two items from this selection of No7 make-up products*, and get a 'free gift' with your purchase. The cheapest item I could find in store was the No7 Gel Finish nail colour* for £7.50 (buy two to make it £15). Boots has confirmed the £5 off voucher mentioned above can be used in conjunction with the free gift offer. The voucher excludes No7 Age Defying Regime deals, men's Regime deals, gift sets, 'You Got This' cosmetics bag (Macmillan charity bag), electrical beauty & price reduced items.
3) Once you've got £15 worth of No7, pick up the No7 'My Summer Essentials' beauty box 'free gift' (norm £27.95 if bought individually). The 'free gift' is a box that can be found in store with the No7 self-selection make-up. Make sure you bring your beauty box to the till with your two chosen No7 products and the box should scan as 'free'.
Once you're at the till, make sure to show the voucher you picked up in step one to get £43 of products for £10ish. Based on the 40p snack I bought and the two No7 nail polishes, you could pay £10.40 for £42.95 of No7 beauty products.
Got a Boots advantage card? Check if you can get virtually the same offer online (account specific)
The Boots Advantage card definitely has its advantages. I spotted a 'Save £5 when you spend £15 on selected No7' offer in my 'Just For Me' in the Boots Advantage app. This app offer means I can skip step one above, but the rest works the same.
Simply load the offer onto your Boots advantage card (if you have it) before you make a purchase. This will work both online and in stores, and if you're shopping online the 'free gift' box should be automatically added to your basket. Just factor in delivery or collection charges.
Not got the app? See how to get 'free' £3 of Boots points for downloading its app and making a purchase.
Get £60ish of beauty products for £20
If you shop via this Boots link* or go into a store (find your nearest*), you can get a free 'Beauty Heroes' box (norm £40ish) when you spend £20 or more on make-up products (excluding gifts sets, No7 cosmetics and all premium brands such as Benefit, Mac, etc), until Tue 29 Jun, while stocks last.
If you're shopping in-store, simply pick up a box (which are displayed around the make-up counters) and it should scan for free at the checkout. If you're shopping online, it should be automatically added to your basket once you've reached the qualifying spend. Delivery's £3.50 or free if you're spending £25 or more. You can collect in store for free on orders over £15.
The products inside the beauty boxes are all pre-selected so you can't choose what’s inside, but it's clearly labelled on the back of the box. Boots says there are three different 'Beauty Heroes' boxes available (see full list of contents inside each box) and shades may vary, but are all worth about £40. If you purchase the offer online you won't be able to choose which box. Boots says most stores with self-selection make-up will have the boxes, while stock lasts, so go quick if this is something you're after.
For the boxes in store, each contains a full size palette (either a highlighting or eyeshadow palette) – see below for the full contents:
Plus some could get up to £4 of extra Boots Advantage card points (account specific)
What’s more, if you've a Boots Advantage card, make sure to check its current promotions before you buy. MSE Laura B got an offer for ‘400 bonus points when you spend £20 or more’, which meant she could get an extra £4 worth of points with this offer.
Sadly, it won't be the same for everyone as each promotion is account specific. When I checked, I had '150 points when you spend £20 on selected beauty' and we've seen others receive 200 points on their next spend at Boots, so keep an eye out.
You may be saying 'Thank Boots it's Friday' because you can snap up some everyday little luxuries that normally cost up to £15 for just a fiver online at this special Boots £5 Friday* link, or in-store. Deals will only show at that link every Friday, so look then to see what's on offer.
Check if included products are also part of a 3for2 offer such as No7 or Soap & Glory, as you'll be able to combine the deals for an even bigger saving.
Check a special link for weekly £10 Tuesday flash bargains, eg, we've spotted norm £30ish No7 items
Tuesday is never a snooze day at MSE (it's when we put together our weekly email), but it might be worth setting your alarm for Boots' £10 Tuesday* promotion, where you can often bag big discounts on popular beauty products online or in-store. Offers will only appear at that special link every Tuesday – it'll be blank on other days of the week – and deals only last for 24-hours.
Unfortunately, Boots can't give us a heads up on what will be on offer in future weeks, but some of the best bargains we've spotted in previous weeks are No7 make-up and skincare. As Boots regularly promote 3for2 on No7 beauty products, you can use this offer to stack on top of the No7 products within the £10 Tuesday offer.
For example, here are three No7 products my flatmate bought in a previous £10 Tuesday promotion that were also in the 3for2 offer and meant she got £58 of No7 skincare for £20:
- No7 Restore & Renew serum boost masks (pack of four)* - norm £27
- Total Renewal Micro-dermabrasion exfoliator* - norm £11
- Youthful eye serum 15ml* - norm £20
I think some of us have had our Boots card longer than our local library card (must return that Titanic VHS). If you've yet to sign up to a Boots Advantage card* though, you can get 300 Boots points (equivalent to £3 to spend at Boots), just by following these extra simple steps:
1) Download the Boots Advantage card app (Apple or Google Play) for the first time and you'll get 200 points (equivalent to £2 to spend at Boots), which will be added to your account after you've made a purchase online or in-store – there's no minimum spend so you could buy 40p salt and vinegar spirals* or 50p Boots total care mini toothpaste, 25ml* to get the free £2 of points.
You’ll just need to load the offer to your account on the app and remember to swipe it when you make your purchase. It’s worth noting you’ll only have a week to claim it. The app is free to download and you can collect and spend reward points straight from your mobile with the digital Advantage Card. For every £1 you spend, you’ll be rewarded with four points.
2) Collect 100 points (equivalent to £1) when you give your email address. If you're already a member you can add your email by managing your preferences*.
What else does the app give?
The app gives personalised offers, so it's worth checking the 'My offers' section from time-to-time. Current personalised offers I spotted on mine are:
- 500 points when you buy No7 Age Defying foundation (online and in store)
- £5 worth of points when you buy a Liz Earle product (online only)
- 500 points when you spend £15 on Soap & Glory (online and in store)
- Save £5 when you spend £15 at No7 (online and in store)
- 200 points when you buy a Soap & Glory hair product (online and in store)
- 100 points when you spend £20 on selected beauty (online and in store)
- 100 points when you spend £6 on selected mouthwash (online and in store)
- 100 points when you buy three Boots baby cotton wool (online and in store)
Extra points and discounts for students, over 60s and parents
If you're not already in the know, there are other ways your Advantage card can reward you if you're a student, over 60 or have signed up to Boots' Parenting Club:
Students* - 10% discount across all items including those in the clearance sale. You can also save 10% on your first pair of glasses, prescription sunglasses and contact lenses. Plus, you’ll be able to get every additional pair of prescription glasses half-price at Boots Opticians*.
Parenting Club* - Collect eight points per £1 spent on baby products and receive 'free' gifts at key stages of your baby's development. The Boots app offers personalised special offers and free access to expert parenting advice.
Over 60* - You’ll get eight points per £1 you spend across all items and also 200 free points when you take a free Boots hearing health check.
Boots' hidden beauty dupes, eg, £4 cleansing oil vs £24 Glossier
Boots released a skincare range called Glow*, where every item costs just £4 or £5. What I noticed is how it looks incredibly similar to popular cult brand 'Glossier'. Here's a comparison:
Boots Glow cleansing oil, £4 vs Glossier Futuredew oil, £24 | Boots Glow Essence mist £4 vs Glossier Superglow mist £24
There's also a 'pineapple' edition, which appears to be very similar to another brand called 'Glow' (you can't make-up this, honestly). See the price difference:
Left to right: Boots Glow Pineapple serum, 30ml, £4 at Boots
Glow Pineapple-C bright serum, 30ml, £46 at Cult Beauty.
Now of course I'm no beauty guru (although a girl can dream many flawless, sun-kissed shiny dreams), so I must stress this is purely a price comparison and I haven't tested all the products myself. While packaging is similar, the contents won't be exactly the same, but for the price difference, it might be worth glowing with the flow – though it's very important to always read the packaging and check ingredients if you have any allergy or skin concerns.
Chloe Street, lifestyle writer at the Evening Standard, has written a piece about the Boots dupes price and contents. She says:
The colour is an obvious nod to Glossier’s trademark millennial pink branding, but the collection is a fraction of the price.
Boots stocks other dupes for popular big brands such as MAC, Fenty, Huda, and Benefit. See MSE Rhiannon's Beauty Downshift Challenge to see how much you can save ditching brands for cheaper dupes.
You can also pop over to the world of TikTok and for more dupe discoveries. We spotted the account 'Dupeshop' (it's also an online beauty dupe company), which has recently become popular on social media with its product comparison videos. Here are a couple of examples of Dupeshop showing how they compare the look and ingredients of products, to save from splashing cash on cosmetics:
When to expect the big popular No7 beauty sets
Now, we here at MSE love a No7 trick whether we're stacking codes and offers or giving hints at when we think a new bargain beauty collection is on the horizon. No7 is Boots' brand so you'll often find great offers on its make-up and skincare range. Before you decide to buy any products, always check to see if you can hack and stack the following:
- Is there a 3for2 offer on?
- Is there a code?
- Any Boots points promotions or beauty offers I could load onto my Advantage card via the app?
- Is there a 'free gift' included?
Below we're giving away our MSE secret on how we predict when a No7 beauty collection is coming. Thanks to MSE Laura's analysis, you can see when the ever-popular No7 Beauty sets are expected to be released based on what we've seen in previous years:
£130 for £32 'Beauty Vault' - mid July
In July, we usually see No7 offer its 'Beauty Vault' which contains make-up and skincare items. This year, its contents came to £130 if bought individually, but you could get it for £32.
When has it happened?
2020: 8 Jul - 21 Jul
2019: 17 Jul - 19 Jul
£170ish for £42 Advent Calendar - mid October
In the second half of October, we expect No7 to reduce the price of its beauty Advent Calendar. This is always very popular with MoneySavers and contains make-up and skincare, with the contents usually costing about £170 if bought individually.
When has it happened?
2020: 14 Oct - while stock lasted
2019: 22 Oct - 28 Oct
2018: 14 Oct - 23 Oct
£150ish for £39 half-price beauty set - mid December
One that MoneySavers wait for, we usually see No7 offer a half-price beauty set as part of its 'Big Deal' Christmas promotions (formally called 'Star Gift'). The set usually costs about £40 but if bought individually, the contents have previously been over £150.
When has it happened?
2020: 8 Dec - 24 Dec
2019: 9 Dec - 24 Dec
2018: 14 Dec - 20 Dec
£75ish for £35 skincare sets - end of February/start of March
Towards the end of Feb or first week of March, we see No7 offer a few skincare sets. We've seen them as part of a Mother's Day promotion, where you can choose from three skincare sets. The sets ranged from £35-£37 and if you bought the items separately, it'd cost about £75.
When has it happened?
2020: 2 Mar - 30 Mar
2019: 27 Feb - 13 Mar
Do you have any handy Boots tips and tricks? Comment below as I'd love to hear them, or send us a tweet on Twitter.
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