‘I’m a beauty writer and I found a way to get £660 of Estée Lauder for £180’

With only three paydays left until December, now is the ideal time to start ticking off your Christmas shopping list. If you’re on the hunt for luxury beauty gifts that won’t break the bank, I’ve discovered a method to bag more than £660 worth of high-end make-up and skincare for less than £180.

Not only am I a beauty writer but I’m also an avid bargain hunter and expert deal stacker, seldom paying full price for anything. My speciality lies in Boots offers, as I used to be an employee at the retailer, so I know exactly where to look and how to maximise savings.

In my most recent haul, I’ve figured out how to get £662.50 worth of premium beauty from Estée Lauder for £177. And since I don’t believe in gatekeeping, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it – but you’ll need to act fast, as it’s not confirmed when any of the below offers will end, and there’s a risk some items could sell out.

The biggest saving comes in the form of the Estée Lauder 2024 Blockbuster set. Usually priced at £405, shoppers can purchase the set for £85 when spending £50 on Estée Lauder products at the health and beauty retailer.

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The 11-piece set includes six full-size products, along with deluxe travel sizes, all neatly packaged in a luxurious train case. One of the products, the iconic Advanced Night Repair Serum, is worth £65 alone, reports Lincolnshire Live.

Here’s everything you get inside the Blockbuster:

• Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex, full-size (30ml)
• Advanced Night Cleansing Gelee with 15 Amino Acids, deluxe travel size (75ml)
• Revitalizing Supreme+ Youth Power Creme, deluxe travel size (15ml)
• Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Gel-Creme Synchronized Multi-Recovery, full-size (15ml)
• Re-Nutriv Intensive Smoothing Hand Creme, deluxe travel size (30ml)
• Limited Edition Trick Of The Eyes EyeShadow Palette
• 2 Limited Edition Lipsticks, full-size (3.5g each) in Red Velvet and Magic Bouquet
• Limited Edition Lip Gloss, deluxe travel size (2.7ml) in Pink Persuasion
• Double Wear 24H Stay-in-Place Lip Liner, full-size (1.2g) in 15 Blush
• Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volumizing Mascara, full-size (8ml)
• Train Case

To bag the Blockbuster set for £85, you first need to spend £50 on Estée Lauder products. However, if you’re smart about your qualifying product selection, you can unlock even more freebies.

There’s another deal that offers a free gift worth £113 when you purchase two Estée Lauder products, one of which needs to be foundation or skincare. The Estée Lauder Nutritious 2-in-1 Foam Face Cleanser is one of the brand’s most affordable skincare products at £24 (and, at the time of writing, is currently reduced to £18), allowing you to qualify for the freebie.

Additionally, another way to maximise savings is to buy sets, like the Estée Lauder Extreme Length + Care Duo Makeup Gift Set, which costs £35 but is valued at £58.50. The set includes a full-size Double Wear Zero-Smudge Lengthening Mascara, worth £29.50 and a Gentle Eye Makeup Remover, priced at £29.

Not only will you qualify for the Blockbuster set with this, but you’ll also receive a six-piece complimentary gift set. Here’s what’s inside that set, which comes in a lovely gift box perfect for gifting:.

• Advanced Night Repair Serum (15ml)
• Double Wear Zero-Smudge Mascara (2.8ml)
• Perfectly Clean Multi-Action Foam Cleanser (30ml)
• Revitalizing Supreme+ Youth Power Creme (15ml)
• Advanced Night Repair Eye Gel Creme (5ml)
• Double Wear 24H Waterproof Gel Eye Pencil (0.8g)

After adding all of this to my basket, I spotted another offer. By purchasing one more Estée Lauder item, I could get a full-size Double Wear Zero-Smudge Lengthening Mascara worth £29.50 for free. You can choose anything you like, but I went for the £33 Estée Lauder Futurist Soft Touch Brightening Skincealer (again currently reduced, down to £24.75).

While the mascara and free gift were both automatically added to my basket, you do have to manually add the Blockbuster set. But once everything is in your basket, you’ll have bagged £662.50 worth of products for £177.

In total, you’ll get 21 products, 10 of which are full-sized, working out at £8.43 per item. Not only do some of the sets make standout gifts, but some can even be split up and given as deluxe stocking fillers that look far more expensive than they are, especially as there will be some doubling up of products.

In other news, Lancôme has unveiled its Beauty Box Gift Set. Valued at £350.55, customers can purchase it for £90 when they spend £50 on selected Lancôme products.

Elizabeth Arden has also launched its eagerly-awaited Icons Edit for 2024, which sells out every year. The 11-piece collection, filled with eight full-sized favourites, is valued at £308, but shoppers can snag it for £85 when they spend £45 or more on the Elizabeth Arden website.