Having a layover in London Heathrow Terminal 5? I’ve been known to deliberately take some time there because I love beauty shopping in Heathrow (not just because I don’t like to rush through airports). Curious for some quick tips? Read on!
1. Peek at the available brands and prices online
Look around at their website for available brands here. The site might not be the most intuitive one to see, but you have a list of available brands, some products, and most importantly, the prices, so you can compare with the shops you have at home. They have a really good selection of brands (also the drugstore Boots!). I love that they have my favorite brands like MAC, NARS, Urban Decay, Burberry, Chanel, Dior, Lancome, Tom Ford, Jo Malone, Giorgio Armani, Guerlain, Estee Lauder, and many more…
2. Remember to calculate layover time
As you might have guessed, security at the airport is quite tight these days, and at Heathrow is especially so. Even if you’ve done your routine very well, you never know who is going to be in front of you and whether there are lots of flights coming in at the same time. So, expect to have some time to go through a screening before getting to duty-free shops!
3. They’ve Great Prices (in General)
If you live in mainland Europe, some brands could be way cheaper. For example, the MAC 239S brush in Heathrow is £17.85 (~€20.05) and in Germany, it’s €30.50. That’s quite a lot! But do your research, because some brands are actually priced quite similarly, so maybe you can postpone buying it home (depending on how full your makeup bag is already).
4. They are Pretty Good with Special Collections
From my experience, they have the special collections from the bigger brands (MAC, Chanel), and they also stock the travel sets (NARS), and the short handle brushes (which I prefer) from MAC. Many brands also have a full display collection of their products (but sometimes they could be out of stock for a particular shade/color).
5. Reserve and Collect
You can also reserve and collect items found in the online shop. I haven’t tried this feature yet because I always would love to try things out when I’m there, but I suppose it will save some time if you’re desperate for a product and you’re pressed for time!
Hope you find this post a bit useful for your travel, I’m sorry the pictures couldn’t be better (you know how it is with airport lights and the rush of people everywhere)! But for some makeup porn, here is a picture of my haul 😉
