The London Beauty Shopping Guide Part I: Department Stores

London is the greatest city in the world to shop for beauty products in my opinion.  We get the latest, the best and the coolest products.

I decided to put together a short and sweet London Beauty Shopping Guide.  Here's Part 1 on four prestigeous department stores which I can spend hours and days in.

First up...... Selfridges & Co.!

Selfridges has been my local department store for the past 10 years.  I absolutely adore Selfridges and I know my way round in here like home.  Selfridges was voted as the Best Department Store in the World in the Global Department Store Summit, Paris 2012.  It is not difficult to understand why.  The beauty hall in Selfridges is huge.  Not only it has all the famous brands, like Laura Mercier, Clarins & Clarins Spa, Nars; it also brings in the latest, newest and rarest brands that you cannot find in other stores.  It is constantly changing and updating to meet the needs of customers.

Other special brands and services you can find in Selfridges include:

• Astlift
• Obsessive Compulsive Makeup
• The Paint Shop by Nails Inc. at Selfridges
• Paul & Joe
• Jinny Lash Bar
• Butter London Nails Polish
• Louise Young 
• Young Blood Foundation Bar
• RMK
• Topshop makeup 

Find Selfridges at 400 Oxford Street W1A 1AB.  

Nearest Tube Stations: Marble Arch/ Bond Street

Next up is Liberty......

If you walk down from Oxford Street to Oxford Circus, you'd reach Liberty.  You will not miss it because of its great architecture, inside and outside of the whole store.  It feels very special and prestigious shopping in Liberty.  I love Liberty not only because its beauty hall is special, it uses purple/ violet as the main colour theme from its logo to shopping bags, etc.  Liberty also celebrates the Best of British which made it a MUST-VISIT spot for visitors all over the world.

The interior of Liberty during Christmas

Brands which you can find in Liberty but more difficult in elsewhere:

• Diptyque
• Eve Lom
• Hourglass
• Aveda
• Chantecaille
• Seche Vite nail colours (the most complete collection found here ever)
• Ellis Faas

Find Liberty at Regent Street, London W1B 5AH

Nearest Tube Station: Oxford Circus

If you are not tired by now or your banks have not been broken yet, having shopped in Selfridges and Liberty.  You might want to make your way to Knightsbridge, one of London most expensive areas.  You can find two world-famous Department Stores, Harrods and Harvey Nichols.

Let's go to Harrods first.....

Harrods must be the most visited Department Stores in the world by tourists.  When you arrive at Knightsbridge, you can see many people holding up their cameras trying to snap up a few shots of the gorgeous building of Harrods.  The shop windows are never to disappoint either.  If you happen to visit Harrods in the run up to Christmas, it is promised to be magical.

Harrods in Christmas

For those of you who have been to Harrods before, you might recall it being like a maze inside.  So here's a little guide to how the beauty hall is divided up to:

• Perfumery Hall
• It is full of perfumes and perfumes only.  It has ALL the perfumes' brands one can or cannot imagine.  It is a beautiful hall because of all the pretty designed perfume bottles in every single corner of the hall.  It also smells heavenly, too.
• Colour Hall
• This hall housed all the makeup products, from MAC, Chanel to Tom Ford.  You name it, Harrods has it.
• Beauty Apothecary
• This section is dedicated to skincare queens and kings where you can find excellent skincare brands here, e.g. Perricone and Dr Sebagh, etc.

Find Harrods at 87-135 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7XL

Nearest Tube Station: Knightsbridge

If you are in the Knightsbridge area, you cannot leave without also visiting Harvey Nichols.  It may not be the biggest store compared to Selfridges, Harrods and Liberty.  Harvey Nichols beauty hall certainly occupies the most space within its entire store.

Needn't me to say I love Harvey Nichols, too.  It can easily be my favourite department store to shop in.  I don't necessarily make any purchase in the beauty hall when I'm there but I feel that my knowledge in beauty will have increased after I spend time browsing in there.

It stocks many favourite beauty brands such as YSL and Clinique, etc.  You can also find Burberry's Makeup and ESPA counters which you can't easily find elsewhere in London.  There is also an in-house Space NK section which makes the shopping experience even more complete.

It also offers exclusive and cult products in its 'Beyond Beauty Section':

• Swissdent
• Mario Badescu
• Ole Henriksen
• Sjal
• Bliss

Find Harvey Nichols at 109-125 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7RJ

Nearest Tube Station: Knightsbridge

I know what you are thinking but go on, treat yourself to a shopping trip or two to all or either of these department stores.  You don't need to buy (although highly unlikely), you can just browse!  It's nearly the weekend so make an excuse and hit these stores!