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What to shop in the Fenty Beauty Boots January sale, according to an editor who’s tried it all
From lip glosses and eyeshadow palettes to mascara and cream blush, these sets offer great value for money
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Your support makes all the difference.The slow days between Christmas Day and New Year where there’s nothing to do but polish off festive leftovers in your new pyjamas can often make us feel in limbo, which is why perusing the early January sales is the perfect pastime. Yes, you read that correctly: many of the discounts have started already.
While the Boxing Day sales were huge this year with most shoppers choosing to bag a bargain online rather than in store, there’s still time to enjoy discounts as the New Year rolls around. Big retailers including Amazon, Currys PC World, John Lewis and Argos are all already offering discounts in the early January sales.
British high street stalwart Boots is also getting in on the action, with impressive offers on make-up, skincare and electricals. As one of only two UK retailers to stock Rihanna’s cult-favourite brand, Fenty Beauty, Boots has revealed some great discounts on the its holiday collection, where you can save a third on make-up gift sets.
While Christmas has already come and gone, they are a great gift to treat yourself to, and given the packaging isn’t wildly festive, you could even save a set for another occasion.
Luckily for you, we managed to get our hands on the whole Fenty Beauty “holodaze” collection and have tried and tested all the products on offer, to help you choose the perfect gift set in the sale.
From lip glosses and eyeshadow palettes to mascara and cream blush, these sets offer serious value for money. One of them has already sold out online, so you’ll need to act fast to secure the deal.
You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Fenty Beauty glow trio face, lip and body set: Was £35, now £23.33, Boots
Landing a spot in our review of the best beauty gift sets for Christmas 2020, this is our favourite set from the whole holiday collection. Although the brand played it relatively safe this year with its gifting range, with a very similar offering to its 2019 collection, this trio offered some variety.
It includes a full-sized version of the brand’s coveted lip gloss in the rose nude shade “fenty glow”, which we love for its plumping, non-sticky qualities; a full-sized cream blush and a mini highlighter in the same shade, which are exclusive to the set.
The cream blush formula is one of our favourites, and while we wouldn’t recommend the highlighter for glitter-phobes, it blends beautifully on the skin. We were disappointed with the packaging, as the cardboard felt rather flimsy and a bit lacklustre, but the products themselves make this a good value set, especially with this discount.
Fenty Beauty two lil stunnas mini longwear fluid lip colour duo set: Was £22, now £14.67, Boots
Fenty Beauty’s liquid lipstick formula is popular and for good reason; the tiny, precise applicator makes it a dream to apply, the pigmented lipstick is fast drying and super long wearing, and it doesn’t smudge or feather.
This set features two mini limited edition shades, a deep cool red that’s slightly more blue toned than the brand’s well-loved “uncensored” shade, and an unusual rich berry colour that we love.
They didn’t disappoint on the lips, and we think they would live up to the brand’s claim to suiting all skin tones. Given one full-sized lipstick is £20, this £14 duo set is well worth snapping up, and the lipstick component feels as luxury as ever, despite its mini size.
Fenty Beauty full snap eyeshadow and mini mascara set: Was £28, now £18.66, Boots
One of the best-value options in the collection, this set features a mini version of the brand’s full frontal mascara which launched earlier this year, as well as a limited edition, full sized eyeshadow palette with six brand new shimmer and matte shades.
In our review of the mascara, we loved the innovative, “flat to fat” brush which picks up every lash from root to tip, resulting in full, feathered-out hairs that are defined without any clumping.
We struggle with straight-facing lashes and instantly noticed how lifted ours were after using this mascara. We also liked that the brush isn’t overloaded with product, making it easier to apply without any smudging.
We love the unusual colour story in this eyeshadow palette which includes a shimmery violet, a matte mauve and a gold, honey shade. The shadows are highly pigmented but easy to blend and work with on the eye, and the small compact is perfect for top-ups on the go.
For more on Fenty Beauty, read our review of the brand’s new lip gloss formula