As some of you may know I am a huge Shoppers Drug Mart or PC Optimum points fan. I buy groceries and other household necessities, and save up the PC Optimum points for ‘splurges’ or things that I would try to not normally pay full price for. Such as cosmetics or face cream or anti-aging cream etc. I’m not an avid online shopper especially of clothes or cosmetics because I find it is easier to buy these things in store.
Beauty Boutique Shoppers Review
I have heard about the Beauty Boutique website for a long time but never ordered anything on there. I was under the impression it would be a rip off and things would be expensive, or that shipping would be expensive. A recent reader (Tara from Our Bill Pickle) stated she bought something from Beauty Boutique and was impressed with the online shopping experience… and she used Ebates (now called Rakuten Canada) and got 2% cash back. Here’s my Beauty Boutique Shoppers Drug Mart Review.
My Self-Care Dilemma
I admire the moms with young kids who can look amazing, wear heels, and not look tired but actually look put together. I find it quite difficult to get out of the house with the car to run errands or buy things, even more so than when I was an overwhelmed working mom.
Let’s just say that I have been trying to buy some Origins day cream for a while because I was running out, and not every Shoppers Drug Mart carries the Origins line. I also was not organized enough to buy this cream during an extra points redemption day because it’s hard to go out with two young kids (I know, I am a bad PF blogger for not taking advantage of extra points redemption days!). A reader (Thank you Tara from Our Bill Pickle) mentioned that she bought something on Beauty Boutique and had a great experience, so in typical PF blogger fashion, I decided to give it a try and also share my thoughts.
Here’s my Beauty Boutique Shoppers Drug Mart Review.
Shoppers Drug Mart Cosmetics
Not every Shoppers Drug Mart is created equal. They are franchises and each Shoppers Drug Mart is a bit different. Some have more food options (even groceries), some have higher end cosmetics and skin care (such as Origins, Benefit, or Clarins), and some sell Red Bull in boxes and some don’t. It can be frustrating to go to a Shoppers expecting to be able to pick up an Origins skin care cream only to find that this particular Shoppers does not carry that line.
That’s why when I realized that Beauty Boutique online carries all the higher end Shoppers Drug Mart cosmetics and skin care basically under one ‘roof’ (e.g. the web browser roof) I was super happy. Nars, Origins, Shiseido, you name it, they have it. This is great since Shoppers Drug Mart recently announced closure of all the Murale stores. The website shows up as a 404 error. If you haven’t heard of Murale, it was similar to a Sephora, and carried higher end cosmetics, like Bobbi Brown.
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Anyway, back to the Beauty Boutique Shoppers review, I ordered some face cream online, and got a special beauty bonus, additionally, I got to choose three samples, and also got an Urban Decay makeup setting spray sample. In terms of the delivery speed, was indeed a few business days after I placed the order and I received the package on the 4th business day. It is up to 5 business days for delivery.
This is what the box looked like, it is a nice blue box and had nice packaging, it was filled with crinkly paper bits (which is a bit excessive) and provided a luxurious feel. It also had a shipping card with a receipt and a sticker to return the item if I was unsatisfied with the product.
Notice how the Origins box has snowflakes all over it. Even though it’s not Christmas, this is obviously holiday packaging. It’s fine by me because I get more product for less cost, but it just has a different (outdated) box to it.
Beauty Boutique Pros
- The big PRO is that Beauty Boutique accepts payment with your PC Optimum points… and it even pays for tax! 10,000 is $10 off. For example, my day cream cost $66 including tax, and I redeemed 60,000 PC Optimum points and only had to pay $6.
- You can also earn PC Optimum points with your PC Optimum card on the purchases too
- If you’re part of the PC Insiders program, you can earn 200 points for every $1 spent (that’s basically 20% off everything you buy- we all know Nars lipstick does not go on sale very often, if at all)
- If you have a PC Financial Mastercard, you get 45 PC Optimum points for every $1 spent on Beauty Boutique
- Shipping is free if you spend more than $50 (luxury beauty stuff is so expensive, the Origins cream I wanted was $55)
- Free returns in store for all orders. So if you don’t like something you can just head to any Shoppers Drug Mart and return it.
- The price is right there online, no more lifting the hidden tab at Shoppers to find out the price while a sales person asks you if you need a hand or help (and your introverted self just wants to be left alone to browse at your make up and skin care products)
- Everything luxury beauty is available in one place– for example, some Shoppers have Nars, and some have Origins, and some don’t have either.
- Fast shipping within 2-5 business days for standard shipping
- There are gift sets online (which I find are rare at the actual shops)– as you can see the gift set above is a great deal- same price as the face cream alone, but I can see why it is a deal because it is Christmas/ holiday stock (note the snowflakes). I don’t care though because I am using it for myself!
- You get to choose 3 free samples (just like Sephora, you get to pick your samples- I LOVE samples).
- You can shop online through Ebates (now called Rakuten Canada) and get 2% cash back from Shoppers Drug Mart Beauty Boutique
- There is often a special deluxe gift with purchase. For example, there was this gift with purchase of more than $50.
The reason why picking your own samples and getting a deluxe sample is important to me is because I find there is a lot of variability with the Beauty Boutique salespeople. Sometimes if they are busy (or think you are annoying or not worthy of samples, haha) they don’t give very many samples or there are no samples at all. I don’t want to be reliant on the mood of the Beauty Boutique rep to get a sample, you know what I mean?
Beauty Boutique Cons
- Of course, when you buy online, you don’t get the test out what you’re buying. However, if you’re buying something that you usually buy there’s no need to test things out I suppose.
- If you return things by mail instead of in store, there may be an $8 return fee.
- You can’t pay for your purchase using gift cards
- They don’t have a birthday freebie option like Sephora, does (wouldn’t that be awesome!!)
- Hard to zoom in on what your’e looking at if you’re buying a ‘set’, I wasn’t sure how many mL the picture was (it didn’t say). I had to google the set to see if the face cream I was looking at was 50ml (e.g. full size). So in summary there are a few things in the online shopping experience that Beauty Boutique by Shoppers Drug Mart could probably improve upon.
See? You can’t see how many millilitres these things are, right? A better description of some of the items would be great. I took a chance anyway.
It looked like the packaging was snowflakes and hence holiday themed, but I couldn’t tell when I ordered it. Since it was for myself, it wasn’t a big deal that it was holiday packaging.
Genymoney.ca’s verdict
As you can probably guess, I am a new fan of the Shoppers Beauty Boutique. I am happy I found something that works well without having to waste time finding parking to get what I want. Being able to redeem your PC Optimum points is a big deal, and having everyone available under one website is great. I don’t think I’ll be shopping more often than I normally do for skincare and beauty products, but it’s nice to know there’s an option available.
As you can see the deluxe sample was great, so many samples! Each sample had the barcode crossed off with black marker, to prevent someone from selling it again, I suppose.
Beauty Boutique is basically the “underdog” of the online cosmetics world (with Sephora being the top dog). I have always been a lifelong supporter of the underdog. I would definitely shop online with the Beauty Boutique in the future– especially knowing that I can redeem my PC Optimum points with Beauty Boutique and save money on cosmetics and skincare.
Hope you enjoyed my Beauty Boutique Shoppers review.
Have you tried shopping online at Shoppers Drug Marts’ Beauty Boutique? If so, what’s your Beauty Boutique Shoppers Review? Are you a fan?
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Welcome to the Beauty Boutique Fan Club, my friend! I’m waiting for my next 20x the points offer to stock up on some Urban Decay staples (mostly because I am a klutz and dropped my — almost empty, thank HEAVENS — all nighter powder compact. I also JUST realized the other day that they carry Stila and I love, love, love Stila eyeliner. So I wouldn’t be surprised if that wound up in my cart, too.
Also, not sure if you’ve used it before or not, but that setting spray is awesome. I only started using it this year and I legit feel like I could walk through a hurricane without my makeup moving haha.
@Tara- Thanks for introducing me to it! I have heard great things about Stila but never tried it. I have not used the setting spray yet, there are very few occasions where I have the time/ occasion to put makeup other than concealer and powder on my face, but I will definitely try it. Hahah, walk through a hurricane without makeup moving- you should put that as a review for that product on the page!!
The Stila liner is so beautiful — it’s a gel type liner and just goes on so smooth. I’m super curious about their liquid eye shadows, too. They look so shimmery and beautiful!
I also feel like I would be uniquely positioned to know if it’s hurricane proof, coming from Atlantic Canada and all 🙂
I haven’t used the Beauty Boutique yet, mostly because I’m waiting for my $45 face wash from Sephora to get used up. Good on you for using your PC points on self care. I usually end up using them to buy groceries especially if it’s something we need and it’s not on sale. I’m a big fan of using the 20x points days but I guess that doesn’t apply to purchases made at the Beauty Boutique (would be awesomeness if it did!)
@Jessica- Girl, you must be psychic because I got an email promo in my inbox about this- it’s today only October 18, but 50,000 if you spend $150 (personally I think that threshold is too high) https://beauty.shoppersdrugmart.ca/optimum-offers?hid=P11_integrated_promo_pco-50k-on-150_hp-hero
I’m actually pretty sure you can do 20x points in the Beauty Boutique! I only say this because I’ve done it before. I’m not sure if it’s an offer that’s available every time they do 20x points but I know it has come up in the boutique in the past.
(Apologies for cutting in! Just wanted to share)
@Tara- Thanks for sharing, don’t apologize!