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QVC. For those who aren't in the beauty know, those three letters might conjure up images of animated TV hosts harping on about everything from toasters to Tupperware, or your grandma/aunt/insert elderly relative here bidding on a pair of fluffy slippers over the phone. "It's the one where you have to dial in, right?" one confused R29er asked when I mentioned it.
It might be best known as a television shopping network, but fast-forward to 2018 and it's fair to say that QVC has very successfully carved out a name for itself as one of the best online beauty destinations in the UK. Yep, it has a website now, and this time around, you don't have to wait in a call queue. In fact, I've been adding to my virtual shopping basket for years...
Why? Well, from big name brands to those a little more under-the-radar, QVC UK has rather cleverly (albeit quietly) curated an army of brilliant beauty players – some cult and previously only available in the USA, like Tarte (QVC was the UK's very first stockist) and IT Cosmetics (the brand that brought us that amazing CC cream), as well as some yet to be discovered. Haven't heard of The Hero Project? It'll be your new go-to.
From a beauty obsessive's perspective, QVC UK is pretty much on par with the online beauty hubs we all know and love. With hundreds of blogger-, MUA- and celebrity-approved products to choose from, it should be up there with the likes of Cult Beauty, Look Fantastic and Beauty Bay, and believe me when I say that its ability to bag an exclusive is just as savvy.
Huge in the US, Japanese beauty brand Julep recently joined the ranks and QVC is currently the only UK stockist, while beloved brands like bareMinerals, Dyson, Liz Earle and Elemis, to name but a few, have previously all chosen QVC UK to launch new, exclusive and limited edition products. Blink and you'll miss them.
So I'm calling it: QVC UK is the online beauty industry's biggest underdog and you'd be a fool to miss out on the action. Click through to shop some of the website's best beauty editor-approved gems...
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