The Anya Hindmarch x Boots beauty collab is now online. Everything’s under £10 – here’s our verdict
With her signature googly eyes adorning bathroom essentials from toothpaste to tissues, the Anya Hindmarch x Boots collection is now online and available to everyone. Here’s what our beauty director thought
First, there were the Anya Hindmarch x Uniqlo collabs with the signature googly eye logos adorning everything from cashmere jumpers to staple white tees, now the British handbag designer has partnered with stalwart of the high street, Boots, to create a whimsical 25-piece range of everyday bathroom essentials, from conditioner to cotton pads.
The collection initially launched exclusively in the Anya Hindmarch Village Hall, a pop-up concept shop in London’s Knightsbridge, but it’s now available on Boots online until it sells out. And if the pop-up is anything to go by, everything will get snapped up on boots.com quickly. When I visited the concept shop on day four, customers were limited to two items per purchase. “We had people queuing around the block all weekend. They were waiting for two-and-a-half hours to get in, ” Hindmarch told me. “I felt awful having to limit the number of things they could buy, but otherwise we were going to run out.”
It’s an inspired merger of two iconic British brands. “Boots has such heritage and presence on the high street, so when we talked about doing something together, I got a feeling in my stomach that it would be good,” she says. “January felt like the perfect time to launch something that will bring smiles to people’s faces – it’s when we all need a lift.”
View this post on Instagram
This collaboration is centred around affordability and accessibility, with items that everyone, regardless of age, skin type, skin tone and hair type can use daily. We’re talking about an £8 toothbrush, a box of tissues for £5 and a hand sanitiser for the same price. They are all made to Boots’ exacting standards, with Boots taking the lead on the formulations of the products (items such as the handwash, shower gel, soap and shampoo and conditioner are scented but there’s not a huge emphasis on that) each with a fun facial expression to make you smile (which is really what the collection is all about).
The Anya/ Boots pop-up store in London, including (right) retro signage and graphics that’ll make children of the ’70s/’80s feel instantly nostalgic
The Anya Hindmarch Village Hall had a Boots makeover too. The store felt like a stylish version of a Boots pharmacy of the ’70s and ’80s with retro signage outside, and inside, above the checkout, a panel featuring the exact criss-cross pattern of the ’80s Boots carrier bag.
Anya Hindmarch’s new wash bags (sadly not part of the under £10 Boots collab!)
Cabinets were filled with Boots heritage products such as face powders and painkillers, alongside new Hindmarch beauty-inspired handbags and pouches. These aren’t part of the Boots collab, but a limited edition Hindmarch has created alongside – needless to say, they are not under £10…
There are two canvas wash bags: First Aid, £250 and Meds, £195, available at the Village Hall and online. Then there’s the beaded Imperial Leather Mini Bucket Bag, £895, the Nurofen Bucket Bag, £895 and the Carmex Coin Purse, £225.
However, you don’t have to splurge hundreds for a bag. Grab the Boots x Anya Universal Bag (you get the small and the large for £23), a concept you may already be familiar with, as she’s created the same reusable canvas totes in various colours for many UK supermarkets. They are quite the collector’s items, and the Boots version comes in the pharmacy’s signature blue. Just the large version (£13.99) will be available in selected Boots stores and on boots.com.
Bag lady? Then you’ll be pleased to hear Anya’s now created her trademark Universal bag in Boots blue
A few items had already sold out when I went to the pop-up: the Mini Tweezer Set, £10 and the Bath Salts, £10, which aren’t in stock online yet either, but are the types of items that you can keep forever.
Here’s what I’m snapping up:
