Best fashion, beauty and health shops

We share the best places to buy clothing, health and beauty products on the high street and online, based on real shoppers' experiences and analysis from our experts. 

Here, we've rated dozens of retailers to help you find the best place to shop for outfits, make-up and more. Read on to see which shops came out on top for measures like quality and value for money.  

And if you're shopping for something else, see our guides to the best and worst shops, best home and DIY shops and best tech shops.

Note: branded links take you to the retailers' websites. 

Best clothes, shoes and accessory shops

Seasalt

Top of the table is Seasalt. It gets four or five stars for every metric that we survey customers on. 

Shoppers love the quality of its products, with several respondents praising the use of organic cotton and natural fabrics. One said that Seasalt stocks 'superb long lasting products that wash and wear well'.

Customers also love the customer service, delivery and praised the amount of packaging used. 

Seasalt is so good we've named it a Which? Recommended Provider. This means that not only does it perform superbly in our survey, it also has a great returns policy for unwanted or faulty items.  

Hotter Shoes

Shoe shop Hotter impressed shoppers with the quality of the shoes it sells, scoring five stars for product quality. It was rated a respectable four stars on the other metrics in our survey, including product range and customer service. It's a Which? Recommended Provider. 

Respondents pointed to the range of sizing available as a big plus, with one shopper telling us that the shoes 'come in width fittings and half sizes, so they are comfortable to wear'. 

John Lewis

John Lewis comes close behind. John Lewis does well across the board, with four stars for everything except after-sales service where it particularly impressed customers and received five stars. 

Pavers

Pavers is one of the few retailers to be rated five stars for value for money, offering shoppers competitive pricing on its comfort shoe range. 

Several shoppers told us they like the out-of-town location for their nearest Pavers store, as it means they can park easily. 

The family-owned business was rated four stars for everything else, and we've named it a Which? Recommended Provider. 

Skechers

Skechers customers rated it well for the quality and range of products it sells, customer service, the ease of using its website and app and the delivery of products. 

It sells active wear and a wide range of shoes available in half sizes.

Best beauty, health and wellbeing shops

QVC

TV channel and website QVC stands out for the five-star quality and value of its products, and is a Which? Recommended Provider. 

One health and beauty customer told us that they 'always buy the Elemis Todays Special Value as it contains multiple Elemis products at a great price and loads cheaper than on the high street', while another said that the Today's Special Value deals are 'extremely good value'. 

It got a respectable four stars for product range and availability, the ease of using the website and app, and delivery. Customers felt there was room for improvement when it came to the amount of packaging that was used, though. 

Liz Earle

Liz Earle is the second highest-scoring retailer in the health and beauty category, with customers particularly impressed by the quality of its products. Quality comes at a cost though, with shoppers giving it three stars for value for money. 

Liz Earle offers a 60-day money-back guarantee if you are unhappy with a product, but we believe that the terms and conditions stated elsewhere are inconsistent with consumers' rights and are concerned that this could be misleading. Based on this, we decided not to name Liz Earle a Which? Recommended Provider. 

Lookfantastic 

Online-only Lookfantastic impressed with excellent products that are great value for money. It was rated well for its range and product availability, the ease of using the website, and its delivery and packaging too. 

We didn't make Lookfantastic a Which? Recommended Provider due to concerns that its returns policy and terms and conditions are inconsistent, and could lead consumers to believe they have less time to cancel and return goods than that provided by the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. 

Healthspan

Shoppers choose Healthspan - an online vitamin and supplement supplier - for the quality of the products and the great customer service. It sells a wide range of its own products, including vitamins, supplements, sports nutrition and even pet health supplements.

One person told us that the customer care is 'knowledgeable and helpful', and another praised the ease of its subscription service for the supplements they use regularly. 

We haven't made Healthspan a Which? Recommended Provider as we're concerned that the terms and conditions on its website could cause customers to believe that they are not due refunds of the delivery costs they are entitled to under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

John Lewis

Department store John Lewis is a good choice for health and beauty purchases, with four and five stars across the board except for value for money, where it gets three.

It's a Which? Recommended Provider for health, beauty and wellbeing products.

How the best fashion, beauty and health shops stand out

Every year, we survey thousands of Which? members and members of the public about their experiences of shopping with some of the UK's best-known stores and websites, as well as with lesser-known brands. 

Our star ratings reveal how customers rated each retailer on a range of different measures from value for money to aftersales service.

We also name Which? Recommended Providers for each category. Only shops with top customer scores and four stars for customer service and three for value for money can make the grade. WRPs also need to offer at least 28 days to return non-faulty goods and have clear terms and conditions for returns.