You’re so vain: BU students spend £113 a year on make-up

Bournemouth is the 38th vainest uni in the UK according to a nationwide survey, with students spending just under £113 a year on beauty products.

£112.87, for a Bournemouth University student, would be equivalent to one week of rent in Chesil House, 4 school hoodies from the Student Shop, 113 drinks at Toast on a Tuesday or 565 packs of instant noodles from Asda.

Online beauty retailer Escentual.com assessed spending patterns at all higher education institutions in the UK. They topped a league table of beauty spending at more than 200 colleges in the UK. They assessed that students are spending more than £1,000 a year each on beauty products.

Students at Lancaster University were the vainest in the UK – spending £1,109 each on make-up, fragrances and skin products in the last year.

The second vainest in the UK are at the University of York – with an average yearly spend on beauty products of £968. Durham University was third with spending of £895.

Cambridge University – the UK’s number one ranked university – was 16th in the table with students spending £278 a year, and Oxford was 25th.

Traditionally, students spend far more online than other shoppers – preferring the convenience of online retailing.

The spending at Lancaster University equates to £370 per term, and roughly 20% of their £5500 yearly student loan.

The high spending comes despite new figures showing that undergraduates starting university this academic year will leave with debts of £53,000.