Hilda R. Smith 
A girl living on a tight budget will find it difficult to shop for the right products. This is especially true for those who have a serious beauty addiction. Some droolworthy products (e.g. $200 face lotion) can be expensive and only a small amount of product. Not all hope (or money!) is lost. There are ways for even a true beauty addict to get a great deal on their beauty products. You may already be familiar with the clever ways to save on drugstore makeup and incredible rewards programs from brands such as MAC. There are many things you can do to save money. These are some tips to get you started.
Poke around for Discount Codes
There are not many beauty shops that will advertise the words “SALE!” It’s not common for beauty retailers to use the word “SALE!” in all caps on their websites. You can often find promo codes for travel-sized products, or sometimes even full-size, if you do some digging. Sephora has them on a weekly basis. Bluemercury, Clarins both have pages dedicated to these special offers.
Be Strategic about Samples
Pro tip: The counter at the department store is your friend. Most companies have a generous policy of giving away samples to test at home. This is especially true if your obsession with a particular foundation starts with “Armani” and ends in ” Luminous silk Foundation.” Target also has a Beauty Counselor in many stores. Someone who will help you with all your beauty queries. The Beauty Concierge comes with a variety of samples so that you can test it at home, and then return for the full-size version if you like it. SpaceNK encourages customers to order samples if they shop online. The customer service department can be reached at any time by calling the number. After a brief discussion about your needs, and what you are looking for, they will send you samples.
Get Big Sales with Your Sprees
Nordstrom’s annual sale, which takes place in July, is almost like a vacation. SpaceNK also has an Explorer’s Promotion every now and again. This promotion gives you $20 off for every $100 that you spend. It’s basically a 20% discount because it only takes three minutes to add $100 worth of beauty products to our virtual shopping bags. The next one will be happening between April 20 and May 1.
Shop for discontinued items
Fake beauty products are easy to find on many discount sites. Although eBay is great for buying used sewing machines, there are many beauty products that look too good to be true on this site and other less regulated ones. However, discontinued products are an entirely different story. BuyMeBeauty specializes in discontinued products, which are often very affordable. Kiehl’s Water Based Lotion, SPF 25 which retails for $31 in mid-2000s cost $18. Some brands also offer limited-edition or discontinued products on their websites. Josie Maran’s Good Purchases page is home to Tarte, where you will find tons of the must-have products at its Sales page.
Last-Minute Halloween Costume: Disgust from Inside Out
It’s going to hurt. But you should know that some gifts included with purchases are a scam. It’s not worth the extra cost to get it. It’s not worth the extra cost if you have to purchase a small amount of actual products (e.g. $40) in order to receive a freebie. You can find pages on GWPs at Dermstore and Sephora. You can save yourself a lot of time and money by looking through these pages for great deals before you click “check out.”
Purchase a Dupe
You fell in love with a Tom Ford lip gloss. We get it. We have been there. If you don’t have the budget for Wild Ginger, there are many options. You can search for cheaper dupes by searching for them. Temptalia offers a search engine for dupes (including one for foundation) where you can plug in your brand and product and see the results. The SuperDuper app scans the shelves to find affordable nail polish dupes.
Sign up for the Newsletter
We promise not to spam you. Signing up for our newsletters can get you discounts as high as 15% at Dermstore and Bare Escentuals. If you aren’t able to take the frequent updates, get the discount and unsubscribe. Easy. CVS is the exception. Enroll in Extra Care to receive weekly coupons up to 30% off. It’s well worth the emails.
Get Your Beauty Flash Sales
If you are good at sticking to your budget, which is itself a real talent, there is a good chance that you are familiar with flash-sale websites like Gilt or Zurlily. However, the latest is quite a mess. Vainite sells products curated by entrepreneurs and cool girls–think Harley VieraNewton, and Beautycounter founder Gregg Renfrew. Many products are available at a discount of up to 20%.
Swap It
It’s worth it to put the weird shade of blush you have never liked to good use. You can use it to your advantage and get something new. Reddit has an whole community dedicated to exchanging beauty products. These guidelines are strict so that you don’t send your blush and get nothing in return. Swapidu is another option, which is a lot like eBay but with beauty products and not money.
