If it’s not something I feel like I need immediately for review, then I will definitely wait to purchase, especially any brands that routinely hold sales or are often discounted–say Physicians Formula at Ulta.
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Not really – I’ve made a it a habit to not buy anything I wouldn’t purchase at full price, except for the most expensive things like Hourglass products. I do buy them at full price, but I feel better about it when I can get a discount or have a voucher towards them because those prices HURT, lol! But other than that, no.
I’ve made Sephora orders just to get the Veil Mineral Primer mini for free. Amazing primer, but when the mini is $20 and I know I can snatch one as free perk 2-3 times a year… well… I’d definitely purchase at full price, but money saved is money saved. 😀
Oh wow, I love that! European retailers are a lot stingier with sales and discounts and often they will even exclude brands like Hourglass from sales. Then again it may well be that I would never even spend enough to rack up that kind kind of points/perks from any retailer anywhere, lol. EXCEPT I have earned a 6,50€ voucher from Feelunique twice! Yay me! 😀
I got the mini Veil Mineral years ago at first in Canada and then used it intermittently until I really gave it a try and it became hg for me. We finally, FINALLY got Hourglass in one domestic retailer’s selection so I finally got the 30 ml size after my mini had been empty and dried up for months… I don’t honestly even mind paying the full price at this point. I don’t have any other primers nor do I feel that I need more 🙂
I’m European born and raised, so until I moved to US I never knew what sale really means. 😆 That, and what samples really mean (in my home country you had to beg for samples).
There are so many sales and products constantly on sale… Even my favorite yogurt is $1.70 a cup, but once 2 or 3 weeks goes to $1. Beauty sales are less often, but if it’s not a Sephora sale, it’s a MAC sale, an Ulta Days of Beauty, a Labor or 4th of July sale… and don’t even get started with Black Friday, Thanksgiving and the winter Holidays.
Yikes, that sounds like too much opportunity to part with one’s cash! ? Kinda glad I live in the middle of nowhere without that kind of access ?
Well, here in Canada and because I’m a “senior”, I get 20% off every Thursday at Shoppers Drug Mart so I always make my purchases of brands they carry (it varies from store to store but the ones near me carry Lauder, Smashbox, Benefit, Origins, Arden, Clinique and many others but for Dior and Chanel, it’s only fragrance – the stores that carry the cosmetics are really far away) so I always get those for 20% off. With other brands, I do try to wait if I know a Rouge sale of some sort is coming but if I desperately need something or really, REALLY want something (the Tarteist Pro Remix palette is a perfect example), I don’t want to risk missing out so I will buy it without waiting (really stings that that palette and ABH’s Sultry palette went on sale at Sephora a short time after I got them but I wanted them so much and never expected that either would go on sale)
Mariella, sometimes the Bay will price-match other offers, like the Shoppers senior discount on Thursdays. Drop by the Dior counter to ask. I have gotten a discount or two.
Holt Renfrew has beauty weeks, including up to tomorrow. 10-15% off but better than nothing.
No Holt’s near me and I’m not prepared to make the drive. I never knew that about The Bay and price matching! They’re so miserly with their own discount offers on cosmetics!
My local Holt Renfew will be closing in January. t is a small store and the makeup lines have been reduced to a few – mainly expensive skin care. I have bought cosmetics and skincare online when there have been Beauty Weeks – 15% off.
I did get my fall Dior eyeshadow palette at 20% off. The Sephora coupon just ran out so it didn’t qualify. I also buy Dior skincare and such so I am a good customer. I spend enough at the store to get the VIP card yearly. The Bay does not really tell you about price/discount matching. If you print off your Sephora 20% off or bring in the Shoppers flyer on a Thursday that shows the senior discount, you may get it. I ordered some Dior stuff from the holiday collection online at the Bay the other week and also got the extra 5% Rakuten cash back. The 10% off or $10 off $75 isn’t that much, really.
Everything. Lol. It’s how I manage money. I still have a wonderful hoard of make up. I didn’t miss out on very much by waiting for sales.
I would say almost all of makeup was purchased during a sale. The only items that were not were limited edition and FOMO kicked in.
I normally wait for sales for most purchases with minor purchases in between.
I only buy my Clinique staples when there is an Ulta points multiplier. They do 5x points a few times a year. And sometimes I can stack it with a general multiplier. I use the eye makeup remover, cleansing balm, and Smart Night cream. Everything else I use for skincare is drugstore, most of which is available at Ulta. So I collect more points. Then I spend the points on fun stuff.
I love Pat McGrath shadows. I only buy them when there is a % off sale. I just bought one of the new quads. But at this point, I have enough eyeshadow. The best “sale” for me is to check my vanity against the dupe list and decide I don’t need to buy a new pretty thing. I really appreciate all of the hard work you do!
I personally prefer to buy from Clinique website. I don’t buy often, maybe 1-2 times a year (I need `Take The Day Off` in my life), but when I do it’s either a sale, or they offer a significant gift (or even both).
I’m also an avid reviewer, so I stack up Smart Points I redeem for items (mostly travel size, which come handy). I’m not the biggest fan of their skincare, but they are well formulated mostly and basic products I know won’t make my skin worse when travelling.
In September I managed to get a discount, a free full sized `Take The Day Off` cleansing balm (birthday gift), a free High Impact Mascara (points) and a set of minis (they usually let you pick 4-5 minis with orders, again, perfect for travel).
Wow! Thanks. I’ll have to check that out!
I try to buy high end products only when I have some kind of discount or gift card. I usually get gift cards from family members for birthdays and Christmas, and I use rewards points at Ulta and Macy’s.
Yes, the very pricey luxury brands like Pat McGrath, Viseart and Natasha Denona are ones that I wait for 15-30% off sales for. These, whether on their own sites or through retailers such as Sephora or Muse.
For very different reasons, I will do the same for my essentials from Maybelline or Nyx, too. Mainly just to stock up on mascara, concealer or liners.
Every time I buy an Urban Decay palette I feel played when it inevitably goes 40% off or ends up at Nordstrom Rack.
Yes. Even if some are one of my favorites brands, they usually have periodic sale; so I try to structure my purchases around that. Why not save money if the sales are regular? I do the same with clothes; I buy many of my clothes from Athleta, but I rarely shop when it’s not extra 20% off sale items.
MAC – Anything I need to purchase (especially brushes) sits in my cart until a next 20% off sale. I have a small make-up collection, with a couple of lipsticks and a custom made palette (one side 15 eyshadows, one side 6 blushes/face powders) and I try to transition to only MAC brushes (for pure aesthetic/OCD reasons). I usually know when I need replacements… and let’s be honest, it won’t be the end of the world if I don’t have an eyeshadow or lipstick color for a month.
Paula Choice – I have a lot of skincare and bodycare products from the brand, but I’ll wait for 20-25% sale (whole order or one product) or for a great deal (when the amount of free gifts almost exceeds the order 😆 ). I usually wait the sales to get back-ups for the conditioner (only non-frangranced one that works for me) and body exfoliant (either the BHA/AHA); then I add any skincare product I know I’ll be using up in the following month (I prefer not to stock too long skincare, especially products with more unstable active ingredients).
If a product is non-essential and expensive, I’ll wait for a sale. I’d categorize most prestige brands as expensive. And with the size of my current collection, almost all color cosmetics are non-essential (meaning I have more than one product per category like blush, lipstick, etc. And enough eyeshadow to outfit a small army, if I’m being honest ?) I also try to purchase any full size fragrance on sale. But for my daily essentials (like brow products, primer, foundation, setting spray, etc.) I’ll buy them whenever they run out, regardless of brand.
I rarely buy anything at full price, even from my favorite brands. I’m a comparison shopper & I love hunting down a good sale. The only products I tend to pay full price for are my higher end brushes, but only because they rarely go on sale. I paid full price for my WG and Sonia G. Brushes, but I did buy my Kevyn Aucoin brushes on sale.
Sales on beauty products are bitter-sweet for me. I love a bargain and hate to pay full price so I’ll buy things I’ve been wanting/eyeing as soon as they are on sale. I rarely buy expensive luxury items unless there’s a percentage off. I think sales help to add to my makeup and fragrance hoarding.
I have little UHE m/u. For Pat and Viseart, definitely wait for sales. My s/c currently is primarily Cosrx and Purito. Ulta has NEVER put Cosrx on sale, and even though it’s cheap, they call it prestige. Yeah, right. I do wait for the 20s, like now. Unless s.t. I cannot live without is Ultra LE, i always wait for Sephora fall or winter. And of course, do the Beautylish GC special.
For me it is product driven and not brand driven. For instance, I know I am going to pick up skin care about 3 times a year so I try and do that during the Sephora 20% off sale as skin care cost adds up quickly. I don’t use a lot of drugstore products and the ones that I do use regularly are not items that I want to stockpile such as mascara so waiting to buy on sale doesn’t really save me much. I think it was last year that I waited until the Sephora sale to pick up the newest Pat McGrath e/s palette. Can’t remember which one it was but it was available until the night before the sale and then in the morning it was “out of stock”. It came back into stock about 2 days after the sale. So, if it is something that I really want and know for sure that I am going to buy it, I don’t always wait for the sale.
I hate to pay full price for anything. My rule is for my HE cosmetics and skincare I will wait for the Rouge sales. But if there is a LE release that has to be mine that rule goes out the window.
I try to get everything on sale, frankly. Though I think if I couldn’t get it one sale, I’d probably stop buying the Hourglass Immaculate foundation. I could maybe justify it since I can skip concealer and setting powder with it but 50 some bucks for a foundation kinda feels over the top to me. I also don’t even consider an Urban Decay palette at launch anymore since all their palettes inevitably go on sale eventually.
Pretty much everything makeup-related. Seems like there’s always at least a 15-20% off coupon around the corner, so I at least wait for those.
Skincare and haircare don’t really seem to have as many sales though, so sometimes I’ll purchase those without a sale
Most major drugstore brands go on sale constantly, especially if you’re buying more than one (buy one, get one half). So for those, it’s usually less than a week until the next sale.
Also, for my big Ulta and espeically Sephora orders, I really really try to wait for a 20% off sale. If it’s 1-3 items I want, though, I just buy.
Pat McGrath, Viseart, and Natasha Denona. I try to buy most things on sale or with an affiliate code — Some kind of discount.
I’ve spent lots of money on IT Cosmetics over the course of about 9 or 10 years so I only make purchases from them when what I need is on sale. They offer tons of sales throughout the year so I don’t impulse shop from them or sites that carry their products (especially with how much money that company has). Same story w/ Perricone MD. That line changed dramatically and discontinued products that worked wonders, so I don’t purchase from them as much as I used to… I’m trying to phase that line out of my regimen. I usually buy my skincare needs on sale or when they offer free shipping since some come from Europe and Canada (I’m in the US). I try to shop for clothing, makeup, fragrances when they offer a discount even though that’s rare from the very small lines I buy from.
Mascaras I often buy at full price, last minute, while impulse shopping or trying something new. I impulse-purchased mascaras at a local Korean shop thinking they’d be cheaper dupes of Tightline mascara/primer + a discontinued lengthening non-drying mascara from IT Cos. BUT they sucked. Should’ve stuck w/what worked! Sometimes you DO get what you pay for. PMG Fetish Eyes was a full price impulse buy that turned out to be flakey, clumpy, weighty, not flattering w/ a PITA brush. I impulse-purchased the PMG x The Met Mothership V Bronze Seduction palette and used it once. Now I’m just confessing my financial sins.
If I’m ever tempted to buy ABH again I’ll avoid their huge Black Friday cyber Monday sale because I’ve only received dried out expired products. Others have told me they also received dried out products from them during those sales.
I only purchase TheBalm on sale because I know they do 50% off a couple times a year! There aren’t any other brands I actively won’t spend full price on, but I always try to shop during sales when I can (and with pricier brands like Pat McGrath it’s basically necessary).
All drugstore brands and Pat McGrath.