Couponing Makeup - How to Find the Best Prices on Cosmetics

Couponing Makeup – How to Find the Best Prices on Cosmetics and Skin Care

107 Quick & Easy Ways To Have More Money

• Quick and easy changes you can make today to have more money in your pocket.

• It is NOT about depriving yourself and making depressing cut backs.

• It IS about making sure you're not wasting money, enjoying what you have, and looking for ways to have more fun!

• Be sure to check your email for the bonus surprise freebie!

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If it's your first time here, be sure to read our Introduction To Couponing article!

Makeup is a competitive market with lots of manufactures and stores fighting for your money. This makes it a couponer’s paradise. Whether you love your drugstore brands or won’t settle for less than prestige, you can always find a way to save a buck. Here are some of my favorite tricks for couponing makeup.


Drugstore Brand Makeup

These are brands like Maybelline, Almay, L’Oreal, Rimmel, and Essie. You can find them at lots of different stores, and they make so many different products. The easiest way to get good prices is at drugstores like CVS and Walgreens. You can also get deals at Ulta, and I’ve written a guide for that here.

If you are a paper coupon person, the first place to look for deals is newspaper coupons. These major brands often place coupons in the Sunday inserts, and they’re worth clipping.

Once you have some coupons clipped, look for sales at Walgreens and CVS. They put these brands on sale A LOT, so hold out for a decent discount.

Especially at Walgreens, also check for online clippable coupons, and be sure to sort by value so you only clip the best. Then check the ads for register rewards and extra points offers.

If you can stack a few of these deals it’s easy to get your makeup for almost free. Sometimes you’ll even get paid by the store to take it away. 

The one big BIG caveat, is that you need to be very careful with the fine print. Most coupons are only for certain lines or styles of product (they will say things like only eye products, or only the ‘ageless’ line, etc.) Often store discounts will be 2 for $xx, but register rewards will require you to buy 3 or 4 pieces. And always keep in mind that you won’t be able to use your register rewards until the next trip.

Ibotta will also often have promotions through drugstores (and through Walmart, if you’re striking out in drugstores). The Ibotta bonus will help reduce the price even more, without affecting in-store coupon stacking. This can also help you come up with money makers.

Brands tend to promote a specific product range for a while, then switch to a different collection. This is part of what makes this work. If Maybelline has a new line of mascara out, and you check all your sources, you can probably find several coupons that you can use together. Look out for heavily promoted product lines and stock up while they’re hot.


Prestige Brand Makeup

Brands like Too Faced, Lancome, Urban Decay, Nars, Makeup Forever, Stila, Mac, and Fenty are considered prestige brands. You generally only find these in department stores and specialty stores.

My go-to for deals is Ulta. If you have a local it’s worth shopping in person to get a sense of what you like and don’t like, but the best deals I’ve gotten have been through the online shopping.

I go into a lot more detail on this in my Ulta shopping guide, but the first thing to do always is to join the rewards program. Then check their website regularly for sales, discounts, and free gift with purchase. They’ll also send you emails about specials, so keep an eye out for those.

When you find some things you want during a sale for free gift promotion, use Honey to figure out what your best coupon code is.

Then go through either Honey or Ibotta (depending on who has the best current cash back) to place the order. Especially around the holidays, Ulta goes hard with the sales, free gifts, and free shipping. And, as always, when you can stack deals you’re really getting your best pricing. Ulta also gives you points that can be used toward future purchases if you’re a member of their rewards program (which, of course, you are.)

Sephora also has prestige brands, but they’re a lot less coupon-able. A couple times a year they’ll give sales prices to rewards members – usually around 10-20% off, and they do put things on sale. Their loyalty points are mostly useful toward redeeming for free product – usually sample sizes. They seem to be testing out other ideas lately, like using points for contest entries and gift cards. 

Other Places To Buy Makeup

And don’t forget to check your TJ Max and Marshalls. I’ve found ridiculous deals there on good, real, expensive branded makeup that is being sold for as much as 90% off of the original price. I always open up any non-sealed packages to be sure everything seems to be in place, but I’ve rarely seen makeup that wasn’t in new condition. This is also a great place to score skincare for cheap, especially if you know what you’re looking for. Stopping there is always just about luck, but everytime I’m close I check, and I usually find something worth the stop. I also stop into department stores with good makeup departments, I do sometimes find good clearance there, especially after Christmas.

It takes some planning and hunting, but makeup deals are easy to score once you know what you’re looking for. As always, keep looking for ways to stack your deals and make sure you have your coupons with when you go shopping!

107 Quick & Easy Ways To Have More Money

• Quick and easy changes you can make today to have more money in your pocket.

• It is NOT about depriving yourself and making depressing cut backs.

• It IS about making sure you're not wasting money, enjoying what you have, and looking for ways to have more fun!

• Be sure to check your email for the bonus surprise freebie!

107 Quick & Easy Ways To Have More Money!Don't Miss This Free Ebook!

• Quick and easy changes you can make today to have more money in your pocket.

• It is NOT about depriving yourself and making depressing cut backs.

• It IS about making sure you're not wasting money, enjoying what you have, and looking for ways to have more fun!

• Be sure to check your email for the bonus surprise freebie!