Deals and sales you should talk me out of today

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It's very quiet and boring at work today, so I'm browsing online sales. Since I'm on a budget, I really shouldn't buy anything, and yet. Please feel free to comment and tell me why I should or should not buy any of these things (or why you will or will not buy them yourself).

Nordstrom Rack finally has their beauty section online, and it includes some interesting shit. I actually already bought myself the Urban Decay Electric Palette for $24, since I'd been kicking myself for not getting it when it was on sale elsewhere (plus I had a Nordstrom gift card). But they also have a bunch more from Urban Decay, MAC, Smashbox, LORAC, etc., all of which I should not buy. (But speaking of good things I already bought from Nordstrom Rack, I also got this wool cardigan for $37, and it's perfect. I'm probably going to eventually get it in a couple more colors for work.)

Butter London's on HauteLook, and here's another thing I own that I recommend: Two Fingered Salute. It's one of my favorite nail polishes--mint with copper glitter. Hey, so far I am mostly finding things that you should or shouldn't buy and nothing for myself! I'm patting myself on the back.

Oh wait. Here's where I need help: Sephora. I'm very tempted to get the 4-piece Jack Black lip balm set for $20. I know I shouldn't be hoarding lip balm, but hear me out. It's one of my favorite formulas (it works amazingly well and doesn't taste like sunscreen), and $5 a piece isn't bad, and I really want to try the pomegranate and lavender scents. Also, they are offering double points on skincare today, which honestly isn't much incentive for me, personally. But then I might as well add a Bite lip crayon for $10 so that I can get one of the freebies (the code 25delights still works, by the way). I have a Flash subscription, so I don't have to pay for shipping. See how I talk myself into these things? Rebuttal?

By the way, if you really want to keep track of beauty sales, I'd suggest reading the Beauty Deals BFF blog. She also posts things like value calculations for free gifts, which are always very interesting.

Amazon Prime Day Beauty Deals

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So Amazon is having their annual sale extravaganza for Prime members. Honestly, a lot of the deals are not that exciting, and I get the impression that it's basically a clearance sale where they're trying to get rid of crap they have too much of. I would advise trying not to impulse purchase things just because they seem to be on sale (advising myself as much as anyone else), because it's hard to tell how much cheaper some things are than they were a week ago (regardless of whether or not they're labelled "30% off"). But if one of your staple or wishlist items is cheaper than usual here, you might as well get it now. You can click "Watch this deal" to find things that sound promising again later.

You can find all the beauty deals here. Here are some specific lightning deals that are coming up over the rest of the day (most of which are things I've tried myself in the past and liked): Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid, Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipsticks, Physician's Formula Eye Boosters Liquid Liner, Lime Crime Velvetines, L'Oreal Superstar Mascara, Nip & Fab Glycolic Pads, Body Shop Chamomile Makeup Remover, Acure Argan Oil or Marula Oil, Coastal Scents Revealed 2 Eyeshadow Palette, and the Wet Brush. I have no idea what the discounts on these products will be, but maybe there will be a pleasant surprise in there somewhere.

For those of you who don't have the time to stalk individual deals, there are also a bunch of "luxury" beauty products for 30-40% off. I was excited to see some Juliette Has A Gun fragrances in that section, but unfortunately the only two marked down are the ones I find least interesting: Romantina and Miss Charming. But this Instain blush trio from theBalm is tempting--I like the one Instain blush I have a whole lot (swatched in my previous post).

Also, if you've never purchased from the "luxury" beauty section, you can use the code NEW2LUXPD17 when you check out to get 30% off anything from that department. They have theBalm, OPI, Mario Badescu, Bioderma, Klorane, L'Occitane, La Roche-Posay, Clarisonic, Blinc, Zoya, Stila, LORAC, Jouer, Indie Lee, and a lot of other brands. Even though I am pretty sure I've shopped in the luxury section before, I was able to use the code to get the 1 oz. Juliette Has A Gun Lady Vengeance dropper bottle for $35.

So are you shopping or abstaining? Or are you above it all and not a Prime member to begin with? I'm not sure I'm going to renew my membership when it expires next month. I need to actually make shopping more difficult for myself.

Sales on MAC, Paula's Choice, Bareminerals, etc.

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Hautelook is interesting in that you can find new brands popping up now and then. MAC is the latest, though just the lip pencils and Huggable lipsticks are available, marked down 48%. I've heard good things about the Huggables--can anyone confirm? (Also, it seems like MAC is suddenly appearing in a bunch of new places like Ulta and Birchbox. A sign of declining sales maybe?) Hautelook also has Butter London (YOU SHOULD GET TWO FINGERED SALUTE!), Kate Somerville, and some other brands on sale if you want to make your shipping (~$6) go further.

Paula's Choice has 20% off plus free shipping this week, which I think is about as big a sale as they offer. No code needed. (You can also get $10 off using my referral link if you're a new customer, and see my various Paula's Choice reviews here.) You can get an extra 10% cash back from Ebates, too, which is pretty great.

Today is the last day of the Bareminerals Friends & Family Sale, which also gives you 20% plus free shipping (no code needed). Also offering that extra 10% off through Ebates. The eyeshadow duo in "The Epiphany", for $12, includes the shade A-ha, which is a gorgeous shade that's similar to Maybelline Bad to the Bronze (swatched here), but in powder form.

Most of the Sephora sales I mentioned last week are still going on too.

Anything I missed?

Deals and funny stuff

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It's a gloomy day here, so I thought I'd post some pleasant shit. First, here are some interesting sales/deals I've come across:

Juvia's Place will be back on Hautelook at 1 pm PST today. Good timing, since I just reviewed their Nubian palette last week.

I just bought two Stila eyeshadows singles from Hollar for $3 each, and they're great. I bought Diamond Lil and Golightly. (New customers also get $2 off a $10 order if you use my link, plus they usually try to tempt you to check out with other discounts on the site.) They have a bunch of other Stila deals plus some Urban Decay liquid liners on Hollar, in addition to the usual drugstore stuff. Plus there are always OPI, Essie, and China Glaze nail polishes for around $3.

Sephora has added new stuff to their sale section, including several things from the Esteé Edit. (I wonder if that line is being discontinued? It didn't seem to really take off.)

The Target April and May Beauty Boxes are still available.

Now for the beauty-themed funny:

Clickhole's article "Fascinating Social Experiment: These Millions Of Women Tried Cheap Drugstore Makeup For Their Entire Lives," seems to be making fun of this ridiculous Buzzfeed article from last year that I blissfully managed to miss.

I am also totally on board with this mockery of fucking Glossier.

If you've come across anything else cheap or hilarious this week, please share with the class!

Target beauty box and other deals

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I haven't been tempted by a Target beauty box in a while, but this month's actually looks pretty good. I wish it were $7 instead of $10, but shipping is free and you get a Wet N Wild liquid lipstick (not sure what color), Nubian Heritage bath bombs, and a Soap & Glory body scrub, among other things.

And because I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the Sephora sale was nothing special, here are some comparable deals out there this week. No FOMO necessary.

Nordstrom also has 10% off a large portion of their beauty section right now, which isn't a spectacular sale, but at least shipping and returns are free, unlike at Sephora.

Macy's also has 10% off beauty, along with some additional markdowns. Use code FRIEND. They offer free shipping on beauty orders, too.

You can get $10 off orders of $35 or more from DHC (of the famous cleansing oil) this month.

Caudalie has 20% off everything this week (no code).

LORAC has 20% off + free shipping (ends today).

All sorts of sales

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It seems like every time I post lately I begin with some comment about how long it's been. Well, I guess I needed a lengthy hiatus this time. I haven't been feeling inspired, and no one wants to read an uninspired beauty blog. I have a post about color correcting that's 75% finished and has been sitting in my drafts folder for two weeks--I'll try to get that up tonight or tomorrow.

In the meantime, I thought you might be interested in some sales, if there's anything here that's been on your list.

Butter London, OCC, Korres, and Nuxe are all on HauteLook right now (anywhere from 20-80% off).

GiltCity has a deal where you can get 3 Allure Beauty Boxes, a year's subscription to Allure, and an eyeshadow quad (which I don't recognize--does it look familiar to anyone?) for $29. The boxes are usually $15 each, so that's not bad. (I think you also get 25% off by using my link. So do I.)

The Formula X Nail Cleanser is on sale on the Sephora site for $2 now. It keeps my polish on better than anything else--much better than just wiping my nails with remover before painting them. And I have terrible chipping, usually. But it can dry out your nails a bit, so use in moderation.

Also, I recently got some bottles of China Glaze and Essie polish for $2-3 each from Hollar (which I should not have bought, but that's only because I don't need more polish). They also have OPI, Orly Color Blast, and Revlon nail polish. You also get a $2 credit with my link (me too), minimum order is $10.

Anything fun going on with you lately, good-makeup-wise or otherwise?

Drugstore Dupe for Anastasia Brow Wiz (from Budget Beauty Blog)

The Budget Beauty Blog is a great source for dupe info. Here she compares Anastasia Brow Wiz (the pencil) to the new L'Oreal Brow Stylist Definer, and finds that they are nearly identical. Nice!

20% off sale stuff from Sephora

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I'm not going to post a lot of deals today, because my internet access while staying with my parents is spotty, but this one is interesting. Extra 20% off things in the sale section on the Sephora site today with code EXTRA20. The Bite Beauty holiday sets are marked down there: the huge Discovery Set is down to $40 from $55 and you get an extra 20% off on top of that. I used a gift card to pick that up. The Bite duos that I posted about here are marked down to $10 from $14 (+ 20% off). Unfortunately the dark berry one I have is sold out, but the others look interesting too. And of course there is a bunch of other stuff in the sale section of the site, including the Urban Decay Vice4 palette.

Remember, you can get an extra percentage off using Ebates, too--right now it's 4% at Sephora. (Here's my invite link.)

Sales: Tarte (30% off), Urban Decay (free shipping), ASOS beauty 30% off

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So I just posted about excess consumerism and now I'm telling you about sales. The things is: if you're going to buy something anyway, you might as well wait for a sale instead of impulse purchasing. Maybe by the time a sale comes along, you won't want it anymore. If you do, then it's a good thing you waited.

Tarte has 30% off everything and free shipping over $25 until tomorrow (Dec. 10). Use code FRIEND30. This is the sale, last year, where I bought the lip crayon I talked about here, as well as their Amazonian Clay foundation--which I returned, since it was too yellow for me (reviewed here). I did end up paying return shipping, but you're unlikely to get 30% off somewhere else like Sephora. If you have Tarte stuff on your list, this is the way to go. They have a good sale section too.

Urban Decay has free ground shipping on all orders, no minimum, until Dec. 31. I recommend checking out their sale section where you can get their eyeshadow primer for $10. It really is good stuff (reviewed here).

ASOS also has 30% off beauty. Again, this is the sale in which last year I bought a foundation that I ended up returning (Bourjois, also reviewed here). They have a bunch of other brands that are difficult to find in the US. I'm sad they no longer have free shipping on all orders, though (now it's $4, or free for $40+ orders).

Anything else going on right now that's worth mentioning?

Paula's Choice Clinical 1% Retinol treatment for $34-44 + other sales (Too Faced, Beauty.com, Wet N Wild, J. Crew Factory)

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Paula's Choice has a code right now for 20% off their Clinical 1% Retinol treatment: AMRETINOL20, bringing it down to $44. If you are a new customer, you can also get an additional $10 off by using someone's invite link (here's mine), bringing it down again to $34. This shit isn't cheap, but I've had good results with it, and I'm still using it - no plans to stop (my review here). You also get 10 extra free samples (in addition to the usual 3) with your order right now, and shipping is free over $50.

J. Crew Factory has an extra 35% off most things (including clearance) today with code YOUWIN.

Some other stores are having 20-25% off sales right now too (which I don't consider especially exciting - just better than nothing): Too Faced with code BFF20, Beauty.com has 20% off almost everything (you have to use this link, or the one you got in your email if you're on their list, to add the discount to your cart, and it ends today Sunday), and Wet N Wild's new online store has 25% off with code GETWILD25 - though they don't sell their Fergie line online, which is where my favorite eyeshadow primer comes from. Boo.

Any other good deals you've come across lately that I missed here?

Reminder: Rue La La has beauty deals (Clinique, Guerlain, Lipstick Queen, Bare Minerals, Nuxe, Nars, Burberry, Shu Uemura, etc.)

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I just thought I'd post a quick note to point out that Rue La La has a ton of of discounted beauty products. I just remembered that it existed, so I thought I'd remind you too. The sales aren't huge (averaging about 20-25% off from what I can tell), but you might find something that you normally don't see on sale. It seems ideal for things that you use up regularly and need to replace, like if you only use one type of mascara or foundation. Maybe you use always use Clinique Dramatically Different moisturizer; you can buy it for $11.50 rather than $14.50. Or if you want to get fancy, you can get some Guerlain ballz (Météorites) for $48.

Their shipping is a bit weird. You pay $9.95 and then you get unlimited shipping for 30 days. So it's really only worth it if you expect to place multiple orders in a month - otherwise you might be better off paying $10 for flash shipping at Sephora for a year and paying full price for your stuff - or paying full price with free shipping at Nordstrom. You can do the math.

You do need an account to browse Rue La La, so here is my invite link.

Anyway, this is another option that is out there! It's been quite a while since I bought anything from Rue La La. I assume shipping takes a while, because, like HauteLook, you get the product from the brand rather than directly from Rue La La. If you are a regular Rue La La shopper, is there anything else people need to know?

Help me shop: fall-winter wardrobe sales (40-60% off)

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When I did a poll a while back,  the majority of people indicated that they were okay with a little non-beauty content. Today I have clothing on my mind, here we are. Also, I've been traveling for the last week and I need to take some more photos before I can post on any of the makeup topics I have planned. This post, then, is basically me thinking out loud (at length, as always) about what to wear this winter - if that's not your thing, I've added a cut below so you can scroll on past if you like.

I'm working from home this year, so the work clothes I bought last year (slacks, nice cardigans, pencil skirts, etc.) are not getting much use these days. Still, I feel slightly gross wearing yoga pants and old t-shirts every day, and all-day pajamas don't do anything to help my productivity. But it's so comfortable! I decided, therefore, that that my work wardrobe for this year is going to consist of leggings/yoga pants, but with long, warm, drapey sweaters over then. That way I don't feel like a complete fucking slob, but it's still relaxed - and if someone comes to the door, they can't tell if I'm not wearing a bra, because layers.

(Speaking of bras, why do they conspire to all wear out at the same time so that you have to spend a fortune replacing them. I need to do some bra shopping as well. My favorite bra for combining comfort and support is the Montelle Pure Plus bra. I'd recommend it if your boobs are wide spaced and/or point more to the sides than the front.)

In my head this working-from-home uniform should be art historian chic (though I deviate from the artsy uniform in that I do wear makeup - I'm not actually an art historian, after all - and I leave the giant, statement earrings for days I'm not staying home). I don't have a tripod, but I tried to take a photo in my mirror of an outfit like this that I already own. Fashion blogger I am not, and it was tragic. Anyway, you can all imagine what a long sweater (tunic or cardigan) over leggings looks like. It's not that out there. I'll show you what I've found in my search today, but I would love additional suggestions if any of you are masters of this aesthetic. I haven't been particularly successful.

Sunday sales (Urban Decay and Zoya)

Urban Decay has 20% off everything right now with code TAKEITOFF. Just today and tomorrow, but the code works on the sale section. Their primer potion is already 50% off, so with the code it's down to $8. That is a decent price for a good eyeshadow primer (reviewed here in Eden). There are also palettes and other things in the sale section. Shipping is free over $50; otherwise it's $8.

Zoya has $5 off plus free shipping on orders over $25 from now until Oct. 18. Zoya is my favorite nail polish brand, I think. So many interesting colors (some swatches in my Zoya tag).

Those are the best I've seen today. Anything good I missed?

All L'Oreal Target Beauty Box $5 + free shipping

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This box doesn't look the most exciting to me (mini hairspray, mascara, shampoo and skincare packets), but if there's more than one thing in it that you want to try, it might be worth it for $5. The value is $16, apparently. Anyone planning to get this one?

Free Lancome foundation sample

As part of my plan to share more deals, I also want to share good freebies when I come across them. Unfortunately, free samples seem to be rarer these days than they used to be. Here's a potentially promising one for Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24Hr. I suspect it's just a card sample, but maybe we'll get luckier than that. I know you can test it at the department store, but this way you can stay home and not put on a bra.

And here's a sample of L'Oreal shampoo and conditioner. These are usually generously sized for foil packets. Good for traveling or when you get sick of the bottle of whatever is in your shower and want a change for a day or two.

Sales and stuff: fyi

Just a note: these days I tend to post links to sales/deals/free stuff on Tumblr and Twitter, rather than spamming up the blog with them. I don't post everything I come across, because there are other blogs that are more on top of that stuff than I am (Nouveau Cheap, for instance), but if you're interested in that kind of thing, you might want to follow me one of those places. I tend to include more information in the Tumblr posts, for obvious reasons.

Butter London is on Gilt

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5 bottles for $35 or 3 for $25. Looks like a decent selection.

You need an account to browse Gilt, so here's my invite link if you so desire to use it.

Tarina Tarantino Cosmetics on HauteLook (45-53% off)

This shit gets really high ratings on the blogs and message boards. You can find a bunch of swatches from Temptalia. I had a hard time deciding between the eyeshadows, which look amazing in swatches, and the eyeliners, but I ultimately went with the blue and purple eyeliners, since I don't have anything like that.

You need an account to browse HauteLook, so go ahead and use my invite link (same as above), if you are so generously inclined.

No More Rack has a bunch of nail polish deals right now

They still have the 5 mystery bottles of OPI for $20. You can also get 5 mystery bottles of Nicole by OPI for $19. They have the entire China Glaze holiday collection (12 bottles) for $37 (i.e. $3 each) and the Orly Mash Up collection (6 pieces) for $31 ($5.17 each, which is not great, but better than in stores, I guess). There might be more, but these are the ones that came up when I searched "nail polish" on the site. I think the OPI one is still the best deal, if you are okay with surprises.

There also seems to be a lot of Elizabeth Arden stuff available at the moment, if you're into that.

Shipping is $2 per item. You can get a $10 off $30 credit by using my link to sign up (I get one too). And you can check out my review of my experience buying from No More Rack here.

My No More Rack experience

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Seems legit.

I though I'd do a review of my experience purchasing from No More Rack, since, to be perfectly honest, it's a somewhat sketchy-looking website. I posted a while back about a deal where they had 5 OPI polishes for $20, but I was too slow and missed out on that one. (Hope it will come back!) I had a little credit (you get $10 for every referral, and so does the person you refer), so I decided to look for something else. I ended up getting a bottle of Clinique Turnaround Concentrate Extra Radiance Renewer for super-cheap.

The good: There is a TON of stuff available, and the deals are good. Shipping is only $2 per item, but every day they also have a 3-hour free shipping sale. You just have to watch your email, because it's not always at the same time. They have a whole range of things, from higher end brands like Estée Lauder, Clinique, Philosophy, Tarte, Stila, Bare Escentuals, Lancome, etc. to drugstore stuff like Revlon or multi-packs of Secret deodorant. They also have brands that can be hard to find in the US like Bourjois Paris and Biotherm, or specific products that are only sold overseas, even if the brand is available in the US.

In their FAQ, they say that you need to allow 10-14 days for your item to ship. Mine shipped within 2 days, and I had it in 5 days. I don't know how typical that is.