Hello New Year, and Hello Ulta Deals!

I'm a big fan of Ulta. A lot more so than Sephora. Whenever I walk into Sephora, I feel overwhelmed by all the choices, and cosmetic lines to choose from. But the most intimidating factor shopping at Sephora, are their prices. Seriously. I mean, sure, I've forked out $18 for an eyeshadow many times before at their store, but in these shaky economic times, it seems a bit overkill when I can get nearly the same comparable item for a fraction of the price at a discount retailer. Ulta offers a lot of the same high end cosmetic names as Sephora, but also has a huge collection drugstore cosmetic brands. I can easily compare a $16 Too Faced eye shadow to a $6 Revlon eye shadow in the same place and decide wether or not to spend the extra cash on the h/e brand.

Ulta offers a membership program that accrues points whenever you use their card at checkout. Each quarter, you can redeem these points for free and discounted merchandise. Sephora offers a similar card, but at a steeper price to recieve goodies and promotions. Like $100 later to get a crummy bodywash worth $5.

At Ulta, you can combine store coupons with manufacturer coupons to maximize the savings. After registering for an Ulta loyalty card, they will begin sending you catalogs that frequently have $3.50 off a $10 purchase, or 20% one item....nice. There are restrictions that limit the coupons use to mostly drugstore brands, but ocassionally they loosen up and allow coupon usage on brand names such as Bare Escentuals, Urban Decay, and others.

Anyways, from Jan 4-17, Ulta offers a selection of great deals and offers for an economic beauty junkie, like moi. Here's a sneak at some of the better deals:

~L'Oreal cosmetics/skincare is buy one, get one free
~Almay Pure Blends is buy 2, get 2 free
~Sally Hansen Nail Care is buy 2, get 2 free
~Physicians Formula is buy 2, get 2 free
~Neutrogena, Max Factor, and Cover Girl are all buy 1, get 1 half off

These are only some of the deals going on at Ulta for drugstore names. You can check out the ad scan in your area here: http://ulta.shoplocal.com/ulta/Default.aspx?action=entry&pretailerid=-99892&siteid=168&storeID=2361647

Here is a scenario that I will be doing for to maximize the savings! Since I need some (more so, want) more neutral eyeshadows at the moment, I am going to do the Almay Pure Blends deal, which is Buy 2, get 2 free:

4 Almay Pure Blends eyeshadow singles @ 5.79 each

Subtotal: 23.16

-Ulta B2G2 sale (-11.58)
-Ulta in-store coupon (-3.50)
-(4) Almay $1 off/1 Manufacturer coupons (-4.00)

Total: 4.08+tax for 4 eyeshadows! That's four for less than the price of one!

I also may do the L'Oreal deal and pick up those new HiP Kohl Liners. I can use another Ulta store coupon and combine it with manufacturer coupons that came out in todays sunday paper. I can easily score two of the liners for under $7 or so....