Natural Beauty Breakthrough

Right now my current beauty obsession is checking all those sample-sale websites for beauty products. Some sites are great at offering beauty sales on a regular basis, and others could do more to amp up their beauty offerings. I’ll clue you in on which ones you should be keeping tabs on.

If you’re not familiar with sample sales, get ready to spend the next hour getting acquainted with them. I like to describe sample-sale websites as versions of Ross, Marshalls, and T.J.Maxx online, only the merchandise on sale changes on a daily basis and sales only last a few days. The brands and merchandise on sale vary from site to site, but there’s a good mix of department-store and high-end goods. You can even get discount hotel rooms on these sample-sale websites—that’s my plan for my next trip.

My absolutely favorite sample-sale website is Gilt. While Gilt’s focus is mainly on fashion, its sales often include well-known beauty brands. Right now, its current beauty sale is all about summer, so it includes Deborah Lippmann nail polishes, Clarins self-tanners, Ojon hair products, and Completely Bare waxing products. Which reminds me, are you watching the founder on Real Housewives of New York? Dying to see how the founder of Completely Bare fares in Morocco!

Gilt seems to have more of the brands I like; Laura Mercier and Deborah Lippmann have sales from time to time. Not only that, but Gilt has an amazing iPhone and iPad app feature called Gilt Color that lets you use your camera to detect a color and find items based on that color that are on sale. Simply genius …

The runner-up to Gilt is Hautelook. This company was recently bought out by my beloved Nordstrom, so I predict it will just keep getting better and better. Hautelook has beauty sales more regularly, but they don’t always have brands that interest me as much as Gilt does. That’s not to say that they do not have good beauty sales though. Brands like Urban Decay, Stila, and Kevyn Aucoin are Hautelook regulars. When those brands are on sale, you have to hurry up; it is not uncommon for things to sell out within minutes.

Other sites with occasional beauty sales include Rue La Laand Swirl; I keep an eye on most of these sites, but if that’s too much of a hassle for you, I’d go with Gilt and Hautelook. These sites also give referral credits in the amount of $10 to $25; Gilt is the most generous, giving $25 to those people who refer friends once they make their first purchase. I’ve referred friends, family, and even my readers. Not a bad way to score some free beauty loot, right?

Read more of Carla’s musings at Product Girl.