November 7, 2017

What’s Your Cheapest and Most Awesome Makeup or Beauty Haul?

My post today about shopping fragrances on a budget got me thinking about makeup, skincare, fragrance, and beauty I’ve gotten on sale. Lately, sales are in abundance on makeup and otherwise. When Black Friday and Cyber Monday hit it’s like they are giving the Holidays away for free! The prices are insane.

Makeup in particular has hit an all time low as far as clearance and sale. Several years ago you’d be hard pressed to find items knocked down as much as they are nowadays. A new palette? It would likely sell out before it every went on sale. Don’t get me wrong! There’s always been sales but not of the caliber we see now.

One of my favorite pass times is hitting up Nordstrom Rack on Sunday after brunch with my bestie. Sometimes you can hit up the Rack and spend millions of bucks and come away with some awesome scores. Other days you can walk out with spending a dime. I’m sure all of you have hit one major sale that was to good to be true whether it be at the Rack, Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, or online.

Want to tell me about your cheapest and most awesome makeup or beauty haul?

Here’s mine!

To this day I still remember when Nordstrom Rack had Stila Creme Bouquet on sale. Creme Bouquet is hard to come by sadly. It’s one of the reasons I ended up become such a hardcore vanilla gourmand fragrance lover. Why Stila ever did away with this beloved and brilliant fragrance is beyond me but they did. One day at Nordstrom Rack I was able to haul several bottles at a very, very cheap price. I was OVER the freaking moon. To this day I still consider it one of my most awesome hauls (and fairly cheap too).

It’s the one haul that sticks out in my mind and makes me smile just thinking about it. I wish I could say I ran across more Creme Bouquet after that but I never did. And I still have hopes Stila might bring it back one day.

How about you?

What’s your cheapest and most awesome makeup or beauty haul?

Do share it!

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Kat

    OMG I love good finds at TJX and Marshalls. Not particularly MY find since I’m abroad right now, but my boyfriend found me a Kat Von D contour palette ($24) and a Marc Jacobs perfection powder ($14) yesterday at TJ Maxx, plus he gets an extra 20% off as a Home Goods employee. So happy with that!

    • Isabella Muse

      what? Who’s your boyfriend and does he want to be my best friend? I LIVE and breath home goods!

  • Rachael Hart

    I miss Creme Bouquet DEARLY. Why Stila. Why would you take if away from us??????

  • Autumn

    I had 2000 ulta points to cash in and a 20% off on prestige coupon. I hauled ABH prism, UD naked2 (cuz I still didn’t have that one), stila star studded 8 lippie set & stila written in her stars eye set for about $8. It got lost during shipment, so ulta reshipped it. Both ended up arriving and ulta told me to keep them both! As if I needed another reason to love ulta.

  • Carolina

    I think my cheapest and most awesome makeup haul was last month when I bought the Tarte Blush Bliss Palette and the Tarte Cheek Charmers 5 Piece Set and all costed me 48€. It has so cheap!

  • Susan

    Mine is saving up my Ulta points until they hit 2000, which is worth $125 on anything and everything. Combined that with my Platinum 20% off anything coupon, and I got $155 worth of new prestige brand makeup for……. ZERO!

  • kjh

    100 years ago, when Hautelook was new to me, and HRH Ms Muse noted theBalm, got 3 instains and one regular blush, for the price of one. Who TF does 75% off? They did then. A couple of weeks ago, scored LQD/C’d rust sinner for 9 at the Rack.The only one, no box, but fine. Had scoured the net, bec that’s a must have, and the boy dog had mangled it. To think I almost ordered it from hsn or qvc for full price AND shipping. You are my Nordie’s Cos go to informant. Best Ulta points haul was ABH Aurora and MR. Doesn’t compare to Susan, though. Saving is the way to go for Ulta.

    • Isabella Muse

      hautelook and the rack are totally my jam! So many great deals it is absurd ;D They have Tory fragrances right now! Ouch my wallet!

  • diane

    my proudest beauty haul moment is when I walked into Ulta a few months ago and walked out with a Dyson Dryer, after paying only $1.50. I got the Ulta credit card, charged literally everything, especially necessities and phone bill, car insurance, etc to rack up the points for that dryer. Took me over 6 months to accumulate all the points but a buck-fifty for $400 dryer!? worth the wait.

  • Paige

    Eons ago Philospohy had bubble bath called Message in a Bottle, it came in a glass bottle with a cork (like the kind you’d throw off a ship and find washed up with a help message ages later) when it first released, which they later changed to plastic. Anyway it was discontinued and I found it at the Rack for 3/4 off and I bought them 100% out.

    I just wish the H20 Plus bath soak that came with the shell scoop was still around it and Message in a Bottle were similar.

    The other great haul from the Rack was thick cream from Antica Farmistica in vanilla bourbon mandarin which I would eat it smells so good. Bought all 4 of those that were left, over 1/2 off@

    • Isabella Muse

      I got Antica Farmistica at the Rack too! Half off fragrance! Total steal! I have to google this message in a bottle thing, I don’t remember that! Sounds brilliant!

  • Jessie

    The best haul I can remember was coming across some Body Shop Atlas Mountain Rose fragrance gift sets at Marshall’s for cheap!

      • Jessie

        its a soft sort of powdery rose scent, not very long lasting, but the lotion in the gift set helps prolong the scent if you layer. I like it for daytime or low-key days. Rose is my favorite scent, so i’ll try anything marketed as rose!

        • Isabella Muse

          likewise on rose! It goes candied on me so I love anything rose. It sounds lovely!

  • Laurie

    While it’s super satisfying to save 20% at Ulta or Sephora, you need to spend money to make money. My haul at Marshall’s last week, however, netted two Ole Henriksen items. Both were part of a kit I had in my basket at Sephora for the VIB/Rouge sale, so, yay. I also found a Korres eye cream and an Algenist eye cream for next to nothing, but because the Algenist is in an unsealed jar, I’m not sure how fresh it is. It was never used, but it might have been opened and closed repeatedly. Still, it was $5 and what I’m using right now. Last time I picked up an Algenist primer, a Dr. Brandt serum and a Shiseido moisturizer. It’s really hard to suss out the gems because they clump it all together on two or three shelves with stuff that’s nothing special and unless you know the logos or color schemes, your eye will not go to them. It’s also hit or miss, so relying on them to fill all your skincare needs is next to impossible.

    Speaking of Algenist, they had an amazing offer a couple of weeks ago. I paid $5 for them to send me a cute little bag with a very substantial size of cleanser, eye cream and face cream. I had gotten the latter two as 500 points items at Sephora, and the eye cream, in particular, lasted like two months, so this was well worth it. Of course, because of that I was inclined to take part in their Friends and Family sale and spent money I had not planned to spend. These are not stupid people.

      • Laurie

        I always appreciate when you list what Hautelook is selling. I love them. After the VIB/Rouge sale, the most recent Ulta sale, and my Algenist sale, I am off the market for skincare for probably the two-year shelf life of the stuff. But it’s always nice to “window shop.” Surprisingly, I have no luck at Nordstrom Rack.

        • Isabella Muse

          aw glad to hear it! They do have some great buys!!!!!! Nordies Rack is hit and miss. Sometimes I strike gold, other times nada!

  • TropicalChrome

    OPI Gwen Stefani holiday collection at Dollar Tree. Yup, hauled them all for $1 a bottle.
    TJ Maxx had my favorite Sally Hansen Cuticle Eraser and Balm for $2 on clearance (sealed packages). I bought the four they had for the price of one.
    Laura Geller Strawberry Swirl kit for $12.50.
    TJ Maxx/Marshalls currently has Marc Jacobs nail polishes for $4.99. I found almost every shade I was lusting after and didn’t have.

    • Isabella Muse

      SWEET! I never get good makeup finds at TJ or Marshalls! Mostly stuff is open and gross 🙁

      • TropicalChrome

        Yup, 90% of it is awful and I wouldn’t touch it. But when you’re in the mood to take the time to find hidden gems, there are sometimes some really good things to be found. Just wash up afterwards 😉

  • Susan

    I know to get Ulta points you have to spend money to make money, so to speak, but for me a lot of it is money I’d spend anyway — Christmas gifts, skin care, cotton facial pads, nail polish remover, etc.

    At least that’s what I tell myself. 😉

  • varya

    Two sales immediately spring to mind.One was for large trunks of Molton Brown gift sets at Marshall’s for 90% off. It was in Aug., I got them for all my hubs work colleagues. Now I struggle every year to match that gift. Never happens. The other was a yard sale where the grandchildren were selling all of their deceased grandmother’s stuff. Scored 3 sealed full size Chantecaille Rose Harmonizing cream and I0 sealed sample size tubes of the Chantecaille Lily mask. I paid the princely sum of $30 for the creams,they threw in the masks. Poor kids were swamped with all of Grandma’s many treasures and just wanted to clear it all out.

    • Isabella Muse

      I’ve come across Molton Brown as well but it is ALWAYS ALWAYS DESTROYED! squeezed, sticky, gross, never have I gotten lucky sadly! haha that is crazy that a little old grandma was stashing away chantecaille 😀

  • Brandy

    This isn’t a haul, but I found the most perfect lipgloss color and formula from Milani at the Dollar Tree. The lipgloss doesn’t even have a name. The lettering has worn off but I think it just said “lipgloss”�. I only have two tubes of it, so I’ve been using it sparingly for the past year afraid of the day they run out since Milani no longer makes it.

    • Isabella Muse

      ;-D Sounds like a deal to me ;-D was it one of their old glitter ones? I loved those!

      • Brandy

        No glitter in this one. It’s kind of like Nyx Butter Gloss, but with the pigment of a liquid lipstick. It lasts as long as any other lipgloss, but I just love the berry mauve color I picked up. I’m pretty sure it just said “Milani Lipgloss”� on the tube.

  • genevieve

    One of the best skincare deals was late last year where Priceline were having a 40% off Skincare sale on all of their products, plus if you spent $60 (which was very easy enough to do), you received, for free, this totally fantastic skincare bag with more $270 worth of excellent products. It has taken me the whole year to use everything up.

  • Yen

    I think the best beauty item I got was finding my favorite fragrance, Hanae Mori Butterfly, for $36 at Nordstrom Rack. It was a 3.4 oz bottle that usually runs $116. In the past I passed up the chance of snagging a 1 oz bottle at The Rack. So when I saw the 3.4 oz bottle I couldn’t grab it fast enough! Another great deal I found at The Rack is not beauty related, but I found a Rag&Bone dress for $40 when the retail was around $500. That was the best day of savings in my life.

  • Lauren

    I’ve been able to find a lot of Bite products at TJ Maxx lately, for very good prices. I usually snatch them up, as long as they look like they haven’t been molested, lol. A couple of days ago, I got a 2015 holiday set that had a full size lip gloss, full size lipstick, full-size high pigment pencil, mini matte creme crayon, mini lip primer, mini agave lip mask, mirror, and lip wipes for $24, Also picked up a few of the sadly discontinued luminous creme lipsticks and the butter cream lipsticks for cheap!