Don't Pay Retail Prices Part 3--Another TJ Maxx Haul

TJ Maxx is one of my go-to places for a sweet deal on nail polish. It is hit or miss, but their selection changes all the time. Recently, I found some Color Club and Orly goodies that caught my eye.
*Products in this post were purchased by me with my own money. There may be affiliate links.*

As you can see, the Poptastic set of Color Club polishes is so bright that my camera freaked out and couldn't come close to accurately capturing the colors. Always so difficult to photograph neons and super bright colors. In my opinion, the first four polishes are actual neons and the last three are just very bright. Individual Color Club polishes retail for about $8.00. This set costs $48.00 on Color Club's retail site. I paid $9.99. The included shades are, from left to right, Wham! Pow!, Almost Famous, Poptastic, Warhol, Pucci-licious, Twiggie, and Factory Girl. (I already have Pucci-licious, so I gave the one from this set to a friend. Mine is a lot more purple, whereas hers leans more blue.)

Once I found out that Orly was changing their bottle design, I kept an eye out at TJ Maxx for Orly polishes in the old bottle design, since I figured they would get cleared out at regular stores and salons. I much prefer the old bottle design. Orly's regular polishes retail for $8.50 on their site, and their special glitters retail for $10.00. I mostly bought special glitters. TJ Maxx had (and still has, last time I checked) sets of two called Perfect Pairs, for $6.99. The set pictured above is Go Deeper and Monster Mash.

The second set is Miss Conduct and Mermaid Tale. I was super excited to find Miss Conduct. I've seen gorgeous swatches of it online. She looks fairly pretty in the bottle, but on the nail all sorts of holographic goodness comes out.

The third set is Spazmatic and Holy Holo. I'll be interested to see how Holy Holo compares to Paris by Julep, another silvery holo glitter topper.

Total retail value: $106.50. Total paid (before tax): $30.96.

*Products in this post were purchased by me with my own money.*

Don't Pay Retail Prices Part 2--$1.95 CVS Haul

In February, I shared several examples of why and how I almost never pay retail prices for my beauty items, in the post Don't Pay Retail Prices. Today's installment is another small example, focused on combining resources for saving such as sales, coupons, and customer loyalty rewards. 
*I paid for these products with my own money. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

I bought Essie Stroke of Brilliance, Neutrogena Pure & Free Sunscreen, and Sally Hansen Tint + Moisture Balm for a total of $1.95 after tax.

My original subtotal before tax at full retail CVS pricing would have been $27.77. The price for the Sally Hansen is the same in other stores, the price for the Essie is about 29 cents cheaper in most places, and the price for the Neutrogena is about $1.50~2.00 cheaper elsewhere. So even if I had been shopping at a less expensive store, my subtotal would still have been about $26.00.

The sunscreen was on sale for $7.99, down from $14.49. I had a CVS coupon for $4.00 off of a $20.00 purchase. I had received two ExtraBucks rewards, which are basically store credit, from the CVS ExtraCare customer loyalty program which gives you 2% back on purchases and $5.00 ExtraBucks when you accumulate 10 filled prescriptions (if you link everything, easy to do online). One was for $1.50 for my regular purchases and one was for $5.00 for my beauty purchases, (which you get once you have cumulatively spent $50.00 on beauty items if you're signed up for their ExtraCare Beauty Club). As you can see below, that brought my subtotal to only $0.77! So although my final total was $1.95, I was paying less for the actual products than for the sales tax.

That's how you make a beauty product purchase that doesn't worry your husband. He gave me a high-five on this one, as a matter of fact.

*I paid for these products with my own money. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

Zoya Earth Day 2013 Nail Polish Exchange

This post contains a referral link. If you choose to order from Zoya.com, please use my Share the Love referral link: https://www.artofbeauty.com/rd/01853244.  This gets discounts/coupons for me and a free bottle of polish for you. See details at the end of the post.


Hooray For Earth Day! The Zoya Nail Polish Exchange Is BACK for 2013...

Announcing the 2013 Zoya Nail Polish Exchange*

Hooray for Earth Day! Once again, Zoya is helping you do a little spring cleaning with the return of the Earth Day Zoya Nail Polish Exchange* for 2013. Clean out your nail polish wardrobe and get rid of old nail polish that may not be BIG5FREE (Free of Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin, Toluene, DBP and Camphor) and exchange it for a greener alternative - long lasting, award winning, healthy Zoya Nail Polish bottles!

Now's the perfect time to make the switch to an eco-chic beauty routine! From April 19, 2013 - April 26, 2013 (11:59pm EST), exchange your old, unwanted nail color for toxin-free ZOYA Nail Polish for only $4 per bottle plus shipping and handling fees. Rest assured - ZOYA will properly dispose of your old polish. 

Here's all you need to do!

 

 

 

If you choose to order from Zoya.com, please use my Share the Love referral link: https://www.artofbeauty.com/rd/01853244.  This gets discounts/coupons for me and a free bottle of polish for you. See details at the end of the post.

1. Go to www.zoya.com and pick out the polishes you would like (excludes ALL Zoya PixieDustTM Collection shades) and add them to your cart. You must select at least 6 bottles and no more than 24 bottles of polish (Salon accounts minimum 12 maximum 48 bottles.)
2. Apply the code: ZOYAEARTH2013
3. Your order value will be adjusted to reflect a 50% discount (we use these funds to properly dispose of the old nail polish).
4. SUBMIT your order!

Then Zoya will ship out your NEW polish! HOORAY! This is what your order should look like...

Once you get your order
Here's where the exchanging* happens...

1. Ship back the equivalent number of bottles you received to the return address below (ie. If you ordered 6 bottles of Zoya – you would send us 6 NON-ZOYA polishes). Please check with your carrier on the proper way to ship nail polish.
2. Include a copy of your order. 

To clarify the exchange: You do not have to send us the exact amount of bottles that you are ordering. You can send any quantity up to that amount. You can also donate. If you decide you don't want to do either, it's ok "Offer is not contingent on customer returning polish" we will still love you and will send the Zoya polishes... we'll just send you on a guilt trip for a while :)

Ship Your Old Nail Polish To:
Art of Beauty, Inc.
c/o Polish Exchange
5060 Taylor Rd, Unit D
Cleveland, Ohio, 44128, USA

Once we receive your polish we do the rest! It’s that simple!

IMPORTANT!
The bottles you send in cannot be Zoya, Qtica or Nocti polishes (but they can be any other brand). We are using the honor code here folks! We want to make sure you get your Zoya Nail Polish! We send you the polish first then you send your old polish back to us! If you do choose to send us your old polish we promise to properly dispose of it according to EPA guidelines. This offer is only good for 1 week so hurry – Don’t Wait!
*Offer valid online at www.zoya.com only. Offer expires on 4/26/2013 at 11:59PM EST. Continental US ONLY. Excludes ALL Zoya PixieDust Collection shades. Not valid with any other codes, coupons or promotions. Shipping and handling fees apply. Consumer accounts must exchange a minimum of 6 polishes with a 24 bottle maximum. Salon accounts must exchange at least 12 with a maximum of 48 bottles. Polish can be from any brand EXCEPT Zoya, Qtica or Nocti and can be exchanged for in-stock .5oz Zoya Nail Polish. Offer is not contingent on customer returning polish. Zoya Exchange code is unique and non-transferable. One code per account. Art of Beauty is not responsible for incorrect addresses, credit card entry errors or errors associated with declined credit cards. Please allow standard time for processing and shipping, however if volume is higher than expected please allow up to 6 weeks for shipping and processing. Art of Beauty, Inc. reserves the right to remove any polish that is out of stock from your order. You will not be charged for this polish. Backordered polish is not included in this promotion.

 

This post contains a referral link. If you choose to order from Zoya.com, please use my Share the Love referral link: https://www.artofbeauty.com/rd/01853244.  See below for details.

Remember EVERYONE WINS with "Share the Love":  
When someone clicks on your personal link and sets up an online account, a $5 coupon a coupon for a FREE Bottle of Zoya Nail Polish will automatically be placed in their account and can be used immediately on their current order. TIP: If you use this coupon and add 2 more polishes to your order, you get free shipping too! The coupon will appear in the "My Coupons/ Promos" section of their "My Account" Page.



You get 100 Share the "Love Points" added to your account when the following three things happen:

• A person who clicks on you link creates an online account
• That account places any online order
• That order ships and is successfully invoiced and charged
  

Share the "Love Points" can be redeemed for valuable coupon code and gifts. Check out the New Monthly Special Redemption Offers in the "Redeem Points" section of your online account. New ones are always being added.

Don't Pay Retail Prices

Despite the title of my blog, I realize that cosmetics are a luxury. They are lovely, but they don't exactly fall under the categories of food, clothing, or shelter. I feel the need to be even more bargain-conscious with beauty items than other products. In my experience, the key to getting the most out of your money is patience. Below are some recent examples.

Color Club Glitter Vixen 7-bottle set

The above type of set, containing seven bottles of Color Club polish, is available on the Color Club website for $48.00: http://www.shopcolorclub.com/nail-polish-collections.html . As nail polish prices go, not too bad: under $7.00 a bottle. But I refuse to drop $48 in one shot on nail polish, even as addicted as I am. I purchased the above set at T.J. Maxx for $9.99. It is not rare for T.J. Maxx to have great nail polish bargains on brands like Essie, OPI, China Glaze, and of course, Color Club.

Butter London Sparkle, Sparkle glitter trio

The Butter London trio above (featuring 'Shambolic', 'Jack the Lad', and 'Scuppered') is valued at $42.00, based on their 2012 price of $14.00 per bottle of nail lacquer (price is $15.00 in 2013). They were selling the trio initially for $36.00 for the holidays. I was not going to spend that much. I was tempted, however, after the holidays when Butter London lowered the price to $25.00. I still resisted. Finally, last week I found the Sparkle, Sparkle collection above at Nordstrom Rack for...

Nordstrom Rack is fabulous for finding cosmetics at more reasonable prices. On my last trip there, I saw brands such as Anastasia, Urban Decay, Stila, NYX, Jane, and Benefit. I was loving the Urban Decay:

Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Box

Urban Decay actually has this Deluxe Shadow Box on sale on their website for a great price of only $16.00 (original was $38.00). I paid a little bit more than that at Nordstrom Rack, as shown below, but that was totally okay for me, since I didn't have to pay shipping. Free shipping on the Urban Decay site is for orders of $50.00 or more.

 

Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Box opened

DDF Brightening Cleanser is my favorite facial cleanser. I first tried it through a sample from Birchbox. Then, I received another sample through Sample Society. Since then, I have traded on makeuptalk.com for a few of the sample bottles. But, then, not long ago I found a full-size bottle at Marshalls: 

DDF Brightening Cleanser

On DDF's website, this cleanser retails for $39.00. Dermstore sells it for $35.00. I am not sure where Marshalls got the $24.00 price from for comparison, but I was definitely happier with the price I paid:

 

Most recently, I checked out my local Big Lots for bargains. I ended up with eight Revlon nail polishes. Revlon nail polish typically retails for $4.99, although Ulta and CVS will often have sales, such as 'Buy One, Get One 50% Off'. At Big Lots, however, these were being sold for $2.00 for a pack of two. (Please note that stock varies a lot by branch.) Here are the shades I bought:

Revlon 'Chic' and 'Royal'

Revlon 'Cloud' and 'Sheer Seafoam'

Revlon 'Saucy' and 'Gold Coast'

2 Bottles of Revlon 'Sparkle Aplenty'

Another great source of bargains are online coupon codes. Simply type the name of the brand you are looking for into your search engine, followed by the phrase 'coupon code' and you may find codes good for free shipping, gift with purchase, 20% off, or similar.

It takes more time and patience to hunt for sales and coupons, but it is completely worthwhile to me. 

What do you think? Do you search for the lowest prices, or is it too much work?

*I am not affiliated with any of the brands or stores mentioned in this post. All of these products were purchased with my own money.*