5 Secrets to Shopping High End Beauty on a Budget

Before I dive into my secrets for scoping out high end beauty on a budget, I have to give you just a little background!For as long as I can remember, I have loved all things beauty! Lipsticks, eyeshadow pallets, you name it. Any kind of highlighter, I wanted it. I became absolutely obsessed with Jaclyn Hill in my early university years, and many other beauty vloggers and bloggers. I wanted their secrets, I wanted their tricks and I wanted to try all the products they were testing out.

The only problem with this was that I started really paying attention to my finances, and realized I couldn’t afford half of the products I wanted (if I wanted to pay for regular life things that is). This was where I had to get smart and figure out how I could get all of the products I wanted, while still keeping within the limits of a budget. I’m telling you right now, you do not have to break the bank to score high end beauty products. In this post I talk about my top 5 secrets for shopping high end beauty on a budget, and how you can start scoring deals like I do!

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Related Post: 5 Things to do With Your Paycheque the Second You Get it

First Things First

Finding budget deals isn’t always easy. It will take a little more effort than it would to just go to the store and purchase the item outright. This is part of the trade though! The risk is worth the reward! I have been implementing these tricks in my day to day shopping practice and have saved myself SO much money.

Things to Keep In Mind

For my tricks to work, you need to be strategic, and you need to keep an eye on sites, your email inbox and stores. Items are always changing and deals are always starting and ending, so it’s important to keep on top of brands and stores you want to score a deal from.

Keep in mind, the way you implement my tricks will vary individually! I’m giving you the basics and the tools to set you up so that you can continue to score deals, and learn how the system works! Scoring high end beauty deals varies on season, store, availability and region.

Okay, we’ve got you into the right mindset. Now let’s START!

5 Secrets to Scoring High End Beauty on a Budget

1. Department Store Beauty

I usually save the best for last, but I’m truly bursting at the seams. This is my best money saving trick EVER. My personal favourites are Winners, Marshalls, and Homesense (I’m from Canada and these two seem to be the best I can find). If you haven’t checked out the beauty sections in your local department store, you are seriously missing out.

I usually frequent at least one of the three quite often, but the rewards are stunning. Anastasia Beverly Hills. Too Faced. Benefit. Glamglow. Boscia. Urban Decay. Those are just SOME of the brands I’ve seen floating around in the beauty section.

Recently, I have purchased an Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Contour Kit for $25 (retails for $52), an ABH Aurora Glow Kit for $25 (retails for $52) and the limited edition ABH Pink Matte mini lipstick set for $15 (retails for $27). This beauty haul from Winners saved me over $60! (Haul pictured below!)

Steal my tips for saving big at department stores:

1. Check the stores frequently! Make a point of going once a week or every two weeks. The inventory is always changing and they don’t often receive the same items consistently.

2. Visit different locations! I don’t just go to one Winners, I usually pop in to whichever one I’m close to if I’m out running errands. Quantities and varieties vary among stores. You could miss out on a great find!

3. If you find a gem, buy it then! I don’t risk the chance of putting down that item and not being able to find it again the next time I go! If it’s something you will absolutely use, is a great deal, and is there when you go, get it now!

2. Keep an Eye on the Sales

The best way to score a beauty deal is to shop the sale section! If it’s an item that likely won’t go on sale, keep an eye out for promotional emails! They may offer you a discount code or free shipping, which will further add to your savings! Promotional emails are also a great way to check when items are going on sale as well.

3. Take Advantage of Store Rewards Programs

My favourite stores are the one’s that reward me to keep shopping with them! Lots of stores are known to have a reward program that offers some perk or other for shopping with them. The more you shop with them, the greater chance of accumulating a reward occurs.

Sephora has a great rewards program that you can sign up for (and it’s free)! This allows you to collect points according to the dollar value that you spend, and then redeem those points for free products! The higher you rank in their rewards program, the more perks you receive!

My other favourite rewards program is the PC Optimum points system with Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaws! If you haven’t already signed up (you absolutely should here), you’re missing out on my favourite hack to get free makeup. Yes, you heard me. Free makeup!

You simply sign up for a PC Optimum card, and bring it with you every time you shop at Loblaws or Shoppers Drug Mart! Make sure you load your offers (which over time become more tailored to what you regularly buy), keep an eye out for bonus points items and events, and let the points pile up.

Now, my best advice is to save up your points for as long as you can and either wait to replace your makeup, or simply splurge. You can redeem your points on makeup (as well as groceries and other items, limitations apply to specific items), making your purchase free! I needed to replace a few makeup items and ended up getting $50 worth of makeup FOR FREE.

4. Rakuten

Formerly known to me as Ebates), Rakuten is one of the top ways I save money when shopping for beauty (and pretty much anything else!). Rakuten is essentially partnered with a bunch of merchandisers, and they reward you money back for shopping. Yes, it’s real. Over the past two years I have gotten back over $240 simply by using them!

In order to start saving, all you have to do is open the Rakuten website first, and click through until you find the store you want to shop with, and open the website through there! You’re already online shopping anyways, why wouldn’t you want to make some of that money back? (And yes, you absolutely can make money back from shopping with Sephora – the dream right?)

If you sign up with my special link here, you can get $10 back on your first purchase of $25 or more!

5. Fake it Till You Make it

Sometimes there isn’t a trick or a quick fix to get a product for cheaper. This is when you have to decide whether you want to suck it up and splurge or go without. My last foolproof beauty budget hack is don’t suck it up, fake it till you make it.

There are Instagram accounts dedicated to finding drugstore finds (on the cheap!) to match high-end beauty products to save your wallet. My personal favourite is @dupeboss, but there are hundreds of accounts out there searching to find the perfect match! This way you can still rock the exact same look (and no one needs to know!)

I’m a huge fan of budget beauty and love to save where I can. I absolutely don’t mind picking up the drugstore equivalent if it does the exact same job!

Get It Girl

I hope these budget beauty tips have inspired you to get out there and save save save! I truly hope you implement my tricks and have your own ‘Winners Fab Find’ moment! Let me know your favourite tricks in the comments!