 |
| My Estee Lauder Warehouse Sale Haul! :D |
discounted beauty products! :D
Earlier this week, my girl JD invited me to an Estee Lauder (Estee Lauder, MAC, Bobbi Brown, etc.) warehouse sale that she managed to score tickets to, just north of Toronto. To be honest, I wasn't that keen on the idea of getting up even earlier than for work on a Sunday but I decided to go because:
a) These days, my life is an excruciatingly boring rhythm of going to work and coming home, so I figure I should go out to fun things when I have the chance.
b) I know JD didn't invite all of our friends so I should go, since I was lucky enough to get invited.
c) I really, really love beauty products.
So we went, along with JD's friend, V (mad4blush), who is, like, practically my twin because we have a ton of similar interests - but she is WAY more knowledgable. Not only is she super sweet, but this girl is hardcore, I am telling you. She has been going to beauty warehouse sales for years, she knows her way around, she has her strategy down pat, and she is a veritable beauty encyclopedia. You can name any beauty product you can think of, no matter how obscure, and she's probably tried it, and can tell you its properties, who it's good for, what editions came out when and its present retail value. I know. She is amazing! Am trying to get her to keep blogging and vlogging - so definitely go check her out! :)
So anyway, we went there, and this was my second beauty warehouse sale ever. The first one I went to must have been...oh, I don't know, maybe 7 or 8 years ago, maybe longer, and it was for Shiseido. It was completely nuts - people woke up at the crack of dawn to get there, they snapped up products like it was all free, and fights between people reaching for the same things was not unheard of.
This time, for Estee Lauder, there was a bit of a line but it was constantly moving and we didn't really have to wait much. As soon as we got in, V told us to grab everything, even if they were only mildly appealing, because at the end, right before the cashiers, there's a sorting area where you can decide what you want to get.
JD and I were warehouse novices and pretty frugal by nature, so grabbing tons of stuff felt counter intuitive. As a result, we sometimes had to zip between the three main buildings several times to get what we wanted, and making our final decisions took a while - but our friend was awesome and patient and helped us a lot.
There was a pretty good selection of things there - foundations (which is apparently rare), lipsticks, nail polishes, face and body skincare, eyeshadows, fragrances, concealers, glitters...all kinds of products, in many of the Estee Lauder brands. Originally I wanted to see MAC stuff, but I didn't end up buying any because MAC is an edgier brand, and sale merchandise is usually stuff that is not that popular, so most of the colours that were available were too funky for my taste.
Additionally, when I ran my fingers on the MAC testers, there was a notable difference in quality between MAC and the sort of...more mature brands, like EL and Clinique. The eyeshadows were way coarser - the EL ones were silky smooth - which makes sense, since MAC usually costs way less. So I ended up getting mostly EL products.
In the end, JD weeded out most of the contents of V's bag so she actually spent the least, just over $30! I honestly wasn't going to buy anything, I was just going to have a look, but I ended up buying just under $90 worth of stuff - all of them great purchases though, that I saved a ton on. And JD ended up being the big spender of the day, clocking in at $140, although to be fair, she was being a good daughter and bought quite a few things for her mum.
So let's see what I picked up, shall we? :D
(Please keep in mind these are Canadian prices.)
1.) Estee Lauder Signature Eyeshadow Quad in Amber Honey $25 (retail value: $40)
2.) MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study $12 (retail value:$17.50)
3.) Estee Lauder Pure Color Long Lasting Lipstick in Fig $7.50 (retail value: $32! - or $24 in the States, which is so unfair)
4.) Estee Lauder Hydra Lustre Lipstick in Cocoa Rose $7.50 (retail value: $24)
5.) Estee Lauder Pure Color Long Lasting Lipstick in Bois de Rose $7.50 (retail value: $32)
6.) Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum 21ml $12 (retail value: about $42, depending on the size you get)
7.) Clinique Different Lipstick in Sweet Honey $7.50 (retail value: $18)
Total Savings: $116.23! :D
I am a very happy camper! Everything is excellent quality and they were all great deals. :D
Some tips for warehouse sales goers though:
*usually, the lighting is pretty bad in warehouses so bring in a flashlight or something that can cast a natural light to see what colours really look like - they often look drastically different when you step out in daylight (luckily, all my colours turned out to really be awesome)
*get matched for foundation colours, figure out what makeup colours and skincare lines you like in advance so you can hone in on stuff that's suitable for you right away!
*not necessary but I'd highly suggest making and bringing a list of the retail value of all the products you want to get so that when you see them, you can see if they're actually good deals
*get there EARLY!!!
*use a secure purse because it gets pretty crowded
*wear comfortable shoes
*bring fun friends! :)
Lastly, I was told that Estee Lauder makeup sales are usually tamer because it's by invitation only and only people with stickers on their tickets can make purchases. The Shiseido ones are usually crazier because after the first day, which is reserved for VIPs, the sale is open to the public. Sometimes people get there at 4, 5, 6am in the morning to line up for it, so make sure you get there early if you're choosy!
Happy shopping! :D
No comments:
Post a Comment