Ulta Is My New Favorite Store!

Ladies. If you have not been to Ulta, do not wait on the sidelines like I have for months. Ulta moved into town several months ago, and I never thought to venture in. I got beauty products at CVS, Rite Aid and Clinique... there's no need for a beauty-only store in my life that was likely to be far more expensive... right?

WRONG! Oh, so very wrong.

Check this out. So I went to Ulta for their BOGO50% on CoverGirl sale. I have a thing for lipsticks (can never have enough). So rather than spend less and purchase eye shadows I'll never use, I decided to spend a little more to get what I actually wanted. 

My first purchase at Ulta!

So I purchased two Lipperfection Jumbo Gloss Balms at $8.99 each, one Lip Perfecting Lipstick at $6.99 and a full-sized Classiccolor Blush at $6.99. Since it was BOGO50% off, it brought my total down to $23.97. I was also able to use manufacturer coupons (who knew!). I had $2.00/2 lip products, $1.00/1 CoverGirl product and another $1.00/1 CoverGirl product. Now my total was down to $19.97. Or should have been... I realized well after I got home that she rang up my $2.00/2 coupon as a $1.00/2 coupon. Lesson: Watch as they ring them in. Similar to the Dollar Tree, they do not scan the coupons, but punch the dollar off amount in manually.

So in reality, my total was $20.96 making each product $5.24. Surely, you can come up with combinations of products that would reduce the total much more (several $4.99 eye shadows at BOGO50%, plus $1.00/1 coupons for instance), but I was in need of some very particular products. I then handed her the email/promotion for the free makeup bag. Be SURE to bring in a print out of the promotion as it will not prompt the cashier that you've qualified for the free item. 

Free item in hand, she then asked if I'd like to sign up for their rewards program. Um, heck yes! It's just like any other grocery store rewards card, except you rack up points in exchange for dollars off product. You get your choice of three different cards (I chose SMOOCH because, after all, I did just buy three lip products). You can track your points online at ulta.com/rewards, and they are good for a year. Unless of course you go Platinum (spend over $400). You'll earn points 25% faster, receive an additional birthday gift and your points will never expire.

They enter in your information very quickly and lastly ask for the month and day of your birth. "You'll receive a free, full-sized signature Calvin Klein mascara for your birthday as our gift to you valued at $18.00," she said. Wahoo!! More freebies! And mine will arrive next month :) Plus, during your birthday month, you'll earn double points (two points for every dollar as opposed to one point for every dollar). I paid, and out popped a $5.00/$15.00 store coupon (which can be combined with manufacturer coupons, ladies!), and I left a happy woman.

Free items in the makeup bag.

I got home, opened up my free gift and was delighted to see a full-sized CoverGirl BOMBSHELL Volume mascara, full-sized (0.5oz) Olay Hydrating Gel Moisturizer and two sample packets of Olay products.

Oh, did you also know they have a salon? Yeah. You'll get a 20% off any service at the salon, too, when you sign up for their rewards program. The deals just kept on coming!

So GO! Check out the store for yourself. There's plenty of free gifts available. Don't ignore that circular in the paper anymore. It's a gold mine!