I was taken by surprise when I got a 20% off coupon from Ulta Beauty this week in my email. I thought that perhaps there would be a sale in February, but maybe they were getting a jump on Valentine’s Day. At any rate, it came at a good time when I was running out of a couple of my staples.
The 20% off coupon is good for prestige as well as mass products. It can be used only once until February 3. You can use it either in store or online.
Here’s my haul, a mix of staples and splurges:
- IT Cosmetics No. 50 Primer Serum: I am almost out of IT Cosmetics No. 50 Serum Primer that I discovered last year at Ulta. It is so, so smooth (thank you dimethicone), and it’s a nourishing anti-aging skincare product at the same time. Actually, I think it’s the perfect primer for dry or older skin. The bottle I am replacing lasted me almost a year, and I bought that one during an Ulta 20% off sale too. So the $48 price tag that ends up being around $39 with the discount doesn’t seem so bad.
- Joico K-Pak Color Therapy Luster Lock, full size and travel size: Joico K-Pak Color Therapy Luster Lock is my favorite super conditioner. I call it a super conditioner because it seems to repair and nourish my hair as well as make it smooth and tangle free. It doesn’t build up or make my hair greasy. I love it. I bought a big tube ($19.99) as well as a travel size ($4.99) that I plan to take when Jeff and I go to Amsterdam in the spring.
- Joico Color Endure Shampoo Sulfate-Free, travel size, $4.99: We’re renting an apartment in Amsterdam for our vacation so I don’t think there will be haircare samples waiting for us. So I need to bring my own. I decided to try out Joico Color Endure Shampoo because I like the K-Pak Luster Lock so much. Hopefully, they make a good shampoo too.
- It’s A 10 Miracle Leave-In Product, 10 fl. oz. size: I just finished a bottle of a competitor to It’s A 10 Miracle Leave-In Product called It Haircare 12-in-1 Amazing Leave-In Treatment (reviewed here). It was a good product, but I decided to go back to It’s A 10 that I had such good results with in the past. I bought the big 10 fl. oz. size ($37) to take advantage of the sale, and it should last me a long time.
- Urban Decay Liquid Moondust Eye Shadow, Zodiac: One of my NSDB readers/friends and enablers, Rach, told me about Urban Decay Liquid Moondust in Zodiac, a stunning smokey black with a blue/green shift. The shade reads very dark green/teal metallic with some fine glitter. The shade is so gorgeous, I had to give it a try. My dry lids don’t like liquid shadow so I will try it as a liner. I’ll let you know how it goes. $22
- Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liner, Midnight Cowboy/Punk Rock: I was waiting for this sale at Ulta to pick up Urban Decay Glitter Liner in the shade, Punk Rock, that is a sheer brown with colored glitter. Rach also told me how much she loves this shade so I decided to get it since I like the silver, Glam Rock, liner that I bought before the holidays. Of course, my Ulta store is out of Punk Rock. As usual, I had filled up my bag before I discovered that Ulta was out of that shade, so I didn’t feel like putting everything back and placing my order online. This seems to happen every time I go to Ulta during a sale. Oh well. The SA suggested that I buy one of the shades that is in stock and then exchange it when Punk Rock comes back in stock. So I bought Midnight Cowboy. I don’t want to open it since I plan to return it. It appears to be a bronzey-gold and very pretty.
Having to go back to Ulta to exchange the product is a pain – so that’s the downside about not being able to use the coupon twice. I couldn’t buy what was in stock in the store, and then buy the product that was out-of-stock in the store online. Ulta usually rocks, but this is annoying and it happens frequently. Rant over.
Oh yes, I was sorely tempted by Too Faced Diamond Light Highlighter. It launched recently, and according to the TF rep at Ulta, it’s a limited edition product that could possibly become permanent. It is a gigantic and stunning unicorn-ish highlighter that “like a diamond” is made up of many shades: white, pink, purple, bluish, and you can sort of pick out these colors within the super big block of highlighter, or you can swipe across the pan and get a beautiful mixture. The faux leather, faux gold embossed pink jewelry box packaging is adorable too. I put Diamond Light in my bag, and then took it out again. The price is $34 with 20% off, it becomes $27.20. Nevertheless, I was already spending quite a bit, and although I adore highlighter, it isn’t something that I wear all that often. If Sephora has a 20% off sale soon, I’ll buy it then. I’m also holding out for a possible sale on the Too Faced website because they sometimes have 25% or even 30% off during their holiday sales. Fingers crossed it doesn’t go away by then.
So that’s my haul. Have you picked up anything yet during the Ulta sale? If not, what’s on your list?
Impressive Ulta haul, Allison! I have that email sitting in my inbox, and I haven’t had a free moment to select some items, but 20% off is pretty hard to ignore!
I guess the coupons are only useful if there’s something you need or something you’ve really wanted to try. At the beginning of the new semester, I’ll bet you’re swamped!
Yes, have that email too and very tempted. Restraining myself and trying not to give in. The NYX marbleized lipstick is arriving today.
That’s great that you’re getting the Faux Marble Lipstick, Sandy! Which shade did you pick? I looked for them yesterday at my Ulta, and they didn’t have them in the store. I just looked at them online and I was amazed at the shades – so fashion-forward! A deal is only worthwhile if you actually need something. I am almost out of Joico K-Pak, IT Cosmetics No. 50 and my hair leave-in got finished up last week so the coupon came just in time for me – but the two UD liners were splurges that I clearly don’t need 😉
I swear by K-Pack. I like to use it one day and then the next do an oil deep treatment. The combo really makes my hair happy for a couple of weeks. Kills the frizzies!
Sounds like a good routine. Yes, it definitely kills frizz and makes my hair feel like silk!
Glitter enabler reporting for duty! Though I could claim that my own fall down the rabbit hole was brought about by you, you know. 😉 If it weren’t for that silver glitter YOU have, I would have just bumbled along naively unaware of what I was missing out on. hehehe
Thank you for reminding me about Urban Decay in the first place- they’d mostly fallen off my radar and I’d forgotten how much I enjoy so many of their products! It’s got to mean something when the ONLY eyeshadow I’ve ever hit pan on and had to repurchase was one of theirs, no?
Well, Rach, we’re even then 😉 I don’t buy a lot of UD products (and I’m sad they changed & IMHO ruined my favorite Antiaging Eye Primer) but I do keep falling for their various eyeliners especially the pretty ones!
Love IT Cosmetics #50 Serum Primer. It’s really nice. I also love iT Cosmetics CC Full Coverage liquid Foundation and the CC Powder Foundation. Also, if you have a Clarisonic their new Make-Up Brush head is really really nice. I love how my make up goes on when using it and it’s really nice for blending your contouring, blush and highlighter. Allison your website downloaded really fast and I could post with getting the “error” message. 🙋🏻❤️
I know that it is very controversial because the shades weren’t as broad as everyone had hoped, but I would like to try the new IT Bye Bye Foundation because they finally may have a shade that suits me: Fair Light http://www.refinery29.com/2018/01/188873/it-cosmetics-bye-bye-foundation-women-of-color-backlash?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=facebook_share The CC Cream and the Confidence In A Cream, both of which I own and almost never use, don’t suit me because the shades are so far off. For the CC Cream I have to buy both shades (which I have done a few times) and mix them, grrrr. So I am kind of excited about this new launch. No, I don’t have a Clarisonic. I have a Foreo Luna for cleansing that I adore, and I have a Michael Todd cleansing brush (and I just got a new sensitive skin head thank goodness), but not their Makeup Brush. That’s great that the Clarisonic Makeup Brush works so well for you for other face products besides foundation! Thank you, my friend, for taking the time to come back to the blog and write your comment all over again. I know how frustrating that can be to compose a comment, especially a long one, and then have it not post. So sorry xoxo
Oooh, I have It’s A 10 in my “to try” box, I can’t wait to use it!
I think you’ll love it!
It’s a 10 is a great brand!
Love the Joico Luster Lock!
I want that Too Faced Diamond Powder so much but I have so many fabulous highlighters that I can’t justify it. I hope to get to Ulta with the 20% off too. I’m glad you mentioned the travel sizes since I’m going to need that also.
My thinking was the same as yours about the Diamond Light Highlighter, but when I was there looking at it in person, it sure was hard to put it back on the shelf 😉
Fun haul!
Ooooh you got that gorgeous highlighter! I need that!
No, I didn’t. I wanted to, but I put it back.
That was a good haul. Can’t wait for Ulta to open here in Hawaii. I know by spring if the news is right.
I think you’ll have fun at Ulta. And their rewards program is so much better than Sephora!
Maybe I should try Joico. My HG hair products are the Schwarzkopf Gliss line, but it looks like Target is discontinuing them again. I bought as much as I could but I’ll need to find something that doesn’t leave me looking like a scarecrow after that.
Joico has a bunch of their products in travel size, so you can try them first. After I tried the K-Pak Luster Lock, there was no turning back 😉
What a nice haul! I used to love Joico K-Pak when I colored my hair every 6 weeks.
I’ve never used It’s a 10 but my mom swears by it!
Its a 10 Miracle leave in sounds too good to be true.Thanks for the info
It really does a whole lot of good things for my hair. It comes in smaller sizes. Worth trying!
The 20% off prestige coupon is sitting in my email and telling me to buy all the things!
Nice haul! It’s over an hour to my nearest Ulta and I’m not a huge fan of that store (layout, employees) but 20% is hard to say no to!
Great haul, the IT serum is really peaking my interest!
The IT No. 50 Primer Serum is terrific for either dry skin or older skin. I love it!
Nice haul, Allison! The UD stuff looks really pretty.
I’m in love with all the glitter liners, Rachel. I’ve got another one up on the blog tomorrow!
I only have one of their metal liners, the one from the Pulp Fiction collection. It’s really good! My husband comments on it every time I wear it.
I love it when a cool eyeliner stands out and elicits compliments!
Me, too! It’s such an easy way to perk up a look, too.
LOL, Punk Rock has officially become my everyday liner!
Looks like you had a great haul. I’m so frugal that spending $39 on a moisturizer makes me cringe but hearing that it last you almost a year makes it a great bargain!
I hear you, Katie. For years, I used a moisturizer/anti-aging cream that was in the $20-25 range, and I had really good results with it. The IT No. 50 Primer Serum isn’t really a moisturizer. It goes on over moisturizer as a primer with additional skin benefits to be worn under foundation. While it provides a smooth canvas for my foundation, it helps fight lines and wrinkles.
I love the Joico K=Pak. It’s my holy grail. I’m completely devoted to it.