5 tips for shopping for beauty products

Want that charcoal mask or the smoky-eye look but don't want to spend a lot?

There are lots of options to look your best for the winter holidays, and the beauty shopping experience is becoming more enjoyable. Both Walmart and Target are revamping their beauty areas, adding better lighting and bringing in new affordable niche brands. And many discounters and drug chains have carved out areas devoted to popular Korean beauty products. Target, for example, has expanded its beauty collection with the launch of Glow Studio, created by online Korean beauty retailer Glow Recipe.

Specialty beauty chains have been expanding. Ulta Beauty Inc., which offers products across a wide price spectrum and services such as brow bars, now has nearly 1,000 locations. And online sites, such as Colourpop and Glambot, feature high-end brands at more affordable prices.

"It's very crowded. There are a lot of products, lots of options," says Ron Robinson, founder and CEO of BeautyStat.com, a product review site, noting that shoppers need to do their research.

So here are five tips:

KNOW YOUR BUDGET

Figure out which type of products you want to splurge on. If you want to spring for $100 skin cream, great. But if you can't afford to keep replenishing, perhaps buy something that's within your budget, says Robinson.

Lindsay Sakraida, director of content marketing with price comparison website DealNews, says shoppers should look at the weekly circulars at Walgreens and other drugstores for coupons. However, the best time to get beauty deals is between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when shoppers can get discounts of 20 percent to 40 percent. That compares with 15 percent to 25 percent off the other times of the year.

But she says department stores still aren't that competitive on beauty deals. In 2016, almost one-third of the health and beauty deals the site posted were from Amazon, and they largely consisted of drugstore brands like Revlon, she added. However, J.C. Penney, which has more than 600 Sephora locations at it stores, says select Sephora products from its shops are half off every Thursday.

SHOP ONLINE

Use your phone while you're in the store to compare prices and read reviews of beauty products. In addition to the beauty sites, check out eBay and Overstock.com, which offer products for less. Glambot allows customers to trade in their new or "unloved" makeup for cash.

FOLLOW BLOGGERS

Robinson encourages shoppers to follow bloggers to get information on new products. Each has his or her own expertise. He recommended Andrea Matillano for information about beauty deals at drug stores and Sam Schuerman and CoffeeBreakWithDani for department store beauty reviews.

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY

Stores are offering more opportunities for testing, taking their cues from Sephora and Ulta. Target is revamping its beauty section that includes an enhanced concierge program. It features a service counter where customers can ask questions about color-matching products, receive skincare consultations, and get samples to test. So far, the new look is in 75 stores and will be rolled out to 400 more by the end of next year, Target says. Walmart is testing iPads in the beauty department of a store in Secaucus, New Jersey, where shoppers can watch videos and get product suggestions.

Then, of course, you can check out such subscription sites as Birchbox.com, which allows you to test five samples tailored to your skin, hair and style for either $10 a month or $110 a year.

Many retailers like Sephora and Ulta have reward programs, so the more you buy, the more points you earn. At Ulta, the points you accrue expire a year from when you earn them. If you spend $400 in a calendar year, you qualify for Ulta Platinum where you earn 1.25 points per every dollar you spend. The points can be combined with other discounts and special offers.

At Sephora, unredeemed points expire if a member's account hasn't been active through a purchase or redemption for 18 months or more.

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