The Holiday sales season is upon us! We’ve curated our list of the best deals because there is nothing worse than FOMO. And there’s a lot of FOMO during this time because EVERY brand and retailer is throwing deals, forcing you to update your wishlist, do your math, and revise your strategy. So if you’re like us, you end up almost immobilized from the over-stimulation, end up buying random things you never planned to and forgetting to stock up on that moisturizer you’ve wanted. If you found yourself reading the above and saying “that’s me!”, our list is perfect for you.
RETAILERS
Credo: 6 Piece Gift Set ($100 Value) with $125+ order. Ends Sunday.
Verdict: We love Credo, they stock great natural brands but their main sale happens before Black Friday (which we already covered here). In general, we absolutely detest pre-selected gift sets of mini-products with purchase rather than a straight discount. Unless you’re specifically looking for sample sizes of the items in the gift set, it’s just not worth the time or effort to us. This is how you end up with random shit that you won’t get around to using. Unfortunately, there are a few retailers choosing this route and we’re skipping these altogether to get some straight discounts.
Other retailers with similar offers: Beautyhabit, Sephora, Ulta
The Detox Market: $10 off $100, $30 off $200 (free $60 face oil gift with purchase), $80 off $400 (free $60 face oil + TDM Gemstone Face Roller)
Violet Grey: $15 off $100, $50 off $250, $100 off $500, $250 off $1,000
Verdict: Tiered dollar amount discounts require some math. Check out their products to see what you want to figure out what tier you’re going to hit. Try and hit right above the breakoff. These aren’t our favorite type of deals because you may be getting as little as under 10% off (e.g. if your order is $160, you’d only be getting a 6% discount at The Detox Market and 9% at Violet Grey – which means that if you live in California, it just barely comps the taxes). We usually don’t partake in these types of offers unless there is an exclusive that can’t be found elsewhere.
Glow Recipe: 25% off Store-wide (excludes discounted items).
Verdict: Our retail winner for best promotion and one we recommend splurging on. We’ve paid attention and can vouch that they’ve never done 25% all year and the straight percentage maxes out the discount potential of all retail sales we’ve seen. Yes, Soko Glam has 30% off, and we took a look but their products are just not things we’d actually use. While both retailers are “K-Beauty,” Glow Recipe’s selection is much more modern with interesting and natural-ish ingredients while Soko Glam’s selection is like mid-90s drugstore level formulas (a.k.a. synthetic overload).
Follain: 20% off
Verdict: For the most part, the green beauty retailers have been lackluster this year and we recommend going directly to the brands to get the best offers (see below). The best of the green retailers would be Follain, which is offering a flat 20% with no exclusions which means you can get your Vintner’s Daughter and May Lindstrom fill, much to their “we-don’t-do-promotions” chagrin.
BRANDS
Byredo: Free 70g candle with any order above $75.
Verdict:Byredo usually does a gift with purchase and last year, it was their hair perfume which we didn’t really care for. This year, you can select from 6 of their candles which we think is a great deal considering their candles are absolutely one of their hallmark categories (we have their Burning Rose going right now). So it’s actually a viable gift with purchase that you’d actually use and that has value. Basically, buy a large candle at $85, and then get that 2nd scent that you want to try for free.
The Nue Co: 15% off + 50% of Proceeds to Coalition for the Homeless
Verdict: One of our favorite new brands. 15% off is a good offer, plus the donation of proceeds to a worthwhile cause is particularly on point for Thanksgiving. It’s not the biggest discount we’ve seen for this brand (they were one of our recommended buys at Credo’s earlier 20% off Friends & Family Event), but if you missed out, this is still a great opportunity.
True Botanicals: 20% off everything + $10 credit for every $50 spent
Verdict: True Botanicals is one of those lines we always swore we’d try but never really got around to it. The $10 credit is excellent if you plan to make future purchases directly from them, and makes a great deal even more worthwhile.
Marie Veronique: 20% off everything
Verdict: If you are interested in their Kristina Holey collaboration line, but haven’t gotten around to it yet, consider this your last opportunity of the year to get 20% off. Don’t think you’re going those products for anything less, so nows your chance.
Summer Fridays: 20% off.
Verdict: We’ve been interested in Marina’s cult-y OG mask and her new Overtime mask. One is moisturizing and one is exfoliating and we haven’t seen the line offered at 20% off before, so this is a great time to buy.
Youth to the People: 25% off.
Verdict: Good deal in theory, however with all the exclusions, you can only buy from their 7 full sized products and 2 were out of stock before the promotion started (their new moisturizer and eye cream, which happen to be the ones that we’re most interested in), kind of a let down, but if you’re interested in one of their 5 products that are being made available for the sale, go for it.
GLOSSIER: 20% off.
Verdict: Is this the best price you’re going to get for Glossier? Yes. We like Glossier, it’s just that in a sea of products, we’re just not that interested in buying anything. Their Milky Jelly Cleanser is good, but the other skincare products just haven’t nailed it: from lackluster ingredients (i.e. petrol derivatives in their Balm Dot Com), to unreliable formulas (a really unrealistic SPF). Maybe their make-up is better, but we haven’t tried. Either way, if you’ve always wanted to try Glossier or have your favorites, this is the best time to buy.
Tata Harper: 20% off over $100.
Verdict: This isn’t unseen for TH, but is still a good deal. Yes, you’ll need to hit the $100 minimum spend, but this is Tata Harper where an ounce of anything is going to hurdle you over that number. We’re partial to her eye creme and masks.
In Fiore: Receive Fleur Vibrante Instant Radiance Oil + Travel Pouch + Made In Japan Sample Pack on orders over $250.
Verdict: This is where knowing the brand is useful. In Fiore pulled out from most of their larger retailers this year, and as such – sales are rare. Their line is one where each product is interesting in its own way so receiving a bottle of Fleur Vibrate is pretty special if you appreciate the opportunity. Though we will acknowledge that the $250 minimum spend is not forgiving, especially to
YÜLI: 10% off storewide and 15% off over $200.
Verdict: A YÜLI sale is rare. Add on the fact that they do not work with the green beauty big-box retailers that stock many other brands, and you’ll know how truly exceptional it is to see any promotions from them. This is why beauty bloggers hail this as a “unicorn” event. The % isn’t huge like some others but are a better absolute $ deal than gift-sets and tiered dollar amounts, but more importantly – you won’t get YÜLI at a better price. Their dedicated following is known to stockpile to the point that YÜLI had to impose unit limits (our tests indicated Cell Perfecto PM was capped at 6 units). Last year, they spent over a month to prepare all the orders placed during the event and one day into their sale this year, they’re already projecting a one-week preparation from Thursday orders alone (ordering Ambrosia? It won’t even begin shipping until late next week due to all the orders). Get this one done early.
TECH
While Best Buy, Walmart, and Target compete for the doorbusters, we recommend shopping at Adorama or BHPhoto for electronics. They usually match or better what you’ll find in stores on everything from smart speakers to storage drives. If you don’t live in New York, you’ll even save on the 5%-9% for taxes, which can come out to make quite a difference on bigger ticket electronics like laptops and digital cameras.
FASHION
Farfetch and YOOX* are both discounting a lot of inventory. You’ll have to do your work to sort through it all, though but YOOX usually offers some steals that are worth perusing if you know the brand and size. Mr. Porter is running 30% off select items but we recommend waiting until their January “won’t you please take these unsellable sweaters at 75% off” sale, but start saving things to your account wishlist.
Sandro is having up to 30% off with an additional 25% off which means you’re getting at least 25% off. Their men’s just looks awful (time to hire Zara’s stylists) but the women’s collection has many pieces that are gorgeous.
*Update: Unfortunately we’ve learned that YOOX’s customer service policies are not in line with that of the market, for example, you’ll need to pay for returns and no price adjustment is honored. While they have a price adjustment policy, at a meager 3 days post-delivery at that, they technically don’t honor an adjustment for “temporary promotions” which is like… every single day, seriously, there’s a new promotion all the time, so effectively you’ll never know if you’re getting the best price and there are no free returns. So in essence, it’s always a gamble. We know that our readers are not time-rich and want to know they’re getting the best deal, and for this reason, we are no longer able to recommend YOOX.
