Cheap Beauty Tip of the Week: Bangin Beauty Bargain Programs

Being beautiful comes with a price. Not all of us are blessed with the “I look beautiful naturally” genes. Most of us (myself included) seek help from various retailers, whether they are drugstores or department store counters for the products used in our own beautification process. Depending on where you shop for your skin care, makeup or beauty potions and lotions, this process can quickly get expensive. Luckily for us broke-asses, there are a few retailers out there who recognize our need for being gorgeous and are willing to reward us for shopping with them. Here are seven of my favorite Bangin Beauty Bargain Programs offered by various skin care, makeup and drugstore retailers.

Kiehls Sampling Program
Kiehls offers a wide range of skin care, hair and body products. They also have an extensive line of products designed especially for men. It can be quite expensive trying to figure out which skin care products work or don’t work for you. Instead of spending a bunch of money and crossing your fingers, hoping that the products you bought work for you, take advantage of the Sampling Program. To get your FREE Kiehl’s samples, visit a nearby Kiehl’s store or Kiehl’s counter at a department store. Do your shopping online? No problem. You can receive three, FREE samples with the first order you place for the day on Kiehls.com or call them at 1-800-KIEHLS-2 and a Customer Service Rep can hook you up.

Benefit Cosmetics
Do you have a birthday coming up? Are your eyebrows in need of some love and attention? The Benefit Brow Bars offer a FREE brow service during the calendar week of your birthday (Sunday-Saturday.) No purchase is required. All you need is a valid government issued photo ID. Girls and guys are both welcome to this FREE service. Visit the Benefit website to find a participating Brow Bar location near you.

Sephora
You gotta love a retailer who rewards you for shopping with them. The Beauty Insider Program is FREE to join. For every one dollar you spend at Sephora, you get a point added to your Beauty Insider account. You can trade your points in for either a 100-Point Perk or a 500-Point Perk. The 100-Point Perk consists of a FREE deluxe-size sample. The 500-Point Perk consists of a FREE mini kit that contains multiple deluxe-sized samples from a specific brand. Plus, being a Beauty Insider member means that you are privy to special promotions and discounts throughout the year. You even get a FREE birthday gift every year that is redeemable either 14 days before or after your birthday. To sign up for the Beauty Insider Program either visit a nearby Sephora retail location or sign up online at Sephora.com.

Dior
If you are a Dior skin care or makeup addict, the Dior Diva Program is just for you. It’s Dior’s way of saying that it is perfectly okay to be obsessed with purchasing Dior products and actually rewards you for doing so. Being a Dior Diva means that you have access to product previews, the Dior auction, insider news, exclusive offers, FREE shipping for Dior.com orders of $50 or more and the chance to earn FREE shopping rewards for Dior purchases. As a Dior Diva, you earn one Diva Point for every one dollar you spend on a Dior makeup or skin care product, as long as the products are purchased from an authorized retailer. To redeem shopping rewards, you just need to be a registered Dior Diva and mail in the original receipts along with the Redemption Form within a 12-month period. Registration to become a Dior Diva is absolutely FREE. Just visit Dior.com for more details.

MAC Cosmetics
What is the best thing about MAC Cosmetics? How about a FREE MAC product? The Back to MAC Program is the FREE product container recycling program that A) helps the environment by recycling old, empty product packaging and B) gives you a FREE MAC product. Here’s how it works. Bring in six primary packaging, empty containers to a MAC counter or send them in through MAC Cosmetics online and receive a FREE MAC lipstick of your choice. Here’s a secret tip just for my broke-ass readers. If you bring in six primary packaging, empty containers to either a freestanding MAC store or a MAC Pro store, you will receive a FREE lipstick, lipglass or an eye shadow of your choice. Start saving those containers!

Drugstore.com/Beauty.com
Do you prefer to do all of your beauty and toiletry shopping online? That’s cool. Drugstore.com and Beauty.com have partnered together for all of your online drugstore skin care, beauty and makeup needs. Drugstore.com Dollars now reward you for shopping with them online. Here is how it works. You can earn a 5% credit on all eligible purchases made every calendar quarter, which is every three months. You then have one month to spend your credit on your next online purchase. You can earn and use the credits for purchases made on both Drugstore.com and Beauty.com. It’s FREE to sign up. Every order of $25 or more qualifies for FREE shipping and up to three, FREE samples.

CVS
For all of you CVS shoppers out there, CVS offers the ExtraCare Beauty Club whether you shop online and in-store. You will receive a 10% off beauty shopping pass just for signing up. For every $50 you spend on qualifying beauty purchases, you will receive a $5 ExtraBucks Reward.  If it’s your birthday, you’ll receive a $3 ExtraBucks Reward. Signing up is FREE and can be done either online or in-store. There is a limit of one enrollment per household. So if you live in the same house with a bunch of other product and beauty junkies who do their shopping at CVS, sounds like you’ll have to share the account.

For more information on other FREE birthday gifts offered by retailers other than skin care and beauty, check out Where to Get FREE Birthday Prizes by Alison Lambert, Half Price Headliner.

Image Courtesy of Getty Images, 1940s makeup counter by Hulton Archive