CVS beauty clearance

I have only recently discovered drugstore makeup. “Back in the day” I was a bit of a snob and figured that if you’re going to buy something beauty-related, it might as well be pricey. But recently I’ve become much more open minded about these things – when you suddenly find yourself with NO makeup left and realize you need EVERYTHING AT ONCE, department store brands aren’t really the way to go.

I will also be the first to admit that I’m a bargain hunter, and proud of it. I’m no crazy coupon lady with industrial amounts of canned soup under my bed, but I tend to schedule my purchases around deals – hey, if I can get something 50% cheaper by waiting a week or two, I totally will! So I read a number of theme blogs, one of my favorites being the fabulous Nouveau Cheap. And it is through her blog post that I learned that CVS was having a beauty clearance, and a semi-unannounced one at that – a lot of the stuff isn’t marked as being on sale, but scans at 50-75% off. And you know what that means – everything’s still in stock! So I rushed out to my favorite local CVS with the Nouveau Cheap clearance list on my iPhone, and here is what I came back with:

Today’s CVS haul – mostly clearance and $0.99 Carmex

Here’s what I got:

• 4 Burt’s Bees tinted lip balms in Tiger Lily – $1.74 each (reg. 6.99)
• Covergirl Lip Perfection in 255 Delish – $4.14 (reg. 8.29) + used one $1/1 Covergirl coupon and one $2/Covergirl Lip Perfection from the magic coupon machine = $1.14!
• Milani 3D Nail in 510 3D and 513 Digital – $1.37 each (reg. 5.49)
• Nicole by OPI in Paparazzi Don’t Preach – $3.99 (reg. 7.99)
• Orly in Supernatural – $4.15 (reg. 8.29)
• Revlon Top Speed in 552 Spice It Up – $1.57 (reg. 6.29)
• Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in 360 Plum’s The Word – $4.15 (reg. 8.29)

and this wasn’t on clearance, but still a great sale – 3 Carmex Moisture Plus – $0.99 each (reg. 3.49) and a regular lime Carmex

My grand total came to something like $30, with my overall savings for the transaction being over $60! Yes, call me cheap, but that makes me feel really great. I also grabbed all 4 of the Burt’s Bees lip balms they had in the store – they are really nicely packed and in a neutral color, so they will make great stocking stuffers for all the ladies in my life.

Six new polishes – from neutrals to holographic colors

I’ve yet to test all the polishes, but I’m really happy to have a wide range of stuff – from work-appropriate neutrals to a “night out” shimmery burgundy/brown (I had been wanting one of those ever since I fell in love with the OPI Germany collection, specifically German-icure) to some interesting holographic colors that I never would’ve tried otherwise.

Covergirl Lip Perfection in 255 Delish Regal

Another drugstore find for me was the Covergirl Lip Perfection lipsticks. I had bought one just recently, when I did a big Covergirl haul (that should be the subject of one of my next blog posts, so don’t judge this “swatch” – I’ll have something more detailed coming up) and was pleasantly surprised with the coverage and pigmentation. I mean, the color stays on my lips for hours! Even after I’ve used lip balm on top. Can’t really use it without the lip balm though, as for me the formula is pretty drying.

Not really a “swatch”, but just to give you an overall idea of the level of pigmentation/coverage – this was 2 or 3 swipes

So I was all the more excited to find the Delish Regal color on clearance, plus CVS had a coupon and I had a coupon, which made this $8 lipstick just a little over $1 for me. The color is a very nice and neutral brownish peachy tone, but I’ll have some real swatches coming up to show what it looks like on the lips.

And speaking of lips, a notable mention goes to my favorite Carmex lip balms. I seriously love that stuff. Back when I was living in Moscow, I got hooked the minute I tried them. And then… they disappeared! Not to be found anywhere. People were ordering them from abroad and paying over $10 a pop, but I had managed to accumulate a bit of a stockpile and was careful about rationing it. Then I moved to the US and switched to my other favorite – the original Chapstick in the black tube. But now that it has gotten colder and my skin has gotten drier, the Chapstick just isn’t cutting it anymore. I especially felt it during our most recent weekend in Burlington, VT – it’s either the air there, or the water, or a combination of both, but my skin was freaking out! And my lips were so dry that I had to make an emergency RiteAid trip for a jar of Carmex.
I was a little weary of the tinted Carmex glosses, but they turned out to be as awesome as the regular stuff – perfect for touching up at work!

So, that was my haul of the day. Next week I plan on taking a look at what RiteAid has to offer – clearance, here I come!