Ulta beauty

A friendly bargain hunter who lives behind the Orange Curtain brought me a copy of the Sunday OC Register, where I found a glossy pullout ad full of color from Ulta Beauty. The deals seemed amazing, $1 off here, 50% off there! I checked the Web site's prices on a few items I buy and the dream seems to be true. Prices are very good. For ex, Ulta sells an 8-ounce container of the facial cleanser Cetaphil for $5.39, which I paid $7 for at Rite Aid. They sell a 12.6-ounce bottle of href="http://www.ulta.com/control/product/~product_id=2146071">Pantene shampoo for $3.39, which sells for $3.50 to $4 at most drugstores.

So now onto the makeup. They have two kits that seem like a great deal. For $25 you can get a Holiday Blockbuster pullout kit that includes 28 eye shadows, 12 lip colors, 4 lipsticks, 4 nail polishes, 2 lip glosses, 2 concealers, 2 pencil liners, 2 shimmer powders, applicators, and it all comes in a shiny gold or black case. Use code 90890 and get it for $20! The value, according to Ulta, is $195.

If that's just way too much makeup for you, I like the Smashbox Try Me Set for $29 (value of $98, site says). It includes a sample size foundation primer, lip closs in crystal, under eye brightener tube, a brow and eye liner palette with 10 colors, two brushes, and an instructional DVD with makeup tips.

They also have a buy 2 get one free on OPI nailpolish and L'oreal skincare OR cosmetics (but they can't be combined). Nearest store seems to be in Burbank, but a lot of the deals are online only.