{"id":3672,"date":"2016-02-02T10:42:51","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T18:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/?p=3672"},"modified":"2016-02-03T12:55:01","modified_gmt":"2016-02-03T20:55:01","slug":"strategic-sale-shopping-and-the-glories-of-ulta-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/2016\/02\/strategic-sale-shopping-and-the-glories-of-ulta-beauty\/","title":{"rendered":"Strategic Sale Shopping and the Glories of Ulta Beauty"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BellyLets get real, we are all living on a budget.\u00a0 <\/span>If you have been dancing for a while, you know how important your makeup is and how expensive it can be to experiment with different brands, products, and formulations.\u00a0 <\/span>When I\u2019m preparing for a show, I can sometimes pile on more than 20 different cosmetics to achieve as smooth and flawless a finish as possible.\u00a0 <\/span>My mission is to enhance my beauty, create a look worthy of the belly dance mystique, and to look younger, healthy, and vibrant. \u00a0PHOTO LEFT: \u00a0Long ago I got into the habit of the pre-show selfie to help remember the look, the costume, the moment. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finding the perfect products to create the look you want on stage, that will hold up to the rigors of performance, and will not irritate your skin or eyes is quite a heft challenge.\u00a0 <\/span>You will, without a doubt, wind up buying many products that simply don\u2019t work for you. Some won\u2019t look as good on your skin as they did in the package, while others won\u2019t be able to last through a show without running, fading, or flaking. It takes some trial and error before you figure out what are your holy grail products.\u00a0 <\/span>As a budget conscience dancer, I try to save money on the products I use, by shopping sales, using coupons, and buying workhorse products that I already know will provide good value for my money.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"BellyThe store Ulta is one of my go-to places to shop for both drugstore and prestige makeup lines. Ulta has online and brick and mortar stores, so while it\u2019s fun to go in and shop, I can often find items that are sold out in my local store, available on line.\u00a0 <\/span>((And though it\u2019s a bit, if you buy $50 – you will get free shipping))\u00a0 <\/span>Ulta has a liberal return policy.\u00a0 <\/span>Try a product and don\u2019t like it?\u00a0 <\/span>Return it for refund within 60 days of purchase or store credit if longer.\u00a0 <\/span>Buy on line?\u00a0 <\/span>Don\u2019t like the product?\u00a0 <\/span>Return at the nearest store or ship it back. Also, Ulta has a great customer loyalty program, that, for the repeat shopper, can garner bonus samples, free shipping, special sales, birthday gifts, and more. Their rewards program is accessible both in stores and on the Ulta website. http:\/\/www.ulta.com\/<\/a>\u00a0 PHOTO ABOVE: \u00a0I was caught in the act of checking my lips for touch-ups. \u00a0Even though our designated changing spot was very dark, I found a spot light and did a last minute check. \u00a0Shout out to Alisha Westerfeld for this catching this moment.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ulta\u2019s budget friendly store brand that has some of the most frequent sales and deepest discounts.\u00a0 <\/span>As I write this blog, Ulta is currently offering a \u201cBuy Two – Get Two Free\u201d sale!\u00a0 <\/span>These sales are great when you are hunting for new products, because you can try them at a fraction of the cost, and return them if they don\u2019t work out. Add one of Ulta\u2019s infamous $3.50 off a $10 purchase and the deal gets even sweeter.\u00a0 <\/span>Sign up for their mailing list to receive sale notifications and coupons in the mail!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"BellyAfter a bit of experimenting, I\u2019ve fallen in love with quite a few of the Ulta brand products. Last weekend, I wore three of my favorites during performance. I use a multi-step lipstick application, and I adore using their Double-Duty Lip Stain as my base layer for all of my performance lip-looks.\u00a0 <\/span>My over 40 skin requires a layer of silicone infused primer to help smooth out my skin\u2019s imperfections, and the Ulta Matte Prim really does the trick. I also have an Ulta Sculpting palette, a collection of three powders that serve as my contour, blush setting powder and a highlight. Having three products in one package saves time in rooting around my cosmetic bag, and it saves on space when traveling. \u00a0LEFT PHOTO: Post-show with half the warpaint removed to demonstrate how effective that makeup was. \u00a0I was in this face for 7 hours total at this point, and that’s what my lipstick looked like after dancing, drinking, and eating. \u00a0Go-Go Turban Hair.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even if you aren\u2019t interested in checking out the house brand, there are many-many more beauty products frequently on sale at Ulta.\u00a0 <\/span>I have been dancing for many years, and have used their website to track sales.\u00a0 <\/span>The result is that I have many of their products, from both high and low priced lines, in my performance makeup kit.<\/span><\/p>\n

This week, I\u2019m going to continue my experimentation and order a few things from the Ulta brand while the B2-G2 sale is on!\u00a0 <\/span>Time to visit their website and invest in some new items to try!<\/span><\/p>\n

Good Luck with your own personal experimentation!!
\n<\/span>Dawn Devine ~ Davina<\/strong><\/em>
\n<\/span>February 1, 2016<\/span><\/p>\n

\"BellyA Few Faves from the Ulta Line:<\/span><\/p>\n