Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other Holiday Sales

If you’re anything like me, the evening of Thanksgiving can be the most stressful because all of a sudden, those emails start coming in. A sale here, an exclusive there, and before you know it, you’re drowned in offers from every brand you’ve ever heard of and what should be a fun reward, shopping a great offer, turns into a tedious chore. This year, I’ve gotten a little fatigued by it all and I feel like others might be too. I think part of why this year’s holiday sales have seemed exhausting is because everyone is trying to figure out how to squeeze the sales in such a loaded few days, we have some like Beautyhabit, Credo, and The Detox Market that started at the beginning of the month (and are on round 2 of holiday deals), others though are boycotting Black Friday, such as DECIEM which closed down their entire website today and Abel Odor (and those like them) that advocate boycotting Black Friday altogether:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5Zv44-j0Gy/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

 

And while I get the sentiment, it does come across preachy and self-righteous. Look, here’s the deal. I don’t love this consumerist machine, but as a blogger who buys most of her own products, I know how helpful it can be to get a truly great deal so in the spirit of providing helpful information rather than deluging you with a pointless collection of sales I’m going to write up just a handful of sales that I’m personally partaking in and why:

The Nue Co: I know they’re carried everywhere now but most of their retailer offers top out at 20%. I was ready to pull the trigger at a 25% sale but then The Nue Co themselves came out with 30% off their line. The reason I’ve been waiting for their sale is that I had been looking for an opportunity to buy their Functional Fragrance. I love fragrance yet have a low tolerance of anything synthetic (unfortunately including the “clean” options at Credo such as Ellis Brooklyn and Phlur). I keep hoping that new fragrances will break the mold sort of like what happened when green beauty took hold of skincare years ago, but that just hasn’t happened. From Credo (Ellis Brooklyn, Phlur) to Aesop, which was my big splurge last year, fragrances have remained very synthetic and as a result, nauseating. I just don’t think the fragrance industry has figured out how to kick out the truly bad offenders. It’s sort of like nail polish, sure, you can get up to 7-free but there are still ingredients that you don’t want near you. I am hopeful that The Nue Co’s Functional Fragrance, which is more aromatherapy and supposed to be very natural in ingredient origin, can work out.

MIJA: MIJA launched its hero product, Superstar, earlier this year and it’s taken off like the Vintner’s Daughter of the supplement world. MIJA is making Superstar available for 15% off or if you buy two (like I am), you get 20% off. As a bonus, they’re also including a free stainless steel reusable straw which is one of those things I kind of need to have anyway as laws are passed in CA and NY regarding plastic straws. You might notice that I’m not getting any supplements from The Nue Co, and that’s because I’ve been using MIJA’s Superstar since late summer and absolutely love it. You can read my review here. I love experimenting with skincare and makeup, but I think when it comes to internal wellness, the industry is a bit too lax and we should be more thoughtful. I don’t think it’s good to mix/match/switch around different supplements “just to try things out” because our bodies and internal processes are so complex. What I do know is that MIJA is made by a board-certified dietitian nutritionist, and not a new-age “wellness guru” like a lot of the others, and the results I’ve experienced from their signature product, Superstar, has really made it the only wellness supplements that I’ll need.

VERISHOP: So I hadn’t heard of Verishop before, but they popped up on my Instagram feed with a 25% offer for skincare, so you know I clicked. After perusing, it didn’t look bad at all. If you want Oribe or Tata Harper, get them here rather than their own sales (at 20%) because they’re offering 25%. When I saw that these two lines were stocked at Verishop, I breathed a sigh of relief that I didn’t stock up at Oribe nor Tata Harper’s current sale. Other notables are the Cire Trudon candles, which I really don’t think I’ve seen at anything past 20% before. There are lots of categories, including clothes so exercise some organization when perusing.

Shani Darden: 25% off the LA celebrity esthetician line. I think Shani has come leaps and bounds in the past year with a rehaul of her entire skincare line and the launch of her clinic in Los Angeles. I have been paying attention to her since she debuted on Into The Gloss years back and recall her single product – the Retinol Reform, then packaged in a tiny white glass bottle, and how every editor and celebrity in LA swore by that retinol as being both gentle yet effective. The past year, I’ve really dug more into retinols, after both high-end, organic, and everything in between. In fact, I just finished out a retinol (5% Granactive from The Ordinary), and want to try a new one. Since Retinol Reform put Shani on the map, I figured 25% off would be the perfect time to dip my toes into the line.

YULI: what makes YULI unique is that they don’t work with most retailers in the United States, and when they do (e.g. Ayla) they’re sold out faster than a Yeezys drop. They’re also known for never being discounted, even when they were one of the top-selling lines at Spirit Beauty Lounge, every sale excluded them at a time when even May Lindstrom and Vintner’s Daughter were not exempt from promotions. This year they’re having their biggest sale: 10% storewide, 15% over $200 — which had been their biggest sale, and now 20% at $300 which they’ve never done before. They also launched a seasonal holiday shop, it isn’t massive but their curation is spot on: an organic blush/highlighter/lip tint from new makeup line 14e, that comes in a pump — which keeps it more hygienic than the standard pots that we’d have to dip our fingers into, and even MIJA’s Superstar(!). Also, their beautiful Halcyon ROSE (which I wrote about here) which sold through their first and second run, is back — so it’s pretty easy to stock up and get that 20% because this is the line that makes Cell Perfecto PM, Ambrosia Beauty Nectar, Halcyon Cleanser, Liquid Courage… I mean their entire line is strong.

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I hope this was helpful! Leave me a comment below and let me know what you’re shopping for the holidays. Also — how do we feel about Black Friday sales in general? Is there a better way it can be done?