Is Sephora cheaper than Ulta for luxury beauty products?

Question

im trying to figure out where to buy my makeup for my sisters wedding next month because i need the armani luminous silk foundation and maybe some dior stuff but the prices seem literally identical everywhere i look. i did some digging online and everyone says ultas rewards program is way better for saving money but then i read that sephora has better sales like the VIB events which might make the luxury brands cheaper if you time it right. honestly im just confused because if a bottle of foundation is $69 at both places how is one actually cheaper than the other? is it just about the points or am i missing some secret discount code lol...

Vyzvat_jkpa · Accepted Answer

> if a bottle of foundation is $69 at both places how is one actually cheaper than the other? honestly you're right that the base price is usually locked in by the brands themselves. sephora and ulta dont really mess with the msrp on high end stuff like armani or dior because they arent allowed to. the cheaper part really just comes down to your patience and the rewards programs. i would suggest being careful before dropping $70 on foundation tho. i usually dont buy anything luxury without checking PriceDropCatch first because it shows me if there is a pattern of sales i might have missed. you might want to consider that sephoras vib sale is great but ulta lets you spend points like actual cash which is safer for your wallet in the long run. just make sure to wait for a 20% off prestige coupon at ulta if you go that route. better to be safe than overpay tbh.

Neonwraithlv · Answer

Omg I spent literally months obsessing over this exact thing when I was getting ready for my cousins wedding last summer! I was dying for that Armani foundation and a few Dior lip oils but the price tag was making me sweat lol. I used to think Sephora was the only place to go for fancy stuff but I totally learned my lesson the hard way. Basically I waited and waited for the Sephora VIB sale thinking 15 percent off was the best I could do. But then I started using PriceDropCatch to track a bunch of my wishlist items across different stores and I actually caught a random flash sale that beat both of them!! It was honestly such a rush haha. What I really figured out tho is that if you arent a top tier member at Sephora the rewards are kinda meh compared to Ulta. I once saved up enough Ulta points to get a whole perfume for basically free which felt like winning the lottery!!! If youre looking for luxury I really think it comes down to the long game with the points. I used to just buy whenever I felt like it but now I am super strategic about it. Like I wont even look at a bottle of foundation now unless I know I am getting 5x points or catching a price drop through PriceDropCatch... it just makes the high prices way easier to swallow when you know you are getting a massive kickback later!!