Costco Beauty Steals: Estée Lauder & YSL

     Costco Beauty Steals: Estée Lauder & Yves Saint Laurent

Eek! I am so excited by my recent beauty finds at Costco I thought I had to share in case anyone else out there is in the market for these products - or if you’re simply looking to try out something new - either way you will be getting an amazing deal! So for a while now I have been using Estée Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II ($62/1 oz. at Nordstrom). This is generally thought to be a night time serum, but I occasionally use it in the day as well because it has a light formula that makes it great for use under makeup (I can do a separate review on this product if anyone is interested?? Comment below if anyone would like a review on Estée Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II). The main reason I had been using the Night Repair serum in the daytime was because I hadn’t yet found another serum I loved for day. However, after watching loads of YouTube videos and reading a bunch of blog posts and reviews, I started to get a few ideas of other serums to try out that are more targeted to daytime use. One that I heard a lot of positive reviews for is another from Estée Lauder’s skincare line, the Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator.  Although I really wanted to try this out I was hesitant because, like the Advanced Night Repair serum, it is also fairly pricey ($62/1 oz., $92/1.7 oz., and $120/2.5 oz. at Nordstrom). 

I decided to hold off from buying it at Nordstrom where I usually buy skincare products since I didn’t really need it, and I’m so glad I did because a while later I happened to be looking at Costco’s website in the skincare section and I came across the exact serum I had been dying to try for $59.99/1.7 oz. (from Costco Online)! That’s a savings of about $32 compared to the 1.7 oz. size bottle from Nordstrom. I thought it was a great deal so I jumped on it because as far as I knew this was not in Costco’s “permanent collection” so I thought it may not be around for long. I was so excited when the serum arrived a few days later but since I had a lot to do that day I didn’t end up opening it right away like I normally would, I’m so glad I didn’t because I ended up finding an EVEN BETTER DEAL later that day! Like I said, I had a lot to do that day, mainly running errands and what not, so I set off to Costco to drop off a prescription. Now I don’t know about anyone else, but at my local Costco the pharmacy section is right next to “health & personal care” section (i.e. shampoo, vitamins, skincare, etc.). So when I was walking towards the pharmacy area, out of the corner of my eye I noticed the light blue packaging that all Estée Lauder skincare comes in. Upon seeing the Estée Lauder boxes, I quickly detoured to my right to check it out. Now I really love a good bargain so I nearly jumped for joy when I saw the in-store price for the Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator. Only $29.97 for 1.7 oz.!!!! Ahhhh I was so excited the people around me probably thought I was nuts haha. Since this price seemed pretty much unbeatable I decided to buy two. I will keep one package unopened for now and return it if it ends up being a let down for some reason, but I have a pretty strong feeling I will like this serum based on the research I did and all the positive reviews. 

                           

After grabbing 2 bottles of the Idealist serum I didn’t think this day could get much better, I realize how lame this makes me sound haha, but I was pleasantly surprised for a second time. A couple minutes later, I realized that right next to the serum they had Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) Rouge Volupté Lipsticks for $26.99 (normally $35 each at Nordstrom or Sephora). I have never tried these lipsticks before because they are SO expensive and I could never justify spending that much on a lipstick, but I had heard many great things about them from different YouTubers, bloggers, and other reviews. The packaging alone was enough to sway me, it’s simply beautiful. They also had a surprisingly wide selection of colors at my store, about 8 different shades, but I ended up going with No.1 Nude Beige (a pink toned neutral) and No.13 Peach Passion (a subtle, peachy coral). 

        

Left: No.13 Peach Passion, Right: No.1 Nude Beige

                                                    
I will likely be doing individual reviews on each of the lipsticks and the serum once I have a chance to try them out but I wanted to get this preliminary post online quickly so anyone else who is interested in grabbing up some of these deals can do so while they’re still around. Also, random side note, but I couldn’t help but think of Bunny (a.k.a. grav3yardgirl on YouTube) when I was attempting to open up these new goodies because if you’ve watched her videos you know that she is super paranoid about germs and very in to safety seals on beauty products and Costco has like the ultra supreme safety seal which I though she would dig haha. I’ll link her channel here in case you haven’t watched her videos because she is so funny and does AMAZING hauls, first impressions, and lots more. 

About to take on the Ultimate Safety Seal!

Unfortunately, since you have to be a member of Costco to shop there, I know not everyone will be able to take part in the savings excitement with me, and I apologize for that :( but hopefully if you don’t personally have a membership you may know someone who does that you can talk in to bringing you! Another disclaimer: I totally recognize that even though these prices are significantly less than their normal market value, the cost still adds up and gets to be pretty expensive if you buy a couple of each like I did. However, I have really cut back on spending and purchases for the past few months (leading up to my move) so felt like it was ok to splurge a bit. All in all, for the two 1.7 oz. bottles (3.4 oz. total) of Estée Lauder’s skincare Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator and the two YSL lipsticks, I ended up spending $123.89. For the EXACT same products and quantities at Nordstrom I would have paid $273.06, more than double! So even though this was a splurge, I ended up saving $149.17 (about 55% savings).

Sorry this post is a bit rambling but I hope it helps some of you out there save some money if you are interested in these products too, or maybe just get ideas. I’ll try to post actual reviews on the serum and lipsticks if people are interested. I’m still very new at this whole blogging thing so I would really appreciate any questions, comments, or suggestions, even if you want to just say “Hello” I would totally love that too! I’m looking forward to getting on a more regular posting schedule so I can get some ideas out there and also connect with anyone with similar interests who might be reading this (THANK YOU if you are reading this!!). Any way guess I better just hit save and post this before it gets any darn longer hehe… until next time, xoxo Emma.