The cat is completely out of the bag, ladies. The Internet isn’t just for sending emails anymore. With the explosion of e-shopping, you can now buy just about anything your heart desires from the comfort of your own home, and this includes plenty of beauty products.
For many people out there, the Internet is just a place to surf XXX sites, browse for crazy viral videos, and to play video poker online. However, when it’s utilized for shopping, you can find some of the beat deals out there on a wide range of skin care products.
Beauty is important to women for various reasons, none of which need be explained or even pondered. It is what it is. So when it comes to beauty treatments, women in America alone spend over 10 billion ($10,000,000,000!) annually on anti-aging products and treatments and other beauty-based goods.
This number can be a little misleading, though, because it’s not like every woman in the country is forking over dough for treatments. It’s more to do with the outrageous price of beauty products, a price which women pay without question if they think youthful-looking skin is in their immediate future.
Are there any legitimate ways out there to stay vibrant and beautiful on a budget?
The answer here is a definite yes, but only if you’re willing to put in a little bit of time.
I know, I know. “But online shopping is supposed to be quick and easy” you’re saying right now. It is; don’t take it the wrong way. It’s just that a little bit of research and price comparison is needed if you want to ensure that you’re getting the best possible deals on beauty products.
If there’s a store out there selling a product, you can bank on the fact that there are a dozen stores out there selling the exact same product. If they all offered them for the same price, what’s the real difference in the stores?
You’re going to find price differences – ergo you’re going to find inexpensive products to help you stay beautiful on a budget. So click the big X on that viral video site, shut off that download slots game, and put away the dirty stuff. Let’s talk about how you use the net to find some insane deals on the products you want.
Three Steps to Finding Killer Deals on Beauty Products
Step One: Be Brave
If Cosmo Company is offering some so-called miracle cream for anti-aging, your inclination may be to go with the name. Why? Well, it’s mostly due to the advertising dollars spent. You’ll see it in magazines; you’ll see it on the side of buses, in commercials. Heck, Oprah’s probably giving it out as a free gift to her studio audience.
But if you take a closer look at the cream, you’ll find that the ingredients are nothing special. It’s the brand name you’re paying for.
For example: Most anti-aging creams use a blend of alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) in order to eat away dead skin cells and to allow the growth of new skin cells. It also helps to shrink the pores and to improve elasticity.
This is also the case with many other so-called top-of-the-line beauty products. Their generic counterparts give the same results using the same ingredients like vitamin C and mint oils.
Using this information, you can save a ton of money by shopping for a generic brand of the exact same cream. Use the Internet to surf around for a few minutes and find out what’s what when it comes to the high-dollar offering’s ingredient list. You’ll be surprised to find many competitors’ products give you the same formula, almost verbatim, save a few fillers and fragrances.
Step Two: Shop Around
As mentioned above: if one store carries it, many stores carry it. So whether you’re looking for the generic version of any beauty product or the brand name stuff, make sure you check out a variety of sites. A great tip here is to simply use your search engine to check instead of stopping in from store site to store site.
To save some time, check out Google’s “Shopping” option. Just type in the name of the product you want, hit enter, click on the Shopping option, and you’ll find all the results lined up neatly for you. You can then select a search from low to high, making sure that no deals on products are able to hide from you.
Step Three: Coupon Surf
Yes, even online stores offer up great coupons. Not only can you find sites offering you mail-in rebates of up to 20% back for the product, but stores like eBay, Amazon, Overstock and many more will offer their members (just make an account) 10% discounts on occasion.
You can take you’re already-inexpensive products that you found and save even more money on them by checking out various coupon-specific sites to see which stores are offering up the best deals on shipping, rebates, two-fers, new member discounts, etc.
With these three simple tips, a common facial cream that you read about in last month’s magazine can be yours for a fraction of the price if you put in the time online.
This post was written by a guest author.
I like these tips.