T.J. Maxx Is the Best Retailer For Beauty Products

Korean beauty, Azure, is a top-notch retinol cream. 

T.J. Maxx’s beauty department rocks! It’s buyers find top-notch makeup, skincare and hair care from all over the world. In its aisles, the Korean, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Australian, organic, niche and luxury markets are well represented with beauty products for less than their full retail prices.

Because of the redutions T.J. Maxx must be discreet about the brand names that end up on its shelves. You cannot find brand names online via T.J Maxx’s search box. But I think it’s a great opportunity for brands to pick up new customers who are  first enticed to try them for less.

The quality, quantity and cost of a variety of personal care products are unbeatable. I haven’t bought cosmetics, skincare, or hair products at major department stores in years because I haven’t had to with such a wide array of awesome international beauty and luxury brands at T.J. Maxx. It's fun browsing the myriad of offerings and discovering new beauty products you wouldn’t otherwise try or even know about.   

At bargain prices customers can afford to up their beauty routines, as well as, take a few risks trying new products along with tried-and-true essentials. Think of it as an education without breaking the bank! You never know what stellar beauty surprises you’ll see on a trip to the retailer.  I’ll add links below of some of the T. J. Maxx beauty finds I highly recommend!

As a kit, $16 bucks for both, full-sizes

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Macy’s Perfume Samples

Regular readers of THE SAVVY SHOPPER know Macy’s is my favorite New York department store bar none. Once in a while Macy’s loves me back by sending me a small box of free perfume samples. The offer is open to anyone and everyone who sees it on Macy’s website and at times on Facebook. A small box of 6 samples arrived today! Below, I listed those 6 fragrances in the order of my most to least favorite scents:

1) John Varatos XX Elixir - Formulated for men, but both men and women can wear it, as it's not a musk, but just a fresh clean smell of bergamot, red ginger, davana and violet leaf essence mixed with rum, Damascus rose. black iris and geranim. There are notes of tonka bean, cistus labdanum, cedarwood, and latigo leather. It is my absolute favorite scent in the box!

2) Prada Paradidme - Ambery woods entwine with Bourbon, geranium, and Calabrian bergamot. I smell a hint of lemon, yet don’t see it listed as an ingredient. Lovely and clean smelling.

3) Dolce & Gabbana My Devotion - A pear blossom, blackcurrant, peony and vanilla blend.

4) Dolce & Gabbana Dovotion Pour Homme Parfum - A lavender, coffee, and woody-amber blend.

5) Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia - Mandarin with gardenia, hedione, and sandalwood essence.

6) Narciso Rodriguez For Her Eau de Toilette spray - Notes of osmanthus, African orange flower, Bergamot, amber, musk, vanilla and vetiver. There is one note in this scent that I dislike but don’t know which ingredient it is. It reminds me of unpleasent much cheaper drugstore perfumes and it stands out.

My senior mom tested the perfume samples with me. She said she liked them. None of the 6 fragrances overwhelmed us, yet lingered for hours, and except for #6, lean towards clean scents over strong perfumes. #6 has that one unidentified note not to my liking. 

Perfumes can smell differently on different people. Before buying a fragrance, spray it on, walk around the store and wait to see how it will interact with your body’s chemistry.

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Almay Color & Care Tint Stick, Lip & Blush Stick

Almay  Color & Care Tint Stick is new! Nowadays I buy new makeup super mindfully, but these multi purpose sticks are right up my alley. While there’s nothing wrong with experimenting and creating new looks, I always return to simply trying to look like my best self, so cosmetics designed to enhance our natural beauty always call my name. What’s more I’m always tempting by thick multi-tasking sticks that act as both check and lip color. 

Alway claims its Color & Care Tints work with the skin to provide the perfect natural shade with a dewy finish. The stick gives checks and lips a natural flush of color and glow by working with your skin’s PH balance. Formulated for sensitive skin, the multi-tasking stick is smooth and moisturizing to the skin. 

Equally important, the Almay Color & Care Tint Stick has real staying power so you don’t have to reapply it throughout the day. The tint is also buildable.

Since I don’t carry a lot of makeup when leaving home, I love carrying a richly pigmented big multi-stick for both cheeks and lips in a purse! When sticking to natural colors, I don’t have to carry a mirror to reapply it to my lips!

Years ago, consumers had to spend $40 for a similar multi-tasker by NARS called the Multiple that we also had to reapply throughout the day. Not anymore! The Almay Color & Care Tint Stick comes in 5 natural hues. Cost: An affordable $10. Right up my alley! How about you?

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5 Body Lotions Similar To EOS

Click to enlarge.

EOS (Evolution of Smooth) lotions claim to add 24 hours of moisture to your skin. Users like its lightweight, non-greasy formula and pleasant scents. The Cashmere Vanilla scent is especially popular. Surprisingly, only Target has a bonafide dupe of it, but there are a number of drugstore moisturizes that offer very similar benefits like moisturizing and norising your skin for 24 hours. With such a claim, at least we know the body lotion will have a rich consistency. I’m going to introduce you to more than 5 choices to consider, including a link to a previous blog (#5) listing a ton of moisturizers costing less. 

Here we go!

1) Up & Up Everyday Moisturizing Body Lotion (Target’s house brand) - 20 oz. Vanilla and White Jasmine + other scents. Cost: $5.49

2) Nivea Soft: 6.8 oz. A classic moisturizing lotion with a creamy texture and a subtle floral scent.

3) Jergens Shea Fusion Vanilla Crush Lotion with Shea Butter and Vitamin E, 14 oz. Like the others on the list, it has deep moisturizing properties to nourish very dry or sensitive skin.

4)  Malibu Hemp Ultra Healing Body Moisturizer For Dry Skin, 18 oz. Aloe Vera and Hemp Seed Oil are main ingredients.

5) My previous blog on Equate dupe moisturizers (Walmart’s house brand) which of course means the original brands are also super moisturizing.

With choice galore you can watch for sales to get rich moisturizers for less per ounce. Watch for drugstores' 2 for 1 deals. No longer are you restricted to buying one brand when it isn’t on sale. Consider another brand! Dupes and some alternatives come in larger sizes of 18 oz - 20 oz to last longer saving you more money.

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Clinique’s Black Honey Dupes

This is #6 Baisen Diary in Honey

Clinique’s Black Honey is a popular shade. First launched in 1971 as a pot of gloss, it was later reformulated and released as the "Almost Lipstick" in 1989, the form customers recognize today.

We can understand why it’s taken over the internet all these years later. Black Honey is a beautiful subtle berry color with sheen that is buildable and flattering on all skin tones! So lovely Liv Tyler wore it in her Lord of the Rings role. 

Clinique calls Black Honey almost lipstick because it is a tint that is sheer with a shine finish.

← Images of the original.

After discovering it at $25 a pop, SAVVY SHOPPERS start looking for inexpensive dupes. Below are six of them:

1) e.l.f. Cosmetics Hydrating Core Lip Shine in Delightful

2) Honest Beauty Tinted Lip Balm With Avocado Oil in Plum Drop

3)  Revlon Super Lustrous Glass Shine Moisturizing Lipstick in o12 Black Cherry

4) Maybelline’s Glaze Balm in Acai Glaze

5) Covergirl’s Clean Fresh Tinted Lip Balm in Bliss You Berry

6) Baisen Diary in Honey - This made BuzzFeed’s Wishful List. Fans of it like it better than the original Black Honey as it leans brownish over a more reddish tint. 👆Compare the Baisen Diary in Honey top image with Clinique's Black Honey image below.👇

Original Black Honey on 3 different skin tones.

I have linked the 2 dupes, wearers tend to be the happiest with as nearly identical to Clinique’s original Black Honey Tint, however all 6 dupes have their fans as close matches for less. Look for them on Amazon, Walmart, Target, CVS and Walgreens to find the lowest price. Feel free to highlight the brand and color names, then enter each one in the search boxes of the 5 retailers for comparison to find your honey of a deal!🍯🐝

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Discover Nude Envie Cosmetics

At every age I’ve gravitated towards nude colors in makeup. Personally I'd rather look like my best self over wild and crazy combinations of bold colors, not that there’s anything wrong with bold colors, or experimentation. 

However bold hues require more maintenance and often more products to reapply during the day. For example, red lipstick means trips to the powder room for touchups and often you need underlying products so the red lipstick wears longer and bleeds less past your lip line. With a nude lip you can get away with wearing and reapplying only the nude lipstick at your desk without a mirror.

If like me, you love a nude palette, Nude Evie is a line of nude-ranging cosmetics. The usual suspects of makeup include lipstick, lip gloss, lip liner, eyeshadow, cream and powder blush in beautiful shapes of nudes that are designed to enhance not conceal all complexions. This means, the line flatters all skin tones ranging from light to dark. Made of velvety textures to achieve a flawless natural look.

What’s more, all the make-up in the collection will work together in any combination. Some are matte, while others have a touch of frost for a little extra pizzazz.

The price point of this luxury line is higher than drugstore brands yet not as outlandish as other luxe brands such as Chanel or Tom Ford or Dior. Nordstrom carries it, opening up the chances for promotions and sales.

The more brand choices consumers have the better. Put Nude Evie on your radar if you lean nude!

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Savvy Shoppers Know That Size Matters

It takes a surprising amount of commodities to maintain ourselves! Doesn’t it?! Even a minimalist has to agree. From household germicides to skincare to haircare to personal care, we certainly need to buy a slew of solutions, soaps, lotions, and potions to clean, groom, and perfume our homes and physiques until the day we die!😳 Today and everyday, I mean, stop and what’s next? Germs? Bad smells? Dishevelment? Surely people in their right minds would never just let themselves go!

A reason I love T.J Maxx is the many botanical and organic finds including liquid soaps, moisturizing lotions, shampoos and hair conditioners that are also sold in huge 1 liter or 33 oz sizes for less. My practice is to buy one, plus one to keep on deck for when the first bottle turns into an empty.

I do the exact same thing when buying household cleaners like gallon sizes of distilled white vinegar, a 4 lb box of baking soda, Pinalen (pine oil), ammonia, and bleach from Walmart, Target, Key Food, or C-Town. (I’ve decided not to replace the ammonia because the others do the same jobs. I hardly reach for it anymore. Before switching to white vinegar to clean my floors and counters, I used ammonia to keep from ruining colored rugs with splatters while cleaning.)

Neither overbuying nor underbuying saves you money. Learn which products keep and which lose potency with the passage of time. Then the trick is to figure out what you need and will continue using. We might make a few mistakes before we figure it out, but eventually we do figure it out. 

After we figure it out, buying staples in big ole sizes not only saves time and money, but simplifies our lives. You make fewer trips to the store to restock and instead can do other tasks or pleasures.

Buying huge sizes of non-perishable household and personal care products is always the Savvy Shopper way to go. It’s well worth creating space for them!

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Korean Beauty: Meditherapy

I’m a big fan of Korean Beauty. Its skincare contains good clean ingredients based on science that works, and it's great value for the money. Generous sizes for less!

Meditherapy is a skincare brand to put on your radar. It’s potent anti-aging serums and creams are formulated to be moisturizing, quick absorbing, non-greasy, non-sticky, suitable for sensitive skin and most importantly, affordable. I mean what more do we want? 

If you only try one product, the top image Retinal Skin Booster Serum is it! (Before tariffs, it sold for $11!) So what makes it so good? The serum contains non-irritating retinaldehyde, which is a nonprescription derivative of retin-A. (Retin-A is the prescription strength.) Retinal is another name for Retinaldhyde. Another non-perscription strength of retinol-A is the more familiar retinol. All 3 strengths are highly effective, but the non-presciption strengths require conversions after their application on the skin to become retinoic acid (i.e. retin-A), often called the holy grail in anti-aging serums. 

2 Conversions: Retinol --> Retinaldehyde --> Retinoic Acid 

As you can see the Meditherapy Retinal Skin Booster only needs one conversion to become retinoic acid, not retinol’s two. But remember all 3 strengths are excellent anti-aging ingredients as all 3 work. Think of it like eating carrots to get your vitamin A. Carrots contain beta carotene which you body converts to vitamin A.

If you have the budget to try more products in the Meditheraphy line, below are a few others worth considering:

Collagen Peptide Boosting Serum - Fights wrinkles and fine lines by boosting collagen production. It hydrates the skin and helps with elasticity and firming the skin.

Yuja Vitamin C 20 Glow Serum - Contains 20% pure vitamin C and yuca oil to soften and hydrate the skin. Vitamin C also brightens the skin. Vitamin B5 and E are added to calm the skin.

Cactus Mucin Hyaluronic Serum - Hyaluronic acid is the main ingredient. It's used to deeply moisturize the face. Like the excellent drugstore brand CeraVe, it has ceramides (a family of waxy lipids found in cells in high concentrations) to strengthen the skin barrier.

Wild Rose Capsule Plumping Serum - This one is a splurge because you don’t need it if using the others. The Wild Rose Serum moisturizes and softens the skin to make your face feel nice! It has oasis rose oil (a hydrator) enriched with vitamin C to promote elasticity, smooth wrinkles and restore a youthful glow. Like all the serums in the line, it’s non-greasy and non-sticky and absorbs right into the skin.

There’s no way around the tariffs imposed on South Korea by you know who.🙂 Tariffs are taxes on foreign goods paid when the goods enter the USA and then get passed onto consumers. So now we are paying $2 - $4 more on each beauty item. Amazon scrapped its plan to list the additional cost for consumers created by the tariffs. Despite this tax, Korean Beauty remains good quality and quantity for the money, and when the tariffs are removed, Korean Beauty will return to costing even less.

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The Ordinary GF 15% Solution: An Anti-ager

The Ordinary was the first company to change the game of anti-aging skincare by making it affordable for most everyone. Once upon a time it cost a mint to buy products containing anti-aging ingredients that were based on science! 

Nowadays when buying effective skincare, you are the one who cho0ses to go broke, or not. Education is a must to know which ingredients based upon science to look for in targeting your skin issues.

The Ordinary keeps evolving because skincare keeps evolving as science evolves. I try to keep up with the science of skincare and enjoy trying new products. 

Here’s a new one from The Ordinary I’m curious to try. It's called GF 15% Solution, an age support serum to help minimize and repair the visible signs of aging, including skin damage. The key ingredients are IGF, EGF, and TGE, which are growth hormones and peptites to regenerate the skin, firming it up and restoring elasticity. GF 15% Solution softens fine lines and wrinkles on the forehead, around the eyes and mouth, and smooths rough skin along with brighting dull skin. Sounds desirable to me!

You apply a few drops after washing your face in the morning and at bedtime. GF 15% Solution doesn’t play nice when used with direct acids, direct vitamin C, or salicylic acid. On the other hand, it pairs well with hyaluronic acid, retinol, and heavier moisturizers. If you use retinol (at night) or bakuchiol (day or night), apply the GF 15% Solution 1st, then retinol or bakuchiol and followed by sunscreen or moisturizers.

I’m writing about GF 15% Solution without testing it first because the Ordinary has proven to be extraordinary skincare. Trying this new product will let me know if its right for my complexion.

At such an affordable price ($15.50, alas like everything else The Ordinary has increased its prices), I’m gung-ho to see if it makes my skin more radiate. I want glowing skin! How about you?

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e.l.f. Sun Boss Lip Gloss with Sunscreen

The long name on the product leaves nothing to the imagination: e.l.f. Boss Gloss Broad Spectrum SPF 25 Sunscreen. It is pigmented lip gloss with high SPF sun protection. 

The main reason I'm featuring the gloss is because it's not sticky. The strains of your hair won't stick to your lips every time you turn your head, which is so annoying. We've all been there. The Burt's Bee's lip gloss I bought a few year's ago was so sticky I never bought it again.

E.l.f.'s color (a choice of 5) is buildable with a high shine finish. Zinc oxide, vitamin E, and hyaluronic acid are the key ingredients. It has a coconut scent, which is fine. People like makeup with a pleasant smell, right? All of e.l.f.'s cosmetics are Fair Trade Certified. They are free from the usual harmful suspects and are vegan and cruelty free.

At $7, it lasts a good long while and is sold at drugstores, Target and Walmart, so you have a great chance of catching a 2 for 1 promotion, or another type of sale. If I like a product, I will buy one, plus a spare to have one on deck.

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The Parallel Makeup Bag

Without a doubt, at $78 for the small size, the Parallel Cosmetic Bag is expensive! Still we can admire how revolutionary it is. A traveler can organize her makeup essentials upright and visible instead of packing it in one big clump of brushes, powder, blush, and lipsticks. No riffling through the bag to find an item.

We are asked to pay for the attractive, sophisticated design that turns chaos into the clever organization of all our beauty tools, the patent-pending folding technology, its intuitive compartments and compactness, and the ease it gives us of grabbing our makeup on the road.

Nevertheless, we know it's only a matter of time before other retailers create a knock-off of the Parallel Travel bag and we could choose to wait and see if they're close enough for less moola.

A Savvy Shopper has choices. Take the concept: (1) Pay the piper if it fills an immediate need; (2) wait for a sale; (3) search for a close-enough clone; or (4)  try making one yourself if you can sew.

Scoring a steal or deal for the original Parallel Cosmetic Bag would be fabulous, but finding a budget-friendly compromise is super satisfying too.

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