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Sephora and Ulta sales: when they usually happen, and how to plan for them

Sephora and Ulta each run a couple of big sales a year, and they follow a fairly steady seasonal pattern. Knowing roughly when they come lets you wait for the things you were going to buy anyway.

Updated · 5 min read

Happening now: fall 2026

Sephora Holiday Savings Event: October 30 to November 9, 2026
Rouge members get 20% off from October 30. VIB members get 15% off and Insiders 10% off from November 3. Shoppers report the code ALLONSALE at checkout, but your discount is set by your Beauty Insider tier, so check the code in the Sephora app.
Ulta Early Black Friday: October 25 to November 21, 2026
A rotating set of deals that ends November 21 at 11:59 pm CT.
Ulta Black Friday: from November 21, 2026
Online from November 21 at 8 pm CT; in stores from November 22 at 10 am local time, through November 28.

As of October 30, 2026: Ulta’s dates are from its Black Friday page, and Sephora’s from beauty press coverage of the event. Retailers can change an event while it runs, so check their app before you buy.

Sephora’s Savings Event

Sephora’s biggest sale has usually run twice a year: a spring event around late March or April, and a holiday event starting around the end of October. The discount depends on your Beauty Insider tier. In recent events, including fall 2026, the top tier (Rouge) got 20% off and a few days’ head start, VIB 15% and Insider 10%. A free account is enough for the Insider discount.

Ulta’s 21 Days of Beauty

Ulta’s best-known sale has usually run twice a year too: in spring, around March, and in late summer to early fall. Instead of one storewide discount, it features a set of products at a deep discount each day, often half off, for one day only. Ulta also runs other events through the year. In fall 2026, its early Black Friday deals started in late October, weeks before Black Friday itself.

How to plan for a sale

  1. Keep a list before the sale starts, with the exact product and shade, so you don’t buy the wrong one in a hurry.
  2. Know the usual price. A sale is only a deal if it beats the regular price at other stores.
  3. Check price per ounce. Value sizes and minis change the math.
  4. Watch the exclusions. Some brands and new launches are often left out of tiered sales.
  5. Stock up on what you use, not what’s discounted. A half-price product you don’t use is still money spent.
Prices for one foundation at six US stores in the app, from $29 to $39, per ounce, with Sephora’s sale at $29 instead of $39 and the date each price was seen.
Shadecubby shows every store’s price for a product side by side, per ounce too, with sales marked and the date each price was seen.

Between the big sales

The cheapest store for a product changes all the time, and smaller sales come and go. Comparing stores is often worth more than waiting. Our guide to paying less for makeup covers the rest.

Shadecubby shows each store’s current price in the US and Canada with sales marked, and lets you keep a wishlist of exact shades to buy when the price is right. It’s independent of every store, so it doesn’t earn anything when you buy.

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