ULTA Black Friday 2020: Our Best Insider Tips

Black Friday 2020 sales might be over, but we’re still hunting for the best deals on all your wishlist items through the holidays. Bookmark this page and set a phone alert to check back here next year for the best Black Friday ULTA tips for 2021.

Below are some of our best Black Friday ULTA shopping tips. For live deals, visit our ULTA deals page.

Let’s be honest, ULTA Black Friday 2020 deals are mostly about discounts on prestige brands like bareMinerals, Urban Decay and more. Oh, and those Black Friday perfume deals for holiday gifts!

Here’s how to get all the ULTA holiday hot buys and what to avoid during Black Friday.

For Ulta deals all year round, check out our Ulta Deals Page!

 

1. The ULTA Black Friday 2019 ad dropped Nov. 25.

ULTA Black Friday ads have been dropping later every year, which is opposite of most retailers. In 2019, the ad dropped on the Monday prior to the holiday. In 2018, the ad dropped on Sunday, Nov. 18., but back in 2017 the ad came out ten days prior to Black Friday.

If trends continue as they have been in the past couple years, then we should expect to see the ULTA Black Friday 2020 ad to drop on or around Nov. 22.

Download the KCL app to see deals in real time once they’re live.

 

2. ULTA Black Friday deals will be available on Thanksgiving, but stores will be closed.

Is ULTA open on Thanksgiving? Nope, but select Black Friday deals will be available online at ULTA.com.

Stores will operate normal business hours on Wednesday, Nov. 25 and close for Thanksgiving. Last year, online deals were available on Thursday evening at 5 p.m. ET, but 2020 holiday hours haven’t been announced. We’re crossing our fingers that the deals start earlier since they’ll be closed on the holiday.

Learn more about Black Friday store hours for your favorite retailers.

 

RELATED: 29 Ulta Hacks that Will Save You Serious Cash!

 

3. Don’t go into the store on Black Friday! Shop ULTA.com.

The best strategy is to shop ULTA.com as soon as deals go live. There’s no reason to go in store, since deals are the same for both.

Also, don’t wait until Black Friday to shop ULTA, since all deals are “while supplies last” and the best ones always sell out first. Get your phone or laptop out on Thanksgiving and click away!

 

RELATED: 25 Black Friday Shopping Strategies Only the Pros Use

4. Do not miss ULTA Cyber Monday — it’s basically ULTA Black Friday 2.0.

I’m not gonna say ULTA Cyber Monday is better than Black Friday. But some ULTA-loyal people swear by it, because of the extensive deals on prestige brands. In 2019, Cyber deals went live on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, and ended on Tuesday at 3 a.m. ET.

ULTA Cyber Monday is basically an extension of some ULTA Black Friday deals, along with deals like:

• 50% off tons of prestige brands like bareMinerals, Benefit, Urban Decay, Stila, Smashbox.
• Prestige-brand gift with purchase. For example, get a 3-piece Urban Decay gift with a $40 Urban Decay purchase. Same for Too Faced, Benefit, bareMinerals, MAC, Lancome, Stila, Estee Lauder, NARS, Clinique, etc.
• Free 22-piece beauty bag with any online purchase of $75 or more
• Free luxury robe or throw with any $50 or more fragrance purchase

 

RELATED: The Next Best Times to Shop Besides Black Friday.

 

5. Plan to spend at least $60 online so you can get a free gift with your purchase.

Last year, you could get an 8-piece makeup gift set with any $60 purchase. Best part? It was over $72 worth of free makeup.

Plus, you get free shipping when you spend at least $35 online.

Looking for a Morphe palette like Jeffree Star or James Charles? Skip ULTA.

ULTA prices generally follow Morphe’s website prices, but when you sign up for Morphe emails you’ll receive a unique 20% off discount code for your first order to use on a Morphe palettes by James Charles, Jeffree Star and more.

TIP: Use code JSTAR to get a 10% discount on Morphe stand-alone products any time you buy from the Morphe website. Unfortunately, this code won’t work on influencer collaboration lines like Jeffree Star or James Charles.

 

7. Aim for at least 50% savings on everything from Urban Decay to bareMinerals.

In the past, most of ULTA Black Friday holiday hot buys were about 50% off — sometimes up to 95% off.

Don’t miss the mix of Black Friday deals on prestige and non-prestige brands:

• bareMinerals Gift Set: $15 (reg. $74) — 80% savings
• Urban Decay Naked3 Eyeshadow Palette: $27 (reg. $54) — 50% savings
• OPI nail polish: $5.25 each (reg. $10.50) — 50% savings
• Morphe Catch My Eye 6-piece brush set: $15.50 (reg. $36) — 47% savings
• Hot Tools curling irons & hair dryers: 50% savings
• Prestige brand mascaras from Tarte, Urban Decay, Buxom, Pur, Smashbox or Lorac: $10 (reg. $21-24) — up to 58% savings
• Ulta 95-Piece Makeup Collection: $12.48 with the Ulta coupon ($200 value) — nearly 95% savings
• ULTA Lip Glossary gift set: $9.99 (reg. $18) — 45% savings

 

8. Use a “$3.50 off $15” ULTA coupon with your purchase.

If there’s an ULTA coupon available, it’ll list the dates it’s valid — usually from Thanksgiving through the day after Black Friday.

Pay attention to ULTA coupon exclusions so you aren’t disappointed when you go to check out.

 

9. Buy The Body Shop brand items from ULTA, not The Body Shop.

Why? Honestly, just for the free gift with a purchase.

The Body Shop offers the exact same Black Friday deals as ULTA does on their own products — 40% off all products, sitewide. But at ULTA, if you spend $60, you can get that free 9-piece gift set.

 

10. For Black Friday deals on shampoo and conditioner, aim for savings of at least 59%.

Follow me here…the ULTA Jumbo Love sale happened in January, but not in July 2020. Shampoo and conditioner savings are usually between 59-72% savings during these sales. Since we didn’t get our summertime deals, we’re hoping ULTA makes it up to us on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

Since we don’t know if the Jumbo Love Sale will start a few weeks after Christmas as it has in years past, aim to save at least 59% on shampoo deals during Black Friday — that’s the minimum savings you’ll find during the Jumbo Love sale.

During Jumbo Love, here are typical savings tiered by brand:

• $12.99 liters: Normally $21-31.50 (59% savings)
• $14.99 liters: Normally $20-53 (72% savings)
• $19.99 liters: Normally $29.95-55 (64% savings)

 

11. Don’t buy Philosophy shower gel at ULTA — buy it at Macy’s instead.

Don’t pay more than $10 for Philosophy shower gel this year!

During ULTA Black Friday, you’ll see $18 Philosophy shower gel for just $12. BUT Macy’s usually offers it for $10, and stores like Ross, Marshalls and T.J.Maxx often carry Philosophy on their shelves.

 

 

12. Watch for deals on fragrance sampler sets and beauty gift boxes.

Looking for Black Friday perfume deals? (I mean, aren’t we all?!)

ULTA offers 50% off fragrance “flights” — a sampler sets of fragrances for men and women.

ULTA also offered a free luxury robe or throw blanket with $50 fragrance purchases last year that were a huge hit — the robes sold out by Christmas.

 

UP NEXT: Shop Black Friday like a boss with this cheat sheet.