The Best Times of Year to Buy High-Quality Beauty Products From Ulta Beauty

If you love building a flawless beauty routine but hate paying full price, you’re in the right place. Shopping for cosmetics, skin care and hair care can add up quickly, but savvy shoppers know that timing is everything. Whether you’re restocking your favorite Cosrx snail mucin, trying out a trendy Medicube product you saw on TikTok or hunting for fragrance-free essentials, knowing exactly when and how to shop at Ulta Beauty can save you a fortune.

The secret to keeping your vanity fully stocked without emptying your wallet comes down to understanding the retailer calendar and knowing how to stack your discounts. When you combine the right sale with a coupon code and Rakuten Cash Back, you’ll unlock a level of savings that makes every purchase feel like a massive win. Let’s break down the best times of year to buy high-quality beauty products from Ulta Beauty and maximize Cash Back.

Understanding the biggest beauty sale of the year

When people ask, “What is Ulta’s biggest sale of the year?” the answer is always the legendary 21 Days of Beauty. Recently rebranded as the Semi-Annual Beauty Event, the massive promotion typically happens twice a year: once in March and once in late August or early September.

How does the 21 Days of Beauty sale work at Ulta? It’s beautifully simple, but it requires a bit of strategy. Every single day for three weeks, Ulta drops a new set of prestige beauty deals. They’re not clearance items or discontinued shades; they’re fan-favorite, best-selling products from top-tier brands.

Each daily deal offers exactly 50% off the regular price. The catch is that the deals last for only 24 hours. Once the day is over, the product goes back to its regular price. Because the discounts are so deep on high-quality beauty products, popular items frequently sell out before the day ends.

To win during Ulta’s 21 Days of Beauty, you need to review the sale calendar as soon as it drops. Mark your calendar for the days your must-haves go on sale. Set an alarm for early in the morning so you can add the items to your cart before they disappear. This is the absolute best time to stock up on expensive serums, premium eye-shadow palettes and high-end hair tools.

Maximizing daily deals and short-term promotions

The 21 Days of Beauty sale gets all the hype, but Ulta also offers plenty of other opportunities to save throughout the year. You just have to know where to look and when to strike.

What’s the best strategy to maximize Cash Back on daily deals? It starts with staying alert and checking the Ulta app regularly. Ulta frequently runs surprise sales, such as the Gorgeous Hair Event in May and October or the Love Your Skin Event in January. During these themed events, you’ll find daily steals focused specifically on hair care or skin care, often bringing prices down by 50%.

The store also offers weekly Beauty Steals and special weekend promotions. Sometimes brands will run promotions in which you can buy one, get one 50% off on their entire line. Other times, you may find a gift with purchase that includes deluxe samples worth more than the item you’re buying.

To make the most of these daily deals, always check Rakuten first. Some days, Rakuten offers elevated Cash Back rates at Ulta. If you spot a daily deal when Rakuten is offering 10% Cash Back, you’re essentially creating a double discount.

The art of stacking sales and coupons

Finding a great sale is only the first step. The true magic happens when you learn how to layer your discounts. What’s the optimal way to combine a sale price, a coupon code and rewards? It’s all about the order of operations.

First, you may be wondering where you can find real coupon codes. The most reliable source is directly from the retailer. Ulta almost always has a standard coupon available, but the coupon typically excludes prestige brands and fragrances.

For the high-end stuff, you’ll have to wait for the golden ticket: the highly coveted 20% off coupons that include prestige brands. How often does Ulta have 20% off? Usually, the coupons are released three or four times a year. You’ll typically see them around the holidays, in the spring and sometimes in the late summer. When you get one of these coupon codes, guard it with your life.

Here’s how you stack like a pro: Start with a product that’s already marked down for a sale event. Apply your coupon code at checkout. If the item is not excluded, the discount will apply to the sale price. Pay with your Ulta Beauty Rewards points. You earn points on every purchase, and you can redeem them like cash. If you have manufacturer coupons (which are rare for high-end beauty, but common for drugstore brands), you can sometimes use them in-store on top of store coupons.

By combining a sale price with a 20% off coupon and paying with points you have accumulated, your out-of-pocket cost drops dramatically.

Getting Cash Back on every beauty haul

No matter what time of year you’re shopping or what coupon you’re using, there is one step you should never skip: activating Rakuten. We exist to give our members Cash Back, and making your beauty routine more affordable is one of our favorite ways to do that.

Using Rakuten is the easiest way to ensure that you’re never leaving money on the table. Before you start adding volumizing mascara or leave-in conditioner to your cart, open the Rakuten app or click the browser extension.

The beauty of Cash Back is that it stacks seamlessly with almost everything else. Let’s say you’re shopping during a major Beauty Sale. You add a half-price moisturizer to your cart. You apply a promo code for free shipping. You use your rewards points to lower the total. Even after all those discounts, Rakuten still gives you a percentage of your final purchase price back.

This strategy works year-round. Whether you’re buying a quick replacement lip gloss on a random Tuesday or doing a massive haul during the holidays, that Cash Back adds up. When your Cash Back arrives via check or PayPal, you can use it to treat yourself to something fun or simply enjoy the feeling of having shopped smarter.

Putting your beauty shopping strategy into action

Now that you know the rhythms of Ulta’s retail calendar, you can approach your beauty shopping with absolute confidence. You no longer have to pay full price for the items you use every day.

Here is your ultimate game plan for the year: Keep a running list of the products you need to replace soon. Never buy prestige cosmetics on impulse unless you are totally out. Wait for major sale events. If it’s February, hold out for the March 21 Days of Beauty event. If it’s July, wait for the August version of the sale. Download the Ulta app to monitor daily deals and surprise discounts on your favorite brands. Sign up for the store’s Beauty Rewards program to earn points on every dollar you spend, and don’t forget to claim your free birthday gift. Always check for a valid promo code before hitting checkout. Never shop without activating Rakuten first to secure your Cash Back.

By waiting for the right moment, leveraging every available discount and consistently earning Cash Back, you’ll transform your beauty routine from a guilty pleasure into a masterclass in smart shopping. It feels incredible to unbox high-quality beauty products knowing you scored them for a fraction of what everyone else paid. Happy shopping and enjoy the savings!