I Scoured the Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale for All the Best Beauty Products
It's like the hidden menu at Starbucks but better.
While some people mark the turn of each season with things like switching up their makeup routines, spending time with family around the holidays, or going on a big vacation, I rely on the Nordstrom sale calendar. From the anniversary sale to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, if there’s one thing that the famed retailer is going to do, it’s mark a special time of the year with the best sale prices on the items that you’ve been coveting the most.
I love a good discount on Uggs as much as the next person, but I prefer to use these sales as a way to stock up on beauty products for gifts, as well as get any back-ups that I’ll need for the next year. Or, you know, to treat yourself after a busy holiday season! If a chic beauty gift is also your go-to for housewarmings, birthdays, or just general celebrations where you don't want to show up empty-handed, take a moment to thank any deity that you believe in because Nordstrom’s Half-Yearly Sale has been extended, just in time to get some last-minute new-year deals.
Regardless of the reason (and you never need a reason to browse beauty products) I’ve gone ahead and rounded up the best beauty items from the Nordstrom half-yearly sale for your shopping pleasure. While a few of our favorite high-ticket items (hi, Dyson Supersonic), have since sold out and are now back to full price, other items like lipsticks, fragrances, and other hair tools, are still in stock. There is something here for every single person you can think of—yes, even the one who has ‘everything.’ Keep scrolling to make your next gifting session infinitely easier.
Shop the Best Beauty Products from the Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale
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This Anastasia Beverly Hills set comes with the brand's Fall Romance eyeshadow palette as well as one of the brand's lip velvets liners. Whether you want to break this up into three separate gifts or want to gift it as a full set, any makeup lover will adore this kit.
Have a bathing enthusiast in your life? Take their pre-shower routine up a notch by gifting them this dry brush to exfoliate before getting under the water. They will unlock all the secrets to baby-soft skin.
Westman Atelier's lip products are sorely underrated so if you're gifting someone who has a thing for lip colors, this set features three of the brand’s lipsticks in a red, pink, and universally-flattering mauve shade.
Makeup palettes are some of the easiest products to gift, thanks to the variety of skin tones they easily flatter. This Benefit set comes with a bronzer and two blushes, and the formula is soft, easy to apply, and extremely pigmented. Last-minute pickup or not, the makeup aficionado in your life will be more than happy if presented with this gift.
This MAC Cosmetics mascara is simply one of the best that I've ever tried. Everything from the brush to the formula is sheer perfection, and it provides both length and volume for your lashes. This kit also comes with an eyeliner, which makes it a steal at just under $24.
Normally I’d reserve recommending a citrus perfume for the warmer months, but this Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue scent is perfect for year-round wear. It smells light, airy, and clean, and it is unisex, making it an easy item to pick up on the way to your family's house for the holidays.
No one does a long-lasting lipstick like MAC Cosmetics. If you're looking for a relatively safe makeup product to buy for the beauty lover in your life, this set comes with two lipsticks in the brand's signature "lock it" formula. The brown and pink shades of each lipstick also flatter a variety of skin tones.
Anyone who loves hairstyling will be over the moon to receive this three-piece set from Pursonic. A hairdryer that doubles as a volumizer brush, a flat iron, and a travel straightener, for $75 is as good a deal as you're likely ever going to get.
The best part about home scents is that you don't have to be too picky-as long as the item smells good you have a relatively safe gift for anyone on your list. This Italic candle has notes of cardamom, sandalwood, cedarwood, and musk, and smells like what I imagine all the homes on Architectural Digest smell like.
Fragrance enthusiasts know that your scent routine starts with your body products, and vanilla is one of the most universally-loved notes of all time. Therefore, you really can't go wrong picking up this vanilla body lotion from Laura Mercier for anyone on your shopping list this winter.
You know that squeaky-clean feeling that you love when getting out of the shower? Replacing a loofah with these body exfoliating gloves will take it up 1000 percent. Throw in a few body washes and lotions and this will make the perfect last-minute gift.
Whether you're tying to help someone battle the dry winter air or are deeply invested in their base makeup turning out perfectly every single time, this serumizer from MAC is the secret weapon that screams "I really love you.”
It doesn't have to be summer for you to take out your beachy scents. That being said, if you want your gift to channel the warmer months, Estee Lauder's Bronze Goddess has notes of bergamot, sea salt, and coconut water, that transport your to the ocean, which is just as good as being there, right?
The Theraface is one of the best multi-use facial tools on the market. The pro set features everything from microcurrent to light therapy, all in one compact device. If you have a bride or graduate in your family who's counting down to the big day, they'll be endlessly grateful for this investment that you're making to ensure that they look stunning in their pictures.
Armani's Acqua Di Gioia perfume has notes of brown sugar, Italian lemon zest, cedarwood, labdanum, and more. For the fragrance enthusiast, this gift set, which includes both a full and travel-size version of the scent, as well as a lotion, is the ultimate luxury treat.
Winter color palettes are typically moodier that those in the spring and summer, so this Orly nail set feels like the easiest way to make sure that your loved ones will have winter-ready nails at all times.
If you're buying a product for someone who loves a "no-makeup makeup look," this lip and cheek oil will surely become a staple in their makeup routines. It offers a sheer wash of color for the face and is glowy without being sticky.
Nothing says luxury quite like a Jo Malone perfume. This gift set features the scents Cypress & Grapevine as well as Wood Sage & Sea Salt, the latter of which is one of the most popular scents from the brand. The best part? Both scents are perfectly unisex.
Body oils are fun to have on vacation, but when are also scented, they turn into one of those necessities that people didn't realize they needed—i.e. the perfect gift that people will love and use.
Being able to have your favorite home fragrance connected to your phone is one of those little conveniences that can't be overlooked. So gifting someone an electric diffuser that they can control at the tap of a button? Give yourself the best gifter of the year award.
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Ariel Baker is the Beauty Writer at Marie Claire. Previously the associate beauty editor at PS and briefly freelance, she has bylines in InStyle, Forbes Vetted, Women's Health, and more.
Since she started out in the non-profit sector, Ariel enjoys looking at beauty from a sociocultural lens, looking to avenues like politics, music, and the arts, to inform her views on the space. That being said, as a true beauty-product obsessive, testing the latest items to hit the market, keeping up with trends, and meeting industry icons, will always be her favorite part of working in the beauty space.
When she's not working, Ariel can be found hanging out with her fiancé and loving on their two cat daughters: Cow and Chicken.
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