Spotted at Rite Aid (plus a mini-haul!)

Before I get into my latest Rite Aid adventures, I want to let you know that I'm a little bit behind on comments but I will definitely respond later tonight to the comments left yesterday and today. I am SO happy that so many of you bought the Revlon eyeshadow single, Nude Slip, at Walgreens for $1.99 and that you seem to be loving it as much as I do. Yay!! That is one true bargain and I didn't want you to miss it!

OK, now on to Rite Aid! First, I'd like to show you some interesting things that I spotted yesterday at my local Rite Aid:

All Skin Below the Chin products are on clearance for 50% off! As I've mentioned before, their scent, Spun Sugar, is a dead-on dupe for Aquolina Pink Sugar, so if you're a Pink Sugar fan, definitely try to find these at your local Rite Aid. Also, after looking at the ingredients on a few of these products yesterday, I noticed that they all seem to be paraben-free and SLS-free, which is something I wasn't aware of before!

Look what I spotted in the permanent Physicians Formula display! These are the new Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Mascara Duos (retail: $10.95), which I have only heard about but have never seen at any of my local drugstores until yesterday. They are dual-ended mascaras that have color on one end and black mascara on the other end, and just like all the other products in the Shimmer Strips Collection, each shade is tailored to a specific eye color. Also, notice how there's a "Try Me FREE" sticker on each box that contains a mail-in rebate for the full price of the product. I'm not a big fan of colored mascaras, so I didn't pick one up, but if you have tried these I would LOVE to know what you think.

I also spotted some new Biore products (both retail for $7.99). The first is Steam Activated Cleanser, which "works with the steam of your shower for a truly deep clean". Sounds kind of interesting. Also, there are some new Makeup Removing Towelettes which contain green tea. I don't know about you, but $7.99 seems pretty steep for towelettes, but if you have a coupon it could be worth it. I love green tea anything, so I might check these out if I can get a good deal.

Next, I'd like to share with you how I took advantage of the sales this week at Rite Aid, then further increased my savings by using some coupons!

Before I show you my haul pic, I'd like to mention that if you get the Red Plum mailer every week in your mailbox (not your email in-box but your real, physical mailbox), you NEED to check it because they ALWAYS feature drugstore makeup, haircare and bath and body coupons! I'm not sure if all areas in the US get Red Plum sent to them (some areas may call it by another name) but it's a free mailer that some of you may just consider "junk mail" and never even open. But I'm telling you, I've found my best coupons in the Red Plum mailer (even better than the Sunday paper) and they almost always give you at least one (often two) $1/$1.50/$2 off coupons for Garnier, L'Oreal, and other big brands.

If you want to see if Red Plum sends their mailer to your area, visit the Red Plum website (click here) and be sure to check out the printable coupons as well (in addition to drugstore beauty products they also have great Ulta coupons and grocery coupons as well!).

So last week I spotted a Nivea Lip Balm coupon in my weekly Red Plum mailer, and it was for $1 off if you buy 2 Nivea Lip Balms. I'm glad I tucked that coupon in my wallet because this week all Nivea Lip Balms are on sale at Rite Aid for 99 cents each (note: huge thanks to my lovely reader, Coral, for letting me know that Lypsyl lip balms are ALSO on sale for 99 cents this week! If you want to read about my love for Lypsyl, click here. Oh! And two-packs of SoftLips are also on sale for 99 cents this week at Rite Aid!)

So after taking advantage of the Rite Aid sale price, plus using my Red Plum coupon, I was able to snag two Nivea Lip Balms for 49 CENTS EACH! I'm telling you, cut those coupons, tuck them away in your wallet, and pay attention to the weekly sales because you can definitely score big time! As you know, these Nivea Lip Balms retail for $2.99 each, so I saved a full 5 bucks just by waiting for a sale and then using my coupon. (Note: most of the time, drugstores will let you use manufacturers' coupons during their sales, but sometimes they won't. It never hurts to try, so if you're afraid that they might not accept your coupon, TRY ANYWAY! I'd say 99% of the time, the drugstore WILL let you use a coupon in conjunction with their weekly sale, so just give it a whirl. What's the worst that can happen? They say no? Then just put the item back or tell them you don't want it after all. No big deal.)

So how much did I pay for all six of these products? Six dollars!

All Rite Aid manicure tools are BOGOFREE this week. So I paid $1.89 for the clippers (I desperately needed a new pair) and I got the two-pack of nail files for free (retail: $1.49). Then, as you know, I got the Nivea Lip Balms for 49 cents each. And I got the two Sinful Colors polishes for a total of $3 because ALL nail polishes are BOGO1/2OFF this week (all brands excluding Revlon). The regular retail price of Sinful Colors polishes are $1.99. So there you go: $6 total! Without sales or coupons, this haul would have cost me around $14, so I cut the cost by more than 50% just by staying aware of the sales and remembering what coupons are in my wallet. You can totally do this too!

Oh, and if you're curious, I purchased the Sinful Colors polishes Social Ladder (that names cracks me up) and All About You. Honestly, Social Ladder is a color I had never noticed before in the SC display. At first glance you may think it's a boring nude shade, but when you look at it up close, it's actually a gorgeous pinky/beige duo-chrome (lots of violet and green running through it) and it also has the prettiest silver and gold micro-glitter in it, which gives it a unique sparkle. I can't wait to try this one, and I'll definitely post some swatches if you're curious. To me, it seems like a safe-for-work shade that's just a little more interesting than your average sheer nude.

As for All About You, it needs no explanation! Who doesn't need a little gold bling in their lives? I actually bought this to layer over some of my red polishes (I loooove the look of gold layered over a base of red, especially for toes) so I'll post some swatches of this as well if you're interested.

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on anything that I've mentioned on this post! Thanks for reading. :)