How to prioritise your wish list this Black Friday

To help you get more beauty bang for your buck, we chatted to beauty editor and self-described “bargain babe”, Leigh van den Berg. 

It’s time to stockpile your favourites

Black Friday specials are a brilliant way to stockpile on all your staples, says van den Berg. “If you spot something you’ve used your whole life and you know that you love and adore it, by all means, buy it in spades. I love Clicks 3-for-2 promotions when it comes to hair products because I always need shampoo and conditioner so if my favourites are on special I’ll buy six months’ supply.” Just be careful when it comes to stockpiling new products, she says. “Don’t fall into the trap of buying ten conditioners you’ve never tried before just because they’re on special. The last thing you want is to realise it doesn’t work for you and then you’re sitting with a drawer full of them.”

Go big on beauty tools 

If you’ve been thinking about splashing out on a “big ticket” item like a top of the line hair dryer or finally splurging on an LED nail lamp, van den Berg says Black Friday is the perfect time to do it. “If everything is 20% less, the higher the price of the item, means the more rands you can save, so opt for that expensive item you’ve been eyeing and capitalise,” she says. “Getting R150 off a single electronic item you really need and want is a better deal than getting R20 off ten lipsticks when you’ll only ever use three of them.”

Think about your future fragrance needs

Black Friday is the perfect time to buy fragrances, especially if you “play the long game” says van den Berg. You might still have a full bottle of your favourite fragrance sitting on your bedside table, but it’s not going to last forever. If you spot it on sale, she suggests you grab it because by the time you need a refill it might not be marked down. Worse yet, the price might even have gone up by then. “Perfumes have a long shelf life, the average being three to five years. Think ahead about what you want and what you’ll need in the future and plan your spend around that,” she says. “Future you is going to love reaching into a drawer and pulling out a fragrance that would’ve cost R600 more had you bought it only once you’d run out.” 

Take a gamble on a wild card 

Always been curious about contouring or wanted to try false eyelashes, but weren’t sure they’d be for you? Van den Berg says Black Friday is the perfect moment to pick up items you’re not 100% sure about, but are still interested in. “You might discover the bronzer of your dreams for less but realise you and falsies are never going to be friends, but at least it wasn’t an expensive mistake.”  

The last word 

Remember, just because it’s on special doesn’t mean you have to have it, says van den Berg. “A good deal is only a great one if it’s something you actually need or really want. It’s tempting to toss something into your trolley just because the price has been slashed but if you’re just buying for the sake of buying it’s not really saving you money. The best value you could ever get from a Black Friday shopping spree is to snap up what you would’ve bought anyway but at the best price possible.”

Now get ready, get set and shop up a storm for less.