Beauty retailers don’t wait for Black Friday anymore — the sales start weeks out, then peak and reset right before Cyber Monday. Here’s what’s actually live right now, and when to spend versus when to wait.
Ulta’s Early Sale Is Already Running
Ulta kicked off its early Black Friday event in late October, with new discounts rotating in weekly through November 21. Reported markdowns go up to 50% off brands including Tarte, Clinique, and Benefit, alongside K-beauty names like medicube and COSRX that have been climbing fast this year. Because the lineup changes weekly, it’s worth checking back rather than buying the first discount you see.
Sephora Is Leaning on Gifts-With-Purchase
Rather than storewide discounts out of the gate, Sephora’s current promotions skew toward thresholds: a complimentary Caudalie trial size with a $40 purchase, and a free complexion sample set with a $45 spend. Holiday gift sets are also rolling out across the site now, which tend to offer better per-product value than buying items individually — worth comparing before checkout.
The Actual Peak Is Still Three Weeks Out
Most major retailers’ headline sales still cluster around the traditional window — Black Friday, November 27, through Cyber Monday, November 30 — even as “early access” promotions stretch earlier each year. The practical strategy: use the October and early-November early-access deals for skincare staples and things you already know you’ll repurchase, and hold gift sets, splurge items, and anything you’re buying for someone else until the Black Friday weekend itself, when selection and discounts both tend to peak together.
Worth Watching
K-beauty’s continued momentum this year — medicube and COSRX both earning shelf space in a mainstream Black Friday lineup — is itself a signal of where 2026’s beauty spending has actually gone: toward efficacy-driven, ingredient-forward brands rather than pure prestige packaging. Expect that to show up even more in how retailers structure next year’s holiday promotions.
