MAC rarely goes on sale, but if you live near an outlet mall you may be in luck. Legend has it The Cosmetics Company Store chain of outlet shops is one of the few places that regularly stocks discounted MAC makeup, brushes and skin care products, as well as discounted products from other department store cosmetics brands. To see for myself, I jumped on the computer this morning and pulled up Outletbound.com to find the nearest outlet mall with a Cosmetics Company Store.
Paydirt!
I found one an hour north of me in Napa, so I took a drove up there today to check it out.
A somewhat mysterious chain store with at least 70 locations across the US, The Cosmetics Company Store sells discounted makeup, skin care, brushes and fragrances from several of the Estee Lauder lines including MAC, Origins, Bobbi Brown and Clinique. I say “mysterious” because I couldn’t find a website for the company.
MAC at The Cosmetics Company Store
The sales staff at the Napa Valley location informed me that each Cosmetics Company Store maintains a different inventory of products. MAC treasures will vary. The store I visited had two MAC displays — one with makeup and another with skin care and brushes.
I got the impression that colors and product choices are kinda hit or miss, but I was surprised to find a lot of products from past launches like MAC Fafi lipsticks for $10 (originally $14), Beauty Powder Blushes for $12.25 (originally $17.50), and the Lipglasses from the Stylistics collection for $14 (originally $20).
If you missed a limited edition release (like I missed the Stylistics collection when it first appeared for the holidays in 2007), and it’s no longer available on MAC’s website, you might get a second chance at The Cosmetics Company Store.
In addition to having hard-to-find pieces from past collections, the store I visited also carried staple items from MAC’s permanent collection. Blacktrack Fluidline was marked down to $10.50 from $15, and Brown Script eye shadow to $10 from $14.
To find a Cosmetics Company Store near you, visit Mallseeker.com or Outletbound.com (search by store for Cosmetics Company). Call stores ahead of time to find out which products they carry.
A Few Things to Consider
If you’re a makeup newbie, try to visit the store with a friend who’s familiar with the recent collections because I asked the sales staff a couple color questions, and even though they were cordial, they didn’t seem as well trained as regular makeup counter people.
Even though the Stylistics Lipglasses were calling to me, I ended up leaving the store empty handed. I’m still on self-imposed makeup lockdown until Cult of Cherry arrives this week.
Right now I’m hanging out with Tabs and surfing the web. It’s almost my bed time. I hope you had a good weekend. See you tomorrow!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I am salivating!!! lucky people for having them in cheaper price 🙁 that’s life! LOL have a great week ahead Karen! You are definitely a friendly neighborhood who brings good news to readers!
Ahhh I wish there was a CCO in Arizona! =[ I’m so jealous haha Dang girl these links will keep me up all night if I go through all of them lol
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I’m very very jealous !!!!! I would have sweeped the whole MAC shelf into my basket. Cant believe you left empty handed Karen !
We dont have those CCO’s in London………although if you work for Estee Lauder companies, you have access to the Aladdins Cave as I call it, or the Staff shop,where everything is about 75%…
Oh how I wish those CCO’s exist in London…………
Hope you had a restful weekend Karen and a great week 😉
I love CCO! Very good willpower leaving emptyhanded:) I too have been laying low until Cult of Cherry comes out. Maybe it will come a few days early…..
I love CCO! Very good willpower leaving emptyhanded:) I too have been laying low until Cult of Cherry comes out. Maybe it will come a few days early…..
hi karen!
it’s good to be stateside again (although technically i’m in canada) with MAC at reasonable prices (it’s way overpriced in asia!
totally waiting for the cult of cherry and those vamp lipsticks!
i’m totally DROOLING over the discounted MAC… over here it’s hard to find outlet stores for anything, unless you go a million miles from downtown (which, as a poor student, where i’m based).
TABS IS ADORABLE IN HIS NEW BANNER. i would give him ten thousand of my lip glosses (my favorite incidentally being benefit thegloss, although i hope there were more colors…) just because of that precious look alone!
argh, the nearest CCO is far from me! With the gas price and all, it’d better be off for me to buy from MAC 🙁 BTW, I nominated you, did you see it?
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That’s worth checking out! 🙂
I always wonder, though, what do you think the shelf-life is on an unopened liquid product (like gloss or eyeliner)? I worry about some of these products from collections of yore!
I live for the CCO!!! ^_^
I visit mine once an month, and just went to one that was abour an hour north of me in Kenosha, WI. There is one about a half hour from me in Aurora, IL. I hear they get shipments around the end of every month so you know where I will be next week!!!
I haven’t been to my closest CCO lately (in Aurora, IL…oh the Wayne’s World references that are floating through my head right now 😉 ) but the last time I went I picked up 2 random MAC shadows (limited edition, don’t know which collection they came from–this was years ago and I wasn’t as MAC-crazy yet). I’ll be interested in taking a look…AFTER Cult of Cherry comes out. I’m on that lockdown with ya, Karen!
I LOVE the CCS!! I try to go there as often as possible, but every time I do – I end up spending HOURS there!
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Oh man! I wish I lived near one of these! I would go absolutely crazy buying stuff up.
…maybe it’s a good thing that I don’t live by one, then…
Hi Karen!
Hope you’re having a great Monday! I checked out a CCS while on vacation recently-was able to grab MAC’s Cranberry eyeshadow. Too bad the closest store to me now is three hours away 🙁 Oh well!
I’m soooo waiting for the Cult of Cherry on Thursday. The lipglasses are calling me!! 🙂
Yeah I was surprised too at the oddball (but awesome) selections at my local CCO. What irritated me most was that there were no prices marked on anything, and they only had a few cotton balls around to wipe with after testing. (No kleenex?? No remover or alcohol? I guess not everyone can be Sephora or Ulta…)
But yeah, last time I was there I got Nightfish fluidline and a chromeglass!! So awesome.
And the girls there didn’t know ANYTHING about makeup. Seriously, it’s like, you have to know what you’re going there for, because they’re just there to work the register. Last time, one of them was doing her algebra homework on the counter. *shakes head*
OMG, what a coincidence! I totally went to the CCO today! All I left with was one eyeshadow. I usually like to save up for the new collections, rather than buy stuff discounted at the CCO, which is not the smartest thing to do money-wise, lol.
We have a CCO here and I love it! Found the sculpt and shape powder for less than it would have been on Ebay. I had to resist this weekend for the Cult of Cherry collection too. And I just received my invite today!
When I was a MAC newbie, I was very excited for the CCO. But now I don’t get as excited when I go to a CCO.
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Hi Nikki,
You have a great week, too, girlie. 🙂 Hope good things happen to you!
Hi Roxy,
Aww, well, maybe the next time you take a trip out of state you can visit. If you have relatives in the Bay it’s the perfect excuse to go to Napa, LOL!
Hi Anna,
It was an amazing feat of self restraint! 😉
Girl, if we lived in London we’d have to make friends with some Aladdin’s Cave girls/boys. 75%, holy wow!
Hi Laurie,
Let’s hope that it does. Those eye palettes shall be mine!
Hi Ines,
Glad to hear you got back safely. 🙂 Have you adjusted to the time change yet? I always find it harder to coming back… takes me about two weeks before I’m sleeping normally again.
The kitty in the banner a model representation of a thinner, younger Tabs. Tabs ain’t exactly svelte, but because I don’t want to hurt his kitty self esteem I like refer to him as “husky,” LOLOL. The vet said that he doesn’t need to go on a diet, so I figure it’s just more of him to love.
Have a good week!
Hi Dao,
Oh, that’s too bad. So close… yet so far away. Thanks for the nomination! When I get a chance I will check out the deets. I hope you win. 🙂
Hi Glosslizard,
I think if you get something from a collection within the last year you’ll be fine. I’m not very strict when it comes to those makeup shelf life guidelines, though. I’ll usually keep stuff until it smells or looks weird.
Hi DazzleGlam,
That’s so great! I hope you get some good hauling in. When you do you have to share with me so I can live vicariously through you. 🙂
WOW, I just wanto grab everything on that MAC shelf. So jealous. But there is no CCO at all in my country. Boo!
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They seriously need to bring that store to the Bay. Driving all the way to Napa….for makeup?! You so crazy. Haha! I’m actually looking forward to checking out Cult of Cherry this week. I was considering only buying a lipstick, but I might snag a quad as well.
That store sounds like heaven. Never mind that the regular prices in the US are already lower than here in Belgium. Lucky you!
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Hey girl,
Love your blog and tutorials. Hmm… I’ve been to the Gilroy CCO. It was a long drive, but nothing like Napa. It was def hit or miss there. I did get brushes glosses from the heirloom collection. Love them.
ohhhhh…. Napa has some stylistics… i want!!
omg they carry mac !!!! do they also carry studio fix line?
Hey Karen do you know if they carry Mac studio fix powder foundation?
Hi Chrissie,
I think it depends on the store. Their stock varies, too, so if there’s one nearby it’s probably best to call them first and ask. When I was there I do recall them having some StudioFix but the colors were limited.
Karen, thanks for your response and what a great idea. I didn’t think of that lol but I will definitely call them.
Thanks for the great review! I work here and I’ve heard so many bad things about other CCS’ and am just delighted to read a good one about us! Everyone is right, we are trained as retail salespersons and NOT consultants. We are actually only allowed to reiterate what is on product descriptions and give our honest opinions but nothing more. It’s very frustrating on both ends but we do the best we can. Thanks again!
My sister Tracy just told me about the cosmetic company store last night. We live in California and there is one at the Ontario Mills Mall located inside of Off Saks 5th Ave and I purchased the dazzleglass “Phiff” by MAC which was a holiday color for 12.00. Additionally, I bought one eyeshaw and 2 other lip products. This store receives a shipment of MAC products monthly. The only thing is the store does not know what colors they will receive in so you just have to check it out. I will not be going to the MAC store or MAC counters anymore. I love the cosmetic company store!
hi gals!simply u r lucky:) since i am in Turkey, it is really painful to see the price list here, it really costs more than 2 times more, for example if sth is 12 dollars, here we pay 26 dollars. even u say that company store thing is cheaper than regular price.God.That’s so unfair.luvs!
hi does anybody sell any of this stuff as i am interested in buying in bulk
Does anyone know where to get hold of Lancome mascara’s at a good price in the US and/or UK?
online? outlet?
Thanks, Susan
Your so lucky u have CCO at your place… i wish we have CCO here too in Windsor Ontario Canada…
I love the Cosmetics Company Outlet stores. I have bought a lot of my MAC makeup including the fibrelash mascara for $8.00, a paint pot for around $10.00 and a Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye kit that included a full sized gel eyeliner, eyeshadow quad and a very nice dual ended for $28. The prices cannot be beat, especially for those of us who love the higher end cosmetics!
By the way (really late) Cco is ownedby estee lauder Who owns
mac
Hey! I know this is a long time to comment after you posted, but I thought I would give you a little more info on the Cosmetic Company Stores since I worked in one for 4 years. The Cosmetic Company stores are hit or miss– as you put it– when it comes to product selection. This is because the Cosmetic Company Stores are actually ALL owned be Estee Lauder, and our paychecks came straight from ELC. For MAC cosmetics specifically, when their new lines are released they are only given so much time before the next special line is released. If they do not sell out of all the product they were sent for that particular special line, they pack it up and send it back to the company. The company (EL) sends it to an overstock warehouse for all the EL brands which currently include : Estee Lauder, Clinique, Prescriptives, American Beauty, MAC, Smashbox, MIchael Korrs, Bobbie Brown and so on. I was surprised myself to find out that Estee Lauder owned ALL of those companies, but they do, those and many more actually. Anyway, so every brand that EL carries sends their their special lines back to the overstock warehouse when the new lines come out. Any overproduced items also get sent to the overstock warehouse. Each of the Cosmetic Company stores orders from this same massive warehouse that houses all of the overstock for the Estee Lauder brands (there may be 4 or 5 in the U.S. but not many considering there are 70 Cosmetic Company Outlets that order from them).
Once a month each Cosmetic Company Outlet is able to get on an ordering form which lists everything the warehouse currently has in, and gets to place an order with the overstock warehouse. Because many orders are placed at once, and obviously each outlet store tries to order what they sell the best, the product and colors are limited, which is why the selection is limited in each store. This is also why the prices are also so good.
The Cosmetic Company store does not keep and is not allowed to sell any items that are expired, but they do often get ALL the discontinued items from any given brand which make them a hot spot if you are like me and every time you find your favorite lip gloss color it gets discontinued. : )
This was far and away my favorite job.
Hi everyone I know I am extremely late in posting but there are a few cosmetic company stores in the uk! I work in one of the biggest in the Bicester village outlet centre Love it most amazing place I’ve ever worked!
Uh oh, one of these opened up today 5 MINUTES from my home. I can walk there. I am in big trouble!
CCO’s are your FRIEND. I have 2 in my area and 2 more about an hour and a half away and I *always* find something for an amazing deal. They carry brands like MAC, Origins, Estee Lauder, Smashbox, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Lancome, YSL,etc. Even since I found out about this store I’ve been spending a lot less money on places like Sephora, Ulta and Macy’s. And its the best place to find discontinued products! The last time I was in there I bought 4 Lancome Color Design lipsticks for $5.50 each (all diff colors). They have testers out so you know what the product looks like. They have a table set up with the super good deals ($3-$20) and everything else is discounted, not by much but hey…..when you save 3 bucks here and 4 bucks there…..it adds up. And sometimes they have super expensive things on sale for 25 bucks or less. I saw testers for a YSL shadow palette and a Lancome blush that has an eiffel tower in it.