Shiseido and Nars Warehouse Sale

I was running low on my Mary Kay skin care items, and when I saw NaTGN's post last Saturday on her trip to the Shiseido and Nars warehouse sale in Toronto, I had to do more research about sale.  Both are high end brands of great quality that rarely go on sale.  Could these products really be on sale?! YES.

The Shiseido/Nars warehouse sale is held twice a year on one weekend Fri-Sun in May and November at:

Shiseido Inc

303 Allstate Parkway

Markham, ON

L3R 5P9, Canada

Friday sale is for VIPs and invite only - tickets are given to friends and family of those who work there.

Saturday and Sunday sale is open to the public.

 

I usually associate warehouse sales with crazy long lines and crowds.  And long lines there are - I've read that people start lining up as early as 5am for the 9am opening, and from 9am-12pm there is a minimum 2 hr lineup.  But after some more research, I found that there is also no line up just before it closes.

If you aren't looking for any Shiseido Sun Protect products,  I recommend going ~1 hour before closing so that you can walk right in.  Once inside it's a free for all so you have just as much shopping leverage as anybody in there.  I didn't really plan on going, but after a long weeks of work and a need for more skincare, I went with my mom 20 minutes before closing on Sunday.  In my 20 minutes on the last possible minutes of the sale, I was able to haul:

The Skincare: Day moisturizer $28, Toner $25,

White Lucent: Day moisturizer $30, Night moisturizer $32, Toner $30

Makeup bag: $3. I really like the inside pattern.

Nars skincare:  Moisturizer $20, Cleanser $15  

Nars box sets: So Famous $30 (last one), Hopelessly Devoted $35, both contain Deep Throat blush.

I also picked up an Orlane hand/body cream for $5.  We'll see how high end products from France performs.

What else was on sale?

Orlane - body cream, skincare

Nars - blushes $12, multiples $14, foundations $14 including sheer glow and sheer matte  - AMAZING DEAL since they usually retail for $55CAD. It was the only thing on my wishlist but sadly they were out of my Deauville, they had the lighter ones in stock though. Lipsticks, eyeshadows $10, liners, nail polish $5

Joico haircare

Shiseido - Skincare products from Pureness (sold out Sun morning), The Skincare, White Lucent, Benefiance (sold out by the time I got there), 3-2-1 skincare sets for $30-35 (all sold out when I got there).

Cosmetics: Blush $12, eyeshadows $6 (singles/duos), foundation, lipsticks $10, liners

Perfumes from a Jean Paul Gaultier, Issey Miyake, Narciso Rodriguez

The floor space for the sale was on the small side and the counter space to check out products was small for the amount of people there.  If you have been lucky enough to attend a MAC warehouse sale, this entire sale was held in a space equivalent to one of the rooms there. 

It was a little chaotic even at the end of the day, I got shoved around a few times.  Testers were laid out on the tables and you had to somehow get the attention of a few sales associate to get your items. There was no order at all.  So you have people wanting to see what's available, those swatching and those indecisive shoppers all at the same location.

Skincare items were organized in bins and boxes that you could just grab.  Some came with and without their original packaging.  Be sure to check expiry dates - my sunscreens had Mar 2012 on them so this would be a great chance to stock up on favs.

They started to put things away at 3pm on the dot, but people were still shopping and shoving things in their bags until 3:15. Those poor ladies working can only carry so few boxes so fast. They started to really usher people out  at around 3:10.  I made sure to enter the cash out line immediately when they started to put things away. As a result, I only waited 2 minutes to check out.

Tip: There were signs everywhere saying they have the right to limit quantities. Seeing as it was the last day of the sale, I was greedy for day moisturizers with SPF so I grabbed 4 instead of the 2 that they were 'saying' was the limit. At checkout, they didn't care at all! So I recommend grabbing extras of your favourites despite what they say and see what happens at checkout.

I hope this information helps your future visit to the Shiseido/Nars warehouse sale.  I recommend doing exactly as I did if you want some of their basic skincare.  The empty line at the end of the day is just awesome.  I'm not sure when they close the doors, so don't cut it too close and give yourself at least 30 minutes before the sale ends.   I can't imagine attending this event any earlier in the day due to the chaos that I've read about.  But maybe you are brave enough to take on the middle-aged pushy, loud, and obnoxious ladies during peak hours for the more coveted items? We'll see next May.

To see some more hauls and selection check out these beautiful ladies who all went at different times during the sale: NaTGN (during Sat), KimWen (pre-opening Sat), MissJayce (Friday).

Thanks for reading,

Mira