Beauty Junkies Can Now Get Their Fix at...Sears!?

Yes, you read that right. The retail store that’s most widely recognized as a haven for home appliances and garden tools is now getting a “makeover” of sorts just in time for the back-to-school season.

Us beauty addicts will now be able to acquire some of our fav. cosmetics, fragrances, skin care and organic products from what used to be one of the most boring stores at the mall. No offense Sears! I’m a beauty junkie! I remember the days when I was begrudgingly dragged along to the store to get the oil changed on our car and then painfully had to follow my dad around as he mercilessly (ok I exaggerate) spent hours meandering around the electronics and power tools departments. There was nothing shiny, colorful or sparkly in sight! There was, however, a plethora of shower curtains, linen sets, screw drivers and washing machines! It was pure torture for this eight year old future beauty buff and I'd written the store off until now. It's better late than never!

While Sears Beauty will be available to everyone online at www.sears.com, only 13 select retail mall locations (such as Chicago, New York and Los Angeles) will have Sears Beauty in their actual stores, as of right now. What we can expect is a mixture of prestige (typically found in department stores) and mass (sold in drugstores) brands. Some of my favorite lines include Calvin Klein, L'Oreal, Maybelline, Cover Girl and Elizabeth Arden.Grand opening festivities will take place August 29th through the 30th and September 5th and 6th and feature complimentary makeovers, gifts, samples and an opportunity to win some fun beauty booty. I don't know about you, but I love hearing the words ‘sample’ and ‘makeover’ especially when coupled with ‘complimentary’.

While Sears still has a long way to go to rival any of the other department store beauty counters (e.g. I could easily live my entire life from here on out in the beauty department at Nordstroms), incorporating some real products and cosmetics to their repertoire is really getting into the spirit of that whole “softer side of Sears” thing they'd talked about doing before. What I'd really like to see are the rows and rows of washing machines and lawn mowers replaced by shelves of gleaming skin firming creams and eye shadow pots. That would be my perfect universe, but hey I’ll gladly settle for some lip gloss and nail polish!So in honor of the new products available here are a few of my favorites:I'm loving Sally Hansen’s Insta-Dri Fast Dry Nail Color ($5.00) in Blazing Blue and Uptempo Plum, both rich jeweled tones that are perfect for the Fall. I also love L’Oreal Sheer Juicy Lip Gloss in Raspberry Smash (shade 310, $8.50). The shades are bright and vibrant and the gloss smells yummy.

So the next time you’re at the mall and walk by Sears, pop in rather than walking past it (as usual) and see what beauty offerings they have in store for you!