Tips for Rocking the Winter Sales in France

It's coming Wednesday! 

(My favorite shopping day of the year)

Most French stores do not have regular clearance sections. Instead they go Victoria's Secret Style and throw great biannual sales in January and June, with prices reducing and discounts increasing every week up until the end. If you're willing to dig for it, you can get some great stuff!

I've posted pretty general tips about shopping the sales in past, but this season I wanted to get really specific and list tips for different stores. If you have any to add, please share them in the comments below! :)

H&M stores get sent new shipments for the sales fairly frequently, so check back often for new goodies.

Early bird specials - A lot of stores have special deals in the week leading up to sales. As a general, completely unofficial, rule of thumb, many of the discounted items during these promos are the ones that will end up in the official sales.

Plan. Other countries in Europe have the biannual sales as well, but their starting dates are often different. If you're debating about whether or not to purchase something, but afraid that it might end up in the sales, just check out that store's international site to see if it's going to be on sale. Zara, The Body Shop, H&M, Claire's, Zara Home, Top Shop and many other sites do this.

Cheat. The winter sales always start earlier in England and a lot of sites will ship cheaply around Europe (i.e. Feel Unique, Asos, Fragrance Direct, etc.) There's nothing wrong with shopping ahead. :)

Look for patterns from previous sales. Undiz puts their entire collection at 50 percent off, every time. All of Sephora's best stuff sells out in the first thirty minutes on the very day of the sales. Casa generally has a really small sale section, and despite making the trip every year I always leave empty handed. MAC doesn't ever participate. If you know that a store's not worth your time, it's better just to cross it off the list. On the other hand, if the shop is well known for having awesome sales, the best  of the bunch tends to disappear quickly.

Make online accounts for your favorite shops. Sometimes they send you extra special promo codes that work in addition to the sale prices. Sometimes it's just a lot easier to quickly sign in, so you can grab that uber-special handbag you've been drooling over, rather than take 15 minutes creating a new account and risk missing out on a great deal.

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My sale wish list this year includes two throw blankets, a good face primer, baby clothes (the irrational part of my brain wants all the baby clothes), a black winter jacket, a baby swing, and maybe a good perfume... :)

What's on your wish list?