Amazon and Ulta launch major beauty deals for Mother’s Day gifting

Amazon’s fourth annual Summer Beauty Event is the kind of sale that can turn Mother’s Day into a polished, practical gift moment: more than 10,000 deals, up to 30% off, thousands of coupons and gift sets, and a roster that runs from Charlotte Tilbury and Estée Lauder to Dyson and Boy Smells. For a beauty gift, that mix matters. It gives you room to choose something that feels intentional, not random, whether the recipient loves makeup, fragrance, skin care, or a better hair routine.

The most giftable names are the ones that already signal a finished look. Charlotte Tilbury, Estée Lauder, Milk Makeup and Laura Mercier are the clearest wins for the woman who likes her beauty bag to feel edited and expensive without being fussy. These are the brands that travel well emotionally, too: a compact, a complexion product or a makeup set feels personal in a way that a generic candle never quite does. For fragrance lovers, Ralph Lauren Fragrances and Boy Smells are the more luxurious-sounding Amazon picks, especially because perfume always reads as a deliberate choice rather than a grab-bag add-on.

For skin care and self-care, Amazon’s list leans smart rather than flashy. Murad, medicube, ELEMIS, La Roche-Posay, Neutrogena and SolaWave cover the spectrum from active treatment to daily maintenance, which makes them useful for women who actually enjoy a routine. The best gifts in this group are the ones that solve a specific problem, like a brighter complexion or a calmer morning. The more basic brands, including Dove and L’Oreal, are better suited to building a basket than standing alone as the present itself.

Hair is where the splurge factor gets easier to justify. Dyson and Drybar are the obvious luxury anchors, because they turn an ordinary blowout into a small ritual. PATTERN Beauty also fits the gifting brief well, especially for someone who wants products that feel thoughtful and beauty-forward. Kitsch works as a clever finishing touch, the sort of extra that makes a package feel curated. TreSemme and Lab Series are more practical than precious, so they make sense as useful companions rather than the hero of the gift.

Ulta Beauty offers a sharper counterpunch for shoppers who want a bigger discount, with up to 50% off in its Summer Sale. Its current offers page also includes a fragrance promotion that ends May 9 and adds 5X points on fragrance purchases, which makes Ulta the more compelling stop for scent gifts. Amazon wins on scale and gift sets; Ulta wins when the present is fragrance, and the clock is already running toward Mother’s Day on May 10.