In addition to all the makeup, shampoo, nail polish, and skin creams you can handle, some beauty stores also offer vitamins and supplements to help you maintain your health. Consider carefully, however, which ones might benefit you both, and don't fall for the hype. Coral calcium, shark cartilage, and colloidal silver are not miracle cures!

A beauty store offers the very best option for obtaining high-quality beauty products at a decent price. While you can often find some of these products -- especially shampoo -- at beauty salons, you'll generally find that the salons charge more for the privilege.

Beauty store employees can be a veritable goldmine of information about cosmetology. While they don't have to be licensed cosmetologists like beauty salon employees, they may very well be -- and in any case, they have a wealth of practical information about the products they sell.