Beauty and health: seven cards, including the two pharmacies

Six of the seven cards here buy things you want. The other two buy things you need, and that makes them quietly the most valuable in the category.

What is on the wall

• Cosmetics — Sephora, Ulta Beauty
• Body and fragrance — Bath & Body Works, Victoria's Secret
• Accessories — Sunglass Hut
• Pharmacy — CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens

The pharmacy cards are the practical pick

CVS and Walgreens sell far more than medicine: household basics, toiletries, cleaning products, snacks, greetings cards, and in many locations a decent grocery aisle. A $25 card there covers a shop you would otherwise pay for.

They are also everywhere. Where a Sephora card requires a trip, a pharmacy card usually requires a walk.

Sephora and Ulta are not the same shop

Sephora leans prestige: higher price points, its own-brand line, and a narrower selection. Ulta carries both prestige and drugstore brands under one roof, which means a $25 card buys noticeably more there. If you are choosing on value rather than on a specific product, Ulta is the better card.

Saving up in this category

Cosmetics are priced in twenties and thirties, so $5 is a contribution rather than a purchase. The exception is Bath & Body Works, which runs frequent sales where a small card genuinely buys a complete item.