BANGALORE, April 29 (Reuters) - Cosmetics maker Bare Escentuals Inc (BARE.O) posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, as lower cost of goods sold and a shift to higher margin products offset a fall in sales amid a tough economic environment.

Shares of the company rose 99 cents to $7.63 in trading after the bell. They closed at $6.64 Wednesday on Nasdaq.

"Consumers are not buying so many of the higher-priced-point kits, but more of the lower-priced a la carte products, which carry a higher margin for Bare," Oppenheimer analyst Joseph Altobello told Reuters by phone.

Altobello also said the company posted better sales results than he expected. He was looking for a fall of 18 percent while sales actually declined by 11 percent.

Altobello has a "perform" rating on the stock.

The company, which sells skin care and body care products under the bareMinerals, RareMinerals and its namesake brands, posted a net profit of $16.7 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with $25.8 million, or 28 cents a share, a year ago.

Net sales fell 11 percent to $124.3 million. Cost of goods sold fell 14 percent from the year-ago quarter.

Analysts on average expected a profit of 14 cents a share on revenue of $118.1 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

In February, the company said it expects first-quarter net sales to decline in the teens on a percentage basis versus the prior year and that quarterly earnings would be in the range of 12 to 15 cents a share. (Editing by Himani Sarkar)