SEPHORA
Stroll into the beauty wonderland that is Sephora and chances are you’ll make a beeline for your favorite brands or the hot products currently making the rounds on your social media. You may thumb through the Sephora Brand collection products, but not with the same kind of avid, heart-eye-emoji-inducing hunger as you do with industry elite brands. But why not? This is Sephora — a company that specializes in makeup and pretty much runs the industry! They curate the best of the best, so they ought to be making some fine goods themselves, right? The quality of their products is excellent with a very competitive price.
1. Honey Lip Scrub
The lipstick-style packaging of this honey lip scrub makes application super easy, plus 100% of volunteers who tested the product for the brand gave it a thumbs-up for exfoliation. This is an affordable dupe for the Fresh Sugar balms. This scrub is great for travel. Use it before and after you get on the plane and your lips won’t get dry after your flight. Also use it right before you put on a long-wear or liquid lipstick; it will make a big difference in how your lipstick wears.”
Price: $6 (Shop Now)
2. LashCraft Length & Volume Mascara
This product promises to define, lengthen, and volumize, which is really all we could ever want in a mascara. It does so via a clump-proof formulation and the unique, flat shape of the bristle brush. It is a stunning substitute for Diorshow. The special brush lifts from the root of the lash for a beautifully defined flawless look, and the nylon-infused formula lengthens and strengthens your lashes.
Price: $12 (Shop Now)
3. Pearl Face Mask
Yep, Sephora does skincare, too. This pearl sheet mask, which contains real white pearl, is part of an eight-piece collection, and is ideal for soothing dry skin and creating luminosity. “Crushed pearl powder is an ingredient used for many years in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine, and it contains minerals that have been shown to increase collagen production in fibroblasts, which are the cells that make collagen. Other studies show that pearl powder has a good moisturizing effect on skin and can increase the water content. This mask also contains broccoli extract, which is an incredible antioxidant to fight free radicals from modern living.
Price: $6 (Shop Now)
4. Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipstick
With over 330k hearts and a near five-star rating, you know Sephora’s cream lip stains have got to be good. They boast a creamy, lightweight texture that promises to last from your morning coffee to your post-work glass of merlot. It also comes in both matte and satin finish and 50 different shades, so A+ to Sephora for giving us options. This lip stain is not as drying as most tend to be for the lip, and it lasts for almost 24 hours without having to retouch it. Also, you get to bypass using a lip liner because it works as a lip liner and stain. Pro tip: add a lip balm to it for a nice moisturized look.
Price: $14 (Shop Now)
5. Sephora Collection x Utowa PRO Universal Curler
Not all lash curlers are created equally, and this collaboration between Sephora and Utowa are proof of that. For those unacquainted, Utowa was founded by a Japanese man named Hiroshi Uemura, whose name might be familiar to you because he’s the son of the Shu Uemura. Utowa’s specialty is modern innovation-meets-Japanese craftsmanship, and they partnered with Sephora to deliver a pretty sweet lash curler. The curler is a change from the usual rounded lash curlers. It’s totally flat so you have more control and can curl sections at a time. It’s perfect for an Asian eye shape, smaller eyes or shorter lashes.
Price: $19 (Show Now)
6. Mud Mask Purifying & Mattifying
The first ingredient in this mask is Kaolin clay, meaning that it has a high concentration of the ingredient it claims has the best benefit. Kaolin has a unique ability as an anti-microbial, meaning that it kills bacteria. This could help kill the bacteria ‘propionibacterium acnes,’ the bacteria that cause acne, and induce healing. Zinc and copper are also listed, and in combination have been shown to induce healing in wounds, therefore this could be translated into collagen induction and improvement in skin elasticity. Copper is also a natural anti-bacterial for acne prone skin.
Price: $20 (Shop Now)
7. PRO Flawless Airbrush #56c
You know that person in your life who can do pretty much everything extraordinarily well? That’s what this brush is like when it comes to makeup. It expertly applies all types of foundations and other makeup to create a finish that’ll give your Snapchat filters a run for their money. People like this brush because it’s multi-use and it holds a lot of pigment, foundation and contour. The brushes are more rounded perfectly for contour so you can use it as an all-over-brush, liquid foundation, dry foundation brush, powder foundation, as well liquid and powder blush.
Price: $19 (Show Now)
8. Matte Perfection Powder Foundation
This matte-finish foundation is a hybrid between a powder and cream. Latiolais said he loves it because it’s silky soft going on, provides superior coverage, and because it offers a massive color range of 35 shades. It’s very lightweight with flawless finishing — almost like an airbrush finishing that completely evens the skin out without looking caked on. I recommend using a primer first to get a full 24-hour wear out of it, especially on a hot summer day when it’s really humid.
Price: $20 (Shop Now)
9. Green Clay Mask
Sephora has a total of eight masks in this clay mask collection, including this “pore-minimizing” Green mask that’s received lots of love from shoppers. It uses green tea extract, as well as some other botanicals, to improve your complexion.
Green tea has a potent effect on decreasing sebum, especially when combined with other topical ingredients like the green clay and willow extract in this mask. The most interesting ingredient in this mask is Brassica Oleracea Italica — otherwise known as broccoli sprouts. Broccoli, and other brassica plants, contain the most potent oxidative balancing compound called sulfurophane. It is over 100 times more effective than turmeric and resveratrol in balancing the anti-oxidative state. Sulforaphane topically can actually heal the DNA damage caused by UV exposure. This is an excellent mask that should be hydrating as well as sebum fighting, considering the aloe extract, oils and water, and therefore it’s great for combination skin.
Price: $8 (Shop Now)
10. Ready To Roll Brush Set
The ready to roll brush set is a great brush set if you’re looking for a cruelty-free option that’s great quality. The flat-topped foundation brush gives an airbrushed look to skin, and the assortment of highlight, contour and concealing brushes make a flawless face super simple. This set includes 10 different brushes to help you achieve all your makeup goals, including a powder, complexion, angled blush, highlight, contour, fan, eye shadow, smudge, blending, concealer, angled liner, and spoolie brush. Plus, it comes in a sleek, faux leather roll bag to preserve the brushes and help you stay more organized.
Price: $70 (Shop Now)