Sephora's Beauty Director Shares the Holy-Grail Contents of Her Shopping Cart

If you were to analyze my sweat as a product-obsessed beauty editor and hoarder (my vanity, desk, and car have officially reached maximum capacity), you'd probably discover the elemental ratio as follows: 50% coffee, 25% water, and 25% essence of Sephora. Despite the fact that countless brands and retailers send me products daily, nothing gets my heart racing in excitement more than entering the magical realm of Sephora—be it online or in person. It's been my favorite shopping pit stop since middle school when I first discovered beauty products, and I have a hunch it will remain my favorite until my dying day.

Currently, Sephora (which debuted in North America back in 1998) has over 460 stores across the Americas, and that's not including an additional 660 locations tucked inside JCPenney locations. Impressive, right? Sephora stores open at a fairly rapid rate globally, and earlier this year, the retailer announced it will be expanding its U.S. trajectory with 35 new locations—one being a clutch location in the heart of Palm Springs, which opened two weeks ago.

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(Image credit: @myieshamua)

Since I'm based in L.A., just a hop, skip, and jump away from the beloved vacation destination, I was lucky enough to be invited by Sephora to visit the new store and check out its offering of endless beauty options, which includes roughly 25,000 products from more than 400 of its carefully curated brands. Another cool perk? I had access to makeup artist and Sephora Beauty Director Myiesha Sewell, who has been in the cosmetic industry for more than 11 years and with Sephora since 2007. In other words, she knows her shit when it comes to beauty and could walk us through Sephora's product abyss with her eyes closed while hopping on one foot.

So obviously, I had to be nosy and ask Sewell what her all-time favorite products are—the must-have makeup, hair, skincare, and wellness picks she'd immediately put in her shopping cart if given free buying range at the new Palm Springs store. Curious for her all of her insider faves? Keep scrolling! You may want to grab your credit card.

Skincare & Wellness Picks

Makeup Picks

Hair & Fragrance Picks

Beauty Director

Erin has been writing a mix of beauty and wellness content for Who What Wear for over four years. Prior to that, she spent two and half years writing for Byrdie. She now calls Santa Monica home but grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and studied writing, rhetoric, and communication at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. She studied abroad in Galway, Ireland, and spent a summer in L.A. interning with the Byrdie and Who What Wear family. After graduating from UW, she spent one year in San Francisco, where she worked as a writer for Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen before moving down to L.A. to begin her career as a beauty editor. She considers her day-to-day beauty aesthetic very low-maintenance and relies on staples like clear brow serum (from Kimiko!), Lawless's Lip Plumping Mask in Cherry Vanilla, and an eyelash curler. For special occasions or days when she's taking more meetings or has an event, she'll wear anything and everything from Charlotte Tilbury (the foundations are game-changing), some shimmer on her lids (Stila and Róen do it best), and a few coats of the best mascara-type product on earth, Surratt's Noir Lash Tint.