Shop Like a Beauty Editor: 27 Things I'm Buying During Sephora's VIB Event
Only once in a blue moon do our favorite potions, tools, and beauty must-haves go on discount at one of our all-time favorite retailers, Sephora. And, prepare to clap your hands and caffeinate your credit cards because one of those select, very joyous times of the year has officially arrived. Sephora Insiders, the Holiday Bonus Shopping Event is HERE. As of today, all tiers can shop their favorite products with some pretty epic deals. By using the code HOLIDAYSAVE today (November 7) through Monday, November 11, Rouge members receive 20% off purchases in-store and online, VIB members receive 15% off, and Insiders receive 10%. Oh, and did we mention you can use said code as many times as you need both in-store or online? Yep, HOLIDAYSAVE is truly the gift that keeps on giving.
I'm pretty confident you know what to do here, but just in case you'd like some guidance or a direct steer toward the best products, I'm here to give you a helping hand. Ahead, every single beauty item I'm personally adding to my Sephora shopping cart and suggesting you do the same. From the most obsession-worthy of fragrances to the most lash-lengthening of mascaras, keep scrolling.
Makeup
I just found out French makeup artist Violette uses this lengthening mascara from Shiseido, and her lashes are literally perfect. Thus, I have to have it ASAP.
Fortified with hyaluronic acid, peptides, and luscious evening primrose oil, this gloss-treatment hybrid from Kosas is THE lip launch of the season. The slick formula offers the juiciest punch of shine and color, and the shade Fruitjuice is giving me some serious life right now.
Marc Jacobs took its best-selling gel liner and made a liquid liner version. This fine-tipped pen is literally perfect; it's the best liquid liner I've ever swiped, and now, I'm salivating for every single color. Oh, and it also comes in metallic finishes, which makes it perfect for upcoming holiday festivities.
I love a good multi-tasking stick, and I love Tom Ford. Since I love a believable glow all year round, the brand's new dual-ended highlight and blush debut is a must.
The only perk of Mercury being in Retrograde? This delicious new eye shadow from Huda Beauty—a holiday-perfect combination of 18 shades boasting a variety of flattering textures, tones, and finishes. For the perfect application, use the brand's coordinating brush set.
Anything from Fenty is considered highly covetable within the beauty industry, but Riri's pint-sized gloss bombs are enviable currency. This epic pack of five not only features the line's best-selling shade called FU$$Y, but four NEW shades to boot.
Essentially, this ultra-fine setting powder from makeup goddess Charlotte Tilbury acts like a filter of blur tool in a chic rose gold compact. Plus, the addition of rose wax and luxe almond oil ensures your skin retains the perfect amount of hydration without verging on oily.
Once the glitz of holiday season arrives, the limit simply doesn't exist when it comes to want-worthy eyeshadow palettes. We heard it from the Sephora elves themselves, Natasha Denona's Metropolis Palette is at the top of literally everyone's list—mine included.
I don't know about you, my Sephora cart is never complete without something beautiful and shimmery from Hourglass. This pretty silver-encased palette features the brand's 100% vegan blushes and bronzers in six high-demand shades so your skin will glow forever and always this season. Six shades for $80 before discount? Unbeatable.
Hair
I don't care who you are or what your hair type is, a mega-moisturizing and reparative mask is a non-negotiable come fall and winter. This one from Virtue Labs smells delicious and transforms snarls and damage to satin.
Do I even need to explain this? Amika's hot tools are game-changing, and its travel-ready minis will save major space in your carry-on. Plus, there's the fact that they're adorable.
As someone who's tried every single dry shampoo out there, trust me when I say this new one from Ouai is the one that's most worth having this season. (It will squeeze at least two more days out of your blowout.)
Even the worst bad hair day can be salvaged with the strategic placement of a rhinestone bobby pin or two.
A clean and intoxicating restorative scalp tonic that not only encourages speedier healthy hair growth, but helps balance the scalps pH, moisture levels, and overall health. (Which, TBH, it's probably really craving right about now!)
Skincare
NBD, this is only one of the most iconic and best-selling vitamin C serums of all time. Oh, and of the 10 products Sephora told us would be the "hottest" this season, this rang in at number two. So yes, get yourself some brightening magic by way of this adorably bottled formula from Drunk Elephant.
Found: the best retinol serum to ever exist. This high-dose formulation is less irritating and also anchored with other pretty things to brighten up a tired complexion. (Think CoQ10 and hydrating Hawaiian white honey.)
In addition to the brand's clarifying and resurfacing masks, I'm convinced this purifying formula from organic skincare brand Tata Harper is one of the best on the market. Star aster, white clay, and papaya enzymes work harmoniously to clear and absorb a day's (or week's!) worth of grime and debris.
If you're a face oil person, meet the face oil of all face oils. The delicate mix of squalane oil, luminizing vitamin C, chios crystal oil, and beautifying rose oil is the perfect antidote for dry or lackluster skin. And, it looks gorgeous under makeup to boot.
Yep, you need to be wearing sunscreen 365 days a year, but to make it less of a chore, this mineral pick from Coola is fab. Clean, matte, and lightly tinted, it instantly helps mask the look of any redness or midday oiliness while also providing the perfect amount of protection from harmful rays.
If your face is in need of a midday reboot, Herbivore's newly reformulated number is pretty darn lovely. The mist is super fine (something that's super important to me because who likes a sprinkler to the face?!) and composed of invigorating botanical players like vegan hyaluronic acid, coconut water, hibiscus extract, and soul-soothing rose. Plus, if my beauty editor word doesn't do the trick, it also happens to be a makeup artist favorite.
Dark spots and stubborn, lingering acne scars are the bane of my skincare-obsessed existence. So this top-selling serum from Kiehl's will come in clutch thanks to its potent, efficacious blend of activated vitamin C, hydrating and skin-evening white birch extract, and antioxidant-rich peony extract.
The dreamy offerings from Fresh will always be favorites, but for fall and winter, my parched, tantrum-throwing skin is begging for a formula just like this one. Lightweight and safe for sensitive and/or acne-prone skin types, this overnight cream is fueled by potent antioxidants like lotus and peach leaf extract to strengthen the skin's natural protective barrier while also minimizing the look of fine lines and wrinkles.
Body, Fragrance & More
I'm sorry, but this brand-new fragrance from Killian is one of the most seductively musky scents I've ever experienced. (And I mean that in the best, *go out and buy it right now* way possible.) Layers of ambrette seeds, iris, almond, and musk work in tandem to make it feel quintessentially skin-like but also slightly floral so it's not overpowering. Truly, it's a work of art as far as perfume is concerned.
Nest just so happens to be one of my favorite fragrance brands, and this limited-edition trio just so happens to house my three favorite scents. For Black Tulip, think plum, black amber, violet, and patchouli; for Indigo, Moroccan team Kashmir wood, cardamom, fig and bergamot; and for Wild Poppy, pear, raspberry, and apricot plus subtle touches of Himalayan jasmine and Rose de Grasse. But seriously, how is this only $22 before discount?! I need to purchase eight times over.
Slip's iconic silk pillowcases are a must for healthy and happy strands and skin. But, they're expensive AF. Thus, Sephora's Holiday Bonus Event is THE time to stock up. Don't hold back folks!
These miraculous digestive enzymes from Hum Nutrition are heaven-sent for anyone who's perennially bloated (aka me before I started talking a capsule twice daily before meals). They help keep you regular and also take about one inch from your waist since the supplement helps streamline your body's natural digestion process.
Between increasing stress and decreasing temperatures, come wintertime our bodies need some serious TLC. Luckily, Lord Jones is here to save the day (and our neck, back, feet, and shoulders) with its cult-adored High CBD Formula roll-on body oil. It's a total game changer and the next best thing to booking a massage.
Up next: Celeb Glam Squads Love These 25 Products, and They're Really Cheap Right Now.
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.
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