The only thing better than an early Labor Day sale is an early Sephora Labor Day sale. And somehow this year, the perks are even greater because the beauty retailer just updated its Beauty Insider loyalty program, making it easier to score extra reward points and deals. Called the Sephora Beauty Insider Appreciation Event, the discounts are running now through September 3 and will be rolling out in tiers based on what level insider you are.
Like usual, VIB Rouge members (shoppers who spend $1,000 each year) get first access to the deals this weekend. They also get the biggest discount: 20 percent off with the code YESROUGE. Everyone else, meanwhile, can join the sale starting Thursday, August 30. VIB members (people who spend at least $350 per year) can get 15 percent off with the code YESVIB, while anyone who’s a Beauty Insider (it’s free; you just have to sign up) can nab 10 percent off with the code YESINSIDER.
The best part? The options are endless, which we mean quite literally. Nearly everything on the site is included in the sale. To give you a good place to start, we asked Glamour editors to share what’s at the top of their shopping list. Scroll on to see what’s worth adding to cart.
We all know how hard it is to leave Sephora with just one item. You know the feeling when you go in there for just an eyeliner and you walk out with a bag full of products? Yeah, us too. And after a couple trips to the register, it feels good to be rewarded for our irresponsible purchases. Sephora has felt our pain over the years and decided to completely revamp its Beauty Insider Program, which means we’re able to save even more. And in even better news, these changes are happening as soon as this month—August 14 to be exact.
As a little FYI, Sephora’s Beauty Loyalty program is broken down into three forms of membership, which is determined based on how much you spend per year. There’s Insider, which you can become by walking in and making a purchase once; VIB, if you spend $350 or more in a calendar year; and Rogue, if you rack up $1,000 in a year. And if you’re one of the customers who always takes the time to fill out those email surveys about changes you want to see, feel free to thank yourself. These changes were made because of membership feedback. Hello, customer appreciation!
VIB and Rogue members will especially benefit from this makeover. Here are some insights into the changes and how you can get more bang for your buck:
Points Per $1: Now when you check out at the register, your points will have even more value. According to Allure, VIB members will now earn 1.25 points for every dollar spent, while Rouge members will now earn 1.5. (The ratio for Insiders will stay at one to one.)
Profile Access: Keeping track of all these points and rewards will be easier than ever, thanks to streamlined and simplified profiles that make it easy to figure out your status, point totals, and potential rewards.
Birthday Gifts: We all look forward to choosing our birthday gifts and while members across all three levels receive a birthday gift, VIB and Rouge members will be able to choose either a gift or 250 extra points.
Rewards: The Rewards Bazaar (where you can trade in those points for rewards) will now have five times as many rewards at the 750+ point level, including two to three full-size products for VIB and Rouge members. Expect more reward options in general, with choices in color, hair care, skin care, fragrance, and even wellness. Rouge members will now also have the option to redeem 2,500 points for a $100 Rouge Reward to use on their favorite Sephora products.
Courtesy of Sephora
Of course, nothing feels better than getting a deal on top of a deal—which is why we polled our editors for the tricks they use to make the best of their time (and money) at Sephora. Feel free to steal any and all while you put the new perks to use.
Sign up for the Insider Newsletter. “I know—you need another email in your inbox like a hole in your head, but this one is surprisingly worth it. The newsletter often tips you off first when big sales are coming up, and every week, I always look forward to seeing which stuff will be 50 percent off for the Weekly Wow.” —Maureen Choi, beauty contributor
Download the Sephora app. “The last thing any of us need is another app with push notifications, but Sephora’s app is legit. It’ll ping you when good deals are on the horizon and a lot of time they have app-exclusive sales that you wouldn’t otherwise know about.” —Lindsay Schallon, senior beauty editor
Cash in your VIB points in-store. “A little-known fact worth repeating: If you’re a Beauty Insider of any level, you have to make a purchase online in order to cash in points for products. However, this isn’t the case in-store. You can just pop up at the counter, ask to trade them in, and walk out with a free mini haul.” —Sarah Michelson, beauty assistant
Ask for free samples. “Most people think the only place you can get fragrance samples is at department store counters. But if you ask, most of the time they’ll give you those mini tubes at Sephora. Fragrance is so particular, I always want to give it a full test drive before I buy it.” —Tess Kornfeld, editorial assistant
Sign up for a free beauty class or treatment. “Sephora is constantly holding free and free-with-purchase beauty classes where you can master new tricks and get treatments. I recently tried its pore vacuum facial, and let me tell you, the results were insane. You do have to spend $75 in the store to get it, but let’s be real, it’s about what you’d spend on two products anyway. That money goes fast.” —Rachel Nussbaum, beauty writer
It’s hard to remember, but it really wasn’t all that long ago that Sephora sales were a rare thing. Before the retailer kicked off its Weekly Wow series featuring regular 50%-off discounts, you had to rummage through pages of sales sections or drop cash so you could trade in VIB points. Still, the words free and Sephora are rarely heard in the same sentence, with the exception of free samples. But even those tiny packets of product require spending money on something in order to add them to cart. That’s why its latest deal is pretty much unheard of for the beauty emporium: For one weekend only, Sephora is giving out free face masks. And nope, there’s not a single catch or fine print.
Where most freebies come with a gift with purchase or buy one, get one stipulations, Glamour confirmed with brand reps that all you have to do is get yourself to a Sephora store this weekend (July 27 through July 29) to get a free, regular-sized Rose or Pearl face mask from the retailer’s in-house line, Sephora Collection. Yes, summer Friday counts as the weekend because Sephora really does get us.
The only challenge—beside peeling yourself off the couch in the dead of summer—is that the lines will no doubt be absurd. When MAC announced it was giving away free lipstick for National Lipstick Day this time last year, Twitter erupted with photos of long waits and stories of supplies being gone in minutes. It’s unclear exactly how limited the quantities will be for Sephora’s Free Face Mask Weekend, but given that the deal is running for a whole 72 hours, it’s likely they’ll be more prepared for the demand.
If you haven’t yet tried Sephora Collection’s face masks and are wondering if braving the crowds are worth it to walk away only $6 in the green, consider this: they regularly pop up on beauty pros’ must lists thanks to the effective-yet-affordable serums they’re soaked in. They won’t give you the instant results of, say, one of GlamGlow’s best-sellers, but for cheap sheet masks, they really get the job done. I like to leave the aloe one in the fridge on days my skin is in need of some quick soothing (a game-changer after getting hella sunburned on a recent trip to Hawaii), while the fruit enzymes in the Pineapple mask are super gentle and help exfoliate without zapping your skin dry.
Then again, I once stood in a two-hour line on Black Friday at 3 A.M. to get the full DVD set of Sex and the City for $60, so maybe I’m a terrible judge of a good deal. I’ll let you make that call. So just in case you’d rather skip the wait and shop online (or want to pick up a few extra masks in addition to the Rose or Pearl freebie if you do hit up the store), here are a few of our favorites worth nabbing.
With all the colors, swatches to try, and tools to play with, walking into Sephora is basically the beauty equivalent of going to Disneyland. But now, in honor of the retailer’s 20th anniversary, that beauty playground mentality is becoming even bigger and better. Sephora just announced that it’s going to be throwing its first convention later this year. Think: the Sephora version of BeautyCon.
On October 20 and 21 at its Downtown L.A. location, Sephora will be hosting Sephoria: House of Beauty, a “highly-immersive two-day beauty event fusing high-touch physical and digital experiences,” the brand said in a statement. While it’s not yet clear exactly what the experiences will entail, you can bet there will be plenty of Insta-bait.
According to the brand, there will be interactive rooms to explore, and participants will have the chance to mingle with influencers, brand founders, and other beauty industry pros. The event will also include more than 50 of Sephora’s brands—including skin care, hair care, makeup, and fragrance—along with “personalized products” that will be up for grabs. Again, there’s no word on which ones, but as Business of Fashion points out, Fenty Beauty is an exclusive to Sephora.
Sephora isn’t the first beauty brand to venture into the experiential event space; though, it’s arguably the biggest. And while paying to go shopping and stand in long lines might sound like a version of hell to some, by now, it’s proven that plenty are willing to shell out big money for the experience. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Summit in New York City this year was a hit. It sold out all 600 tickets, ranging from $650 to $2,000 each. Chanel, meanwhile, hosted a pop-up called Chanel Beauty House in L.A. in March to celebrate the launch of its new Instagram page @welovecoco. (No doubt, you saw the photos from its “content room” cross your feed.) While entrance was free, the retail opportunities were plenty.
Tickets for Sephoria: House of Beauty go on sale on July 21, but VIB and Insider Rouge members will be given advanced access. Cost is still TBD, but to stay in the loop you can sign up for updates on Sephoria.com. It’s safe to say, there’s going to be competition if you’re serious about landing a ticket.
‘Tis the season for the wonderful overlap between holiday and end-of-year sales, and our wallets are ready. After all, it was just a few days ago that we were daydreaming about how we’d spend $100 Sephora gift cards (buy all the things!), and now, thankfully, they’re going to go a step further: Sephora‘s already incredible end-of-year sale just got even bigger. We’re talking an additional 20 percent off all sale items—with the help, of course, of an extremely friendly little code.
To put this “all sale items” bit in perspective, the website currently has about 350 items with reduced prices, guaranteeing that whatever gift cards that may have been received over the holidays will be put to very good use.
The way to get that additional 20 percent off each and every sale item? Enter the code SALEONSALE at checkout.
There’s some pretty amazing deals in the sale section, too. Take, for instance, this gorgeous set of Clinique Pop Lip Colour + Primer shades in a soft pink, classic red, and deeper berry tones that are perfect for winter. Originally $26 with a $43.50 value, it’s now $15.20 with the discount.
Here to save your bathroom counter space is Becca’s incredible Eye Lights Palette from its Après Ski Glow Collection. Its of-the-moment shades ring up at a reasonable $18 after the code—way down from its original $45 price tag.
Here to fix your wind-chilled winter skin is Perricone MD’s Deep Moisture Therapy, which hydrates and smoothes out dry skin to make it glow again. (Bonus: It does double-duty as a makeup base). Usually $85, it’s down to $47.20 with SALEONSALE.
And for those after that New Year’s Eve statement look, Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Subculture Eyeshadow Palette, with gorgeous gold, red, and teal tones, is $26.88 with the magic code, down from $42.
The promo code lasts until January 1, 2018, so stock up on everything you need to make your beauty resolutions come true ASAP—products are selling out fast.
Joy to the world, gift card season has come—and with it, endless possibilities. Now’s the time to stock up on beauty essentials and splurge on everything you balk at dropping “real” money on. We’re not saying gift cards aren’t legal tender, but you’re not spending $50 on a mini face oil, someone you love is gifting you a $50 mini face oil, you know? Gift cards are an excuse to throw caution to the wind, and it’s time to get your plan of attack in order. Here’s a great place to start: We asked 13 Glamour editors exactly what they’d buy at Sephora with $100. Despite more than a few pleas to use hypothetical VIB points, we managed to keep everyone on budget and even had some leftover cash for the best part: impulse minis. Shop their carts, ahead.
