The Sephora Holiday Savings Event starts on Friday 10/30 for Rouge Members! I’m rounding up the best makeup to splurge on for the sale with my absolute favorites by category. Beauty Insiders can save on all purchases according to tier. The dates and details are as follows, use code HOLIDAYFUN (can use code multiple times in store and online):
- Rouge First Access, save 20% off 10/30 through 11/9
- VIB Members, save 15% off 11/3 through 11/9
- Insiders, save 10% off 11/5 through 11/9
There are some limits so check out their disclaimer page once the sale goes live. I have so many beauty favorites from Sephora, many are not mentioned in this post – but if you have any questions let me know in the comments. To try and help provide a more edited shopping guide I picked my Top 5 per category (a couple of the categories have a few more than 5). I will have a separate post up for Skin/Hair/Body tomorrow!
Foundation
- Best Natural Glow Foundation #1 – Armani Luminous Silk (I wear 6.5 or 7, on the face here)
- Best Glow Finish Foundation #2 – Laura Mercier Flawless Lumiere Radiance Perfecting Foundation (I wear Buff or Latte, on the skin with before/after here)
- Best Natural Medium Coverage – Pat McGrath Skin Fetish Sublime Perfection (I wear either Light Medium 14 or Medium 15, review here)
- Best Longwear Medium Coverage – Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Foundation (my holy grail formula, I wear Buff or Dusk)
- Best Natural Matte Finish – Tom Ford Traceless Soft Matte Foundation (I wear Natural 6 or Sable 6.5, on the skin in this post here)
Concealer
- Most Versatile – NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (best match for me is Ginger)
- Most Creamy Formula, Best for Brightening – Kosas Revealer Concealer (I wear Shade 6, swatched here)
- Best for Under Eye – Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Ultra Longwear (I wear 3N or 3W, swatches here)
- Best Full Coverage – Pat McGrath Sublime Perfection Concealer (I like Shade 13 or 14, swatches of shades 9 through 15 here)
- Best Matte Full Coverage – Armani Luminous Silk Face Concealer (I wear 6.5, on the face here)
Powder / Setting Products
- Best Loose Setting Powder – Laura Mercier Translucent Loose (new favorite is the color Honey)
- Best Pressed Powder – Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless (my match is Medium)
- Best Setting Spray – Urban Decay All Nighter or Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray
- Best Glow Setting Powder – Armani Neo Nude Fusion Powder (I wear 5.5, swatches here)
Blush/Bronzer /Highlighter
- Best Cheek Palette – Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Sculpture Palette (review here)
- Best Highlighter Duo – Tom Ford Skin Illuminating Duo in Moodlight (on the skin here) or Fenty Killawatt Freestyle in Afternoon Snack/Mo’ Hunny (worn on the face here)
- Best Cream Highlighter – Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Highlighter Wand in Pillow Talk (swatches here)
- Best Powder Bronzer – tie between Tom Ford Gold Dust or Gucci Soleil Bronzing Powder in Shade 3 (swatches here)
Beauty Tools
- Best Foundation Brush – Hourglass Vanish Seamless Foundation Brush
- Best Makeup Sponge – beautyblender nude
- Favorite Retractable Brush – Charlotte Tilbury Air Brush
- Best Concealer Brush – Hourglass Vanish Seamless Concealer Brush
- Best Blush Brush – Tom Ford Cheek Brush 06
Eyeshadows
Eyeshadows are an area that are nearly impossible for me to narrow down to my top 5! I feel like palettes are so personal to one’s taste and preference for shimmer vs matte, warm vs cool, powder vs cream. I picked out my favorite cream singles and then also have a list of my favorite brands for powder palettes.
- Best Cream Eyeshadows – Laura Mercier Caviar Eye Stick (swatches here)
- Best Sparkle Topper Eyeshadow – Hourglass Scattered Light (swatches here and here)
- Best Brands for Palettes
- Natasha Denona – I love her Mini Eye Palettes, in particular Mini Nude and her larger palettes like the Biba Palette or Glam Palette give you a lot for the price
- Tom Ford Eye Shadow Quads are amazing, my favorites are the new First Frost, Honeymoon and Mink Mirage
- Pat McGrath has beautiful palettes, my favorite is the Mothership VII Divine Rose (swatches here)
- Charlotte Tilbury also makes beautiful eyeshadow palettes that are easy to wear and versatile
- Most-Used Eyeshadows – Charlotte Tilbury La Bella Sofia, Natasha Denona Nude, Tom Ford Mink Mirage or Natasha Denona Biba, Hourglass Scattered Light in Blaze, Laura Mercier Caviar Eye Stick in Rosegold
Liner / Mascara
- Best Liquid Eyeliner – Tom Ford Eye Defining Pen (one of the best out there, and 100% worth the splurge)
- Best Brow Pencil – Anastasia Brow Wiz (best color range, I use Caramel or Taupe because my brows are lighter than my hair color)
- Favorite Mascaras –
Lipstick + Gloss
- Best Matte Lipsticks
- Pat McGrath Matte Trance – my favorite is Christy (swatches here)
- Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution – favorites are Pillow Talk (beauty look here)
- Best Sheer Lipsticks
- Pat McGrath Divinyl Lip Shine (swatches here)
- Fenty Slip Shine (swatches here)
- Best Shimmer Lipstick – Pat McGrath Blitz Trance (swatches here)
- Best Lip Glosses
- Pat McGrath LUST Gloss – obsessed with every single color (swatches here and here)
- Charlotte Tilbury Collagen Lip Bath – also love all the shades, Pillow Talk always gets me the most compliments
- Charlotte Tilbuty Jewel Gloss – review soon!
- Fenty Gloss Bomb – Fenty Glow is the one I think everyone needs (Fussy, Fenty Glow, Diamond Milk all on the lips here)
- Dior Lip Maximizer – one of the best gloss plumpers
Lip Liners / Tinted Balms
- Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat – top three colors for me are Iconic Nude, Pillow Talk and Pillow Talk Medium
- Pat McGrath Permagel Ultra Lip Pencil – best colors are Done Undone, Contour and Structure (swatches here)
- Marc Jacobs Poutliner – best colors are Nudist and Slow Burn
- Hourglass No 28 Lip Oil – swatches here
- NARS Afterglow Lip Balm – love this for a good swipe and go kind of balm (review here and here)
That wraps up my ultimate makeup shopping guide! I hope you find this helpful 🙂 I tried to link all the swatches and reviews I could where applicable. I’ll be sharing my skincare recommendations tomorrow and check back because I’ll be hosting a giveaway in that post.
To recap Sephora Sale details are as follows, use code HOLIDAYFUN (can use code multiple times in store and online):
- Rouge First Access, save 20% off 10/30 through 11/9
- VIB Members, save 15% off 11/3 through 11/9
- Insiders, save 10% off 11/5 through 11/9
Happy Shopping!
