The Sephora sale is upon us, folks! And in case you were wondering which products *I* would get for this sale, you’re in the right place. I’m going to go through my picks for makeup, skincare, and more!
Sephora Sale Dates:
4/9-4/19: 20% off for VIB Rouge
4/13-4/19: 15% off for VIB
4/15-4/19: 10% off for Beauty Insider
Makeup
So these picks are based on what I have actually tried and own. I’m not someone who likes to own a ton of makeup (at least not in this stage of life…lol) but I do love me some makeup, chile. I like an EXPERIENCE with my makeup products so I often look for fun textures, aesthetically pleasing packaging, and of course amazing quality.
To see what shades I wear in various brand’s foundations and concealers, go here.
If you are lost when it comes to makeup, check out my previous blog posts for the full tea.
FOUNDATION
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Danessa Myricks Vision Cover Cream: Covers like a dream, has an amazing shade range, and wears well even on oily skin. I’m also biased because I have known Danessa for yeaaaaaars and she’s one of my favorite makeup people. I wear shade N09.
Fenty Eaze Drop Blurring Skin Tint: See my first impressions demo here. I love that this is lightweight, but is buildable to medium coverage. It has a beautiful radiant finish on the skin and as of now is my favorite of all the Fenty complexion products aside from the concealer. I wear shade 21.
LYS Beauty Serum Foundation: See me talking about it in full here and here. Beautiful finish, great price, nice light to medium coverage, gorgeous packaging. I wear shade DPN1.
Dior Forever Matte Foundation: See my full review here. Gorgeous satin matte finish, medium buildable coverage, gorgeous packaging. I wear shade 6.5N
Urban Decay Hydromaniac Glowy Tinted Hydrator Foundation: This is a beautiful light to medium coverage tint that has a beautiful radiant finish. Best suited for drier skin types. I wear shade 80 but this is too dewy for my oily skin.
NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation: See my review here. This is more of a spring/fall/winter foundation for me (I have oily skin), but it gives great medium buildable coverage and a gorgeous skin-like finish. I wear shade Manaus (which may have launched after I did my initial review).
CONCEALER
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Listen, if you’re looking for under eye concealers that aren’t MATTE MATTE to the point where they highlight every single line (and maybe some that have yet to form…lol) then these are my tried and trues.
If you still need a little extra help, try applying an eye cream during your skincare routine. And if you need some extra help after that, also try applying an under eye primer or wrinkle filler cream—tons of brands make these (I’ve personally only tried one from Stri-Vectin and in the past Estee Lauder had one that was nice). But basically what they do is they temporarily “fill in” the creases under your eyes so your concealer doesn’t wind up settling there.
NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (I wear shade Café under my eyes). Medium coverage, natural finish.
Dior Forever Skin Corrector Concealer (I wear shade 6.5N under my eyes) Full coverage, natural finish.
Clinique Even Better All-Over Concealer + Eraser (I wear shade WN 122 Cove under my eyes) Full coverage, natural finish
Estee Lauder Double Wear Radiant Concealer (I wear shade 6C under my eyes) Medium coverage, radiant finish
NARS Soft Matte Complete Concealer (I wear shade Amande to highlight) Full coverage, matte finish
Fenty Beauty Pro Filt-r Instant Retouch Concealer (I wear shade 450 under my eyes) Full coverage, matte finish
EYESHADOW PALETTES
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I LOVE eye makeup, but I’m not one to own a gazillion palettes (see me purging my stash and what I own here). That said, I do love an EXPERIENCE with my eyeshadow palettes. I love great quality and pigmentation, glitter, bright colors, good neutral mattes for my skin tone, etc.
Huda Beauty Naughty Nudes: See a demo here. Definitely one of my fave eyeshadow launches of 2020. An array or rosy-toned mattes, glitters, and other fun textures.
Pat McGrath Mothership V Bronze Seduction: Listen, I like an EXPERIENCE with my eyeshadow palettes and boy does PMG give you an EXPERIENCE! I can get a simple daytime look (not that I actually *do* simple daytime looks…lol) and dramatic night looks with this palette. It’s extremely pigmented and gorgeous.
NARS Claudette Palette: This is another pretty one. I actually bought this for my mom for Christmas because her name is Claudette, but I may need to cop one for myself. Really pretty mix of mattes and shimmers.
BRONZER AND BLUSH
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Listen, my face isn’t complete if I don’t have blush and I love a little bronzer to warm around my face. Happy to see more options available for darker skin tones. For more on bronzer, check out these videos on my Youtube channel.
LYS Beauty No Limits Bronzer: See my thoughts here and here. I have shade Worthy and it’s a gorgeous plummy brown shade that is perfect for bronzing deeper skin tones.
Fenty Beauty Thick Mint: They finally came through with the bronzer shade we needed beyond Mocha Mami! I just got this, but already love it.
NARS Bronzer is Quirimba: This isn’t particularly deep enough, but it’s red enough for me to add warmth around the perimeter of my face.
NARS Blush: One of my long time faves. I highlight suggest Exhibit A for deeper skin tones, but Aroused, Coeur Battant, and any of the bolder colors will look amazing on deeper skin.
Natasha Denona Bloom Cheek Palette: Another longtime fave! I love the mix of cream blush and highlight. All of which are beautiful on deeper skin.
LYS Beauty Matte Cream Blush: LOVE this! See my thoughts here and here. I have this in shade Empower. I haven’t seen any of the other shades in person yet.
BRONZER ON DARK SKIN VIDEOS
Difference Between Contouring and Bronzing
Lip Bar vs Prime Beauty Bronzers
Covergirl Queen Bronzer is “back”
SUNSCREEN
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I already talk about how important sunscreen is in your everyday routine. You need it every single day: even if it’s raining, even if it’s winter, even if it’s cloudy, even if you’re working from home (UVA can penetrate your windows). Sun exposure is cumulative so every little bit adds up.
That said, most of the sunscreens I try are available outside of Sephora. I don’t think you need to spend a grip on sunscreen, especially body sunscreen, because you can tend to go through those really quickly.
For more of the sunscreens I’ve tried, you can check out my non-ashy sunscreen series here on the blog, but I also have a Mineral Sunscreen for Darker Skin and a Sunscreen for Darker Skin playlist on Youtube with TONS more options.
Because I’ve reviewed these already on the blog or on Youtube, I’m keeping this relatively short. To find a review simply search the product name either here on this blog using my search function or on my Youtube channel using the search function on my channel.
Murad Oil and Pore Control Mattifier Broad Spectrum SPF 45 PA++++. Great for oily skin especially in the warmer months.
Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40 PA+++. Great for most skin types—but there’s a $10 dupe at Kroger.
Biossance Squalane + Zinc Sheer Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30 PA +++. One of the better mineral sunscreens at Sephora in terms of the white cast on deeper skin. Nice for drier skin types.
Supergoop Mineral Sheerscreen SPF 30 PA+++. One of the better mineral sunscreen options at Sephora in terms of the white cast on deeper skin. Nice for most skin types.
Murad City Skin Age Defense Broad Spectrum SPF 50 PA++++: Pricey, but one of the better mineral sunscreens at Sephora in terms of the white cast on deeper skin. It’s fragrance-free, water resistant up to 80 mins, and contains iron oxides which might be attractive if you’re fighting hyperpigmentation.
Kiehl’s Super Fluid Daily UV Defense Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50+: Super lightweight, absorbs quickly, and works for most skin types.
Peter Thomas Roth Instant Mineral Broad Spectrum SPF 45 Sunscreen: Long time fave for reapplying sunscreen throughout the day especially when wearing makeup.
SKINCARE
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To be honest, I want you to use the information I put out in my blog posts and Youtube videos about skincare and starting a skincare routine. I do NOT want to be sifting through the Sephora site looking at products that you could *possibly* add to your routine. Because there are too many possible types of skin issues and skin type variables for me to do that. Plus I don’t have that kind of time…lol.
Instead, I put up a list of my personal faves and you can check them out and see if they make sense to add in your skincare routine.
Wow the Eyeshadow pallet looks so mesmerizing.. Going to order it soon!!
Thanks for this lit article!