Claireperk's Guide: What to Cop at the Sephora Spring 2021 Sale đŻ
I really, really, really love to talk about products. Itâs not my fault, Iâm a Taurus!
I thought it would be fun to recap all my recent faves and Old Faithfuls for you here, since I know so many of you like to talk makeup, and thereâs a Sephora Spring Sale coming up: 20% off for Rouge members, 15% for VIB members and 10% off for Beauty Insiders. Swag!
So without further ado, here are my Sephora Sale recommendations.
Gangâs all here!
Clockwise from top left:
Dior Glow Face Palette in 001 -
This little guy is my most-used powder highlighter - I usually find myself buying highlighters and then ignoring them, but not this time! The colors are a white, gold, bronze and pink that can be used all over your face as bronzers and blush, swirled together to make a chill highlight color, or used individually as shadows. I love the bronze in my crease and the pink as blush, with white and gold swirled together for a highlight. Pack this one if you are traveling light - it can be all the color you need.
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light
I have talked about this stuff ad nauseam, but only because I love it so much - it is kind of expensive, so I always load up during the Sephora sale. Dim Light is the perfect finishing powder color - a little tan (for me), a satiny finish, and completely, totally blurring, like the Paris filter in real life! But you have to use it a special way to get the Botox / wrinkle-free effect: this tutorial by SoniaxFyza is where I learned the secret application. Also, I have done that entire tutorial on myself, and it is insane - highly recommend.
Bumble & Bumble Brilliantine
Somehow, B&b Brilliantine manages to breathe life into flat, sad hair, AND smooth the frizz out of wild/crazy hair. It brings you back to baseline gloriousness, every time. The site description says it âis hard to describe - it gives hair a languid, slept-in, sexy lookâ, and I would agree - thereâs no better way to describe what it does. I have been using it since high school, when it came in the original Bb packaging, and it is my holy grail finishing product. It stands the test of time.
HUM Vitamins Big Chill Stress Management Supplement
I swear to you, these are the magic ingredient to having a good day. The herb they contain is called Rhodiola, and it helps your body manage stress better. If you are sitting and waiting for some particular feeling or euphoria to come washing over you you will be disappointed, but if you go about your day, youâll realize that on average, you have happier days and a brighter outlook when youâre taking your daily chill pill.
Moon Juice Acid Potion AHA + BHA Resurfacing Exfoliator
I read on an Insta ad that this AHA + BHA exfoliator is a clean alternative to the cult favorite (le toxique? idk) Biologique Rechurche P50 that I had been considering buying. Itâs about half the price and comes in a crunchy little Moon Juice bottle, so I gave it a whirl. It' is a nice way to start the morning before you put on your makeup - it rids you of little dead/crispy skin pieces, and can be used instead of washing your face, if you are lazy like me.
Fenty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Blush in Amber and Butta Biscuit
This is one of like 5 items on this list that I learned about from one of my fave makeup instas, @shannicat - she did my makeup for my engagement pics, and friend Ashlieâs wedding, and has fire recs. I donât know why, but I always try to use darker bronzer than is necessary. My 2006 self may be gone, but she never forgets how good it feels to be tan. These come in such a beautiful range of shades - I have the lightest two - Amber is great for contouring, and Butta Biscuit around the perimeter of my face adds the perfect non-annoying glow.
Makeup For Ever Artist Color Eye, Lip and Brow Pencil in Endless Cacao
Another one of my fave makeup artists on Insta, @katiejanehughes uses this pencil basically every day to knock back lipstick colors that are too much. Use it with a coral to NOT look like you are going to B.I.N.G.O. night, use it with a bright pink to NOT feel like Barbie, use it with nudes that are too nude to NOT look like Kris Humphries-era Kim Kardashian. Also, you can use it to cut a crease (a skill Iâve been working on for quarantine), in your brows, or to add a beauty mark. If itâs not available, sign up to be notified because it is always sold out.
Dior Forever Skin Correct Concealer in 1CR
This concealer comes in a massive trough, and is the creamiest full-coverage that somehow looks so luminous and pretty. The container is giant and heavy like a Dior paperweight, and I can already tell it is going to last for 6 months or more. So itâs basically free. Application lasts 24 hours, and you can still see your skin shining though.
ILIA Clean Line Gel Eyeliner in Dusk
Another rec from @shannicat, this liner is cool because you can smoke it out, so it looks like your usual cat eye, but a little more dreamy and artsy. ILIA is a clean brand so you can feel chill using it. Shocker, I actually tried the brown one of these, and itâs cool because it helps your big black lashes stand out a little more. Your face also looks a little softer than with your usual black liquid line. I like to use a pointed Q-tip to manipulate the cat eye tails to make them extra long and pointy.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Pro Pencil in Base 1
I bought this pencil at a beauty show like literally 9 years ago, and have used it consistently since. I have no idea how it is still around, but here we are. I like this guy for a few reasons. It can serve as an eyeshadow primer, which I normally HATE (but not in this instance - it isnât sticky!), you can use it all over your eyelid to make your skin look pretty and smooth for a clean no-makeup look, you can trace around your brows to make them look like you had them waxed, you can layer under white eyeshadow to look like Marilyn Monroe⊠But my favorite way to use it is to define the lid space when creating a cut crease - smoke out your crease however you like (I use a pencil), and then carefully fill in your lid space to define the crease. Add liner, and you are Sharon Tate!
Diorshow Iconic Overcurl Mascara in Black
Itâs funny, everyone has their own mascara preferences, and very few mascaras ever have a good rating on Sephora - there are always a few people who torpedo the reviews with a 1-star rating. One personâs volume is anotherâs clump, I guess. I will say, this is my first non-tubing mascara in quite some time, and I really do love it. It helps my lashes curl (my lashes are straight), and they donât slowly fade/shrink/straighten throughout the day like they do with other mascaras. It is the perfect level of moisture, too, if you like mascaras that donât feel too wet. I like âem dry so I can build forever.
Fenty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Blush in Bikini Martini
I bought this, then immediately bought another one when I saw them on sale on the Fenty site. It is the perfect, *perfect* pink. Borderline neon in the package, but somehow doll-like and precious in real life. It is beautiful on cheeks and on lips, and has virtually no shimmer, sheen or sparkles. Just your perfect matte pink cream blush. Bonus: it fits in my tiny bags!
Glam Glow Glow Starter in Nude Glow
This illuminating primer is what I hoped Charlotte Tilburyâs Wonderglow would be. Glam Glow is funny to me, it reminds me so much of tanning bed culture circa 2004 - I imagine the people who worked at tanning salons now use it. It even smells like a tanning bed to me, somehow, and looks like an evolution of those bottles of $50 lotions the salons used to sell. Anyway, it is the perfect, super illuminating base for your makeup, that you can actually see through your foundation. I can tell when I do and donât use it. It moisturizes slightly, but doesnât remain sticky at all, making it the perfect first step in a makeup routine, if you ask me.
Dior Forever Skin Glow Foundation in 2W
OK, who knew that a 24-hour dewy foundation could exist? The Dior Forever Skin Glow Foundation is my new #1, taking the place previously held by Charlotte Tilburyâs Light Wonder Foundation. I still love you, LWF, but this stuff is is doinâ it. The color I chose is a little warm, in a good way - Iâd been sticking with neutrals and always love when my foundation makes me look a smidge warmer. This stuff is like gorgeous satin for your face, and lasts literally ALL. DAY. Perfect, flawless princess skin is yours.
Charlotte Tilbury Genius Under Eye and Face Magic Setting Powder in Color 1
I have been setting my undereyes and T-zone lately with this stuff, and it is just a dream. Itâs finely milled a f, and not perceptible whatsoever, but keeps your concealer and shine from creasing. It isnât worldâs most exciting purchase, but itâs a nice little nugget to tap on to make your face go the distance. I usually finish with this, then buff with my Hourglass Dim Light immediately following, so it doesnât clump up over the liquid and cream I just applied.
Kat Von D Super Pomade Vegan Eyeliner, Shadow and Brow Pigment in Taupe
I love a good dip brow - it just lasts forever, and is cheaper than re-upping on the little brow mascaras over and over, month after month. These last for a year, I swear. I was doing a medium brown during the Great Eyebrow Darkening of 2017, but have reverted back to a taupe that looks a little less aggress. I love this vegan option from Kat Von D, because you can also use it to create a cut crease or line your eyes.
Pat McGrath Sublime Skin Highlighting Trio
OK so the highlighter I took a photo of above is no longer available, my bad! But thereâs no way I am taking that photo again, lmao. So here is another option that I also have and love - so much, that all the colors have come loose from the pan and are shattered into smithereens. I brought this trio to Tokyo because they are the perfect balance of âlectric and chill - great as an eyeshadow or highlight, and are all the fun you need for your face. The colors are pearl-infused and multi-dimensional and everything of the sort.
Now, here are a few items I am considering trying:
Maison Margiela Replica Bubble Bath
This fragrance literally smells how you smell when you get out of a bath. You know the smell, but you donât know that you know the smell. Youâll sniff it and be like âoh right.â I donât know how they captured it so perfectly!
Kosas Air Brow Clear and Clean Lifting Treatment
What is the deal with everyone laminating their brows? Brushing them straight up? I donât understand it, but maybe itâs because i havenât tried it. Unpopular Opinion: brows donât have to make some sort of massive statement, and â gasp â sometimes look cool on the thinner side. I hope thin brows come back, but I know I am in the minority. Anyway, this is brand new and seems like what I need to try next, if I donât want to look like a side part and skinny jeans-wearing Millennial.
Gisou Honey Infused Hair Oil
I follow a girl on Insta who has worldâs most glorious, lustrous hair. It looks like a blonde wig, but I think itâs real. She is always using this, so maybe itâs the secret!
Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Pore Perfecting Cleansing Gel
Dr. Gross is my man - I am a HUGE fan of his Alpha Beta Peel Pads (they make a major difference in the texture of your skin) and his Alpha Beta Glow pads, which are teeny wet naps of tanner that are just the best. I watch his Insta Lives where he answers skin questions and gifts people with products, and think heâs just the cutest and nicest. He recommends this a lot when people have large pores or want a smoothing effect, in lieu of cleansing oil, which I normally use. Maybe Iâll give it a whirl!
Becca Undereye Brightening Corrector
Becca is going out of business! I am so sad, I love this undereye corrector sososoo much. I may scoop one up before I canât anymore.