Sephora Savings Event Makeup Recommendations

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The Sephora rewards program has three different levels based on how much you spend within a year.

• The first level is Beauty Insider which is the level everyone starts when they sign up for the rewards program. There’s no spend level you need to reach or maintain.

• The second level is VIB. You need to spend $350 a year to reach this level. If you buy a lot of beauty and hair products and shop exclusively at Sephora it probably wouldn’t be too hard to reach this threshold. I don’t spend this much on hair, beauty, and skin products in a year. Nor do I shop at Sephora very often so there’s no way I could see myself hitting this threshold.

• The third and highest level is Rouge. To reach it you need to spend, wait for it,….$1000 in a year. Yes, you read that right, $1000. I probably won’t ever reach Rouge status. If $350 is a reach there’s no way, no way I would ever hit $1000. I can’t imagine spending that much in a year on hair, skin, and makeup products!

The reason I started by talking about the different levels in Sephora’s reward program is during sale events, each level gets a different discount. For this sale, Rouge gets 20% off, VIB gets 15% off and Insider gets 10% off.

You will need a promo code to get the discount. The code is TIMETOSAVE in all caps. You could try it in lowercase but I would personally go with the uppercase since that’s how it was provided.

You can use the promo code as many times as you’d like during the sale dates to get your insider level discount.

Another reason the insider levels matter for this sale is that Rogues get first access to the sale meaning it starts 10/27 for Rouges and 10/31 for everyone else. The sale ends on 11/6 for all Insider levels.

Everybody gets 30% off Sephora Collection products. The promo code for the Sephora Collection discount is SCSAVE. All caps.

If you’re not a Beauty Insider yet you can sign up here.

Now I have a confession.

I’m not a huge fan of Sephora sales because the size of the discount is based on the insider level you’re at. And the discounts are usually pretty small.

Since I’m only at the entry Beauty Insider level my discount is minimal and not worth it. Especially when most of the items I would buy at Sephora I can get at Ulta and Ulta sales tend to have bigger discounts available to everyone.

Plus, I can earn points at Ulta that I can use to discount my purchase even further.

I’m at the Beauty Insider level I have no plans to shop the sale but for you Rouges and VIBs it may be a time to shop. And I have several makeup product recos for you.

Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Matte Setting Powder 

This is a setting powder that claims to extend makeup wear for up to 24 hours.

It provides a matte, shine-free finish and diminishes the appearance of pores and imperfections.

There is a total of six shades, two out of the six for us brown ladies. The lighter of the two is Sienna which is for tan to deep skin tones with warm undertones. This is the one I use and prefer because I have yellow or golden undertones.

The deepest shade is Deep Neutral. It’s for dark skin tones with warm undertones. I tried this one before I bought Sienna but it was way too dark and too red for my yellow undertones.

I’ve been using this powder for a couple of months but haven’t used it as a setting powder yet. I use it by itself in place of foundation for a more natural look or under my foundation to help with oil control.

I think it does a good job of giving my skin a smooth, clean, matte finish. I’ve also noticed that I get less oily less quickly when using it under my foundation.

Make Up For Ever HD Skin Undetectable Longwear Foundation

I’ve tried out this foundation a few times and liked it. The only problem was it was the wrong shade for me. It was just too dark.

This foundation claims to be an undetectable liquid foundation that blurs and covers imperfections for up to 24 hours. It’s supposed to be powered by a micro-skin system that syncs with the skin for true-to-skin finish.

The coverage is medium, the finish is natural, and it can be used on normal, oily, and combination skin.

My opinion is I think it covers imperfections really well. I didn’t feel the foundation on my skin so it wasn’t uncomfortable wearing all day long.

The finish looked great and like my skin, until my skin oil broke it down a few hours after application. For those of us with oily skin to get some long wear from this foundation a really good matte, oil-absorbing setting powder is needed.

It would have been interesting to try this foundation along with the Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Matte Setting Powder.

Urban Decay All Nighter Waterproof Makeup Setting Spray

If you follow me on Instagram, my handle is @arelaxedgal, you probably already know that I use this setting spray every time I wear makeup.

It’s a lightweight, microfine mist that ensures fresh, flawless makeup all day that won’t set into fine lines, melt, or fade.

The Urban Decay setting spray also has patented Temperature Control Technology that helps to lower the temperature of makeup keeping it locked in better.

I like this spray because it does a really good job of setting my makeup. Using it keeps my foundation in place so I can go to work during the day and head out in the evening with minimal touch-ups and just a little blotting in my oily areas.

I’ve even seen the Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray in action when I've been sweating. I still will see a little makeup dripping but after doing a quick blot it looks good again.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz® Ultra-Slim Precision Brow Pencil

This is one of my favorite brow pencils for many reasons. The first is it has a retractable tip so I don’t have to sharpen it manually. The tip is also ultra-fine so it’s really easy to fill in my brows and have them look really natural. The fine tip does a really good job of mimicking eyebrow hair.

The shade I get is Ebony which I believe is a dark brown not quite black shade. I don’t like using black on my brows because it makes them too stark and noticeable.

Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Shadow - Roseglow Collection

If you don't like messing with cream or powder eyeshadows this eyeshadow sticks are a good option. These particular ones from Laura Mercier are creamy eyeshadow sticks with 12-hour long lasting wear that illuminates the eyes with a golden rosy glow.

I have two of the shades Rose Thorn which is a shimmering plum rose and my favorite shade of the two. The other shade is Forbidden Rose, a shimmering copper rose.

I like how vidid the shades are and how they can be played up for a nighttime look by applying it more heavily. They can also be played down by using it with a powder shadow and using a lighter application.

Too Faced Born This Way Matte Longwear Liquid Foundation

This is my favorite and preferred foundation because it’s a really good shade match for me. In fact, I got shade matched for it at a Sephora. My shade is Tiramisu.

I love that it looks like my skin and gives me a matte finish. The finish is also a natural-looking matte to me.

Because of the price, I tend to use it only for special occasions and when I’m going to be wearing makeup all day long.

Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Liquid Foundation

I have a love-hate relationship with this foundation. The reason for that relationship is I had a really hard time finding a good shade for me that wasn’t too dark, too light, and the right undertone when this foundation first launched.

When the next round of shades launched I was able to find a shade that works. That shade is 470. It says it’s for deep skin with cool neutral undertones but I have yellow/golden undertones and yet it works.

The ones with golden undertones I’d used before didn’t work. They were too orange. Go figure.

The great thing is there are about 52 shades total all with a range of undertones.

This is a soft-matte, long-wearing foundation with climate-adaptive technology to fight heat, sweat, and shine.

It is one of the cheaper foundations on this list (by only a few dollars but still cheaper) so I use it as my everyday foundation and when I don’t plan to wear foundation all day, but only for a few hours.

Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Foundation

I’ve never used this foundation but it’s a popular one for those with oily skin. Probably because it’s a 24-hour liquid foundation with a flawless, natural, matte finish that unifies uneven skin tone and covers imperfections with buildable coverage.

It’s got a wide range of shades a total of 48.

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder

I’ve actually tried this setting powder and wasn’t impressed but it’s pretty popular.

There are four shades, only one that I think is good for brown skin tones. That shade is translucent medium deep.

This setting powder claims to be a lightweight, easy-to-apply, loose powder with a matte finish that blends effortlessly to set makeup for up to 16 hours of wear and 24-hour shine control.

ONE/SIZE by Patrick Starr On 'Til Dawn Mattifying Waterproof Setting Spray 

I’ve seen some reports that Beyonce uses this setting spray. It’s waterproof and gives skin an all-day matte finish.

Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez
Warm Wishes Effortless Bronzer Sticks

It claims to be a breakthrough bronzing stick for a quick and visible sunkissed glow with a smooth, seamless, second-skin finish—just swipe on, blend, and go. There are 8 shades.

Kaja Wink Stamp Original Waterproof Wing Eyeliner Stamp & Pen

This dual-sided wing stamp pen and felt-tip liquid liner help create the perfect cat eye every time. This set is smudge-proof and waterproof, giving you all-day wear from morning to night.

It’s supposed to get that winged liner look for those of us who stink at doing it freehand.

I think it’s a cool concept and used it several times and stopped because I still was having issues mostly because I stink at applying makeup. If you buy it hopefully it works better for you.

Even more

You can also buy one or more of the many popular holiday sets and advent calendars Sephora is known for. 

If you'd like to save even more you can use Rakuten to get cash back on your purchase when you shop in-store or online. Sign up here.

If you’re interested in skin and hair products you can check out my other posts about the Sephora Savings Event