Today is the first day for the Sephora Holiday Sale early access (Rouge level rewards members can take 20% off from 10/30 until 11/9 with code HOLIDAYFUN at checkout) — so I wanted to share some of my favorite beauty picks with y’all.
If you’re not at the Rouge rewards level, don’t worry — VIB rewards members will be able to take 15% off their purchase from 11/3 to 11/9, and Insider rewards members will be able to take 10% off their purchase from 11/5 to 11/9 … all with the same Sephora Holiday Sale code at checkout (HOLIDAYFUN).
Now, I’ve mentioned this in the past on here, but Sephora is probably one of my favorite stores and definitely one of the places I shop at the most. I love testing out and trying new makeup, beauty, skincare, and hair products — and Sephora makes it really easy with their super knowledgable staff and generous return policy. I also love the ‘Clean at Sephora’ label they introduced so you can easily find products that are formulated without a long (and frightening) list of chemicals.
The easiest way to go through my favorite Sephora Holiday Sale picks is to organize them by brand — so here we go!
Milk Makeup at the Sephora Holiday Sale
Milk Makeup is hands down one of my favorite makeup brands. Not only are they have the ‘Clean at Sephora’ label, they’re also totally vegan and cruelty-free, which I love. And what’s even better is that their products work really well — which isn’t always the case with vegan or cruelty-free brands, sadly.
Their Kush Mascara (#1 above) — I’ve tried so many other brands but keep coming back to it. It gives your lashes megawatt curl and volume.
The Sunshine Skin Tint (#2 above) — If you’re looking for a light coverage foundation that has SPF in it, it’s one of my go-to foundations for summer. (PS – if you’re looking for a buildable medium coverage foundation, then their Blur Liquid Matte Foundation is also awesome).
I also love their HydroGrip Primer (#4 above) — the consistency kinda reminds me of pure aloe vera gel because it dries down a bit tacky after you apply it, but it’s really good at getting makeup to stay put.
Their Kush Fiber Brow Gel (# 6 above) — its super easy to apply and fills in your brows perfectly, especially if you over-tweezed them in your teenage years like I did.
Fenty Beauty by Rihanna
Fenty Beauty by Rihanna is probably the makeup brand that I own more of than anything else. The products are just so damn good! Basically everything above is something I have and use on a regular basis.
Their foundation is awesome — they even have two different formulas based on your skin type — and whatever number shade you are in the foundation, it’s the same number shade in their amazing concealer, so you never have to remember what the hell the name of your shade color is.
I use their hydrating foundation, which is more ideal for dry or normal skin. They also have a soft matte foundation that’s really good for oily skin.
They also have 50 shades, so they were really thoughtful when they developed their line so that it truly accommodated all skin tones.
I also really, really love their eyeshadows and eyeliners, and I often get compliments on both when I am wearing them. If you want to experiment with some of their eyeshadows, the palettes are awesome and very reasonably priced for the quality. And if you use their eyelid primer, then it really doesn’t budge during the day.
Their lip gloss is smooth but not sticky, and their lipsticks don’t dry out my lips or feel thick and cake-y either.
Basically, in my opinion, Fenty Beauty is one of the best additions to the makeup world in recent years. Their products are NO JOKE, and if you haven’t tried them yet but you love makeup, I definitely recommend giving them a try. I do not think you will be disappointed!
Farmacy Beauty at the Sephora Holiday Sale
Farmacy Beauty is definitely one of my favorite skincare brands at Sephora! Much like their name suggests, Farmacy Beauty uses a lot of organic farm-grown and locally-sourced ingredients to create their products. Their products feel really good on your skin, and they work.
Their Green Clean Makeup Meltaway Cleansing Balm is hands down one of my favorite face cleansers, and it’s an amazing makeup remover — even for eye makeup. It feels AMAZING on your skin and barely takes any effort to remove your makeup.
Their Honey Drop Lightweight Moisturizer is deeply moisturizing without feeling heavy AT ALL. With both honey and hyaluronic acid, it both moisturizes and plumps your skin.
I am currently trying both their Daily Greens Oil-free Moisturizer and their Cheer Up Brightening Vitamin C Eye Cream with Acerola Cherry. I am very tempted to give it a try on my dark under eye circles and see what it does 🙂
rms beauty
rms beauty is probably the cleanest of all the ‘Clean at Sephora’ brands. And you know how tons of brands throw around the terms “organic” and “all natural” when they don’t even mean anything? rms beauty is the real deal.
All of their products are certified organic, non-GMO, hypoallergenic, noncomedogenic, cruelty-free and are free of soy, gluten, parabens, sulfates, phalatates, silicone, talc, petrolatum, and polyethylene/PEGs. They even almost exclusively use raw and naturally-derived color pigments, which is incredibly rare in cosmetics. Aside from their very high standards, their products feel really good on your skin — almost like skincare (which they basically are). And the Sephora Holiday Sale is a great time to give them a try.
Among my favorite products from rms beauty are their Living Luminizer — a luxuriously creamy highlighter that the founder of rms beauty (Rose Marie Swift) taught me to put on my cheekbones, under the arches of my eyebrows, the inside corners of my eyes, and my cupid’s bow. Yes, she did my makeup on me once (during an event at the Birchbox store in SoHo) and gave me all of her tips & tricks. It was so freaking cool.
She also taught me that a lot of their products do double-duty, especially their Lip2Cheek color, which can obviously be used on both lips as a subtle lip color and on cheeks as a blush. My favorite shade was ‘Beloved’ — red with a hint of poppy.
Their Un Cover-Up Concealer/Foundation is another double-duty miracle pot. It’s moisturizing, light coverage that barely feels like you have anything on. It also really helps diminish my redness from eczema.
Their Beauty Oil is the very first face oil I’ve ever tried, and it’s still one of my favorites. During the winter especially, this stuff moisturizes my skin like nothing else I’ve ever tried.
If you are looking for a healthy makeup brand to try (especially if you have super sensitive skin), and you love a more natural, understated makeup look and a simple beauty routine you can easily apply with your fingers, then I would definitely give rms beauty a try during the Sephora Holiday Sale.
More Sephora Holiday Sale Picks
Below are even more of my favorite Sephora Holiday Sale goodies — just click on any image below for a direct link to shop it!
PS – you can find more of my makeup and beauty favorites here.
