While a bit of shopping at Sephora can act as the perfect retail therapy, it can also do some serious damage to your wallet. In an effort to be kinder to our wallets while exploring the luxury beauty aisles of Sephora stores, we’ve compiled a few tips to decrease your bill. Happy shopping and saving!

Here are tips to save money when shopping at Sephora.

Tip #1: Embrace Value Sets

Sephora is fantastic at curating limited edition value sets containing a mixture of items within a particular product category. Cosmetics within each Sephora Favourites set can range from trial size to full size and contain multiple colours, shades and/or formulas that will appeal to the broadest selection of customers, while still offering variety. Check the label on these Favourites Sets to reinforce just how much money you’re saving; it’s going to be a lot!

Tip #2: Try Before You Buy

Sephora always offers free samples of your favourite beauty and skincare items. Simply ask a store associate for some assistance and they’ll equip you with a sample to take home along with a printout of the product’s ingredients and usage instructions. If just one take-home sample size isn’t enough to give you a realistic impression of the product’s performance, return to the store for another sample. Quality cosmetics and skincare are not cheap. Don’t spend your money unless you know the item is right for you. Also, if you make a purchase online, be sure to check out the free samples section to add to your cart at checkout so you can try out even more items!

Tip #3: Shop Sephora Collection Items

The developers at Sephora really know their stuff! So much so that they take everything they’ve gathered about customer shopping behaviour and product preferences to create their very own beauty line. The Sephora Collection is expansive with over 500 unique items and offers everything from false lashes to night cream for half the price of neighbouring high-end cosmetics lines.

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Tip #4: Keep Your Receipt

This Sephora shopping tip is a no brainer! This beauty mecca offers a killer return policy just in case the item you’ve picked up just doesn’t work for you. Always save your receipt and return your items for a full refund within 30 days.

Tip #5: Sign-Up To Be A Beauty Insider

Be sure to sign-up to be a Beauty Insider as there are a handful of deals that you’ll be able to snag. The Sephora VIB event usually happens around three times a year when you can save 10%, 15%, or 20% on your entire purchase, depending on your status. This is a great time to add all of the items you’ve been eyeing and get them at a discount. Plus, once your birthday rolls around, you’ll get to choose a free gift!

Tip #6: Use Coupon Codes 

Don’t ever miss out on the chance to save more money easy savings if you’re shopping online at Sephora. Use browser extensions like Honey to search the web for extra coupon codes to use. Once coupons have been found, you can even head on over to the app and use it there so you can still earn Beauty Insider points! Plus, the code FREESHIP is typically active so you never have to pay for shipping.

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Walking into Sephora, it’s like walking into a candy land that’s filled with all the beauty products you could ever want. The beauty giant carries makeup, skincare, haircare, and various fragrances so it’s fair to say you could easily spend your whole paycheque there. Because Sephora has such a wide product assortment, it only makes sense that the storehouses hundreds of brands. With there being tons of brands in-store, it can be overwhelming and since we’re all familiar with the more popular brands, others can definitely slip through the cracks. There are so many brands carried at Sephora that don’t get the attention they deserve so we’re here to share some underrated beauty brands that need to be on your radar the next time you’re in the store.

Here are the most underrated beauty brands at Sephora!

SEPHORA Collection

There’s no doubt you already know that Sephora has its own in-house brand, but for some reason, this collection seems to get overlooked. The SEPHORA Collection is chock full of amazing products and they’re thankfully more on the affordable end of the spectrum when it comes to shopping at Sephora. Next time you’re shopping at Sephora, don’t just walk by or overlook the Sephora Collection — it’s totally worth checking out!

First Aid Beauty

First Aid Beauty isn’t particularly unknown, however, it’s a brand that deserves a lot more attention, in our opinion! This skincare line carries amazing products, including its Ultra Repair Cream. First Aid Beauty is definitely worth a try, especially if you’re in the market for quality good skincare at a reasonable price!

ALTERNA Haircare

If you’re after luxury haircare, ALTERNA is definitely a brand to add to your Sephora shopping list. Inspired by the science behind skincare, this brand prides itself on purity and innovation. ALTERNA’s unique CAVIAR Anti-Aging complex works to help target the physical, environmental, and natural signs of aging and stress. This stress causes hair to look older and start to lose moisture, becoming dry, brittle, and more prone to breakage. 

KAJA

Kaja is a Korean makeup brand with absolutely adorable and unique packaging with its “bite-sized makeup.” Because packaging obviously isn’t everything, the brands formulas are also said to be just as great. It’s refreshing to see a makeup brand serving a fun aesthetic with a great product as heart-shaped products seem to be a running theme here!

lilah b.

lilah B. is a unique brand because a lot of its products are multi-use as the brand strives to be minimalistic and simple. What we love about lilah B. is that it’s also a vegan and clean beauty brand. This is definitely a brand that deserves more recognition and space on your beauty shelf!

Saturday Skin

If you’re skincare obsessed, Saturday Skin needs to be on your radar. The brand is known for using the Cha-7 es Complex, which is an exclusive peptide formula that supports the skin’s regeneration process. Wondering what that means for your skin? You can expect your skin to be looking flawless. Who wouldn’t want that?

The Inkey List

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The Inkey List offers high-quality, clean skincare at a price point that’s hard to turn down. You can stock up on all of the cleansers, acids, and more that your skin needs to thrive! The Mini Oat Cleansing Balm even won the Allure Best of Beauty in 2020.

Verb

Verb has 50 products that you can find at Sephora! This haircare line strives to give salon-quality results at a reasonable price —yes, please!. The brand’s product line ranges from shampoos and conditioners to hair oils, sprays, and more. Verb even has products that cater to different hair colours whether yours is light or dark. If you haven’t checked out this hair care brand, it’s about time to do so!

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Another year has come and gone. 2019 has seen a lot of exciting things happen in the world of beauty. If you’ve been keeping up, there’s been no shortage of product and line launches in the world of skincare and makeup. Here are just a few beauty launches that caught my eye—and let’s be honest, these are just the tip of the iceberg! 

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I am obsessed with taking care of my skin. So much so that I’m willing to try out the latest trends and the newest products. But one of the things I always grapple with internally is if a skincare product’s price tag is really worth it. For this skincare test, I wanted to take some cheap skincare products and some more expensive skincare products to see if you could really tell the difference. For the purpose of this experiment, I did my best to find products that were comparable and showcasing an in-house line. 

I mean, sure – a brand will say it’s worth it, but is it really?

Case in point: I selected an item from Shoppers Drug Mart’s Life Brand and Sephora’s Sephora Collection to go against top of the line brands.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “That’s not fair!” But honestly, I think there are a lot of misconceptions and stigmas when it comes to in-house brands that they aren’t good enough or that because they aren’t as expensive, or they won’t have good enough ingredients. Once again, not true!

Here are some of my thoughts and opinions on if price really matters when it comes to skincare products.

Spot treatments:

Life Brand – Clear Action – Advance Acne Spot Treatment, $7.99

VICHY – Normaderm Hyaluspot Targeted Fast Acting Care, $21

In my last piece, I spoke extensively about my hormonal acne, so I was super excited to test out two brands so who help out with this. First up, I took to the back of the packages to explore the ingredient listings. Both of these products have salicylic acid, which is known to help unclog pores and prevent lesions in the face. Perfect.

The Life Brand spot treatment includes witch hazel, which is similar to tea tree oil, acting as both astringent and anti-inflammatory. With this product, you’re supposed to apply it to the individual breakouts three-times-daily and it will help dry it out and help tighten the skin.

When I tested out the VICHY product, I found that it works a bit differently, using hyaluronic acid to create more of an invisible layer to help product against external agents. Since I have sensitive skin, I found that when I applied the VICHY product, my skin was a bit more tingly than with most products, but it immediately disappeared within a few minutes.

The results between the two products were fairly average. To be honest, I didn’t notice an immediate clear up using either. But I did notice a shrinking in my problem areas using the Life Brand spot treatment, which made me feel better.

My only concern was that I couldn’t really keep applying it three times a day. I mean, who can?

Each had its benefits, and from what I have read up, with continued use of the VICHY product, it can help to reduce the redness of spots as well as heal them faster in the future. So I guess, stay tuned.

Skin aging:

Sephora Collection – Firming Sleeping Mask, $22

Sephora Collection – Ultra Glow Serum: Glow + Strengthen Vitamin C Serum, $27

Dermalogica – AGE Smart Phyto-Nature Firming Serum, $199

I recently celebrated my 36th birthday, and of course – I’m thinking about aging in a way that’s very real, so I’ve been exploring how to take care of my skin, properly.

This means buying anti-aging serums and creams, and oh my, are they expensive.

As soon as I heard about the brand new Phyto-Nature Firming Serum by Dermalogica, I had to try it out. Using plant-based products, I took one tiny pump to my face, and within a week it calmed down my rosacea and evened out some of my finer lines near my eyes.

However, I’ve got to admit that $199 is not something I might be willing to shell out on a product all the time, so I used two different Sephora Collection products to see if I could get the same effect and oddly enough, I enjoyed them.

I was nervous using a cream at night because, to be honest, it felt heavy and I thought it was going to get all over my pillow. But I made sure to work it into my routine, and the mask would seep into my face right in my skin, leaving me with smoother, more supple skin.

One of the active ingredients in the mask is PEP (peptides) which is known to tighten skin, and while I didn’t notice my lines even out, I did feel much better about how smooth and strong my skin felt. In the mornings, I would wake up and use the Ultra Glow Serum, and it was everything. It’s lightweight, absorbs into the skin quickly and didn’t have a huge fragrance.

Did the two Sephora products offer the same benefits as the Dermalogica? I don’t think so!

However, if my budget couldn’t spring for the one serum, this works in a pinch and they were just as good.

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The fall and winter seasons are notorious for being beautiful, cozy, and dehydrating for our skin. In addition to it being absolutely freakin’ freezing, these icy winds wreak absolute havoc on our skin and hair. It’s not only important to keep ourselves hydrated by obviously drinking water, but slathering on hydrating beauty products has never been so crucial.

Now don’t read this and start slathering on all the moisturizer. Keeping your skin and hair hydrated starts on the inside. Really make sure you’re drinking enough water throughout the day. Not only that, but make sure you chug a large glass full first thing in the morning. If you think about it, that’s a whole 8 hours that you didn’t drink anything. For my fellow caffeine addicts — don’t worry, you’ll still get your espresso — just after you down that glass of H20.

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We get it, buying the latest beauty products can get pretty expensive. and you can easily spend a small fortune stocking up on the essentials. What if we told you that you can still have great skin, hair, and makeup without having to sacrifice all of your rent money? Luckily for you, we’re obsessed with all things beauty, and we’ve tested out countless products that are, in fact, incredibly affordable. Don’t get us wrong, we love a luxury product but there are so many affordable beauty buys out there. The truth is, you can find the perfect face mask to fix your skincare woes or the right concealer to hide even the worst blemish that cost less than your morning latte. 

Not convinced? Just keep on reading for a round-up of 9 of our favourite affordable beauty buys that are all under $5.

Essence Long Lasting Eye Pencil

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This long-lasting eyeliner glides on and stays put, so you never have to worry about creased or smudged eyeliner again. And for $3 you can literally own it in every colour. It’s retractable and compact, which makes it the perfect makeup bag essential. 

Price: $2.99

Tonymoly I’m Real Sheet Masks

Instagram/@zayablogs

If you have yet to try these K-Beauty cult favourite sheet masks, you’ll be thanking us later for its incredible results. Each three-layer pulp sheet is filled with natural ingredients and soaked in enriched essences that target different skin concerns all while leaving your skin with maximum hydration. You can find maks in soothing ingredients that you can actually pronounce like tea tree oil for soothing, rice for clearing, lemon for brightening, and avocado for nurturing.

Price: $3 each

NYX Cosmetics Extra Creamy Round Lipstick

NYX Cosmetics

The secret’s out: you don’t have to spend a fortune to have the perfect, long-lasting lipstick. This creamy lipstick from NYX is made with a mineral-based formula that leaves you with a smooth, velvety texture that lasts and doesn’t smudge. Plus, it’s available in over 50 colours ranging from the perfect nude to fierce red. 

Price: On sale for$4.90

Essence I Love Stage Eyeshadow Base

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There’s literally nothing worse than heading out for the day will a full face of makeup only to look in the mirror at lunch and discover that your eyeshadow has already begun to rub off and smudge. This eyeshadow primer from Essence eliminates all your oily eye makeup fears by increasing the vibrancy and lasting power of your shadow. Think of it as the perfect base for your eye makeup that will keep your look in place from morning, day, and night. 

Price: $3.99

e.l.f Cosmetics Makeup Mist & Set

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Whether you’re a professional makeup artist, a beauty enthusiast, or you just want your look to last, no makeup bag is complete without setting spray. We’re currently obsessed with e.l.f’s makeup mist & set spray, firstly, because it’s incredibly affordable, but it will also keep your face and eye makeup in place all day with just a few sprays. Made with a natural formula that contains aloe, green tea, cucumber, and vitamins A, C, and E, it also helps to soothe and hydrate the skin. 

Price: $4

Revlon Kiss Balm

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If you’re looking for a product that really does it all (and then some) look no further than Revlon’s Kiss Balm. Not only does it hydrate your lips thanks to its mixture of natural fruit oils, but it also gives you a subtle tint of sheer colour and shine, all while providing your lips with SPF 20 protection. 

Price: On sale for $4.96

Patchology FlashPatch Rejuvenating Eye Gel Mask

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Whether you were up late cramming for an exam, had a late girl’s night out, or maybe you just want to look like you’ve had a full eight hours of sleep, this is the product you need. Simply place the patches under your eyes for five minutes, and the blend of caffeine and hydrolyzed collagen with leave you with luminous, glowing, and plump under-eye skin, making it look like you had your beauty sleep. 

Price: $4

Sephora Collection Mini Cleansing Wipes with Coconut Water

Instagram/@bymoly

This mini set of cleansing wipes is the perfect item to toss in your purse so you can have fresh-feeling skin wherever you are. These wipes great for getting airport grime off your face while travelling or for leaving your skin feeling refreshed after a long day. Not only are they an affordable beauty buy, but they smell amazing.

Price: $4

Tonymoly Runaway Strawberry Seeds 3 Step Nose Pack

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You can say goodbye to pesky blackheads thanks to this three-step removing strip set that sloughs out deeply blocked follicles, leaving your pores clean and smooth. Not only is it perfect for maintaining blackhead-free skin, but the packaging is also insanely cute. 

Price: $5

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