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@sephoracollection/design by Cristina Cianci
Is there anything on Earth as satisfying as a spontaneous trip to Sephora? Roaming the beautifully lit aisles, taking in the blended scents of the perfume, and treating yourself to something new and exciting to make yourself feel your most beautiful. And of course, it's always fun to play around with makeup, especially makeup that doesn't belong to you (but make sure to sanitize, I don't want you getting an eye infection.) Sephora carries some of the biggest names in luxury beauty, but one of the best sections of Sephora is actually the retailer's in-house brand. Sephora Collection is all about outstanding beauty at an excellent price: you can get a brush set, a face mask, lipstick, and everything in between, all without really hurting your pockets. Their Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipsticks are always getting buzz, and it's absolutely worth the hype in every way.
Fast Facts
Founded: In 1996 as the in-house brand for omni-retailer Sephora.
Based In: San Francisco.
Pricing: $-$$
Best Known For: Creating accessible, affordable, and sustainable beauty products for the Sephora loyalist.
Most Popular Product: 12 Hour Contour Pencil Eyeliner, Face Mask, Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipstick
Fun Fact: Sephora Collection is focused on leveraging the latest innovations in packaging and ingredients to ensure they are doing their part to reduce the impact on the earth, creating products made of 30% recycled glass.
Other Brands You’ll Love: NYX, Bobbi Brown, Colourpop
Sephora Collection's origins are simple: Sephora saw a gap in their retail stores to create quality products at an accessible price point and set out to create a collection that offered every product that consumers might want. "As the brand that was created and fostered within Sephora’s walls, we have access to things like heaps of customer insights, a spot-on-trend pipeline, and the industry’s best merchant and product development teams," Brooke Banwart, vice president and general manager at Sephora, explains to Byrdie. "Now more than ever, accessible, affordable, and sustainable beauty products are important to our clients. Our goal is to inspire our clients to learn and confidently play with beauty, without breaking the bank." Looking to learn more about the best of Sephora Collection? Read on for our 10 favorite products.
12 Hour Contour Pencil Eyeliner
Not all pencil eyeliners are built the same, and Sephora Collection's 12 Hour Contour Pencil Eyeliner is in a league of its own. Not only does it have 15 wide-ranging and fun shades, ranging from matte to glitter to shimmer, meaning it's more than just an eyeliner—it can be used as an eyeshadow stick, too. It's what we all want and need in an eyeliner—you can use it to tightline, define the eye, or do an extreme graphic liner look.
Sheet Face Mask
These sheet masks are one of the most reliable products in the makeup industry—they come in all kinds of variations of formulas, and the budget-friendly price means you can stock up without really hurting your wallet. Perfect for on the road or at home, these sheet masks are ultra-thin. What that means is you don't have to worry about it slippy-sliding off of your face—meaning you know that you're getting all the beneficial active ingredients during your masking experience.
Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipstick
If you've heard of any Sephora Collection product, it's likely this one. Any makeup aficionado likely has one of these in their repertoire in one shade or another because it comes in over 80 shades. It's a cult favorite for a reason: a creamy, weightless lip stain that covers your lips in a transfer-proof, full-coverage, flawless color. From your morning coffee to your evening cocktail, you won't have to worry about reapplication. Trust us.
Long Lasting Eyeliner High Precision Brush
One of the things Sephora succeeds at is eyeliners—all of them are hits, and this extra-black liquid eyeliner is great for cat-eye beginners. For anyone with a shaky hand or a tentative approach, this is perfectly buildable and isn't so intense that when you apply it, it's there until you choose to remove it—it's perfect for anyone just starting, touch-ups, or a beautiful, sharp wing.
Retractable Brow Pencil
This brow pencil is great for on-the-go fill-ins and touch-ups. The extreme-fine tip can pretty much do everything: fill in sparse areas, create shape, and even mimic the look of actual brow hairs. The wide-ranging neutral shadow colors—the Neutral Gray Black color is a cult favorite—mean that there's a shade for everyone, even those who struggle to find their shade in other brow pencils. But the best part: The pencil is waterproof, meaning you don't have to worry about your brows disappearing midway through the day.
Best Skin Ever Liquid Foundation
Yes, you can get the Best Skin Ever for only $20, and I know that's a big promise to live up to. But this medium-coverage, natural-finish foundation is likely the best one of its kind you'll find at that price point, and yes, your skin will look drastically different. It gives more of a second-skin effect and, according to the brand, it has a unique anti-pollution formula clinically shown to reduce signs of stress and fatigue and make your skin better with each wear. If you want a deeply hydrating foundation, this is absolutely where you want to be. Oh, and it's environmentally friendly, too—every bottle is made up of 30% recycled glass.
Sephora PRO Face Palette
Every makeup artist knows the truth: all you need is one palette you can use everywhere, and the Sephora PRO palette is just that. It fulfills many needs—highlight, blush, bronzer, and contour, even eyeshadow. The PRO palettes were formulated for specific complexions, and these palettes perform honey. They're super-pigmented, the pans are enormous, so it'll last forever, and the color pay off will have you glimmering the entire day long.
House of Lashes x Sephora Collection Lashes
Sephora knows not all lashes are built the same and collaborated with lash brand House of Lashes to make a line of handcrafted, cruelty-free synthetic fiber falsies for every scenario. They're easy to apply and don't feel heavy on your lids.
PRO Crease Brush #26
Sephora Collection makes incredible brushes. The product design team at Sephora looks at brushes all day, so they know a thing or two about what qualities make good ones. This rounded, fluffy crease brush is great for experts and beginners, perfect for blending creases and making a gorgeous, diffused eye look.
Colorful Eyeshadow
If you're like me and sometimes get overwhelmed when exploring a makeup store, it's key to remember which products you can always rely on. eyeshadows are just that—built to perform, pigmented, and inexpensive enough that you don't feel buyer's remorse.