Quarantine Diaries: Sephora Spring Sale - Under $100

This post is not sponsored.

My skincare regimen has been getting its time to shine during this quarantine—I’ve been test-driving a new retinol and have been slathering on multiple masks a week. I’ve been finishing off products that I don’t typically reach for, reaching for items that have been sitting in storage, and cracking open PR gifts that I hadn’t gotten around to testing. It honestly feels really good to truly use up everything I have and not let things expire or go to waste.

I don’t know about you, but with so much uncertainty on the horizon in terms of work and income, I’ve been a hell of a lot more careful about how I’m spending. Further, with nowhere to go, there’s simply less need for cute outfits, handbags, and makeup. In that sense, I’ve struggled with knowing what to write and post during this pandemic. It feels silly to post about dresses and Spring looks; I’m far more interested in comfy loungewear. Even when I do suit up and go to the grocery store, I’m in yoga pants and sweaters I don’t care about, basically stuff that can withstand a lot of time in the washing machine. Hardly fashion inspo. :(

That said, today I made the first non-necessities online purchase I’ve made in awhile, and that’s because Sephora just went live with their twice-yearly sale. I usually use this sale to bite the bullet on a big splurge or to stock up on dozens of products. However, with things the way they are in the world and with nowhere to even go right now, I certainly don’t need backup beauty inventory, and my willingness to try fancy beauty gadgets and designer makeup has (understandably) slowed. Thus, I chose to top up on a couple of key standbys, pouncing on the products I know and love before they sell out. I did also take a chance on two new items that I’ve been eyeing, so I let this sale entice me. Everything in my basket was under $100 (before the discount), and I limited myself to only 6 products. (A big deal for me for this biannual sale!)

Before I get to the products, note the dates for this sale, since they differ depending on what “tier” you are with Sephora’s loyalty program:

I’ve never kept a sale basket at only 6 items before, so read on to learn exactly which of their products I deemed non-essential-purchase-worthy…

TRIED AND TRUE

If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you’ll surely recognize a few of these! These are some of my most beloved must-haves from the beauty juggernaut, even in uncertain times…

1/ Ole Henrickson Transforming Walnut Scrub ($28): Looking over my past skincare posts and considering how many years I’ve been using this, I’m surprised I haven’t given this stuff more blog love. Perhaps it’s because a scrub is a pretty unexciting product to write about… it almost doesn’t feel worth mentioning? But let me tell you, this stuff is THE face scrub in our home and I’ve finished and repurchased it countless times over the years. Andy also gets in on the action and actually asks about it when it’s gone, asking for the “blue exfoliator”. On the few occasions where I’ve strayed and tried something new, I always come back to this scrub. Case in point, I’m just about out of Aesop’s Purifying Facial Exfoliant Paste, but while it’s twice the price, I like it about half as much.

Why this particular scrub? It’s simply everything you want in a face scrub. First, it has the “Clean at Sephora” seal, which you know I always appreciate. Second, it’s both aggressive but gentle at the same time; it’s like the perfect, most satisfying “scrubbiness” (if that’s a thing). I’ve never been a fan of face scrubs where it feels like there are 3 grains of sand lost in a sea of gel. I want my scrub to DO something, and I want to FEEL it doing something—all the while not feeling like I’m stripping my face or leaving it raw. No other physical exfoliator has ever left my face as smooth and clean feeling as this one, period. That said, I wouldn’t recommend this if you have super sensitive skin; it may be a bit too intense. But if you’re like me and crave a good physical exfoliant about once or twice a week, this is my absolute Holy Grail.

2/ Korres Wild Rose Spotless Serum with 15% Vitamin Super C ($68): No surprise here. This serum made my precious New Additions 2018 list and I’ve since continued to use and love it. Also… is it just me or has the price gone down? LOVE it when that happens (which is basically never)!

Since first posting about this back in December 2018, I’ve gathered this product isn’t for everyone. My sister (to whom I gifted a bottle) didn’t prefer it to her go-to serum (which I also put her on—what can I say, I’m the skincare junkie in my family), and the reviews are pretty all over the place. But I’m one the 5-star people for this stuff—no other product has helped with dark spots and overall brightness the way this serum has for me.

I’ve been out of this serum for around 2 months but have been diligently using up two PR serums I’ve had backed up. (In case you’re curious, the Primera Wild Seed Firming Serum and the Dr. Dennis Gross Stress Rescue Super Serum.) That said, I’ve found myself missing this one HARD. The sale was enough to put me over the edge and reorder. I will try to stick with using up what I’ve got and wasting as little as possible before cracking this baby open when it arrives, but it’s going to be tough…

3/ Benefit Gimme Brow+ Volumizing Eyebrow Gel ($24): As I said above, I usually stock up on makeup during these sales, but since I’m going bare-faced most days here at home, it seems frivolous to spend much on something I hardly have a need for. However, when it comes to a product I’ve been using for years, I know lasts forever, and which I’m legitimately out of at the moment, I’ll make an exception.

I’ve been raving about this stuff for years (it made the cut for my Best Of Makeup and Everyday Arsenal posts, way back in the day) and even though much has changed about my makeup game since I started this blog, this gel has remained a constant. Of course, I do always have a wandering eye when it comes to anything skincare/makeup, so I have cheated a few times (Glossier’s famed Boy Brow, the Almay Brow Styler, and the Anastasia DipBrow Gel, to name a few). As much as I wish I preferred those wallet-friendlier dupes, this one just remains the best (ugh), hence why I pounce when this sale rolls around. Don’t be too deterred by the price, though—it lasts an impressively long time, certainly far longer than the Boy Brow.

4/ KVD Vegan Beauty Tattoo Eyeliner ($21): This is another constant over the years—it too was featured in my aforementioned Best Of Makeup post. I am also out of it at the moment and am not very happy about it—I feel naked without liquid liner in my makeup bag!

I don’t know how they do it, but Kat Von D’s tattoo liner is simply the best, most idiot-proof liquid liner I’ve ever used. If anything, it fills you with false confidence in your liquid-liner-drawing skills; you think YOU’RE the reason your cat eye has gotten so good, but then when you stray and use some other liner, you promptly realize you had nothing to do with it. Suffice to say, I’ve cheated multiple times with comparable liquid liners (ranging from drugstore to designer) but always come crawling back to this one. So whether this quarantine lasts another month or several, I know it’s not a waste to buy this one on sale.

Note that the above list doesn’t take into account the basic must-haves I love but am not currently running low on. Those include Philosophy’s famed Purity (I buy the 32oz of this stuff and refill my smaller bottles with it), KVD’s Lock-It Setting Powder (I keep cheating on this but coming back to it), and my beloved Pink Lady (no straying necessary—this stuff is an HG).

TAKING A CHANCE

I can’t yet speak to how good these are, but after much research, they’re worth taking a chance on…

5/ L’Occitane Ultra Rich Face Cream ($34): I’ve mentioned before that I have pretty much zero loyalty when it comes to facial moisturizer. I’ve used MANY and only seem to notice what I don’t like about them, not what I do. It’s very possible what I’m looking for simply doesn’t exist. Perhaps not noticing anything IS the good in a cream, sort of like not noticing you’re wearing a bra because it’s so comfortable? At any rate, the face creams I’ve had the fewest gripes with to date have been the Dr. Jart Ceramidin Cream, Dermalogica’s Intensive Moisture Balance Moisturizer (a PR gift), and Fresh’s Rose Deep Hydration Moisturizer. I can’t help, though, feeling like my HG still has to be out there, the cream that’ll make me go “wow” and put an end to my wandering eye.

This isn’t a random buy. I decided to go for this out of the gazillion creams out there because I’ve realized nothing works magic for my hands like L’Occitane’s hand creams do. (Washing my hands, washing groceries, and sanitizing things with bleach solution dozens of times a day has really made this clearer than ever!) I have far pricier hand creams (such as Goldfaden’s Hands To Heart, a huge disappointment) and even a tub of hyaluronic acid next to the bed, but my L’Occitane hand cream puts them all to shame. Thus, I figured the brand has earned a foray into their skincare line.

I purposely sought out a shea butter moisturizer since I imagine that’s what works so well for me in their hand creams. I also wanted basic hydration without anti-aging bells and whistles since I’m currently trying out a 45-day retinol regimen and don’t want to overload my skin. We’ll see if this face cream lives up to my (sky high) expectations!

6/ Guerlain L'Or 24K Gold Radiance Primer ($74): This is the biggest “risk” in my basket and the price is admittedly ridiculous, but I’ve been watching and considering this primer for severals months now and see it as a treat to myself. Plus, with 20% off, now’s as good a time as any to rip off the Band-Aid.

Like most, I first heard about this product from watching this Youtube video of Tati’s. She first mentioned it back in 2015, but the reason I’m so intrigued is how it has continued to be a staple for her for years. (She mentions it in other videos and has it in her “makeup worn” section on others.) Basically, if a prominent beauty YouTuber is routinely spending her own money on a single product, despite getting tons of PR packages (think thousands of shiny new things) a year, I want to know what that product is.

From reviews I gather that a) this is as much a firming serum as it is a primer (justifying the cost somewhat), and b) it isn’t for everyone. But I’ve been hunting for THE primer in my life for some time now. You may notice I don’t really talk about primers all that often (I have several—some samples, some PR gifts, some purchases) and do like most of them fine, but I’m not over the moon for any of them. Plus, I’ve been increasingly aware of the feeling of silicone (the main “smoothing” or “blurring” ingredient in most primers) on my face and it’s been starting to gross me out, feeling like an extra layer I would really rather go without. I’m eager to see if this much-hyped product could be my next HG!

That’s what’s in my selective basket for Sephora’s Spring Sale. If there are any favorites you’re stocking up on, or HG products you swear by, share the love below!

Thanks for stopping by!