Sephora Savings Event Makeup Recommendations

The Sephora Savings Event is starting November 1st and will run through November 11th so I thought I would put together a list to share my makeup recommendations for the sale.

black woman holding a sephora bag in front of a stone wall.
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Sephora Savings Event details

As with other Sephora sales, the start date depends on your level within the Sephora rewards program. There are three different levels in the Sephora rewards program. Each level is 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 SAVINGS 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 November 1st for Rouges and November 5th for everyone else. The sale ends on November 11th for all Insider levels.

Everybody gets 30% off Sephora Collection products no matter their Insider level. The promo code for the Sephora Collection discount is SAVINGS on the Sephora site and SCSAVE when shopping via Kohl's.

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

You can also shop on Kohl's site because of their partnership with Sephora.

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 so I don't usually shop this sale. 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.

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


Sephora Savings Event makeup recommendations

I’m at the Beauty Insider level I have no plans to shop for any makeup during 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 HD Skin Shine-Controlling & Blurring Setting Powder

This is a setting powder that claims to be super-fine and "diminish excess shine for a soft matte finish that lasts 24 hours without caking or enhancing texture, even on drier skin types." I haven't tried this version of the HD Setting Powder. I have what I guess was the original version of the Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Matte Setting Powder which is no longer sold. I bought it when they were unloading inventory for the newer version.

There is a total of six shades, two out of the six are for us brown ladies. The lighter of the two darker shades is Deep Sienna which is for deep skin with neutral to golden undertones. This is probably the one I would use because I have yellow or golden undertones.

The deepest shade is Deep Expresso which is for deep skin with neutral to warm undertones.

I'm interested in trying this one because the previous version did a good job of making my makeup look matte and helping to slow down the shine that always happens in my T-zone.



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 a 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 these 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 vivid the shades are and how they can be played up for a nighttime look by applying the shadow more heavily. They can also be played down using a powder shadow and a lighter application.

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

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 

Shop the sale

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