Stock Up on Rarely on Sale Beauty Products at the Sephora Savings Event

Skin-care

One of the few sunscreens with the new FDA-approved filter, bemotrizinol or BEMT, this hybrid sunscreen has a lightweight texture and a matte finish.

We named these exfoliating peel pads the best exfoliator peels on the market. Writer Arielle Avila says that, while pricey, they’re worth it: “After just one night of using this, my skin looks bright and silky smooth the next day.”

Writer Erin Stovall went through 120 moisturizers before landing on this one from Tatcha, which she says moisturizes her dry skin but still sits nicely under makeup. It’s both plumping and hydrating thanks to a blend of squalane, hyaluronic acid, Japanese purple rice, and red algae.

These icy toner-filled pods hang out in the freezer until they’re ready to use. Each one contains brightening niacinamide, moisturizing glycerin, and soothing green tea, which work together to support the skin’s barrier and brighten over time. Playwright Jeremy O. Harris swears by them. “The minute I take [the pods] away, I look at my face, and it feels tighter, like my skull got closer to my skin in a really nice way. It’s drooping less,” he says.

Also available from Sofie Pavitt is the Omega moisturizer, which is beloved by esthetician and writer Rio Viera-Newton as well as senior editor Hilary Reid, who is on her third jar. “The formula feels luxuriously dense when you rub it into your skin but hasn’t caused any breakouts,” she says.

I’m a longtime fan of this hypochlorous acid from Tower28, which helps to keep my skin breakout free and calm, especially after going to the gym and being in the sun.

If there’s one thing I’ll be buying during the sale, it’s this moisturizer. It’s nourishing and soothing — even my most irritated skin is calmed by a dollop of cream. Actress Miriam Petche is also a fan. “Whenever my skin is deciding to be dramatic, this calms it down,” she says.

Actress Ariana DeBose swears by this lip balm, which is packed with peptides and vitamin C. Together the ingredients smooth fine lines and plump up the skin.”I feel like this lip balm makes my lips luscious,” she says.

Also on the lip front, it’s a good opportunity to stock up on the beloved Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask, a Strategist staple. Most recently, it came recommended by Olivia Jade, who said it’s the only lip balm that actually hydrates.

When we polled Strategist readers on their favorite body washes, this truly excellent one from Necessaire took the crown. It lathers and makes you feel clean but doesn’t strip the skin, and it comes in a range of nice-smelling scents.

Jamie-Lynn Sigler decided to try this body oil after seeing the well-hydrated stars on Dancing With the Stars and hearing they were using this body oil from Cyklar. “It’s legit,” she says. “It goes on so evenly, but you’re not walking around oily, and it lasts a good long while.” The ingredient list is also quite nice: oil-soluble vitamin C to brighten skin over time; ectoin, which helps to protect skin from UV and dehydration; and a blend of lightweight oils.

A LED mask that staved off one writer’s bimonthly breakouts and even earned a compliment from her dad.

These are our Best in Class tweezers because they’re ultraprecise. I have a small collection of five or six in different shades — there are many to choose from.

Comedian Kate Berlant is on her fifth bottle of Dieux Instant Angel, which she likes because it sits well under makeup and doesn’t trigger her rosacea. The super-hydrating, rich moisturizer is a mix of peptides, squalane, ceramides, glycerin and hyaluronic acid and manages to moisturize without clogging pores.

When readers asked for the most effective peptide cream, I mentioned this moisturizer from Paula’s Choice, which has clinical data to back up its claims of plumping and improving skin’s feel. It contains three kind of peptides, one to bind water to skin, another to signal collagen production, and one that smooths and plumps fine lines.

A foaming cleanser that uses a blend of lavender, bark extract, mint, and aloe vera to thoroughly cleanse skin. Opera singer Lise Davidsen has been using it for years and says it’s effective and makes her skin feel really clean.

A hyaluronic acid and ceramide-rich sunscreen that doubles as a moisturizer. It also contains vitamin B5, which helps to plump skin and galactomyces ferment filtrate, an ingredient that helps to soak up excess sebum.

This clay mask from Caudalie helped our updates coordinator, Najwa Jamal, dry out acne and smooth out bumpy skin.

Another Jamal find: She cut open the tube to get the last bits of this cleanser out. It contains soothing ingredients like centella asiatica or cica, as well as gentle exfoliants that help to clear pores without irritation.

This peptide moisturizer has an instant plumping effect. I like to smooth it into my forehead line — a byproduct of my thinking face — and it all but disappears.

It’s a good time to grab the Advent calendar, which is already a good deal. There are 24 surprises inside of the festive box, including a vitamin-C-packed sheet mask that has similar ingredients to the eye mask writer Michelle Hainer loves.

Makeup

Model and television host Daisy Fuentes has been using this mascara for years. “There’s no clumping, there’s no smudging. It holds the curl, it lasts through the day. It doesn’t flake. And it gives me that wide-eyed, really nice polished finish,” she says.

This is my go-to skin tint and what I recommend whenever someone asks me about base makeup. It offers a nice amount of coverage, is easy to blend, and has similar ingredients to the ones you’d find in a nice moisturizer like peptides, collagen, and squalane. Naomi Osaka is also a fan. She likes that it provides coverage without being too heavy. “I like looking a little bit more glowy and natural. It’s supposed to blur a little bit, so it gives me the effect I want,” she says.

This Refy primer is a makeup and skin-care hybrid, providing a nice base for makeup and nourishing skin simultaneously. It also has a roller applicator, which offers a little de-puffing too. Petche recommends it, saying it fits nicely into her skin-care-forward routine: “I feel like putting it on top of my SPF sort of resets the scene for what’s after.”

DJ Simone Henault likes to use this brow gel to groom her fluffy brows and brush them into shape.

Longwear and glossy typically don’t go together, but Urban Decay has managed it with Lip Bond. It’s a favorite of actress and model Chloe Cherry, who says it “keeps color on your lips but also keeps them glossy for a long time.”

Morgan Stewart says this powder gives you the perfect amount of coverage, takes away shine, and has the right amount of pigment.

This is our favorite mascara for creating natural-looking lashes. Viera-Newton uses it whenever she wants her lashes to look fluttery but not dramatic. “With it, your lashes just look better: longer, but not in a dramatic way, and darker, but not in an obvious way,” she writes.

It’s always a good time to grab a tube of M.A.C’s iconic lipstick. There’s lots of shades to choose from. Our recommendation is the always classic Ruby Woo, which has a bevy of acolytes, including Tracee Ellis Ross.

More mascara to consider: Junglepussy’s go-to formula, which she describes as volumizing and lengthening but says still boosts the lash.

A honey and oil-rich lip oil that feels hydrating and not-too-sticky. “I find that my lips actually retain moisture when I put it on, as opposed to other stuff where you put it on and it makes your lips more dry,” says singer Camilla Cabello.

Tennis player Amanda Anisimova uses this buildable foundation stick whenever she wears makeup.

Senior editor Hilary Reid stocked up on this gloss during the last Sephora savings event. “These oils are great because they’re actually moisturizing — I always feel like my lips stay less dry after using them, even after the oil has faded.” This is also one of my favorite lip glosses of all time. It’s shiny but not too sticky and sits comfortably on lips.

And if you prefer a plumping lip gloss Tower28 also makes this, which makes lips feel fuller without irritation.

There’s also this new formula from Danessa Myricks that comes in 11 near-opaque shades.

This under-eye brightener is designed for eyes but can be used to color correct all over. It comes recommended by makeup artist Daniel Martin, whose client list includes actress Naomi Ackie and Meghan Markle.

Sunscreen reapplication is easy with this spray-on setting spray from One/Size, which has an SPF factor of 28. Our writer Brenley Goertzen tested it out and said it performs similarly to the non-SPF version. “I was super-pleased with the One/Size and how it kept my makeup perfectly in place,” she said, adding that it still leaves skin with a matte finish.

I’m still mourning the closure of Ami Colé but there’s still some stock on Sephora’s site, including this multistick that can be used all over.

Kyra Sedgwick loves this lash curler, which she says works for her deep set eyes. “t can get into my eye socket (that sounds so gross) so I can curl right at the lash line,” she says.

When we polled women about their eye makeup, three mentioned this tubing mascara from Merit, separates and sculpts lashes to create volume.

Ruthie Rogers told us about this cologne from Jo Malone, which she describes as dry but not flowery.

Hair

Author Angela Flournoy says this mask helps to moisturize her dry hair. It contains a blend of pea and baobab proteins, murumuru butter and blue tansy oil, an ingredient that helps to strengthen the scalp’s barrier.

For in-between touch-ups, Fuentes likes the Color Wow Root Cover-Up which works discreetly and quickly. “If I can’t get to the salon and I have events or I’m going out, I don’t have to worry,” she says.

This fast-acting pre-shampoo treatment strengthens hair in just a few minutes.

Model Laura Harrier told us about this thermal brush, which helps to recreate a salon blowout at home. “It’s saved my hair because I don’t have to use as much heat on it, but I can get it to look like I got a blowout on my own,” she says. “My hair feels way healthier now, actually, because I don’t have to use multiple hot tools on it.”

I swear by this hair mask for maintaining my color-treated hair. I’ve been using it for over four years and have been impressed with the results. It’s our top recommendation for damaged and color-treated hair and also comes highly praised by aesthetician Andrea Amez, who said it “sealed her follicles beautifully.”

Also from K18, this dry shampoo, which uses translucent microbeads to absorb oil without leaving a white cast. It also has microalgae, which reduces sebum with continued use.

Crown Affair is rarely on sale, so it’s a good time to grab our best-in-class hair towel. What makes it good is that it dries quickly without creating added frizz. The large size is also accommodating to all hair lengths so most-anyone can benefit from adding it to their hair routine.

Jamal says she’s never gotten more compliments on her than when she switched to this Kenra blow-dry spray, which doubles as a heat protectant. “My hair is smoother than usual after fewer passes than I usually have to do per section, and it’s plenty shiny after straightening the roots too. Plus it keeps hair sleek for days on end, even after a light misting,” she wrote.