00:00Refinery29 had a sweepstakes where a reader could win a thousand dollars to go on a shopping
00:05spree at Sephora, which got me thinking, what would I do with a grand to spend on any product
00:10I wanted?
00:10Well, it became a reality a few weeks ago because I got to go to Sephora and spend a thousand
00:15dollars on all my favorite beauty products.
00:18What's more, I got to bring my friend Alex Wrench, who's never been to Sephora in her
00:22life.
00:23Can you believe that?
00:25Well, it's actually not that crazy because Alex just arrived in New York from the UK
00:28and they don't have any Sephora's there.
00:30So naturally, after touching down, she decided to pop her Sephora cherry with me.
00:34We met up at Sephora's newest New York store on 34th Street, which also happens to be the
00:40biggest one in North America.
00:48I know that Sephora can be an overwhelming place to shop whether you're a makeup professional
00:52or a makeup noob.
00:54So I decided to break it down into three easy categories, makeup, skin, and hair.
00:58In my opinion, you can have all the makeup in the world, but if your canvas isn't great,
01:03it's not going to do much for you.
01:04So I always like to invest in skincare.
01:07This cleanser by Ulla Hendrickson is really beautiful.
01:10It smells like a spa and it takes all of my base makeup off without drying my skin out.
01:14I also pulled out four masks and divided them up by skin type.
01:18First up, call on all my oily skin girls, aka me.
01:22This mask by Fresh is called the Umbrian Clay Mask.
01:25Put it on your skin for five to ten minutes and it just pulls out all that excess oil and
01:29gunk out of your pores.
01:31That's real good.
01:32Next up, this mask can actually work on pretty much any skin type.
01:35Why?
01:36Because it is full of honey.
01:38Magnetic, so you never lose it.
01:40When I first got this product, I screamed.
01:42Honey is a magical ingredient because it's a humectant, which means it's moisturizing,
01:47and it's antibacterial, which means it's really good for acne.
01:51Next up, anyone with dull skin will love this blue mask.
01:55Oh, it's right there.
01:55So this mask is the Purbivore Botanical Blue Candy Mask, and it has a bunch of exfoliating
02:02acids in it so it will get rid of your dull skin.
02:05Next up, my dry skin girls, and you will love this mask from Dr. Jard.
02:09It's a sheet mask full of chamomile water and cactus essence.
02:13It's super soothing and nourishing.
02:14You're going to love it.
02:15The water replenishment is a good one in this sheet mask.
02:19Okay, that was a lot of product, but we're not done yet.
02:22Pear.
02:22I'll be honest.
02:23I'm not a huge hair fanatic.
02:25I'm not one to spend an hour doing my hair, but I do like to style it every now and
02:29then,
02:29so I always use products that make it really easy.
02:32First up is a good flat iron.
02:36First up, a good flat iron, and this one from T3 is really good.
02:42It has ceramic plates that make it slightly less damaging on your hair, and if you ask me,
02:48a flat iron is a lot more versatile than a curling iron because you can obviously straighten
02:52your hair with it, but you can also curl your hair if you know the proper technique.
02:56If you're going to heat style your hair, which I just recommended that you do, you should
03:00always have a heat protectant on hand.
03:03This one from Alterna is really easy to use.
03:06You can just spray it in your hair.
03:07It's never going to weigh your hair down, and it smells incredible.
03:11It smells like white tea.
03:14I already heat styled it, and I didn't use a heat protector this morning.
03:17I was lazy.
03:19Oh my god.
03:20Oh my god.
03:22Oh my god.
03:23Doesn't it smell so good?
03:23Once my curls are in, I always go through with a little bit of texturizing spray, and this
03:28one from IGK is my favorite.
03:31All you do is spray it through your mid-lengths and ends, give it a little zhuzh, and you got
03:37that cool girl, lived-in texture everyone's lusting after.
03:42Do I look cool, or do I just look like I rolled out of bed?
03:45I hope it's the former.
03:46They're kind of the same thing, but one's intentional.
03:49Last is a dry shampoo, because let's be real, we don't always have time to shampoo and condition
03:54every single day.
03:56So this one, by Living Proof, is I think the best one I've ever tried.
04:02It sops up oil and grime like no other, and the force of this is, as you can see, really
04:09intense.
04:10I'm going to use it and see.
04:11All right.
04:12It's white.
04:12I know that, but you have to work it in.
04:14It's going to massage all that oil out of your roots.
04:16The first product we bagged was foundation, which in my opinion is the key to a full face
04:21of makeup.
04:22We are here at the Color IQ station, which in my opinion is one of the coolest functions
04:26at Sephora.
04:27It's going to help Alex here determine which foundation is going to match her.
04:32So we have David, who is Sephora's pro artist, who's going to show us how to do it.
04:37So we're going to take three shots on the skin here, and I'm going into three areas that
04:44I really want to have some differentiation so that you get the best average.
04:49So a lot of times I like to take from the neck, because it might be a little bit lighter,
04:53and we don't want our head to float above our neck, right?
04:56Not good.
04:57Your yellow three, so you're a warm undertone, and then your seven tones deep.
05:01And if you use this little system here, you go into foundation, and then you're going
05:06to type in your number, 3-Y-O-7, enter, foundation, and that's going to bring up all the colors
05:16that match to your skin tone exactly.
05:19After testing Alex's skin on Sephora's Color IQ machine, we found hers in what happens
05:24to be one of my favorite foundations, which is Makeup Forever's Ultra HD.
05:28Alex told me she likes a foundation that's lightweight and buildable, which is exactly
05:32what this foundation is.
05:34And since we're here, I also really love the powder from this line.
05:39It's called the HD Powder.
05:41Have you ever tried this?
05:43No, I can't wait.
05:44It's so good.
05:45It has this beautiful blurring effect.
05:47It's so good.
05:48I'll get you the translucent one, just because it's going to disappear on your skin.
05:53Next up, concealer.
05:54I recommended Estée Lauder's Double Wear Concealer to Alex because it's super blendable
05:58and really, really long-wearing.
06:00I like this one, I think.
06:02Best?
06:02That's pretty.
06:03In my opinion, NARS makes some of the best blushes on the market.
06:07Why?
06:07Because their shade range is incredible.
06:11It's so pretty, look.
06:12Bronzer is another product that I rarely leave the house without.
06:15This one from Benefit is one of my holy grail items.
06:20Now, we glow up.
06:21Let's go get highlighter.
06:23The last thing I do to my face is always highlighter.
06:26And this one from Becca is a cult favorite.
06:29It's amazing.
06:30It's super shimmery and flatters a wide range of skin tones.
06:34Now, I always say that if your eyes are the windows to the sole, then your eyebrows
06:38are the curtains.
06:39And nobody likes shabby curtains.
06:41Now, I personally don't really fill my eyebrows in anymore because I got my eyebrows microbladed.
06:46You should watch that episode.
06:47But this eyebrow pencil by Anastasia is really, really amazing.
06:52It's super fine, the tip.
06:54So you can draw on like really tiny like feathery brow hairs.
07:03Next up, mascara.
07:06This one from Lancome is amazing.
07:09It's called the Grandiose Mascara.
07:10Have you used it?
07:11I haven't actually, but I love Lancome mascaras.
07:13The coolest thing is the wand.
07:15It has a swan-like shape that makes it really easy to get every single eyelash.
07:21Now, one of the perks of being a beauty writer is all of the makeup that I get.
07:24And I have upwards of 30 eyeshadow palettes.
07:28But if I had to choose one to recommend to Alex, it would be this one from Tarte.
07:32Just because it's a very good neutral palette.
07:34You kind of have everything that you need in terms of like matte shades, shimmery shades,
07:38some darker shades.
07:39And I just wanted to show you a variety of brands.
07:41So I really like Tarte.
07:42It's a really good formula.
07:44Super creamy.
07:45You should play with it.
07:45Kind of automatic.
07:46Here you go straight for like the shimmery one.
07:49It's so beautiful.
07:52Lipstick is my favorite part.
07:53And this one from Sephora is incredible.
07:57It's the lip cream in Always Red, which is a beautiful classic blue toned crimson shade
08:03that looks good on pretty much everyone.
08:05And it lasts for hours.
08:08But no look is complete without brushes.
08:10And I personally cannot live without these.
08:12Seriously, if I was stuck on a deserted island, I would bring these with me.
08:16First is Kat Von D's shade and light brush, which is two-sided.
08:21Next up is the number 14 eyeshadow brush from the Sephora collection.
08:26It's just flat enough to make it easy to pat on shadow onto your lid,
08:30but it's still fluffy so you can still blend with it.
08:32And last but not least is the Beauty Blender.
08:35Technically not a brush, but equally as amazing.
08:37It's this little pink sponge.
08:39I'm sure you've all seen it before.
08:41I love applying foundation and concealer with this when it's damp
08:43because it gives you a very beautiful natural finish.
08:48And that's it.
08:49It's gay.
08:50Look at all the stuff.
08:51This doesn't seem like a thousand dollars.
08:53Alright, alright, I know.
08:54The average person isn't about to go into a Sephora and drop a thousand dollars.
08:58A.K.A. me.
08:58I'm the average person and that's a month of my rent.
09:01Find out everything you were looking for.
09:02Yes, it's great.
09:04Perfect.
09:05But I hope this video will serve as a handy little guide to some of the best products out there.
09:10Have a great day.
09:14And if you're looking to enhance your beauty routine, you know exactly where to look.
09:19Thank you so much for shopping with me and see you next time.
