The bi-annual Sephora sale is back on later this week, along with a wave of sales by many brands. 

Although I hardly consider the Sephora sale the best sale of the industry, especially when many brand’s own sales offer sales at higher discounts than Sephora’s 10-20% off, Sephora is the retailer I often find myself at, so rounding up products I’ve tried since the previous sale 2x a year works out to be a good cadence for me. 

As usual, this recommendations post only contains newer products that have launched in the past 6 months, or newer to me products that I’ve tried. I already have a post about my favorite products at Sephora of all time, if you’re looking for a more curated list of recommendations.

The sale starts on April 4 for Rouge members, and April 8 for VIB and Insiders with code SAVEMORE.

Note: this post contains affiliate links so if you make a purchase using one of these links, I will earn a small commission. All products with a * are products that were gifted to me by the brand.

BASE + COMPLEXION

*Ciele Prime and Protect SPF 30 Smoothing Primer – this new SPF/primer hybrid duo is an unexpected hit for me. It has a light lotion texture that’s super easy to blend in, and it has a grippy (but not sticky) finish that just holds on to makeup really well. It leaves a radiant finish but I find that it helps slightly to control a greasy oily feel, and my makeup still looks fantastic after 12-13 hours of wear when I use this. 

Dior Forever Skin Multi-Use Foundation Stick – Super creamy foundation stick that blends in so easily and just melts into my skin. It has a dewy finish, though I’ve been able to wear it with some recent warmer spring weather. I haven’t had it long enough to test it in summer humidity, but it’s been holding up fine with some warmer days without breaking down or getting oily on me. I wear shade 2.5N. 

*Laura Mercier Longwear Tinted Moisturizer – This new reformulation of the original tinted moisturizer is a fantastic lightweight skin tint option that has an incredibly natural radiant finish. It has a lightweight lotion texture and blends in seamlessly without being patchy or too emollient, but I find this to have a great wear time. I can easily get 8-10 hours of wear out of this before I start to see significant fading, and it doesn’t get greasy on my combination skin. The new matte version really does hold my oil from breaking through for a few more hours, so I’m looking to wearing this one more in the summer. I wear shade 1W. 

CHEEKS

*Ciele Glow and Protect SPF 50 highlighter – a soft liquid highlighter that offers a pearl-like luminescence. It gives a beautiful soft focus glow without having obvious shimmer particles. I also love this mixed with the liquid blushes from the line!

Gucci Glow Multi-use Illuminating Gel Powder Highlighter – a gel-powder that feels almost wet to the touch, and also has a shimmering wet look finish. I absolutely love how this applies, and I usually just dab on a little bit with fingers for a more subtle look but it can definitely be built up to something more intense.

*Merit Flush Balm Cream Blush – I absolutely adore the new shades added to the flush balm line as they are definitely shades I’m more likely to reach for often – especially Archival, a muted mauve shade, but I’m also loving Lusitano, a peach (gasp, I know!) that offers just a little hint of brightness. This formula is sheer and dewy,meaning it’s not the longest lasting on my cheeks (5-6 hours), but they are so easy to take with me and reapply that I don’t mind.

*Violette FR Bisou Blush Marble Blush Stick – a beautiful velvety cream blush and the 2 new shades: Marnie, a reddish bronze, and Maryam, a cool red with some pink, are so beautiful either alone or layered together. The formula lasts about 8 hours on my cheeks without any touching up. 

*YSL Beauty Make Me Blush Powder Blush – I love this super silky and pigmented powder blush formula, which blends out and diffuses for a pigmented but even wash of color. It lasts all day without any fading or patchiness as well. I have the shade 44 Nude Lavalliere, a cool mauve pink, and I also have my eye on 42 Babydoll Pink. 

EYES

I actually only have one product to recommend that I’ve tried and loved from Sephora in the past few months, and those are the Patrick Ta Major Dimension Eye Illusion Eyeshadows . I use these so often as a glitter topper, though the duo Still at the Club can be used as a complete eye look since one of the shades has less glitter. These don’t have any fallout when I apply them with my fingers, and the glitter effect is just the right weight of being fine enough that they aren’t gritty or chunky, but not so fine they fly away instantly.

LIPS

Fara Homidi Smudge and Contour Lip Pencil – one of my favorite waxy lip liner formulas just launched in a couple new shades. I just picked up Demi, and it’s a gorgeous berry-brown. I reviewed this formula in this lip liner roundup!

Merit Signature Lip Sheer Lip Liner – I am SO GLAD they brought back my beloved Bespoke lip liner with a whole new range of shades. These are a sheer gel lip liner that are your best friend if you don’t want to look like you have lip liner on. The shades are so natural and give a subtle contour and definition. While they aren’t the longest lasting (a couple hours at best), the ease of wear and effect are so pretty. 

Make Up For Ever Artist Color Pencil Extreme Lip Pencil – I adore the original formula (reviewed here), but they were not super long lasting. This newer formula is actually longwearing and waterproof, and can easily last 4-5 hours before I notice it fading. Note that although the same shades exist in this line, the shades look different to their counterpart from the original line. 

*LYS Beauty Speak Love Lip-Plumping Glossy Lip Balm – a wonderful light glossy balm option under $20 with a slight cooling feel for a bit of natural plumping, but no tingle. This offers sheer to medium pigment that looks like a gloss. 

Merit Shade Slick Sheen High Shine Lip Oil – I already loved the original Shade Slick, but the new Sheen formula is updated to be a little less slippy and slick while still maintaining the ultra lightweight feel of the original formula. These also have a slight pearl that is barely imperceptible on my lips but helps boost the shine factor.

*Tower 28 LipSoftie – I recommended these last year, and there are new shades this year that are perfect additions to the line. Sugar Plum is a soft muted plum and Red Bean Mochi is a rosy nude. I’ve been reaching for both interchangeably. 

*Violette FR Bisou Balm Sheer Balm Lipstick – the perfect soft matte blotted lip that blurs my lip lines for a super natural but plump look. I find that these can be drying if I’m having a dry lip day, but on a regular day these work fine for me. 

*Violette FR Bisou Jelly Sheer Shine Lipstick – this soft shine formula is effortless plump blotted lips in a tube. The jelly formula with the pigment interior helps create a really beautiful smudgy blotted look with a sheer wash of color, while the jelly texture adds a bit of shine and hydration. 

*YSL Beauty Candy Glaze Lip Gloss Stick – one of my all time favorite lip formulas has 2 new shades in lighter tones that I can’t stop wearing – 44 Nude Lavalliere is their iconic light cool pink and 16 Watermelon High is a soft warm rose that is my perfect my lips but better shade. 

*YSL Beauty Loveshing Plumping Lip Oil Gloss – if you love a plumping gloss, these are a great new addition. They have a pretty strong tingle and plumping effect, with a glassy shine that lasts several hours. It’s not as hydrating as a lip treatment, but I still find that these keep my lips hydrated instead of drying them out, which some plumping formulas can do. I can’t really handle a tingling effect, but I love the shade Thunder Stealer and wear it all the time anyway.

Fragrances

*Dedcool Mochi Milk Eau de Parfum – an absolutely delightful strawberry mochi fragrance that is light and softly sweet and creamy but has such a delicate profile in a way that only a mochi would have. Although there are peach nectar notes, I feel like I get light strawberry from this, along with marshmallow and vanilla. I’ve worn this basically nonstop since I got it, and it layers beautifully with Milk, another one of my favorites. 

*Maison Margiela Replica Neverending Summer – this smells like a literal aperol spritz in a bottle, and it’s absolutely perfect for summer. It goes beyond a typical citrus fragrance because there’s a fizzy spritzy note to it that really brightens the whole fragrance. I get about 7 hours out of this fragrance, so it has pretty decent wear time on me. 

*Mugler Angel Nova Eau de Parfum – this is a fruity explosion that is overall a very fun fragrance I wouldn’t have thought to try if the brand hadn’t sent me a bottle to try. The top notes are raspberry and litchi with rose, and an akigalawood base, which is a synthetic blend of patchouli, pepper, and agarwood. The overall profile is intensely sweet and fruity at first, and then almost a spicy wood once it dries down. It’s fun and flirty and an option I would reach for on a girls’ night out. 

*Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb Extreme Eau de Parfum Intense – fruity florals can be tough on me but I absolutely love this one because it has a vanilla base, which reliably works on me. It starts off sweet with raspberry and rose, and then the jasmine and orange flower note really makes it blossom into a warmer fragrance. It also lasts all day on me, and I’ve been wearing on days I want something sweeter. 

*YSL Black Opium Eau de Parfum Glitter – the Black Opium line from YSL always works for me, and the new Glitter version is a lighter sweet version of the original. It has marshmallow accord, but it makes the overall scent just a little lighter and sweeter rather than creamy. The signature coffee note helps ground this fragrance so it’s not just all sugar. 

I only have one skincare product to recommend out of the newer offerings at Sephora:

Ultra Violette Velvet Screen SPF 50 – my favorite mattifying SPF is now in the US! This is a dream for people with oily skin because it’s one of the most oil controlling SPF’s I’ve tried, and blends out beautifully without any hint of a white cast. It has a thicker texture, but once it blends out and dries, I find it feels very light. I’ll definitely be picking up a backup. 

If you’re shopping the sale, what’s in your cart?

As always, thanks for reading!