00:00Earlier this month, Refinery29 had a sweepstakes where a reader could win $1,000 to go on a
00:06shopping spree at Sephora, which got me thinking, what would I do with a grand to spend on any
00:10product I wanted?
00:11Well, it became a reality a few weeks ago because I got to go to Sephora and spend $1,000
00:16on
00:16all my favorite beauty products.
00:18What's more, I got to bring my friend Alex Wrench, who's never been to Sephora in her
00:23life.
00:24Can you believe that?
00:25Well, it's actually not that crazy because Alex just arrived in New York from the UK and
00:30they don't have any Sephoras there.
00:31So naturally, after touching down, she decided to pop her Sephora cherry with me.
00:35We met up at Sephora's newest New York store on 34th Street, which also happens to be the
00:41biggest one in North America.
00:49I know that Sephora can be an overwhelming place to shop whether you're a makeup professional
00:53or a makeup noob.
00:55So I decided to break it down into three easy categories, makeup, skin, and hair.
00:59In my opinion, you can have all the makeup in the world, but if your canvas isn't great,
01:04it's not going to do much for you.
01:05So I always like to invest in skincare.
01:08This cleanser by Ulla Hendrickson is really beautiful.
01:11It smells like a spa and it takes all of my base makeup off without drying my skin out.
01:16I also pulled out four masks and divided them up by skin type.
01:19First up, calling all my oily skin girls, AKA me.
01:23This mask by Fresh is called the Umbrian Clay Mask.
01:26You put it on your skin for five to ten minutes and it just pulls out all that excess oil
01:30and
01:30gunk out of your pores.
01:32That's real bad.
01:33Next up, this mask can actually work on pretty much any skin type.
01:36Why?
01:37Because it is full of honey.
01:38It's magnetic, so you never lose it.
01:40When I first got this product, I screamed.
01:43Honey 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.
01:52Next up, anyone with dull skin will love this blue mask.
01:55Oh, it's right there.
01:56So this mask is the Purbivore Botanical Blue Candy Mask,
02:01and it has a bunch of exfoliating acids in it, so it will get rid of your dull skin.
02:06Next up, my dry skin girls, and you will love this mask from Dr. Jard.
02:10It's a sheet mask full of chamomile water and cactus essence.
02:14It's super soothing and nourishing.
02:15You're going to love it.
02:20Okay, that was a lot of product, but we're not done yet.
02:23Pear.
02:23I'll be honest, I'm not a huge hair fanatic.
02:26I'm not one to spend an hour doing my hair, but I do like to style it every now and
02:30then.
02:30So I always use products that make it really easy.
02:33First up is a good flat iron.
02:37First up, a good flat iron.
02:40And this one from T3 is really good.
02:43It has ceramic plates that make it slightly less damaging on your hair.
02:47And if you ask me, a flat iron is a lot more versatile than a curling iron,
02:52because you can obviously straighten your hair with it,
02:54but you can also curl your hair if you know the proper technique.
02:57If you're going to heat style your hair, which I just recommended that you do,
03:00you should always have a heat protectant on hand.
03:04This one from Alterna is really easy to use.
03:07You can just spray it in your hair.
03:08It's never going to weigh your hair down.
03:09And it smells incredible.
03:12It smells like white tea.
03:15I already heat style it.
03:16And I didn't use a heat protectant this morning.
03:18I was lazy.
03:20Oh my god.
03:23Doesn't it smell so good?
03:25Once my curls are in, I always go through with a little bit of texturizing spray.
03:29And this one from IGK is my favorite.
03:32And all you do is spray it through your mid-lengths and ends.
03:36Give it a little zhuzh.
03:37And you got that cool girl, lived-in texture everyone's lusting after.
03:42It's that volume.
03:43Do I look cool or do I just look like I rolled out of bed?
03:46I hope it's the former.
03:47They're kind of the same thing, but like one's intentional.
03:50Last is a dry shampoo because let's be real,
03:53we don't always have time to shampoo and condition every single day.
03:57So this one by Living Proof is I think the best one I've ever tried.
04:03It sops up oil and grime like no other.
04:06And the force of this is, as you can see, really intense.
04:11I'm going to use it and see.
04:12All right, it's white.
04:13I know that, but you have to work it in.
04:14It's going to massage all that oil out of your roots.
04:17The first product we bagged was foundation,
04:19which in my opinion is the key to a full face of makeup.
04:23We are here at the ColorIQ station,
04:25which in my opinion is one of the coolest functions at Sephora.
04:28It's going to help Alex here determine which foundation is going to match her.
04:33So we have David, who is Sephora's pro artist,
04:36who's going to show us how to do it.
04:38So we're going to take three shots on the skin here.
04:43And I'm going into three areas that I really want to have some differentiation
04:48so that you get the best average.
04:50So a lot of times I like to take from the neck,
04:52because it might be a little bit lighter and we don't want our head to float above our neck, right?
04:57Not good.
04:57You're a yellow three, so you're a warm undertone.
05:00And then you're seven tones deep.
05:02And if you use this little system here, you go into foundation,
05:06and then you're going to type in your number 3-Y-O-7.
05:12Enter. Foundation.
05:14And that's going to bring up all the colors that match to your skin tone exactly.
05:20After testing Alex's skin on Sephora's ColorIQ machine,
05:23we found hers in what happens to be one of my favorite foundations,
05:27which is Makeup Forever's Ultra HD.
05:29Alex told me she likes a foundation that's lightweight and buildable,
05:32which is exactly what this foundation is.
05:35And since we're here, I also really love the powder from this line.
05:40It's called the HD Powder.
05:42Have you ever tried this?
05:44No, I can't wait.
05:45It's so good.
05:46It has this beautiful, like, blurring effect.
05:48It's so good.
05:48I'll get you the translucent one just because it's just going to disappear on your skin.
05:54Next up, concealer.
05:56I recommended Essay Lauder's Double Wear Concealer to Alex
05:58because it's super blendable and really, really long-wearing.
06:01I like this one, I think.
06:03Best?
06:03That's pretty.
06:04In my opinion, NARS makes some of the best blushes on the market.
06:08Why?
06:08Because their shade range is incredible.
06:12It's a pretty look.
06:13Bronzer is another product that I rarely leave the house without.
06:16This one from Benefit is one of my holy grail items.
06:21Now we glow up.
06:22Let's go get highlighter.
06:24The last thing I do to my face is always highlighter.
06:27And this one from Becca is a cult favorite.
06:30It's amazing.
06:31It's super shimmery and flatters a wide range of skin tones.
06:35Now, I always say that if your eyes are the windows to the sole,
06:38then your eyebrows are the curtains.
06:40And nobody likes shabby curtains.
06:42Now, I personally don't really fill my eyebrows in anymore
06:45because I got my eyebrows microbladed.
06:47You should watch that episode.
06:48But this eyebrow pencil by Anastasia is really, really amazing.
06:52It's super fine, the tip, so you can draw on like really tiny like feathery brow hairs.
07:04Next up, mascara.
07:07This one from Lancome is amazing.
07:10It's called the Grandiose Mascara.
07:11Have you used it?
07:12I haven't actually, but I love Lancome mascaras.
07:14The coolest thing is the wand.
07:16It 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.
07:25And I have upwards of 30 eyeshadow palettes.
07:29But if I had to choose one to recommend to Alex, it would be this one from Tarte.
07:33Just because it's a very good neutral palette,
07:35you kind of have everything that you need in terms of like matte shades,
07:39shimmery shades, some darker shades.
07:40And I just wanted to show you a variety of brands.
07:42So I really like Tarte.
07:43It's a really good formula, super creamy.
07:45You should play with it.
07:46Kind of automatic.
07:47Here you go straight for like the shimmery one.
07:49It's so beautiful.
07:53Lipstick is my favorite part.
07:54And this one from Sephora is incredible.
07:58It's the Lip Cream in Always Red, which is a beautiful classic blue toned crimson shade
08:04that looks good on pretty much everyone.
08:06And it lasts for hours.
08:09But no look is complete without brushes.
08:11And I personally cannot live without these.
08:13Seriously, if I was stuck on a deserted island, I would bring these with me.
08:17First is Kat Von D's shade and light brush, which is two-sided.
08:22Next up is the number 14 eyeshadow brush from the Sephora collection.
08:27It's just flat enough to make it easy to pat on shadow onto your lid, but it's still fluffy,
08:32so you can still blend with it.
08:33And last but not least is the Beauty Blender.
08:36Technically not a brush, but equally as amazing.
08:38It's this little pink sponge.
08:40I'm sure you've all seen it before.
08:41I love applying foundation and concealer with this when it's damp because it gives you a very beautiful, natural finish.
08:49And that's it.
08:50It's gay.
08:51Look how it's stuck.
08:52This doesn't seem like a thousand dollars.
08:54All right, all right, I know.
08:55The average person isn't about to go into a Sephora and drop a thousand dollars.
08:59AKA me.
08:59I'm the average person, and that's a month of my rent.
09:02Find out everything you're looking for.
09:03Yes, it's great.
09:05Perfect.
09:06But I hope this video will serve as a handy little guide to some of the best products out there.
09:11Have a great day.
09:12I love you.
09:13So amazing.
09:13Thank you, Max.
09:15And if you're looking to enhance your beauty routine, you know exactly where to look.
09:20Thank you so much for shopping with me, and see you next time.
09:23Thank you so much for watching.
09:25Do you have any favorite beauty products?
09:27Be sure to let me know in the comments below, and click here to subscribe to Refinery29,
09:30and click here to watch more videos.
09:32Bye!
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