There’s no place like Sephora. As a lifelong lover of beauty, I can still recall wandering the product-packed aisles of the store as early as age 13 collecting skincare samples and swatching makeup to my heart’s content. Though my product taste has certainly evolved over the last couple of decades, I still find myself defaulting to the retailer for all my beauty needs. I’ve exclusively shopped its selection online over the last year, in particular, but I get a little jolt when I click onto the website and see flashing banners and icons touting all the buzzy buys waiting to be added to my cart. Something that excites me even more is when new brands make their debut at Sephora and my shopping can be streamlined that much more.
This year is off to a rocky start in many ways, but our favorite beauty store is sparking serious joy by introducing tons of new brands to its expansive offering, many of which are owned by women and BIPOC. And of course, new products are always dropping from the brands that have been available there forever. Ahead, check out 21 new Sephora buys I’m most excited about, from clean makeup to bodycare and everything in between.
If you haven’t heard about Merit yet, I’m pleased to introduce you to your new favorite minimalist makeup line. Everything is packaged so beautifully and is meant to help you create a soft, natural “I woke up like this” face within minutes. This cream blush is dome shaped, so you can touch it to your face to deposit color before blending out with your fingers or the brand’s multifunctional Tapered Blending Brush ($30).
If you follow makeup artist Danessa Myricks on Instagram, then you already know she’s the queen of high-impact, colorful makeup that looks chic and elevated. Her namesake makeup line just launched at Sephora, so take some time to explore all its offerings, including these tubes of pigment that can be applied to eyes, cheeks, and lips. There’s truly nothing better than a single product that can serve so many different functions.
If anyone knows the importance of high-performance makeup, it’s a celebrity makeup artist. That’s why Gucci Westman, the trusted artist to everyone from Reese Witherspoon to Cameron Diaz, was the perfect person to formulate a clean, natural, and richly pigmented product line that doesn’t sacrifice efficacy. This chic lip palette offers up rich hues that can be mixed and matched to your heart’s content. It includes nourishing ingredients like cold-pressed cherry oil, vitamin E, and marula oil. It’s like having (at least) four lipsticks on hand at all times.
Liquid highlighter is the way to my heart, and this one happens to be the product that turned me into a Saie convert. The clean, minimalist makeup line is now available at Sephora, which is super exciting if you’ve been interested in exploring its products.
Shade range and inclusion have been pain points in the clean-beauty space as it’s evolved from a niche category to a more mainstream one over the last couple of years. LYS Beauty was born out of that exact disconnect, bringing in color cosmetics like its beautiful, buildable foundations in 35 shades to serve everyone.
Freckles, anyone? Dotting our faces to create faux freckles has been one of the biggest (and most unexpected) makeup trends of the last couple of years, and this is one of the very first products dedicated to making it easy. It isn’t available just yet, but it will be on March 2, so get ready to snap it up.
Innisfree still flies under the radar stateside, but it’s one of the most popular skincare brands out of South Korea. I’m already a fan of its pore-clearing masks and green tea lip and eye treatments, but this new SPF is calling to me. I love a matte priming effect, especially one that combines sun protection to knock out more than one skincare step in one product.
Dry lips are a winter skincare woe that shows up every year without fail, so I’ve been extra diligent about exfoliation. I’m so into this nourishing lip scrub and coordinating silicone brush to gently remove dead skin and reveal the softest pout. For the longest time, only the eye and lip hydrogel masks from KNC were available at Sephora, so it’s great to see that product offering expand here.
All winter, I’ve been focused on heavy, rich moisturizers to support my skin through seasonal dryness, but as I look forward to the warmer temperatures of spring, an oil-free gel-cream like this one from Summer Fridays feels like the move. Reviewers are loving it so far.
I’ll admit that when I first tried Fenty Skin, I couldn’t figure out whether this product was worth working into my routine. Then, I saw some users on Tik Tok who had come up with the most ingenious use for it, and everything changed. They mixed the serum with liquid highlighter to create the most gorgeous filter-like effect. Seriously, it makes the skin look so plump, dewy, and lit from within. That’s how I’ll be using it from now on!
Here’s another brand I’m seeing lots of buzz about on TikTok. Early adopters swear it’s one of the most effective pore-refining masks out there. Meant to do the job in five minutes, the doughy mask smooths the skin with rice ceramides, kaolin, and oat. I’m interested.
Paula’s Choice is now available at Sephora, too! While I didn’t mean for this to turn into a roundup of things I’ve seen on TikTok, I’d be remiss not to mention that I just saw an esthetician there share that this is one of her all-time favorite OTC retinol products. I’ve been using a cream with a 0.5% concentration for a while, and when that runs out, I’ll replenish my retinol stock with this stronger formula.
Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian West’s hairstylist Chris Appleton swears by this famed anti-frizz spray to create that shiny glass-hair effect that looks so sleek and beautiful. It’s officially available at Sephora as of very recently, so now is the perfect time to give it a try.
I love Slip hair ties so much. I keep a steady rotation of them by my bed to secure my hair at night so that I wake with minimal dents and disruptions to my curls. This brand-new set has five thin scrunchies and two larger ones to satisfy all my hair-fastening needs.
There was a moment in high school where Bumble and Bumble was the trendiest haircare line, and it felt like every last one of my friends was using the brand’s famous Surf Spray. I’m so intrigued by its newish curl-friendly range, and this set of minis seems like the perfect intro to it.
Oribe stans, rejoice! The iconic brand is finally available at Sephora. While I’m not one of the millions who count this dry shampoo (or any dry shampoo, TBH) among my holy-grail beauty buys, my 91-year-old grandma is. Her hair is straight, soft, fine, and snow-white, so she loves to liven up her strands with this oil-absorbing mist.
This haircare line for natural hair is newly available at Sephora, and so many things about it speak to me. The price point is great (everything is under $25), the formulations sound heavenly (ingredients like green tea, castor oil, and honey are heavily featured), and the reviews feature people with all sorts of curl patterns and hair types. Adding to cart!
Historically, I haven’t been big on supplements, but after finding a probiotic recently that’s had such a positive effect on my body and overall well-being, I’m feeling a bit more open-minded to incorporating other boosters with formulas that align with my goals. Healthy, flowing hair is always high on my list, so I’d be down to give this new hair-nourishing supplement with bioavailable and bioactive vitamins, ashwagandha, and ginseng a try.
Speaking of probiotic supplements, this one from Sakara is newly available on the site, too. It’s formulated with 11 probiotic strains, digestive enzymes, and a prebiotic and herbal blend to help balance the gut microbiome, reduce inflammation, aid digestion, and more. Many reviewers report a quick and noticeable decrease in bloating.
The Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peels for the face are among my most beloved skincare favorites, so I’m super excited about this new iteration made for the body. I’ve been known to swipe the face treatment onto the backs of my hands after coating my face, so I’m eager to give these larger exfoliating sheets a try on the rest of my body.
This perfume smells so good. It smells soft and fresh, with notes of raspberry, damask rose, and musk that mingle to create the most intoxicating floral aroma. It melts into a skin-like scent that’s just so pleasing. Everyone will want to know what you’re wearing. Up next, These 21 Cheap Beauty Buys Have Officially Replaced Our Pricey Favorites
