10 Sephora Savings Event Recommendations

Something is up with Sephora’s prices. They seem to have taken a significant price increase this year on many brands and the results are glaring. For example, one of my favourite Clarins creams was $60 just a few months ago and is now $78. My jaw literally dropped when I saw the price. What is even more confusing is that the Clarins Canadian website still has the cream retailing for $60. With all these increases, it got me thinking about what I actually want to pick up from the upcoming bi-annual Sephora Savings Event.

The Sephora Savings Event is a sitewide sale where consumers can save anywhere from 10-20% based on their membership tier. The tier is dictated by how much you spend in a calendar year. This sale is an exciting time but not everything at Sephora is worth picking up for that discount. For example, there are brands where you can easily get double the discount directly on the brand’s website during their own promotions. I previously published a blog post about 10 Brands You Should Never Buy From Sephora and I thought I would do the opposite now. In light of all the price increases, I decided to create a helpful guide of 10 brands worth picking up during the Sephora Savings Event.

1) Makeup By Mario

Makeup By Mario (MBM) pretends to have a Canadian friendly website by charging in Canadian dollars but it is misleading. There are two problems with their site. First of all, prices are higher on the MBM site than on Sephora. For example, the highly coveted Ethereal Eye Eyeshadow Palette that just relaunched is $97 on the MBM site and $92 at Sephora. The second problem is that the MBM site charges Canadians $27 in shipping fees no matter how much you spend. That is pricey! Based on this info, my vote is for Sephora when it comes to shopping Makeup By Mario.

2) Rare Beauty

The Rare Beauty (RB) site may charge in Canadian dollars but it is still not an appealing place for Canadians to shop. Similar to Makeup By Mario, the product prices are higher on the RB site than on Sephora. For example, their Lip Oils retail for $30 on the RB site but are $27 at Sephora. That is a 10%+ increase. RB does offer free shipping for Canadians but the threshold is $140! That is a lot of RB products and completely unreasonable in my opinion. If your order doesn’t add up to $140 then be prepared to spend $14 on shipping. Finally, RB does not accept returns on international orders while Sephora has one of the most generous return policies (see below). As a result, Sephora has my vote when shopping Rare Beauty.

3) Algenist

I am a big fan of the Algenist brand but I do have a major beef with them. They don’t ship to any country outside of the U.S. My issue isn’t so much that they don’t ship to Canada but that they run the most amazing promotions that are not available to Canadians. I have sent them countless emails on social media asking them to consider Canada but they always redirect me to Sephora. As a result, I rely solely on Sephora for my Algenist purchases.

4) Benefit Cosmetics

When you Google ” Benefit Cosmetics Canada” you may get excited to discover that they have a Canadian website. Once you start navigating this site, however, you will quickly discover that it is not an e-commerce site. That means you can learn about their products and services but you can’t shop their products. They do have a store locator which mainly takes you to Sephora locations in Canada. Similar to Algenist, the most frustrating part is that they run fabulous promotions on their U.S. site that Canadians aren’t privy to. This means that the Sephora Savings Event is your best bet for savings on Benefit products in Canada.

5) Luxury Brands (Gucci, La Mer, Givenchy, etc)

When it comes to the Sephora Savings Event, I save my dollars for the luxury brands. The reason is that these brands almost never go on sale at any other retailer and 10-20% off is the best deal you are going to get. The prices at Sephora are identical to the cost of these products at other retailers and Sephora often even gets their own limited edition sets for these brands. I bought two La Mer holiday sets last year at Sephora during their sale and one of them was not available anywhere else. Finally, when you are spending big dollars on skincare and makeup it is nice to know that you can return a product even after trying it out. This is where Sephora shines.

6) Sephora Favorites Sets

If you have been shopping at Sephora for a while you are quite familiar with these sets. They are curated by Sephora and feature a mix of full size and mini products from different brands. These sets are typically priced for a third of their value which makes them very appealing. They tend to sell out quite quickly during the Sephora Savings Event given the added discount. Kudos to Sephora for allowing these sets to be included in the sale.

7) Dermalogica

For those that value a discount over a gift-with-purchase then the Dermalogica Canadian site is not for you. I have watched their site for years and I have yet to see a single sale or discount. Their promotions are limited to gifts-with-purchase and that even includes Black Friday. I also want to point out that you typically need to spend close to $200 to qualify for the free gift. Even their first-time buyer promo is a free gift when you sign up for their mailing list and make a purchase. Most other sites offer a discount. I would stick to Sephora when it comes to Dermalogica.

8) Smashbox

I suspected something was up with Smashbox this year when their Canadian site went from running promotions monthly to running only one in nine months. I have always been so impressed with their site as they are one of the few that offered free shipping with no minimum spend. Between their promotions and their free shipping they had my respect. I was disappointed when on a fateful day in September 2023 I went to their website only to find a note advising that they are shutting down their Canadian site. Looks like the Sephora Savings Event will be a good time to shop Smashbox.

9) Fragrances & Fragrance Sets

Getting a deal on a fragrance is never an easy feat. Even when The Bay runs their Beauty VIP/President’s Sale the best you are getting is 10% off. One of the perks of the Sephora Savings Events is that they include every single fragrance brand that they carry. This means that you can score a discount on Jo Malone, Mugler, Maison Margiela, Dior, Versace, YSL, Narciso Rodriguez, Dolce & Gabbana, Chloé, and more. Getting a discount on some of these brands (i.e. Jo Malone) is not common outside of Sephora and the discount also applies to fragrance sets.

10) Kérastase

Kérastase falls in the same category as Dermalogica. They never run sales or discounts on their site and their promotions are limited to a gift-with-purchase. Often these gifts are sample sizes and not a great incentive given the cost of their haircare products. They do offer 10% off when you bundle products but that isn’t exactly helpful when you only want to buy one product. The best place for that is Sephora but I should warn you – I do find that Kérastase products tend to sell out quite quickly.

Other Brands Worth Shopping At Sephora

I mentioned a few brands above that don’t ship to Canada or that have obscene shipping fees but I thought would provide a more comprehensive list. These are all brands worth checking out during the Sephora Savings Event.

Brands That Don’t Ship to Canada

Algenist, Benefit, Buxom, Caliray, Dr. Brandt, First Aid Beauty, ONE/SIZE by Patrick Starrr, Patrick Ta, and RMS Beauty

Brands With Crazy Shipping Fees/Duties to Canada

Danessa Myricks, Erno Laszlo, Josie Maran, Jouer Cosmetics, Kosas, Makeup By Mario, and Melt Cosmetics