Category Archives: Sephora Store Brand

Sephora Coral Extract Rouge Infusion Lip Stain Review & Swatches

Purchased – Affiliate Links

I went to Sephora a couple weekends ago to check out several new products in person, and was remarkably restrained – the only thing I bought was one of the new Sephora Collection Rouge Infusion Lip Stains. There are 12 colors (oddly, they’re numbered No. 1 – 13 with no No. 2), and they sell for $14.

I swatched all but one in-store (the tester was missing). Here are the swatches – as you can see, the pigmentation level varies significantly between shades, with the lighter shades having medium intensity and the darker shades being EXTREMELY pigmented. None have any shimmer or sparkle. Continue reading →

Sephora Color Hit Nail Polish Review & Swatches

Press Sample – Affiliate Links

Sephora Makeup Academy Nails

I recently received some polishes from Sephora, including the Makeup Academy Nails set.  However, the set was already on sale when I received it and is now out of stock – so instead of reviewing the set as a whole, I’ll be reviewing the included polishes. Not all the polishes are available alone at the moment, but hopefully my thoughts on the formula, brush, bottle, etc will be helpful!

Sephora Collection Color Hit polishes retail for $5 each and are 5ml each – they also tend to be available in a variety of sets for a discount; e.g. this set of 5 that is currently selling for $12.  To get a sense of the size, OPI minis are 3.75ml; Sally Girl polishes are 5.3 ml, Color Club minis are 7ml, and Zoya minis are 7.5ml.  Full size polishes are generally 10-15ml. At $5 each, these Sephora polishes are very expensive for their size – if they were the same size as OPI polishes, they would be $15 each.  Now, if you’re more concerned with variety than with quantity (as I am, since I don’t expect to ever finish a color polish), you’d probably rather pay $5 for a mini than $8 for a full size polish! But, the size and price are something to keep in mind.

While the bottles are small, the shape is fantastic. I often have trouble opening polish bottles, especially with wet nails (I try to open everything I need in advance, but frequently forget).  The oval shape means that these are very easy to open – you get a lot more leverage than with a round handle!  The caps tend to line up nicely when you put the top back on, but if they don’t, you can pull the black cap off of the top in order to reposition it.

The brush is on the wide side and has a tendency to pick up a lot of polish, so I found that it was important to wipe it off thoroughly before applying polish. The shape works well for my nails though – I have fairly wide nails – and I found it easy to use and especially easy to get a nice clean line near the cuticle.  However, if you have narrow nails, this brush shape may not work well for you.

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Sephora Color Reveal Lip Balm Review & Swatches

Purchased Affiliate Links

Sephora Color Reveal Lip Balm

I’ve always been intrigued by Dior’s Lip Glow, but unwilling to spend $31 on what is essentially a sheer pink lip balm.  While browsing in Sephora the other day, I came across Sephora’s house brand Color Reveal Lip Balm which appears to be a dupe; both are marketed as moisturizing balms, and both self-adjust from clear (when initially applied) to some shade of pink based on the pH of your skin/ lips. I should have swatched both side by side in store but didn’t think to.  I have swatched Dior Lip Glow on my hand several times and I know it turns a similar color on my hand as the Sephora brand product.

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Sephora Volume Booster Gloss Serum – Swatch of the Day

Purchased Affiliate Links

I was browsing in Sephora a few weeks ago, and noticed that Sephora’s house brand Volume Booster Gloss Serums – normally $15 – were on sale for $3 each since they were being discontinued.  I swatched several shades, and decided to buy 09 Seduce Me, a reddened mauve.  It turned out that 09 was out of stock (I was quite sad!), so I bought 11 Charming Style, a pinky purple instead. And I loved it; the texture is great, it has just the right amount of pigmentation, and it’s a lovely color. These are supposed to be plumping glosses (but without any tingle) – I don’t notice any plumping effect, though I never really do.

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Sephora X Polish Overview & First Impressions

Sephora X Chaotic Swatch

Sephora X Chaotic // Sephora X Chaotic swatched over Nails, Inc. Baker St.

Sephora has quietly released a new house brand of nail polishes out, called the Sephora X polishes.  They don’t seem to be getting very much press yet, so I thought I’d put together a post on them.  The polishes have a fairly limited in-store distribution thus far, but a Sephora store near me has them in stock, so yesterday I headed over to check them out, swatch, and play! I neglected to take a photo of the display, but there’s a good one here.

If my math is correct, there are 65 polishes (plus a base & top coat), which are divided in to several categories:

The Illusionists / Toppers category has four of the most interesting polishes: a blue / purple duochrome topcoat (Shifty), a matte black & white glitter (Chaotic), a holo glitter (Airhead),  and a flakie (Psycho).

I swatched all four of these, and purchased Chaotic.   I managed to get a decent photograph of Shifty, which is gorgeous and now on my wishlist! It reminds me of photographs I’ve seen of Cult Nails Deceptions (which I do not own).

Sephora X Shifty

Sephora X Shifty

I am really loving Chaotic, which is very similar to Lynderella Connect the Dots. The PolishAholic has an excellent comparison of the two -->here -->, as well as swatches of some other Sephora X shades.

Here’s Chaotic again:

Sephora X Chaotic

click to enlarge

I didn’t get good photographs of Airhead or Psycho, but Airhead is a lovely scattered holo, and Psycho is the type of chunky flakie found in the Revlon Moon Candy duos (swatched here), rather than the smooth type of flakie found in Nubar 2010 or Essie Shine of the Times.

The Cosmics category has four glitters (red, blue, silver, and gold).  I did not swatch any of these!

The Sparklers category has some interesting shades; most notably, Ice Princess looks to me to be a dupe of A-England’s She Walks in Beauty.  Lauren at Dizzy Nails swatched Ice Princess here; Ommorphia swatched She Walks in Beauty here.  I don’t own either polish, so I can’t compare them directly!

Here’s an in-store bottle shot of Ice Princess (sorry about the poor quality)

Sephora X Ice Princess

Sephora X Ice Princess

Explosive is another interesting shade – a black jelly with small and large glitters.

The Prismatics are unique and interesting shades – it’s worth taking a look at them.  You can see a swatch of one of the prismatics, Deranged, at Dizzy Nails.

The Pearlescents look interesting online, but I did not play with them in store, so I have less to say about them.  There are five shades, though my screenshot only captured four.

The Electrics consist of twelve neon shades. I swatched one (a blue), and it was slightly sheer, and dried quickly and semi-matte; all characteristics of most neon polishes.

The New Classics consists of 10 polishes. I believe these are all cremes. I love cremes, but I was so taken with all the interesting finishes in this display that I didn’t pay attention to these!

The New Neutrals consists of twelve shades of various finishes in neutral colors.

The Minimalists/ Sheers are sheer polishes – I love a good sheer, but didn’t swatch any of these either.

The Industrialists category consists of five grey polishes of various finishes, and a black creme (Bad Ass). I swatched the black polish, and it’s excellent – perfect coverage in one coat.

A base coat & top coat round out the line.

Overall, this seems like a really nice line of polishes! The prices are a bit over my personal comfort zone for basic polishes, but reasonable for special polishes without easy to find dupes.  I’m always happy to see new nail polish lines popping up!