I Removed Everything From My Friend's Sephora Basket—See What I Added Instead
There's nothing I love more than telling people how to spend their money on beauty products. (I say this with a cheeky grin, but really, I'm serious.) I know firsthand how frustrating it is when something you invest in doesn't live up to the hype or yield the results you were hoping for. Buying products will always be tricky simply because everyone has varying preferences when it comes to their beauty aesthetic, not to mention physical differences like hair type, skin type, allergies, etc. That said, there are certain products I love and consistently recommend with such a high success rate, I feel completely confident telling anyone and everyone that they need them. Plus, Sephora's Savings Event is on, and said products can be scored at a significantly cheaper price point.
Now through April 14, Sephora Rouge members can get 20% off, and as of April 8, VIB members get 15% off, and Insiders get 10% off with the code SAVEMORE at checkout. Not to mention, the Sephora Collection is 30% off for all Beauty Insider members during the full duration of the event.
Knowing that the Savings Event was just around the corner, one of my friends handed me her phone so I could go through her basket and "add and axe" as I saw fit. Ultimately, it turned into a pretty cute story idea, and I'm sharing all of her beauty-product asks and my answers below. Keep scrolling!
Editor's note: Sale prices represent 20%-off Rouge member tier.
Fragrance
My newest fragrance addiction from Phlur is this dark, juicy take on traditional rose. Black currant, cashmere wood, amber, osmanthus, and musk wind sultrily around the this scent's heart. This will be the date-night perfume of choice for me all summer long.
Anticipation runs high whenever L.A.-based fragrance brand DedCool extends its line of highly coveted, you-but-better scents. Mochi Milk is a warm and spicy gourmand that currently has the WWW beauty team in a chokehold. Marshmallow is replacing vanilla as the trending sweet note of choice in 2025, and this fragrance is a hero. Additions of sweet rice milk and vanilla bean give it a velvety, practically ethereal finish.
Despite how subjective personal scent can be, Ouai's best-selling St. Barts fragrance might be the most universally loved bottle I've come across in my time as an editor. Sometimes, I prefer a body mist versus an eau de parfum once summer rolls around, and this one—which you can also douse your strands with—smells like an expensive day of yachting, bottled. I like to describe it as a collision between juicy (i.e., the dragon fruit) and sexy, thanks to tuberose, musk, and the supposed aphrodisiac, orange blossom.
Skincare
Yep, these are the viral bio collagen masks gifting TikTokers everywhere with insanely glassy skin. They're worth the hype and are rarely in stock, so I'd grab them (on sale!) while you can.
If I could bathe in InnBeauty Project's Extreme Cream, I would. (It's quite literally the best face cream to ever exist, IMO.) Now, the brand has a matching peptide and bio retinol–spiked eye cream to match, and I can't stop yapping about how good it is.
Up until about a month ago, the truly obsessed-over sunscreen brand Ultra Violette was only sold abroad—such as at Space NK stores across the UK, Galeries Lafayette in Paris, and Sydney- and Melbourne-based Sephoras. Now, it's finally made its way to the U.S., and, as our Senior Beauty Editor Jamie Schneider so perfectly put it, editors and skin fanatics everywhere are FTFO. If you're someone who thinks the perfect sunscreen has yet to exist, this one will change your tune.
Hair
This purifying shampoo from Davines has officially made me believe in magic. My scalp starts to flare up like clockwork whenever the seasons change, and this detoxifying shampoo works like a complete reset. Just one shampoo and repeat in the shower cures any ills, which, for me, are itchiness, dryness, and product-induced buildup. Buy it, and you'll thank me all summer long.
No one is more excited than I am that Emi Jay's most-wanted hair accessories and haircare formulas are now available at Sephora. I pretty much collect the brand's adorable "popstar" hair-setting clips, and this angel-wing design is a current favorite.
If a hair mask isn't delivering Pantene commercial-level shine, I don't want it. This new formula from Fable & Mane has been one of the most-talked-about products in the WWW beauty Slack channel as of late.
Tools
If you've wanted to put moves on everyone's favorite styling tool from Dyson, now is the most strategic time to invest. Also, how chic is this limited edition plum shade?
Once you've tried this ingenious depuffing tool from Therabody, you'll wonder how you survived without it. It's become an instant hit among WWW's beauty editors, and the science-backed alternation between cold and heat therapies is like a magic eraser for under-eye bags and shadows.
Once you've tried a brush from Hourglass, you won't be able to go back to anything else. High-quality brushes are an investment, but not only will they last longer, but they'll also noticeably level up your makeup application—and the end result.
Makeup
This holy-grail balm from Violette_Fr is key if you want to achieve a quintessentially French "blurred" lip. Created by the iconic French makeup artist Violette Serrat, it's literal perfection. Mon Cheri, a warm brown red, is the only thing I want on my lips this summer.
This mascara from Ilia quite literally makes my lashes look twice as long, and it's one of the only formulas that can keep my super-straight lashes looking curled and lifted throughout the day or night. I'm a sucker for brown mascara (it just looks so soft and natural), so the brand new shade Before Dawn feels like a manifestation, realized.
Has a chicer lip liner ever existed? Aesthetics aside, this new liner from Merit is truly superb. It glides and blends like butter, and all eight shades are obscenely stunning on the lips. A true "your lips but better" necessity this season!
Body
I'm so picky when it comes to body creams, and this is one of the only formulas still standing on my vanity. It's so hydrating that I've found I can apply it once-per-week post-shower and my skin will still feel soft and supple for days afterward, regardless of how many showers I've taken in the interim. Plus, the new scent Golden Hour (think amber and musk) makes it all the more luxe.
Ever wonder how Patrick Ta's celebrity clients (the Hadids, Alix Eearle, the list goes on) look so damn glossy? Well, you're looking at the culprit. Spring and summer is not the time for dry and pasty skin, and this glowing bronzing oil is the ultimate antidote.
A long infrared sauna session is one of my favorite methods of self-care, but it's a pain (and expensive) to truck my butt to a sauna studio when I could be getting the same benefits at home, on the floor, in front of my favorite TV show. That's why this HigherDose Infrared Sauna Blanket is at the top of my wish list.
Erin has been writing a mix of beauty and wellness content for Who What Wear for over five years. Prior to that, she spent two and half years writing for Byrdie. She now calls Santa Monica home but grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and studied writing, rhetoric, and communication at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. She studied abroad in Galway, Ireland, and spent a summer in L.A. interning with the Byrdie and Who What Wear family. After graduating from UW, she spent one year in San Francisco, where she worked as a writer for Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen before moving down to L.A. to begin her career as a beauty editor.
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