Written by The Strategy

I fancy myself a bit adventurous when it comes to trying new products. Especially makeup products. It never hurts to know what’s out there, and you might just find a new holy grail item that is life changing.

On the usual roam around Sephora, I found myself wondering if I had ever actually tried anything from the house brand. Turns out I hadn’t, so I took it upon myself to see how Sephora’s own brand fared when put to use.

First I went for lip colour, obviously. If primer is the base of your makeup routine, lipstick is the base of a makeup line— it can make or break the whole thing. The Cream Lip Stains were the item of choice, in Cherry Blossom, Marvellous Mauve, and Blackberry Sorbet. All three have incredible pigmentation and are truly a creamy stain rather than a runny one. It dries matte (unlike the Lustre Matte Lip Colour, which, as the name states, has a lustre to it once dry). And while they do last for hours, they don’t hold up the greatest through eating and drinking. But considering how long-lasting the lip cream is otherwise, I’m not complaining. A little touch up isn’t anything to be upset about.

Sephora Collection Cream Lip Stain: A-

Next up I went for brows. Namely, the waterproof Retractable Brow Pencil in Midnight Brown. Now, I know the hype around the beloved Anastasia Beverly Hills brow empire is intense and well deserved—I am an avid BrowWiz myself. That being said, this brow pencil is a force to be reckoned with. The formula is smooth and not too soft, the colour pay off is great, and the extra ten bucks in my pocket is a perk. The only down side to the product is the non-spooly brush. Fix that and you have a winner, Sephora.

Sephora Collection Retractable Brow Pencil: A

Lastly, I popped on over to the skincare options and picked out a couple (read: several) sheet masks. I had heard these were pretty good, and boy are they. Apparently Kylie Jenner is even a fan. And you can say a lot of things about Kylie Jenner, but that she has bad skin is not one of them. They only cost about $8 which is a total steal for the quality of these masks. The biggest surprise was the success of the Ginseng mask in reducing redness and waking up the skin. The range in problems the various masks claim to cover makes sure that there is at least one mask for everyone. Highly recommended. Even though I just went on about a minimal skincare regimen, a good mask is worth picking up.

Sephora Collection Face Mask: A++

Thank-you to the staff at Sephora for offering advice and being patient while I tried on every lip colour under the sun.

Written by Katrina Garofalo