The November Beauty Insider / VIB Sale is now behind us. What, for many beauty lovers, is a time of spending excess was calculated restraint for me. Although I’ve heavily reined in my beauty spending over the past few years, purchasing a home does a number on your priorities.
Details on what I bought at the 2018 VIB Sale after the jump.
In a bizarre turn of events, Sephora threw together an extra (we think) August Beauty Insider Sale. Normally, there’s one in April-ish and then again in November-ish, so to have this August Beauty Insider Sale one fall into our laps is a rare and welcome treat. Fortunately, the stars aligned and I happened to have a gift card – so I didn’t even break my No Buy to shop.
I’m still riding the post-KonMari wave and don’t feel the need to expand my makeup collection at this time. Sure, are there things I want? Of course. There are cool products released all the damn time that I’d love to try! But the cost to do so is steep; I don’t want to waste money, and I don’t want to reintroduce clutter.
When Urban Decay announced that they were discontinuing their iconic Naked palette (more on that to come), Sephora knocked the price in half. I considered buying a backup and another to give away, but they were sold out before the VIB-tier discount was available.
For a couple years in a row now, I have managed to achieve both Sephora VIB status as well as Ulta’s Platinum status. I didn’t achieve these reward tiers only through spending on myself, though. In addition to my own personal spending, I:
I can see how easy it would be to hit the premier loyalty tiers; even though I think the Dyson hair dryer is a bit frivolous, but purchase that and exclusively use prestige product and I’m sure it is as easy as that. I’m struggling, though, to comprehend how individual people are spending enough to maintain the über premier loyalty tiers year after year.
I think it would be easier to achieve at Ulta since Ulta offers more services (Brow Bar, Dermalogica skin services, nails, hair). On top of that, their product range is broader, including drugstore, more bath/personal care, and hair care.
So, in short, I’m curious – if any of you are multi-year VIB Rouge members, what does a year of Sephora purchases look like for you? Is it a lot of Drunk Elephant and Sunday Riley? Fragrance? Every palette that launches? Or are you buying gifts and offering up your perks and making orders on behalf of friends?
Ulta just launched Diamond this year but if you expect to achieve Diamond year-over-year, what will your purchases look like?
Although I am not buying holiday palettes, that doesn’t mean I’m not shopping. I hit the 20% off VIB Sale at Sephora on Friday. Today is the last day.
Look! I’m a cliche! I bought another palette of neutrals, this time on recommendation of Stefanie Nicole of YouTube. I love her no-bullshit approach to … everything, and I trust her judgment. Here’s hoping it works out for me in a way that Naked2 just didn’t. Review to come once I’ve had time with it.
After almost a year with the travel size, I decided to invest in the full size. I have yet to hit pan, which I think says a lot about its longevity. I love the finish it gives with and without foundation, and at this rate it will last me forever. The travel sized compact is available for $22.
To me, this is definitely a splurge item. I can imagine that there are more cost-effective ways to do accomplish what this does. I decided to pay for convenience – and I will definitely report back on whether or not this is worth it.
VIB Sale Recap
I didn’t go crazy this year. In fact, I wouldn’t have even gotten the ColorSwitch if I hadn’t been a couple dollars shy of locking in VIB for 2017. I was going to buy a larger bottle of Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil but decided against it in favor of trying another variety (gasp, I know – last time that didn’t go so well).
Ulta Platinum vs Sephora VIBBeauty chains companies are realizing that they have a a fiercely loyal group of customers that it is wise to maintain. Ulta features Ultamate Rewards and Sephora features Beauty Insider, respectively. They work differently and have different perks but they do have one thing in common – a tier system to reward their, “frequent fliers,” and top spenders with premium perks. So when it comes down to Ulta Platinum vs Sephora VIB which wins?
In late 2014, I hit Platinum status at Ulta and got to keep that status this year. I have no idea how this happened (reality, not being cute); I was shopping at Ulta less frequently than Sephora and I tended to spend less there; so I’m chalking it up to occasionally shopping with a friend who was content to have her purchases apply for my rewards.
In Spring 2015, with the purchase of the Silk’n Flash n Go Freedom (no longer sold at Sephora) and the Foreo Issa, I hit VIB at Sephora.
So between Ulta Platinum vs Sephora VIB – which is better?
This was originally published in December of 2015, but felt it could use some refreshing. Not joining rewards programs is like leaving money and/or product on the table, so I want to help educate my readers!
Sephora addicts know that sales are seldom, which is a painful thing for a sale-shopper such as myself. I’m happy to pay for quality, but some products just have absurd markup. The rare Sephora discount offered up for BI/VIB/VIBR semi-annually is great, particularly if you had a shopping list to contend with. But you have to wait, after all – they usually pop-up around April and October or November.
To the point: I just learned that there’s a somewhat-hush-hush 10% off code available for use once annually. It is good on your whole order. Too good to be true, and yet… it isn’t.