As a beauty editor, Sephora will always have a special place both in my makeup bag and my heart. For me, it’s tied so much in with nostalgia. Like many beauty obsessives, a trip to Sephora was a real treat if you were heading abroad. Trips to France have always featured a detour to the local Sephora, and the first time I went to New York, I think I genuinely spent over two hours exploring the store on 34th Street (safe to say I didn’t go home empty-handed).
In my opinion, Sephora has long-before captured what has been lacking from other beauty retailers for years. The stores are a beauty lovers playground, with dedicated spaces to try on makeup, staff who are seriously knowledgable and friendly, and a great selection of brands under one roof, whether you want affordable beauty products or a ‘treat yourself’ investment beauty purchase. And I can’t not mention the magnetic draw of the beauty miniatures by the till, the samples with purchase or the multi-brand bundle sets that allow you to try lots of different brands. It’s basically beauty heaven.