11 Things You Didn’t Know About Sephora.. and a way to get a free gift with purchase!

Ah, Sephora. My favorite makeup store. I live in New York City and we have 16 Sephoras in Manhattan alone! And every store is brimming (usually) with women, buzzing back & forth about makeup, skincare, or haircare. Here are 11 facts about the world’s most popular makeup store.

It’s an empire. Founded by a perfumer named Dominique Mandonnaud in France in 1970. In 1997 it was acquired by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) & one year later opened their first N. American store. Today Sephora has more than 1,900 stores in nearly 30 countries. They also carry more than 250 beauty brands which generate more than $4 billion in revenue.
The name is derived from Zipporah, the beautiful wife of Moses, and a combination of the word “sephos” which is Greek for beauty.
The samples are free. And it’s true! I’ve asked for samples of products which they give to you in small plastic containers to take home & try. And you can take up to 3 of them for free!
You can always get a deluxe sample with any $25 purchase. Enter the gift YOURCODE or click on their weekly Beauty Deals to see what other free items you can score! Note: only one code per purchase.
Their return policy is impressive. For any product that you’re not satisfied with, Sephora can give you a full refund within 60 days. I’ve done this too! For any product, used, or unused, they’ll refund you your money.
They honor sales prices too. If an item goes on sale 2 weeks of your purchase date, you can call their customer service number & they will refund the price difference.
Kat Von D hold 3 best selling titles. Kat Von D’s Tattoo Liner, $19, The Shade & Light Contour Palette, and her Studded Kiss Lipstick, in Lolita, $21, is the number one best selling lipstick for all of Sephora.
They have their own version of Amazon Prime. Only launched this year called Flash, Sephora started a free 2 day shipping service at only $10 a year.
They have a Color IQ which can determine the best color for your foundation, concealer, & lip color. With this scanner they can filter over 400 shades, & with Color IQ for lip it can filter over 3,500! And they also have Skincare IQ, and Fragrance IQ.
French shoppers love Sephora too. The Sephora at Champs-Elysees in Paris attracts over 6 million people each year.
Next year, Sephora will launch Play! By Sephora, a $10 per month subscription beauty box service. The monthly boxes will be curated around a theme, like essentials for dewy skin, and feature five deluxe-size prestige products (often along with bonus sample or two).