Sephora Launches Canadian Shopping Website

Skincare and makeup lovers rejoice! Sephora's Canadian site makes it easier to get what you need to stay fresh-faced and sweet smelling

Credit: Sephora

Just in time for holiday shopping, Sephora’s Canadian site offers perks for Canadian makeup lovers

Finally we have a Sephora site of our very own with Canadian prices, available-in-Canada items, bilingual functionality, and product lock-up in Canadian stores so you can check for product availability before heading out to a store.

Shipping is free with purchases over $75 and duties are paid by Sephora, so no more unpleasant surprises like brokerage fees.

And if you’re one of the few who can spend less than $75 per visit to Sephora, shipping is a mere $7.95 (standard shipping) to anywhere in the country. And like the US experience, every purchase includes the buyer’s pick of three free samples from a constantly rotating stock of lovely little gems.

To celebrate its Canadian launch, Sephora is offering a couple of beautiful benefits for online shoppers, available October 19-31.

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12 top picks from Sephora’s holiday gift guide

Sephora.ca launches just in time to kick off the holiday shopping season. Its gift guide is lustworthy as always, and this year includes some new brands (like Hourglass and Bite Beauty) as well as tried-and-true classics (like Makeup Forever and Fresh).

All the products are available at Sephora now and if this isn’t your first rodeo, you’ll know they tend to be of excellent value and many sell out very quickly. So give your wallet and your stress levels a break this year and let your fingers do the shopping – early – and get some of your holiday gift buying done before the snow hits the ground.

Read on for our favourite items from this year’s holiday gift guide.

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Tarte, Collector’s Set and Adventurer’s Bag ($70)

For many Tarte lovers, this brand is just as much about health couture as it is about beauty. Tarte uses natural ingredients that will give you sheer, vitamin-infused colour or a deep smoky eye with healthy lustrous lashes.

Its holiday set is a truly amazing and generous collection of Tarte favourites for eyes, lips and cheeks, all in a stunning tri-fold makeup bag. And, as always, these products are made without parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, petrochemicals, phthalates, GMOs, and triclosan.

The kit includes:

  • 6 eye shadow quads (24 full-size eye shadows!) in one space-efficient palette
  • 8 Maracuja Divine Shine lip glosses
  • Amazonian clay 12-hour blush inAdventurous(shimmering rose, a new exclusive shade) to brighten complexions
  • A full-sized blushing beauty domed blush brush
  • Amazonian clay finishing powder to balance skin while keeping oil and shine in check
  • A Lights, Camera, Lashes!™ 4-in-1 mascara

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Hourglass – Best of Hourglass Set ($68)

Hourglass was developed by renowned beauty expert Carisa Janes. The brand is known for über -chic elegance, luxurious packaging and cutting-edge ingredients in every product. This is a great way to try this luxe brand, which remains largely undiscovered by many Canadians.

This set will let you try some of its best sellers including:

  • Aa full-sized Film Noir Full Spectrum Mascara
  • A full-sized Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Gloss in the colour Ignite (a pinky-beige colour)
  • Its much loved Veil Mineral Primer (10ml)
  • Its newer Nº 28 Primer Serum,which combines the benefits of both serum and primer in one

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Makeup Forever, All Eyes on You Kit ($65)

This much loved brand was created over 25 years ago by famous Parisian markup artist Dany Sanz, who was originally a painter and sculptor.

Makeup Forever is known for its high-performance, innovative makeup with vibrant shades and long-lasting formulas. Initially developed for fashion and show-business professionals, Makeup Forever has now achieved mainstream cult-level popularity.

All Eyes On You is a limited-edition holiday kit that features five of Makeup Forever’s best-selling products including:

  • Aqua Eyes #0L
  • Mat Black Aqua Eyes #21L
  • Dark Grey Aqua Cream #16
  • Pink Beige HD Micro finish
  • Powder Smoky Lash Mascara

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Sephora + Pantone Universe, Foiled Waterproof Eyeliner Set ($36)

Tangerine Tango may be the colour of the year, but foiled, coloured eyes are the look of the holiday season. This set includes six highly pigmented, ultra metallic, waterproof eyeliners in gorgeous metallic hues including silver, rose gold, bronze, gold, plum and smoky grey – perfect for any holiday look.

For the chic geek (like me): Upon application, the volatile ingredients of this waterproof, long-lasting
liner evaporate and set the polymers and pigments, resulting in a quick-dry, high pay-off colour.

Its blend of silicones and emollients allow this formula to glide on smoothly and lock in colour to achieve a variety of long-lasting looks that go from day to night.

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Boscia, Fashionably Matte ($26)

I talk about blotting tissues nearly every chance I get because I still have friends who don’t know about these little wonders. Pull one out, gently blot on face, and instantly blot oil from your face without disturbing makeup. This is usually the only touching up I do during the day, aside from lipstick.

Boscia is one of the world’s first preservative-free, bontanically-based skincare lines. This revolutionary Japanese brand has created an eye-catching floral box inspired by traditional Japanese prints to encase your blotting linens. The set also includes 100-count Green Tea Blotting Linens and 100-count Fresh Blotting Linens – everything you need to stay fashionably matte during the holiday season. The plastic cover of the linen holder is100% biodegradable.

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Bite Beauty, Bite Size Luminous Crème  Lipsticks ($29)

Bite Beauty lipsticks are made with food-grade ingredients, making them good enough to eat. They also feature the super antioxidant Resveratrol, as well as organic shea butter, superfoods, and food-grade colours, but never contain synthetic oils or waxes, polybutenes, or petroleum.

The lip colours were designed by industry-leading makeup artists for the modern woman. The colours range from nearly nudes to deep berries, all very natural, all very wearable. This kit contains the shades: retsina, musk, shiraz, fig and pomegranate.

Each bite-sized lipstick contains the Resveratrol equivalent of three glasses of red wine. And in addition to fighting off those nasty free-radicals, these lipsticks will moisturize and nourish your lips with every use making every application a lip treatment.

These moisture-rich mini lipsticks come in a convenient, Altoids-sized tin complete with mirror. Throw the whole kit into your purse so you can change your look as quickly as you change your mood, or tuck one of these discreetly into your pocket as you head out for the evening.

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Sephora for OPI, Tinsel Town Collectors Kit ($59)

I love, love, love these mini sets of nail polishes and every year I pick up the largest kit I can buy and I’m usually good for the year. The mini sizes are brilliant because, seriously, who can finish off an entire regular-sized bottle before getting bored of the colour? No danger of getting bored with this colour selection!

This set includess 16 mini shades of Sephora by OPI’s best selling colours ranging from your lightest pink to a metallic deep purple and a full-sized Only Gold For Me Top Coat (clear with chunky and micro gold glitter).

Wear the colours on their own or layer with the pretty, sparkly topcoat for an entirely different look (Hint: when your tips start to show some wear, use the top coat to camouflage the chippage and extend the life of your mani.) They’re long-wearing, chip-resistant, and as always, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), toluene and formaldehyde-free.

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Too Faced, Sweet Indulgence Collection ($62)

This sweet tin of colours contains some of Too Faced’s best-sellers and exclusive must-haves. It’s a fantastic way to experiment with looks and colours; the kit also contains three how-to cards to walk you through different applications for day, classic and fashion looks.

The colours are gorgeous, the variety is staggering but some of Too Faced’s best products (in my opinion) are its quiet, supporting-role items, which are included in this kit: its yeshadow primer (Shadow Insurance) and its highlighter (Candlelight Glow).

If nothing more, get this kit to try these workhorses and to help make your existing products work better. But, of course, if you buy the kit you get so much more!

Here’s the whole kitty:

  • 16 eye shadows, with 6 exclusive new shades (In In the Buff, Peach Fuzz, Marshmallow, Lovey Dovey, Copper Peony, Teddy Bear, Gum Drop, Malted Milk Ball, Satin Sheets, Nice Stems!, Nice Ash, Cherry Cola, Honeymoon, Pastille, Cop a Teal, Black Sugar)
  • 2 blushes (La Vie en Rose, Papa Don’t Peach)
  • 1 highlighter (Candlelight Glow)
  • 2 bronzers (Sun Bunny and one new exclusive light bronzer)
  • 1 Shadow Insurance in Candlelight
  • 1 cruelty-free, dual-ended shadow brush

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Fresh, Sugar Passion Princess ($32)

One of my very favourite brands, Fresh consistently produces top-quality products that work beautifully, feel luxurious and smell divine. Its formula of mixing ancient beauty rituals with modern technology has resulted in a lineup of superstar products that will perform as well as they pamper.

This kit includes:

  • Sugar Passion Tinted Lip Treatment Sunscreen SPF 15. This range of lip treatments is my go-to lip product. It nourishes, smoothes, and protects the lips with a vibrant rouge tint that allows you to apply a sheer wash of red or build it up to a rich ruby hue.
  • Soy Face Cleanser. This gentle gel cleanser for all skin types removes impurities and makeup—even mascara—without stripping away essential moisture. This is usually the cleanser I take with me when I’m travelling and want something extra soothing for potentially stressed-out skin.
  • Sugar Lip Polish. This is a real treat for the lips, especially if you never thought your lips needed their own exfoliant. This polishes and conditions your lips with real brown sugar crystals, leaving them incredibly soft and smooth. You’ll never go without again – you’ll see.

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L’Occitane, Hand Cream Collection ($48)

Everybody needs a proper hand cream. And there’s one in this collection for everyone in
your life, even for guys. Really.

No one does hand cream like L’Occitane, and this collection of its top five sellers is a lovely and
thoughtful gift. The essential oils will make them a sensory delight, while their nourishing properties will soothe and heal those hard-working hands. And their small size makes them perfect for tucking into a bag, glove compartment or carry-on for travel.

The set includes:

  • Shea Butter Hand Cream. This nourishing hand cream is enriched with 20% shea butter to protect and deeply moisturize hands. This #1 best-selling hand cream is sold every 5 seconds worldwide! It has a light, natural scent so it’s ideal for those sensitive to scents.
  • Pivoine Flora Hand Cream. Enriched with hydrating shea butter, this hand cream softens hands and leaves them delicately scented with peony extract.
  • Lavender Hand Cream. This blend of nourishing shea butter and relaxing lavender essential oil from the south of France moisturizes and soothes hands while relaxing the mind. I use this nearly every night before bedtime – heavenly!
  • Fleur Chérie Hand Cream. This lightweight cream leaves hands soft, moisturized and scented with the fruity floral notes of orange blossom.
  • Cherry Blossom Hand Cream. Enriched with hydrating shea butter, this lightweight hand cream nourishes and perfumes the skin with cherry extract.