The Best Beauty Products to Shop for Online at Sephora, Ulta, and Cult Beauty
There are times when you're faced with major dilemmas, like say, entering a Sephora, Ulta, or Cult Beauty online store, and you're so overwhelmed you don't know where to begin. Well, it's always best to stick to the tried-and-tested bestsellers such as the ones we scoured and gathered below. They're great building blocks for a complete beauty routine. Purchase them in small sizes for a trial run, or you go ahead and trust the comments section online and stock up on them while you can. What matters is this: Now you can save time and shop online knowing exactly what you're looking for.
MAKEUP
1. HUDA BEAUTY
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HUDA BEAUTY, Obsessions Eyeshadow Palette, $27, Sephora, Cult Beauty
Known for its highly pigmented eyeshadows, HUDA BEAUTY’s got palettes for any occasion. The Obsessions Eyeshadow Palette (we like the one in Mauve) is perfect for transforming your look from day to night—it’s got six matte shades and three shimmery ones. If the dusty rose isn’t the color scheme for you, you can also choose from Warm Brown, Smokey, Electric, Coral, and Gemstone.
2. KAT VON D BEAUTY
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Kat Von D Beauty, Shade + Light Refillable Crème Contour Palette, $24.50, Sephora
Hearing the words “cream contour” may sound daunting to some, but this palette promises easy application. It features three contour shades and three highlight tones, suitable for any and every skin color. They’re extremely buildable and blendable, too. This palette makes it easy for anyone to cop a chiseled face!
3. BECCA
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Becca, Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed Highlighter, 8g, $38, Sephora, Ulta Beauty
Ask any beauty expert what their favorite highlighter is and they’re bound to mention this product. (You haven’t highlighted a day in your life if you've never tried this one.) This award-winning shimmery pressed highlighter catches the light for a striking, strobe-y look because it’s got hard-working luminescent pearls.
4. HOURGLASS COSMETICS
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Hourglass Cosmetics, Ambient Lighting Blush (Travel Size), Diffused Heat, $24, Sephora
Gone are the days when you have to worry about your blush looking flat. HOURGLASS’ Ambient Lighting Blush is pretty much blush and highlighter in one because of its built-in Photoluminescent Technology for a soft, diffused look.
5. FENTY BEAUTY
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Fenty Beauty, Mini Pro Filt'r Instant Retouch Setting Powder, 7.8g, $32, Sephora
Rihanna understands our struggles when it comes to finding the right setting powder. Her beauty empathy gave birth to this little product. It's made of fine powder particles for a silky finish. It's also packed with mattifying particles. What's more, it doesn't flash back (i.e. when you take photographs and your makeup ends up look ghost-white).
6. MARC JACOBS BEAUTY
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Marc Jacobs Beauty, Re(marc)able Full Cover Foundation Concentrate, $56, Sephora
If there's one thing you should know about this soft-matte foundation is that it's got twice as much pigment as any other foundation on the market. That means twice the coverage with less amount of product. Aside from that, it consists of golden mica to lend a radiant lit-from-within glow.
7. IT COSMETICS
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IT Cosmetics, Your Skin But Better CC Cream SPF 50+ 32ml, $39, Ulta Beauty
The CC cream to end all CC creams, this product from IT COSMETICS is a cult favorite, and with good reason. Positioned as a seven-in-one product, this CC cream offers the benefits you get from (1) foundation, (2) brightening color corrector, (3) hydrating serum, (4) anti-aging serum, (5) primer, (6) concealer, and (7) day cream. Put this in your bag for flawless skin on the go.
8. URBAN DECAY
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Urban Decay, Naked Skin - Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer, $29, Ulta Beauty, Sephora
This hardworking demi-matte concealer promises blendable, buildable coverage for a skin-like finish. Aside from letting your skin breathe, it takes extra care of it from the sidelines—it has green tea for revitalized skin, peptides for youthful skin, and a lychee fruit-derived component for hydration.
9. ZOEVA
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ZOEVA, Rose Golden 221 Luxe Soft Crease, $12, Ulta Beauty, Sephora
Easy eyeshadow application, enough said. Zoeva's Luxe Soft Crease (and yes, this one's in rose gold) is made of a natural-synthetic hair mix for a professional makeup look. Trust us when we say that the right brush makes all the difference in your makeup.
10. TOO FACED
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Too Faced, Better Than Sex Mascara, $25, Sephora, Ulta Beauty
Fun and flirty beauty brand Too Faced promises bold, black eyelashes with one application. Double the swipes to get a more dramatic look. This is a fan-favorite among beauty enthusiasts.
11. MILK MAKEUP
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Milk Makeup, Lip + Cheek, $24, Cult Beauty, Sephora
Lip and cheek tints are all the rage now. Not only are they very practical but they pack a punch, too. This one from Milk Makeup is loaded with all the good stuff: mango butter, peach nectar, and avocado oil. Instant color + skincare!
12. FLESH BEAUTY
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Flesh Beauty, Fleshpot Eye & Cheek Gloss, $20, Ulta Beauty
Here's a product that's uniquely Flesh. The Flesh Pot is a multipurpose gloss that adds megawatts of intense high-shine to your eyes, cheeks, or lips. It adds a little sensuality to an otherwise ordinary look.
13. CHARLOTTE TILBURY
Charlotte Tilbury, Pillow Talk Lipstick, $34, Cult Beauty, Sephora
This is the ultimate "my lips but better" lipstick and is one of Charlotte Tilbury's most iconic products (plus, it's a moisturizing matte formula). Pillow Talk simply enhances your natural lip color and hugs the curved and crevices if your lips for a plump, "pillowy" look.
14. TARTE
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Tarte, Double Duty Beauty Shape Tape Contour Concealer, $27, Sephora, Ulta Beauty
It's difficult to find a concealer that gives full coverage but is still easy to blend. Thankful, there's Tarte's Double Duty Beauty Shape Tape that easily conceals imperfections without the cakey feel. It even gives you a little glow-up.
15. PAT MCGRATH
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Pat McGrath, Mothership V: Bronze Seduction, $125, Sephora
The word "extraterrestrial" definitely encapsulates what this eyeshadow palette is. Highly pigmented for high impact, this palette has ten intense shadows to get the pro makeup artist look.
SKINCARE
16. FRESH
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Fresh, Soy Face Cleanser, 50mL, $38, Sephora
Moving on to skincare, let’s start with cleanser. Fresh is a brand that uses natural ingredients in a modern “alchemist” approach. Its Soy Face Cleanser is raved by many because of its gentle formula but heavy-duty cleansing properties—it could even remove your makeup easily but still keep your skin feeling, well, fresh.
17. SEPHORA COLLECTION
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Sephora Collection, Original Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover, $11
Double-cleansing is key to clean skin. Before washing your face with a cleanser, make sure you use makeup remover to remove that top layer of makeup right away. This eye makeup remover from the Sephora Collection is backed by good reviews. (You can even try it on the rest of your face!)
18. CAUDALIE
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Caudalie, Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet 40ml, $39, Sephora
What’s special about French skincare brand Caudalie is that it uses grapes as one of the main ingredients. This Moisturizing Sorbet is a cream that hydrates sensitive to hyper-sensitive skin. How? The grape water acts as a “water patch” (to lock in moisture), increasing hydration by 127 percent. Plus, doesn’t the word sorbet instantly sound so delicious?
19. DRUNK ELEPHANT
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Drunk Elephant, NightBright™ Skincare Duo Set, $43, Sephora, Cult Beauty
Cruelty-free brand Drunk Elephant harnesses powerful ingredients in those cute little bottles. The brand is known for their serums, so instead of sticking to just one, why not try two at a time? This pack comes with two of their famous serums: the Glycolic Night Serum resurfaces dead skin cells for brighter skin, and the Virgin Marula Luxury Face Oil hydrates and nourishes skin through antioxidants.
