Why I’m Giving Up My Rouge Status at Sephora
By: Elyssa Sugar
Tags: Beauty Products, Skincare, Beauty, Sephora, Beauty Tips

Why I’m Giving Up My Rouge Status at Sephora

Photo Taken by Author — https://beautyreviewsdaily.com/

As a budding beauty blogger still trying to find where I fit in the world of YouTube, and now TikTok celebs, my one vice was buying new makeup.

I love taking beautiful photos of new products in their packaging and showing how the product swatches on the skin.

Photo Taken by Author — https://beautyreviewsdaily.com/

The thrill of opening up a new product straight from the box was exciting to me!

As a blogger you’re supposed to get things for free but my following and page views are still low to justify receiving gifts from bigger brands.

Sephora — with their email strategy on point, their killer mobile app and an overall feeling of “glamour” at the Rouge status, these past two years as royalty at Sephora have been magical.

Now, at the end of 2020, I’m reflecting back on how my priorities have shifted. Covid-19 taught me the value of time versus money alongside having my daughter.

Spending $1,000 to be made to feel special by a beauty brand isn’t going to bring me the same feeling I once had and I’m ok with it.

The Magic of Sephora

If you aren’t familiar, Sephora currently offers three status tiers for their loyalty program:

Rouge — This is the highest tier: spend $1,000 in a year in order to qualify. You receive first access to their sales which are 2x a year as well as the highest discount at a max of 20% off. There are also little perks along the way with coupon codes to get deluxe samples that other tiers do not receive. There’s also unlimited shipping on anything purchased. VIB — This is the middle tier: spend $350 in order to qualify. You still get similar perks to Rouge but have to wait a few more days to start your sale but only get 15% off. You still get some deluxe samples but there is a shipping threshold. Insider— This is the lowest tier: you don’t need to spend anything just sign up with your email address. You get last dibs on sale dates and the lowest percentage off at 10%. Arguably the worst and most boring of the tiers.

Of course, behind every good loyalty program there’s data mining behind it to present the right offer at the right time to the right audience.

Sephora has mastered this.

I build up my wish list in my cart and dare I close the app for a few moments, I can expect an email expressing to me that I “shouldn’t miss out” on what is stashed in my cart.

The promotional emails I do receive are desirable as they contain specific items that are just available for Rouge members. They call out to me in a way I cannot describe.

I’m always one product away from perfection.

I have contemplated unsubscribing from the email but FOMO has gotten the better of me.

When I received a package that had a dried out product earlier this year, Sephora didn’t even question it and refunded me immediately via Facebook Messenger.

Their customer service is on point, their promotions speak to me and yet — I’m just not tempted to spend another $143 to keep my status for 2021.

How Covid-19 Changed The Way I View Beauty

Beauty and self care are really important to me. I value great skin care and makeup brands because I love putting my best self forward.

Since March 2020 was the start of the pandemic lockdown situation, I still put on makeup for all of my virtual meetings.

I slowly started leaving out parts of my beauty routine because I realized it took up so much time that I wasn’t getting it back.

I turned my focus on skincare and promised that I would fill in my eyebrows everyday even if I wasn’t doing a full face of makeup.

How much time did I get back?

I managed to read the news, drink a full cup of coffee, work out and be online for my daily 9 a.m. meeting.

Feeling more organized and ready to focus on what mattered for the day.

Now, how much of that glorious makeup is sitting in my organizer just waiting to be used?

As a beauty blogger sometimes I got the inspiration to film a new makeup look or rant about a particular skincare line. But, I really had to be in the mood to do all that.

Thinking of all of the things I could do with my time (even writing this article), made me think.

Perhaps I spent 365 hours in 2020 perfecting a face that wouldn’t be seen.

My Postpartum Outlook

Having a 6 month old has changed the way I do everything, not just self care.

I recently wrote an article about how many things I could do in an hour because I’ve learned to multi-task like a mother.

Since makeup had already taken a back seat, it would continue to stay there.

Maintaining my healthy glow with skincare is my new focus — one that I had started to become really good at with my skincare routine.

Let me tell you: nobody cares about your skincare routine but I’m going to tell you anyway.

In mastering the routine that works for me, you really only need about 3–5 products to get glowing skin: a cleanser, toner, moisturizer (with SPF), eye cream and a deep cleansing mask.

You could skip the mask and eye cream if you wanted to since these are just very concentrated products that is probably covered by your moisturizer.

You can also drink a lot of water.

Sitting down, reading, painting and writing — those were the things that got me out of bed in the morning.

And yet, Sephora continues to bombard me with products I don’t need almost daily.

The thought, of spending the last $143 in this COVID-19 world made me think that there are better ways to spend my money if not at all.

I have so many products sitting in boxes because I no longer have counter space. Even the area under my skin is full.

I don’t have counter space for products that I’m not using and that’s a really big problem in a 2 bedroom condo in Toronto.

My 2021 Low Buy Year of Beauty

There’s a few terms coined in the beauty community and “low buy” is one of them.

It’s simple: use what you have and buy what you need.

What a novel concept.

I love trying new products. However, as a mom with nowhere to go I have already found what works for me.

I’ll still continue to do beauty blogging but with a new perspective of time and money.

For example, I have about 30 blushes — all in very similar shades and all just about do the same thing. I ask myself why I continue to perk up when a new brand launches a “revolutionary” new product when I have everything that I need?

Let’s not overlook Drugstore beauty as well.

There are so many amazing brands such as Maybelline, L’Oreal and Covergirl that often get overlooked.

I write a lot about dupes or “duplicates” of luxury makeup and skincare brands on my blog which you can visit here.

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways

I think I’ve given enough reasons why I don’t need to remain at my Rouge status at Sephora in 2021.

I love makeup and skincare but not the cost associated with it.

There are other means such as Drugstore beauty brands that are already keeping up with the latest trends.

I’m not feeling the pull of spending another $143 in the next 7 days in order to be considered special in the database of Sephora for 2021.

Feel free to follow me at BeautyReviewsDaily.com and see what amazing dupes I curate that will help you save money too.

Don’t be afraid to hit that unsubscribe button on the next email from Sephora.

I know I will.