Every year I look forward to the two Sephora VIB sales: each April, members get to take 15% off and in November, we get 20% off! The sale applies to everything in store and online, and is basically a feeding frenzy for beauty geeks like myself. I’ve done a pretty good job of restraining myself during these sales, but I ALWAYS take advantage of them because they’re too amazing to pass up!

If you’re new to beauty or have somehow missed hearing about Sephora’s Beauty Insider program, here’s the deal: it’s free to join and you earn one point per dollar that you spend with Sephora. You can then redeem those points for rewards like deluxe sample sets. Members can alsoĀ take free beauty classes in select stores and receive a free birthday gift (the gift options look great this year, but I’m definitely going to go for the tarte set!). You achieve VIB status once you’ve earned 350 points within a year, meaning you’ve spent $350 within 365 days of joining the program. VIB members get access to the aforementioned semi-annual sales as well asĀ a free customer makeover. There’s also a VIB Rouge level with even more benefits, for those who manage to shell out $1,000 a year (I am definitely not even close to achievingĀ RougeĀ and likely never will).

So that’s what’s up with the VIB program. If you ever shop at Sephora and aren’t a Beauty InsiderĀ yet, I highly recommend signing up so you can start earning those points!

I bought more stuff during this sale than I did last November (which is totally backwards because the late fall sale offers a bigger discount). I usually shop this sale online, but this time around I hit up the brand new store on F Street NW in downtown DC. The store just opened in mid-April and I had been meaning to check it out, so the VIB sale gave me the perfect excuse to shop and get a nice walk in, too! I went in with vaguely grandĀ ideas of all the things I might buy, but only ended up gettingĀ the three items pictured at the top of this post:Ā Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper,Ā Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara, andĀ boscia Sake Brightening Hydrogel Mask. The eye liner is a re-purchase (GREAT stuff!), but the other two products were first-time purchases for me. I’ve heard amazing things about the Too Faced mascara, and I am always down to try another brightening sheet mask!

I was interested in tryingĀ out Supergoop! Skin Soothing Mineral Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 40 but the store didn’t have it, so when I came home I browsed reviews online and ended up placing an order for these two items:

One of the best things about the VIB sales is that you can use the discount as many times as you want while the sale is active. The sales run for a few days, so if you forget to pick something up at the store you can go backĀ and still get the discount, or use the promo code to order online.

I’ve been using Supergoop! Everyday Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50 on my face, but my current tube is running low so I thought I’d give their mineral sunscreen a shot even though it has a lower SPF. As soon as I finish the tube of SPF 50 I’ll be able to try this mineral stuff out!

I’d been thinking about getting a day serum to try combating the dark spots that keep appearing on my face (though nothing I’ve used thus farĀ has been effective). I tested out a bit of Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum on the back of my hand while I was in the store, and when I came home I found that there are a ton of great reviews of this product on Sephora’s website. SOLD! šŸ™‚ At $80 full price, this serum is not cheapā€”I don’t think I’ve ever spent this much on a skin care product before, even at the $68 sale priceā€”but I figured if I was going to try it anyway, the sale wouldĀ certainly be the time to buy it. So we’ll seeĀ if this serum is as great as everyone says it is…

Here’s the full list of my VIB sale haul:

So instead of the full $159 I would have spent on these five products, I spent $135.15 (not includingĀ tax). That’s an average of $27.03 apiece…which is a cost I can live with. Ā šŸ™‚

What did you get your hot little hands on during the first VIB sale of 2017? Share in the comments!