The 2018 American Sephora Haul: What’s Still Standing?

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The Archive Check: A 2018 Time Capsule

At the end of January 2018, we had a wonderful family holiday to America. That could only mean one thing: a massive Sephora trip. I made sure it was on the itinerary, and I did quite a bit of damage (to my bank account, not the store) Looking back at this haul is wild, because almost every single one of these items has vanished into the beauty vault. Let’s revisit these now-discontinued makeup products.

There is something about walking into an American Sephora that gets me every single time. They have so many amazing brands we couldn’t easily get back home, and I always come out with a bag full of goodies.

I’m also going to go over a few extra things I picked up from a random corner store on the trip, because including them here sounds a lot better than: Haul from a shop I found but can’t remember the name of.

From high end face palettes to budget mascara finds, here is my official 2018 US beauty haul, and where these formulas stand today.

Tarte | Tarteist Pro Glow Highlight and Contour Palette

Discontinued

My 2018 Thoughts: I love a good contour palette. This one contains five powders and one cream. Four of the shades are highlighters whereas the remaining two are a contour and a bronzer. Looking at it in the box, it does look like some of the shades will be too dark for my pale skin, but I’m excited to see how I get on with it.

How I Got On With It: As I suspected during my initial haul, a few of the deeper shades in this palette were simply too dark for my fair complexion to use as a traditional contour. However, the highlighting powders were stunning! They had a beautiful, high shine finish that didn’t look overly powdery on dry skin. While it has since joined the list of discontinued makeup products, it was gorgeous while it lasted.

Tarte | Tarteist Pro To Go 

Discontinued

My 2018 Thoughts: Sephora is so sneaky with all the mini bits they have waiting by the till, as that’s exactly where I found this palette. It’s a little travel palette, and these are my standard day to day warm neutral colours that I wear the most. I can see myself getting a lot of use out of this.

How I Got On With It: Despite my high hopes, this little palette ended up being a classic case of “out of sight, out of mind.” Once the excitement of the holiday wore off, it completely slipped into the back of my drawer and got entirely forgotten about in my collection. While the colours were beautiful on paper, I just found myself naturally reaching for my larger, everyday favourites instead. It proves that those tempting till-side minis don’t always earn a functional spot in a daily makeup routine.

Tarte | Exposed Highlight

My 2018 Thoughts: This is a very Tarte-heavy haul, huh? Looking back I probably shouldn’t have bought the big palette and a standalone highlighter, but we’ll blame the jet lag for that. I just loved the look of this. It looked like my ideal shade. I always reach for a light champagne, and this looks absolutely perfect.

How I Got On With It: This quickly became a firm favourite just like I predicted. It was the absolute perfect champagne tone for pale skin. Catching the light beautifully without leaving a dark or cast mark when looking straight ahead. It gave the skin a gorgeous, lit from within sheen that I reached for constantly until it was eventually vaulted by the brand.

Sephora | Cream Lip Stain

Discontinued

Left to Right: 13 Marvellous Mauve, 23 Copper Blush and 41 Vintage Rosewood

My 2018 Thoughts: I have heard so many good things about the Sephora own-brand line from other bloggers, so of course I wanted to try their famous cream lip stains. I found three stunning pinky nudes to add to my collection: 13 Marvellous Mauve, 23 Copper Blush, and 41 Vintage Rosewood.

Top to Bottom: 13 Marvellous Mauve, 23 Copper Blush and 41 Vintage Rosewood

How I Got on With Them: To be completely honest, I can’t remember too much about using these, which is usually a major sign of a forgettable product. What I do recall is that I really didn’t enjoy them, and as a result, I just never reached for them in my collection. While everyone else on the internet seemed to be raving about them at the time, they just didn’t work for me or fit into my daily lip routine.

Sephora | Face Masks

Discontinued

My 2018 Thoughts: Everyone seems to rave about these sheet masks, so I had to try some for myself. I picked up the Pearl face mask (for perfecting and brightening) and the Avocado one (for nourishing and repairing).

How I Got On With Them: While they felt incredibly relaxing and pampering to use on a quiet evening, I didn’t notice any ground-breaking, long-term changes to my skin. They were a lovely, hydrating treat right after the drying flight back from America, but they didn’t quite turn me into a regular sheet mask user.

Onto the things I got from a corner-store.

Covergirl | Lashblast Fusion Mascara

Discontinued

My 2018 Thoughts: In my mind, I was originally going to get the Covergirl Outlast foundation, but they didn’t have my shade in stock, so I decided to pick up a mascara instead. It claims to add volume and length, which sounds ideal for a whim purchase.

How I Got On With It: This one ended up being a bit of a miss for me. While the plastic wand was great at separating my lashes and making sure there weren’t any clucks, it didn’t give me quite as much dramatic volume or length as I typically prefer. It was a perfectly fine, natural daytime mascara, but it wasn’t one I found myself missing when it was eventually discontinued.

Physicians Formula | Butter Bronzer

My 2018 Thoughts: I have lusted over it for so long, so to walk into a random corner store and see a Physicians Formula stand was a great feeling. I got the shade Bronzer, as the lighter shade was out of stock. It smells just like coconuts, and I love it.

How I Got On With It: Out of this entire holiday haul, the Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer is the only product that survived the test of time and is still widely available today. It completely lived up to the internet fame. Infused with rich Murumuru butter, it glides onto dry skin beautifully, blends flawlessly without any harsh lines, and I adore that gorgeous tropical scent.

The Final Reflection

Looking back at my 2018 trip to America is a huge reminder of how incredibly fast the beauty industry moves. While it’s always bittersweet to see our past favourites become discontinued makeup products, looking back at how they actually performed in my routine shows that holiday hauls are always a fun adventure, even if only one product stands the test of time.

Let’s chat in the comments!

Did you ever own any of these Tarte palettes or the original Sephora lip stains back in the day? What is your favourite makeup product you’ve ever bought on a holiday trip abroad?

Thank you for reading!