I will never forget the first time I stepped inside of a Sephora store. I was 14…extremely overweight and incredibly awkward and….I was with my parents. We were visiting Las Vegas together (who takes a 14-year-old to Las Vegas??) and I spotted the classic black and white storefront from almost a mile away. I remember sounding out the strange name and being completely clueless as to what could possibly be inside…but I knew I had to go in there. At 14, I was just beginning to discover the magic of makeup, and by makeup I mean purple eye shadow, blue mascara and gel pen for eye liner (yeeesh)…so stepping inside of that well-lit, perfumed store was the most amazing thing.

Unfortunately, it was short lived. There were hundreds of eye shadows lining the shelves, floor to ceiling displays of powders, blushes and foundations and perfume bottles in every shape, size and color. After my dad glanced at the price on the bottom of a single eye shadow he looked me dead in the eye with that Monte O’Hara seriousness and said, “you can get one thing.” And then he walked out of the store to escape the perfume smell.

One thing. 

It was impossible. I ended up walking out of there with a mineral powder like shadow in lilac purple. I could have done better. After that experience, I declared that I would never again enter a Sephora and decided my makeup buying would be limited to Target.

And then, 10 years later, Pinterest happened…and somehow in the past 3 years…makeup has become an addiction and Sephora has become my safe place. Can you imagine? A place that used to overwhelm me…I now go to for comfort.

Sephora can be intimidating, there is no way around it. So many of my friends and co-workers have told me that they have no idea where to begin. But the fact is that sometimes you need to splurge on more expensive product to achieve the look you’re going for.

I like to think I have the whole Sephora shopping experience down! And so I thought, why not start my very first blog series. Basically, I believe there are 5 things every individual must do to enjoy their experience at Sephora. I will list those 5 things for you now and then detail each item in subsequent posts.

5 Steps to Sephora
I can’t wait to go into detail, but one post just isn’t enough!!
And because I mentioned the hideous eye shadow, the extra weight and awkwardness of my 14th year…I suppose I should celebrate Throwback Thursday by including a picture of my 14-year-old self.

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I was going to homecoming…and I was CLOAKED in black…and obviously I was loving life, even my mom is forcing it here.

Oh, and for the record…it did not help my awkward stage to have a mother as beautiful as her! Wow. Thank God for change!! 😉