I have been seeing this tag go around the beauty community for a couple weeks now, and I wanted to jump in on the fun! The first video I saw on this topic was from Samantha Rvandhal (watch here) and she credited the idea to Taylor (watch here). The whole idea is to look back into your Sephora purchase history and share some of the first products you bought!
Now I will admit, it is not the easiest to find on Sephora.com. If you look at your Purchase History, it limits the page loading of orders older than ~18 months. What you have to do is view your Lists, then Purchases, and keep clicking “show more” until you can scroll all the way down! You’ll notice that not all of your purchases will be listed, but it does a pretty good job! The purchase tracking will only start after the date that you joined Sephora Rewards. Also, a few items seem to be absent, especially limited edition, discontinued, or holiday items.
My first recorded purchase was the Blinc Mascara in Black on July 13, 2008. This is the first mascara that I tried, or even knew about, that was a “tubing mascara”. What this means is that instead of simply coating the lashes with product, the mascara forms a tube that envelops each lash. This type of mascara is water resistant and does not flake or smudge, yet removes easily with only water (I have a review of another tubing mascara here). I remember trying it at a friend’s house and thinking it was just the coolest thing! To be honest, I think this was the 2nd or 3rd time I had actually purchased this product, since I remember using it in high school. It is not a product I use today simply because there are so many mascaras on the market, however I did enjoy it and it is something that is still currently sold.
The next purchase on my account was made on December 26, 2008. I purchased the Tarte Amazonian Clay Bronzer in Park Ave. Princess and the Lavanilla Vanilla Grapefruit perfume. The perfume was for my mom, this was her absolute favourite scent and she wore it for years! There are many repurchases of it on my account history. Sadly, it is not sold at Sephora anymore and possibly discontinued (if anyone knows if this is still available, please let me know!). The Tarte bronzer was for me. This is such an OG product! Matte bronzers were not even a thing at this point – the more shimmer, the better! I used this product for years and even bought a few as gifts for my girlfriends. I think I still have one in my makeup stash for nostalgia, but have not used it in a long time, since contouring and using matte bronzers came into popularity in the last few years!
The third purchase on my account is the iconic Nars Orgasm blush on July 19, 2009. This was also not the first time I purchased this blush, as I think got my first one in ~2006. I used to wear this every single day! It really does give the perfect flush. Again, since that time, the makeup industry has just boomed so much that there have been so many products launched that I have wanted to try. I still have one in my drawer but it is not in my current rotation. My mom still wears it daily though! The two of us repurchased this product so many times!
I’m including my fourth purchase because it is the first palette on record! It was the Too Faced Naked Eye Soft and Sexy Eye Shadow Collection. I purchased this on September 27, 2010, soon after my birthday – I remember picking this up with gift cards my friends had given me. It was a gorgeous palette with shimmery pinks, taupes, and slates. I wore it a lot! I loved that it came with 3 looks and instructions on how to create them. They no longer sell this palette, but I believe it has been updated and morphed into the Natural Eyes Eyeshadow Palette.
I will note that these were not my first ever purchases though, just the ones that appear in my history! I remember buying all my makeup for prom from Sephora, including an eyeshadow palette by Fresh (yes, the skincare brand! They used to sell makeup too!). The shades matched my dress perfectly (you can see it to the right)! My mom also used pick up a couple items for me when she travelled on business trips to the USA back in the day before Sephora came to Canada. I remember her bringing me a lip balm that was a collaboration between Sephora and Operation Smile, with proceeds going to the foundation. She also brought me a Hard Candy palette in the shade Insominac (when they were still a high end brand!) that was the pre-curser to the holographic trend of late! This thing could give Kat Von D’s Alchemy palette a run for it’s money!
That was a fun trip down memory lane! Thanks for joining me on this nostalgic journey!
My Beauty Thesis 