Sephora Nostalgia, Memorabilia, History & Packaging Thread

[sister13]

UPDATE 6.1.2026: With the Community closing, I wanted to share my personal blog, Makeup Happy Hour, which is makeuphappyhour.com. I'm also @ makeuphappyhour on Instagram, Tiktok and YouTube (though not very active lately). Please follow! I have really enjoyed getting to know everyone during the years and sharing love of Dyson Beauty! This really meant a lot to me over the years. Please stay in touch on makeuphappyhour(dot)com and you can sign an interest form for a new community hopefully down the road. Take care, lovelies and I hope we can all stay in touch! 

Around Christmas, I remember discussing the past holiday special design packaging that Sephora used to make each year. I remember when they did free gift wrapping for several years, and had holiday designs for boxes, bags and cute little plastic envelopes/tubes. I still have a bunch from past years since they were so festive, and of high quality so we just fold them up and reuse them year after year!

I know someone mentioned it, and I kept thinking we should have a thread to catalog and document some of the Sephora items I come across from time to time. Then, finding a brochure from maybe around 2002 (pictured below) has spurred me into action today. I remember feeling so amazed and instantly in love with Sephora because of all the testers. I still have PTSD as a kid/teen of wanting to play with the department store testers and 

I am a bit of a pack rat, and I come across things that either I still can’t part with, or things that I actually want to declutter but will feel better if I can archive a photo somewhere, haha! I’m thinking of the following kinds of items, but feel free to post additional items or memories connected with Sephora that you want to share with us at BIC! 

• Sephora packages or shopping bags from any point in time
• Beauty Insider, VIB, VIB ROUGE/ROUGE Sephora-branded gifts (remember when you got a gift for differs tiers? (I’m sure I still have some of those old welcome card brochures around when I can find them).
• Sephora Ads or mailers or brochures that you like or come across when decluttering 
• Other Sephora merchandise or swag
• Sephora memories or stories
• Sephora or ‘brands at Sephora’ history or memories
• Beauty Insider Community/Beauty Talk swag or memorabilia
• Whatever else you think is relevant!

Hopefully I’m not the only one who has these random things lying around, but if so, feel free to laugh at me and my treasures!

Anyway, below is the brochure I found today! Isn’t it great? It mentions 74 stores, and it was folded up along with a product promo brochure and an online order form from 2002 when I lived in Vail. I totally forgot they ever sold Chanel! I also see Sue Devitt, Bourgois, Tony & Tina, Bliss, and DDF that used to be sold at Sephora (US anyway) but are no longer (unless I’m mistaken).

I remember feeling so amazed and instantly in love with Sephora because of all the testers available. I still have PTSD as a kid/teen of wanting to play with the department store testers and the sales ladies being so mean (we thought anyway!) I also remember such profound hope and disappointment at purchasing drugstore makeup with no testers available! It’s neat that it’s listed here in the Play, touch, smell, try. I also think it’s pretty funny they did an acronym (I think, is that what it is?)

NOTE: Sorry that BIC ruins the resolution on photos, but if you click on them, you can see more detail and text. I’ll try to repost pics from another device at a larger size some time, but right now BIC is preventing me from posting from the iPad! 

 

 

 

More details:

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[jozkid]

Not sure if this counts, but I found one of my red "Rouge" cards the other day when I was cleaning out an old wallet. The ones that looked like credit cards. 🙂

[tsavorite]

Hi! @jozkid , 

I was just thinking about you as I see your artwork on an old package from you!  I don't think that I ever had a physical red "Rouge Card", so you are lucky to have one!  I was an online Sephora shopper.  I wish that Sephora would go back to giving out those cards.

[sister13]

Oh Yes! I’ve still got mine in my wallet and will post it! I still use it in store sometimes! @jozkid 

[CookieGirl1]

How fun, @sister13!  Love that you posted this.

[sister13]

🖤🖤🖤❤️❤️❤️ @CookieGirl1 

[SportyGirly125]

@sister13 @I have so many of the bags/pouches that they had stored in a container and tote bags. Basically all the store events when they used to give you a tote/umbrella or the little pouches. Also, the gift you would get when you made Rouge status and the Rouge card. 

[sister13]

Yes, that's awesome - I bet you have an amazing collection! Mine are not so organized, but at least now I have a place to post them as I come across them! Would love to see yours sometime if you have the chance to share them. 🙂 @SportyGirly125  

[SportyGirly125]

@sister13 @I’ll try to post some of them. Some of the bins they are in are a pain to get to. 

[sister13]

Here are some of the holiday boxes and bags. These boxes fold flat and have a sturdy magnetic closure. These were all free with purchases and they would gift wrap for you, too. They had these cute little pop up tags, I’ll need to look for those.

 

 
These were the little pouches, made of plastic. So cute and so handy, you fold in the ends and they sort of pop up.

This was a tall bag with a magnetic, fold over closure:

 

 

 

[CorgiMommy]

@sister13 apparently your kitty wants to try and crawl into one of the boxes

[sister13]

Always, lol! @CorgiMommy 

[CorgiMommy]

I totally love the boxes. 

[sister13]

Thanks, aren’t they so cute!? @CorgiMommy 

[itsfi]

These boxes were fantastic @sister13! I used to store my nail polish collection in one of these boxes…well, I did before the collection got bigger and bigger 😆 

[sister13]

Haha, I know what you mean when the beauty products outgrow the storage! @itsfi 

[Mellmars1185]

@sister13 Wow - so cool!

[AznAngelLiz]

I remember all these packaging @sister13 Wish they would bring them back. 

[sister13]

I know, I do too!! There was a black and gold version one year, I just came across one of those bags and will need to photograph that one! @AznAngelLiz