Sephoria NYC 2023

[SportyGirly125]

Now that the word is officially out….who will be attending Sephoria NYC 2023 on September 29-30, 2023?

I won’t be able to attend in person this year (I plan to attend virtually) but I know other members who are already planning and going.  If I had to choose a session it would be session 3 with Patrick Ta and Natasha Denona. 

Please share your excitement and even photos and experience here if you do go. 

[michellecat]

Have any silver or gold key ticket holders from 9/29 sessions gotten their swag bags yet? 

update: got mine! Thank you Sephora! 

[SportyGirly125]

Received my virtual swag bag box today. Thank you @TeamBIC 

[heartsmyface]

@SportyGirly125  Ouhhhh which ND shade did you get?  It looks grey!! 

[SportyGirly125]

@heartsmyface @It is Natasha Denona Single eyeshadow in 321M glam palette. It arrived broken but a MOD is helping me with it. 

[missjeanie]

Well… I’ve started this post about a dozen times and each time it just feels like I’m not able to adequately convey how much this experience meant to me.  New York City as a whole was an amazing trip. That I ended up getting to share it with fellow BIC members and my SO made it all so much more amazing. From dinner at Angelo's on Thursday night with about 20 BIC Babes, waiting in line inside the lobby of Sephoria on Friday morning a little soggy, but smiling none the less, to drinks and hanging out in the hotel lobby until the wee hours on Saturday night. 

While I was there I had a few things I had to check off my personal ‘to do list’ See the Ghostbusters fire hall, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, eat Cheesecake, Pizza, tacos from a truck, fish shaped ice cream, Babka, and Black and White Cookies. See Central Park, the Largest Sephora in America, and visit the Lip Lab. I feel like I got to everything other than visit a Lip Lab… just something to add to my next travel experience!

One of my favourite nights almost didn’t happen! I was tired after a day of exploring and was all tucked into bed when my SO mentioned that we didn’t get to go to the Speakeasy I’d mentioned to him. He had apparently had his heart set on it. Back up we got and walked over. Wow… It was such a cool experience to step back into the prohibition era bar. Will 100% be on my list to go back during my next NYC experience.

Sephoria itself was … a dizzying dream that I still feel a bit hungover from. Friday morning was met with a bunch of ladies all eager like little kids to get going. After a bit of a soggy trek to the convention centre we were waiting in the lobby when we found out that session 1 wasn’t going to happen. Lots of sad faces around us, but the lovely ladies working were all so nice and the BIC gang kept our spirits high as we hung out and waited for some news as to session 2. There may have been a bit of peeking in the swag bags that were handed out while we were there! Once we found out session 2 was cancelled it was a quick decision that we weren’t gonna let it dampen our spirits. A hotel drop off and dry off was followed by Thai food and a visit to Sephora!   What a better way to spend a dreary afternoon than wandering around a Sephora on 5th Ave with your beauty besties! It was so much fun peaking in baskets and swatching (my SO thinks this is called doing lines on your arms lol) all the pretty things! What formula do you love? Smell this fragrance? Which eyeliner do you have on? Did you see they had the new PT Holiday Palette out early??? A BIC dream! Dinner out (with a visit to the Times Square Sephora while waiting for a table, wohoooo I got to go into the biggest one) at a delicious dinner with the group followed by cheesecake was fabulous! Post dinner I got to wander around the city at night with @Mellmars1185  and my SO. So many beautiful buildings and landmarks!!!

Saturday morning was quite the anxious one waiting to see if the days sessions were going to be open. Was so excited to see everyone ready to go and smiles were ear to ear yet again! Having never been to Sephoria before this felt like such an amazing thing to be a part of. There were beauty lovers everywhere, booths decked out to the nines with samples (and some full sized gifts) a plenty. Brands had make up and fragrance everywhere, photo ops galore, and it was almost overwhelming trying to figure out where to look next. We started off on the lower level and saw the Sephora Brand Loyalty team first thing. Scrunchies??? Yes please! Briogio ‘showers’, A tub full of bubbles, a Tatcha photo op followed by one with Sol de Janeiro moved us along to the stairs up to the second floor… wow… there were SOOOOO many more brand booths up here! By the time the morning event was closing up I could have sworn I was walking around in a daze and I must have seen everything??? I mean, I didn’t even make it to the masterclass I was so busy drinking it all in! A quick lunch of pizza with some of the ladies had us all talking about which booths were our favourites and which brand founders were on site… I discovered that I’d only seen about half of the booths! I was determined for session 2 to get to see those that I missed in session 1. 

Session 2 was even more packed and I booted my way upstairs almost right away to get to some of the booths I’d missed in the morning. I was super grateful to have gone upstairs right away as it got busy and crowded fast! People coming upstairs later were having to wait in lines to even get into the second floor.  I found the CT and YSL booths that I’d missed the first time round… how could I have missed these??? They were both Fabulous!! I also had  @heartsmyface  show me the lounge this session! Water… yes, yes that was a much needed water and a chance to sit down for a few minutes! I headed back down stairs towards the end of the session to get a peek at a few of the brands there that I’d missed in my rush to get upstairs… YTTP founder Greg was there! What good luck! The BIC gang gathered ourselves to make the trek back to the hotel. I think by this point my adrenaline rush was starting to subside and the tired hit. After getting in a quick nap, it was to the lobby to socialize with everyone over a few drinks and lots of candy being passed about! 

I was a first time Sephoria, in person attendee and I have to say… NYC will see me again, as will Sephoria. Meeting everyone who I’ve come to see as friends from BIC in person was a dream. Everyone is absolutely just as fabulous in person as they are online. This was a trip that my soul needed and it was so wonderful to share it with so many beautiful humans.  It took me a few days upon returning home to be able to unpack and take it all in. I was overwhelmed with the amount of goodies from brands and swag bags that made it home with me. Canadian Thanksgiving was only a week later so I quickly set aside one of everything for me to test and play with then made up bags of goodies for my SO, his daughter and sisters. My sisters and nieces were over for Thanksgiving and chose items to test (and maybe a SDJ BumBum that they’ve tried before lol) with the promise of reviews online and back to me (I love hearing about what they did and didn’t like and why). I had a few items left and work was doing a charity auction. I already had a donation ready but chose to put the last of the items together with a manicure gift certificate as a ‘beauty bundle’. All the proceeds are going to a local women’s DV shelter. 

Sephoria… you’ve been an experience, but most of all I’m so lucky to have these memories. I’ve already told work I’ll be gone for at least week next fall… You’ve got a new fan for life.

My 'lines' from our group Sephora tripMade it to the largest store!I have a thing for Neon signsHad to leave a note on the Sephora wall!One of my favourite brands the last few years!One of the first booths I got to see!!Such fun to share with friends!I mean... Barbie Cafe? Yes. Yes Please!The hotel offered bed time stories lolFish ice cream was worth it!Speakeasy drinks... it's coffee and tea... obviously 😉

[sister13]

Oh my goodness, what an amazing recap full of amazing memories! So wonderful to meet you and relive SEPHORiA through your eyes! @missjeanie 

[missjeanie]

@sister13 It was so nice to meet you as well!  My pink fan has been living in my beauty space and is used daily!  Thank you so much for making us all feel so special!  

[sister13]

Awww, I'm so glad! I was just needing a fan yesterday and made a mental note to bring mine upstairs. @missjeanie 

[Samtian]

@missjeanie i need to get me some of that ice cream!!

[missjeanie]

@Samtian I know right!  It was so cute.  Delicious AND instagramable!

[Cissy63]

@missjeanie  Oh I loved living Sephoria through your eyes 🥰.  Your story was wonderful!  I could just see you rushing here and there to see it all.  And pictures with fellow BICers are priceless.  Experience of NYC sounds amazing!  From fish ice cream (it looked so yummy) to a speakeasy 🤩.  Thanks for letting us share it ❤️

[missjeanie]

@Cissy63 The entire trip was A LOT of yummy!  I swear there were so many times where I didn't even think to take photos, I was too 'in the moment' ... which is how I know it was a good time.  I highly encourage anyone to go if they can, every BICer there was just fabulous and it really felt like I'd known everyone forever. 

[Buootiful]

Awww, thank you so much for taking us along this special Sephoria trip @missjeanie ❤️.  It was like being there with you and all the BICers in NY. Aren't adventures when you are dead tired the best?  Awesome you were able to experience a Speakeasy! I love all your photos and can't wait to experience Sephoria in the near future with BIC friends. That Barbie cafe looks cool, did you eat there? Good to know how you navigated the sessions. Looks like doing 2 sessions at the very least to get to almost all the booths/photo ops. What great Sephora shopping parties as well👍

I love you put together Sephora beauties for your family and  charity!

[missjeanie]

@Buootiful The speakeasy is a 10/10 recommend!  I'm going to be on the look out to find more of them out there now!  Barbie cafe was cute, but a super limited menu, we decided after peeking in that we were good with just doing the photo op! lol I really think having so many ladies who knew both NYC and had been to Seporia before around helped so much.  I was in a bit of a daze going in, but they all had strategy! 

[CynthieLu]

Your first Sephoria experience is down in the books now @missjeanie. 😊🖤🤍 I can tell by reading how amazing your adventures were! Thank you so much for sharing them!

The pictures are fantastic. ✨ Your depiction of the beautiful crazy intensity of the days at Sephoria are pretty incredible and sharing it with other BIC friends is soo special! Thank for you the details and sharing it all with us 💗

[missjeanie]

@CynthieLu The BIC crew really did make the event everything it could be.  I'm sure NYC is a beast on it's own, but adding in Sephoria and a few dozen beauty lovers.... I'm already dreaming of the next one!  I'm hoping they change up the city every year... but that said, I won't be mad to see NYC again!

[Mellmars1185]

@missjeanie Reading about your experience put a smile to my face. Meeting everyone (and you) was priceless. I am glad you got to check so many items off your list and had an amazing time. I think you wrote about it perfectly to match your experience and highlight the times that really made the trip. Memories came rushing back. This trip, experience and friends will remain a part of me forever ❤️. Lol at lines on your arms!! 

[missjeanie]

@Mellmars1185 I agree!! Meeting everyone was the star of the trip.  It simply wouldn't have been the same without the BIC crew!  I had so much fun going through photos last night and trying to pick a few to share.  The amount of memories packed into a few days is crazy!

[heartsmyface]

@missjeanie  Hahaha, it was certainly fun to go downtown NYC and doing lines with friends at Sephora!  Colourful times! 😂🤣. Your SO is hilarious!  I was laughing constantly!

Shopping for makeup was so much fun!  It was especially fun since D wasn’t trying to rush the process cause he was severely outnumbered!  😆.  
Sephoria is so much fun and there’s sooo much to see and experience!  This is why getting all for sessions is ideal!  It makes it easier to take everything in without rushing.  Four would have made going to the masterclasses and seeing everything else more likely.  It was still the best time I’ve had all year thanks to all the ladies who were there!  
ha I’m still kicking myself for not getting a bedtime story!  😭

[missjeanie]

@heartsmyface LOL, He loved you too!! He's so not really into the beauty space, but thought everyone was great and was more than happy to get to know such wonderful people!  

I totally agree with four sessions!  If I knew I'd have more time to wander booths, I would have made it over to the masterclasses, but I just couldn't sacrifice that kind of time! I can't imagine how people had time at previous events to do masterclasses AND beauty services!!