Sephora

Milou07 · ‎01-05-2018

I've seen a lot of talk about the VIB rouge renewal gift for 2018, so I thought it might help to post a short review of the 2018 vs 2017 renewal gifts for anyone curious.

No, I haven't spent $1000 in the last 5 days - I requalified for Rouge late in December 2017, and my store was out of the 2017 gifts, so I received the 2018 gift yesterday instead. (Similar situation for the 2017 gift - I'm always a year ahead, it seems!)

The bags are different - 2017 was a silky red material, which felt nice, but also a little flimsy. 2018's is more of a canvas material with printed dots on it - much stiffer and sturdier feeling, but also not as soft and sleek - more difficult to close the drawstring on. I like that the year is written on the 2018 bag.

They both come with cardboard welcome cards, and little soft plastic cases for the brushes (same material as the Sephora Collection beauty on the fly bag), which feel really nice. They have a flap on the back that tucks in to keep the case closed.

The brushes come with little flimsy plastic sleeves on to keep the bristles safe. The brushes are the same size between years, and they are both that slightly sparkly red color, with the Sephora logo on one side of the ferrule, and the size on the other side. They have different text on the handles - the 2018 brush (55.5) has fewer words and also seems to have stronger/thicker printing than the 2017 brush (55.6). I really like that the 2018 brush has 2018 printed on the handle.

Both of the brushes are very soft - the 2017 brush has shorter (and thus more dense feeling) hair (56.5), while the 2018 brush has longer and less dense feeling hair (55.5) - I feel like I will have more use for the 2018 brush in general, especially with powder products.

Finally, here is a comparison with the full sized 56 brush, so you can see the brush and hair comparison - the handle and ferrule are longer in the full sized brush, but I think the proportions are well done in the miniature brushes.

Overall, I think the 2018 Rouge brush is well done. It feels high quality, and the hair is very soft. I appreciate that it has the year printed on it, and that it has longer hair and thus is a more useful brush (at least for me) as compared to the 2017 brush. However, I am disappointed that this year's gift is another brush. The brush was a cute idea for one year, but I enjoyed getting a different item each year (favorite so far has been the NARS blush in an exclusive shade for 2016!), and it feels a little mundane and disappointing to receive a very very similar gift for two years in a row.

willa25 · ‎01-05-2018

This was extremely informative, @Milou07. Thank you for providing such a detailed write up. (including the pictures) I especially liked that you kept it strictly factual. Very impressed!