15 Expensive (Underrated) Products I Stock Up On At Sephora As A 50-Year-Old Beauty Editor—Because There’s Nothing Else Like Them
Let’s shop. Together.
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by Audie Metcalf
I edit the very site you’re reading and as such, I try a lot of products. A lottttttttttttttt of products.
It helps that I’m a total product whore, too. Can I still say that?
50th birthday mocktail because I don’t drink because I am very boring and unfun in real life!
Some of my fave beauty finds are cheap, hidden gems, but others, the very ones on this list, are hideously expensive. When I find something I love that’s hideously expensive, I almost always try to find a similar, less expensive version, because I love to bring all of you cheaper options—because why wouldn’t I?
But some things are just so good, that they have no equal. They are truly UNDUPABLE! (Seinfeld voice)
And because Sephora is currently running one of their biggest sales of the year in which you can use the code ALLONSALE to get up to 30% off of everything, this felt like the right time to stock up.
Let’s shop.
1. Original Beautyblender® Makeup Sponge
I have tried every version of sponge on the market—and the OG beauty blender* is the best. I am never without at least 6 backups. I soak it in water so that it’s dripping wet, squeeze out all the excess, and tap ANY cream product into my face. When I tap and not smear, the sponge presses product into my pores and I swear they disappear—vs a brush or fingers. Oh, and I love their puff*, too. I get supremely oily around 3pm and my trick is that I just blot with this puff with zero product—my oil slick is gone and I don’t add powder (which makes us old gals look makeuppy and texturey). I included it on this list because while it’s not hugely pricey, there are definitely cheaper versions, but they’re just no good.
Price: $20 for the sponge, $18 for the puff
2. Ouai Scalp & Body Sugar Scrub and Body Crème
I’ve long been a fan of Ouai shampoo (such a squeaky clean for oily rooted gals!) but only recently dipped a toe into their body care and friends. FRIENDS. This formula and this exact scent, St. Barts, is SO UNBELIEVABLY GOOD. It’s a little bit tropical and pina colada-adjacent and if you love to smell good without necessarily wearing a bunch of perfume, I am telling you that you must try this combo. I use the exfoliator on my body and my scalp and then I follow with the cream immediately after my shower and my skin is so soft as to be criminal. I’ve also never gotten so many compliments on the scent.
Price: $42 for the scrub, $40 for the cream
3. Ouai Solid Fragrance
Which leads us to … the same scent in a tiny, purse-friendly solid. I love solids! This one is so cute and the scent is so universally good that I’m stocking up for gifts—I usually buy things I love in bulk throughout the year so that when it comes time for gifting I just have a stash and I never have to stress. It’s genius. Try it. This obviously isn’t expensive but how could I not include?
Price: $34
4. Charlotte Tilbury Magic Vanish Color Corrector
I’m going to tell you a makeup secret you are going to hate: light concealer under your eyes makes your bags and wrinkles look worse. I promise this is a fact. But this peach color corrector gets rid of purple and darkness especially if you dab some very sparingly on the inner corner of your eyes almost toward your nose, and again on the outer corner of your eyes. This formula doesn’t crease and the colors are extremely simple. I usually buy 2-3 because they’re always out of stock.
Price: $36
5. Hourglass Ambient® Lighting Palette
If you’re old like me, makeup probably ages you—but this palette is like a filter in a compact. I sweep all the colors together and they’re sort of like a last-step that gives some color but mostly fills in every line and pore so you literally look like last-season-of-Moonlighting Maddie Hayes where it was like there was Vaseline on the lens. (Only other olds will get this reference!)
Price: $75
6. Kérastase Nutritive Masquintense Riche
Once I turned 40, my previously stick-straight hair became a halo of frizz around my face—this is the only hair mask that has ever made a difference. My hair is softer, less frizzy, extremely healthy even though I bleach the daylights out of it, and you simply will not believe the scent. Rumor has it they put one drop of Chanel no 5 in the formula, but I can’t substantiate this.
Price: $67
7. Nuface® Trinity+ Starter Kit
I’ve been using Nuface for about 2 years and though I’ve never done threads or xerf or really any tightening procedure, I think this has made an enormous difference in my j&j (jawline and jowels), especially after losing 60 lbs.
Before and After
Price: $395
8. Charlotte Tilbury Unisex Healthy Glow Tinted Moisturizer
You know how choosing a foundation color is life’s worst activity? And you know how choosing a foundation color ON THE INTERNET is even more nightmarish? This totally unique product gives you a subtle, sun-kissed glow, but it acts like a foundation in that it gets rid of redness, evens out your skin tone, and gives an overall glow—but you don’t don’t have to choose a color. No one talks about this product, and I truly don’t know why.
Price: $48
9. Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream
My skin often gets angry in the fall and winter and my rosacea becomes really inflamed. It is then when I reach for this tried-and-true moisturizer that is so calming and so hydrating, I often wonder why I don’t just wear it all year round. It’s not sexy, it’s not new, it’s just one of those classics that really, really works. If you have sensitive skin in the slightest, this should be your go-to moisturizer. I also use it on my elbows and hands in the winter and my skin never gets dry.
Price: $39
10. Oribe Superfine hair Spray
Just a ludicrously priced hairspray—and yet, nothing else comes close. It holds my fine hair so gorgeously (esp bangs) and all hair stays in place while never feeling crunchy. I’ve tried to stray but I cannot.
Price: $46
11. T3 AireBrush One-Step Smoothing and Volumizing Blow Dry Brush
I know there are 134 versions of hot round brushes but you can trust that I found the best one because I have tried all 134 of them. Ok maybe not all 134 but I am not kidding when I tell you that number could legit be 45. This is absolutely the best one in terms of hand ergonomics, how long the blowout look lasts, and how insanely smooth it makes my hair.
Price: $150
12. Good Genes Good Genes All-In-One Lactic Acid Treatment
I have written about this product 87 times because it’s my favorite resurfacing product without question. I use it twice a week overnight on bare skin to keep my (50!)-year-old skin clear and glowing. When we get older we think just piling on thick serums and moisturizers is the answer when in fact we need to be chemically exfoliating so our skin stays fresh. I get the huge size now because I get shaky/nervous if I run out without a backup.
Before and After
Price: $122
13. Tata Harper Nourishing Oil Cleanser
I’m sorry if this is annoying and “not relatable” but I looooove a double cleanse. I keep this oil cleanser in my shower as my first cleanse to get rid of makeup, and then go in with the iS Clinical Cleansing Complex*. My skin has never felt cleaner in my life—but it’s never dry or stripped. I’m not thrilled with the price of this cleanser but I use one pump per cleanse, and it lasts me an entire year.
Price: $78
14. Omnilux Contour Face Light Therapy Mask
Yes, I do red light therapy. I started my dog on red light therapy after her knee surgery and I was astonished by how quickly she healed, so now we both do it. I’m embarrassed to say I have a few different masks but this one is the best design and is the easiest to use—and I love that they have a neck piece*! If you’re on the fence, take the plunge. I definitely see a difference in tone and texture. And there’s clinical evidence!
Price: $395
15. Charlotte Tilbury Charlotte's Magic Hydrator Mist
Possibly my greatest indulgence on the list. This mist, ahh this mist. First it’s important you know that my number one favorite category of beauty product is a face mist. I promise you have more than 50 in my cupboards at this very moment. I should have taken some insane overhead pic of all of them, but it’s midnight and I’ve been working on this article and shopping WHILE “making content” for Sephora all day and I’m tired. Just try being an influencer for a day. Just try. (Do you get that reference or do I need to get off TikTok immediately?) So the point is—if there is any product category I know better than other, it’s mists. And I would guess that if there’s anything in your routine you think is more of a “nice to have” rather than a “must have” it’s also mists. But I just need you to lean in and trust me on this: when you finish your makeup routine with a few spritzes of this mist, I don’t know why and I don’t know how, but your makeup will never look more beautiful. It sort of “seals” it all in but unlike with traditional setting sprays, it doesn’t tighten your skin or make things look dry. It just helps everything sort of melt together and I can promise you on a stack of bibles, if you try this mist, you’ll soon be buying multiples at a time. Like me.
Price: $47
And a few not-expensive extras I thought I’d mention because you’re here and they’re utterly amazing
1. The best powder for mature skin* I’ve ever tried. Ever.
2. I stocked up on these lip balm trios* for gifts as well because this is by far my favorite lip balm.
3. You know I love a beauty blender as per the aforementioned gushfest, but if you’re more of a brush girl for your foundation there isn’t a single brush more amazing than this one*.
4. This is the ONLY concealer brush* I use now.
5. If blushes look orange on you, if you love to glow but not shine, if you’re afraid of shimmer, just buy this exact Haus Labs blush in the color glassy hibiscus* and you can thank me over DM later.
Audie Metcalf is the Editor-in-chief of The Candidly, and lives in LA with her family. You can find more of her articles here.
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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