My Sephora Collection Holiday 2021 package came a little late this year (and then I was super busy), so this is sneaking in just before Christmas—but oooooh, these babies are good. I love a Sephora holiday collection, and 2021’s is no exception. These affordable, brightly-coloured gifts are perfect for makeup lovers who are still putting together their collections, and one item in particular (a post-Christmas advent calendar) is the perfect last-minute gift.

This isn’t the whole collection by any means, but these are my favourite picks of the year.

Sephora Collection Holiday 2021: “Holiday Vibes”

For Sephora’s 2021 Holiday collection, we’re talking lipglosses. We’re talking longwearing liquid lipsticks. (I love theirs — they’re not the very best on the market, but they’re really, really nice for the price.) We’re talking silicone-free masks for your hands, face, and feet; super-soft makeup sponges; cinnamon hand creams. We’re talking multi-purpose colour sticks, lip balm ornaments, massive eyeshadow palettes, and really wonderful lipglosses.

One of the things that makes Sephora Collection’s holiday offerings so great is that they introduce you to a lot of the brand’s fan-favourites. I love their house brand for makeup basics, and their holiday sets are an even better deal. (Especially if you can nab any of the stragglers during Boxing Day sales!)

This year, Sephora’s holiday offerings introduced me to the brand’s Sephora Collection Outrageous Plumping Lip Gloss ($16 CAD). These glosses, included in 01 Universal Volume, 02 XXXL Nude, and 05 Plump It Up Red, are delightfully sheer and minty. They’re lightly sticky, but in that “hot girl from the mid-2000s” kind of way—not so sticky that hot guys won’t want to kiss you.

With their sheer colour and tingling minty effect, these are a beautiful “my lips but better” colour. If you’re just picking up a gloss on its own and have missed the holiday sets, 05 Plump It Up Red is my favourite! It’s a gorgeous, natural-looking, shimmer-free plum that I just can’t get enough of.

The Sephora Collection Holiday Vibes advent calendar

The Sephora Collection Holiday 2021 collection features two calendars. One is a traditional calendar that takes you from December 1st to 25th. I always love these ones from Sephora Collection, because Sephora’s contains a ton of great, tiny products that are perfect for travel. They’re usually around $50, and every door contains a great mini gift—unlike Chanel’s viral $1025 CAD advent calendar, which basically just contained stickers.

Sephora’s traditional advent calendar is great, but their other is genius. Sephora Collection’s Holiday Vibes After Advent Calendar is a post-Christmas advent calendar, and each drop-down box contains two miniature gifts to get you from December 26th to the 31st. You get twelve items in total (all pictured here) for $25 USD, making it the perfect last-minute gift for a Christmas lover that you have yet to check off your list.

Absolutely flippin’ genius, you guys.

This is my last post of the year and I’m already one glass of bubbly into the evening, so I’ll leave you with this one musing: why are we starting our advent calendars on December 1st when we could be using them to get through the after-Christmas slump instead? I mean, that way, they’re giftable, affordable, and honestly—necessary. So many of us are off from work at that time, slogging through thick snow and trying to schedule distanced coffee pickups with friends, only to find that every single local business is closed for the holidays.

Here’s to more after-advent calendars in 2022. Have a wonderful holiday season!

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