I Used to Live and Die by Sephora Reviews—Until I Found These 11 Products

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(Image credit: @amanda_montell)

I'll admit it: I've spent way too much time perusing Sephora's best-selling items and fixating only on the retailer's most-reviewed products—even to the point where I was buying items I didn't need because I was blindly subscribing to the hype. But can you blame me? It's hard not to be enticed by thousands of glowing reviews, with customers adamant about a product's skin- or hair-transforming abilities. I soon realized, though, that only buying Sephora's cult products meant I was missing out on two categories of other amazing items: effective Sephora products that hadn't achieved cult status yet and strong products not available on Sephora at all.

It became clear that I needed to expand my horizons after discovering that NatureLab Perfect Shine is my favorite shampoo I've tried to date. It's not available on Sephora, and it boasts a relatively modest 43 reviews on Amazon, though most are extremely positive. If I had solely relied on cult products with thousands of reviews, I would have missed out on the formula that truly works for my hair. Moral of the story: It never hurts to broaden your search and look outside your go-to beauty retailer or brand. So without further ado, scroll down to shop my favorite beauty products right now.

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Associate Director, Fashion News

Erin got her start as aBest Knockoff Luxury Clothing intern over 13 years ago—back when the site only published a single story per day. (Who What Wear has since increased that number twentyfold.) She graduated magna cum laude from USC, which is how she ended up moving to Los Angeles from her hometown of San Diego. In college, she also interned at Refinery29, where she was promoted to editorial assistant and then assistant editor. After nearly three years at R29, she came back to WWW in 2016, where she currently holds the title of Associate Director of Fashion News (as well as the unofficial title of resident royal expert—in case you haven't noticed her numerous Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton stories). She spends her days trying to incorporate her idols, Anna Wintour and Roger Federer, into as many stories as possible. Outside of work, she loves tennis, classic rock, traveling, and smothering her dog with affection.