Starting April 30th, there will be some changes to the Beauty Insider program at Sephora. Here’s everything you need to know, plus how these changes will affect how I shop:
If you shop at Sephora, you’re probably familiar with their Beauty Insider rewards program. With the free program, you earn points for purchases you make, get a percentage discount during sales, and you can choose a gift during your birthday month.
When Sephora updated their Beauty Insider program in 2018, the tier renewal gifts went away and they also took away free makeovers. Instead, you could choose from more points, or free flash shipping. It was a big change that seemed like a downgrade, but they did add “Rouge Rewards” which let you redeem 2500 points for $100 off. I was able to redeem for two of the Rouge Rewards at the time, but it seems like it’s difficult to get one now since they “sell out” quickly.
“NEW BENEFITS”
There are three tiers to the rewards program — Insider, VIB, and Rouge. I’ve been at the Rouge tier since its inception. When the program first started, I used to look forward to the tier renewal gifts, and I even attended some of the Rouge in-store events.
It’s been rumored that the Beauty Insider program was going to get another makeover this year. I got an email on Wednesday, detailing the new benefits coming to the program on April 30th. After reading through everything (full T&C here), I’m not actually seeing any new benefits at all for Rouge. Here’s everything you need to know:
What’s changing?
Redeem Points for Dollar-off Discount
Starting April 30th, you will be able to cash out 500 beauty insider points for $10 your purchase. Ok, that’s a nice option, right? Well not really — especially when you compare with the 2500 point = $100 Rouge Reward. And starting 4/30, Rouge will no longer be earning 1.5 points/dollar spent; instead, Rouge (and every tier) will only earn 1 point for every dollar — so it’ll be take even longer until you reach that cashout goal.
If you do choose to redeem 500 points for $10 off (which is a bad deal; 50% worse than the Rouge Reward), then you must have a $10 minimum purchase. If you later return that item, you don’t get the $10 discount refunded — no cash back and no points back. The only good thing about the 500 point/$10 off is that you can redeem them at any time — you don’t have to wait for the Rewards Bazaar. However, you can only use one $10-off per purchase.
Point Accumulation
I mentioned that every tier will now earn 1 point/dollar spent (which is a downgrade for VIB – 1.25 pts/$ and Rouge 1.5 pts/$). But to combat that change, there will now be periodic “events” where your point earning is multiplied. So twice a year, during multiplier events, Rouge will earn 4x the points when they shop, VIB will receive 3x the points and Insiders 2x the points. Points will no longer expire for active accounts.
Points for Discounts
Twice a year, you get the option to spend points on …a percentage discount off your purchase.
Spring Sale and Holiday Sale
Now, during Sephora’s spring sale, Rouge will get 20% off (it’s usually only 15%). The other tiers still get their same percentages (VIB 15% off and Insiders 10% off). The sale is coming up. Here’s a few of my past Spring Wishlists: Spring Wishlist 1, Spring Wishlist 2, Spring Wishlist 3. There are no changes to the Holiday Sale.
Tier Gifts
Each year when you renewed/leveled up to Rouge, you could select a gift. I really used to look forward to these gifts because they were exclusive products. They removed that perk with the last rewards program update, and gave the option instead of flash shipping or points, but now there’s no celebration gift at all.
Free Shipping*
Every tier will get access* to free shipping…as long as they reach the minimum purchase threshold. So, Beauty Insiders will need to spend $50+, and VIB $35+ in order to get free standard shipping. Rouge still gets free shipping automatically; no minimum purchase.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I am not incentivized to shop during the 4x’s points events because points are just fake currency to me. It’s just a way for Sephora to try to keep me in their ecosystem without really giving me anything. But it’s definitely a downgrade to earn fewer points for my regular purchases. Because the point-earning rate is lower now, it would take me way longer to reach 2500 points for $100 Rouge Reward.
The “spend points for a discount” benefit is so annoying to me. I’ve seen emails like this already and I am so confused how this is even a marketing strategy for them. They want me to spend my points (which cost me dollars), so that I can shop more? So, I’m paying them to spend more money there…???
It seems like the changes to the Beauty Insider program mostly benefit the two lower tiers or people who want to dive into the point-maximization game. Rouge is no longer an “exclusive”/special tier with perks to match.
Personally, none of these changes are benefits to me. I still like shopping at Sephora for having the brands I want all in one place, but I am also going to be looking at other retailers (Ulta, Nordstrom), and also the specific brand’s websites to research the best deals for me.
Ultimately, you are in control of your money and what you choose to spend it on. Don’t let a rewards program sway to buy something — they’re just points and there will always be another sale. As long as you do your research and make intentional purchases, none of this other stuff matters.
