Sephora is one of the stores that are a popular go-to for make-up enthusiasts as it has a LOT of brands in one store. In the Philippines, we have some big brands like Mac, Nars, Makeup Forever, Estee Lauder, but they are in their own stores and sometimes in department stores in malls as well. We don't have Sephora physical stores in the Philippines and I know many wish to have them. Maybe they haven't thought of PH as their market yet as Maybelline and Loreal is so popular here.
There's Sephora PH online but that's only online (think they ship from Singapore?) but it's not that convenient for most as shopping online is hard especially if you don't know your shade yet.
Since we don't have them, there's this LookatmePH store in some SM malls in Metro Manila. I've read about this on MakeupPH subreddit and luckily I was in the area so I decided to give it a visit. :D
We went to SM Aura Taguig and the first store that I saw was the LookatmePH store since it's big enough for me to notice and it's just a bit closer to the entrance. :D I've read people saying it the Sephora of the Philippines since it has a lot of international brands that can't be found in department stores or Watsons. Some of them disagree as I've read they are not official distributors, more like a reseller kind of store if you know what I mean. But for the sake of them having some brands that can be found on Sephora, it's a nice option to have.
Their store is huge and they have a lot of brands for makeup and skincare. Cerave, The Ordinary, Benefit, Estee Lauder, Make Up Forever, Nars, Real Techniques, Cosrx, Innisfree... just to name a few. I was also specifically looking for makeup brands such as Rare Beauty (by Selena Gomez), Fenty (by Rihanna), Huda beauty, Makeup by Mario, Elf... but they only have a really few selections of these brands. I only saw 2 Rare Beauty products and no Fenty lol. Only a few ELF and Colourpop.
Speaking of pricing, they are a bit expensive. For example, an ELF putty blush costs about 650 pesos when in Shopee it could range from 450-500 pesos. In Amazon, it's only $7 (400 pesos). So yeah, quite expensive.
I only bought 3 makeup products and 1 perfume since my makeup is already almost complete and I don't really need anything. I'm also planning to visit Sephora in Thailand soon, so there's really no point of me buying a lot here.
Anyway, one of the saleslady actually told me you'll get a 250 pesos ($4.48) off when you signup on their website and you can get the voucher instantly. I was already there so why not?? Haha. I got the discount and for whatever reason I got another 750 pesos ($13.43) off. Obviously they want me to purchase again but I can't really come back here soon so I just used it. If I think of it, those discounts are almost like a "refund" to what I spent on their markups. I got a total of $17 (950 pesos) which is already good enough for me. :P
What's also really nice about this store is that you can have water, hot tea, or coffee all for free while you can sit down and do whatever. There are some of them who brought their laptops and did some work, and they are free for customers. I guess that means you have to buy something and you can do whatever you like after lol. This is also a good place for your boyfriends (or girlfriends or whoever you're with) to sit down while you browse their store instead of them complaining about following you around and being bored. :P
Overall, I enjoyed being there but I was quite bummed with the few products I saw. Most of the things I liked were out of stock which means there is a demand for these products, and finally a reason for Sephora to actually put up a physical store in the Philippines.
I wouldn't recommend it for people who are looking for international products that are cheap since their markup is really crazy. But if you do find a big discount such as the new user discount or whatever big sale they may have then it would be worth it. If you also like convenience and don't really care about the price, it's a good option.
I would suggest just buying from reputable Shopee and Lazada stores but beware of fakes out there as they are rampant. A good research from different forums will lead you to the authentic stores online. :D
And a pic in BGC (Taguig) near the SM Aura mall. I wanted to walk around here but in 2 days we were here, it was raining so it sucks we were just stuck inside the mall lol.
