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UK health and beauty retailer Boots owned Sephora in the 1980s.Dominique Mandonnaud, pictured in the middle, in 2023. Francois Durand/Getty Images for Sephora A significant milestone in Sephora's history starts with Dominique Mandonnaud, who opened a French perfumery in 1970 called Shop 8.The retailer earned accolades for its unique "self-service shopping." Customers were encouraged to touch and sniff the perfumes and spritz themselves.This was a stark contrast to department stores where assistants sprayed passersby, and buyers had to wait to open packages until they got home.However, Mandonnaud didn't create the Sephora brand. French department store Nouvelles Galeries started Sephora in 1976, and UK retailer Boots bought it three years later, European Cosmetic Markets reported in 1993.In 1993, Shop 8 acquired Sephora for $61 million. It took on the chain's name because it was better known in France and had "a more feminine connotation," Mandonnaud told Women's Wear Daily at the time. However, the layout and aesthetics of 38 Sephora shops would change to match Shop 8's 11 boutiques.That meant a more sophisticated look without plastic baskets and discount signs, Mandonnaud said.The origins of the name Sephora are a bit mysterious. One theory is that it has Biblical connotations, according to Bustle. Zipporah was the name of Moses' wife in the Book of Exodus, but the 1956 film "The Ten Commandments" changed her name to Sephora.Sephora's flagship store opened on Paris's Champs-lyses in 1996.Sephora's flagship store on the Champs-lyses in Paris in 2024. MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images Located on the popular street, perfect for drawing in tourists, the 12,916-square-foot store was France's largest freestanding perfumery when it opened in 1996, WWD reported at the time. It was staffed with over 100 employees who worked between 10 a.m. and 1 a.m. on weekends.By this time, Sephora had already started using its signature black-and-white color scheme. Make-up sections had special lighting options that mimicked daylight, giving browsers a better sense of how products looked in everyday situations.The large storeCybercosmetic area.In 2023, the Paris flagship store underwent significant renovations. Sephora made the store more energy-efficient and added greenery, something that's missing from the chain's other branches, WWD reported at the time.LVMH bought Sephora in 1997 for $262 million.Fresh, an LVMH brand, displayed in Sephora in 2011. Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images When LVMH purchased Sephora, it announced plans to expand with 50 additional stores throughout Europe and Asia in the next four years, WWD reported at the time.LVMH is the French conglomerate behind luxury brands such as Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Mot & Chandon, Fendi, and Tiffany & Co.It also owns several beauty and perfume brands that Sephora stocks, including Fresh, Benefit, Givenchy, and OleHenriksen.In 1998, Sephora arrived in the US with its first store in New York City.The Sephora SoHo store in 2013. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Sephora Sephora opened a 9,000-square-foot shop in the SoHo neighborhood, stocked with thousands of products.In the late '90s, about two-thirds of the US's cosmetics industry's $14.5 billion in sales came through department stores or drug stores. Shoppers sometimes had a hard time finding smaller brands like Urban Decay or MAC.For many customers, shopping at Sephora was a new experience. They had options from dozens of brands at their fingertips, instead of having to move from counter to counter, talking to salespeople who wanted to sell them every eyeshadow, blush, and lipstick from a single line, The New York Times reported in 1998.Industry experts weren't sure whether customers would buy as much without hovering sales staff. LVMH bet big, though, planning to open another 15 stores across the US the same year before expanding to malls. By 2000, it had 64 stores in the US."Consumers will want to come into Sephora for the freedom of choice and the shopping experience," Sephora executive Steve Bock told WWD in 1998.The company got into e-commerce early.A sign reads shop Sepora.com open 24/7 at Sephora in New York City in 2006. Jamie McCarthy/WireImage via Getty Images By 1998, Sephora had a basic website, but it was revamped the following year into an e-commerce site so visitors could make purchases. Ads for the site promised customers could find ''virtually every'' product, whether they were looking for makeup, fragrance, or other beauty categories, The New York Times reported in 1999.When the dot-com bubble burst, Sephora snapped up other beauty retail sites, like Eve.com, which it purchased in 2000.A 2000 review of the site from Internet World noted that some major brands, including Chanel, Lancome, and Este Lauder, were missing, but overall it was a fun experience, even if a number of products were sold out.In the early days, Sephora attempted to recreate the sense of discovery provided at the in-person stores. A fragrance-finding feature used categories, including gender, blend, and notes, to help customers find a scent. There were over 230 herbs, spices, flowers, and other notes to choose from.Sephora also started an online magazine in 1999 called Beauty Cyber-Space. One of its early features was an interactive celebrity makeup lesson from actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, WWD reported at the time.Sephora's app followed in 2010.Sephora injected technology into its stores.A visitor uses a Sephora app to apply digital makeup in 2017. Rosdiana Ciaravolo/Getty Images The retailer has typically been quick to jump on new tech trends. It even implemented payment by mobile phones when it was still a novelty in 2013.Before everyone carried smartphones, Sephora customers could access the web from the store's internet terminals, WWD reported in 1999. That was just the beginning of the retailer's tech savvy.The stores' computers could also help people find the right lotion for their dry skin or a fragrance that matched their favorite scent, The New York Times reported in 1998.By 2007, shoppers could scan their faces with Skincredible devices, which would deliver a breakdown of stats like moisture content, amount of lines, and pore size. Then they would get recommendations for serums or creams to treat crow's feet, sunspots, and other diagnoses. Some dermatologists worried this would scare people into buying unnecessary or ineffective products, The New York Times reported at the time.Color IQ launched in 2012. Sephora partnered with Pantone Color Institute to create a device that scanned the skin and assigned a Pantone SkinTone number. Customers could then use that number to find concealers, foundation, and other makeup in the right shade.In 2021, the retailer said it was incorporating AI technology to measure saturation and make the color matching more accurate. Still, some people have found the results to be less than perfect.Sephora's Virtual Artist app, which debuted in 2017, uses augmented reality to show someone how they'll look with dark red lipstick or a new shade of eyeshadow. Its tutorials can also train you on contouring and other makeup techniques.Shoppers could find lesser-known brands that weren't always easy to find elsewhere.Products displayed at a Sephora in 2000. Bruce Bisping/Star Tribune via Getty Images In Sephora's early days in the US, cosmetics giants like Este Lauder were in exclusive deals with department stores and couldn't sell through the newcomer. Instead, Sephora focused on indie brands."When Sephora first entered the United States, a lot of established brands didn't want to work with us," CEO Artemis Patrick told Forbes in 2024. "For sheer survival, Sephora had to start incubating these baby brands."Pairing with Sephora helped catapult some brands into the mainstream, like Tarte, Hard Candy, and Benefit.In the 2010s and 2020s, Drunk Elephant, Sol de Janeiro, Milk Makeup, and Supergoop all found success with Sephora. Around this time, investors started pouring over $2 billion a year into beauty startups, according to Crunchbase.Sephora sometimes inked exclusive deals with new brands. In exchange, up-and-coming companies were stocked in stores, received shout-outs on Sephora's Instagram page, and had access to data about shoppers, Fast Company reported in 2024.The exclusive partnerships don't always work out, even for big-name stars. Sephora stopped carrying Jennifer Lopez's beauty line in its stores after three years, Beauty Independent reported in 2024.Eventually, Sephora became such a juggernaut that it started carrying brands that were previously department-store exclusives, including Bobbi Brown and Nars. Even Glossier, once a direct-to-consumer darling, entered Sephora's stores in 2022.Betting on small brands has helped Sephora track and guide trends.TVs display information for customers at a Sephora in 2003. J. Vespa/WireImage Beauty trends come and go, and Sephora has been at the forefront of many of them in the past couple of decades. In 2005, a Plumping Station held an assortment of pencils and glosses for adding volume to lips, The New York Times reported.In the years that followed, shoppers could get everything they needed for contouring, a smoky eye, the perfect blowout, or a face that looked makeup-free. Those curious about trying Korean skincare or men who were new to makeup also found plenty to choose from at Sephora.As TikTok beauty trends happen at the speed of light, Sephora has helped customers navigate them with in-store and online sections dedicated to viral products."Sephora Squad" influencers also help the retailer generate buzz on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube by creating content around skincare, hair care, and beauty products.Since customers often received a handful of samples at checkout (or in their delivery box), it made it easy to check out unfamiliar items.Sephora hasn't shied away from pairing with celebrities, though.Jessica Simpson launching Dessert Beauty at Sephora Times Square in 2004. Lawrence Lucier/FilmMagic via Getty Images When Sephora opened a new store in San Francisco in 2003, model Lauren Hutton and designer Anna Sui attended the celebration to promote their makeup lines.A few years later, Jessica Simpson debuted her Dessert Beauty, lipgloss, body shimmer, and whipped body cream supposedly edible that made the wearer smell like a walking cupcake, according to InStyle. The Olsen twins had a fragrance at Sephora starting in 2013.While many of these products are now defunct, more recent Sephora-partnered celebrity brands are still going strong. Fenty Beauty by Rihanna and Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty have helped make both stars billionaires, for example.The loyalty program kept customers coming back.A shopper gets scanned with a Color IQ device at a Sephora VIB Rouge Spring Social in 2014. Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Sephora Sephora's Beauty Insider program dates back to 2007. It expanded over the years into a tiered rewards program that offered goodies to customers who spent a little or a lot.Insider was free to join, and shoppers were bumped up to VIB status when they racked up purchases of $350 or more each year. The Rouge tier, launched in 2013, was reserved for those who spent $1,000 or more.A few of the Beauty Insider perks included a birthday gift typically a few sample products plus exclusive sales and points that gave discounts on certain purchases. Members also got access to the online community forum and invites to in-store events.Rouge members got more points for each dollar spent and could take advantage of certain sales before other customers. They also got bigger discounts for some sales, saving 20% compared to a basic Insider's 10%.Sephora has tweaked its bonuses in recent years, to the ire of some customers. Rouge Insiders no longer get free makeovers, and members who want their birthday gifts need to go into a store or make a $25 purchase online.Since 2018, fans have lined up for the Sephoria event.Mindy Kaling and Myiesha Sewell at Sephoria 2024. Derek White/Getty Images for Sephora The first Sephoria immersive beauty event took place in LA in 2018. Tickets for 2024's fest cost between $135 and $445, according to Fast Company.Influencers, experts, and beauty fans came together to get a sneak peek at what Sephora predicted would be some of its biggest brands in the coming year. Attendees snagged samples from some of their favorites Sol de Janeiro and Rare Beauty were both in attendance last year and were introduced to up-and-comers.Attendees could also check out "master classes" with stylists and brand founders.In 2019, Sephora shut down for a day of training after SZA said she was racially profiled in one of its California stores.SZA performing in 2021. Getty/Omar Vega/FilmMagic In April 2019, SZA tweeted that a Sephora employee at a Calabasas, California store reported her to security to see if the R&B musician was stealing makeup.A few months later, Sephora shut down its US stores for a day of training to address the incident of racial profiling. "This is an all-too-common experience for people of color," Abigail Jacobs, Sephora's then-vice president of marketing, said in 2020.Following the training, Sephora was one of the first major retailers to commit to the 15% pledge in 2020, promising to boost its number of Black-owned brandsThough Sephora had championed Black-owned brands in the past, including Rihanna's Fenty Beauty and Carol's Daughter, it struggled with inclusivity.In 2003, five employees of a Manhattan Sephora said their supervisors mocked and reprimanded them for speaking Spanish and sued the company for discrimination. The lawsuit was eventually settled by consent decree, in which Sephora did not admit fault.Last year, a Sephora store drew criticism when shoppers said a group of teens and the adults accompanying them were allowed to make purchases after the kids had used makeup as blackface, according to The New York Times.Sephora said its "top priority is to create a welcoming and inclusive shopping experience for all," in a statement at the time.Kohl's partnered with Sephora in 2020 to bolster its beauty offerings.A Sephora store inside a Kohl's department store. Bethany Clough/The Fresno Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images By the time Sephora opened a store on Chicago's Michigan Avenue in 2016, it had 399 stores around the US, according to WWD. Four years later, the retailer would gain access to new customers by opening small shops inside Kohl's department stores.While Sephora had quickly moved into malls throughout the US in the early 2000s, the Kohl's partnership helped it reach a new demographic of slightly older customers with these strip mall destinations, according to Retail Dive.In 2024, over 1,000 Kohl's stores had Sephoras, and sales were expected to reach $2 billion from those locations, Fast Company reported last year.This wasn't the first time Sephora had tried this strategy. Between 2006 and 2022, the retailer could also be found in over 600 JCPenney stores.Tween shoppers have ignited concern for parents and dermatologists.Shoppers head into a Sephora store. SOPA Images/Getty Images. In January 2024, a Sephora employee shared a story on TikTok about a girl, who seemed to be around 10, buying $500 worth of products. An uproar over "Sephora kids" ensued.Tweens have been experimenting with makeup since long before Bonne Bell introduced Lip Smackers in the 1970s. However, Sephora offers a wonderland of products aimed at adults but offered in colorful, shiny packages that appeal to kids, too.Some of these skincare products include antiaging ingredients or exfoliating acids. "Most young people do not need to use any of these products," Jamie Glick, a dermatologist with the New York Dermatology Group, told BI last year. "Their skin is young and does not have the photodamage of those in their 30s and 40s."California lawmakers have proposed a ban on retailers selling products with vitamin A, retinol, and other ingredients to anyone under 18 years old. Some critics called the bill impractical, saying it would be difficult to enforce because some products, like sunscreens, have these ingredients."I think that we at Sephora have a huge responsibility to make sure as do our brands to make sure that we educate this future consumer on what's right for them," Sephora CEO Artemis Patrick said in 2024.She added that the company trained sales staff to guide customers to products that are right for them. In 2025, she said young teens should only be using a cleanser, moisturizer, and sunscreen.One 10-year-old compared tween skincare routines to Bratz dolls, which were popular but controversial in the early 2000s. "This is the new toy that we have," she told Teen Vogue in 2024.Artemis Patrick became Sephora's first female CEO in 2024.Artemis Patrick in a Sephora store in 2021. Lexie Moreland for WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images In April of last year, Artemis Patrick added CEO of Sephora North America to her resum. She had been with the company for 18 years and had taken on the role of president for the North American region a year earlier.Patrick came to the US as a child in 1979, amid the Iranian Revolution. When her mother returned to Iran, her father was unable to care for her. At age 10, Patrick entered foster care. The family she lived with encouraged her to go to college and get a graduate degree, Fortune reported in 2024.During her time with Sephora, Patrick helped bring on beloved brands like Milk Makeup and Supergoop, Fast Company reported in 2024. Unlike many women who get promoted to CEO, Patrick took over at a time when the retailer had double-digit growth in revenue and profit, according to LVMH's 2024 earnings report.With that explosive growth came some backlash from employees. Some have complained about fewer hours and a loss of perks, like freebies, BI reported in 2024.When the company hit $10 billion in revenue, some workers complained that all they received was a cookie.Following the 2024 election, some shoppers called for a Sephora boycott.Bernard Arnault and Dana White at Donald Trump's 2025 inauguration. Ricky Carioti/Pool/AFP via Getty Images A viral TikTok video from November 2024 claimed Sephora donated to Donald Trump's presidential campaign and called for a boycott."Sephora does not make corporate donations to political candidates," the retailer said in a statement to The Cut at the time.Reuters reported that there was no evidence LVMH, Sephora's parent company donated money, either.A few months later, LVMH's CEO, Bernard Arnault, and two of his children attended Trump's 2025 inauguration.You can find Sephora stores in 35 countries.Rihanna at a 2018 Fenty Beauty event in a Sephora in Sydney, Australia. Caroline McCredie/Getty Images for Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Since Sephora started its expansion into other countries in the 1990s, it has experienced explosive growth. There are now over 2,700 stores worldwide.With Patrick at the helm in North America, some changes are coming to some of these stores. Many will get some tweaks while others will have major redesigns."One of the things that was really, really important to us was ensuring that no matter what, where you are, whether you are in our Soho store, you're in Boise, Idaho, or you're in Vancouver Island, that experience is the same no matter where you go," Patrick said at the National Retail Federation's Big Show in January.Shoppers can expect the results of these makeovers in the next five years.Sephora did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
