Even though many of the products are the exact same at the two different stores, occasionally, they vary in price — and sometimes by more than just a dollar or two.
Of course, both retailers have different incentives and perks, like Sephora's tiered rewards program versus PC Optimum Points, so there's always that to take into consideration — but if you're looking for a dollar-to-dollar comparison, here are a few products that might be worth buying at one store over the other.
Smashbox Super Fan Lash Lengthening Mascara
"This long-wearing, lengthening mascara gives you modern, fanned-out volume," according to Sephora, with Shoppers noting that it gives "12-hour length, lift and volume without any heaviness or clumping."
Price at Sephora: $34 ❌
Price at Shoppers: $31 ✅
Clinique All About Shadow Quads
This pretty petite palette boasts that it's versatile, long-wearing as well as crease- and fade-resistant — and at Sephora, it'll cost you $7 extra than Shoppers.
That being said, it's currently out of stock online at Shoppers, so if you need a refill of this Clinique product ASAP, you might need to bite the bullet and spend a bit extra.
Price at Sephora: $47 ❌
Price at Shoppers: $40 ✅
RMS Beauty Un Cover-Up Cream Foundation
This cream foundation, which has a 5-star rating on Shoppers and over 15,000 "hearts" on Sephora, will set you back $7 more when shopping at the latter retailer.
Price at Sephora: $75 ❌
Price at Shoppers: $68 ✅
RMS Beauty Wild With Desire Lipstick
Another RMS product that's cheaper at Shoppers — albeit by $2 — is the company's Wild With Desire Lipstick. As well, it seems the drugstore has more colour options than Sephora!
Price at Sephora: $38 ❌
Price at Shoppers: $36 ✅
Smashbox Studio Skin 24 Hour Wear Hydra Foundation
A Smashbox foundation that promises to "stay put for 24 hours" has a $1 dollar price discrepancy between the two stores, although there appear to be more colour options at Shoppers when they have full stock.
Price at Sephora: $50 ❌
Price at Shoppers: $49 ✅
The Original MakeUp Eraser Pink
When you're done with your look for the day, you can pick up The Original MakeUp Eraser for $2 less at Sephora than at Shoppers.
According to the latter, it erases "waterproof mascara, eyeliner, foundation, lipstick" with just water and is machine washable.
I personally own this product and endorse it no matter the price point; it'll save you a fortune on wipes and makeup-removing cleansers!
Price at Sephora: $26 ✅
Price at Shoppers: $28 ❌
Tweezerman Rose Gold Mini Slant Tweezer
Lastly, whether you're cleaning up your brows or plucking those stubborn chin hairs, this pretty Rose Gold Mini Slant Tweezer from Tweezerman comes in at two different price points between the stores — although it appears that at Sephora, the tweezers come with a faux leather case.
If that's worth an extra $4 to you, then Sephora might be the best option to go with!
Price at Sephora: $24 ❌
Price at Shoppers: $19.99 ✅
How do PC Optimum points work at Shoppers?
Signing up for a rewards card at Shoppers Drug Mart is free and can be done online through the PC Optimum website.
Points can be collected for free at Loblaws, No Frills, Esso, and other brands affiliated with the program.
"Every 10,000 points is like $10 worth of free stuff," they note.
Then, once you reach a threshold, you can redeem those points at affiliated stores, like Shoppers or the ones mentioned above, and score money off of your purchases.
What is Sephora's loyalty program?
There are three tiers of Sephora's loyalty program: the Beauty Insider Program (BIP), Very Important Beauty Insider (VIB) status, and Rouge status.
BIP is free to join and lets you earn points on what you buy, which can then be used to redeem rewards.
VIB status is achieved when you spend $350 or more at the retailer in a year and Rouge is achieved by spending $1000 or more.
Along with earning points towards rewards, the last two statuses also have access to different sales and discounts not offered by the free program.
In a recent Reddit post titled "For the Canadian girlies: a Sephora vs Shoppers Comparison" by u/asiantoucan, the Redditor broke down her experience with the two companies when ordering products on the same day.
She noted that while her items from the retailers were delivered on the same day, some of her Sephora packages came in a "flimsy mailer envelope" and that the one that came in a box that had no stuffing, resulting in her fragrance set being broken. For Shoppers, she noted it came in a box with brown paper stuffing to pad the inside.
In terms of discounts, that seems to be the biggest pain point.
The Redditor says she is a VIB member, meaning she gets 15% off at Sephora "which is nothing considering taxes are 15%."
At Shoppers, she says she's able to capitalize on the company's events to maximize her points, noting that regularly, 10,000 points turns into 10$ off your bill.
"They regularly run 20x points multiplier events or points redemption events where your points go farther so you get 400$ off for 250k points instead of 250$ off," she explained.
"They had a promo for 30k extra points if I purchased 100$ worth of fragrance online," asiantoucan continued. "1$ spent =15 points. I got a few other things that also came with bonus points for a total of 130$ and got 33k points."
In the comments, many similarly sided with Shoppers.
"Shoppers definitely has a better points system and samples/GWPs," one Redditor said. "The only thing that stops me from completely switching over is their return policy where you can’t return anything that’s been opened/used."
At Sephora, you can return "new or gently used products for a full refund" within 30 days of purchase if you're not happy with the product.
Others noted that Sephora carries brands that Shoppers doesn't stock.
These prices are confirmed at the time of publishing, but they can change at any time. Taxes and fees may not be included.
