January 2, 2019

Sephora Flash Shipping No Longer Available for Rouge in 2019

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sephora flash

Sephora Flash Shipping will no longer be available for Rouge Members in 2019 as an automatic option. As per a recent article posted on Sephora’s community forums Rouge Flash Shipping is only available as a “Tier Celebration Gift in your Beauty Insider Profile.

2-Day Flash Shipping used to be a $10 option available to anyone that made purchases at Sephora but it was later offered as a free option for Rouge Members and later was raised to $15 for everyone else. The $15 Flash Shipping Option is still available for everyone but won’t be a free option automatically with your Rouge Benefits anymore.

Now what happens is you will be given the opportunity to choose a Celebration Gift when you upgrade or renew your Rouge Status as you’ve done in the years past (there was a NARS Blush, a Sephora Brush, and other gifts in recent years that were available) and one of those gifts will be Rouge Shipping. Rouge Members will recieve free standard shipping on all purchases with no minimum but the Flash Shipping is only available as a reward upon renewal of your Rouge Status.

2019 Renewal Rewards:

  • VIB members can choose one of the following three choices:

    • 500 bonus points, two makeovers to share or keep (no purchase required), or free shipping on purchases of $35 purchases on Sephora.com.

  • Rouge members can choose from one of the following three choices:

    • 750 bonus points, four giftable makeovers to share with your besties (no purchase required) or free FLASH 2-Day Shipping on all purchases on Sephora.com.

It’s not really a big deal since I’m not terribly interested in any of the other rewards however, Sephora has been decreasing the perks and benefits of Rouge for a while now and it’s starting to piss a lot of people off that spend big.

I imagine if you recently renewed your Rouge Status they will allow you to keep the Flash Shipping until your next renewal. However, if you are coming up for renewal after 01/16/2019 you’ll have to select it as your reward if you wish to keep it which does mean forgoing any of the other options available (which aren’t that incredible anyway).

Does the news of Sephora’s new Flash Benefits upset you? Or are you fine selecting it as a renewal gift?

Do share!

51 Comments

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About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • kimkats

    I’m not rouge and it pisses me off! I’m a mere VIB, but sephora needs to step up its game if it’s not going to be overtaken by Ulta, and it’s doing exactly the opposite.

    What sephora *should* do is get rid of the point perks (or whatever they’re called) and let you redeem points as cash for product, like Ulta does. I understand raising the price of flash shipping since the PO is going to raise its rates soon, but that doesn’t excuse the rest of the debacle that is becoming sephora’s rewards system….

    I still prefer sephora over ulta mostly because of the insanely huge number of brands they carry, but ulta is fast catching up, and sephora needs to be looking in its rear view mirror, and it’s not

  • Laura

    I appreciate that so for a has made more of an effort to have better 500 point and 700 point rewards however the good ones sell out in an instant and no one can get ahold of them! I am a rouge member and the free flash shipping was a great perk! Even if it’s not 2 day shipping I think rouge members should get free standard shipping. And if you’re going to have point parks have them in stock for longer than 3 seconds

    • Isabella Muse

      we do get free standard, it’s just the flash that is going away if you don’t select it as a reward during renewal 🙂

  • Natalie

    I went from spending almost $2000 at Sephora in 2017 to about $250 in 2018. Too many other stores that offer better perks or discounts “�♀️

    • Wendy

      agreed. And EVERY single time I order a pallet from Sephora, the put paper as packing material and at least one eyeshadow gets broken. I have to call and they want the old one back which is a major pain in the butt! I have been using ULTA way more. All Christmas season, I couldn’t use any of my reward points at sephora because they were out of stock. Ulta offers what I like COLD HARD CASH BACK.

    • kjh

      good job! congratulations. I’ll use you as my role model. I almost hit no-rouge (that must be some kind of reverse psychology), hitting in Nov, when holiday came out. The prob was not being able to use the 100 GC during the sale. See? They did it again. Restrictions and backpedaling. SOTS. (sick of that…)

  • Bethanne Black

    For me, this is just one more reason I don’t shop at Sephora. I’m Diamond status at Ulta because they keep me incentivized to shop there “� with free gifts, free shipping, frequent coupons and other perks. Sephora is straight up ridiculous and their return policy gets worse by the day. I don’t know what’s going on. But I’m sure glad that I have Ulta.

    • kjh

      Plus, they have better bath and hair, as well as tools and DS. Aiming for no rouge, but hit diamond long before I expected to. Fact is, I can get things I NEED at Ulta. Sephora can only provide things I want.

  • Cindy

    The whole thing is lame. When I was Rouge “Flash”� shipping was the same if not worse than standard. The “tier gifts”� are a joke because a) their points are meaningless (the gifts offered are crap, and if they aren’t you can’t get them) and b) seriously, who wants one of their “makeovers?”� This is why Ulta’s rewards program will always be better. What’s better than earning store credit? Not tiny samples or one free full-sized gift for sure!!

  • Tracy

    I thought the Rouge brush gifts the past two years were junk. None of those other renewal gift options for 2019 sound good so Flash shipping is the one I would personally pick, but having no Flash shipping makes shopping online at Sephora a lot less appealing in general and it’ll likely take me longer to make Rouge this year, if I make it at all. Free Flash shipping for Rouge was one of the few advantages Sephora had over Ulta, IMO.

  • Anna Fantasia

    This is the first year since the Rouge program started that I didn’t “Level up” to Rouge. However, I made Diamond at Ulta. I was a loyal Sephora customer previously, but I agree Ulta has added more brands, has a great rewards program, although I think they need to work on their birthday gift and customer service a bit more. If they do that, they will overtake Sephora. Flash Shipping was never Flash in my case- it was still a 4 to 5 day wait and frankly free shipping for orders over $35 should be standard accross the board and not considered a perk for VIB- you can get this deal at most brand sites without belonging to their frequent shopper programs. Too bad, but I guess that Sephora’s reign over the makeup industry is coming to an end.

  • Priscilla

    That just stinks. Not impressed, Sephora. Rethinking renewing my rouge status in 2019.

  • Swoozy

    The only thing keeping me at Sephora versus Ulta is that Ulta’s website is nowhere near as user friendly and Sephora makes nice sample/trial packs for when I want to test the waters with a new product. Between the reduced samples at purchase, the non-availability of rewards items (I’ve never been able to get a gift card with my points, much less any of the high-end rewards over 500 points), and now the lack of flash shipping, I wonder if I’ll bother to get Rouge status this year. What’s the point? SO many other stores now do 20% off sales, to include the prestige brands Sephora carries.

    • AB

      Have you tried using Ulta’s app? I, personally, think that it’s easy to use and I’m pretty lousy with technology.

  • Christina

    Well that is just lame. I’ve been a rouge member for years and now I don’t technically get flash shipping for free? Luckily, none of the offers interest me, so I would take the flash shipping over points, but that’s still disappointing, and I’m even more disappointed that VIBs don’t even get that option…

  • Carol G

    There were really no perks for being Rouge anyway so the one time I made it I was thinking: This is it? That’s the year I decided I was done with Sephora. Haven’t bought anything since. I currently have over 3,000 points at Ulta which is a lot of money!
    Sephora is (and has been) pissing people off lately…

  • Laura Majors

    Yeah they have been cutting back on a lot of things. I’m also annoyed that they only offer 2 instead of 3 free samples now. Although when they offered three there were a bunch of times I got zero (not even substitutions-they just didn’t include any) so I’m not surprised. The perks were always bad anyway. That purse last year, awful.

    • Sarah

      At least you receive your samples. I NEVER receive mine. Not exaggerating, I’ve called them about it too. I’ve been rouge for years and I doubt I’ll ‘renew’ it again. I find myself shopping at Ulta more frequently.

  • Laurie

    Thank you for staying on top of this for us. I don’t know that I would have known until I tried to order something. For me the shipping is the best option. My friends are not exactly the “let’s get a makeover”� type of people. The 750 points were tempting, but I’m working through kits small and large this year.

    • Isabella Muse

      Oh my pleasure Laurie! I agree for me shipping is one of the better perks and I’m not really into the let’s get a makeover together type! the pts are nice but I’d rather have the free shipping! Just wish it automatically came with rouge as it always did :-/

  • Kimmyyy

    I was juuuuuuuuust about to post and say that I’m VIB with Sephora, but apparently because I didn’t spend $20 more by 12/31, I’ve lost VIB and now have to spend $340 all over again to get it…which ain’t happenin’ anytime soon, since all I really buy is the occasional piece of skincare. If Sephora didn’t carry some of my favorite brands (Belif, Laneige, Claudalie, Fresh, Bite, etc.), I would probably never purchase from them. However, Ulta doesn’t carry enough that I want at this time for me to move up any tiers, so hopefully that changes. Either way, Sephora is shooting themselves in the foot.

  • Lacy

    I just checked my account as I’m Rouge and had no idea this was happening. It shows that i get free 3 day shipping now until Dec 2019. I guess that’s ok. But they’re starting to piss me off, first decreasing samples, now cutting shipping and making people redeem their hard on points on it is major BS, and like others have said all the good perks and set always sell out in seconds as I’ve never been able to get them. I could log on as soon as they drop and they’re sold out. I only liked Sephora over ulta for the fact I could order anything and get it relatively quickly and because they have more brands, but now I think I’m gonna start going my separate ways. Macy’s does free shipping on beauty and I get free 2 day fed ex shipping with shop runner because of my Amex and that’s good a tons of places. In fact I just ordered Dior’s new Hologlam blush from Neiman Marcus with shop runner yesterday evening and it’ll be here tomorrow!
    And Muse I highly recommend you check out the blush. It’s such a unique shade with holographic sparkles in it! I think it’d be right up your alley. Temptalia reviewed it and has swatches available. Let me know what you think!

  • Rebecca

    I feel that if I qualified last year to keep my Rouge status, my benefits should not change until it is time for me to re-qualify. If they are changing them prior to that, it seems like false advertising.

  • Alyssa

    I love Ultas perks, I save all my points for year end and buy a bunch of stuff! Sephora has the crappiest reward system….I only wish Ulta would carry Kat Von d and Laura mercier, then I’d be happy!

  • Kish

    I was Rouge for 5 or 6 years, but I lost it for this year because I prefer to spend my money at Ulta. And for the brands they don’t carry, like Herbivore, I’ll buy from them directly. This post just confirms that I made the right choice.

  • Tammy

    I just let my Rouge status go and will maybe get VIB this year. Sephora’s Rewards program has really gone downhill. I feel like I’ve gotten so much more with my points at Ulta; eyeshadow palettes, a hairdryer, perfume, just things that I really want.

  • Courtney

    I am Rouge until 12/2019. I guess I’m OK with the change, as i am not *that* impatient when it comes to deliveries. Do i want the package as fast as possible? Yes! Do i care that i dont get it as fast as possible? nah, not necessarily. I definitely agree with what others have said tho, the cash incentives that ULTA offers trumps Sephora’s rewards any day. altho i will give credit where credit is due. I was ecstatic that i was able to cash in 2500 Sephora points for a $100 gift card. I stocked up some Charlotte Tilbury goodies so thank you, Sephora! 🙂 I do hope that ULTA will one day stock my fav brands like Charlotte Tilbury and Hourglass. That would be AMAZING!

  • Betty

    Hmmmmm I renewed recently and the year didn’t say anything about it? I guess I didn’t even realize it was a perk….

  • Sara

    Flash shipping really wasn’t getting to me any faster than regular free shipping, which we still get as rouge, so I don’t really feel bothered.

    I’ve never really understood why people like the Ulta rewards so much more. I mean, especially with their new $100 reward. Yes, it takes fewer Ulta points, but because VIB and Rouge kicks in at lower levels it gets close to evening out.

    Also, as others have said, I think the Sephora site is much more user friendly. The Sephora stores themselves are similarly nicer. Finally, I am super surprised that people have moved past the Ulta scandal (from less than a year ago) in which they were selling used products as new .

    • SP

      I think the disparity is more than you think. You have to spend close to $300 more with Sephora, even hitting Rouge status, to get the equivalent $100 cash back at Ulta–and that’s just using the flat rate points system at Ulta with no promotions. With the amount of times Ulta offers double, triple, and even occasionally 5x or 10x bonus points on certain purchases, it really adds up. My guess would be you probably end up spending closer to $400/$500 less at Ulta for that same $100 gift card at Sephora. You get way more bang for your buck at Ulta if you want store credit as your reward.

  • kjh

    Here’s what I’m going to do: get the points, stalk for another GC, get another Phlur scent plus a travel size, and be done with big S. Embarrassed to say I missed rouge since it began, only ~2010-2011, when I lost my job and was on a true no buy. Ulta has my primary s/c, Cosrx, and Nordie’s/ Paula/Saks/ Neiman’s/Bluemercury/Brand.com can provide the rest. You don’t eff with your few incentives, when you are being outflanked by a competitor. LaserShip has taken longer than Zoeva and YesStyle, TBH. From a hub an hour away. Icarus, your wings are flaming. Crash and burn. Adieu, LMVH et Sephora!

  • susan

    Ulta has the best rewards for their customers and are starting to bring in more and more brands.
    I know you can’t get “everything” you want because they don’t carry a lot of what Sephora has but they have really improved and the rewards program can’t be beat

  • MarciaF

    I renewed my Rouge that last week of December since I was just $30 away and I wasn’t given these choices. They are really going backwards with bonuses these days.

    • Isabella Muse

      it’s actually any renewing from 01/16/2019 and going forward.

  • Ina

    I have been rogue for more years than I can remember. I am so over sephora the rewards they have you can get free at ulta with a purchase. They want you to spend $500 for samples, seriously! It is completely ridiculous! There is really no incentive to be rogue. And don’t get me started with their customer service. My daughter and I both can never get nice people. Or get any help for that matter. They are so rude and judge you if you don’t look like an Instagram model. They actually said to my daughter “do you even wear make up”? Beyond rude and flat out disrespectful. Especially because I have spent thousands of dollars there to be treated like crap. Because we don’t fit the “type” or race of people they think spend as much money there as we do. So, I’m over sephora completely. As someone else on here said I hope they crash and burn.

  • Annemarie

    Completely agree! I have definitely been going elsewhere whenever possible. As well as their perks getting worse and worse, I am finding that some of their pricing is higher than other local retailers! Really??? I far prefer Ulta when I can. If they keep expanding their lines to include more higher-end and indy lines, it will be a hop – not a leap – away from Sephora 🙂

  • Gayle Galor

    I know I’m late on this conversation, but I just went to check out and it asked me to pick out my Rouge Tier gift. Since I purchased it last year before I made Rouge, out of curiosity I looked at my account to see how much longer I had left and it said I had until the end of May. So then I added the shipping as my gift and it told me that it would give me free flash shipping until the end of 2019. I’ve already paid for half the year, so it doesn’t even give me a year if it overlaps! So I said screw it and just got the 750 points – which I’ll just use to get crap I rarely use anyway. If it added a whole year onto what you’ve already paid for, maybe. But when somebody spends over $1000 a year on makeup, it needs to at least give you a full 12 months.

  • Missy

    I’ve been Rouge for years but understand retail stores are all going belly up. They have to fight to stay in business. They have changed a lot like returns and then these perks, but I still prefer this to Ulta. Glad we can redeem points for the $100, but it’s still so much better at Sephora because of the zillions of high end brands they have and the sales. No comparison to all the brands and I have always found Ulta difficult on returns and I hate their $50 minimum shipping, especially when they have a special sale, like $10 mascara and then you have to pay a lot to ship it. Which leads to a point that I have on a lot of these different sites, like tarte or name the brand, they have a sale, and then you spend more in shipping than what you just saved in the sale. And again, that’s why I prefer Sephora.

  • Nicole

    I ended up here because I was confused on my recent order and checked my account too. I have been rouge for years and this really annoys me. I saw it pop up as an option when I renewed my rouge status but I didn’t get it. I just thought oh I already get that as rouge and selected the 750 points. Ugh. I wish detox market had a little bit better reward or sample program because I think between ultra and detox market online I could skip Sephora all together. It seems like a strange time for Sephora to be reducing rewards when we have so many other options. Super frustrating. I think I’m letting my rouge status go after this year.

    • Isabella Muse

      oh no! Sorry! 🙁 I skipped on the pts and ended up renewing the free flash as I thought it was a better option for me. But I totally agreed! It’s so complicated and instead of getting better rewards they are making them worst!

  • StillPedaling

    I’m so pissed at Sephora – and this isn’t the first time I’ve been screwed over by them. Years ago I had thousands upon thousands of points. They revamped their website and when I logged in one day all of my points were gone! They graciously comped me with 1000 points….not even close to the thousands I had banked. So I swore them off for years! Two years ago I gave them another shot – subscribed to Flash Shipping ($10 at the time) and quickly became “Rouge” which basically means ‘Sephora’s Treat You Like Crap” club because it’s been one problem after the next. They went from 3 samples to 2, and constantly screw up my shipping. I placed an order three days ago and it’s still “processing”. Called them and they said “did you choose Flash Shipping as your Tier level gift?” Uh, what? The only tier level gift I had to choose from was 750 points (to use on nothing because the rewards bazaar is always junk). Sephora is dead to me. I’m cancelling my SephoraPlay subscription too. I’m a Diamond member with Ulta and honestly, they might not have as many high end products, but the money I get to redeem can’t be beat. When I want high end cosmetics, I just shop Nordstrom. Is there an I Hate Sephora club? Because I’d join that one…

    • Cindy

      I thought I was the president of that club LOL! I hate Sephora with every fiber of my being, from their “if you don’t like it here shop elsewhere”� attitude to their godawful customer service and their useless rewards program. Ulta is the place to put my $$, cash back is king! I will only shop at Sephora under duress when I can’t get something I want elsewhere.

  • Sonya Nelson

    Not only do we not have the free flash shipping hut they don’t allow as many samples and their promos are not as good. I will consider ULTA moving forward.

  • Amanda L Lee

    Really bummed about not getting the flash shipping unless you choose it as your perk or shell out $15. I just ordered a couple of things the 15th. They split the items (both lotions from same brand but different scents). I’m supposed to receive 1 today (21st) and the other tomorrow (22nd). This makes no sense. If a company makes silly choices to pay shipping to have 2 items sent separately, then it’s no wonder why the extra shipping charges are passed on to the customer for expedited shipping. They have to make up the cost somehow. 6-7 days to receive an item is not competitive with other companies either. After this year I will let my Rouge status expire and order from Ulta, Amazon (with item being sold by the company through Amazon or a legit vendor- not some shady character selling it from their basement or from someplace in China) or the company directly. The biggest reason I use Sephora is because they carry brands Ulta doesnt. The only benefit to me for being Rouge now is the VIB sale a few times a year. Sephora needs to start stepping up their game or they are going to lose a lot of customers that spend a lot of money there.

    • Isabella Muse

      I know. Same here! It’s annoying it’s no longer just a free perk of Rouge 🙁

  • Lissy London

    When I realised that Sephora was literally ripping people off by having prices on items marked WAY HIGHER than in any other store … I was done. As if the points weren’t a joke (I have almost 10,000 and i’m ready to walk away because their gifts are crap.) This is the first year I worked to NOT be rouge. I decided to shop at my local Nordstrom (for Estee Lauder and La Mer)and Neiman Marcus where I can get Guerlain in store (unlike Sephora), I can get more stuff from the local counters in stores as freebies anyway. Also I now go to L’Occitane stores since Sephora stopped carrying that in store. I found a stunning Charlotte Tillbury superstar lip lipstick pillowtalk diamonds on Sephora $42 … everywhere else it was only $34 (and my amex card gives me automatic shoprunner 2 day free shipping for no cost annually). Sephora women always treat me like crap- don’t know why. I dress well, look pretty, and have money to spend. I’m just done with it.

    • StillPedaling

      Since Sephora has been dead to me, I now have a closet full of (not only great stuff) but mega high end samples thanks to my local Nordstrom (and some from Neiman’s online). There’s a definite skip in my step when I gladly walk right by the Sephora store. And I just delete their crap emails. Good luck using all those points, Lissy! I had a bajillion points like you at one time…and they revamped their website and I lost everything – and they didn’t care at all. Better just pick out some junk before they take your points too. I think they’re still pushing Urban Decay All Niter! (LOL) good luck!