Makeup Guru

After yesterday’s Times pitted Ulta against Sephora, suggesting that the former offered a more accessible venue for a meeting of both prestige and mass product lines—plus a welcoming “Persian melon”-colored interior to contrast with Sephora’s exclusive black and white motif—we got to thinking. Which beauty megastore do we actually prefer? There are, of course, pros to both, the one-stop-shop convenience of Ulta and the well-edited niche offerings at Sephora, but a major factor that’s pushing us toward the latter is Scentsa. Launched at a few select locations in February, the Fragrance Finder is an innovative device that takes the guesswork out of picking a new scent or finding an old favorite, and will complete its nationwide rollout to every Sephora location by the end of the summer. The brainchild of Jan Moran, a fragrance expert and author of the Fabulous Fragrances book series, the custom program uses touch-screen technology that makes for easy navigation of its different search options. With a simple press of the finger, you can find detailed information on new olfactory arrivals, discover scents based on a beloved single note or fragrance family, view bottle designs, run videos, or read thousands of reviews on a potential purchase written by experts from around the world. It also has a feature that lets you search discontinued fragrances so you can familiarize yourself with similar offerings that are still in existence (a signature scent is forever). To find a Scentsa near you, call (877) SEPHORA.