Sephora’s “house of beauty” has landed in Dubai. Following on from their extremely successful SEPHORiA beauty festival last year, this 2025 edition is only set to get bigger and better with exclusive meetups, brand activations, new product launches, and tons and tons of freebies! If you managed to get your hands on some tickets, consider this your go-to guide on everything you need to know before heading to the festival.
What, Where, When
For those not in the know, SEPHORiA is like Disneyland but for beauty lovers. Expect the beauty world to manifest into an actual physical world when entering SEPHORiA because that’s exactly the point. This year, the event is held at Al Wasl Plaza, aka the iconic dome at Expo City Dubai. Held for three days straight, from November 20 – 22, doors to the event are set to open at 6 PM and close at 10 PM.
How To Get There
The road to SEPHORiA is likely to be met with traffic because let’s be real, every road in Dubai is congested with traffic. That being said, if you are driving to Expo City, there are plenty of ways to travel, including Sheikh Rashid Road/E11, Al Khail Road/E44, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road/E311, and Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan al Nahyan Street/D54. Depending on where you’re departing from, the drive is approximately 30-40 minutes. However, GPS is your best friend here, as you never know what spontaneous road blockage might occur during your drive.
Whereas for those who prefer public transport, there is a Dubai Metro Red Line to the Expo City Dubai called Expo 2020/R76.
Once Inside
Even though the road to SEPHORiA is a hassle, once inside, the experience makes it all worthwhile. Once you enter, you get a bag of vouchers, a tote bag to collect all your freebies, a map so you don’t get lost, and the SEPHORiA passport, which is not only a cute keepsake but also a way to gather even more gifts from the event.
Inside, you can expect over 70 beauty booths across skincare, haircare, makeup, and fragrance. Each booth comes with its own set of unique experiences, but from what we know, you can expect games, education on each product, maybe even a first look at new launches, and of course, freebies! If you’re lucky, you might even get the chance to meet brand founders, stylists, and celebrity make-up artists. Unfortunately, one con that you have to brace yourself for is long lines and lots of walking. Tired feet are simply one of those unasked freebies.
However, to make up for it, SEPHORiA hold plenty of exclusive meet-and-greets and workshops with brand founders. This year, the founders in attendance are:
Elizabeth Jones, Dermalogica
Carrie Gross, Dr Dennis Gross
Nicole Faulkner, E.L.F
Akash Metha, Fable and Mane
Negar Mirsalehi, Gisou
Adam Sidwell, Hourglass
Romano Ricci, Juliette Has a Gun
Cassandra Thurswell, Kitsch
Kirsten Carriol, Lanolips
Chriselle Lim, Phlur
Mia Plecic, Slickhair
Sunday Riley, Sunday Riley
Amy Liu, Tower 28
Andrea Lisbone, Touchland
Colette Laxton, The INKEY List
…with more to be announced soon. Whereas VIP appearances of this year will be:
Mona Kattan, founder of Kayali, appearing on Thursday, November 20
Mario Dedivanovic, celebrity makeup artist and founder of Makeup by Mario, appearing on Thursday, November 20
Huda Kattan, founder of Huda Beauty, appearing on Friday, November 21
All three VIP appearances will host exclusive masterclasses where participants can learn more about the brand and the founders’ craft.
And speaking of beauty brands, SEPHORiA has announced over 70 beauty brands, expanding the lineup from last year. Some of the brands that you wouldn’t want to miss out are:
Anastasia Beverly Hills
Bobbi Brown
Burberry
Clinique
Dolce & Gabbana
Drunk Elephant
dyson
E.L.F
Fenty Beauty, Fenty Hair, and Fenty Skin
gisou
Glossier
Gucci
Huda Beauty
Jo Malone
Kayali
Kerastase
Kosas
Laneige
Laura Mercier
Makeup by Mario
MILK Makeup
NARS
Olaplex
OUAI
Paula’s Choice
Phlur
Saie
Sol de Janeiro
tarte
The Ordinary
Too Faced
touchland
Tower 28
Urban Decay
Youth to the People
Yves Saint Laurent
Once you are ready to leave, you get one last bag of freebies, and that is the Swag Bag. Depending on your ticket, you can get a Swag Bag of items worth up to Dhs 1,500 or Dhs 5,000, enough to sort your beauty needs till next year’s edition!
