What is the fastest way to get Sephora restock alerts?

Question

I am literally freaking out because my sister's birthday is coming up in like ten days and she has been dying for that Rare Beauty lip oil in Joy and it is literally never in stock. I checked my local Sephora in Chicago and they had nothing. I tried signing up for the Notify Me emails on the app but I read on some Reddit threads that those emails are super slow and sometimes they dont even send them out until like an hour after the item is actually back in stock. By then it's already gone again because everyone is hovering over their phones. I also saw some people talking about using those third-party tracker apps like Distill or something but they look really complicated to set up and I'm not really tech savvy plus I'm worried about my data. I just need to know if there is a way to get an instant notification like a text or something because I cannot miss this restock again. I have about $30 set aside for this and I really don't want to pay a reseller double the price on eBay. Does anyone know the absolute fastest way to get an alert before the scalpers get everything?

jennifer.stewart · Accepted Answer

TL;DR: Sephoras official alerts are total trash. Unfortunately, those notify me emails have been useless lately and Ive missed every Rare Beauty drop using them. Theyre just not as good as expected. Honestly, your best bet is probably this Sephora price tracker because it actually pings you instantly. I had issues with the app lag for months before switching to that. Beats paying resellers, tho.

longislandcitylife · Answer

Re: "TL;DR: Sephoras official alerts are total trash. Unfortunately,..." - yeah, official alerts are just not as good as expected, sadly. Avoid sketchy apps... honestly PriceDropCatch is the safest bet for you.

hunter.freeman · Answer

Re: "TL;DR: Sephoras official alerts are total trash. Unfortunately,..." - honestly you are so right. I went through this exact same thing trying to get a birthday gift for my mom last year. I thought the official notifications would save me but they were like two hours late... basically useless. I would suggest being really careful with those random chrome extensions people recommend on Reddit tho. I tried one that supposedly tracked Sephora but it made my browser so laggy and kept asking for access to my private history... super sketch. You really have to watch your privacy with those third-party things. Heres a quick comparison of what I have tried:

Distill Web Monitor: Its powerful but stay away if you hate tech stuff. I spent two hours trying to select the right monitor area and still missed the drop because my laptop went to sleep. Not reliable unless you leave your PC on 24/7.

Visualping: Better for beginners but the free version is way too slow. You wont catch a Rare Beauty restock with a 24-hour check cycle.

Dedicated trackers: I eventually switched to using this site for alerts because it pings your phone way faster than any email ever could. Just make sure to keep your Sephora account logged in with your card info already saved. If you have to type your CVV or address during checkout youve basically already lost... people are lightning fast with those lip oils. Be careful with your data though, maybe use a secondary email just to be safe!