All seven share one idea. Each email is a black and white world with exactly one object in colour, and that object is the reason the email exists: the lipstick in the welcome, the jar left in the basket, the tube on your shelf a week after delivery. An AI agent wrote, designed and built every one of them in Nitrosend.1
Welcome email
Welcome
Hey Insider. You’re in.
The headline sits on the hero, there is one button, and a closing line tells the new member exactly what the next two emails will bring.
It reads like a friend who works there: excited, a little loud, and talking to you as an Insider from the first line. The button says Look around, which is the only thing a brand new member is ready to do.
Abandoned cart email
Abandoned cart
You left something, Insider
One spotlit product as the hero, the basket item repeated below it, one button back to the basket, and no discount.
The hero is a counter with the lamp still on and the jar sitting in its light, so the picture says "still here" before the headline does. The closing line takes the pressure off instead of adding it: "No rush. This is an email, not an alarm."
Newsletter
Newsletter
New in the building (19 of them, for a start)
A monthly walk of the shop floor: one hero, then three stories, each with a picture, two or three lines and a link, then one button for everything new.
The three stories are real Sephora news from 2026: the OLIVE YOUNG K-beauty Edit, the Drop Shop on TikTok Shop and its own label, Sephora Collection. The masthead headline, New in the building, can stay the same every month, so readers learn to look for it.
Black Friday email
Black Friday
The only red in this email is the lipstick
It plays against every red Black Friday email: one red lipstick, one button, and points instead of a markdown.
The subject line does the work in the inbox: "The only red in this email is the lipstick". On a day when every other email shouts a percentage, the quiet one is the one people open.
Cyber Monday email
Cyber Monday
Don’t get up
It sells staying in bed: an ice blue bottle on an unmade pillow, "Don't get up" as the headline, and one button that brings the whole store to your phone.
There is no countdown and no code. The only extra is one line on the Sephora Drop Shop on TikTok Shop, for readers who would rather shop from a feed.
Christmas email
Christmas
Gift by person, not by aisle
A gift guide sorted by who it is for rather than by price: four recipient tiles, two short rows and one button.
The tiles name people, not products: the one with a signature scent, the one with no routine, the one who has tried everything. The last two rows are the gifts everyone forgets, your boss and yourself.
Review request email
Review request
A week in. Verdict?
Sent a week after delivery, it shows the exact product and asks for one thing, the review.
It offers nothing in return and says so: "Nothing in it for you except the thing you'd want someone to have done for you." The honesty is the persuasion, because a review someone was paid for is worth less to the next shopper.
What makes these emails work
- Layout. Every email uses the same frame: a spaced-out SEPHORA wordmark, a full-bleed hero with the headline set into the photo, a short paragraph, one pill button and a cream footer under a black and white stripe.
- Color. The canvas is near black and the photos are black and white. Each email gets one colour from its one object, and that colour also fills the button and the small type on the hero.
- Type. Headlines are condensed capitals baked into the hero, with a short line in brackets under them in the accent colour. Body copy is plain Helvetica Neue, large and easy to read.
- Button. One button per email, in capitals, with a plain instruction such as Back to your basket or Write the review. A second link, where there is one, is plain text under it.
- Copy. No discounts, codes or deadlines anywhere. The only facts are ones Sephora has published in its newsroom, such as close to 500 brands, Beauty Insider points and the OLIVE YOUNG K-beauty Edit.
- Motion. Most of the heroes are animated: the picture moves slowly under the headline while the type stays still, so the email feels alive without being hard to read.
Build these emails in Nitrosend
- Connect Nitrosend to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any AI that supports MCP. Setup is on the email MCP page, and Claude users can follow the guide to sending email from Claude.
- Paste the prompt below, with your own website in place of [your website].
- Review each email in Nitrosend, check the images and copy, and send yourself a test.
Paste the prompt into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any AI with Nitrosend MCP connected, and swap in your own brand.
Using Nitrosend, design and build a welcome, abandoned cart, newsletter, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas and review request email for my brand, in the style of these Sephora email examples: https://nitrosend.com/email-examples/brands/sephora My brand's website is [your website]. If Nitrosend is not connected yet, read https://nitrosend.com/SKILL.md and follow it to connect the Nitrosend MCP server (https://api.nitrosend.com/mcp), then ask me to sign in or create a free account at app.nitrosend.com. On Claude.ai use claude.ai/directory/nitrosend; in ChatGPT, install the Nitrosend app. Then write and design every email, build each one in Nitrosend, and send me a test of each email.
FAQ
Which email types are on this page?
Seven: a welcome email, an abandoned cart email, a monthly newsletter, a Black Friday email, a Cyber Monday email, a Christmas gift guide and a review request.
Can I make these emails for my own brand?
Yes. Copy the prompt above into an AI assistant connected to Nitrosend and give it your website. It writes, designs and builds each email in your brand in Nitrosend, then sends you a test.
Why is there no discount in the Black Friday email?
Because every other Black Friday email has one. This one stands out by being calm, keeps the brand's prices intact and reminds Insiders that they earn points on every purchase.
Which AI made these emails?
Claude, connected to Nitrosend over MCP. It set the brand kit, wrote the copy, placed the images and built each email as a draft flow in Nitrosend.
Go deeper
1 Sephora is not a Nitrosend customer and did not send or endorse these emails. Every image in them is concept artwork.