beauty news

Beauty bits: Sephora’s social platform, upcycling Diptyque, Bobbi’s new foundation stick, the best lip balm ever…



SEPHORA’S SHOPPABLE INSPIRATION BOARD

Sephora-The-Beauty-Board

Done well, Sephora’s shopping platform could be a gamechanger. Launched two weeks ago, its new Beauty Board is a Pinterest-esque gallery of user-generated photos, which customers engage with, posting reviews, comments and tips. It’s what beauty forums do best, but this adds an all-important shoppable component and the ability to share widely on other platforms. With mobile’s increasing importance in syncing content with commerce, I imagine we’ll be seeing a lot more brands attempting similar feats. Read more here. (more…)



Beauty bits: Tom Ford’s first face palette, Sam McKnight hair accessories, positive beauty talk and Coca Cola nails



FIRST LOOK AT TOM FORD’S FACE PALETTE

Tom Ford face palette

Last week I met with the PR for Tom Ford Beauty, where she arranged all the latest spring lip and nail colours before me. Most exciting was a first look at the new (and first ever) Tom Ford face palette (above) due in April. Even the MD of the store we were in snuck over from his meeting at the next table to get a peek. In the pics below you can also just see the Lip and Cheek Shimmers (bottom right) which also land on counter in April. (more…)



Three’s a trend – Burberry opens experiential ‘Beauty Box’ store in Covent Garden



BURBERRY_Beauty-box-COVENT_GARDEN_STORE_disneyrollergirl

The fashionisation of beauty is rolling along at a jolly pace isn’t it? Following both Chanel and Dior with their standalone luxury beauty stores comes Burberry and its all-singing-all-dancing Beauty Box. The store opened yesterday in Covent Garden’s King Street selling make-up, perfume and accessories.

From the entry-level nail polishes and perfumes plus associated sunnies, scarves and bags, it’s but a short jump to the coveted trench or coat. And thus (the mega-brands hope) a loyal customer for life.

Naturally, a Burberry store isn’t a Burberry store without some digital wizardry at play. So if you haven’t time for a mini mani, try the Digital Runway Nail Bar instead. This ‘playful virtual experience’ lets you try the latest Burberry runway shades by placing the polish onto a radio-frequency identification-enabled platform to match your skin tone to the required colour.

OK, I’m not actually sure what a radio-frequency identification-enabled platform is but it sounds sufficiently snazzy enough for me to seek it out next time I’m in WC2…



All about Marc Jacobs’ make-up line



Marc-Jacobs-Beauty-makeup

We’ve finally got a first look at Marc Jacobs’ make-up line, launching at Sephora in August.

The range is extensive and colourful because Jacobs think ‘natural is a little lazy’. There will be foundations, concealers, powders, lip colours, eyeliners, eye shadows, nail polishes and bronzers. And it looks as if they’re going to market some of the products as unisex, including the Lip Lock Moisture Balm, Brow Tamer Grooming Gel, and Remedy Concealer Pen (maybe we’ll see Harry Brant in the ad campaign). (more…)