Top 5 Beauty Spots _

#4

3CE – CINEMA

3CE the make up brand brought to you by StyleNanda has created the ‘3CE Cinema’ – A flagship store themed as a Hollywood movie theatre. The store uses it’s stylised aesthetic to tell the story of the product. The lower floor takes the movie theme further with its pink make up booth, allowing customers to engage with products and get a make-over worthy of an actor on the silver screen.

In the cinema itself, beauty tutorial showings and other daily events occur allowing beauty enthusiasts to delve further into the brand’s world. From the cashier box to the Broadway style lighting, a feeling of fun connects the brand to it’s consumers, telling a story through thematic propping and visual theatre. The 3CE cinema will leave you feeling like the star of your own movie.

#3

ESPOIR – MAKE-UP PUB

Cosmetics brand ‘Espoir’ are a staple beauty brand in South Korea, their Flagship store in Seoul brings together a culture clash that brings together the cosmetic world with a social aspect of the Korean lifestyle.

Bar culture is very much ingrained in Korean culture and the country is famed for producing some of the best cosmetic products in the world – bring these aspects together to form a retail concept and you have; ‘The Makeup Pub’.

With actual make-up on tap, bar style product displays and make up tutorial seating, customers have a plethora of physical iterations with the product and brand as well as a stylised Instagram worthy space to share and capture the moment.

Staff styled as bartenders and cocktail mixologists tend to any questions you may have and even perform theatrical makeup tutorials and custom makeup mixing live for customers adding to the sense of storytelling and the pub atmosphere.

#2

DR. JART FLAGSHIP STORE, GANGNAM

The very first flagship store of the cosmetics and skincare brand situated in the prestigious Gangnam district of Seoul, South Korea’s capital city.

The core concept of the store is called ‘Filter Space’ which is centred around the three essential elements for achieving healthy skin – water, air & light.

Taking on the issue of environmental pollution head on, the store prides itself on offering the purest air and water in Seoul. The building itself embodies this sentiment, driving home the story of purity, juxtaposing both aesthetically and through storytelling within.

The stores high – end, laboratory aesthetic gives the store a sense of provenance and authority – building trust in the credibility of the products it sells. Part experience, part experiment and part shop, the store journey leads you to think more deeply about the product that is right for you, maintaining a sense of whimsical wanderlust as you explore the technical and scientific environment.

On a personal level Seoul is a humid and warm city in summer and at the end of my journey I received a nice cold bottle of water chilled to – 15 oC, the best possible give-away to remedy a hot summers day.

FLOOR 3 – WATER ROOM + AIR GARDEN.

On the top floor of the flagship the space has been transformed for summer to provide a moment of pure relief from the hot & humid city air. Customers who participated in the social interactions on the ground floor are rewarded with a pure bottle of Dr.Jart branded water chilled to -15°c and are invited to explore the oxygen garden roof terrace where oxygen is diffused into the urban atmosphere.

EXIT THROUGH… THE POOL!

When leaving the flagship store, you descend into a space styled like an empty swimming pool with lane dividers overhead and inflatable rings to use as props for a triumphant selfie moment at the end of your visit. The outdoor space is striking and nails the Instagram culture of today, acting as a crescendo for a journey that engages with all five senses. Every floor evokes a sense of discovery with unexpected depths and this visually striking, yet smile provoking moment closes the journey off remarkably well.

FLOOR ONE – HOTEL LOBBY

Evoking a hotel lobby aesthetic, the ground floor accommodates brass porter trolleys displaying apparel and room keys adorning the walls. These are not merely props to set the scene either, the keys actually open lock boxes that harbour surprises and reward customer curiosity.

Surrounded by shoppable 3CE cosmetics, the blush pink coupled with white marble floors and brass detailing gives the store a sense of classic decadence akin to the Ritz.

FLOOR TWO – THE SPA

Ascending to the second floor in a brass hotel elevator and stepping out into another pink space you are greeted with a totally different yet somehow in- keeping aesthetic. Styled as a spa and powder room product testers are displayed around marble sinks and vanity mirrors. Real brass taps and porcelain roll top bath filled with flowers set the scene. Silk lingerie nightwear adorn a rail in the space reminiscent of the girls’ pampering slumber parties seen on Hollywood chic-flicks.

Product engagement is encouraged, and the mood created by clever interior design and layout nurtures the freedom to do so. The whole space is a selfie moment waiting to happen, with its hyper stylised theme and Instagrammable moments such as the “Hello Gorgeous “neon sign above a flower filled roll-top bath.

FLOOR THREE – ROOMS

The next floor opens out into a familiar, yet totally new and novel space. Designed thematically to look like a hotel hallway with rooms a joined either side of the space, along with brass rails and porter’s trolleys repurposed as hero visual merchandising moments. Focussing on a curated apparel collection, customers can try clothing on by entering the various hotel rooms that flank the hall, acting as fitting rooms. These room doors help to set the scene and peak visitor curiosity as to what is behind each one. On opening, the realisation that these are actually fitting rooms, always provoked a smile.