Stars head to Sephora's Trafford Centre store ahead of official opening as shoppers queue overnight
A number of celebs descended on the Trafford Centre last night for a sneak peek of beauty giant, Sephora's new store.
The shop, which opens this morning marks the third UK store for the brand. It's exclusive pre-launch event saw the likes of former Corrie star and TV presenter actor Katie Mcglynn peruse the new space.
She was joined by Caroline Thomas, actress Alex Fletcher and radio one presenter Natalie O’Leary. Real Housewives of Cheshire, Love Island personalities, and professional footballer Courtney Duffus also made appearances at the flagship beauty opening.
READ MORE: Inside Manchester's first Sephora store as beauty fans set to descend on Trafford Centre
The French multi-national retailer, which is hugely popular in the US, decided to open the Manchester store after it emerged as the most frequently requested city for the next location by the brand's passionate beauty customers.
The megastore is the third to open in the UK following the success of its two London branches. Once boarded up with a large billboard, fans can find Sephora next to All Saints on Lower Regent Crescent in the shopping centre.
As guests arrived at the store, which features the brand's iconic black and white stripe design, they were treated to a number of musical performances from Liquorice Black, Sweet Female Attitude, LILL and Coco Cannell.
The wonderland for make-up lovers features an expansive 500 sq metre façade, while its ultra modern interior follows the distinctive design of the London store’s, with soft geometric shapes, ambient lighting, textured finishes, and greenery. Inside, shoppers will be able to browse an extensive collection of coveted brands that you would normally have to track down online.
A treasure trove for makeup mavens and skincare aficionados, the new shop sells brands such as Lady Gaga’s Haus Labs, ONE/SIZE by Patrick Starrr, and Tarte, which can be hard to find in UK stores. Beauty fans can now also shade match and test out products in store.
One of the shop's features is a Beauty Hub, where customers can sit down with professionals for a touch up the latest advice, or indulge in a skin treatment. There is also a Benefit Cosmetics Brow Bar which offers a handful of services including brow lamination, waxing and tinting.
Other features of the new store include a Sephora Lip Bar, a Hot on Social corner consisting of the 10 most talked-about products on social media, a personalized gifting and gift wrapping, and a fragrance engraving service.
The grand opening ceremony on Thursday at 9.30am will see the first 500 shoppers to queue outside Sephora be gifted a wristband which when traded in store will secure them an exclusive goodie bag chocked full of treats.
Sephora has said that while the contents of the goodie bags may vary, it will feature bestsellers from skincare to makeup and iconic brands including Make-Up by Mario, Gisou, Elemis, Glossier and more.
Lucky beauty enthusiasts can also be in with a chance of getting their hands on a gift bag throughout opening week, as the store will be giving away complimentary goodie bags until Sunday every day for the first 100 customers.