Time for Hourglass store
After 10 years, the Venice- based beauty company opens its first flagship shop
Hourglass, the Venice- based beauty company best knownfor its foundations, primers and facial powders formulated to create flawless, glowing skin, refers to its products as “luxury performance makeup.”
The brand has won over some high- profile fans since it launched at Barneys New Yorkin 2004— Jennifer Aniston, Emily Blunt, Jessica Alba, Madonna, Sofía Vergara and Jennifer Garner have used the products.
Now Hourglass is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the opening of its first flagship store at 1351 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
The 1920s- era space, stripped downto expose original brickwalls and wooden ceiling beams, is modernized with a row of glass rods that extend into the window, mirroring the luminosity of signature Hourglass products, and a sculptural quartz and marble display that bears the brand’s complete makeup and brush line ($ 28-$ 68).
Hourglass’ founder and chief executive, Carisa Janes, 40, studied at Parsons the New School for Design in New York and worked briefly for California- based Urban Decay cosmetics and as a beauty consultant before launching Hourglass, driven in part by a personal need for a foundation with coverage that could improve, rather than aggravate, her acne- prone skin.
“I spent years working on Veil Fluid Makeup, and that’s where the brand started,” Janes says. “It is fragrance- free, oil- free and looks natural, with nice coverage. It also contains an anti- aging ingredient at an active level.... I’m coming from a different perspective than a makeup artist. I’m a consumer. I want my skin to look great, and I want every product to be simple and effective.”
The No. 1 seller is Veil Mineral Primer ($ 52) with SPF, designed to conceal redness and minimize pores and wrinkles when applied under foundation or powder. It turned Madonna on to the brand, after her makeup artists found it at Sephora when they needed something to help her makeup hold up during performances.
Debuting at the flagship, which opened in mid- September, are a new custom version of the popular Ambient Lighting Powder palette ($ 65), containing any three of six light- refracting-powders that mimic flattering shades of light, andthe first Hourglass skin care product, Equilibrium Biomimetic Skin Active Serum ($ 350), an anti- aging nighttime treatment that targets cellular regeneration. In December, a new daytime skin care product with SPF and a limited- edition Ambient Lighting Blush Palette ($ 58) are slated to join the line.
The Venice store offers an array of makeup application services, including a complimentary 15- minute session called the Beauty Flash and a 40- minute makeup tutorial ($ 125, redeemable in products) in which the makeup artist tapes a step- by- step video of the session for later reference.
The line’s innovative packaging is demonstrated by one of the latest launches, the waterproof 1.55 Mechanical Gel Eye Liner ($ 45), housed in a mechanical pencil style dispenser.
“Plans for growth of the brand are all about where the innovation leads us,” Janes says. “I want it to be an entire sensory experience, from the way the product feels in your hand and howit looks on your counter tothe texture and finish on your skin. I don’t want to compromise.”