An immersive beauty shopping experience might just bring back your makeup mojo
AN immersive beauty shopping experience is the one thing makeup and skin-care enthusiasts have missed in this pandemic. This is what LOOK at SM Aura Premier offers: an experience that’s fun and immersive, guaranteed to bring back your missing makeup mojo.
LOOK, which opened in 2020, commissioned international creative and digital agency Malherbe Paris to do its store concept, design and brand identity as a multi-brand beauty concept store.
Thus, you will see a “Store Studio,” where you can enjoy free Nespresso coffee and hang out. It can serve as a waiting area for partners, boyfriends and husband. It is also a venue for brands and experts to hold events, talks and tutorials. There’s also music playing while you shop. Inside, you’ll find department store brands like NARS, Benefit, Laura Mercier, Innisfree, Laneige, Clarins, Aveda, Make Up For Ever and Shiseido.
You’ll also see niche and hard-to-find Western and Asian brands such as The Ordinary, Fenty Beauty, Huda Beauty, Glossier, Klavuu, VT Cosmetics, Cerave and many others. If you love luxury beauty, SK-II, Shu Uemura, Gucci and YSL are also at LOOK.
If you can’t go to the physical store, you may also shop online. Check out the LOOK web site (bit.ly/lookph) or download the LOOK app available for IOS and Android (bit.ly/look-downloadapp).
Be a “LOOK List” member and enjoy the perks of their rewards program, including welcome voucher of P300 (with minimum purchase of P3,000), free samples and birthday treat, exclusive offers and invite to events, free delivery vouchers, store credit of up to P2,000 for high-spenders (who also get a virtual personal shopper) and bounce-back voucher for Click & Collect shoppers.
Now for the fun part: Here are some of what we think are the best beauty finds at LOOK:
■ Embryolisse Lait Creme Concentre is a French drugstore classic that used to be available only on e-commerce platforms in the Philippines. This is an ultra rich, moisturizing creme formulated with essential fatty acids as well as natural ingredients like shea butter, beeswax, soy proteins and aloe vera. You would think this would be greasy but it’s really not. It makes the skin soft and supple.
■ Gucci Satin Lipstick in The Fallen Sparrow was named after a 1940s movie but the shade and texture are very modern. You cannot go wrong with this rosy shade (sometimes described as a pinky red plum).
■ Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Setting Powder is considered one of the best finishing powders in the world. It has a blurring effect and if you have good skin, you can actually wear this on its own.
■ KOCOSTAR Papaya Tropical Eye Mask is perfect for those who are lazy to apply eye cream. This is actually fun because you put them under your eyes for just 15 minutes and enjoy the cooling effect it has.
■ Cerave Renewing SA Cleanser is a Tiktokfamous product that contains salicylic acid. This cleanser is good for acne-prone skin and oilycombination skin. It can also be used by those who have skin issues like keratosis pilaris (chicken skin).
■ The Ordinary Lactic Acid 10 percent + HA 2 percent is an alpha hydroxy acid that offers mild exfoliation. Some people even use this on their scalp when they are suffering from dandruff. Disclaimer: This product may increase your skin's sensitivity to the sun so always wear SPF 50.
■ Make Up For Ever’s new Ultra HD Setting Powder mattifies and sets makeup for 12 hours and promises to be “undetectable.” This is made for those who wear makeup under their masks. It comes with an ultra-soft velour puff for a precise application. The pointy tip of the puff allows you to reach the smallest areas of the face such as the sides of the nose or under the eyes.