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Chanel’s new beauty wonderland invites fans to slow down and discover

by Larissa Gomes

Chanel has launched a new beauty retail concept in NYC where it is inviting fans to discover and play with the line’s range through interactive experiences that encourages them to slow down. The store, called Atelier Beauté Chanel, offers trial experiences as well as appointment-only events and services, such as makeup lessons, with the brand’s artists-in-residence.

Chanel-Beauty

Upon entering the store, guests are given personal lockers to keep their belongings in, so they are free to browse the displays. They are then prompted to create a personal profile on their phones in order to keep track of the items they have tried and liked. This profile will also allow them to book for other one-to-one experiences in the future.

Sinks for hand and face washing are also available at the store entrance, further setting a tone: this is not a place where clients are encouraged to rush in and rush out.

The space is heavy on experiences, such as encountering a mysterious black door labeled “Atelier Parfum Chanel”. Guests must make a reservation to visit this space, which is a no-spray counter where they are invited to blindly sniff scented porcelain testers labeled with numbers instead of names. It’s an exciting way to discover a scent without being influenced by the color of the perfume or the design of the bottle, but simply its smell. It’s also a great way to step outside the box of feminine and masculine labels: according to Chanel’s perfume expert, most women choose a men’s fragrance and vice-versa.

At the perfume bar, clients save the numbers of the scents they like through the mobile website. After they’re done, the site reveals the names of the fragrances and saves their order. Guests leave with a doubled-C branded bracelet dipped in their preferred scent to take home.

Atelier Beauté Chanel

Atelier Beauté Chanel

Other experiences in-store further push the discovery of the label’s makeup and skincare ranges. At the makeup area, counters are divided by different areas of the face. For example “Skin Enhances” for foundation and concealers, and “Eye Definers” for mascaras, eyeliners, shadows and brow products. A lip bar is by far the most visually appealing, as it displays lipstick pigments on a wall not too dissimilar from an upmarket paint store.

Meanwhile over at the skincare counter, store associates are on hand to talk customers through their personal skincare routines. Customers are then offered two different sample packages to purchase, varying by length of the routine they hope to achieve. Once the customer is happy with their purchase at home, the purchase price can be redeemed against store credit to buy any full-size foundation or skincare products on Chanel.com

As brands strive to become increasingly digitised and push for convenience at their retail spaces, Atelier Beauté Chanel proves the opposite. Here, slow luxury still has plenty of room to play and engage with an audience that is craving experiences that allow them to take a minute and wander.

SOURCE: thecurrentdaily.com