Sephora 34th Street: How to Shop the Company’s Largest Store in the U.S.
By Sophia Panych. Photos: Courtesy of Sephora.
Today the biggest Sephora store in North America opens its doors to the public. Most Manhattan residents don't even have a closet in their tiny apartments, but the beauty retailer's brand-new 34th Street location (right near Macy's and Herald Square) takes up what amounts to basically an entire city block. It's approximately 11,380 square feet and contains over 13,300 products, and yes, oh my God, it's what most beauty junkies believe the afterlife will look like. It's one of six Sephora Beauty TIP Workshop concept stores in North America, the others being in San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, the Santa Clara Valley, and Toronto. They're unlike the average Sephora store not just because of their size but also due to the fact they provide a variety of interactive and experiential tools and services, most notably the Beauty Workshop and the Beauty Studio (more on those later). And while all of these are amazing, I'm not going to lie — even as someone who works in the beauty industry and can tell what brand a lipstick is just by looking at the tube — walking into one of these concept stores can be an overwhelming experience. That's why yesterday, before the doors even opened, I stopped by the new location so that Sephora Pro Karoline Karakeosian could give me a tour and offer me advice on how best to shop the largest Sephora store in North America.
Ask for the Moisture Meter. This is new technology that is debuting at the 34th Street store but will soon be available at all Sephoras. The digital tool, which looks a bit like a baby thermometer, is able to measure the amount of moisture in your skin, which can help you narrow down what type of skin-care products you need and also inform Sephora "cast members" (employees) what types of makeup work best with your skin type.
Then check out the Skincare IQ. This large touchscreen allows you to peruse skin-care products based on skin concern, skin type, product type, and brand. Answer a few questions and you'll be shown a selection of items based on your responses. Then you can scan the shelves or ask one of the Sephora cast members in the skin-care section (they're all trained based on their station so they'll know exactly where to find products and can answer any questions you might have) for help.
ColorIQ makes shopping simpler. Sephora's shade-matching technology has been around for a while, but it's an important device to try if you're looking for a new foundation or concealer or have difficulty knowing what lipstick shades to buy. Find a cast member to use the ColorIQ device to take a picture of your skin tone (which is as simple as pressing it to three different areas of your face). Then they upload it to the database, which spits out a code and provides you with a list of products — and exact shades — that should nicely suit your complexion.
Try on lipstick and fake lashes while walking around the store. Sephora 34th Street is the first store to offer the "Tap and Try" technology, a machine that lets you scan the barcode of any lipstick or pair of false lashes from the shelves and see how it looks on your face. You can find two located in this store.
The best-sellers are in the center. There are rows and rows of long display cases at Sephora 34th Street (and at most other locations) and each of these have what they call "end caps," displays of products on either end of the case. (Think of it like a rectangle and the end caps are the shorter sides.) Turns out that the products on the end caps facing the center of the store are the most popular, or as they're officially known, "Sephora Favorites." So when in doubt, check these first and breathe easy knowing they come highly recommended.
Sign up for a class at the Beauty Workshop. "This is the heart of the store," says Karakeosian. "It's where clients can sit and play and learn." At this long table (called the "tip table," shown above), complete with lighted mirrors, cotton buds, makeup remover, and tablets, you can either take a class (which you have to sign up online for — the full schedule is listed here{: rel=nofollow} on sephora.com), or you can take a seat when the table is free and use the tablet to try on lipstick shades with the Virtual Artist app, be taken through a video makeup tutorial, or upload your selfie to the Beauty Board, the large digital screen in the middle of the store.
Discover a new fragrance — without getting all stinky. There are no overeager salespeople dousing you with the latest eaux or shoving samples in your hand. Instead, the 34th Street store has the Sephora's exclusive InstaScent technology at the FragranceIQ station. Head over to the digital screen (as you can tell, there are A LOT of them in this store), select the type of scent category you think you like (with this tool, you actually might discover you aren't such a fan of fruity fragrances after all), and the machine lets out a stream of scented air (its dry, so it doesn't leave behind a smell on your skin, hair, or clothes) to let you smell the undertones typical in that category and suggest perfumes you might like.
Personalize your new perfume. This was my favorite part of Sephora 34th Street: the custom engraving station. Buy a large-size fragrance and you have the option of getting your initials (or,if this is a gift, the recipient's initials) on the bottle. The three font options are surprisingly chic, and I loved how it looked on the transparent glass bottles (not sure if I'd get it on the opaque ones).
Get your makeup done. Like every Sephora store, the 34th Street location offers "makeovers" with a minimum purchase of $50 if you'd like to get your makeup done say for an event, a date, or just because you want some new makeup and would like to feel fabulous while doing it. "You can also ask for a mini makeover for free," says Karakeosian, which is where you can get one part of your makeup done to try out a product or two that you're interested in.
And lastly, ask for samples. "Sephora always gives away samples if you're interested in trying something," Karakeosian says.
This story originally appeared on Allure.
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