Sephora’s First IRL Store In The UK Is Finally Confirmed

After years of (not so) patiently waiting, and trying out different options, the hopes and dreams of British Sephora fans have been answered. Yes, Sephora came back to the UK in digital form in Oct. 2022, but come March 2023, the French beauty and skincare retailer will have an IRL store, too.

Sephora famously left British shores in 2005 and hopeful rumours about its return started making the rounds in 2014, but nothing was concrete or confirmed – until the end of 2022. The first store will open in London’s Westfield, White City, and the brand is going all out. The space will span 600 square meters and will showcase an extensive range of products from UK-exclusive names like Makeup by Mario, GXVE by Gwen Stefani, ONE/SIZE by Patrick Starr, Vegamour, Skinfix, Commodity, as well as the brand’s own Sephora Collection. And for the first time ever the store will also stock Tarte, Supergoop!, Danessa Myricks, Kosas, and Glow Recipe.

And if that wasn’t enough to entire shoppers, the store brings with it exciting personalised services through the Grand Beauty Hub that promises to be a blend of “human touch and technology” along with an accessible self-checkout and the renowned Sephora-rewards programme. “Sephora has transformed the beauty experience of customers all over the world and we are delighted to bring our inspirational in-store environment to London,” said Sylvie Moreau, the President of Europe and Middle East at Sephora said in a statement, describing UK shoppers as “some of the most demanding beauty fans in the world.” We’ll read that as dedicated and passionate.

For those not in London, Sephora’s first UK outpost – via the Sephora App and on sephora.co.uk – remains a viable option be available to all. Dedicated fans will remember the time when shipping to the UK was an option on the Sephora website before GDPR rules scuppered our beauty shopping habits. In Sept. 2021, Sephora acquired e-beauty retailer FeelUnique for a whopping £132m, per Retail Gazette, thereby giving new life to the rumours (and our dreams).

"We are delighted to bring Sephora to the UK,” chief executive and chair of Sephora, Chris de Lapuente, said in a statement at the time, “responding to Britain’s strong demand for our unique prestige beauty experience. The UK is home to a dynamic beauty and wellbeing market that Sephora will aim to surprise and delight through our trademark know how and creativity.”

As reported by Forbes, the London flagship store will the first of other UK-based stores to come, though no details on a specific location for that are known as of yet. Watch this space!