It's happening, Sephora confirmed they are officially coming to the UK
We never thought we’d see the day, but after years of rumours, we can confirm that Sephora is finally coming to the UK, both online and in-store.
While unfounded rumours have been swirling for over seven years, it wasn’t until June 2021 when Sephora officially acquired UK online beauty retailer FeelUnique, that we realised our dreams were actually coming true.
For any remaining sceptics out there, back in September, we were invited to Paris on a top-secret trip to Sephora HQ to meet Sylvie Moreau, president of Sephora Europe and the Middle East, who gave us all the details, dates and even a sneak peek into the brands we can expect to see here.
Some of you may remember that Sephora did in fact used to be in the UK, but with the select few stores closing over 20 years ago and no online shipping to the UK, we’ve been deprived of everyone’s favourite beauty store for far too long.
While we have a little while longer to wait for the first bricks and mortar opening (more on that below), you will be able to shop UK Sephora online this year. In fact, you’ll even have time to get making those Christmas lists.
Here’s everything you need to know about Sephora’s UK takeover:
When is Sephora coming to the UK?
Calendars at the ready: Sephora.co.uk launches officially on the 17th October 2022 and you will be able to shop your favourite brands immediately from that point.
Will Sephora in the UK be online only?
You will be pleased to hear that Sephora won’t just be online, as Moreau herself said, 'we believe in stores'. But you do have a little while longer to wait for the first official UK one, which is due to open in Spring 2023.
If you really can’t wait till then, Sephora is celebrating their arrival with a London pop up at One Marylebone which will be open to the general public on the 20th October. This will be a free ticketed event and will give you a chance to have a play with a lot of new and exciting makeup and beauty launches. However, be aware that you won’t be able to make any purchases at the pop up and this isn’t the location of the official store. Think of it as more of a Sephora pre-drinks, you know, to really get you in the mood. Tickets will be available from 11th October.
Where will the UK Sephora store be?
We can confirm the first Sephora will be in London, but the precise location remains a secret that even we couldn’t get them to reveal. Moreau was keen to state however that after the London opening in spring, stores will roll out nationwide and one of the reasons they started with online first is so everyone in the UK could shop Sephora first.
Is the UK Sephora run by Europe or America?
UK Sephora is run by Europe which Moreau heads up. While it’s often said that Sephora stores in the US are superior to Europe, Moreau told me, 'We have what I would say is our recipe for success, our backbone, but of course you have to have local relevance.'
So not only will UK trends be taken into consideration to ensure Sephora is your first port of call, but the new London store is leading the way in terms of what future Sephora stores around the world will look like. 'We’ve used the London launch to elevate our European view on the store of the future,' Moreau told me. Which I read as; the UK is about to have the best Sephora in the entire world.
And don’t we deserve it.
What brands will be available in UK Sephora?
Anyone who has entered a Sephora will know they always have the best edit of both mainstream and indie brands and luckily Moreau gave us a teaser of some of the brands we can expect in the UK and it’s mega.
First, the entire Sephora beauty collection will be available, which if you’ve never shopped before is a must. Alongside it is a curated assortment of 1,400 prestige brands including exclusive brands like Makeup By Mario, Tarte Cosmetics, ILIA Beauty and ONE/SIZE by Patrick Starrr which you won’t be able to shop anywhere else.
But keep an eye out as more brands will be dropping from November…
What will happen to FeelUnique?
From the 17th October the FeelUnique website will be replaced by Sephora.co.uk and FeelUnique will no longer exist.
Some of you might be aware that FeelUnique has two physical stores in Jersey, we can confirm that these will also become Sephora stores, timing TBC.
What about rewards programmes?
If you have FeelUnique Rewards built up, don’t panic. These will transfer to Sephora. However, if like me, you’ve accumulated a lot of Sephora points from all those USA and France pilgrimages, you sadly won’t be able to redeem those points in the UK.
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