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Firstly I must apologise for my lack of posts over the last week; I’ve been super busy getting ready for Christmas on manface and I think you’re in for a real treat.
After being invited, I couldn’t resist attending the launch of the new Shiseido counter at Harvey Nichols in Manchester. Despite being a Japanese language student, I have never used Shiseido products before (and I dare to call myself a beauty geek!), but it’s just never a brand I’ve come into contact with, despite being one of the worlds largest and oldest skin care companies, with a glorious and rich heritage.
Harvey Nichols is actually in the process of revamping their beauty hall and I honestly believe it’s going from one strength to the next. The department store, that not many peopleknow was brought back from the brink of extinction by none other than the genius that is Mary Portas, didn’t have as much of a focus on beauty in their Manchester location, until now. It’s all very exciting.
They’re expanding beauty right through to the front of the store with some gorgeous concessions that really make a statement, such as the new Bobbi Brown studio, Jo Malone lounge, and now, a huge new Shiseido concession.
Often counters are condensed to meet with floor mat sizes and so have to limit what’s on show, but not here. There is ample room for Shiseido to effectively display all of the mysteries and wonders that they have on offer. Including a couple of super-special client-engagement tools that really got me excited.
Besides Clarins and Clinique and a couple of others, Shiseido are one of the only brands to feature a comprehensive men’s range as part of their lineup, with a collection of products that will impress even the most discerning beauty fiend.
This is something everyone needs to try out. Now there’s skin diagnostic tools and there’s skin diagnostic tools and this is a skin diagnostic tool. Not only does it show you skin images that can then be interpreted by the consultant, in this case one of the company’s senior education executives – Victoria, but the system intelligently and terrifyingly accurately displays the data in the form of triangle graphs and slider charts.
Once you’ve entered a small amount of data into the system, such as your name and date of birth, the information is saved for the next time allowing you to compare results; this to me displays a wonderful and well-deserved arrogance that says “Our skincare works, and we can prove it!”
OK, now this might not be of huge interest to all you guys, but this is the coolest beauty gadget I’ve ever come across. It takes a reading of your face, maps it and then superimposes makeup over the top with eerie accuracy. But it doesn’t take a static photo, you can move, talk blink, close your eyes, pout your lips, anything really, and the computer continues to hold perfectly position the fully customisable colour perfectly.
I couldn’t resist taking part, and I know this is weird, but is it wrong that I really like this look? (Yes? Ok fair enough)
If you’re local to Manchester or even if you’re not, you should really get yourself down to see this beautiful counter in this gorgeously revamped beauty hall. At the moment, the Shiseido counter has an exclusive prize draw where you can win £140 of products to celebrate their 140th anniversary, plus, you’ll automatically be entered into the national draw to win £150 of products as well!
If you’ve already been, I’d love to hear what you thought and as a newbie to their skin care, I’d love to hear your favourite recommendations. I personally have been suggested the purity range which looks gorgeous.
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