London Beauty Week Makes Its Debut

What is London Beauty Week?

This new festival will transform Covent Garden into a beauty hub filled with an exciting schedule of events from panel discussions hosted by leading industry experts to exclusive in-store events. 

For the duration of the five-day event, a ‘beauty playground’ will take over Covent Garden’s east piazza, inviting visitors to discover and experience the best of the beauty industry. Weleda Skin Food will park up its Nice Cream Van, serving ice-cream over discussions about the brand’s ethical and sustainable ethos; Miller Harris will offer neon, bespoke illustrations and ice-cream via its pop-up; and Floral Street Fragrance will unveil a spinning prize wheel, where visitors can spin the wheel to discover their perfume persona. Elsewhere, Molton Brown will offer fragrance consultations and serve up bottled cocktails designed by Miami export Bunds & Buns, inspired by the brand’s classic scents and presented in their signature bottles.

The Beauty Bank will be the event’s official charity partner. This non-profit organisation provides women, men and young people who are in need with essential toiletries and luxury fashion products. Visitors will be invited to drop off unused beauty products at the London Beauty Week hub (on the east piazza) to be donated to the cause; and monetary donations from the ticket price of all London Beauty Week events will also be donated to the organisation.

What events are taking place?

From Wednesday, Londoners can book a seat at panel discussions hosted at 13-14 Floral Street. Shining a light on London’s important role in the global beauty industry, the schedule will bring together influential industry voices, talking about topics including: ‘Sustainability is not a slogan’; ‘Changing the beauty conversation on Instagram'; ‘Men in beauty’; 'Beauty fake news’ and ‘The business of beauty and conscious beauty'. Panellists and hosts across the week will include: model, author and activist Charlie Howard; beauty journalist Anna Marie Solowij; author and co-founder of Hemsley & Hemsley Jasmine Hemsley; industry head FMCG at Facebook Genna Osler; Glamour editor-in-chief Deborah Joseph; Weleda MD Jayn Sterland; Psycle CEO Rhian Stephenson; and The Hut Group CEO Rachel Horsefield.

Elsewhere, subscription-based beauty brand Glossybox will be hosting a beauty treasure hunt around the estate. Those who find the hidden golden tickets on the piazza on Wednesday and Thursday will be taken to a beauty store within Covent Garden to collect one of ten prizes. Prizes will be worth £100 or more from brands including Nars, Miller Harris and Atelier Cologne.

Which beauty brands are involved?

Brands across Covent Garden will be joining the celebrations, offering late-night shopping and exclusive events for the duration of London Beauty Week. Beauty lovers can pop into Aesop’s King Street store, which will be filled with fresh flower arrangements, for a bespoke skincare consultation, or visit Chanel on 13th or 14th September where illustrator Melissa Bailey will be on-hand to capture the results of the brand’s express beauty services. Jo Malone London will host an exclusive cocktail evening on 12th September, alongside a poppy and barley flower arranging masterclass led by florist Wild Things. Those who love the glamour of the runway should reserve a space at Tom Ford, where the team will be serving ‘Metallique’-inspired cocktails and providing a demonstration on how to achieve Tom Ford catwalk looks. Additional in-store events, experiences and installations will also be taking place across Atelier Cologne, Charlotte Tilbury, Dior, Penhaligon’s, Deciem, Ted Baker and Trevor Sorbie and The Alkemistry.

Various locations across Covent Garden; 11th-15th September

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