Five Reasons to Visit Sephora’s Glitzy New Sydney CBD Store

Six years ago, Sydney beauty buffs were thrilled when French beauty giant Sephora launched its first Australian store in Pitt Street. The LVMH-owned company brought with it a slew of big-name beauty brands – many of which were exclusively available at Sephora, including Tarte and Marc Jacobs Beauty. No longer did Sydneysiders have to schlep cult beauty products home from overseas jaunts – or pay hefty shipping fees to order them online.

Since, Sephora has launched 19 more stores Down Under. And on January 20, it relaunched its Aussie flagship on Pitt Street, moving a few doors down to the heritage Soul Pattinson building. It comes just a couple of months after Australian-owned beauty super-retailer Mecca launched the largest beauty store in the Southern Hemisphere, just down the road on George Street, marking the area out as a go-to for beauty lovers. The new Sephora store stocks dozens of brands, from the classics – Dior, Estée Lauder, Lancôme – to the cult, including Fenty Beauty, Ultra Violette, Huda Beauty and Tata Harper.

Here are five more reasons to visit the new 470-square-metre beauty destination.

There’s a blow bar
Hair-styling service The Blow has made the move down Pitt Street with Sephora. Rock up with clean, dry hair and the hairdryer-wielding team will give you a new style in less than 30 minutes. There are seven styles to choose from – including “rich-girl hair” (s-bend waves with straight ends); beachy waves; and heavy curls. Services start at $30. Book here.

You can buy Fenty Skin
Since launching in 2017, Rihanna’s make-up line has made waves for its diverse shades – there’s a foundation and lipstick for every skin tone – and inclusive marketing campaigns. Last year, the pop star released a small-but-mighty range of skincare products – including a sunscreen, toner and overnight cream – under the Fenty Skin banner. Sephora is Fenty Skin’s exclusive Australian retailer, and the new store has a schmick new set-up devoted to the brand so you can try before you buy.

Get your brows waxed and tinted
Benefit’s Brow Bar has also moved down the Pitt Street strip to the new store. The popular brand is doing brow waxes, tweezes and tints, as well as lip and chin waxes. Benefit’s brow experts will map your brow to find the best shape for your facial features, and show you how to maintain your facial follicles at home. Book here.

The fragrance range is stellar
There’s already more than enough in Sephora’s fragrance range to keep you smelling good, including big-name brands such as Dior, Gucci, Chloé and Marc Jacobs. But if you don’t fancy smelling like Marc Jacobs’s Daisy or Dior’s J’Adore (like every second person), you’re in luck: at its new store the retailer has expanded its “niche” fragrance selection, increasing its range of lesser-sniffed brands such as Nest, Ayu and Goldfield & Banks. (You’ll find them towards the back of the store, to your left.)

It’s a seamless shopping experience
The old Pitt Street space was spread across two levels, meaning if you were looking for skincare or hair products, you’d have to traipse upstairs. But the new store has everything spread out across one level with neatly flowing aisles. Each brand’s space is clearly marked out, and registers are positioned at the back so that queues don’t overflow into the shopping area. Prices are clearly marked, and unlike many other beauty stores, you can just grab the product you’re buying, rather than chasing down a sales assistant to unlock a drawer. Navigating the store (and tracking down mirrors) is a breeze.