London Beauty Week unveils full schedule for inaugural event

The first-ever London Beauty Week arrives in Covent Garden from September 11 to 15 and will transform the London shopping district into a beauty hub, featuring panel discussions, a pop-up interactive Beauty Playground, and in-store events from brands including Tom Ford, Dior and Chanel.

“Covent Garden is proud to be a founding member of London Beauty Week and work alongside the British Beauty Council to bring this to this event to life for the first time,” explains Michelle McGrath, director of Covent Garden in a statement. “Covent Garden has London’s biggest selection of global beauty brands per square metre, so this is an opportunity to celebrate and discover new innovation in this increasingly valuable industry as it continues to grow.”

The aim of London Beauty Week is to celebrate Covent Garden’s position as London’s Beauty Quarter and pay homage to the power of the British beauty industry, and will include the quest for the Next British Beauty Brand competition, which is offering start-up beauty companies the chance to win expert beauty business mentoring and a central London retail space.

The judging panel includes some of the most influential names in the UK beauty industry including senior executives from The British Beauty Council, Covent Garden, WGSN, Harvey Nichols and Felix Capital, and the winner will receive mentoring from two British Beauty Council trustees, a pop-up store in Covent Garden, a listing in Harvey Nichols Beyond Beauty, financial mentoring from Felix Capital and a year’s subscription to WGSN Beauty.

In addition, a Beauty Playground will pop-up on Covent Garden’s East Piazza, offering visitors the chance to discover the “best of the beauty industry”. Brands taking part includes Weleda Skin Food, who will bring their Nice Cream Van, dishing ice cream over discussions about the brand’s ethical and sustainable ethos, while Miller Harris will have bright neon, bespoke illustrations in their exclusive pop-up to reveal two new vibrant fragrances, Blousy and Brighton Rock and Floral Street Fragrance will have a prize wheel, where visitors can take a spin the wheel to discover their perfume persona, and Molton Brown will offer fragrance consultations and a bespoke beauty bar.

Covent Garden and the British Beauty Council to host London Beauty Week

Subscription-based beauty brand Glossybox will also be taking part in the inaugural event, with an exclusive beauty treasure hunt around the estate. Visitors who find the hidden golden tickets on the Piazza on September 11 and 12 will be able to collect one of ten prizes worth 100 pounds or more from brands including NARS, Miller Harris, and Atelier Cologne.

There will also be a schedule of panel discussions hosted at 13-14 Floral Street in Covent Garden, talking about subjects including sustainability, men in beauty, fake beauty news, the business of beauty and conscious beauty. Panellists and hosts across the week will include model, author and activist Charlie Howard, Jasmine Hemsley co-founder of Hemsley and Hemsley, Genna Osler industry head FMCG at Facebook, managing director of Weleda, Jayn Sterland and Rachel Horsefield chief executive of The Hut Group. All panels will be ticketed and will cost 10 pounds, with all proceeds going direct to Beauty Banks, the official charity partner of London Beauty Week.

Other highlights include Chanel hosting illustrator Melissa Bailey, who will be on-hand to capture the results of the brand’s express services, while Jo Malone London will host an exclusive cocktail evening and a Poppy and Barley flower arranging masterclass, and Tom Ford will be serving Metallique inspired cocktails to an intimate group and providing a demonstration on how to achieve Tom Ford catwalk looks.

Additional in-store events, experiences and installations will be seen across Covent Garden beauty brand, including Aesop, Atelier Cologne, Miller Harris, Molton Brown, Ted Baker and Trevor Sorbie and The Alkemistry.

Millie Kendall, chief executive of The British Beauty Council, added: “The British Beauty Council are delighted to be working with founding patron Covent Garden in creating this dynamic experiential week of beauty. Beauty is a buoyant sector and contributes significantly to the UK economy. As a growing industry that is a force for good, we are focused on supporting brands and creating jobs via our three pillars reputation, education and innovation.”

London Beauty Week will run from September 11 to 15.

Image: courtesy of Covent Garden - Capital and Counties Properties PLC