Inside YSL’s Beauty Hotel

Inside YSL’s Beauty Hotel

 

Following Paris (January 2018), Tokyo (April), Shanhai (June), Seoul (August) and New York (September), YSL Beauty hosted its YSL Beauty Hotel pop-up installation in Toronto on September 12^thand 13^thin the city’s hip Queen West district. The Instagram-worthy concept was to create a two-storey hotel environment that celebrates beauty and fragrance in an interactive and engaging fashion. This is the coolest hotel I’ve ever visited. The invitation says it all:

 

Madame, Monsieur, allow me to take your bags.

Check in is just to the right.

Your personal beauty concierge will be on call 24/7.

Please avail yourself freely of the YSL Beauty Bar.

We expect you’ll be partying till late tonight, so there is no hurry to check out.

Of course, you may wish to extend your stay….

 

The buzz-worthy event drew 4,000 guests over 48 hours proving that today’s makeup customer wants experiences with her purchases. Yes, beauty brands need to offer seamless ecommerce shopping experiences, but they still need to surprise and delight. YSL proved this the minute the first guest entered the hotel.

 

You walked through the entrance and down some stairs where a lobby check-in was located complete with rows of room keys, message pads and stylish employees.

A baggage cart decked out with neon tubing offered the ideal selfie background. When I arrived, a singer/songwriter was performing on the YSL stage. A couple of DJ’s took over later in the day when the party kicked into high gear.

 

Crista Cober, YSL Fragrance Global Ambassador

A vintage crane game was tricked out with YSL prizes – something that drew an immediate crowd. A stocked bar boasted rows of YSL Black Opium fragrance bottles on display.

And YSL Beauty makeup artists offered touch ups and makeovers. Want to purchase an item? No problem. You could buy via iPads that linked to YSL’s ecommerce site. Delivery in 72 hours was promised.

 

With an assortment of over 300 products, the pop-up shop focused on the brand’s latest launches: Rouge Pur Couture The Slim, Black Opium Click and Go and Y Eau de Parfum. 

Take the stairs up to the second floor and see displays of these products. At the west end of the floor there was a YSL Beauty Hotel bed with a black guitar – again another great selfie pic.

 

Nadine Houdeib (who oversees YSL Beauty), myself & Aziza Amri (who oversees YSL Fragrance)

Big congrats to the YSL Beauty team. This was one of the most exciting beauty events of the year. Fun, surprising and edgy.