We’ve been hearing telephone whispers about the cult beauty brand’s newest product launch. Now, you can personally experience the ultra-personal fragrance at its concept showroom.
You can’t miss the bright splash of pink and red adorning the corner of Lafayette & Canal. Just steps away from Chinatown’s jewelers and bakeries lies Glossier’s mysterious, limited-time pop-up showroom for the startup brand’s newest gem of a product, Glossier You Eau de Parfum.
I came across the pop-up on a lazy Saturday afternoon. A line was forming outside as a red-coated “bouncer” took down each guest’s information.
I had heard of the product launch just days before and was propelled by a burning curiosity to join the line. Seconds after leaving my number on the waitlist, I received a text message: “Enjoy your journey…”
From start to finish, Glossier made sure that I wasn’t stumbling into your neighborhood pop-up shop. I stepped into the capsule of a showroom. It looked like it came straight out of a sci-fi film, but if sci-fi film art directors adored infinity mirrors and plush velvet. Bottles of Glossier You encased in glass hung on the walls, flaunting their matching pink bodies and red caps.
A beautiful woman in a red pantsuit ties a tiny ribbon around my wrist. “Welcome, I’ve been waiting for you,” she purrs, guiding me to her “friend in the back”, who offers me a whiff of the musky fragrance. I am transported to mother’s boudoir.
“Ah, but there is a missing ingredient… you!” Exclaimed the perfumer. “Why don’t you step inside here?”
I was led into a small dressing room and told to “push the button when you’re ready.” Ready for what? I was confused, bewildered, and trapped, but an Alice in Wonderland-esque curiosity drove me to do as I was told. A tiny chest-height door opened up. A hand reached in, holding a glistening bottle of the fragrance. Aha. The ribbon, the missing ingredient, it all adds up…
I brought my wrist up for a spritz of Glossier You, the unique fragrance that contains only 3 smooth, warm base notes and 2 top notes. Without any middle notes, its formula is technically incomplete until combined with the natural bodily scent of the wearer. The final presentation, a deeply personal scent, does not change or wear down over time. To put it simply, it smells like you, but even better.
Just like that, I popped back onto the sidewalk, still smelling my ribboned wrist. I ventured upstairs to Glossier’s regular brick-and-mortar showroom, a small, clean space populated by girls in grey plaid trench coats and baby pink jumpsuits. “You smell good.” A simple message sent by the fragrance’s display has me lingering. You – the personal. Smell – the chemical. Good – the emotional. Combined together, these forces are making cult beauty magic.
The pop-up, located at 123 Lafayette St., will be open until December 31st, 2017. Go on, take the train to Canal street for a heavenly whiff.