PARIS – Fencing. Swimming. Athletics. Beauty shopping.
Wait, what?
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The latter could indeed be considered an off-calendar sport during this summer’s Paris Olympics and Paralympics. That’s thanks to the flood of new beauty stores that have popped up in the run-up to the events, which run Friday through August 11 and August 28 through September 8, respectively. Here’s a look at the most recent ones to debut. On your marks, get set, go!
Antinomy
The Antinomie brand was created two years ago in France to democratize the niche perfume segment. The fragrances are meant to tap into moments in life and meet the paradoxes of each person, says Aurélie Boudoux, marketing manager of Antinomie.
There are two Antinomie fragrance collections. The five eaux de parfum are designed to correspond to moods and include scents such as Rose Sage and Bois Blanc Pudique. The same number of extraits de parfum are created for life’s more powerful moments and include scents such as Flirt Infini and Silence Éloquent. A 30 ml edp costs 49 euros and the 100 ml extract costs 119 euros.
Antinomie’s first boutique in Paris is a paradox in itself. The 260-square-foot space appears upside down, with a standing chandelier and drapes cascading upwards on the floor, while the ceiling holds a table and chair facing downward.
Antinomy, 99 Rue du Bac, 75007 Paris. Tel. : +33 9 56 12 60 49
The beautiful brittle
To reinvent the luxury hair care market with new brushes and care lines, La Bonne Brosse opened its first store in Paris, near the Palais-Royal.
“We felt we could change the rules of the market, or shake it up a little bit,” said Pauline Laurent, co-founder of the French brand.
Inside the boutique, her and co-founder Flore des Robert’s opulently colored hairbrush creations are laid out on a trompe l’oeil tablecloth with intricate stitching to resemble a set dining table. La Bonne Brosse brushes are made in France from cellulose acetate, commonly used in high-end eyewear, which lends an organic feel and biodegradability. They retail for $38 to $138.
Also on the table of the new boutique are the Cair clean hair care products, which were launched less than six months ago. It started with a serum, shampoo and conditioner, with prices ranging from 38 euros to 74 euros.
La Bonne Brosse, 18 Rue Richelieu, 75001 Paris. Tel.: +33 7 68 40 93 28
Legacy concept store
Legacy Concept Store, just off the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, is the brainchild of Colette Concept Store alum Sébastien Chapelle. About two-thirds of the 1,615-square-foot, two-story, sleek space, with marble floors and displays and a vintage brick fireplace, sells wristwatches, jewelry, eyewear, art, technology, books and other accessories.
The rest of the boutique is dedicated to some 20 carefully selected niche fragrance brands. These include Escentric Molecules, Akro, Maison Icepinkim, Dorin Paris, Élisire, Atelier des Ors, Orens, My Exclusive Collection, Maison Rebatchi and Stéphanie de Bruijn-Parfum. There are 150 scents to try in total.
Legacy Concept Store, 19 Avenue George V, 75008 Paris. Tel.: +33 1 49 53 99 29
Mine
Chinese entrepreneur Lilin Yang launched her K-beauty business in October 2014 with a tiny Miin store in the center of Barcelona. That led to another boutique in Madrid a year later, followed by more in Munich and Milan. Seven years ago, Yang opened a shop-in-shop in Paris for business-to-business customers, and in 2023 she decided to expand the retail concept more aggressively.
“This year we will open a new store every week,” said Yang, the company’s CEO, adding that Miin will have 32 stores in Europe next month. “I hope we [2024] with 40 stores.”
The ultimate goal is to reach 100 European locations.
The new 320-square-foot Miin boutique in Paris’ Montmartre district marks the first freestanding door in France. It carries 40 K-beauty brands, including Laka, Benton, Klairs and Mizon. Ondo Beauty and Meisani are private labels there.
After a month, the new store is so successful that Yang says she wants to open more in Paris right away.
Miin, 4 Rue des Abbesses, 75018 Paris. Tel.: +33 1 42 51 94 77
To hum
Neuraé, the Sisley Group’s new skincare brand based on neuroscience, opened the doors of its first physical store in the Marais district of Paris.
Complimentary, 10-minute mini-treatments in the 860-square-foot boutique can be booked online. These include Neuro-Respiration, which focuses on breathing and acupressure; Emotion Xplorer Neuro-Soin facial; and Emotion Xplorer Neuro-Modelage Main, a personalized hand treatment. Emotion Xplorer Neuro technology reads a person’s brainwaves to paint their emotional portrait.
Every Thursday at 6:30 PM, the boutique organizes masterclasses on themes such as emotions, well-being and skin care.
Neuraé, 48 Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie, 75004 Paris. www.neurae.com and @neurae
Patyka
Patyka is a pharmacy brand founded in 2002, but its roots go back to the 1920s in Paris.
“It was the first brand in the world to be certified organic,” explains Pierre Juhen, co-CEO at Groupe Finoli, which acquired Patyka 10 years ago and relaunched the brand in 2014. “We turned it into a biotech skincare brand. Our goal is to break down the barriers between science, clean and premium with one mission: clean beauty that delivers.”
Patyka has internalized almost all of its operations, including research and development, and has been considering opening a flagship for some time. The two-story, 1,080-square-foot facility, located in the brand’s headquarters building, opens Thursday.
“We created it as a round circle [lab] “The shape is essential to Patyka’s branding,” said Juhen, who added that the shape is central to the institute’s branding, as are the white, black and metallic tones used in the institute’s interior design.
The ground floor is used for selling products and providing mini treatments, while the upper floor has two rooms for treatments lasting 50 to 90 minutes.
Patyka, 58 Rue de Châteaudun, 75009 Paris
Pink Gellac
Pink Gellac, the semi-permanent vegan nail polish brand, has placed its first retail shares in France, on the Rue de Rivoli in Paris. And as the name suggests, pink is the dominant color there.
The ground floor of the 1,080-square-foot boutique sells the Dutch brand’s 300 long-lasting nail polish colors (most of them Hema-free), LED nail dryers for finger and toenails, and other home accessories. Up the stairs is a spacious event space.
Pink Gellac nail polishes are available from 13 euros to 16 euros per 15 ml. bottle. The Compact Set Sensual costs 49 euros.
Pink Gellac, 98 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris. Tel. : +33 1 42 36 16 42
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