Trip to London

On Monday 9th February, we had a research trip to Covent Garden, London where we went to various make-up boutiques to get their opinions and advice on products, see the layouts of the stores and learn more about the individual brands that we are studying.

Urban Decay were kind enough to offer us a make-up demonstration, which I learnt even more about the brand from.  The make-up artist, Danielle, that was leading the demo showed us how to create a cut-crease eye make-up.  As she applied the make-up, she talked us through what she was doing, the products she was using, how to use the products, which brushes to use and how to care for your brushes.  This was the outcome of the demonstration.

Danielle applied the eye make-up first and then the base after, so as do avoid ruining the foundation with flakes or smudges from the eyeshadow or eyeliner.  She then answered our questions about the brand:

- What kind of people work for Urban Decay? -

Urban Decay's staff tend to fall into 3 categories; fun, feminine and dangerous.  The fun prefer the brighter products, such as the electric palettes.  The feminine will be seen wearing the Naked range and the dangerous are usually seen with dark, bold make-up.

- What are your best-selling products? -
The Naked palettes, settings sprays and our eyeshadow primer potion - every girl wants a Naked palette, and the eyeshadow primer has been our bestselling product for as long as I've worked with the brand.

- Where can you find the Naked nail varnishes? -
Harvey Nichols got the only stock when they came to the UK, however they have been discontinued over here and you can only find them in America.

- Do Urban Decay offer a student discount on their products? -
We don't offer discounts to celebrities, students or anyone at the moment, but we are in the process of setting one up for students studying to become a part of the industry.

- What do you like about Urban Decay's products? -
Urban Decay's products go a long way, you don't need a lot of each product to make it go a long way, especially with the eyeshadow palettes.  For example, I bought my first Naked palette in 2011 (Naked2) and they are all still in use and haven't hit the pan yet.

After the demonstration, we shopped around the boutique where we were offered a one-off discount of 20% and I browsed the shop floor to see the way that they had laid out their products and presented them.  I noticed that they had a very clear layout, each stand with a different range of products on.  The shelves of the stands were all purple, with the products placed with equal space between them and a clear label of the name of the product and it's price underneath.  All of the products on the shelves were all testers, with the new products that you buy hidden away in drawers that the staff would access to get you your desired purchase.  Each palette tester is placed on the shelves open, so that customers can easily see what is inside and in what shades.