Now, cosmetics brands are deploying limited-time pop-up stores one after another.
"Limited-edition pop-up items" and "pop-up exclusive events" are also creating a buzz on social media, generating new customer traffic as visitors post photos and share their experiences.
In this article, we will explore pop-up cases in the cosmetic industry, the reasons for their attention, trends, and introduce pop-up examples, focusing on pop-up stores as a new space for experience that connects brands and customers.
There are various factors behind cosmetics brands actively deploying pop-up stores, but the needs of consumers such as "I want to try it before I buy it" and "I want to touch a new brand" is one of the reasons. Especially for cosmetics, there is a strong demand for real-world experience contact points as they are products whose color, scent, and texture you want to verify with your own eyes by trying them.
Also, pop-up stores have a sense of specialness as they are held for a limited time, and their characteristic is that they are easily talked about on SNS due to the appeal that "it can only be experienced now." Among young women, it becomes an opportunity for outings with friends and SNS posts, and brand awareness spreads naturally.
In this way, in the cosmetics industry, pop-up stores are attracting attention as an important place for creating direct connections with customers and increasing brand fans.
Cosmetic pop-up stores are developed with charming, social-media-friendly store designs.
Photogenic spaces that express the brand's worldview—such as colorful photo spots, interior designs that leverage brand colors, large product objects, and visuals of the brand muse—trigger a "I want to take photos!" feeling in visitors. Additionally, visitors posting photos of the pop-up store on social media leads to diffusion and helps increase brand awareness.
Cosmetic brand pop-up stores are not "places to buy products," but rather "places where you can have a special experience just by visiting," and each brand creates and develops space with designs that satisfy those needs when opening a store.
The second cosmetic pop-up trend is the provision of personalized experiences tailored to the customer.
More and more pop-up stores are offering personalized experiences and services to visitors, such as using machines to check skin condition on the spot to suggest the best cosmetics, or installing digital mirrors that allow visitors to virtually apply makeup to their own faces.
Providing such special experiences, rather than just displaying and selling products, is a key element in capturing the hearts of customers who seek a "special time" at a pop-up store, and in strengthening engagement with the brand.
There are also cases where services such as engraving purchased items at the pop-up store are offered as a limited project.
The third trend for cosmetic pop-up stores is the provision of professional touch-up services.
Touch-up services where you can learn how to choose foundation that solves skin concerns, suitable lip colors, and makeup tips on the spot while receiving treatment (make-up) from beauty professionals such as makeup artists are very popular, and many brands are adopting them.
This is a type of personalized experience, which is the second trend, but it is a special experience where visitors can spend time with high satisfaction, and it is utilized in various ways, such as making the provision of this experience a purchase bonus at the pop-up store, and strengthening customer attraction by making it a pre-booking/lottery system to build excitement before the pop-up period.
Also, after touch-up experiences, visitors often share their finished look on SNS, which spreads the appeal of the brand and products, leading to the acquisition of new fans.
We introduce case studies of cosmetics brand pop-up stores and beauty pop-up events for which we at BEEATS supported the opening.
Case 1. "rihka" NEWoMan Shinjuku Pop-up Store
Cosmetics brand "rihka" developed by newn inc. and produced by hair and makeup artist Mirai Matsuda. At the pop-up held at NEWoMan Shinjuku in September 2024, events such as director Mirai Matsuda's store visit, sales of pop-up store exclusive items, and provision of pre-sale items were held. The pop-up store design used original fixtures extracted from the shapes of products like nails, lips, and balms as accents, used wood-grain materials, and realized a deployment that permeated the brand image throughout the space.
Case 2. "SHANGPREE" @cosme OSAKA Pop-up Store
The Korean skincare brand "SHANGPREE," developed by SEEDS MARKET Co., Ltd. At the pop-up store held at @cosme OSAKA in December 2023, not only were popular products sold, but limited-edition pop-up store sets were also available, along with purchase incentives and photo event opportunities for purchasers to take pictures with hair and makeup artists or celebrities. The design of the pop-up store features a simple composition that utilizes the brand's worldview, enhancing the eye-catching effect by using large visuals as an accent.
Case 3. Allergan Aesthetics "MEDICAL BEAUTY PARK" Event | Tokyo Midtown (Roppongi)
The pop-up event held by AbbVie GK, Allergan Aesthetics, headquartered in the US, for the first time in Japan, "MEDICAL BEAUTY PARK," where you can learn about and consult on cosmetic medicine. In this event held at Tokyo Midtown Roppongi in September 2024, "Beauty booths where you can learn" about knowledge of cosmetic medicine, "skin scanners" where you can experience skin analysis, consulting booths where you can talk with doctors, and "non-embellishing purikura machines" and photo booths were developed to liven up the event. BEEATS supported everything from event space design and construction to experience event operation, manual creation, personnel arrangement, and media presentation operation.
Case 4. "Ameli" Pop-up Store | Daimaru Umeda
Makeup brand "Ameli," which provides over 340 color tone formulations, the most in South Korea.
BEEATS was in charge of the construction of their first pop-up store in the Kansai region held at Daimaru Umeda Store in April 2025. It was crowded with many people, with limited edition eyeshadows, LUCKY GACHA events, and touch-up events being held.
For the success of a cosmetics pop-up store, "how to express the brand's worldview" is a major point.
Because the entire space functions as a place to convey the brand's message, consistency is required not only in the overall interior design but also in lighting production and small items. For example, if it's a natural-oriented brand, space production using plants and natural materials is necessary, and if it's a pop and playful brand, a space design that intuitively conveys the brand's charm to visitors, such as a design using colorful lighting and bold graphics, is necessary.
Next, it is important to provide a "mechanism that makes visitors want to stay."
In addition to experiencing and purchasing products, if there are ingenious arrangements such as a cafe space where you can enjoy drinks or a unique photo booth where visitors can enjoy the time spent on the spot, the motivation to visit the pop-up store will increase further. Also, the length of stay within the pop-up store will be longer, and the favorability towards the brand will be higher.
Finally, it is also effective to provide a "story-driven experience." By incorporating exciting elements into the process until the visitor holds the product, we create special memories at the pop-up store.
By directing the flow of "experiencing and purchasing" products at a pop-up store like a single story, customers will want to convey that experience, and diffusion via word-of-mouth and SNS can also be expected.
Pop-up stores in the cosmetics and beauty industry continue to evolve as a place where you can experience the brand's worldview beyond just selling products. Pop-up stores that provide "special time unique to this place," such as personalized experiences, SNS-worthy space designs, and make-up sessions by professionals, are expected to increase in the future. I think the "provision of brand experience" with ingenuity in pop-up stores by each company can be a hint for ideas for people in various industries, not limited to the cosmetics and beauty industry.
BEEATS supports pop-up store openings in total, from space design that expresses the brand's worldview, to productions that make visitors want to take photos, gimmicks aimed at SNS diffusion, experience planning and campaigns, and even personnel arrangement.
We propose the optimal plan according to your pop-up store's purpose and the brand's target audience. We have a track record of pop-ups in various cosmetic and beauty industries, so if you have any challenges regarding your pop-up store or are considering opening one, please feel free to consult BEEATS!
Q1. Why are pop-up stores attracting attention in the cosmetics industry?
A1. It is because they can meet the consumer need of "wanting to try before buying." In particular, there is a strong demand to directly check the color and scent of cosmetics, and a space for real experiences is sought after. Also, the special feeling of being limited-time encourages social media buzz, which has the effect of spreading brand awareness.
Q2. What are the latest trends in cosmetic pop-up stores?
A2. There are mainly three latest trends. The first is social-media-friendly store design that encourages photo taking, the second is personalized experiences utilizing skin diagnosis and digital mirrors, and the third is the provision of professional touch-up services by beauty experts. These increase visitor satisfaction.
Q3. What are the points for making a cosmetic pop-up store successful?
A3. The most important point is to express the brand's worldview throughout the space. It is required to have consistency down to the interior, lighting, and small items. Furthermore, by providing mechanisms that make you want to stay, such as cafe spaces and photo booths, and experiences with a story, you can expect diffusion on SNS.
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