Bars, Breath Mints And Now Beauty – Makeup Vending Machines Are The Next Big Thing

Do you ever wish you could just pop into your favourite department store and just pick up all your beauty essentials without having to engage with pushy sales assistants who seem determined to sell you lots of other things that you don’t want, need or have even asked for?

Iconic department store Harvey Nichols prides itself on its high quality merchandise and highly efficient staff but if you fancy a spending splurge without the service then their recently launched BeautyMART vending machine service could be the thing for you.

The brain child of former Vogue beauty director Anne-Marie Solowij and Millie Kendall, co-founder of makeup brand Ruby and Millie, the vending machines promise luxury goods at your finger tips – a  bit like buying online but without the delivery fees or the wait.

Customers use a touchscreen to select the products they want which are neatly packaged in sleek and shiny black paper bags or can play beauty roulette and let the machine pick for them.

Each bag contains different products from a selection of brands and each has been carefully selected by Solowij and Kendall so customers are not only paying for the convenience, they’re also getting a sneak peek into a beauty insiders edit of the best on the market.

Sleek, shiny and oh so tempting...

So what can customers look forward to? Prices range from €4 (£3.45) for posh tampons by Trinket to €115 (£98) for a luxury Dr. Jackson’s 01 Face Cream and Paul Yacomine’s No 1 Hair Oil and the vending machine also contains themed bags such as ‘Love and Peace’ which contains Jurlique Love Balm and a ‘Clubbing Kit’ which contains volume mascara by Bourjois, Model’s Own Wah Nails nail transfers and Batiste dry shampoo.

Speaking about their idea, the innovative duo said “After 20 years each in the industry, discovering, writing about, creating and selling some of the best beauty products around, we have put together a selection of our all-time favourites, as well as some exciting new finds, and we’re selling them in BeautyMART, our new boutique in Harvey Nichols. 

"We know that a beauty editor’s opinion is important to consumers so we are bringing the power of editorial to retail.”

But Irish fans of the department stores new venture will have to wait because the BeautyMART is only available in their flagship London store for the moment but we bet it’s only a matter of time before the concept hits our shores.