Harrods 'H Beauty' opens – the start of a whole new shopping chapter

Well, this is some very good shopping news at a time when it can all seem a bit bleak out there. Because Harrods just unveiled a whole new beauty and fragrance shopping concept by the name of 'H Beauty', throwing open the doors of this stunning space at Lakeside Thurrock (the second location, Milton Keynes, will open in spring 2021).

H Beauty is airy and spacious – 23,000 sq. ft. of airiness and spaciousness, actually – and of course arrives COVID-friendly from the get-go, having opened in this 'new normal' (which still doesn't feel very normal to us), with hand sanitiser stations in situ (below), masked staff (it's the law, now), and a floorplan which ensures you won't find anyone standing uncomfortably close. To quote the hard-working team behind this, 'Everything at H Beauty has been designed with social distancing and safety in mind.'

Because we can't just dip and dab while we used to, there are incredibly clever 'magic mirrors' that let you try on colours and products – very much the future of retailing, as we see it.

There are really stunning areas for names like Chanel, Creed, La Prairie, Penhaligon's, Atelier Cologne, along with cult beauty names like like Huda Beauty, Augustinus Bader's cutting edge skincare, Iconic London's make-up... But cleverly – and we always wonder why more retailers don't do this, duh! – products are 'zoned', like this mask station, below. (Definitely our preferred kind of masks, these. But there you go.)

You can also book in for treatments – Dior Le Salon facial? Yes, please! – and there'll be make-up and skincare demos. And of course, the consultants are eager (as you might be after months of enforced thumb-twiddling) to share all their wisdom and experience, to make shopping in this changed world as pleasurable as it can possibly be. They've even thought out a way to make trying on colour cosmetics possible, with testers cleaned after each use, and disposable applicators.

You can also shop online and pick up from the Click and Collect area (below), where you'll be able to sit and try on what you've ordered from harrods.com.