Lauren Okie is a Los Angeles-based writer and a member of the Riley Group.
On a Friday this December, I attended Beautycon POP in Los Angeles. The beauty industry’s premiere event planner, Beautycon, is famous for its New York and Los Angeles festivals. These two-day gatherings feature everyone who’s anyone in makeup. Beauty lovers assemble in throngs to hear famous panelists, connect with brands and, of course, snap a zillion selfies.
Beautycon POP was built by these festival-throwers as an immersive, Instagram-ready experience… So when I arrived at Beautycon POP, I expected lots of beauty products, tons of engagement and a line out the door.
To my surprise, there wasn’t any of that.
I entered the building—settled a block away from the Beverly Center—and walked right up the employee running the front desk. She scanned my $35 mobile ticket and warmly told me “the unicorns are that way, unless you want to get your makeup done.”
I looked to my left and saw a pink, plastic unicorn the size of a horse. To my right, I saw a handful of employees in a Macy’s-branded beauty studio chatting amongst themselves. The place was bright and the staff seemed approachable, but the emptiness of the room made me question the hype.
I declined the makeover, having already (somewhat) dolled myself up. After all, the online instructions said come selfie-ready with a fully-charged phone. And I wanted the full experience.
From the beginning, signs indicated to me this event was all about celebrating my own beauty, whatever that looked like. “You don’t need lipstick. Lipstick needs you,” the banner wrapped around the building announced. And so I, clutching my phone like a true Millennial, walked over to the unicorns and began to take pictures.
I was expecting there to be beauty products in the first room, but there were not. Ariana Grande music blared. The unicorns stood still.
The second room I entered was sky blue, and full of clouds. I suddenly heard a familiar sound: the ding of the fasten seatbelt sign. Ah, an airplane theme! Again, there was no makeup in sight.
A helpful employee, who was the only other person in the room, encouraged me to strike a few poses on the fake private jet photo. I obliged, and she comfortably took my phone and snapped away. She then shook her head, saying she didn’t get my best angle, and asked to do more.
That felt good. See, I’d always been uncomfortable posing or putting on a show. I’m awkward and I’m not a girly-girl. But she was signaling to me that wanting to look your best and get that killer Instagram pic wasn’t dumb or foolish. It was normal, and fun!
And so, when she suggested I pose again at the wing of the jet, with the fake wind blowing my hair, I said yes.
In most of the rooms at Beautycon POP, there are iPads that will shoot a “killer shot” with a cool effect for you, then text the pic directly to your phone. I had a little trouble getting the self-timer right, but the friendly employees took over the whole process for me and even insisted I do multiple sessions to ensure best results.
Again, that was a win for me. I’m happy to speak on a panel about my work in front of a thousand people, but posing for a single picture is hard. And the people here made me feel like there was really nothing to it. And that rubbed off on me. Feeling empowered, I continued to the next room.
This diamond room was inspired by Rihanna. It was here I fully realized how low the production value of this event felt. Party beads, adhesive wallpaper, plastic chandeliers all began to break the spell that the employee from the sky-high room had cast over me. While these items photograph okay, I could really see their flaws in person, especially since there was nobody else around to distract me.
I did like the life-sized rose garden room, which was Dali-esque and gave me some Alice in Wonderland vibes. It was the first time I actually wanted a picture for my own Instagram, not just for Riley Group. There was a cool place to do a boomerang-style video in front of some roses, and I had it sent to my phone.
Unfortunately, that content never came through. There’s a delay on the send so you don’t really know until it’s too late whether all the tech is working.
Later, I arrived in the final experience room, a runway sponsored by Macy’s. Encouraged by signage, my own commitment to getting out of my comfort zone and the really cool staff who genuinely tried to engage me, I decided to give it my all.
The friendly man working the iPad in the room showed me how he thought I should catwalk, even suggesting I look to my left, then right, before I began my strut. He took my coat and bag so they would not be in the shot. And he told me to go for it.
I did, and I tried my best, but I was super awkward and a little shy. It was fun! But I was still me!
As we watched the playback, he told me he thought I could do better and that I should give it one more shot.
“No,” I said. “It’s perfect. It’s exactly who I am. Isn’t that the point of this whole thing?”
He smirked. “Ha! You’re right.”
As I walked out of the room, he called back to me and asked me what sign I was.
“A Pisces,” I replied with a smile.
At the end of the maze, a room with a blacklight and more Ariana Grande music encouraged me to place a fluorescent Post-It on a glowing, collaborative wall. Many notes were messages of love, acceptance and “you’ve got this”, mostly followed by Instagram handles.
I left one with a simple heart drawn on it. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to say. It wasn’t the set or the selfies or the motivational quotes that impressed me. It was the quality of the employees, who made me feel completely comfortable with the act of celebrating my insides through my outsides. They gave me unlimited attention and assistance, even complimenting my discomfort as cute at times.
I learned later that a local makeup brand, Lime Crime, was heavily featured at the event. I saw they had sponsored a lime-colored room, and that lots of their products were featured at the little retail shop at the very end. But I didn’t know they were local and I couldn’t find the brand’s story, so that was a disappointment.
I think I was expecting to be educated and enlightened or at least entertained. Instead, I was mostly just enchanted with the very kind people who made me feel completely comfortable trying to hit my angles. And I guess that’s a pretty good experience, in its own special way.
As experiences like Beautycon continue to surge in popularity, it will be interesting to see how controllable variables like set design budget and quality of employees influence each pop-up’s effectiveness. Great employees can really help push event-goers through an experience with a smile, compensating for real shortcomings.
But it doesn’t mean we should lower the bar for design, especially when events are sponsored by national brands like Macy’s. After all, a gorgeous, tactile experience has always been—and will always be—essential in retail.
