At only 600 square feet, the new Dior Beauty in Highland Park Village is probably smaller than some master closets in the area. Yet the boutique is proof that good things come in small packages, because in the world of Dior, even a bottle of nail polish remover looks like an objet d’art.
Luxury lipsticks, skin creams in gold-capped containers, and fragrance bottles line the walls of the petite shop, located just a few doors down from the store that carries the Parisian couture house's designer clothing. At first look, it seems simple enough — it’s all of Dior’s beautifully packaged cosmetics, skincare products, and scents in one space — but then a store clerk shows off the perks of the high-class setup, one of only three in the country — and the first in Texas.
Many items, says the clerk, aren’t sold at cosmetic counters anywhere else in the city. For example, before the Highland Park boutique opened, Chicago was the closest place Dallasites could go to take a whiff of the dozen perfumes in La Collection Privée, a line crafted by in-house perfumer François Demachy.
She flips through the settings on a mirrored vanity that emulate different temperatures of light and allow clients to apply makeup according to the occasion, whether it be a sunny outdoor wedding or an important boardroom meeting. Then, she walks behind the back wall of the shop and points out a third vanity. Here, she says, clients who appreciate privacy can put on their faces in peace.
Walking past the private vanity and around a corner, the clerk opens the door to a room with floor-to-ceiling, white-lacquered cabinets and a single spa bed in the middle. Though a Dior Beauty opened in Las Vegas years ago, the added bonus of a spa room — called a “cabine” in Dior-speak — is a first for Dior in the U.S.
“It’s soundproof, it has its own sound system, its own cooling system, and a one-of-a-kind spa bed. The bed is $20,000. It vibrates. It heats,” says store manager D’Onna Winn. “This is first-class luxury. You can’t get this anywhere else.”
Hour-long spa appointments, Winn says, are provided by the boutique’s in-house facialist, an aesthetician with three decades of experience and training under the Parisian headquarters’ top skincare expert. The cabine’s customized facials with shoulder and hand massages are complimentary, though a purchase of three skincare products is required. (Take note: Creams run from $60 all the way up to $420 for a half-ounce of the skin-strengthening L’or De Vie.)
In fact, all of the “Dior experiences” are complimentary with purchase. Winn says everyone from bridal parties to single ladies prepping for a big night out are welcome to sip Champagne and have their makeup perfected by the boutique’s professional makeup artists.
See it all for yourself: The shop’s doors are already open and the grand opening soiree is set for January 28.
