THE WHAT? L’Oréal Paris Professional celebrated the launch of its first flagship hair salon in China last week, according to a report published by Shine. The French beauty brand chose Shanghai to make its debut.   

THE DETAILS The salon will offer a full range of hair colors, textures and styles and offers an augmented reality facility to allow customers to try before they buy as well as a SteamPod styler.

Customers can make appointments though social media network WeChat as well as sample the brand’s make-up offer as their hair is styled.

THE WHY? Fabrice Megarbane, CEO of L’Oréal China, told Shine, “Shanghai consumers here are not only eager to follow the trends, but also to lead the trends worldwide in terms of hair color. That’s why we chose China and chose Shanghai to open up our first flagship salon globally.” It also helps, presumably, that China is one of the few countries not currently battling a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and has therefore seen its economy bounce back, with 259 new openings in the Shanghai alone in the second quarter.