Popups are ever-popular with beauty and personal care shoppers, meaning that they are still a safe bet for brands wanting to raise their profile, launch something new, or to simply stand out in the crowded market. So, what’s happening in this space in 2025?
According to co-founder at creative experiential agency Backlash, James Barnes, this year has brought a change in the popup retail landscape.
“We are seeing a noticeable shift from bricks and mortar pop ups to more transportable outdoor roadshow experiences that travel the UK,” he said.
“Our location booking partner who are the largest booker of pop up and promotional site spaces across the UK are also seeing this with 70% of all bookings being outdoors for the year-to-date.”
Barnes also gave examples of popups that Backlash has worked on within the past year that have taken on an outdoor roadshow feel. One was L’Oréal Paris’ Worth It popup, which involved the brand broadcasting live beauty tutorials on a big screen in Piccadilly Circus, as well as Jo Malone London’s Christmas Special popup, which took place in London’s Covent Garden and Edinburgh.
For a little more inspiration, we’ve rounded up five more recent popups to know about...
The Skin + Me Maze
The dermatologist-created skin care brand hosted a popup at Battersea Power Station to celebrate the launch of its new Daily Moisturiser with SPF 50.
The activation came complete with an immersive maze, which contained plenty of education to inform visitors on SPF use and products for them to interact with.
Sculpted by Aimee Base Camp Tour
The Irish beauty brand undertook its first-ever UK pop-up tour, bringing its complexion expertise directly to high-footfall retail locations across five major cities this summer.
The five-stop tour headed to Dublin, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and London aimed to tackle a widely overlooked consumer frustration — that 80% of people are wearing the wrong foundation shade or formula.
At the popup, visitors could enjoy free base shade matching by one of the brand’s experts, as well as exclusive offers, and a “Trade Your Base” swap – where consumers could exchange any mismatched foundation for a perfectly matched Sculpted by Aimee alternative. All swapped products are responsibly recycled through the brand’s Resculpted programme.
Clinique Honey Goes Nude
Estée Lauder Companies’ Clinique launched a popup to celebrate its Nude Honey Almost Lipstick launch – the sister shade to its viral Black Honey franchise
The Battersea Power Station-based activation included interactive elements that show its new “universally wearable” nude shade.
According to the brand’s Instagram, visitors could “enjoy honey on ice, complimentary makeup treats, and exclusive discounts.”
Jo Malone London Great British Seaside
The British fragrance brand created a seaside-themed pop-up in London’s South Bank to launch its new Raspberry Ripple fragrance. The scent is inspired by the classic British ice cream flavour and has been formulated with raspberry juice, redcurrant juice and white musk.
The popup brought colourful beach huts to the banks of the River Thames, where visitors could create their own retro bunting, enjoy a scoop of raspberry ripple ice cream, take old fashioned postcard-style photos and try out the new fragrance.
Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Love Universe
The makeup artist’s roadshow brought plenty of beauty, romance and Instagrammable moments to Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham
Guests could try out the new Pillow talk range and discover Charlotte’s beauty secrets from a makeup artist before heading to the ‘Love Chapel’ where they could share a ‘Love Note’ using custom software that appears on a nearby digital OOH.
