It is almost midnight in Paris, but the flagship Sephora store on the Champs Elysees is still bustling with life.

House music thumps as shoppers mill about the brightly lit aisles, trying out the more than 12,000 types of beauty potions and lotions at the testing stations set up throughout the 14,000 sq ft store.

The store gets more than six million visitors a year, which is more traffic than the Eiffel Tower gets.

It is the biggest Sephora outlet in the world and the only one that opens till 3am on Sundays.

However, the wall-to-wall bottles of gleaming beauty products and plethora of fun new cosmetic brands - not to mention the pulsing background music - can be found at all Sephora stores, including Singapore's very first one.

The 3,200 sq ft, $2 million store at B1-05 Takashimaya Shopping Centre - also the first in South-east Asia - opens today at 4pm. It will carry over 100 brands, with about 30 new-to-market labels including cult favourites such as spa-inspired skincare and bodycare line Bliss and Sephora's own bath and cosmetics line.

Those who drop in this weekend can design their own Sephora badges and stand to win $10 vouchers up for grabs daily.

This sense of fun, says Renato Semerari, president and chief executive of Sephora Europe, is what makes this French mega-chain stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Founded in France in 1969 as a perfume shop, Sephora (say 'sir-for-rah') was acquired by luxury goods conglomerate LVMH in 1997.

It is best known for pioneering the concept of displaying beauty products by category rather than by brand. This allows customers to make comparisons at a glance when shopping for a particular product.

Employees are also trained by individual brands to grasp the features and functions of all the products Sephora sells.

The unique environment is why major brands choose to sell their pots and jars there as well as in nearby department stores.

Says Carolyn Khiu, Singapore's brand general manager of Clinique: 'Sephora helps us to reach out to a new group of customers who prefer a different shopping environment. We believe these customers are younger, more Internet savvy and want to explore on their own.'

David Ennes, general manager of L'Oreal Asean and Singapore's luxury product division, adds: 'Men who might have been intimidated by the distinctly feminine ambience at department stores would be more at ease in Sephora.

'Making our brands available at both Sephora and department stores is really about giving the consumer more options in terms of shopping experience.'

The Takashimaya store has a make-up counter where Sephora make-up artists will teach make-up techniques for free. A nail bar will be launched in February.

In stores elsewhere, consumers can also get their hair styled, their brows shaped and even their teeth brightened.

'This is what we like to call a champagne brand. It is not something you go to when you are thirsty but rather when you want a treat,' says Semerari.

'It is like a playground, a candy store for beauty. We do not want clients to come in when they need to buy mascara but rather when they want to have fun and find out what is new and hip.'

It is a concept that has enabled the brand to open more than 1,000 stores in 24 countries, including Kuwait and the Slovak Republic.

The Takashimaya store will be the first of about three to five Sephora stores in Singapore.

These plans are on track despite the economic slump, says Violet Ho, Sephora's regional director for South and South-east Asia.

As Semerari notes: 'This is a good time to gain market share if you do things right.'

Singapore, he says, is a trend-setter 'so we want to start here and eventually have a visible presence in the region'.

The brand plans to venture into Malaysia and Thailand over the next two years.

This is not Sephora's first foray into Asia though. It launched in Japan in 1999, only to pull out in 2002.

Semerari reveals that the venture did not take off because 'we didn't adapt to the market. At the time, there was too much emphasis on fragrance which is not a big thing in Japan'.

For its entry into China in 2005, Sephora tweaked the focus of the stores. Skincare products occupy a much more prominent position - 40 per cent of the stocks - in the 40 stores there.

'We also give more prominence to certain brands such as Dior and Lancome in the China stores as it is important to show the more brand-conscious customers there that we are a selective environment with all the upper-tier brands.'

Skincare products also make up about 40 per cent of the mix here but there are more new labels jostling with well-known brands for attention.

The essence of Sephora, says Semerari, is 'the freedom to play with products without feeling obliged to buy. We offer more choices than department stores and a more luxurious environment than discount stores'.

Grace Ban, managing director of Estee Lauder Cosmetics Singapore, believes that Sephora's debut will 'add a new dimension to the shopping environment here'.

'A specialised beauty hall concept such as Sephora will help to boost the consumption and knowledge of beauty products here,' she says. 'It will be good for the whole industry.'

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This article was first published in The Straits Times on Dec 19, 2008.