interactive beauty at Edgars

Last week we went to the launch of the Estee Lauder Companies' new interactive beauty counters at the Edgars store at the Waterfront in Cape Town. It was great to mingle with bloggers and beauty journos and find out what the brands are doing to make their counters as interactive and user-friendly as possible.

The four brands – Clinique, Bobbi Brown, Estee Lauder and La Mer – have given their counters a super sexy makeover, with the emphasis being on interaction.

At Estee Lauder, each product range is displayed clearly for the consumer, plus each range has a take-home booklet for customers to peruse in their own time. The consultants are expertly trained and are there to help you decide on the best solution for your skin – there's also a nice, comfy couch to sit on while the consultant talks with you.

Clinique pride themselves on customer service, but they know that when you just feel like browsing on your own to leave you be.

Their make-up counter offers a wide range of foundations, lipsticks, lipglosses etc where the trained consultants are happy to help you find the perfect colour or shade. You can also ask for samples to try at home.

At the Bobbi Brown counter, you're given the option of having your make-up done by one of the experts – it's a definite must! There are so many fabulous goodies at this counter, you just have to spend some time browsing here.

At La Mer, the counter is smaller but the name speaks for itself. We were given heavenly hand massages and had our make-up refreshed with a face mister. We were literally glowing afterwards!