KOH Experience Shop: New Look

I'm beginning to lose count now how many facelifts the KOH Experience Shop in Amsterdam has had in the past couple of years.

Back in August, I was told that the KOH Shop would get a new look in autumn. I dropped by the shop last week for a meeting and the following are some shots of the shop. Note: This visit was made at my own cost.

The shop has retained its black glossy furnishings but (what I fondly called) the Walls of Joyful Colours have been given a metamorphosis. There is now only one Wall of Joyful Colours which looks substantially different from the previous version. It is now with slanted display shelves with crevices for the nail polish bottles on display. Each of these slanted sections slides out revealing a drawer filled with KOH polishes.

The shelves for the nail and body care products have undergone only some minor changes.

On the righthand side of the shop, opposite the slanted Wall, there is now an LED glowing display platform with three tiers which changes colour several times per minute (see also the very first image above). The three tiers are packed with KOH polishes. It gives the impression that there are so many KOH nail polish colours in the range, but that's just an impression. There are repeats in the colours. It is visually very impressive though.

The manicure table and the high velvet chairs in the middle of the KOH Shop look the same as before, so I didn't take any pictures of them (you can view them in the write-up of my visit in November 2010). I was told that the metamorphosis isn't complete yet as they are in the process of re-designing the manicure table as well.

Once again, here's the address of the shop in Amsterdam:

KOH Experience Shop
2nd Floor, Bijenkorf Amsterdam
Dam 1
1012 Amsterdam

There is good news for those who do not live in Amsterdam. There is now a KOH Experience Shop in de Bijenkorf in the city of Eindhoven.

de Bijenkorf
Piazza 1
5611 AE Eindhoven

Stay tuned for more on KOH.


My previous visits to the KOH Shop:
November 2009
January 2010
November 2010

All images belong to Witoxicity.

Guidelines on Where To Buy KOH Nail Polish

One of the most common questions I get asked by my international readers is "Where can I buy KOH nail polish?".

KOH is a Dutch brand that is mainly known for its wide range of nail polish colours. I thought I'd write a post with guidelines on buying KOH nail polishes. Hopefully, it will give anyone who might be interested a clearer picture.

Note: In the Netherlands, the recommended retail price for a 10ml bottle of KOH nail polish is €14.95.

I will touch on three things:

1. Purchasing through physical stores
2. Purchasing online
3. The cases that you get with your purchase of KOH nail polishes

This is a long-winded article, so please feel free to scroll down to the appropriate section.

Physical Stores

If you live in the Netherlands, you would no doubt already know where to go to get KOH. If you're passing through the Netherlands on holiday, you might want to keep these places in mind:

KOH Experience Shop (de Bijenkorf, Amsterdam)

This is KOH's flagship store and it is, at the moment, the one and only dedicated KOH store in existence. For months, there has been talk of opening new KOH shops in de Bijenkorf in other cities but to-date, none have come into fruition.

Because it is the only one around and is managed directly by KOH, the KOH Experience Shop in Amsterdam is the best place to go to for your KOH needs. There, you can get your manicure done by trained staff but more importantly, the shop has basically the entire KOH product range in its offering - nail products and bodycare products.

The KOH Experience Shop gets a facelift every few months, which is very hard to keep up with. It is on the 2nd Floor of the Dutch upmarket departmental store, de Bijenkorf. de Bijenkorf is located within walking distance (under ten minutes) from the Amsterdam Central Train Station.

KOH Experience Shop
2nd Floor, Bijenkorf Amsterdam
Dam 1
1012 Amsterdam

Update
There is now a second KOH Experience Shop and it is in de Bijenkorf in the city of Eindhoven.

de Bijenkorf
Piazza 1
5611 AE Eindhoven

To get an impression of the shop in Amsterdam and the facelifts it has had, please take a look at my previous posts featuring my personal visits to the shop in:

November 2009
January 2010
November 2010
Updated to include visit in:
October 2011

That's the Nail Polish Heaven for you. If you have the chance, do pay it a visit one day, if only to check out their Wall of Joyful Colours.

Parfumerie stores

In the Netherlands, parfumerie stores are where you would go to to buy mid-range to high-end cosmetics, including the classical brands. KOH is available in some parfumerie chains. The size of the KOH product offering at these parfumerie stores vary depending on the size and location of the stores. Some stock just a selection of KOH Colours (the nail polishes) while the bigger stores with heavier foot traffic may have the full range (though it's usually never as complete as what you'd see at the KOH Experience Shop in de Bijenkorf).

• Mooi
Mooi is a fairly new but fast expanding parfumerie chain. The stores are usually not very big. Some Mooi stores may have a wider range of KOH products than others.

• Douglas
Douglas is an old establishment and has stores all over the country. Standards and size of the KOH product offering differ from store to store. Some have only a small rack tucked away in a corner, with perhaps 20 nail polish colours (bear in mind that KOH has easily more than 120 colours in its range). Some bottles are improperly placed, like a colour from the permanent collection being put in the Limited Edition section. Sometimes, the rack and the bottles are dusty, hinting at neglect and sluggish stock movement of KOH. The big Douglas stores (usually in the city centre) tend to have better and more respectable display areas and offer a wider range of KOH products.

• ICI Paris XL
This is a very common parfumerie chain in the Netherlands. However, there is no need to go looking for KOH products there. ICI Paris no longer stocks KOH.

• Other parfumerie stores
There are many other smaller parfumeries stores that sell KOH products. It is best to view the complete list of stores in the Netherlands on the KOH website. Updated 16 July 2012: This information is currently not available on the new KOH website.

My previous feature: parfumerie stores in the Netherlands.

Other Countries

KOH is also available in some countries outside the Netherlands. You can check the Store Locator section of the website:

- Belgium (Dutch website)
- Belgium (French website)
- Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Russia
Updated 16 July 2012: This information is currently not available on the new KOH website.

KOH is sold in Italy but there is no information on the sales points yet on the website.


Online

This is perhaps more relevant to most of my international readers who are interested in procuring KOH products.

KOH Cosmetics online shop

There were shipping restrictions previously but now, it is possible to purchase KOH products online and they do ship internationally.

The following are the latest shipping rates:

Within the Netherlands - €1.50 for orders less than €15.00, free otherwise
Within Europe (outside the Netherlands) - €6.16 flat rate
Worldwide (outside Europe) - €15.00 flat rate

So, if you live in the United Kingdom, United States, Brazil or the Philippines, for example, it is actually possible to place an order for KOH nail polishes directly from their website.

However, ridiculous as it seems, KOH has unfortunately overlooked one very important issue: Not everybody understands Dutch. Please see update below.

When you first visit the KOH website, you would be presented with different language options: English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Japanese. Its online shop is, guess what, located within the Dutch website. While it made sense in the early days when KOH was small and less well-known internationally, it is certainly a huge oversight on their part now that they do offer worldwide shipping. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

I wouldn't know if they are working on revamping their website but at the moment, I'm just telling you the situation as it is.

The section where you will find the online shop is called KOH For You. Please see update below.

If you would like to place an order, I think you won't have big problems navigating the online shop. You can easily go by the product names and images and click through.

As far as I know, international customers can pay through Paypal.

I won't take you through the order process but I will give you a translation for some of the words/terms used:

bestel - place order
verder winkelen - continue shopping
naar winkelwagen - to shopping cart
wijzig - change
verwijder - remove
volgende stap - next step
terug - back
Het artikel is toegevoegd aan uw winkelwagen - The article has been added to your shopping cart

At some stage, you will be asked to fill in your information: Name, Salutation, Streetname (not house no.), House No., Postcode, City, (choose) Country, Telephone No., Email address, Notes/comment.

The country names are spelt the Dutch way but most of them are easily identifiable. For the less obvious ones, here are some to help you along:

United States - Verenigde Staten
United Kingdom - Groot-Brittannië
Sweden - Zweden

You can check on Google if you're not sure. If you encounter any problems, please contact KOH directly.


Updated 21 Sept 2011
This information has been kindly provided by a reader in the US who placed an online order on the KOH website in May.

Payment is via Paypal, hence the procedure is pretty much standard once a customer logs into Paypal. After a customer has paid for the order, there is apparently no receipt or email from KOH to confirm the items ordered and the payment made. The customer would however receive the standard payment confirmation from Paypal. If you are particularly concerned about this after placing your order, I suggest writing an email to KOH Customer Service for a confirmation and to find out when the package is shipped.

An order takes approximately two weeks to reach an address in the US.


Updated 16 July 2012
Good news! The KOH website has been revamped and is now also available in the English language.

New website: KOH Cosmetics


Zalando Netherlands

KOH products are now also available through Zalando, which is a kind of Asos for continental Europe, I suppose. However, Zalando charges €19.95 per bottle of KOH nail polish.

If you live in the Netherlands, you would be out of your mind to order KOH nail polishes through Zalando. You are in effect overpaying by €5.00!

I don't know why they are overcharging by so much and besides, it has the most useless descriptions for the KOH nail polishes. (At time of writing) For all the KOH polishes, their names are just Red, Blue, Grey, Green, Silver, etc. The actual proper full names of the individual polishes are not given, so how does Zalando expect customers to know exactly which KOH polish they are buying? Go figure! KOH polishes also have numbers and even the numbers are not indicated by Zalando. I rest my case.

Updated: 30 May 2011
Zalando Netherlands has wisely corrected the oversight. The website now shows the appropriate names of the KOH nail polishes. They are still overcharging for these polishes though.

Website: Zalando Nederland

Zalando France

Ditto for Zalando France. I don't know how much KOH nail polishes normally retail for in France but on the Zalando site, they retail for €19.95 per bottle. Colour descriptions are also useless.

Updated: 30 May 2011
Zalando France has also corrected the oversight. The website now shows the appropriate names of the KOH nail polishes.

Website: Zalando France

Zalando Germany and Zalando Austria

Again, KOH nail polishes retail here for €19.95 and €19.50 per bottle respectively. However, Zalando Germany and Zalando Austria have wisely used the actual names of the polishes.

Websites: Zalando Germany and Zalando Austria

Updated 21 Sept 2011
Zalando UK

Zalando UK now offers beauty products on its website, which means that readers in the UK can now easily buy KOH products through Zalando UK. On this website, KOH nail polishes retail for £17.95, which is roughly the abovementioned jacked-up price of €19.95 converted to £s.

Website: Zalando UK

Updated 29 March 2012
Douglas Parfumerie

The Douglas Parfumerie online stores in the Netherlands and Germany also carry the KOH range of products. The range shown on the Dutch website appears limited (price: €14.95) but the one for Germany seems to have a fairly wide range (€19.50).

Websites: Douglas Netherlands and Douglas Germany

These are the online shops that I know of that sell KOH nail polishes. There may be others that I am not aware of.

KOH Cases

If you are familiar with KOH, you would know that every bottle of KOH nail polish has always come with an elegant case that looks like an oversized lipstick case. As far as I know, they still supply the cases. The design varies from season to season.

In the past, I have heard of instances where ladies were not given the accompanying KOH case with their purchase of KOH nail polish. This happened to customers who were probably new to the brand and didn't know about the cases and it usually happens in smaller parfumerie stores. I don't know if the ignorance of the sales staff is real or feigned. I've experienced this myself - twice - at different smaller parfumerie stores and I had to remind them about the case. This however has never happened at the KOH Experience Shop - the staff know what they are doing.

I've also noticed that the smaller parfumerie stores may not always have the cases with the very latest designs. You may or may not mind getting one from a couple of seasons before.

So, this is just a reminder for whenever you buy KOH nail polishes. If the sales staff forgets, please remind him/her. You are, after all, entitled to the case.


Last Words

I think I've pretty much covered all that's important. I sincerely hope some of you will find these guidelines helpful.

Please note:
I have written this article on my own initiative for the benefit of my readers. I have not been asked or paid by KOH to write this guide.

As mentioned earlier, I get many questions from my international readers on this and as one who lives in the home country of KOH, I thought I'd share some information and tips on buying KOH nail polishes. Please feel free to click on the links to KOH's website. I earn no commissions from them.

If you have any further questions, it would be best to check with KOH Cosmetics directly.


More information:
All my posts on Brand: KOH
KOH website (Updated 16 July 2012 - now in English)

Beauty Shopping In The Netherlands: Clothing and Fashion Accessory Stores

When I started this series almost a year ago, I never thought I would be doing this instalment involving stores selling clothing and fashion accessories. Fashion retailing is much more than that these days. With the exception of the first one named below, these stores tend to offer only a small range of beauty and/or makeup products. If anything, they'd start off with the new lipstick of today: nail polish.

1. H&M
I’m sure I don’t need to say much here about H&M. With around 2,200 stores in almost 40 countries, this Swedish fashion retail chain couldn't possibly have escaped your notice. Besides clothing, shoes and accessories, they also have a whole slew of beauty and makeup products, ranging from body lotions to eyeshadows and lots of nail polishes. There are also makeup accessories and cutesy Hello Kitty beauty products, available at budget-friendly prices.

2. Claire’s

With its origins in Chicago, Claire's is another well-known name in the fashion accessory and jewellery retail scene. Spot their affordable makeup kits and palettes next to the hair accessories and earrings. Don’t forget to check out their nail polishes too. You probably won’t miss them as some of them are in pretty gaudy shades. Love them, hate them, it’s your preference.

3. River Island

British High Street fashion in The Netherlands. There are the clothes, the funky shoes and the cool accessories, and tucked away somewhere in the accessories section are some Models Own nail polishes. At least, those are what I’ve seen so far.

4. Pieces

I’ve mentioned Pieces before when I showed you their blue-green nail polish called Soul Petrol. Pieces offers a line of fashion accessories for the “urban fashion-loving girl”. It is one of many fashion brands under the Denmark-based Bestseller group. Pieces has its standalone stores but its products are also present in the stores of other Bestseller brands, like Vero Moda, Vila and Only. As for beauty products, I’ve seen nail polishes. I don’t know if there could be other makeup items to come.

That was just a short list of the clothing and fashion accessory stores that I know which offer beauty and makeup products. There are Accessorize and Primark stores here in The Netherlands, but as far as I know, they haven’t brought in their range of makeup products yet. Oh, and Topshop has still to reach our shores!

This is probably the last planned instalment in this series, unless of course, supermarkets like Albert Heijn and Jumbo start introducing their own lines of makeup too! Well, it’s not that unimaginable. After all, outside of The Netherlands, Tesco already has its own range of beauty products. Ditto for the budget supermarkets here like Aldi and Lidl. There are no boundaries these days.

And talking about no boundaries, I doubt I will be doing an instalment on internet shopping. With easy international shipping options, the possibilities are simply endless.

Where needed, the existing instalments in this series will be updated with information on new players in the market. From time to time, I may feature quaint or interesting beauty stores/boutiques if I come across any.

The entire series: Beauty Shopping In The Netherlands

Beauty Shopping In The Netherlands: Health Stores

This feature on health stores is the fifth instalment of my Beauty Shopping in the Netherlands series. Health stores admittedly don’t have the same glam factor as say, parfumerie stores or branded beauty stores, but there are beauty gems to be found here, alongside vitamins and food supplements. If you especially like organic and natural products, these are some of the stores to check out.

1. De Tuinen
Pronounced de tau-nen

The original store was called De Tuin van Babylon (translated: The Garden of Babylon) which started life in The Hague in 1981. Back then, De Tuin van Babylon was more a kind of herbalist that sold its own herbal cures and creams. They were all hand-made with natural ingredients.

Ten years later, De Tuin van Babylon became De Tuinen (that’s plural for ‘garden’) when it was taken over by Ahold, which also owns the Dutch supermarket chain, Albert Heijn. Unfortunately, its charming business model of selling hand-made natural products had to be eventually abandoned for better economies of scale. Its products are now mass-produced by specialist external producers.

Presently, De Tuinen is under the umbrella of Holland & Barrett of the UK. That might explain for De Tuinen’s rather similar (but not an exact copy) store ambience to that of Holland & Barrett’s.

There are now close to 100 De Tuinen stores in the Netherlands selling, besides vitamins and health food, face and body care products from brands like Weleda, Kneipp, Dr. Organic, Jacob Hooy, and a small selection of products from Holland & Barrett, Yes To Carrots, Burt’s Bees and Avalon Organics. This list is, of couse, not comprehensive. De Tuinen also has house-brand beauty products.

2. Gezond & Wel

Also known as G&W Gezondheidswinkel, it has a network of around 90 stores in the Netherlands. In fact, G&W isn’t a chain of stores but a kind of association of member health stores owned by different individuals.

Compared to De Tuinen, G&W stores are in general more utilitarian looking: smaller, basic and rather grey, but I'm not too bothered by that. G&W’s brand offering for beauty products includes Weleda, Kneipp, Annemarie Borlind, Jacob Hooy and Dr. Hauschka, just to name a few.

3. Vitamin Store

As the name suggests, Vitamin Store started out by selling food supplements. It was founded more than a decade ago by two partners who saw the growth potential in the market for food supplements and sports nutrition.

Today, Vitamin Store’s product offering has expanded to include some natural beauty products from brands like Annemarie Borlind, Bloem, Weleda, Dr. Hauschka, Skin Doctors and even a small selection from Himalaya. Their latest addition is the Latvian eco-cosmetics brand, Madara. Vitamin Store is a relatively small player on the market as there are to-date only nineteen Vitamin Store outlets in the country.

4. C. Cosmetics and Care

“Nothing but natural ingredients” is this store’s tagline. Amsterdam-based C., not yet a year old, has an impressive range of brands offering natural and organic products. It is a store with a cosy ambience and is quite the epitome of an eco-beauty store-cum-salon. I had dedicated an entire post to C. Cosmetics and Care back in March. You can read it here.


The rest of the series: Beauty Shopping in the Netherlands

KOH Experience Shop: A Revisit

It's been a very long time since I last paid a visit to the KOH Experience Shop. I had been told a few months ago that the nail polish heaven had moved to a different location in de Bijenkorf Amsterdam. I finally had the time to drop by the shop a couple of weeks ago. Of course, I bought nail polish (just one!). And of course, just for you, I got permission to take some photos while I was there.

Note: As with my previous visits, this visit was made on my own initiative and at my own cost.

In general, the interior of the shop looks similar to the previous one. There were some minor changes here and there, and while there were two Walls of Joyful Colours before, now there are three.

A selection of KOH products and sets with the new faux-leather cases:

The manicure table looks much like before:

The KOH Experience Shop is located on the second floor of de Bijenkorf in Amsterdam, tucked away in a corner near the coats and jackets section.

KOH Experience Shop
2nd Floor, Bijenkorf Amsterdam
Dam 1
1012 Amsterdam

As mentioned before, de Bijenkorf is located within the vicinity of Dam Square and is just a five-minute walk from the Amsterdam Central Train Station.

There is word that a second KOH Experience Shop will be opened in another city in the Netherlands soon (also in de Bijenkorf). Details are not yet available.
Right: One of the Walls of Joyful Colours

More information can be found on the Dutch version of the KOH Cosmetics website.

All images belong to Witoxicity.

Beauty Shopping In The Netherlands: Departmental Stores

This is a long overdue continuation of the Beauty Shopping In The Netherlands series that I started a while back. I have already covered the drugstores, the parfumerie stores and the branded stores. It’s now the turn of the departmental stores. I will name three here, all home-grown stores which were at one point under the same (Dutch) owners (well, not anymore!).

1. HEMA
Pronounced hay-ma
Aah, our beloved HEMA. Find me a Dutch who has never heard of HEMA and I will show you a pig that can fly. HEMA began life in the grim period leading up to The Great Depression. Arthur Isaac and Leo Meyer, who were directors of de upmarket departmental store, de Bijenkorf, came up with the idea of starting a store targeted at the less privileged, just a store offering simple, ordinary products of high quality but at low prices. And so, with the support of the management team of de Bijenkorf, HEMA opened its doors to the man in the street in 1926. It was a price-point retailer, not unlike the dollar stores and the 100-yen stores of today. HEMA offered products at standard prices of 10, 25 and 50 cents, hence the name Hollandsche Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam (Dutch Standard Prices Company Amsterdam).

The standard pricing system has long been abandoned in line with changes in the economic climate but the core values of HEMA – making life easier and more pleasant by offering quality products at low prices – remain. What I find most interesting about HEMA is that right from Day One, all the products sold at HEMA are from its house-brand (in HEMA’s words: long before this term was invented, HEMA created and manufactured her own products). All its products are internally developed and they undergo stringent testing before making their debut on the store shelves.

Believe you me, they sell all kinds of merchandise. From sausages to undergarments, from bicycles to cooking pots, from baby socks to stationery, all in simple, utilitarian (but not necessarily ugly) packaging. Even plaster bandages (I had my doubts at first, but my gosh, they had them too!). Many HEMA stores also have a cafe where you can rest and relax with a cup of coffee.

Of course, HEMA also sells house-brand beauty and makeup products at budget-friendly prices. They’ve got their body scrubs, masks and lotions for your home-spa experience and they’ve got a whole range of eyeshadows, lipsticks and whatever else you would need to doll your face up. That includes about five different types of mascaras too and an eyeshadow base that has been enjoying rave reviews (I’ve yet to try that myself, but I’m tempted). Oh yes, HEMA sells nail polishes too!

There are now around 530 HEMA stores of various sizes, the majority of which are in the Netherlands, and the rest in Belgium, Luxemberg, Germany and France. I woudn’t advise turning your nose up at HEMA just because it is a budget-friendly store. It is a force to be reckoned with.

2. V&D
Pronounced vay-en-day
The name is short for Vroom & Dreesman (vrom & drays-man). This departmental store was started in 1887 by two successful businessmen in Amsterdam. You guessed it, Mr. (Willem) Vroom and Mr. (Anton) Dreesman who were brothers-in-law (they married two sisters). Their strategy was simple and unusual for that time: to offer merchandise at fixed low prices in exchange for cash payment. The store was a success and in the next eleven years, another six stores in other cities were opened.

Over the next century or so, more and more stores were opened all over the country but, unfortunately, there were also store closures. Today, there are 62 V&D stores in the Netherlands. V&D also runs a very successful chain of sister-restaurants called La Place.

Frankly, V&D is a store that I least get in terms of its identity. It’s.....all over the place. It tries to be hip and chic but oftentimes, it ends up seeming mediocre, like it’s been trying too hard. Don’t get me wrong. I do purchase things from V&D once in a while but I’m just not feeling what it represents. It's just confusing.

These days, V&D is big on the shop-in-shop formula which they introduced in 2007, with names like MANGO, Desigual and New Look. To their credit, their biggest score has got to be Sephora. As far as I know, there are Sephora stores in thirteen of the V&D outlets (but not in the V&D in Amsterdam).

Also to be found in some V&D stores, following the shop-in-shop formula: Rituals, ICI Paris XL and Sabon. The links will lead you to my previous articles on these stores.

3. de Bijenkorf
Pronounced de by-en-korof
Simon Philip Goudsmit started Magazijn de Bijenkorf in 1870. Back then, it was just a small haberdashery in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, Mr Goudsmit passed away in 1889 and as his son was still a little boy of no older than three, his widow and his nephew, Arthur Isaac (that same man from HEMA above) took over the business.

In 1912, Mr. Isaac moved the business to another location in Amsterdam: De Dam. Here, business flourished and a decision was made to build a full-blown departmental store there. de Bijenkorf, the departmental store, opened for business in 1915. The building that you see in this photo below is the said Bijenkorf building.

The upmarket Bijenkorf is known for its pizzazz. It’s classy, stylish and strong in its branding. Its shop window displays are works of art and it often hosts cool literary and arts events. Every year in October, it holds a three-day sale that is a much anticipated event (well, technically, it’s four days – the final day is an ‘All Must Go’ day). A few years ago, de Bijenkorf introduced a similar sale in March that runs for a longer period.

De Bijenkorf has lots to offer in the beauty and makeup department. It’s got many of the cosmetic brands like Dior, YSL, Chanel, Guerlain, Lancôme, Estée Lauder, Clarins, MAC and Bobbi Brown, just to name a few.

Some points of interest:

• Products from Dutch brand Rituals Cosmetics are also available in de Bijenkorf.

• There is a Skins Cosmetics shop-in-shop in de Bijenkorf in Rotterdam. Skins Cosmetics is a sophisticated Dutch parfumerie store with an impressive offering of products from inter alia Creed, REN, ELLIS FAAS, Laura Mercier, Diptyque and Rodial.

• In de Bijenkorf in Amsterdam, you will find the flagship store of KOH Cosmetics. Some of you may remember my post from earlier this year about the KOH Experience Shop a.k.a. the Nail Polish Heaven. A few months after publication of that post, KOH moved the shop to a different location, but remaining on the second floor. I finally had the time to visit it recently and this is what it looks like now. More photos to come later.

There are a total of twelve Bijenkorf stores in the Netherlands.


The Beauty Shopping In The Netherlands series can be found here. More to follow in this series.

Beauty Shopping In The Netherlands: Branded Stores

Updated 18 May 2011


In this third instalment of the Beauty Shopping in the Netherlands series, we will explore the branded stores. The first two names are home-grown brands, what I would proudly categorise under Much About Dutch. Again, I do not claim this to be a comprehensive list as there may be other stores that I am not aware of.

1. Rituals
Rituals is a lifestyle brand. The first brand in the world to combine Home & Body cosmetics. Founded by Raymond Cloosterman around a decade ago, Rituals is a Dutch retail chain that offers pampering products for both the home and for personal care. Rituals coined the word “masstige” which refers to products of quality on par with prestigious brands but offered at accessible prices. In other words, chic and luxurious products available at around, say, The Body Shop prices.

Basically, Rituals’ product offering encompasses body care, facial care, gemstone makeup, home perfumes, kitchen care, tea and even bath towels.


The underlining philosophy of this brand is to turn everyday routines into special pampering rituals. It advocates self-awareness and savouring the moment. Such rituals can be practised in the comfort of your own home using Rituals’ products. However, Rituals has expanded its business model with the opening of several City Spas in the last couple of years, two of which are in the Netherlands and one in Belgium. In these City Spas, facials, massages, manicures and pedicures are offered for both men and women. I had a look at their City Spa brochure the other day and I must admit that the treatments all sound fabulously pampering.


Rituals has expanded rapidly in the last few years and has a store in just about every city in this country. The products are also available in some parfumerie stores and departmental stores. Rituals also has a retail presence in Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Kroatia, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain and the UK.

To have an idea of what its products are like, you might like to read my overview and extensive review of the Rituals Hammam line of body care products.

2. KOH
You would already know about the KOH Experience Shop, better known as the nail polish heaven. If you still don't, I suggest that you check my previous articles on the KOH brand that was founded by Margreet van Roemburg, and the shop.

I’ve been informed that the KOH Experience Shop has recently moved to a different location, just a short distance from the previous spot. It is still on the Second Floor of de Bijenkorf in Amsterdam. I haven’t seen the new shop yet, but I bet it’s got yet another facelift. It’s getting quite hard to keep up!

3. MAC
As far as I know, there is only one dedicated MAC store here and it is in Amsterdam. I’m warning you. It’s one tiny, narrow shop. Fortunately, MAC is also available elsewhere: at de Bijenkorf departmental store in several cities and in some of the bigger Douglas parfumerie stores.




4. The Body Shop
The legacy of the late Dame Anita Roddick needs no introduction here, I’m sure. Its shops are ubiquitous! In the Netherlands, they can be found in just about every city.




5. LUSH
Ahh, Lush. Surely you would have heard of the UK-headquartered Lush before. Did you know that long before the Lush identity was born, the founder Mark Constantine, together with a partner, were already making bath and beauty products using natural ingredients for other companies, the most noteworthy being The Body Shop?


Lush has retail presence in more than forty countries around the world. In the Netherlands, there are six stores, two of which are in Amsterdam.

6. L’Occitane
L’Occitane en Provence is another lovely brand with cosy-looking stores that always smell so so divine. L’Occitane was founded in Provence by Olivier Baussan at around the same time when The Body Shop was launched. I doubt I need to say much here as L’Occitane is present in around 85 countries. L’Occitane is available in six cities in the Netherlands.


7. Yves Rocher
This is a name that I don’t see that often in beauty blog world. It is a brand that has been in existence for a little over fifty years and with sales points all over the world. It has its roots in Brittany, France, started by the late Yves Rocher who was very passionate about producing beauty products using plants as its main ingredients. This is a company steeped in history, strong ethical values and botanical expertise and with its own botanical garden and laboratoria to boot.

Yves Rocher offers products in the area of skincare, haircare, perfume and makeup, among other things, all available at very budget-friendly prices. In many ways except for the prices, this brand and its ethos remind me of L’Occitane.

It was also a pioneer in beauty mail order shopping. Moving with the times, it is now active with its online shops serving many countries around the world. In the Netherlands, there are now also Yves Rocher stores in several major cities. I've come across only one such store and I thought the ambience in the store rather reminded me of The Body Shop.

8. Sabon
This is another brand offering bath and body products in very elegant, cosy stores quite like L’Occitane’s but with a different colour scheme. Sabon had its humble beginnings in 1974 in Israel when a couple started making soaps using a blend of local herbs, flowers and fragrant oils. Well, they’ve come a long way since then and its glorious range of products currently also includes shower gels, bath salts, body oils and lotions, foot creams, scented candles and perfume. There are currently stores dotted all around the world and in the Netherlands, I believe there are seventeen dedicated stores.



Updated: 21 December 2010

9. Make Up Store
A new addition! Make Up Store is a Swedish brand begun by Mika Liias. His first store opened in Stockholm in 1996 and today Make Up Store has 160 stores in 22 countries. We, in the Netherlands, are a bit late but the brand finally opened its maiden store here in mid-2010. This one store is located in the heart of Amsterdam’s main shopping area, funnily enough, just two doors away from the MAC store. Address: Heiligeweg 9.

As the name suggests, the brand has a full range of makeup products, anything from foundations to nail polishes, one of which is shown here. Make Up Store also offers makeup lessons/courses – both private and in groups. If I’m not mistaken, the space upstairs above the store is where they conduct the lessons.



Updated: 18 May 2011

10. Inglot
The Netherlands finally has an Inglot Cosmetics store!

Inglot is a Polish brand that has been around for more than twenty years. It's an established brand in its home country but over the years it's been steadily gaining popularity overseas with the opening of more and more stores. There are currently more than 200 Inglot retail stores worldwide.

The founder, Wojtek Inglot, was a chemist by training. I read that, in the early days, Mr Inglot went to New York to attend a convention for cosmetic chemists, mainly for the purpose of networking. He learnt a lot from those he met there and from their laboratories. In fact, his first nail polish was made using an American formula.


The Inglot store in Amsterdam opened for business in early May 2011. It has pretty much the standard Inglot store interior - sleek, large and spacious with rows and rows of colours of nail polishes, eyeshadows, lipsticks, etc.

Its location is quite a distance from the main shopping area in Amsterdam (where say, MAC and Make Up Store are located). Instead, it is closer to the Rijksmuseum and PC Hooftstraat (Amsterdam's chic area filled with luxury brand stores). Address: van Baerlestraat 8.


The other instalments in this series can be found here.