Murale puts beauty on display
Beauty babes ’round town have been abuzz since Shoppers Drug Mart’s upscale cosmetic mecca Murale finally landed in Toronto (we’ve had to wait patiently as locations opened in Ottawa and Montreal first) the first week of September at the Shops at Don Mills. Upon entering the store at the media event, I was instantly drawn like a moth to a flame to the Nars display where a nail polish by the name of “M. Butterfly” was calling my name….
When I finally pulled my attention away from the lovely berry shade, I made my way around the store. What struck me most wasn’t the selection of brands (luxe: YSL and Chanel; cult: Rodial, Molton Brown and hmmm?: Mommy Makeup, L’Oréal Paris) but the space—because it was so expansive. One often gets overwhelmed in jam packed beauty behemoth destinations, where your internal dialogue can go something like: “Ooh, what’s this, ooh what’s that? Oh, pretty….” and you inevitably end up missing something. Here, because there’s room to breathe between many of the displays, you can focus on swooning on one thing at time—or at least try.
Beyond practicality, the extra elbowroom is part of a new concept devised exclusively for the store by interior designers Burdifilek (they’ve designed for Holt Renfrew and Club Monaco). They aimed to mimic “a gallery-like setting” by using white space and architectural screens between brands to create what they call “pause” yet close enough so that “each vendor reads like a piece of art on a gallery wall.” Considering you’d be hard pressed to find a beauty enthusiast who doesn’t proclaim that their beloved favourites are masterpieces, the notion of treating products like exhibits won’t be lost on them.
Lesa Hannah was on staff at FASHION for 18 years (2001-2019) working in the beauty department. She's also written for Elle Canada, The Kit, The Toronto Star, The Globe & Mail, Forbes Vetted, Canadian Business, NUVO, Stereogum, GQ and Vanity Fair.