Space NK Founder Nicky Kinnaird on Her Best-Selling Beauty Products

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Grid View

Expand

This morning, British import Space NK opened their third standalone New York store. The shop stands on Lexington Avenue between 70th and 71st Street, joining boutiques in Soho, on the Upper West Side, and inside both Bloomingdale's locations. If it feels like the brand is making a full-scale invasion, that might be because it is: They plan to expand all over the northeast.

Space NK falls somewhere between Sephora and a high-end apothecary, bringing hard-to-find and European skincare brands together under one roof. The new Upper East Side space doesn't carry anything that you can't find at the chain's other locations, but for this afternoon only it does have one very exclusive perk: Founder Nicky Kinnaird, who took us around the space highlighting some of the best products.

Among those include French brands that fashion editors buy when they go to the Paris shows, like Nuxe, which makes a delicious-smelling shimmery body oil, and the very gentle Apotcare. Sarah Chapman, a hot London facialist, has a line here—it's apparently a huge UK seller—and so does Italian company Bakel, which is known for its high-tech brightening solutions.

Eve Lom's cleanser also flies off the shelves, according to Kinnaird, because it's a toner, an eye make-up remover, and an exfoliator in one. And an unassuming little green pot of Zelens goop is apparently the best eye cream on the planet.

It's possible to fall into a skincare trance when you're surrounded by little serums and pots of potential miracle workers, but Kinnaird snapped us out of it by pointing out By Terry's insanely pigmented lip gloss. The make-up artist's line also includes a rose-tinted moisturizer that smells like roses and looks like it's not even there. "You want people to say 'You have nice skin,'" points out Kinnaird, "not 'I love your make-up.'" Come to think of it, that could be the motto for the whole brand.
· All Space NK coverage [Racked NY]
· Space NK [Official Site]