I presume that you've seen the posts on Benefit's new South William Street store and HQ. I don't need to tell you that it is designed to have your inner little girl in raptures. It's beautiful; it's full of lovely things and friendly people. It's just generally a fuzzy-wuzzy experience and I'll be heading back in there soon for all manner of reasons, but mostly just to say 'oooh!' a lot.
LOOK UP: INCREDIBLE STOREFRONT APPROVED BY GEORGIAN SOCIETY
When you peek in the window (and I defy you not to!) you'll think that it looks very pretty, featuring Benefit's usually tongue-in-cheek style. But you probably won't look up. This is one of my favourite things to do in Dublin. If you look over the shop fronts, a whole world of architectural elegance you've never noticed before will reveal itself to you.
So yes, the Benefit store is special because of the brand and the care that has gone into the services the store provides. Everyone in the building seems genuinely proud of it. But the building is special too. The folks at Benefit have combined their love for the brand with a sensitivity to this beautiful old Georgian building that you might not expect. At first thought, you might not think that Benefit's out-there kitsch image could be applied to such a building, but it really works.
ENTIRE BUILDING RESTORED, REVITALISED
The team at Benefit have taken *immense* care to respect their new home, and have literally given an unused building a new lease of life. Another thing that you might miss from a brief glance is how enormous the building is - it's lovely to see the whole building alive with activity and fun.
FABULOUS STENCILED WALLS
Unable to use their signature floral wallpaper in a listed building, the team at Benefit had the pattern carefully stencilled onto the walls over a period of days. The effect is stunning. The combination of Benefit's fun, vintage image and the noble old building give you the impression that you've just walked into a five-year old girl's imagination (complete with teams of friendly, immaculately put together Benebabes flittering about). It's kind of magical; three whole floors of magical, to be precise!
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ORIGINAL FEATURES INTACT
To further prove that the Benefit team love their new gaff, they've left an exposed patch of the original wall visible, so you can contemplate history and the passage of time while they give you some killer braids. That's deep! They've made every effort to maintain the building's history - they've preserved fireplaces and floors, restored original windows, the beautiful coving and absolutely understood that though this is a Benefit store, it's a very special one.
CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE IMAGES OF THE RESTORED INTERIOR
WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE
The store is also wheelchair accessible with downstairs loos and a lift up to the treatment rooms. In a city where many other recently refurbished Georgian buildings seem to get away with completely disregarding their disabled customers, this is something we have the highest respect for.
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INDIVIDUALITY
In a city where chain brands increasingly produce stores that are clones of one another without any individuality or character, and there are masses of cheaper and less difficult sites available to choose from, the nice folks at Benefit genuinely deserve some kudos. For services to Dublin (and our hair and faces), Benefit, we salute you!
