GLAM SLAM

BY BOOTH MOORE

South Coast Plaza is a One-Stop Shop for the World’s Best Beauty Brands

October 30, 2025

South Coast Plaza has cemented its status as Southern California’s most exciting destination for premium beauty with a concentration of immersive boutiques offering the newest, hardest-to-find and best-of-the-best creations to pamper, polish, powder and perfume yourself to perfection.

The recently launched La Beauté Louis Vuitton makeup collection has its own dedicated space inside the Louis Vuitton store, which dazzles with a bold, futuristic red interior, while Byredo’s sleek, minimal space reflects the brand’s Scandinavian cool and sensory-led approach.

Beyond the newest makeup, cult fragrances, scented candles and personal accessories, the boutiques are brimming with brands’ most luxurious holiday gift sets, including limited-edition advent calendars, making them a must for seasonal shopping. Many also elevate the experience with personalized services—most notably Guerlain, which offers private facials in an intimate treatment room, an indulgence that comes complimentary with purchase.

Here are eleven can’t-miss spots.

DIOR BEAUTY

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SOUTH COAST PLAZA

THE BEAUTY EDIT

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LOUIS VUITTON

LEVEL 2, Nordstrom Wing
714.662.6907

Louis Vuitton La Beauté is an immersive space for the Maison’s debut cosmetics line from Dame Pat McGrath, with a bold red, curved interior resembling a futuristic ocean liner, digital portals, interactive try-on rooms, and personalized consultations.

The mirrored central counter showcases the full collection—55 lipsticks, 10 balms, and 8 eyeshadow palettes–while a neighboring displays feature all the house’s signature fragrances. There’s a vanity nearby for makeup applications, and recessed shelves display covetable accessories like red Epi leather beauty cases, Monogram canvas brush cases, and lipstick pouches that can be clipped to a handbag.

DIOR BEAUTY

LEVEL 2, Carousel Court
714.927.7141

Just the second standalone Dior Beauty store to open in the U.S., the opulent boutique channels the spirit of the brand’s historic 30 Avenue Montaigne Maison in Paris, with a world of couture-inspired fragrance, skincare, and makeup. The space has a salon like feel with marble floors, gilded metal accents, a posh seating area and a selection of books highlighting the history of Dior.

In the spirit of its couture legacy, Dior introduced fragrance trunks that show off its Cannage, Houndstooth, Dior Oblique and Toile de Jouy prints, and bottles with interchangeable tops in different patterns. The Limited Edition La Collection Privée Christian Dior Couture Fragrance Trunk stores three bottles, while larger sizes can accommodate a full range of Dior skincare. There’s also a Baby Dior Skincare Routine gift set for customers-in-training. The store offers makeup applications, skincare consultations, facials and free monogramming of lipstick cases and perfume bottles.

GUERLAIN

LEVEL 1, Carousel Court
714.227.1371

A Parisian beauty house for nearly 200 years, Guerlain has elevated skincare, makeup and fragrance to the level of art, including the packaging. In 1858, Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain dedicated the Eau de Cologne Impériale to Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, and became the official royal perfumer. He chose Pochet du Courval glassworks to manufacture the bottle adorned with bees, the symbol of the French Empire, painted in gold with a garland motif inspired by the Place Vendôme column. The Bee Bottle was born, and is still a mainstay of the brand, available to customize at the South Coast Plaza boutique.

Celebrating its 100^th anniversary, Guerlain’s famed Shalimar fragrance defined the category of amber fragrances, and its Art Deco-inspired bottle with fan shaped stopper continues to be an object of desire, available here in a giftable mega size. The boutique also stocks the full range of skincare and makeup including the new Orchidee Imperiale Longevity Cream, limited edition lipstick trios in the Rouge G Tale of Stars case adorned with star jewels, and the iconic Meteorites light revealing powder pearls.

HERMÈS

LEVEL 1, Nordstrom Wing
714.437.1725

The French luxury brand, which launched cosmetics in March 2020 and develops them in-house, stands out for its edited range and modern, collectible packaging, which can be seen in the dedicated beauty space at the South Coast Plaza boutique. Some of the must-haves include the shimmery rose gold 24 Faubourg illuminating powder that pays homage to the house’s famous Paris address, the nail enamel in Orange Boite designed to emulate the famous orange boxes, and the Hermèsistable Infused Lip Care Oil in colors with corresponding scents created by Hermès in-house perfumer Christine Nagel.

For the holidays, you can create your own fragrance gift with four travel sizes, give three lipsticks (lip care balm, the matte 49 Rose Tan and satin 21 Rose Épicé) in one set, and splurge on Les Voyageurs limited edition makeup brush set. The colorful lacquered tricolor handle brushes come in a canvas pouch and a cylindrical Hermès orange box you’ll want to store them in forever.

BYREDO

LEVEL 2, Din Tai Fung Wing
714.439.9478

Famous for cult favorite fragrances such as Gypsy Water, Mojave Ghost and Bal D’Afrique, fragrance house Byredo, founded in Stockholm in 2006, translates memories and emotions into scent. The newest, Alto Astral, which means good vibes in Brazilian Portuguese, embraces coconut, incense, jasmine petals, musk, sandalwood and amber. The store also has the brand’s candles, hair mists, teas and other fragrant items, as well as makeup created by Lucia Pica, formerly of Chanel, who is responsible for the seasonal Bibliophilia eyeshadow palettes that fly off the shelves. Byredo collaborates with artisans on leathergoods, décor and apparel, including the graphic Alphabeta scarf and stunning Infra Luna desk lamp in store now that would be perfect gifts.

JO MALONE LONDON

LEVEL 2, Nordstrom Wing
714.545.4632

Before founding her namesake fragrance brand in London in 1990, Jo Malone worked as a facialist, mixing essential oils as gifts for her customers. They were so popular, they inspired her to launch her own fragrances with a distinct approach–layering them to create a personal signature. Now a global brand with perfumes, bath and body, home and candles in scents such as English Pear and Freesia, Lime Basil & Mandarin, Wood Sage and Sea Salt, it is known for British elegance, so much so that it’s a favorite of Catherine, Princess of Wales, who enjoys the Orange Blossom scent. Ginger Biscuit and Orange Bitters are popular ones for the holidays.

DIPTYQUE

LEVEL 1, Jewel Court
714.850.9995

Diptyque is a pioneering niche perfumery founded in Paris in 1961 by three artists at 34 Boulevard St. Germain. They transformed scented candles into decorative objects and created scents capturing the essence of nature. The milky fig Philosykos, the berry rose Baies, the fresh floral De Son, pine tree-scented Sapin and others are available as perfumes, car diffusers, hair mists, candles and more. Diptyque also has gifts galore, from special holiday edition bottles of favorite eau de parfums, to a twirling lantern that can be attached to a candle, to glass ornaments and tree toppers.

SANTA MARIA NOVELLA

LEVEL 1, Carousel Court
949.621.2340

By far the oldest beauty brand in the mix, Santa Maria Novella was founded in 1221 by Dominican friars in Florence. It is known for products that are both beautiful to look at and beautifully scented, including skincare, soaps, home fragrances, and perfumes combining ancient apothecary traditions and natural ingredients.

Brisk sellers for the holidays include the terracotta objet shaped like a pomegranate and scented with Melograno Eau de Cologne; Melograno wax tablets, particularly the variation with myrtle leaves and pink pepper resembling holly berries, that can be used to scent wardrobes, drawers and linens; and the Room Fragrance Diffuser Pot Pourri with a blend of herbs, flowers and leaves from the landscape of Tuscany.

FUEGUIA
(COMING SOON)

LEVEL 2, Between Jewel and Carousel Courts
714.435.2000

From another corner of the world, South America, Fueguia has carved out a niche with its artisanal and sustainable perfumes that are crafted in limited series between 50 and 950 bottles and has chosen South Coast Plaza for its first West Coast store.

The brand was founded in Buenos Aires in 2010 by artist/musician Julian Bedel, who debuted it as an art installation. Fueguia honors South America’s ancestral communities and their botanical knowledge and is a vertically integrated company, overseeing every stage of production. The collection includes 130 formulations crafted with more than 3,000 natural ingredients, all biodegradable. Home items, including candles, wood and brass diffusers and sanitizing sprays, adhere to the same standards.

Fueguia has ten collections of scents: Alquimia, Antropología, Armonías, El Mundo de Ouds, Destinos, Fábula Fauna, Linnaeus, Literatura, Muskara, and Personajes. They explore single ingredients and their complexity, historical and literary figures, imaginary places and creatures. The brand has also collaborated with Hauser & Wirth, Gabriela Hearst and Rolls Royce, among others, on signature fragrances.

L’OCCITANE EN PROVENCE

LEVEL 2, Macy’s Home Store Wing
714.557.2059

Inspired by Provence, L’Occitane en Provence is TikTok famous for its Almond Shower Oil. The Shea Butter Hand Cream is also a signature. Don’t miss the store’s hand cream bar, where you can sample 17 different varieties, including for the holidays, Nuit Festive with black current and sweet vanilla. And be sure to pick up a bunch of dried lavender at the cash stand.

Dedicated to supporting local communities, the brand has trained 10,000 women in environmentally friendly shea processing in Burkano, West Africa, and the Immortelle Divine anti-aging range uses organic essential oils traceable to the local farmers in Corsica, France.

KIEHL’S SINCE 1851

LEVEL 1, Carousel Court
714.427.0998

Started as a pharmacy in New York City in 1851, skincare, hair and body care brand Kiehl’s brings a taste of Manhattan to South Coast Plaza at its apothecary like boutique with red brick walls and street art. A 15-minute skin analysis on the “Derma-Reader” will measure hydration, fine lines, pores, and UV damage, so specialists can recommend the best products. The brand is famous for its Ultra Facial Cream with Squalene, Vitamin C Serum, Crème de Corps body lotion, Avocado Eye Cream, and its fab gift sets featuring all the above.