If youre looking for that rare, discontinued or unusual beauty product, chances are youll find it on the shelves of Shifeon.
The independent, family-owned beauty retailer focuses on sourcing everything their customers desire, from perfumes that were taken off other shelves years ago, to exquisite handmade Japanese, Korean, Malaysian and Singaporean accessories.
So it must have been a relief to their customers that, despite being in the boxes stage of their third relocation on Robson, the doors were still open. In fact, the steady stream of familiar faces that stopped by to see the new store were also picking up items such as BB cream, eye lid tape, false eyelashes (pictured below) and adhesive nail art, seemingly unaware that the store hadnt officially opened yet. One of the two spa rooms was already occupied with a facial treatment, with the paint barely dry.
Its business as usual, as well, for marketing manager Fiona Fong and her mother, store co-owner, Shirley (pictured left to right). The two have worked together for eleven years now, and have the international art of beauty perfectly displayed on the custom-built shelves, designer drawers and glamourous lighting in their newly renovated space. The look and feel of the bigger, more visible location at 1291 Robson was a $600,000 investment, but it shows in the details. Every item in the store is there for a reason, handpicked by one of the family members to meet the needs of their clients.
Shirley has been in the beauty industry for 40 years, having developed her business acumen alongside her husband in Hong Kong before moving the family to Canada and opening Shifeon (short for Shirley and Fiona) 17 years ago.
When [my parents] first came here they knew no English and had only an elementary education, recalls Fiona. Within three months, they started the business and, in the beginning, a lot of the [skin care] lines, a lot of the vendors were saying Lets see how long Shifeon can survive. Everybody looked down on us. Its been 17 years and were growing, so were quite proud and happy about that.
Despite the array of fascinating and exotic products, Shifeons true specialty lies in skin care. They stock 25 complete lines some of the worlds best professional and pharmaceutical skin care brands such as Dermalogica, Obagi, La Colline and Guinot and the staff provide one-on-one skin care analysis.
I see that a lot of spas and salons cherry pick each individual project. We try to carry even the really hard to sell products, so when a customer walks in we are able to provide them with something that they are looking for. Even the men.
Shifeon has two locations in Vancouver, the Robson Street mainstay and another at Oakridge Centre. The official grand opening of the new Robson Street store takes place on July 19, with in-store promotions and special offers planned. Facebook.com/Shifeon.Beauty
Dolly Wink eyelashes from Japan are highly sought-after for their natural appearance (and celebrity endorsement)
La Colline from Switzerland is one of the 25 complete skin care lines sold at Shifeon, and one of their biggest sellers.
