Beauty Call: NYX Opens First NorCal Store in Silicon Valley

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The dance music was loud and thumping, and the pink champagne sparkled as pastel-haired beauty bloggers took selfies with their unicorn phones. Thousands of bright and pigmented colors sat in tubes, jars and cases, waiting to be played with like vibrant boxes of crayons.

Welcome to the VIP opening party for NYX Cosmetics' first Northern Cali retail location in Westfield Valley Fair, Santa Clara. The pink carpet was rolled out for a sneak peek last Thursday; while Friday, January 22nd, was the official opening of the tech-friendly store, packed with more than 1,800 of the brand's affordable products.

No surprise, this store is all about the current mash-up of style and tech: There are interactive beauty bars, where customers can watch custom videos from beauty vloggers on how to use the products, and an Instafeed wall, where scrolling photos of NYX's users provide beauty inspo.

"We integrate the social community in everything that we do," says Nathalie Kristo, SVP of global marketing and business development. "For us, really, the heart of the makeup brand is this sort of online community of makeup junkies. We really celebrate them. Our brand is the people's brand."

"We appeal to all different skin tones and ethnicities," adds CEO Steve Friedman. Westfield Valley Fair has "such a diverse clientele," which is one of the reasons NYX chose the location, he continues. "That, and I'm from here (Santa Clara) so it's like coming home."

Although she wouldn't give specifics, Kristo tells us that more Bay Area NYX stores will be coming in the near future—including one that's "just months away." Hmm, any guesses?