Los Angeles beauty brand comes to Leeds

Products from the Hourglass range in Harvey Nichols.

An American cosmetics brand has launched in Leeds under an exclusive deal with Harvey Nichols.

A full range of Hourglass Cosmetics, plus some products exclusive to the city, are now being stocked at a bespoke counter in the department store which opened lastFriday.

Hourglass launched in Venice Beach, Los Angeles, in 2004 and has been in the UK for six years. Leeds is the only place in Yorkshire and the North East where the brand is being sold.

Heidi Whittle, Hourglass sales and education manager said: “Hourglass is nowhere else up here at all.

“We wanted to expand but where we feel the customer base will appreciate the product. Harvey Nichols is the customer centric and our focus.”

The Hourglass brand, created by Carisa Janes, is as image conscious as its potential purchaser and is Instagram- ready, tapping into the social media demand.

The packaging of products is visually appealing, the mascara looks like a screw, palettes of blusher and eye-colour all have an individual marble pattern and even the shop display is an architectural feature.

Ms Whittle added: “It has to be instagram ready in terms of a customer seeing it and we want the display to look as artistic and avant-garde as we can.”

The brand’s best-selling product is Veil Mineral Primer which makes make-up become water resistant. The second most popular product is the Ambient Palette which sold out in four weeks when it was first launched.