Right Behind The Beauty Scenes

I’ve been to one of the UK’s biggest beauty distribution centres and the photograph above is just a fraction of a warehouse the size of an aircraft hangar. Every single row, shelf and box is filled with beauty products.

And it goes up to the ceiling.

Speaking of ceilings – this is the fan ceiling for temperature control. It is actually called The Big Ass Fan, and they’ve never been able to set it higher than Level 3 because at its full setting it would quite literally blow the roof off. Beauty products have to be kept at a certain temperature to maintain quality.

This is the Sterile Room. It’s completely sealed off from the rest of the warehouse; anyone going in has to be hair-netted up, disinfected and with their shoes removed so that no contamination can get in. Some brands insist that their products are packed in a sterile environment. 

Nobody likes the styrofoam squiggly things that are standard in packaging to stop your products getting damaged en route. But, imagine having to fill boxes with them – they’re so… flighty! So, they are kept in this huge sock thing and when a box is ready, you release the cap at the bottom bit and the squiggles drop into the box. Simples!

Outside in the yard, sea-containers waiting to be unpacked. They’ve come straight from the docks.

And finally, here’s me having a go on one of those go-up-and-down-things doing a bit of picking and packing myself. Check me out in my high vis!