“I came to Paris with two friends just for this — we took the train last night,” said Tatiana, a 20-year-old student from the Nantes region, her forearm striped with test strips of lipstick as she attends an event organised by beauty retailer Sephora to showcase its brands.

Dozens of cult beauty labels — from pop star Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty to skincare label Drunk Elephant — are on display in a labyrinthine warehouse space close to Paris’ Louvre museum with fistfuls of make-up samples being handed out to influencers and fans.

“I spend a lot of time looking at products on TikTok, but the brands at Sephora are usually the most interesting,” added Tatiana as she rifles through a bag stuffed with samples she estimates are worth several hundred euros.