Westridge Mall welcomed hundreds of eager customers at 10 a.m.  Sept. 8 for the Sephora grand opening within JC Penny.

Sephora, a high-end cosmetics store, offers dozens of exclusive brands not commonly sold by other stores in the Topeka area, such as Tarte, Too Faced, Urban Decay and Nars.

While this alone garnered much excitement within the Topeka area, Sephora offered the first 100 people who lined up at its grand opening a gift card of up to $100. While the grand opening was scheduled for 10 a.m., West Ridge opened its doors to allow the public to begin lining up for the chance to win a gift card. However, many of those first in line camped out in the mall’s parking lot overnight to beat the crowds.

“We had a really huge turn-up this morning, so that’s awesome,” said Michelle Fountain, beauty manager at Sephora. “It’s been really good so far. My girls have had a lot of fun, we’re all enjoying ourselves. It seems like the clients are having a lot of fun too.”

Sephora staff also handed out hundreds of free sample make-up bag while supplies lasted.

Since the nearest Sephora locations were previously in Manhattan or the Kansas City area, the hype around Topeka’s first Sephora location was palpable.

“I used to shop in Sephora a lot before, but since there were no Sephora in Topeka I used to shop online for the products,” said Pratity Joshy, Washburn graduate. “Now that it’s open here, I think it’s extremely convenient.”

The store houses a diverse selection of products for all skin and hair types, as well as a trained staff that offers beauty expertise and make-overs.

“I think this is really exciting,” Gloria Deel, customer at Sephora. “They have a lot of products to choose from to meet different needs for different skin types and different colors. There are a wealth of opportunities here.”