As Benefit Cosmetics steps into the spotlight with a brand-new partnership with Secret Cinema’s Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical, Retail Times talks to Lucinda Jupp, marketing director, UK and IRE, Benefit Cosmetics
Firstly, can we talk about Benefit’s partnership with Secret Cinema, and specifically Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical?
This partnership felt like a very natural fit for Benefit because it brings together two iconic brands, entertainment, excitement and feel-good beauty in a way that is highly aligned with Benefit. Benefit’s Beauty School at Grease the Immersive Movie Musical format gives us the opportunity to show up in a much more experiential way than traditional pop-ups allows. For Benefit, it is about meeting consumers where culture, beauty and self-expression intersect, letting our customers explore our brand storytelling, discover new products such as the newly launched POREfessional Concealer, as well as opportunities for our customers to revisit or newly discover our best sellers.
Who approached who in terms of collaborative inputs/a beauty partnership?
This was very much a collaborative conversation built around shared creative ambition. From the outset, there was strong alignment on creating an experience that felt playful, immersive and true to both the world of Secret’s Cinema’s smash Hit, Grease the Immersive Movie Musical and the Benefit brand. What appealed to us was the opportunity to build something that was not just a sponsorship, but a beauty-led experience with genuine audience participation and careful consideration of our planning since last year.
Please can you detail what the partnership involves in terms of the beauty experience you will be offering at Battersea Power Station, where Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical will be shown?
At Battersea Park, we’re bringing Benefit’s playful beauty DNA into the experience through Benefit’s Beauty School, an immersive touchpoint designed to celebrate beauty discovery, confidence and self-expression. The idea is to create a moment where guests can engage with the brand in a way that feels entertaining, social and highly shareable, while also discovering Benefit’s bestsellers and the nation’s #1 products.
It is also a strong platform to spotlight newness into our POREfessional franchise. We have been priming pores since 2010, and today we hold the UK’s #1 Prestige Face Primer Brand and Franchise*. This partnership gives us a fresh way to bring that authority to life for consumers. The experience is not only about entertainment; it is also about helping consumers discover how our products can work together as part of a modern routine as well as learn more about our bestsellers.
How much of a departure is this kind of partnership for the brand?
Benefit has always been a brand rooted in fun, confidence, services and memorable consumer experiences. So, while the format may feel newer, the underlying idea is very Benefit: creating joyful beauty moments that people want to participate in, talk about and share. It is an exciting extension of how we bring the brand to life and showcase our bestselling beauty products.
Does the partnership reflect a new way of working for Benefit in future i.e. creating more immersive, beauty experiences that are linked to key, cultural moments?
Yes, absolutely. We know consumers increasingly want more than just product messaging; they want experiences, relevance and emotional connection. Partnerships like this allow us to show up in culture in a way that feels personal. For us, we are very interested in creating beauty experiences that connect the brand with key cultural moments, especially when there is a strong and authentic fit. It is a powerful way to build both brand love and product discovery at the same time. Combining theatre experiences with a highly recognisable beauty brand universe, the partnership offers a fresh model for experiential beauty storytelling to different audiences.
How well do you believe Benefit aligns with Grease in terms of the film’s beauty and makeover focus?
There is a strong alignment with both brands, being fun, expressive, and offer joyful experiences, those are all spaces where Benefit feels very at home. Beauty in Grease the Immersive Movie Musical is part of the storytelling and characters embodying their transformations, but it is also about confidence, identity and playfulness, which are values that resonate strongly with us in beauty and how our customers interact with beauty. For Benefit, this is not about recreating a nostalgic beauty look in a literal way. It is about tapping into that spirit of self-expression and translating it through a modern experience.
The original Grease film was released 48 years ago. I’m interested to find out who you believe the audience will be for this new iteration? And, in this respect, who is Benefit targeting? Original viewers or Gen Z or both?
What is so powerful about Secret Cinema’s Grease the Immersive Movie Musical is that it has true cross-generational recognition.
From Benefit’s perspective, that broad appeal is part of what makes the partnership so compelling. We see this as an opportunity to engage both audiences: those who already have an emotional connection to Grease, and younger consumers who are discovering it through a fresh, immersive format. Benefit itself has broad generational appeal, and our products like Benetint is a prime example of how a product is relevant across age groups, where it continues to be loved by our existing customers and new audiences are discovering it on TikTok.
Secondly, can we talk about your new beauty product please? How many options are available and what is the price point? How does the product work with existing offers such as the POREfessional Foundation?
We’re very excited to launch The POREfessional Concealer, it’s available in 35 shades, and designed to work seamlessly within our growing POREfessional pore care makeup range, alongside The POREfessional Foundation, which is available in 40 shades. Together, they offer our customers a more complete complexion wardrobe: foundation for buildable coverage, and concealer for targeted correction, brightening blurring, and smooths the texture of pores where needed. Strategically, this is an important step for us because it builds on our long-standing pore expertise and extends it into a fuller complexion offering.
Exclusively available at The Beauty School customers can discover our products, interact with playful games and win FREE samples, including receiving £10 off gift voucher for The POREfessional Foundation when purchased with the NEW POREfessional Concealer.
More broadly, we are excited about building a full pore care makeup range. Consumers are looking for products that do more than simply cover their dilemmas; they want formulas that blur, smooth, perfect and work beautifully together and improve their skin care over time. The concealer helps us meet that need while strengthening the POREfessional franchise in complexion.
What are the key product features and benefits?
The POREfessional Concealer is about combining complexion performance with Benefit’s pore-blurring expertise. It is designed to help visibly blur, smooth and minimise pores, while delivering targeted coverage where consumers have their pore dilemmas.
It also plays an important role within the wider range. With 35 shades, and 76%-part skin care it is formulated with hyaluronic acid that helps hydrate the skin. The new concealer promises
- 24-hour blurring, smoothing & hydrating*
- Instant & long-lasting full coverage
- Waterproof, crease-proof & smudge-proof
*Percentage of the concealer base that provides hydration, before colour agents are added
**instrumental test on 30 participants
***self-evaluation of instant results by 119 participants after 1 week of use
When paired with The POREfessional Foundation, it creates a more complete complexion offering. That is important because today’s consumer wants products that work seamlessly together.
How will you promote the new product at the Grease: The Immersive Music Movie Musical experience?
The partnership gives us a highly engaging platform to introduce Benefit to new audiences and working to build our awareness via Secret Cinema, the press, London writers and creators. It is also an ideal setting to showcase the broader Benefit offering: our heritage in our key categories, brows, mascara, bronzer, and primer. The goal is to create discovery, trial and conversation in a way that feels authentic and creating experiences that our customers will remember.
Finally, what’s next?
At Benefit we’re known for our brows, mascara, bronzer, and primer categories but don’t shout enough about our #1 Prestige Make Up Set Brand in the UK**. This season’s Holiday gift sets are better than before with must-see discovery sets to your ultimate gifting destination. We’re working on our next campaign taking our customers to a little escapism to their next gifting destination. a town called “Beneville”.
**Benefit is the #1 Prestige Make Up Set Brand in the UK
*Source: Circana (UK) Ltd, Retail Tracking Service, Prestige Makeup Set Sub-Segment by Division, Value &
Unit Sales, Jan – Dec 2025. Please email datarequest@benefitcosmetics.com for more details.
**Benefit is the #1 Prestige Face Primer and Franchise Brand in the UK
*Source: Circana (UK) Ltd, Retail Tracking Service, Prestige Makeup Face Primer Sub-Segment by Division and Prestige Makeup Face Primer Sub-Segment by Franchise Value & Unit Sales, Jan – Dec 2025. Please email datarequest@benefitcosmetics.com for more details.
