Hundreds of people queued to be the first customers inside a make-up store after it finally returned to the county.

More than 500 shoppers had lined up by 7.30am ahead of the highly-anticipated opening of Sephora at Bluewater in Greenhithe today (November 27), the only one in Kent.

It officially opened at 9am, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony taking place at 8.30am and free goody bags handed out to the first 500 customers.

Pictures from this morning show long queues outside the new shopfront, opposite Bershka, stretching around the lower and upper floors of the centre.

For the special event, Bluewater allowed people to camp overnight and several coffee shops, including Pret and Starbucks, opened from 4am to provide refreshments.

It was reported that the first customer started queuing at around 5.45pm the day before.

Tamara Wright and Joannes Joseph, both from South London, arrived at 3am, met in the queue and got chatting.

They managed to take home one of the goody bags and were 284th and 285th in line.

“It was spontaneous,” Tamara explained. “I saw people queuing the day before and said to my friend, should we go?

“I left my house at 2am to get here for 3am. That's when we met the lovely Joannes.

“We’ve been chatting and I slept for about half an hour, then got breakfast. It was a rollercoaster.”

Joannes said: “I came here last week and saw that it was opening but I completely forgot.

“I woke up in the middle of the night, checked my phone and realised it was today.

“I just put my clothes on and came straight here.”

“It's a big store and the staff are wonderful,” she added.

“I think Sephora is one of the few shops that actually has brands that cater to a lot of different people.

“Plus, you can never have too many lip-liners – I always have backups of backups!”

The French company, which was founded in 1969, specialises in make-up, skincare, hair, fragrance, travel-sized products and wellness.

News about the arrival was originally announced in August and the opening date was confirmed at the beginning of the month – just in time for Black Friday.

Emily Mather, from Rochester, is looking forward to seeing the different types of products and brands on offer.

“I got here at 9am,” the mum-of-one explained. “I wasn't sure whether to queue or not because I'd heard the reports of everyone camping out in the morning.

“It hasn’t been too bad and moved quite quickly.”

She is also hoping to bag herself the freebie, with make-up being something she appreciates more as a new mum.

“On the occasions that I get to go out and look a little bit better than my day-to-day, I think it gives you a boost,” Emily added.

“It just makes you feel more presentable.”

Faye Howe, from Dartford, had been in the line since 5.30am.

She said: “It's really funny because there used to be a Sephora here back in the day when I was much younger – I’m 30 now!

“I feel like it has become such a huge name globally because of influencers and TikTok. Everyone knows it.”

It is the second time Sephora has had a branch in the shopping centre after it launched its first store there in 2000.

However, it was eventually closed due to a lack of demand up against competitors such as Boots and Superdrug.

Speaking yesterday ahead of the opening, Sarah Boyd, managing director for Sephora UK, told KentOnline she was “very excited” to launch the Kent branch once again.

The 48-year-old said: “The population here does not have that many options when it comes to big shopping areas, so Bluewater is very important.

“We wanted to make sure that we could be within an hour or so's drive of the majority of the population.

“I think we are going to have great loyalty and a regular customer base here, which will be really nice.”

The store stocks Makeup by Mario, GXVE by Gwen Stefani and Haus Labs by Lady Gaga, as well as Glossier, Rare Beauty, Kayali and Glow Recipe.

It offers nearly 340 local and global brands alongside its private label, the Sephora Collection.

Bluewater is set to be the seventh branch to launch since the retailer returned to the UK in 2022.

Other stores can be found at London’s Westfield White City and Westfield Stratford, Manchester Trafford Centre, as well as Newcastle Eldon Square, Gateshead Metrocentre and Birmingham Bullring.