Today, it’s an acre of concrete wasteland, littered with dangerous potholes, used car tyres and rubbish, just a stone’s throw from Manchester’s glitzy high-end shopping mall, the Trafford Centre.
Yet just a month ago, this grubby plot was destined to be transformed into the ultimate winter wonderland for beauty-obsessed girls, running from December 1 to January 4 and was set to be complete with a pink ice rink, pantomime performances and a Santa’s grotto.
The mastermind behind ‘Pinkmas’, as the event was known, is social media sensation Paige Louise Williams – founder of the UK-based beauty empire, P. Louise Cosmetics – who shared feverish updates on her Instagram page in the build-up to the pop-up, billing it ‘the most iconic event of the year’.
‘Guided by the P.Louise elves, we’ll be taking you on a journey through the Pinkmas Forest and Festive Factory, featuring three immersive zones: Mrs. Claus’s Kitchen, The Pink Workshop and the Post Me Pretty Room,’ Williams enthused.
So, naturally, her devoted fanbase, undeterred by the £80 price tag, flocked to buy tickets. The ‘Early Bird’ passes, released in June, sold out within minutes – with followers boasting about their attendance online. Many booked trains and hotels in preparation.
But the first sign that something was off when excited ticket-holders, who had been told ‘Pinkmas’ would be held inside P. Louise’s Manchester’s Trafford Palazzo store, were informed the shop opening had been delayed and that the event would now be held at an ‘upgraded location’ on Barton Dock Road, Trafford City – near to the shopping centre.
Then, last week, the event was suddenly cancelled altogether. Williams wrote on Instagram on Tuesday that she was ‘devastated’ at having to call off Pinkmas, ‘despite [the event] being almost fully built… due to issues with the licensing process’.
However, when the Daily Mail visited Barton Dock Road this week, and the apparently ‘upgraded’ location certainly didn’t look ‘fully built’.
Undeterred by the £80 price tag, P.Louise’s devoted fanbase flocked to buy tickets – and ‘early bird’ passes sold out in minutes. Pictured: The P. Louise Make-up Academy in Stockport
Just a month ago, this grubby plot of land in Manchester was destined to be transformed into the ultimate winter wonderland for beauty-obsessed teenage girls, running from December 1 to January 4
When the Daily Mail visited the site this week, the apparently ‘upgraded’ location certainly didn’t look ‘fully built’
In the middle of a vast concrete slab, the Pinkmas site was covered with hundreds of old tyres, Portaloos, piles of construction supplies and stacks of unused fences.
I can now reveal that Williams, 31, sold tickets to her highly-anticipated event before applying for any planning permission at all.
Trafford Council became aware that work was underway only on October 16 – before any planning consent, building regulations or licensing application had been submitted – contradicting Williams’s claims that ‘the licensing process’ was to blame for the cancellation.
One source told me: ‘The council came by and realised what Paige was doing and told her to stop going ahead with her Pinkmas.
‘She didn’t have permission, and the place is a building site. No one has done anything on that land for years, and that’s why. It wouldn’t have worked to have a load of people, especially kids there. Completely unsafe.’
Council officers approached P. Louise to inform the company of the need to apply for a licence and to seek other related approvals.
A licensing application was submitted on October 22, followed by a now-withdrawn planning application a day later.
A spokesman for P.Louise said: ‘We acknowledge that we underestimated the complexities involved in the planning and licensing process, and we take full responsibility for that oversight. Since the cancellation, we have been working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure all future projects are fully compliant from the outset. Our commitment to our community here remains unwavering. We will learn from this experience and look forward to bringing the spirit of Pinkmas back, brighter, better, and more magical than ever before.’
On Instagram, Paige claimed that ‘all customers will be contacted and will receive a refund’.
But that wasn’t compensation enough for many angry ticketholders.
The mastermind behind ‘Pinkmas’, as the event was known, is social media sensation and founder of P. Louise, Paige Louise Williams
Williams posted on Instagram on Tuesday that she was ‘devastated’ at having to call off Pinkmas, ‘despite being almost fully built… due to issues with the licensing process’
‘My children are absolutely devastated – that’s their Christmas ruined. And I can’t get the trains or hotel refunded,’ one parent wrote online.
One fan also commented: ‘Takes thousands in ticket sales in June. But only applies for licence two weeks ago. What a shambles.’
Another said: ‘The first thing anyone should do when planning an event is get planning consent from the council. They would have known this, so this situation is completely their fault.’
Some are even whispering that this scandal could spell the beginning of the end of the influencer’s beauty brand.
Growing up on a council estate in Droylsden, Greater Manchester, with five brothers, Williams was always ambitious.
At 20, she trained as a make-up artist – and opened her first salon in 2014, using a £20,000 loan from her grandmother. She initially offered make-up lessons, later expanding to online courses.
But it was TikTok that really shot Williams to stardom. She earned millions of followers through sharing make-up tips – and launched P. Louise soon after. Last year the cosmetics giant broke the UK record for the most revenue generated by a single brand on the TikTok Shop – the app’s in-built online marketplace – earning more than £1.5million in just 12 hours on July 31, 2024. In total, the P.Louise brand was said to have made £71million last year.
As her cosmetics line grew, the brand moved into an 8,000sq ft warehouse in Middleton. It has since relocated to a 36,000sq ft warehouse in Stockport, where it now has a store and a cafe for visitors. I went this week and it was packed with young girls no older than 12, accompanied by their parents.
In the middle of a vast concrete foundation, the Pinkmas site was flooded, the floor covered in manholes and littered with of old tyres
Old Portaloos, piles of construction supplies and stacks of unused fences were all that could be said for progress
It cost £5 just to enter the building, which can be redeemable on products, and I was told I was ‘lucky to get in’ because I hadn’t pre-booked.
Trending TikTok songs blared from the speakers, and the staff held a dance contest for the girls.
Despite P. Louise’s overwhelmingly young clientele and sickly-sweet branding, among its products is a lip-gloss set named ‘Bad B**** Energy’ and an eyeshadow palette named ‘Between the sheets’.
Indeed, I watched as teenage girls happily posed inside P. Louise’s ‘Bad B**** Energy’ photobooth.
But the ‘Pinkmas’ disaster and inappropriate branding are just two of the controversies P. Louise has faced in recent years.
Williams found herself in the middle of a social media storm last month after launching a line of pyjamas. The £50 pink and red sets were advertised as ‘100 per cent breathable cotton.’
However, when fans received their packages, the label told a different story. The pyjamas were made from 95 per cent viscose – a highly flammable, cheap material.
Disgruntled buyers began setting their pyjama alight online, to prove how dangerous the materials can be.
Despite P. Louise’s overwhelmingly young clientele and sickly-sweet branding, among their products is a lip-gloss set named ‘Bad B**** Energy’
And although Williams never addressed their concerns directly, eagle-eyed fans noted she retrospectively changed the online product description as well as adding the warning: ‘Keep away from fire and flames.’
And let’s not forget the delayed opening of ‘P.Louise City’, the brand’s new flagship store in the Trafford Palazzo mall.
The ‘City’ is said to be a two-floor, fully immersive beauty retail experience. ‘There will be a Bad B**** Juice Bar, our very own P.Louise Pharmacy and Supermarket, dedicated makeup education zones, and even a dancefloor,’ Williams revealed.
Though it had initially been slated to launch this month, Williams recently revealed the store is unlikely to open this year.
She said on TikTok last month: ‘There is around a 30-day delay on our Trafford centre opening.
‘I am not going to give exact days because things could all change. I have to keep it transparent when s*** hits the fan.
‘There will also be cocktail making. Yes, we will have an alcohol license.’ Not that her underage fans will be able to partake.
After the utter flop of Pinkmas, the ever-ambitious Williams will surely be hoping her upcoming ventures have a bit more fizz.
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