A FREE colour analysis, a giant Frida Kahlo mural and a bakery collaboration with beauty gifts: London’s final week of September has plenty to tempt you out. There is even a real-life version of The Shop from Netflix’s Sidemen: Outside, complete with a £50,000 prize pool.
These London pop ups and things to do in September 2026 focus on new experiences opening from 25–30 September. Nine are visits you can make this month; the tenth is a chance to book Makeup by Ariel’s 25 October masterclass. Guerlain’s fragrance experience also continues into early October.
For the rest of the month’s finds, catch up with my earlier September guides:
- Beauty, food and design pop ups, including Armani, Penhaligon’s and ASUS
- The September line-up featuring SKITTLES, Clinique, NYX and McDonald’s
- 10 more September pop ups, from RAYE The Store to The Big Brine
- September experiences including Dr. Martens, LEGO and Byredo
- The first September roundup, including Fenty Beauty and LOOKFANTASTIC’s Fresh Cycle
Those guides cover different dates, so check each listing when planning a visit. Below, you’ll find the activities, giveaway conditions, locations, public hours and useful links for this new selection.
Table of Contents
1. Play stick or twist at the Netflix x Sidemen pop up
The Shop from Sidemen: Outside is leaving the screen for a one-day appearance at BOXPARK Shoreditch. Entry is FREE, with more than 100 prizes sharing a total value of £50,000. The possibilities range from a gold bar and designer accessories to chocolate coins and sweets, so the mystery is part of the appeal.
A digital randomiser selects participants from the queue. If chosen, you pick a category and face the show’s stick-or-twist decision before discovering your prize. Individual prizes can be worth up to £5,000. This is one for anyone who enjoys an interactive challenge and the suspense of a reveal; joining the queue does not guarantee a turn.
- Date: 25 September 2026
- Public hours: 12pm–5pm
- Location: BOXPARK Shoreditch, 2–10 Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch, London
- Entry: FREE; ages 18+
- Booking: walk-in
2. Celebrate Flying Tiger Copenhagen’s Kingston reopening
The first 200 customers at Flying Tiger Copenhagen’s Kingston reopening can collect a FREE goody bag. The Clarence Street shop is returning after a makeover, with prizes, freebies and celebrations planned for reopening day.
This is an easy one to build into a Kingston shopping trip. You can explore the refreshed store and browse its changing range of everyday finds and gifts. Flying Tiger’s customer club app also offers a discount on your first in-store purchase, with the applicable offer shown in the app.
- Date: 25 September 2026
- Opening: Reopens at 9:30am
- Location: Flying Tiger Copenhagen, 75–77 Clarence Street, Kingston upon Thames, London
- Entry: FREE; opening goody bags for the first 200 customers
- Booking: walk-in
Browse Flying Tiger Copenhagen’s new arrivals before visiting.
3. Find your colours at the Beats 360 Colour Studio pop up
If you have been curious about colour analysis, this is a chance to try it for FREE. At Battersea Power Station, House of Colour experts are offering 15-minute consultations to help visitors discover the shades that suit them.
The experience celebrates Beats 360, whose interchangeable earcup and headband cushions let you change the headphones’ look. After your consultation, try the headphones and explore the cushion colours alongside your personal palette. Appointments are arranged at the pop up on the day, so check in with the team when you arrive.
- Dates: 25–27 September 2026
- Public hours: Friday 12pm–7pm; Saturday 11am–8pm; Sunday 11am–6pm
- Location: Next to the Apple Store, Battersea Power Station, Circus Road South, Battersea, London
- Entry: FREE colour analysis and product discovery
- Booking: walk-in; arrange your consultation slot in person
Shop Beats 360 headphones at Apple, currently £299.95, or explore the interchangeable cushion kits.
4. Add your brushstroke to the Frida Kahlo pop up at Borough Yards
Borough Yards and Tate Modern are inviting visitors to help colour a giant version of Frida Kahlo’s Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird. The paint by numbers mural is a collaborative artwork, so you can contribute a small section and see how other visitors are bringing the portrait to life.
The activity is FREE and open to all ages, with Frida-inspired colouring kits to take home. It celebrates Frida: The Making of an Icon at Tate Modern. For another chance to get involved, @boroughyards is running a separate online giveaway for two exhibition tickets and an exhibition catalogue.
- Dates: 25–27 September 2026
- Public hours: 11:30am–2:30pm
- Location: Soap Yard, Borough Yards, Stoney Street, London Bridge, London
- Entry: FREE activity and colouring kits
- Booking: walk-in
For a keepsake beyond the colouring kit, shop the Frida: The Making of an Icon exhibition book.
5. Discover Guerlain’s new L’Heure Bleue at its Covent Garden pop up
Guerlain is translating the blue hour into a fragrance experience on Covent Garden’s Piazza. The pop up introduces the new L’Heure Bleue, with FREE fragrance samples and an immersive setting inspired by the moment when daylight gives way to evening.
The perfume centres on iris, including an iris tincture developed for this creation, alongside airy notes and vanilla. If you enjoy finding out what goes into a fragrance, there is more to explore here than a quick spray on a paper strip. A sample also lets you return to the scent after the visit and decide how it fits into your own collection.
- Dates: 25 September–4 October 2026
- Public hours: 25 September, 12pm–5pm; 26 September–4 October, 11am–5pm
- Location: Covent Garden Piazza, Covent Garden, London
- Entry: FREE fragrance discovery and samples
- Booking: walk-in
Shop the new Guerlain L’Heure Bleue Eau de Parfum.
6. Step into the Mini Brands Vinyls Listening Lounge pop up
Mini Brands is turning Castiglione into a listening lounge for the launch of Mini Brands Really Works Vinyl. Expect FREE themed coffee, a FREE vinyl capsule while supplies last, mini prints from a vending machine and a DJ soundtrack.
The playful details continue with a secret bathroom karaoke party and an espresso martini cocktail hour. The miniature records work with a matching player to play short music clips, and the collection includes 45 records with rare gold versions to find. Keep an eye on @minibrands for its global giveaways too.
- Date: 26 September 2026
- Public hours: 10am–4pm; public espresso martini hour, 12pm–1pm
- Location: Castiglione, 17 Whitcomb Street, Leicester Square, London
- Entry: FREE; giveaways while stocks last
- Booking: walk-in
Shop the Mini Brands Really Works Vinyl player playset and collectible vinyl capsules. The player is sold separately from the capsules.
7. Pair a cinnamon bun with Nimbi beauty gifts at Kuro Bakery
This Notting Hill collaboration brings together two kinds of butter: Kuro’s bakery treats and Nimbi’s Buffer Butter Shave Glide. On each day of the weekend, the first 50 customers who buy a cinnamon bun will receive a FREE Body Sculpt Razor, Buffer Butter Shave Glide and Nimbi Headband.
The cinnamon bun purchase is the qualifying step, and the giveaway runs separately on Saturday and Sunday. For anyone already planning a Notting Hill breakfast stop, the collaboration adds a bodycare discovery to the bakery visit.
- Dates: 26–27 September 2026
- Starts: From 8am each day
- Location: Kuro Bakery, 95 Notting Hill Gate, Notting Hill, London
- Offer: FREE Nimbi gifts for the first 50 cinnamon bun buyers daily
- Booking: walk-in
Explore the Body Sculpt refillable shave set, Buffer Butter Shave Glide or Shave Duo with Buffer Butter.
8. Try a new makeup technique at the MAKEUP BY MARIO x Sephora pop up
MAKEUP BY MARIO and Sephora are setting up in Spitalfields for two days of artistry and product discovery. Choose Your Sculpt sessions focus on eyes, lips or face, with expert artists offering FREE makeup sessions and personalised foundation shade matching.
You can also try Soft Shimmer Long-Wear Cream Eyeshadow, the new launch at the centre of the experience. Iced coffee drops, an outdoor lounge and scratchcard prizes add to the visit, with golden tickets offering a chance to win exclusive merchandise. Walk-ins are welcome, while advance registration provides priority access.
- Dates: 26–27 September 2026
- Public hours: Saturday 12pm–6pm; Sunday 11am–5pm
- Location: Bishops Square, Spitalfields, London
- Entry: FREE
- Booking: Book priority access, or walk-in
Shop MAKEUP BY MARIO Soft Shimmer Long-Wear Cream Eyeshadow at Sephora, currently £25. The brand’s artists are delivering the sessions; Mario’s personal attendance has not been announced.
9. Book ahead for Makeup by Ariel’s London masterclass
This is the booking opportunity to act on in September: Ariel Tejada’s masterclass takes place on 25 October 2026. The celebrity makeup artist will build a complete look on a model, explaining skin preparation, product layering, blending and finishing techniques, followed by a conversation and audience Q&A.
Ticket options are Access £400, Premium £600 and VIP £850, before any applicable discount. All include a welcome drink and goody bag, with a meet and greet and photo opportunity included in VIP. Use code MAKEUPBYARIEL when booking.
- Event date: 25 October 2026; bookings open now
- Hours: Masterclass 3pm–6pm, followed by Q&A; doors 1:30pm, last entry 2:45pm
- Location: Outernet Live, Charing Cross Road, St Giles, London
- Age: 14+; ages 14–16 need a ticket-holding adult. Photo ID is required.
- Booking: Book the Makeup by Ariel masterclass through Red Media Live
10. Explore LOOKFANTASTIC’s World of Unexpected Gifting pop up
LOOKFANTASTIC closes the month with a beauty discovery experience at The Vinyl Factory. Its five spaces include a Clarins Skin Library, a Scent Train, a NARS Bakery, a Hair Studio with Kérastase and ghd dry styling, and a beauty pick ’n’ mix.
Alongside skincare recommendations, fragrance discovery and personalised festive eye looks, there are two paid extras to consider: a £6 bundle of iced coffee, a Reemie’s mini bite and a NARS sample, or a £15 box of six beauty minis chosen from nine options. Entry itself is FREE.
- Dates: 29–30 September 2026
- Public hours: Tuesday 1pm–7pm; Wednesday 11am–7pm
- Location: The Vinyl Factory, 18 Marshall Street, Soho, London
- Booking: Reserve a FREE LOOKFANTASTIC ticket on Eventbrite but as always walk-ins are accepted.
Browse NARS makeup, Clarins skincare, Kérastase haircare and ghd styling tools at LOOKFANTASTIC.
Pick a plan for the time you have
For a creative afternoon: Make the Borough Yards mural your first stop while the painting session is running. It gives a London Bridge outing a specific activity to build around, and the take-home kit carries it beyond the visit.
For a central London Saturday: The Mini Brands lounge and Guerlain’s Piazza experience make a useful pair on 26 September. You can combine music and fragrance without trying to cross the whole city between every stop.
For a beauty-focused visit: Choose the skill you want to explore: colour analysis at Beats, makeup techniques at MAKEUP BY MARIO, or product and gifting discoveries at LOOKFANTASTIC. Nimbi’s bakery collaboration works especially well if Notting Hill is already part of your weekend.
What to book, what to buy and what to walk into
Most entries in this guide are walk-in visits. Beats takes consultation appointments in person; MAKEUP BY MARIO offers an advance priority-access option; LOOKFANTASTIC has a public ticket page; and Ariel’s masterclass requires a paid booking.
Keep the giveaway conditions in mind when choosing your stop. Flying Tiger’s goody bags go to its first 200 customers, Nimbi’s gifts require a cinnamon bun purchase by one of the first 50 buyers each day, and Netflix uses a random selection system for game participation. The shopping links above are there if you want to explore the products independently of the events.
For more London pop ups, beauty launches and activities, follow @freethepopup and @itsnasg.
Event information checked on 24 September 2026. Dates, opening hours, prices, gifts and activities may change; check the organiser’s current information before travelling for a particular offer.
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