Remember when Amazon sold only books? Considering how all encompassing its offerings now are, that niche concept now seems almost laughable.

But Jeff Bezos isn't one to sit around and count his successes (or gazillions), he's always looking to take his company to the next level -- which would explain those green AmazonFresh trucks that have become more and more ubiquitous with every passing week. It would also explain this foray into the beauty sector.

READ: The 14 Best Luxury Beauty Products

At long last, Amazon's highly anticipated Luxury Beauty Store is live. Having launched this morning at 6am EST, the macro section of the mother site features 24 high-end beauty brands, Nars, Dr. Brandt, Stila, Deborah Lippmann and L'Occitane among them.

"We have luxury shoppers, Chance Wales, director of beauty and health & personal care points out. "What we have been lacking is luxury brands, and we hope this is the first step to marry our customer's needs with what brands expect in terms of displaying and selling their luxury [products]."

How is Amazon setting its beauty portal apart from others in the category? First of all they're photographing every product in-house (!) -- no small feat. Also, as WWD explains:

Customers can shop by three main avenues: By content, brand or category. In all, there are six categories: Skin Care, Makeup, Fragrance, Hair Care, Men's and On Trend, which is based on content and trends created by a team of 12 editors.

Once in each section, it is then possible to refine a search even further, browsing by need, gender, editor's pick or free sample with purchase, by example.

"We have heard very clearly from our customers that they are looking for luxury brands," said Wales. "We also needed to do something on the brand side, so we put a lot of time and effort into refining the experience."

So, now, they've built it but, will you come? From a time-saving perspective it seems practical to add some Lippmann polish to your cart in the same session as buying a Kindle download or your kids halloween costume. Plus, Amazon's customer service is peerless...

READ: 9 Most Expensive Skin Care Creams