Le Labo City Scents at Liberty of London

Cult New York perfumier Le Labo is exclusively offering their city scents in Liberty of London for the month of October. Get limited quantities of all their city scents right now: London (Poivre 23), LA (Musc 25), Tokyo (Gaiac 10), Dallas (Aldehyde 44), New York (Tubereuse 40) and Paris (Vanille 44).

The reason you care? Because these city scents are usually only available in their respective cities. As far as I know it's the first time you can get the whole lot in one go (without the advantage of an around the world plane ticket). 

Plus, you get to schlep your bum to Liberty's superlative beauty hall. What better way is there to waste a lunch break?

Le Labo City Scents available exclusively at Liberty of London until the end of October 2009.

Take a trip to the Village Barn with Abigail James

The Organic Therapist Abigail James has just announced that she'll be giving treatments at a lovely little wellness center in the English Countryside: The Village Barn. I mean... an anglophile worth their salt must be quivering in their wellies at the mere mention of such a quintessential English wellness experience... Visions of health spas like Pennyhill Park and Grayshot dancing in their heads.

Abigail's been in the business for years, most recently as the senior therapist at The Haybarn for Daylesford Organic for the last two years. She's an expert in both face and body treatments (Swedish, deep tissue, thai, ayurvedic, a variety of face rejuvenation methods, Japanese face therapy, manual lymphatic drainage, etc.) and she'll be offering signature treatments, Dr. Alkaitis (WAHEEE!) and Dr. Hauschka treatments at The Village Barn.

If you can't make the trip to the home counties, never fear as Abigail is decamping to North London's favourite beauty spot on three separate occasions this fall. Lost In Beauty will play host to the Organic Therapist on the following dates: October 7th, November 4th, December 2nd.

More about The Village Barn... this sort of place my absolute most favouritest type of beauty place to visit. Housed in a 300 year-old barn (how sweet and quaint!) in the countryside (no urban terror upon leaving the front door), it offers all sorts of treatments, workshops, programmes and consultations for a multitude of sins. There are nutrition and cooking courses, yoga classes, face and body treatments. Whether the treatments work or not, I'd come away feeling rejuvenated and refreshed. 

So, two new British beauty finds today: Abigail James (aka The Organic Therapist) and The Village Barn.

Blue Mercury turns ten

If you're not from the US (and if you're from certain states within the country), Blue Mercury might not be in your common vernacular as a female. It's a beauty boutique and spa, sort of like the big ol' Space and Spa NK in Westborne Grove. It has the same allure for me now that Sephora did when I was a teenager. Sephora, which I do still love in a different way, has a younger and less sophisticated feel, but not in a bad way (as an aside, I was recently in a Sephora and bowled over by the new Negligee Pink lipstick from Dior... wonderfully flattering and, accordingly, sold out.); They're simply catering to a customer that might not fancy a facial before stocking up on skincare. Their customer wants a new cream or eyeliner on their lunch break, at least that's the feeling I get when I'm there. All of which eventually has brought me to the point.

Blue Mercury has just turned ten, which is a major feat considering how hard it is to make the cut it in the big bad world of beauty retail, especially as a small(er) fry. The Davids often don't often survive the Goliaths, but such an anniversary makes me believe there's room in this world for both the Sephoras and the Blue Mercurys, the Blushes and the Space NKs. Why not? Yes, market share is pretty much the final word for most people trying to make a buck out of beauty, and thus competition might not always be welcome. But it breeds creativity and I think it allows a larger variety of brands and retail models to flourish. In any event, this is to say a big happy birthday to Blue Mercury and to let you know that the goody bags on offer to celebrate the event are, in fact, quite great.

The brands stuffed inside the blue organza bag are: NARS, Fekkai, MD Skincare, Bumble and Bumble (mine had a big Creme de Coco hair mask, which worked wonders on my fried summer hair), Rememde, ReVive, Darphin, Tocca, Bliss, Skinceuticals, Bobbi Brown (lipliner in Hot Cocoa... amazing nude colour that I bet works on everyone) and Fresh among others. Your goody bag comes free with a purchase of $50 or more (that's 30 quid or so in UK speak... not half bad).

Happy birthday, Marla and co.