Slept in today and it felt great.
I started off meeting up with the lovely Lucy from IMD (dance music publicist) and we had a nice catch-up chat and coffee at a pub. As we were walking back to her office she mentioned that there was a new perfume shop that opened recently. I looked in the window and the logos looked like Diptyque but I made a mental note to go back by.
Ends up the new shop is perfumer Angela Flanders, who won the FiFI for Best New Independent fragrance for Precious One this year. Her original store is located in the Columbia Road Flower Market and this new Spitalfields location opened just a few weeks ago, The lovely Eva Carlo showed me the whole collection. Eva used to work for Thierry Mugler fragrances, Les Senteurs, etc – so her knowledge was amazing and her passion for scent was inspiring. I picked up a non-traditional fig scent that I know a certain someone is going to love.
Eva mentioned that I should check out a new concept niche store called Bloom. Located just a few minutes walk away, I was quite impressed with the selection: the new Jovoy, Huitieme Arts, Undergreen, Perfumerie Generale, and a few I had not seen yet- Magnetic Scents (love Anais), Ann Gerard, and Testa Maura (Aqui de Casta was quite special). Also impressive was Rosa, the lovely sales associate who reminds me of Renata from Sens Unique – if she had been born in Yorkshire. She was on her game with stories, notes, etc. It’s hard to believe that she has only been there a few months.
Realizing that I was on the East side, I knew that Sick – the store that sells Boy London – had to be close. Eva helped me with directions and I was on the way. The store was quite authentic – random clothes hung up. The guy behind the counter was either stoned, spaced out, or having lived through so many years of partying that he was in a permanent stupor. I asked for a place to try on the shirt and he sent me downstairs. Downstairs is the workshop with mannequins, pieces, and parts strewn all about (look for the picture on my Facebook). I was happy to fit perfectly in a UK-sized medium shirt.
From there, I walked back to the tube stop to head to Les Senteurs where there was a blogger meet-up (organized by the jovial Nick Gilbert). Brigit from Olfactoria’s travels was in town and got to meet with Roja Dove (the lucky minx). Tara, who writes with Birgit, was effervescent. Dariush Alavi (Persolaise) popped in and we all congratulated him on the publishing of his first book – Le Snob: Perfume. Vanessa from Bonkers about Perfume was quite enchanting. Two other perfume lovers (who don’t have blogs) – Alexandra and Emmanuelle – were there as well. I felt quite a kinship to them as I still feel quite new to the perfume blogging world. It was a great experience to chat openly about fragrance with everyone – kind of like the live version of this Facebook group. We all talk in a strange language that most people don’t understand… so to be amongst like-minded souls is a great experience.
Kind of reminds me of going to Lambda – the gay student support group at Vanderbilt back in the early ’90s
We all chatted and got to sniffing (and gossiping). The Cloon Keen Atelier line is brand new and quite good. The store is impressively stocked with so many great lines – Francis Kurkdjian, Mona Di Orio, Parfum Empire, eLdo, Frederic Malle, and that’s just off the top of my head. Special thanks to the charming Nick Gilbert at Les Senteurs for being such an amazing host! You should be sure to check out Les Senteurs the next time you are in London – it is definitely worth a visit.