No Beauty School Dropouts

Jumping back in time on the page has been the general trend this week so I thought it only natural to reminisce on another girly trend, but this time, on the 1950s: glamourette-style beauty parlours.That's right, Pink Ladies, it's time to puff up your lips, paint your nails and powder your noses. I've had enough already. Enough saving-up and enough self-pampering. I'm tired of counting every pence in my coin purse and I'm tired of using my home as a beauty salon. While I am one to generally lean towards the "do it yourself" treatments at home, you know, for the conscience, I also like to think of myself as a working woman, sometimes, albeit very rarely, who needs some QT with luxury and superficiality.

So this is my new haven of girliness, The Powder Room, by the one and only Powder Puff Girls, who successfully opened shop last year on Columbia Road and who have decided to lend us ladies a good hand by opening a Pop Up location on Marshall Street, in the delightful Newburgh Quarter by Carnaby Street. The little boutique is always buzzying with cheeky girliness, as you listen to side conversations of surprise engagements and wedding proposals at the counter next to yours. The staff is delightfully 1950s, with bleached-blonde chignons and long false lashes. Not to mention adorably dressed in pastel pink uniforms. You'd think you were transported back to Frenchie's Beauty School in Grease, and Frenchie is your stylist though she's no dropout.

So go ahead, indulge. Whether you need a quick fix like the "Busy Bee " manicure, the "Speedy Hairdo" or the "Jiffy makeup" for £15, or a more luxurious experience like the "Late for a Date" expert package for £30, you'll be sure to get exactly what you want. And if you're around on the weekend, you can get yourself the royal treatment by snacking on biscuits and sipping on tea while getting your makeup done. Walk in or book an appointment for yourself or a group of girlfriends. I guarantee you, it's well worth it, and well deserved.

Powder Room

Pop Up Parlour
34 Marshall Street
W1F 7EU

Powder Room
Full-Time Parlour
136 Columbia Road
E2 7RG

Like the Scrooge on Bank Rob Day

East London still seems like such a daunting place in my puny narrow mind. Not because it has so many fantastic secrets to offer, and it does, but because it will take someone like me ages to discover even a third of them. Everything is so spread out. Shoreditch, Faringdon, Hackney, and that's just a fraction of it. And my legs are not what you would call short and stubby. They have taken me places before, and I still believe that they will take me to see the world on other zesty adventures. But there are still so many places to see, so much to discover, and I still now, after many escapades East, will have my eyes glued to my stupid iPhone Google maps like paparazzi to Kate Moss.

But my adventure out to Columbia Road Market last month was so much more than the discovery of another open market. It was yet another daunting realisation that there is more to London than the W11 and W1 postcodes. At least in terms of secrets to discover. That time, when I was wandering down Columbia Road Flower Market, I kept hoping to stumble upon that gem that would prove me wrong again in my assumptions about the East. And that it did. Yet again.

A treasure chest full of jewels, L'Orangerie is that magical place, in which the owner Caroline, a relentless European traveler, manages to bring an ecclectic flavour of European delights into one place. Necklaces, bangles, big fat rings, long chains and vintage pieces of furniture and knick knacks alike, you'll feel like the Scrooge on bank rob day. You'll want to take it all, all of it. And then you'll bathe in it, like there is no happier moment in life.

    

 

As you walk in, you'll find yourself ducking under dangling tree branches and bopping oranges. You'll suddenly smell perfumes and fragrances from Spain, Italy and Portugal, which will then magically turn into much cooler scents from the pine trees of northern Europe. You'll hear things scintillate as you slip your fingers through them, play with them and try them on. First make your way to Columbia Road Market if you haven't already. Then, step into a world of all things magical at L'Orangerie. You'll want it all. And you can, it's affordable. It's East London.

Columbia Road Flower Market-London's Not So Secret Gem

Columbia Road Flower Market was the one thing on my list I was dying to do for months and hadn't come around to doing yet in my quest for London Zest. Which is strange considering I love markets and I love flowers, and lately I have come to love Hoxton and Shoreditch. Yesterday, I broke the spell once more and ventured out to East London, camera in hand, huge empty grocery bags on each arm, an empty stomach dying to be fed, and a big smile on my face. Apparently that was enough to prepare me for my colourful little adventure on Columbia Road.

And colourful it truly was. I was surprised at how many different types of flowers could actually be sold at flower market and how many of those I had never seen before or didn't know the name of. I picked out a few bunches of tropical and local bouquets and filled my Sainsbury's bags enough to make me keel over from the weight. I kept walking and noticing the variety of corners and angles that would catch my camera-ready eye. Some little spots made me think I was in the midst of some tropical open market, and all I needed was a cool and icy guava juice to quench my thirst and tide me over til lunch. Others were just plain London: funky, colorful and unique.

 

 

There is something quite cute and cozy about the fact that Columbia Road is actually a regular road on regular days without flowers everywhere and that normal people actually live in this adorable street dotted with cute stores and bakeries.

And each little store, each little corner, each little food joint has something quite quirky about it, sells God knows what, but still manages to attract a couple tourists and curious eyes, like this trinket/junk store below.

 

That's the magic of open markets I guess.