In continental Europe, there’s a kind of boutique you find in every town and city. It sells a couple of high-end cosmetic / skincare lines, and an eclectic mixture of perfumes. Every boutique is different. It’s always a bit of an adventure.
In the UK, you rarely find such shops. You get the occasional ambitious chemist (pharmacy), stocking perfumes and blusher along with the bottles of antacid and chilblain plasters. The nearest thing to the continental boutiques is the national chain, Boots, but of course they all stock much the same thing. There’s no adventure.
One place that follows the European model is The Garden Pharmacy, round the corner from Covent Garden. It doesn’t look much from the outside, and it’s not as glossy and elegant as the European boutiques, but it’s an independent store with an entertaining range of cosmetics and especially perfumes…
Enfleurage is the kind of shop that seems somewhat endangered on the streets of Manhattan’s West Village these days: intimate, independently owned, and quirkily specialized in its merchandise. If you’re walking past its open door, you might be lured in by the colorful focal point of brightly tinted and patterned soaps arranged on a central table. Once you’re inside, you’ll realize why this business is particularly well known for its selection of essential oils, which the owner of Enfleurage has gathered from locations around the world.