shopping – Lily Pebbles

LONDON MEETUP WITH ANNA!

lily — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 09:30:56 +0000

There is literally no better way to celebrate my first proper week back at work than with a meet up announcement. This time it’s not just one meetup, but TWO… and with my favourite buddy Anna, with my favourite charity Look Good Feel Better in my favourite beauty hall in Liberty London. Epic. As you guys know, Anna and I are Look Good Feel Better ambassadors and we’re so excited to be teaming up with them for these events.

There are two events so take your pick, both will be fab and we can’t wait!

Thursday 20th October 6pm – 8pm // Liberty London Beauty Hall
This event is free of charge and you don’t need to book. Anna and I will be hanging out in the beauty hall mingling and enjoying some shopping. There will be special activities taking place on the counters and money will be raised for Look Good Feel Better throughout the evening. Bring your friends or come alone, we’d love to chat and catch up!
With a percentage of proceeds going to LGFB I finally have a good excuse to shop and I’m going to go wild!!

Sunday 23rd October Two Sessions // Liberty London Cafe
This is a paid event and something really special that we’ve never done before.
Anna and I will be hosting an intimate afternoon tea in the beautiful Liberty London and it’ll be a similar setup to our Beauty Chat LIVE events but with lots of yummy afternoon treats!
Join us for a chat, a glass of prosecco, afternoon tea and an exclusive Liberty goodie bag.
The Beauty Chat Afternoon Tea will be ticketed and you’ll have to BOOK ASAP to get your ticket.
The first session will run from 1.30pm-3.30pm and the second from 4pm-6pm.

BOTH SESSIONS FOR THE TEA HAVE NOW SOLD OUT

Tickets cost £50 per person with proceeds going to Look Good Feel Better.
To book, please phone the Liberty customer service team on +44 (0) 20 7734 1234 and tell them which session you’d like to book.
Alternatively, use this link to book via email.

COVENT GARDEN’S BEAUTY BOUTIQUES

lily — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 07:00:00 +0000

Usually when you’re on the hunt for the high end beauty brands you have to head to the big department stores and weave through the many counters to find what you want. But something’s going on in Covent Garden and it’s seemed to sneak up on all of us. It started with the Chanel store launching last year and one by one the brands have followed…

On a recent visit to the Covent Garden piazza I spotted Chanel, Burberry, Dior, Clinique and Bobbi Brown. And I’m not talking counters, I’m talking full on (sometimes two floor) boutiques. Each one more beautiful than the last and with top quality staff who know their stuff. The Covent Garden piazza is quickly turning into a beauty haven.

The Chanel, Dior and Burberry stores all sit next door to each other and I’d highly recommend exploring upstairs in the Burberry boutique! The two newest stores are Bobbi Brown and Clinique, sitting right next to each other on the east side of the piazza. The Clinique Great Skin Lab is the first ever Clinique concept store and it’s really impressive. Clean, sharp and when you walk in it’s like you’re walking into your own personalised skincare lab. The Bobbi Brown store is not the first in London but it is their new flagship store right in the centre of London. They have their top makeup artists actually based in store and available for makeup consultations. It’s a beautiful atmosphere inside and really easy to navigate around.

So next time you find yourself in London, save up your pennies and head to Covent Garden for some serious beauty shopping. For me, it’s all about the experience and these stores will make you feel really special!

ANOTHER MUST VISIT LONDON BEAUTY HALL

lily — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 05:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I found myself in the beauty hall of Fenwicks New Bond Street (I needed my eyebrows threaded!). I’ve been in there hundreds of times and I recall my grandma taking me there when I was little. But whilst I lay there having my brows done I realised that I haven’t shared this little treasure with you guys and for that, I’m sorry…

Fenwicks Bond Street, and I’m talking specifically New Bond Street, opened in 1891 which is why I think it has such a wonderful feel inside. If you were to do a quick walk through the beauty hall you’d think it was just like any other, but as well as having very knowledgeable sales assistants Fenwicks have jumped on the Liberty/Selfridges bandwagon and now offer some incredible brands and not only the standard Chanel, YSL etc.

There seems to be new brands joining every week but on my last visit I spotted Stila, DHC, Oskia, Lipstick Queen, Suqqu, Zelens, Ojon, REN, BECCA and Louise Young. Some of these brands are really hard to find in store and are limited to buying online. I was particularly excited to see Oskia, a skincare favourite of mine.

There’s a great mix of high end well known brands and smaller, less known International brands. So next time you’re in the Oxford Circus/Bond Street area I’d really recommend taking a look around one of the oldest beauty halls in London. I came home with some great new finds!

LONDON: WHERE TO SHOP

lily — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 13:00:00 +0000

Carrying on from my post earlier today on where to eat in London, I’m going to share with you some of my favourite places to shop.

CARNABY STREET //

Not only is Carnaby Street a nice escape from the hustle and bustle on Oxford Street and a throw back to London in the 60s but it’s also a treasure for shopping. Once you pass Ben’s Cookies (don’t you dare pass without getting one) there are so many places to visit on and around Carnaby Street. Turn the first right to visit Brandy Melville (for the coolest casual clothes), Pixi (to get your Glow Tonic) and Dahlia (for beautiful dresses). Turn first left to visit MAC, gaze into the window of Choccywoccydoodah and visit the amazing Cowshed spa. On the main strip of Carnaby Street my favourite shop is Monki and whilst you’re walking down don’t forget to turn right and pop into Kingly Court where you’ll find cute, one-off shops, coffee stops and a few good restaurants too.

CAMDEN MARKET //

It’s worth visiting Camden, despite it being such a huge tourist attraction. If the weather is good it’s beautiful to walk or bike along the canal. The market is full of quirky gifts and bits’n’pieces as well as really good street food and coffee. There’s loads of hidden parts so I’d recommend spending time walking around and exploring the lock and the stables. The best place for lunch? Honest Burger.

SPACE NK, BROADWICK STREET //

Beauty addicts visiting London, if you’re anything like me I’m sure you can’t go very long without a fix so I recommend visiting this Space NK. It’s really big, spacious and the staff are really friendly and helpful!

WHOLE FOODS, HIGH STREET KENSINGTON //

Two humungous floors of fresh food, drinks, beauty products… everything you can imagine. It’s a giant superstore that has me walking around for hours and spending a fortune by the time I leave. It’s one of my favourite things to do when I’m in that part of London.

LIBERTY BEAUTY HALL //
The Liberty building is one the oldest and most beautiful in London so it’s worth going in just for that reason. Despite the clothes and accessories being out of most people’s budget, the beauty hall is a bit more approachable and offers some really great brands. It’s really enjoyable to shop in, the people on counter are all really helpful and the candle room is like heaven. You won’t find a bargain but you may find a product or brand you’ve never heard of.

SELFRIDGES BEAUTY WORKSHOP //
If you’re going to Selfridges anyway, make sure to visit the beauty workshop which is separate to the main beauty hall. This is my favourite part because it offers the slightly less mass market, high end brands and more interesting ones like Aesop, Estelle & Thild, RMK and more. There is a Nails Inc nail bar, a Daniel Hersheson blow dry bar and a Blink Brow Bar too. There’s a really great selection of brands so don’t miss it out when you’re in there.

There are so many places to mention and I can’t talk about them all, but other mentions should go to Portobello and Spitalfields Market, Covent Garden and of course there is Westfield, but who wants to shop inside when you have real London markets to visit!

I hope this was helpful and please let me know if you have any other London post requests!

BLOW LTD. THE IN ‘N’ OUT SALON

lily — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 07:00:00 +0000

If there’s one thing that London needs it’s an in’n’out, do it all, pop-in salon. Blow Ltd promises to be just that so I went along to see what’s it’s like and I’ve been dying to tell you about it ever since… Prepare for a rave.

Short for time? Got a big event coming up? Need some emergency beauty help? This is where Blow Ltd comes in.

The concept is pretty simple. Get your hair, nails or makeup done or even better, all three. The blow dry menu offers 9 styles and there are 3 different makeup and nail options. Pick up a menu, make a choice, sit and relax.

The salon is set up like you’re backstage at a fashion show (minus the models and manic commotion). Simple tables, products sprawled ready to be played with and they even have a changing room if you’re rushing off to an event!

What I love about the concept is not just the ease and practicality, but the incredibly affordable price. A blow-dry costs £25, a makeover or manicure costs £15 and for all three it’ll only cost you £50 and you’ll be in and out within 30 minutes! Us ladies are busy these days, so the idea of being in and out within 30 minutes without having to spend a fortune is pure bliss.

As well as the salon, Blow Ltd has a small shop selling some of the best beauty brands around including my favourite (and hard to find offline) Jouer. Other brands include Lord + Berry, Eyeko, This Works, Emma Hardie and Essie.

It’s a pretty good deal right? So next time you’re in London, drop in or pre-book a session. I can’t wait to go back and I think I’ll be taking all my girlfriends with me!

FRENCH PHARMACIES IN LONDON

lily — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 05:00:00 +0000

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about Paris isn’t the amazing food, it isn’t the history and it isn’t the beautiful lover’s bridge… it’s the pharmacies. French pharmacies are known for stocking some of the best beauty brands and when I visit a French pharmacy I usually come out with very empty pockets.

But for those who can’t make it to Paris, there are actually some pretty decent pharmacies right here in London. So a couple of weeks ago I dragged the boyfriend around London to track down some of my favourites.

Let’s start with Zest, which is situated in Soho right next door to the best Space NK branch. It’s a little gift shop that doesn’t look like much when you first step in, but walk to the back of the store and you’ll discover the mini pharmacy. It’s packed full of French brands such as la Roche Posay, Caudalie, Avene, NUXE, Phyto… the list goes on. It also stocks Bioderma which has recently launched in the UK. This was the only place I found to have la Roche Posay effaclar duo in stock when everywhere else was sold out. I’ve shopped in here for over a year and I always pop in when I’m in town.

A few years ago I worked on Mercer Street in Covent Garden and browsing in The Garden Pharmacy was how I spent my lunch break pretty much every day. I feel like TGP is so well thought through and whoever owns it does a great job because they’re always updating it to keep it modern and fresh. They have a great loyalty card scheme and I love the email newsletters they sent out. Around the edge of the store is the high end brands such as Clarins and Clinique and down the centre are the more niche brands. I’ve found some serious gems in here and some brands I haven’t seen anywhere else. They also have a nice collection of nail polishes from brands like O.P.I and Deborah Lippmann.

John Bell & Croyden has been around since 1908…. you heard me right, NINETEEN-ZERO-EIGHT! Unreal. My mum said she remembers my grandpa driving into town when she was little and ill in the middle of the night to get her some medicine from there as it was the only place open 24/7. I used to go to school right around the corner so I know it well and it has always been one of my favourites. First of all, it’s HUGE and the list of beauty brands they stock is very impressive. They were one of the first UK stores to stock Bioderma and they have all other brands you could expect from a pharmacy, plus more. It’s on Wigmore Street, so if you’re on Oxford Street or near Selfridges this will be the best one you to visit. Trust me you’ll end up spending hours browsing the shelves.

So there it is, my rundown of the (non) french pharmacies in London. Have you visited any of these? Which one is your favourite?