AESOP...

I finally visited the Aesop shop in Mount Street, an area that has undergone a radical transformation from sleepy Mayfair backwater, home to a couple of posh hairdressers, in the past couple of years. Balenciaga, Lanvin, Annick Goutal, the revamped Scotts and The Connaught are the sights, not the quaint old fashioned shops, though the butchers and the tobacco shop still seem to be hanging on. A Goyard store is about to open - and of course there's the man who enticed them all there: Marc Jacobs. Aesop has been open for about a year now but it was the first time I'd seen the StudioIlse designed shop in person, on my way to the new Marc by MJ store.


Now I'm obsessed with the paint colour, the sink, the light fittings, the lightbulbs and Aesop Rejuvenate Aromatique body balm - a blend of vanilla and sandalwood that nearly had me levitating with its gorgeous aroma.


I've always liked Aesop products but the prices always make me hyperventilate a bit too. I shall go for the 120ml as the larger size is over £50 and that's just a wee bit too much, even for something that makes you levitate. If I could I would have a bathroom full of Aesop products and have Ilse Crawford design my bathroom as well, oh go on then my whole flat. It strikes me that many of my peak London experiences have occurred in Ilse designed spaces: Cecconi's on my 30th birthday for one. I will make it my mission to seek out more - spaces and peak experiences in them.

p.s. I'm not going to mention the Marc by MJ store - oh ok, well all I can say is ol' MJ has got to be having a laugh. At us. Cheap, mass produced shit with an MJ label on it is still cheap, mass produced shit. Is it supposed to be a post-ironic comment on Chinese sweatshops or something?

{Shop photos from StudioIlse, products from Aesop site}