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Post by Val the Cookie Queen
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London Scent Shopping and Serial Killers
CQ´s way to Bloom Perfumery
I headed to London a couple of weeks ago for a wedding and to purchase two Vero Profumo fragrances. There are times when ordering online is just perfect, and others where I chose to wait until I can purchase from a shop. I saw that Vero´s perfumes were available in Harrod´s and in Bloom Perfumery in Spitalfields. Concept Scents Store. In the East End of London. No question in my mind where I was heading.
I stayed with at 23 Cranley Gardens in Muswell Hill with a couple of girlfriends. They were kind enough to take a few days off work, so off we went first thing on Monday morning. I was über-excited. Finally I could stop stretching my samples of Rubj EdP and Mito. We jumped off the bus in Spitalfields, and walked through the beautiful covered market, although newly renovated, it has been there since about 1887.
So we arrived. 4 Hanbury Street, London. Walking into the shop, felt like landing at the bottom of the proverbial rabbit hole. It smelled absolutely divine. I have not been into that many perfume stores, but enough to know that this one was special. It gave me the same feeling I used to get when I would discover small indie/reggae record stores off the beaten track when I was much younger. That feeling of having discovered something totally unique, cool, and not for the masses.
Oxana, the delightful owner, came to greet us. Originally from Moscow, she has now lived in London for about seven years. After making sure that my two Vero fragrances were there, we started to talk. I wondered how she had ended up selling Vero Profumo.
Oxana: “Yes, I met Vero a couple of years before I decided to open the boutique. er passion and great craftsmanship at making her perfume creations has influenced me somewhat. I eventually thought that there should be a place (just normal, not elitist like the Harrod´s establishment) where people can buy the very best of modern perfume made with creativity and passion. It´s disappointing how much the generic mass market perfumes get promoted and how little people know about the finest niche brands- Hopefully I am making my small contribution to change that and that independent perfumers get more attention.”
From Bloom
Oxana also told me that a Russian lady will have about 7 fragrances in her collection. If not full bottles, then at least decants. I found that very interesting actually, because that is about the number I regularly wear over a year. No counting samples I try of course, but how many of them do I go onto purchase?
The shop is elegantly simple. Perfumes I knew of, and those I had never heard of. I intend to work my way through, sniffing all of them. There are hand written labels on the perfumes giving the list of top, middle and base notes. There are small black glass jars next to some of the perfumes, and these contain only the base notes. Brilliant. If you don´t care for the base notes then you know you can move onto something else. (A bit like allowing special customers to smell my vanillas!!)
I left the shop elated, and fell exhausted into the iconic Poppie´s Fish and Chips restaurant, situated conveniently right next door. The best fish and chips in the world.
So APJ, this is CQ´s direction now. Scents from the here and now. For blogging at least. Because I do love other scents too!
Serial Killers? The first to recognize why this was a part of my fragrant trip, will receive a nice fat sample of Phaedon`s Rouge Avignon, my new love. Courtesy of Oxana.
If you’d like to shop at Bloom UK Website(<<<<JUMP)
Rock on and lock your doors at night.
CQ
CQ supplied all the photos from her iPhone
Australian Perfume Junkies 
You must be a Jack the Ripper fan, didn’t he do some of his work in Spitalfields?
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Hey Julie – I hadn´t even thought of Jack the Ripper when I wrote this post. Although I should have guessed really, serial killers are so beautifully British. I will happily send you a sample of Rouge Avignon if you would like, for actually coming up with a relatively correct answer!!
Mail me an address.
val3at4armadillosdotat
You can work that address out huh? I hope you don´t live in the bloody arctic circle ….. haha.
Hugs
CQ
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valatarmadillosdotat
The other one was a bit confusing huh??? Sunstroke.
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Great post. 23 Cranley Gardens was the home of serial killer Dennis Nilsen
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Bang on Katrina. Thanks for taking the time to read it! Send me your address. (see above answer) and I will send you some Rouge Avignon, which is surprisingly beautiful.
Love
CQ
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Fantastic, I would love to try Rouge Avignon! Thanks CQ
❤
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Lovely post, Val! So glad you have two new Vero perfumes. They are wonderful! I’ll make sure to visit Bloom’s next time I’m in London.
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Oh Miss O, you will love this shop, I just know it. Simple, elegant, beautiful ………. And yes,
I cannot stop wearing either of them. I think I will never need another fragrance. I know that is just a nasty trick that my mind is playing on me, but enjoyable nevertheless. See you soon.
Excited. xxxx
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Bloom Perfumery sounds absolutely delightful! If I read correctly, are you saying that you typically rotate about 7 perfumes in a year? That’s impressive, and more disciplined that I am. 😉
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Hi Dionne!
Nice to see you. Things OK between Africa and Canada? Of COURSE I do wear and try more than 7 perfumes over the year! BUT when I look at what I really love, own and wear most often, then it is around seven fragrances. But don´t forget I an an absolute spoiled snob and extremely fussy. Which until I take my head of of my backside, which I won´t, kind of limits me. ROFL. Hugs. CQ Val xxxxx (Plus it averages out at a different one each day of the week …… which isn´t bad really huh??) (I think you will get and answer from me twice because I am technically challenged xxx)
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Hi Val, Dayle Ann Clavin found this solution to the serial killers riddle:
The Whitechapel murders were committed in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London between 3 April 1888 and 13 February 1891. { serial killer known as Jack the Ripper}. The mutilated body of the fourth woman, prostitute Annie Chapman, was discovered at about 6:00 am on Saturday 8 September on the ground near a doorway in the back yard of 29 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields.
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Oh my gosh …… fantastic information. do I need to give you a whole bottle? Thanks. Extremely interesting. Do you happen to know who Jack the Ripper was?
Lots of love to the greatest photographer ….. xxxxxx
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Chapman[edit]
Mortuary photograph of Chapman: a middle-aged woman with short, curly hair
Annie Chapman, 47, lived in a lodging-house at 35 Dorset Street.[30]
The mutilated body of the fourth woman, prostitute Annie Chapman, was discovered at about 6:00 am on Saturday 8 September on the ground near a doorway in the back yard of 29 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields
Jack the ripper did it,
Dayle Ann
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Hi Val! Thank you for these great travel tips and photos. Wonderful perfumes, great shops, the best fish and chips in the world and good friends sounds like the recipe for a perfect day. But 7 perfumes a year? Really? That seems, well… austere!
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Azar – it was a perfect day. I love the adrenalin rush and pure sensual pleasure of buying a perfume that I have coveted. In this case, two. I am still on a high from it. (See my answer to Dionne regarding my perfume austerity!!!)
Lots of love
Val xxxx
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Great adventure Val. Bloom is a great name for a perfume shop because that is what perfume does; it blooms on the skin.
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Jordan, say “bloom” again. I looooooove and Australian/Kiwi accent.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Portia and I speak quite different thank you! Though we do speak a lot and we manage to understand each other.
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Look Jordan, it´s like this, all blokes from Australia and New Zealand are gorgeous. Regardless. 😉
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Katrina beat me to it! Did you actually stay at No 23? I saw a programme on Dennis Nilsen at the weekend – he killed nearly 20 men or something, and most of them ended up under the floorboards. Did it have a weird vibe? My cousin used to live in the next street, but that is the closest I have stayed.
I was in Bloom on 14th July – just missed you!
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Hi Vanessa! Yep, I actually stayed there. Ha ha. That is where they live. As we entered the door one evening, a couple across the road could be heard to say “Oh my gosh, they live there!” Ha ha ha. Nope. No weird vibe. Although one couldn´t help but think of the guys who walked up the narrow staircase and came back down via the drain. Yaaaargh. Beautiful area though and I will go right back again next time. And I really loved Bloom. Gorgeous shop.
xxxx
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Great post. I’d like to go shopping in London someday. You picked some good perfumes. I’m still trying to muster up the courage to buy Rubj. That price tag frightens me, especially when there’s so much I need to do around the house.
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Hey Poodle! Cheers. Have you tried Rubj? I had no choice but to buy it. It´s beem haunting me. I think to create something as unique as that in a day and age where it sometimes feels that most scents are versions of others is an amazing feat. All of VP´s perfumes are like that.
Brilliant. CQ xxxxxx
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I have tried it. It was challenging to me at first but my husband LOVED it on me instantly. He keeps asking if I’ve bought it yet. I should just do it.
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Uhm – then what exactly are you waiting for?? xxx
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Rubj edp and Mito are my two favorites of Vero’s as well! That shop sounds wonderful!
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Hi Anatu!
Oh aren´t they just beautiful, rich and vibrant, and unique? Sigh. If you are ever in London you have to visit the shop. And when you come out fainting and with a melted plastic card, go right next door to eat. xxxxx CQ
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Lovely post Val!
You’re making me miss London! I think Bloom opened after I left or I just missed it. Probably a good thing for my wallet as I used to work nearby in Bishopsgate and went too Spitalfields all the time….
M x
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Madeleine, I know nothing about you. Maybe we need to be virtual friends, until I come to one of fragrance parties!!! It was my first time since I was a kid that I was in Spitalfields. I would move there tomorrow if I could.
Val xxxxx
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Val, you had me at Serial Killer!
Portia xx
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Not before?
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Congratulations on your new bottles and thank you for the story about the store: I’ll make sure to visit it the next time I’m in London.
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Do you wanna stay at my friends`?? To add a little authenticity perhaps?? 😉 Nice to see you.
Hugs. xxx
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Hello sorry its a bit late but did you go on the third floor of 23 Cranley Gardens? Is it all flats now or all one house? What’s the garden like! (Doing a project on serial killers houses) Many thanks!
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