It turns out that Scandinavian fragrance and beauty is as desirable and economical as its homewares, at least in the case of &OtherStories…
Adore high end, slightly quirky beauty but can’t justify the spend? It’s time to acquaint yourself with &OtherStories . If you haven’t already strolled around the shop’s warm, open plan, apothecary-esque beauty departments (there’s a new shop opening in London on the King’s Road next week), you’ll be glad to know that there are no mini pencils, flatpacks or questionable meatballs in sight; simply minimalist yet polished packaging, a wealth of covetable colour choices and scents and clever, high performance products that don’t feel the need to shout their assets from the rooftops. They purr, they whisper, and frankly, they perform.
A case in point is the brand’s new fragrance for winter. Despite hailing from the land of fir trees and spiced baked goods, you’ll detect no overwhelming waves of pine or cinnamon in &OtherStories Bonbon Tree collection . Yes there’s vanilla, but it’s sweet in a grown up rather than saccharine way, and mellowed by sandalwood, with a perky violet note to give it a lift. It’s cosy, homely and personally I want to wrap to wrap myself in it for winter, which is easy to achieve given that there’s an entire Bonbon Tree line up to luxuriate in, from hand soap to body lotion to the very good value EDT (£26, only available in stores). The Body Scrub is particularly smart, as it lathers ever so slightly, giving you the ‘grip’ you need to exfoliate patchy winter skin and preventing product wastage through run off. Also I think they must put actual cashmere in the Body Soufflé .
These scandis know what’s needed come the colder months, and also seem to have a keen consideration for the demands on our bank balances at this time of year. That is unless, you buy the whole range. No judgement from me on that. Your accountant, maybe not so pleased, but you could simply let him or her in on the fact that the nose behind &OtherStories’ perfumes also crafts impeccable blends for the likes of Byredo , among others. So technically, you’re economising. Just like when you buy an entire bedroom set in aforementioned home furnishings warehouse…
&OtherStories Bonbon Tree collection , from £4