Home ยป London’s Secret Emporium for Beauty and Wellness

London’s Secret Emporium for Beauty and Wellness

John Bell & Croyden on 50-54 Wigmore Street is a bit of a treasure. And I LOVE a treasure find – especially when it comes to health and beauty. I say that because I just recently went there on a bit of a pre-Christmas shopping hall with no expectations of what it would be like at all (because I had never visited before) and much to my delight, it was fabulous. And trust me, I’ve done a lot of shopping in my life. This is also a shop with history, a shop that can trace its history to 1798 (wow!) when John Bell opened the original pharmacy on Oxford Street, London. The shop also supplies the Royals and are pharmacists to Her Majesty The Queen since 1958. So if Her Majesty The Queen trusts John Bell & Croyden’s Wigmore Street store, well then that says a lot!

John Bell & Croyden

The reason I like the store is because there are so many brands stocked there and not just everyday brands but also products that are hard to find like Dr. Jackson’s Relax Tea (to be precise). They also have really amazing niche brands stocked there like Balmain Paris Hair Care (total luxe buy for Christmas – I got the comb), Serge Lutens and Penhaligon’s fragrances (which I am obsessed with already) and natural beauty brands that I had never seen before (but want to try!) like Apivita (think Tonic Mountain Tea Shower Gel and Refreshing Fig Body Lotion) and Ruby Red (body smoothing scrubs and cleansers). Not only can you stock up on niche fragrances, French pharmacy beauty finds and niche brands such as Ruby Red but also products that are exclusively located only at John Bell & Croyden – like the Balmain Paris Styling for Hair Couture Set.

The John Bell & Croyden shop stocks – wait for it – 12,000 globally-sourced items across skincare, beauty, vitamins and supplement departments! Once you visit the shop you really won’t be surprised by that figure as there is so much to choose from, but all in designated areas so it’s not too confusing either. There are a lot of choices amongst not only best-selling global brands but also cult beauty brands. You can also get treatments such as skin analysis and facials as well as see qualified experts from nutritionists and pharmacists to chiropractors, dentists and dermatologists. So it’s basically your one stop shop for EVERYTHING!

So want to see what I picked up on my haul? With winter here and in full swing I wanted to go more towards the health and wellness products as I’ve been feeling run down lately.   

The first product that I picked up was the Beurer Bright Light Lamp. This is a lamp that simulates sunlight without the UV rays and is a certified medical product. Its Bright Light technology produces an output of 10,000 lux to provide a treatment time of just 60mins. It’s hard in London during the winter with the weather – the days are dark and the nights are cold so I’ve found myself missing the sun lately and wondering if this has an effect on my moods and Vitamin D levels. I was so excited to get this lamp – it emits a warm glow and makes the room feel cosy, much like the light from a candle. So don’t get SAD this winter – get even! It’s well documented that Vitamin D helps your bones and also is great for your skin and immune system and I’m pretty sure that in the dark of winter that I’m deficient. So I’m looking forward to this lamp lighting up my life a little more on the dull days.  

Again on the health and wellness and just general ‘looking after yourself’ track I picked up a Harvey’s Professional Supply neck and shoulder support pillow. I get so tense in my neck and shoulders with just daily and weekly stress of life and living in London and I have to get weekly massages to sort it out. Every time I get a massage they ask ‘what are you doing to yourself?’! So on that note I felt it was really time to invest in a good support pillow for my neck which gets really stiff and sore. I have to say that I really love this pillow. I’ve done away with my normal pillow now and use this one because it really does support my neck and my shoulders/neck don’t feel as stiff in the morning when I wake up now. My words of advice? Invest in a good pillow – it’s a game changer.

As I mentioned before John Bell & Croyden stocks a lot of health and wellness products and I love a cup of warm tea in the winter so had to pick up this Pukka Detox Tea which is an organic blend of aniseed, fennel and cardamom. It’s warming and is great to drink in the afternoons when you might feel sluggish and run-down.

I mentioned Balmain Paris previously which I love. And as John Bell & Croyden stocks Balmain Paris hair products I could simply not resist picking up this Golden Pocket Comb. It’s definitely a luxe, treat-yourself kind of buy and it would be such an amazing and unique gift for someone for Christmas. The comb itself is small and would tuck away perfectly inside of a handbag for on-the-go flyaway touch-up AND it’s 24-carat gold plated. Seriously! The comb cost £25 which I think is quite reasonable considering the luxe look, name and quality.

Okay and one last thing – a fragrance! As John Bell & Croyden have an amazing selection of niche fragrances that I mentioned previously I could not help but pick up a Miller Harris Vetiver Insolent. This is one of my all-time favourite fragrances – it’s beautiful, long-lasting, unique – it’s EVERYTHING. It smells very sexy, it’s unisex (so a man would also love this) and written on the box it says ‘For the fearless’ which I love. A fragrance is the ultimate in self-indulgence I think and a fragrance can be very special because it’s tailored to your taste. Vetiver Insolent is at the heart, a vetiver fragrance – it’s smoky, spicy and fresh all at the same time.

John Bell & Croyden have also partnered with Amazon Prime in time for Christmas so you can now get super-fast deliveries to your door if you live in select postcodes. If you download the Amazon Prime mobile app you can get delivery same-day, within two-hour delivery windows between 8am and midnight. Now that’s quick service!

What are you doing this winter to help combat the weather and treat yourself?

To find out more on John Bell & Croyden see HERE.

*This post was in collaboration with John Bell & Croyden but as always and forever, all opinions are my own

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