Personal accessories, London

Part of the Columbia Rd Flower Market scene on Sundays, this small shop prepares and sells excellent fragrances, for the body and home. A little on the expensive side, but well worth a browse around anyway.

Established 1854- during Queen Victoria's reign- this store has been providing deluxe shaving and grooming supplies for men. They carry very traditional after shaves and colognes, Sandalwood, Bay Rhum, and Victorian Lime, to name a few.

What to pay: High End

The British Sex Shop is dull shop from the outside. I guess the local laws do not permit the display of explicit materials. Porn in the UK is only quasi-legal and you may be glad to find "dirty" books here.

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Probably the best organised of the London department stores for practical shopping. Definitely in 2008 when the rates of euro and british pound were equal ( 1euro-1 bp)

What to buy: Debenhams :
Britain's Favourite Department Store, offers an exciting selection of Flowers, Gifts, Fashion, Lingerie, Home and Health and Beauty products to buy.
Carnaby Street :
Carnaby is the cheerful pedestrianised area in north Soho just behind Regent Street.
In Regent street you will find Hamleys

What to pay: This is up to yr budget

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A gadget shop with pharmacy. Here you can find all sort of gadges and gifts. Beauty & fragrance, Bath & body, Male grooming, Electrical beauty, Home & photo and Toys & games.

Wisit the website. www.boots.com

What to buy: Nails, gifts,

Starting from it's original shop in Neal's Yard, tucked away in a corner of Covent Garden in London.... there are now several branches across London and the UK.

With their disctintive blue glass bottles (to protect the oils from light damage), you will find a good range of quality essential aromatherapy oils and related products. Staff are always knowledgeable and happy to offer advice, and there are also other therapies available upon request- such as Indian Head Massage.

What to buy: An ideal place to treat yourself or someone special to a relaxing, reviving or energising gift :)

What to pay: Prices reflect the quality of the oils.

There are several branches of Nomad in London – my photo shows the one opposite Russell Square tube station. It is a very useful shop for travellers to know about. Not only does it sell a wide range of useful products such as bags, travel clothing and equipment, but it also houses a travel clinic (walk-in or by appointment), offering vaccinations, dispensing of anti-malarials, prescription only medicines and specialised medical kits. I used them for vaccinations for my Uzbekistan trip a couple of years ago and would certainly go back in future as the service was good and the price competitive.

What to buy: Products include:
~ cases, back-packs and holdalls galore
~ money-belts, padlocks
~ sleeping bags, liners, tents and mats
~ torches, power adapters, knives, compasses and other gadgets
~ guidebooks (mainly Lonely Planet and similar)
and much, much more.

They also do mail order – check out the website for the full range.

What to pay: Prices are pretty standard, neither cheap nor a rip-off. The main reasons to shop here though are the range, and the convenience of having all travel goods under one roof

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Lush is not unique to the UK, as there are shops in many other countries and cities as well, including Amsterdam and NYC, but pretty much all the products that Lush sells are hand made in the UK - to be exact in Poole, near Bournemouth - on the south coast.

The range includes skin and hair care products as well as bath and body products, including soap bars, bath bombs, shampoo, deodorant, toner, shower gels and jellies (!), shaving cream... They also look like something you could almost eat and the smell in the shop in rather overpowering, but very pleasantly so. The bath and massage products in particular are great for pampering you, your other half or even you both. :-)

None of their products has been tested on animals and have pretty imaginative names such as 'Nutts Massage Bar', 'Milky Bar','Karma Kream', 'Skin Sin', 'Honey Bee', 'Party On', 'Cupcake', 'Cosmetic Warrior', 'Catastrophe Cosmetic', 'The Soft Touch', 'Rehab', 'Demon in the Dark', 'Dream Cream' etc.

What to buy: 'Ocean Salt' facial scrub (with lime, coconut and sea salt), 'Sea Vegetable' soap (made with seaweed and smells of lime, lavender and seaweed), 'Whoosh' anti-jetlag shower jelly (smells of lemon, lime and grapefruit juices) and 'Fair Trade Foot Lotion' (includes peppermint and fair trade cocoa butter).

What to pay: It's handmade so it's dearer than your average prices

What to buy: There are various stands set up throughout the city selling souvenirs, but as a huge fan of the show "Friends", I got really excited when I saw hats similar to the one Joey bought when an episode was filmed here. This one was even being sold as "Joey's Hat"!

The handbags designed by Shizue Nobuta are hand-made and several are one-offs.
They are rather eccentric and certainly not my style, since my taste is rather conservative, but many of the things I have seen in this shop are really nice to look at, although the prices are not exactly in my comfort zone.
Some celebrities, such as Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears, are known to be customers.
By the way, those who like looking around to spot celebrities may try their luck in this area: just across the street from Shizue's shop there is a salon where many celebrities have their hair coloured.

What to buy: Colourful and unusual handbags, or equally colorful but more "normal" shoes.

What to pay: From 500 to over 8000 USD.