Travel Shop Live

Few years ago, when I gave up on my skin, I discovered this store in forum mall and all my skin troubles vanished. Combined effort of Herbalism cleanser, cosmetic warrior face pack and tea tree toner made my skin clear and healthy looking. Unfortunately, couple of years ago, lush stores are shut down in India 😪😥. Ever since, even though I found few good brands, nothing succeeded in replacing lush. Due to short shelf life, I couldn't even ask my friends to bring them when they were traveling.  Few days after landing in London, I visited Westfield shopping mall and an amazing fragrance greeted me as I walked towards the store near the entrance with familiar black name board and white lettering. Before I know, I am packing bags to return home but not before visiting lush on Oxford Street.  Due the shorter life span of the products, I had to plan my shopping accordingly. First I made list of things I wanted to buy and those with relatively longer expiration...

While most people I know get their travel inspirations from movies, I get mine from books. I believe an imaginative brain could create a picture better than any camera would. Needless to say, it could also lead to major disappointment when the actual place fail to live up to the dreams and that possibility bothered me a lot when I started for Venice. May be because Merchant of Venice probably is the first Shakespeare's story I read, may be because it is famous for my most favorite food (gelatos), may be because of my love for water - not exactly sure why I was crazy about Venice and when it started, but visiting Venice is on top of my bucket list (well, I did not have a bucket list yet, but if I made one, I know visiting Venice would be on top). The mere thought that Venice might not live up to my expectations is so terrifying for me that I pushed it back until I boarded the train from Milan to Venice. I was excited, nervous, lost, delighted - ufff, as if all possible emotion...

All those times when I went to the airports on domestic travels, browsing through duty free stores, feeling sad they are not available with my boarding pass. Argh!!! However, not all duty free stores have good collection/offers. One of my friends asked to get her a L'Oréal mascara when I went on a vacation to Paris. Surprisingly they are quite cheaper in drugstores in London which are always in some kind of offer. Definitely worth checking the prices before splurging in duty free. Having said that, we could still get good deals on few products in duty free shops not to mention avoiding hassles of handling vat refund forms and additional benefit of extra luggage allowance.  Listed below my duty free experiences. Ferry from Paris to London : If anyone planning a trip to Paris from London, I would suggest them to take ferry at least one way. This travel method is most time consuming (about 10-12 hours), not so cost effective (almost same price as flight or Eurost...

Essie is by far my favorite nail polish brand. Initially price tag kept me away from them. And one fine day, while browsing superdrug store online, found one shade on half price. That's how I met my first Essie nail polish - haute in the heat. I instantly took a liking - application is quite smooth, the finish is glossy and lasted good one week without any chipping. Ever since, all my nail polishes from other brands got totally ignored and whenever I see Essie nail polishes on offer, they go into the cart. Mint apple candy is the next buy from Essie. It was in my wish list even before I got my hands on my first Essie polish. I bought mint apple candy along with lapiz of luxury on a most common offer, 2 for 12£, from boots and it became one of my summer favorites.  Cashmere collection next caught my eye - the matte finish and the colors seemed quite unique. However, couldn't find them in any of the stores. After a long research, picked 2 from superdrug ...

While I made use of most of the time spent in UK and short trips to Europe, there are few things I missed and got left in the wishlist. To list a few: 1. civita di bagnoregio Image source The place I wished to visit in Italy for no specific reason. Result of random search online. 2. Kiehl's eye cream Not something I longed for, however, got added to the list soon after I landed in London. Did not get around it though. 3. Apricot shirt with chain This brown tee with cute chain attached to it is one of very few things I managed to resist.  4. Yorkshire pudding and Sunday roast:   Image Source London, being multicultural city, houses various cuisines. However, apart from English breakfast and afternoon tea and cakes, traditional English meals are surprisingly not easy to find. Maybe I didn't try enough. Anyway Sunday roast is for the next time. 5. Skydiving: It hurts Everytime I think how close I got to skydive in Switzerland. It had to wait...