Even from the street, one senses that the World Beauty shop is going to be like entering the private museum of someone attached to a European court. Inside, you are in the embrace of products whose sensuousness tap you lightly on the shoulder for attention.
Perfumes are arranged into groups, luxuriate in their own special packaging, or are exhibited under glass bell-jars. The world’s powerful brands are here – Lanvin, Balmain, Linari, Lubin. They are set out with care so we can appreciate how the perfume houses have designed their bottles to be part of the magic. We come across the vitreous black of Arpège, the wooden frames for Dsquared, the glitter-ball top of Balmain, and the sculptural, cast glass typography of Lubin.
Many of the perfumes come from houses with long histories. Heritage also purrs away as a backstory to the display of large scented candles from Cire Trudon of France. These are labelled with such delicious names as Spiritus Sancti, Trianon, Roi Soleil. They sit under glass bells which capture the scents and act as testers. The scents of these candles are complex, and may well take your imagination back centuries when the Trudon factory supplied so many palaces and ballrooms with their source of light.
And as your eye travels over this landscape of offerings, it is often beguiled by antiques arranged like archipelagos for sale. There are pieces of Edwardian silver, hand-tinted photographs, bronze sculptures, books and architectural models.
Great thanks are due to World Beauty at 98 Victoria Street, Wellington, for taking the effort to engage its customers with sparkle and fascination. TH
