Trends I Love, V. 2

#1:  Old-school barbershops for men.

I don't know why, since I'm not a man, but I really love the idea of old-fashioned barbershops for men.  I've mentioned this before, but I have an unexplained nostalgia for an era I didn't live through when routine daily activities were glorified.  Like shaving.  Here, a barbershop in London called Murdock that is along the lines of Freeman's (below) in New York. 

And for me, this begs a question.  I would say the female equivalent to getting a shave at a barbershop is getting a manicure-- it could easily be done at home, but it's nice to have someone else do it for you.  So why aren't there classy manicure joints like there are men's barbershops?  They're all tacky!  Even the new trend in nail salons is the ultra-girly look (not feminine, girly, there's a difference) where everything is pink and sparkly.  Ick.

This reminds me of the J. Crew Men's store vs Women's store issue... to me the men's version is just so much cooler.  Why can no one get a grip on what classic, old-fashioned (but updated) femininity looks like? 


Trend I Love #2:  Anything apothecary-looking. 

Here, Portland General Store's REALLY well-packaged skincare products.  Love the brown glass and please someone tell me, who designed their awesome labels??

In addition to cool packaging, the recipes for these products actually came from an old apothecary's book listing the ingredients of all their products.





Would make a good Valentine's gift for a guy, no?  Although I guess it's a little late now... birthday?  (And actually, I will say from experience that their shipping is not exactly prompt, so order ahead when you want it!)