The Fun Just Never Ends (Well, Not Yet.)

Well, by now you’ve heard all about the LA event the Posse had and how much fun it was and you’re chartreuse with envy if you weren’t there (so tell them you want another one in 2014.) But if you read the post that went live yesterday at PST you might be getting greener. Well prepare to go olive because today Portia and I were squired by one of the participants, the handsome and charming Daniel on a tour of LA. He is wonderful and a practitioner of Ayervedic Healing (I hope I got that right) who designed ONA spa, inside the place that took over the Spanish Kitchen I wrote about. He’s a delight.

Daniel loves Los Angeles and likes to do the same thing I do: show off the city. So He took us up to Mulholland and through Beverly Hills and to the Lake Shrine (which if you come to LA you must see) and then into Venice to visit Strange Invisible Perfumes. Portia had never been and we made a raucous little group. So much so that after about 10 minutes the other customer in the store, a lovely young lady from New York named Sarah came over to join in on the fun. We sniffed everything and Portia and Daniel made purchases. Ashleigh was helping us and was great- she even let us sniff (since obviously Portia won’t be here in two weeks to try it) the new Astrological Series scent Aquarius, which is completely divine. I scribbled some notes: frankincense, grapefruit, lavender, beeswax and neroli I can make out. It’s a winner.

Then was Lunch and a stop into Le Labo, which was conveniently next door. Now, I suppose I must have been aware that Le Labo had opened up in Venice, but I guess I filed the info under “useless” since there’s a Le Labo in Barney’s on Wilshire and one on 3rd by the Beverly Center. Or to be more precise two storefronts down from Magnolia Bakery (why yes, I do navigate the city by pastry. Doesn’t everyone everywhere?)

Well, I was wrong.

The one place in the LA event that was a bit of a let-down was Barney’s. I didn’t expect them to genuflect upon our arrival, but there was a busload of people with their credit cards practically in their teeth looking to purchase. They were sort of greeted with blank stares when frankly it should have been more like a Warner Bros. cartoon where dollar signs pop up in the eyeballs and the lower jaw pops out like a cash register, complete with sound effects. I was so appalled that this was happening in my adopted hometown that I just bailed and went to the Beverly Hills Market (where you need to go when you visit- great weekly lunch specials and the nicest people evah) for a diet coke.

Which meant I missed out that L’Artisan had a presentation for us and that Justin from Le Labo had come in especially from the Venice store to greet us. Happily, Justin was at that Venice store  when we went in.

Le Labo needs to clone Justin.

We all have had sales assistants who were not great: poorly informed, uninterested; whatever. I like Barney’s but except for a couple of people am kind of shocked when I have to tell an SA what the new item in the collection they’re ostensibly repping is. It’s not my job to know, but since their paycheck is from there, it is theirs. I would be shocked for instance to find a salesperson at Casa de Cadillac not to know about the 2014 CTS.

Justin knew his stuff. I’m already familiar with the line but he took Portia and Daniel through it, telling us about the oils (which I hadn’t tried and are fab) and the new solid thingy (which is fab- I think I need one for the car- his suggestion) and even telling us that new scents being introduced later in the month. He wasn’t able to show them to us sadly but he did tell us that this is the first release in a couple of years and there would be two of them. I can’t wait. He was so kind and helpful he even gave us (flawless) tips on how to navigate back to Beverly Hills from Venice in the g-dawful choking Westside traffic from Venice at Rush Hour.

Portia bought a travel-size and I think my future Le Labo purchases shall be in Venice. Even if it’s a three-bus commute. That level of customer service should be rewarded.

Images: Roses at the Lake Shrine and interior Le Labo by my iPhone