The diptyque store began in Paris, at 34 boulevard Saint-Germain, with three friends driven by the same creative passion.
Christiane Gautrot, interior decorator, Desmond Knox-Leet, painter, and Yves Coueslant, theatre administrator and set designer. Previously designing fabrics and wallpaper for Liberty and Sanderson, together they teamed up in 1961 and opened a store at 34 boulevard Saint-Germain to showcase their fabric designs. With their unique taste, they gradually transformed the store into a world of its own. A chic bazaar offering a fascinating variety of unexpected items, unique to Paris, which the trio brought back from their travels. "Merchants of everything", as Henry Gault and Christian Millau liked to name them, their choices had no limits other than their insatiable curiosity and keen sense of beauty.
In 1963 they began to explore their love of fragrances, first with candles - Aubepine, Cannelle and The - before launching their first eau de toilette, L'Eau, in 1968. A dazzling start to an extensive repertory of fragrances, all bearing the iconic black lettering on the renowned oval label.
Today, guided by this rich heritage, diptyque perpetuates the creation of fragrances without reference to the masculine or the feminine.
from: www.diptyqueparis.com
Two of my favorites L'Eau - Spicy and L'Ombre Dans l'Eau - Floral
This 10 day course provides an exciting opportunity to learn about the working practice of a botanical illustrator at Kew and for students to discover the methods and materials required. www.kew.org
La Cucina Caldesi - Italian Cookery School
All Aspects of Italian cooking taught by celebrity chefs, wine experts food writers and cooks. www.caldesi.com
Jane Packer - Floristry Courses
World Renowned Flower school is located in Marylebone. This is one of the three schools others being in New York and Tokyo. www.jane-packer.co.uk
Mason Pearson brushes are handmade. Mason Pearson invented an automatic brush-boring machine to speed up the whole process of brushmaking in 1885, for which he won a Silver Medal at the International Inventions Exhibition in London in that year. In the same year he invented the “pneumatic” rubber-cushion hairbrush. It took until 1905 to improve his technique, much of which was still required to be done by hand. His widow continued the business on her own for a further 20 years, when the next generation was ready to take its part.
During this period, the decision was made to concentrate on Mason Pearson’s rubber-cushion hairbrush. The product design used nowadays is similar to the original 1885 model with the improvements of the fully developed models of the early 1920s. The basic product has not changed since then and some of the model names are still with us: Large Extra, Small Extra, Popular and Junior.

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