Love In The Time Of Grad School

Recently my adorable boyfriend moved to Brooklyn. Sigh. Not because my products had pushed him out of the City of Brotherly Love, but because he is advancing his education at NYU.

While distance is annoying due to spending money on bus/train fare (something I equate to that of purchasing socks-I need them because of the hole in my toe, but they are an unrewarding loss of funds), this new every other weekend adventure has introduced me to a great 2-year old beauty spot in Brooklyn.

I initially found Miomia online. I think I looked under "Brooklyn Beauty Products" and immediately was welcomed with their website, www.shopmiomia.com.





Miomia is located at 318 Bedford Avenue. It is a store I have now visited twice. It really is a breath of fresh air with all the Sephora's there are (they are the new Starbucks). The owner carries lines that for the most part are based out of New York and are also natural. She has also avoided the trap of carrying lines that are easily found elsewhere. Some of the well-known lines she does carry are Mario Badescu, Ole Henricksen (a personal favorite of mine), and Sharps (for the boys). I walked straight past these to the ones I had only ever read about in magazines, Malin + Goetz, Håkansson, and Julie Hewett.

I must tell you, the first time I went in I could not spend a lot and settled on buying some Art of Shaving Sandalwood Shaving Cream for my boyfriend. He loves it and now smells a lot better then when he was using one of those awful shaving foams. I have used it on my legs and they were left baby butt soft and not irritated (mine tend to get bumps from anything with a fragrance).

My more recent visit allowed me to purchase a product from the Håkansson line that has intrigued me so much. Whether it is because it was created by a Swedish lady (I am half-Swedish) or because of their simple packaging I went into Miomia knowing I wanted something from Håkansson. Having browsed the line's website several times I knew I wanted to get The Scent. The Scent is a liquid fragrance that is alcohol free. You use it by putting a little on your pulse points (and hair) and rubbing it in. The Scent really does have a pleasant, light, and unusual fragrance. So far I have introduced it to four friends and all agree it was a good $38 bucks well spent.

I also bought the Bergamot Body Wash from Malin + Goetz. Basically, I liked the scent of this and just wanted something else to open when I got home. No regrets. The line is gender neutral and the scent is a deep citrus, hence Stash's Earl Gray with Bergamot Tea.

I can't wait to go back. My plan is to buy one of Håkansson's The Color, a duo cream multi-purpose colors that come in a variety of shades.