With Paris fashion week quickly approaching, I’d like to share some more info for my fashion-minded friends visiting the city. I already blah blah blogged about Merci, but those of you craving a hair + nail fix should head over to Passage de l’Industrie in the tenth, just off of Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin. My friend and hairdresser Chris has been telling me to pass by because I always short-circuit my blowdryers on the wimpy euro plugs, so earlier this month I finally did. It was not at all what I expected. Upon parking our Vespa in the semi-seedy neighborhood and turning onto the Passage, we discovered the charred remains of the Comfort Hotel St-Martin, lending the claustrophobic alley a charmingly authentic war zone quality. Wig stores line the first block — Postiches, Max’s Perruques, Schana’s — with utterly bizarre window displays that we couldn’t resist photographing. Amazingly, almost all of the wigs are shown with sunglasses, as if to say: you, too, can be a master of disguise!! I wasn’t sure whether to cry, laugh, or run, but by the time we reached Delorme none of those other stores really mattered. European pharmacies are pretty much my favorite thing ever but Delorme is coming in an extremely close second.
Delorme is the epicenter of the Passage de l’Industrie. The beauty supply store has everything a beauty professional (or wannabe) could wish for — hairbrushes, hair accessories, enough pins and clips to fill a hair tool belt (Chris has one of those… it’s awesome),styling products and tools, nail polish, and things you don’t even know existed. Browse a giant catalog of the aforementioned goodies (with pictures you can point to if you don’t speak French), pick out what you want, and the helpful staff will get it for you. After much deliberation, I ended up with 300 bobby pins and 300 French hairpins for 3€ each (although I expected nothing less, they have turned out to be excellent quality) and a Mason Pearson brush I have been coveting for 30% less than the US retail. There is so much variety that the store can be a little overwhelming, but it’s the best place to get a great deal on a few choice pieces. Be prepared with a few things you are interested in buying and stick to those; otherwise you could end up in a pickle (yes, I said it) at customs when airport security finds your bag full of sharp pointy objects and in flagrant violation of the liquids policy.
Delorme, 17 Passage de l’Industrie, 75010 Paris, France – +33 01 44 83 65 00
