I’ve limited my visits to department stores over the past year or so, but reports of the new l’Officine Universelle Buly 1803 boutique lured me back to Bergdorf Goodman on one of my rare visits to midtown Manhattan. Buly 1803 didn’t disappoint. The products (skincare, body care, home fragrance, etc.) have an “old world” feel. Boxes are labeled with handwritten inscriptions in pen-and-ink. Bottles are decorated with images borrowed from circa-1800 illustrations. It all feels like a hybrid of Santa Maria Novella and Cire Trudon (which makes sense, since one of the founders formerly worked at the latter brand), channeled through Napoleonic France. (You can read about the brand’s background here.)

I had a hard time narrowing down my choices, but I ended up bringing home one of Buly 1803’s signature “Alabasters.” As the brand explains, the name Alabaster is inspired by alabastron…

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