Pasteur Pharmacy

I was looking for mouse glue. I have lived in various apts. in Manhattan for the past 20+ years and this is the first apt. that I have had univited visitors. They visit every several months (like once every season). They are cute. About the size of my pinky but plump. I have caught tan, black, grey, black, once a spotted tan and brown one, would luv to get a white one. They're really cute squirming on my trap. They chirp like small birds. Unlike cockroaches, which I actually don't have at all here, that I just step on, these guys, I look at them while they squrim. I feel bad for them when they do land on a trap but they are unfortunately unwelcomed. Apparently, even Jerry Seinfeld has these little visitors from time to time in his multimillion dollar apt. Btw, I do not leave food lying around. I take out garbage every night.

So anyway, I go out to Duane Reade to get some more of these glue traps but they only have those wood traps with auto guillotine. I don't like those. I don't want to see the result. So, I walk over to another and another and none of them have the glue trap. I grab lunch then head back home. Half a block away is this pharmacy that is 1/10th the size of a regular Duane Reade. I have been there before and marvelled at the variety of shampoos and conditioners there. Ranging from regular L'oreal stuff to $40 shampoos. I stop in and look for mouse glue. They too only had the guillotine one. I obviously did not get those. Too cruel. Plus, these are Park Avenue mouse, they wear top hats and ascots. Respect.

So, I'm just browsing and my god! there is an entire mens' section (albeit it small) that I had never seen. It had all sorts of stuff, and most impressively, gentlemen's grooming items straight from London. They had shaving bowls, colognes, mosturizers, after shaves, talcum powder, etc. ALL from London. I tried almost every cologne there and they were all great. They all came in very small spray bottles the size of a tic tac container. They ranged from $50 to $60. That's comparable to my L'artisan cologne prices (at $130 a bottle). I was just amazed at the variety of men's grooming supplies and I felt like a peasant. Needless to say, the women's stuff is even more amazing. Face mask cream for $85 for a container the size of a scented candles vase. I was in heaven.

The only thing is that I am not a metrosexual. I don't get manicures or do skin exfoliation, etc. Not against it. I used to have a gallery of Bulgari skin care products but I hardly ever used it. My skin is naturally youthful and I don't want to jinx it by applying extracurriculars to it. But I did see a beautiful packaging. It was Eye gel for puffiness under the eyes. The picture above does NOT do it justice. It also comes in a little box. It's one of the best packagings that I have ever seen. It belongs in a museum! I opened the box and the equally impressive white jar (very small jar. fits in my palm. almost the size of a lip balm jar)and it looked half empty. I looked for finger prints to see if anyone may have taken some. But I saw none. So despite the fact that the jar looked half empty, I assume that it was the way it's supposed to be and bought it ($13, Given the volume, I can probably, at best, use it for 12 applications. I don't care.). I have it sitting on my coffee table now. I just look at it. Will use the gel later after my nap(s).

The funny thing... I brought it to the cash register girl. The price was clearly marked on the box and I saw her punching in the price and the receipt coming out but the girl held the box in her hand for literally a minute, just staring at it and turning it around and staring at it. Then finally, she put it into a bag.

Btw, DR Harris is over 200 years old family run pharmacy with their own brand as you can see. They are the official 'chemists' to the royal family, namely Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. It's on the label.