Liberty doesn’t really do anything as ordinary as a supermarket sweep, but.. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they did?

It was 7AM one rainy rainy rainy June morning not so long ago. Not even a coffee shop was open. The store itself was empty, bar a few security guards, some cleaners, and the lovely Leyla from marketing who had clearly picked the short straw that morning and been asked to accompany me around the store.“Is that so I’m not tempted to… you know… shoplift?” I asked. She laughed, reassuringly.

Liberty has long been one of my favourite London stores. All our London department stores have incredible edits of beauty, but none of them take my breath away quite as much as Liberty does. I challenge anyone to stand in the atrium and look upwards and not be amazed at the magic of this Tudor building, or marvel at how it’s survived all these years - 150 of them to be exact - without some smart Alec coming along and knocking it down, modernising it to maximise efficiency, taking away all its higgledy-piggledyness - the little bridge (where I recently had an excellent Wildsmith treatment), the distinctive floral prints in their fabric department (one of my favourites) so loved by the likes of Oscar Wilde and William Morris, or the way you’ll always find the perfect present for that difficult-to-shop-for friend, be that a Hunza G swimsuit, a tapestry kit with David Bowie on it, or a piece of vintage furniture.

Their beauty edit is such a joy, brands you’ve heard of, brands that are new discoveries, and one very new surprise that make reading through all the way to the end of this article, really worthwhile, I PROMISE! A perfumery upstairs, a perfumery downstairs, shelves crammed full, generous displays of all the bigger brands, a hairdressers, a place to get your brows threaded. All the brands you want and yet never overwhelming.

But I digress.

I’m not the kind of person people open department stores for early - it felt very Jennifer Lopez circa 2010. But there we were, myself, Santi (it’s a dog-friendly store), my assistant Isabelle, and Leyla and with our work done, (more of that later) we had just 15 minutes to whizz round the beauty floor and pack my basket, with a wish-list of what I’d like to take home with me.

So this is what I filled it with:

Sana Jardin Air of Aquarius Eau de Parfum

Amy Christiansen, founder of Sana Jardin loves lemon as much as the rest of us for its cleansing, uplifting energy, but what she wanted to convey in this new fragrance of hers was something a little more transformational.

“Lemon is tough as a fragrance, it can smell like loo cleaner,” she told us back in January at a private press launch (In case you’re wondering Amy has NOT suddenly popped up IN LIBERTY with me, this is what you might call a “flashback”). Still working with her favourite Master Perfumer, Carlos Benaim, she was inspired by something her father once said to her - “The eagle does not hunt the ant”. In other words, if you’re self-assured, secure enough in your own skin, you can keep you’re focus and energy on what you need to be doing rather than concern yourself with trivial things that don’t need to concern you.

Looking at things from this uplifting perspective, she set about creating a fragrance that would be inspiring, positive, motivating, even when life around us is full of unrest and pulling us into different dimensions.

“We have been moving into the Age of Aquarius since the 1960s,” she explains. Air of Aquarius Eau de Parfum has lavender which can feel cleansing, and, as she says, “It’s ethereal, healing and calming,” precisely for this complex time we are going through.

It’s wonderfully refreshing, and worth seeking out.

Slip Pure Silk Pillowcase

Honestly, one of the best things you will ever do is switch your cotton pillowcases over to these silk ones from Slip. It makes a huge difference to your hair quality and also your skin - you don’t get the friction that rubs your hair up the wrong way, or the imprint of creases on your face. You wake up looking refreshed.

Trinny London The Elevator

I’m a huge fan of Trinny Woodall’s skincare and makeup, mostly because I’m a huge fan of her. She’s such a hard grafter and really knows her stuff - long before she moved into beauty “officially” she was always obsessed with skincare, having suffered from acne and scarring when she was younger. Her’s is the one brand I would say my friends tell me about, as opposed to my finding out about it from PRs. The Elevator is a neck cream. For years I avoided putting anything on my neck because moisturisers seemed to bring it out in spots. I like using this whenever the skin on my neck is looking dehydrated and crepey. It does this most days, but some days are worse than others. The Elevator has a formula that’s rich in peptides (the short chains of amino acids that work a bit like building blocks for proteins like collagen, elastin and keratin to give the skin a firmer look and feel) but really I would say the main reason I like it is that the texture is just right for a neck cream, it’s not too rich or heavy and that means no breakouts, and also it means I can wear it regularly enough to benefit from both the instant hydration and the longer term benefits.

Sarah Chapman R&R Glow

This is a great cream to keep in the bathroom cabinet for occasional or regular use as it’s the one you’ll turn to for breakouts, redness, or just when your skin’s feeling a little sore or sensitive. It’s instantly calming -perfect for if you’ve had a laser or microneedling treatment, and I’ve used mine all the way to the bottom of the pot.

Westman Atelier Baby Cheeks + Face Trace Sculpting Powder Duo

Because we all LOVE makeup artist Gucci Westman! I couldn’t resist this palette which has a bright coral pink and a brown tan shade for giving those round, apple-y cheeks with a little sun effect too. Sometimes I pick blush colours and don’t end up using them that often - I’ve chosen them more because the colours are so pretty and I need to get that colour-fix. I should probably just go to an Art shop and buy pigment. I promise to make an effort with this one and actually use it.

Chantecaille Future Skin

I cannot tell you how many compliments I’ve had on my skin lately, and it’s partly do to with my rediscovering this fabulous creamy foundation. It goes on like a big old goopy moisturiser, only applied with a brush. What I love is that it has exactly the right amount of coverage to make me look as if I’m not wearing any make up at all, but have had a holiday or a good night’s sleep, or dare I say it, I caught a tiny bit of sun by accident. I’m in my late 50s and increasingly find that foundation can sit in my pores - it’s fine when first applied but about 30 minutes later if I look in a magnifying mirror, there it is. Sitting happy in my once open, now filled with brown foundation, pores. This one doesn’t do that. It is truly amazing and I’m so glad to have found it again.

Sisley Eau de Campagne Bath & Body Oil

So much love for this fragrance, first created in 1976 by the legendary Jean Claude Ellena. Not many people know there’s a bath and body oil too. Think of this fragrance as a massive upgrade on Badedas - it’s green, refreshing, with galbanum, tomato leaves, lemon, vetiver and even a little bit of patchouli in there. I hate it when people talk about fragrances as being addictive, for so many reasons - who wants to be addicted to anything? But this one… I don’t think I will ever grow tired of it. It’s like cut grass with a tonic water and lemon in a crystal glass on a sunny day.

Kat Burki Form Control Neck Contour & Exfoliating Pen

Honestly, I would have written this off as a waste of time - couldn’t you just scrub your neck with a flannel and apply a little shower gel? But this silicone scrub tool comes neatly fixed to the top of a tube filled with a vitamin C enriched exfoliating wash, which removes dead skin and somehow leaves your neck looking less grey and a little less lined. It’s actually quite brilliant.

Reome Three Suns Balm

A beautiful creamy cleansing balm, best used with their cleansing cloth that removes makeup and leaves skin soft. It’s rich in bio-actives to gently exfoliate but it’s also very soothing and doesn’t dry your skin out.

Sam McKnight Rich Nourish Conditioner

I slather this on my mid-lengths and ends as my hair - which has been colour treated for years - really benefits from it. I like the way it tackles frizz as well as dryness.

So those are my 10 beauty picks from Liberty, I hope you enjoyed them and if you have a favourite of your own, please feel free to drop it in the comments section.. I’d love to compare and contrast.

But wait… did I say 10?

There’s 11…

Because Catch Me If I Fall, the first fragrance from my brand La Pyae Apothecary, is launching at Liberty!

I am thrilled to be able to finally share this news with you.

I could not be happier to see Catch Me If I Fall on the shelves besides the great and the good. It’s a huge honour, and I am beaming with excitement that our luminous, captivating, eau de parfum, made with principal perfumer Frank Voelkl, will be taking its place in this storied 150 year old department store.

It was such a long time coming - it took me nine years to bring to life. And we still only have one sku, which means you might have to ask for us when you come into the store (which I hope you will).

I’ve had some amazing feedback from my customers in the eight months since we launched, and a few have said, “If you’re coming to London any time soon please can you sell in Liberty!” And so, after lots of discussions about when and how, we are finally coming. Last Sunday I met some of the staff, who could not have been nicer. Michael, and Judy and Stuart and Rachael and I sat in the comfortable fragrance suite just off the Fragrance Lounge downstairs on LG and I showed them little films about how I came to make it, showed them my mother’s memoir, A World Overturned, and we talked about our favourite fragrances. We were talking so much I almost forgot to share Catch Me If I Fall with them, but then I did, and the magic happened as it always does with this incredible perfume, they fell in love with it. (They’re already familiar with much of perfumer Frank Voelkl’s work, as he has several other fragrances in the store).

So now, on Monday 16th June 2025, we will be officially on sale, and I do hope you’ll be able to pop down and try a sample - they’ll have them by the till on the ground floor in the perfumery room, or just ask someone - all the staff are so helpful and knowledgable.

I hope I’ll be able to meet you in the store very soon. Let me know if you’re going to make it in and I’ll try and pop down to say hi, if you email info@lapyae.com it will get to me.

With love

Kathleen