Cristina's Adventures in London: Part 2

David Drummond's Pleasures of Past Times bookshop (it's in a cobblestone alleyway between Tenderpixel Gallery and a store that claims to have "the widest range of portrait miniatures and snuff-boxes in all of Central London") can only be described as ... batty: If you are an aspiring young magician, a collector of Edwardian theater postcards, or a homesick time traveler from 1903, this is definitely the store for you. While I flipped through turn-of-the-century conjuring pamphlets and actress headshots, David Drummond regaled me with tales of how his ancient bookshop predecessor had been the delivery boy for Charles Dickens. True story. And lest ye think there's nothing beauty-related here, let me just say: Actresses of the 1910s were HOT. (And the scent of the place? Exactly that of D.L. & Company's musty, parchment-ey Ex Libris candle.)

—Cristina Mueller, senior beauty editor

David Drummond bookshop photo by Cristina Mueller