Only the other day I was raving about B’s scent sampler… and now it seems I may have to find a replacement for my new favourites.

In a memo circulating Lush today, B Never Too Busy to be Beautiful is announced to be closing. Staff at the Covent Garden store, where it’s very much business as usual, couldn’t shed any light on the situation, but stocking up on your B favourites is probably a very good idea.

The recession may be apparently drawing to a close, but it seems the knock-on effects are still ravaging the boutique beauty sector.

Jelly Pong Pong has closed its Shorts Gardens store in Central London, while news is all over the blogs about Prescriptives’ demise.

As I wistfully sniff my vial of “Dear John” and flip through the B Never catalogue, I wish the industry a speedy recovery and hope this rumour proves to be untrue.

On my left forearm - Juliette Has a Gun’s fragrance “Miss Charming”. A rosey-powdery confection of lacy subtlety and gentle blossom. Maybe a little cloying? Drying down, it gathers warmth, and a kind of bright, cheerful optimism. It’s not quite right for me, but with skin chemistry to complement it this would be a sweet daytime scent for work and days out.

On my right forearm - Juliette Has a Gun’s “Lady Vengeance”. I should confess that it’s already in the lead after one look at the label thanks to my fondness for Park Chan Wook’s sophisticated and gritty thriller of the same name. Like the leading lady of this flick, the fragrance is dark and complex, with a spicy topnote peppering a cedary, burnished base with trailing tendrils of musk. It’s ever so slightly rosey-sweet, too, like a distant cousin of “Miss Charming” perhaps, but definitely not a daytime scent. This is one for the evening, a scent to take out on the tiles.

Juliette Has a Gun is a niche perfume house that has been running since 2006, with an international following. There is a third “sister” to the two fragrances I mention here, “Citizen Queen”. Find out more at juliettehasagun.com