Pottering around Melville one Saturday morning, I discovered the awesome spot that is the Bamboo Designer Lifestyle Centre. Perched on the corner of Rustenburg Road and Ninth Street, you’ll find everything from high fashion and delicious food to handmade jewellery and spa treatments.
If you’re a fan of beautiful things, you need to set aside a good couple of hours to shop, have a light lunch at the vibey Service Station which overlooks the koppies, buy cheese and croissants from their deli, shop some more, and maybe end off your day with a treatment. Heaven!
Here is my short-list of the “must sees” at the centre, which will hopefully inspire you head down there ASAP!
Black Coffee is an award-winning fashion label that has featured at the Berlin Fashion Week and is known for its quirky approach to South African couture. The showroom is an experience all on its own, so go browse or buy!
Next door you’ll find
Nap, a treasure chest of great gift ideas, locally made products using natural or recycled material and off-beat “gently worn” stuff.
I bought a bronze horseshoe to hang on my front door – it’s supposed to bring luck and I’ve been looking for one for years! For funky, fun jewellery you have to drop in at
Tinsel. All the items were designed and handmade by local jewellers and I absolutely love their colourful cartoon character pendants and silver bunny rings.
If you like hanging out at book stores, you’re going to want to go to
Love Books. Not the hippy vibe you’d expect from the name, they stock books you won’t easily find anywhere else and also have an extensive South African authors’ section. And while you’re there, why not buy a bottle of wine? Love Books is the exclusive outlet for Joostenberg wines, a Cape estate that has been making wine for 300 years!
Upstairs the centre is dedicated to the arty/design side of things. The
Entropy loft is an interior design spot full of eclectic furniture, fine art, lighting and desirables “to make your interiors pop”, say the peeps from Entropy. So come and get your design fix here!
And finally, there’s a sanctuary in a quiet corner of the centre called
Renue, offering relief after all that shopping and general city stress with a variety of massages and lymph drainage treatments. Renue’s signature treatment is a combo of reflexology with a deep tissue neck, back shoulder massage, using hot stones. Once you’ve been revived at Renue, you’ll keep going back!
• Bamboo Designer Lifestyle Centre contact details
Alison Green 011 726 1701
www.bamboo-online.co.za • Photos courtesy of the Bamboo Designer Lifestyle Centre, Tinsel and Love Books.
The other day I popped into the Woolies in Sandton City to get my usual microwaveable ready meals (who has time to cook?) and came across the best concept since screw-top wine bottles! The benefit Eyebrow Bar!
Picture this: on a Friday afternoon, having sneaked out of work early, you buy a pair of awesome heels for the party later that evening, pick up a hot red lipstick, and then pop into the eyebrow bar for shaping-on-the-go! No appointment needed.
Like the Oscars and the Emmys, 
