Counter Intelligence

PRESCRIPTION-STRENGTH BEAUTY AT BIGELOW

t the C. O. Bigelow pharmacy, you never know who you'll find testthe bag balm at the counter. "Liv Tyler, Lou Reed, Wallace Shawn, and Elvis Costello," says president and third-generation owner Ian Ginsberg, ticking off the local celebrities who stock their medicine cabinets at the Greenwich Village apothecary—the Who's Who stretches back almost two centuries. By the 1970s almost six million prescriptions had been filled here; on any given day, you could find the cast of Saturday Night Live at one end of the soda fountain, the New York Dolls at the other. In the 90s, Ginsberg took Bigelow beyond customblended therapeutic potions by ottering an international array of hard-to-find beauty and health products. "I love the idea of taking something boring and making it fun," says Ginsberg, who created the craze for obscure old-world toothpaste and T. LeClerc powder. And now, with the backing of Bath & Body Works, the trained pharmacist has taken his mortar and pestle into the archives to re-create Bigelow's healing recipes for skin and body. From Rose Wonder Cold Cream to Dr. Hiosous Quince Hand Lotion, the C. O. Bigelow Apothecary Personal Care Collection captures the style and soul of the landmark dispensary, not to mention its time-tested knowledge of what people really need. "There's no $150 fairy dust here," Ginsberg says. "It's time to go back to basics."

CHRISTINE MUHLKE