''Did any news about "No 7" wrinkle cream ever get to the US. Last year someone like Cosmo did a search on wrinkle creams and discovered the only one that worked (yes only) was No 7. Next day the queues had to be seen to be believed.''

This isn't quite true.

A TV documentary was made about cosmetics and skincare, during which the scientists involved made an intelligent guess about which ingredients were most likely to be effective anti-agers. Can't remember what the active ingredient of choice was (some sort of peptide or fruit acid are the most likely choices). They then picked ONE product containing this ingredient (The Boots serum) and tested it. It did work. But the point is probably any other cream with the same ingredient and a similar formulation would too - they just didn't happen to do a side-by-side comparison. There might also be other, different, effective anti-ageing ingredients, but they only chose to profile one ingredient in one product. So yes, the Boots cream works, but to say it is the only one which does is wrong, and was not the actual conclusion of the study.

Target does indeed carry the No. 7 line, along with the Botanics line (including my personal favorite face wash).

flygirl, your post is tempting. Not so much luggage dragging once we've made it to Edinburgh! ;)

Seriously, I'm hoping that knowing we'll have to carry everything we buy on this trip will keep our spending way down!

Whatever country I am visiting, I like to get pins with the flag or symbol of that town or country (I wear a lanyard at work for all of my keys, etc. and attach the pins to it), fridge magnets (seeing them every time I go to the fridge is a lovely reminder of my journeys), keychains, and postcards (especially of night scenes that my camera doesn't do well at capturing.

I have one of those fabric-covered bulletin boards at home and I tuck my latest postcards and the occasional keychain into it.

I also collect little replica boxes (made of enamelled metal with hinged lids) in the shape of crowns, faberge eggs, etc. I've found those hard to find here in the states.

The V&A Museum shop in London has great gifts that I've never found stateside.

I also like to buy a pair of earrings or a bracelet from the places I visit. I have a beautiful pair of amethyst Celtic knot earrings that I've never seen anywhere else, even online. One other wearable souvenir I found and bought in England is the cardigan sweaters (made of lambswool, machine washable, and very soft)at the Edinburgh Woolen Mill (they do have shops in some of the Cotswold towns).

I collect dragon figurines also, and my best pieces came from England.

One last thing, although it's not about something to buy in England. Once I'm home and getting ready to scrapbook my trip, I also select one or two of my photos that came out particularly well, print them in color on regular copy paper, and put them in glass frames. I have a display of 4 such pictures over my sofa. The best part is, if you get tired of looking at the photo, you can print out a different one for nothing, and swap photos out.

CAPH52

You don't drag it with you - you buy a box and post it home giving you more room for more pressies

Shhh! sashh, I don't need ideas for a better way to spend more money! :-D