Singer, songwriter and actor Harry Styles is now working on a new project as the founder of the evolving brand “Pleasing.” It was first launched in November 2021, and is now focusing on its second collection titled “Shroom Bloom,” which includes four new nail polish shades, an overnight skin serum, a hand and nail balm as well as a fresh line of apparel.
It was announced on March 11 that the brand would be opening three pop-up shops from March 15-20 in Los Angeles, New York City and London.
Of course, like every other Harry Styles fangirl, I knew I had to go. So two of my Harry-obsessed friends and I took off in the early hours of the morning on Saturday, March 20, dressed in our best Harry Styles apparel.
After a three and a half hour drive featuring a One Direction soundtrack from State College, Pa. to Hamilton, N.J., we purchased tickets to take the train into New York City.
Once arriving at Penn Station around 2 p.m., we left the train and made our way above ground before hailing a cab to take us to 345 Broome St. where the pop-up was located.
Walking down the long line to join the end, I received dozens of compliments on my J.W. Anderson cardigan dupe, which Harry Styles famously wore a few years ago. The line was wrapped around the block with “Pleasing” staff managing it. At one point, an employee informed the line that most apparel sizes were sold out, but there was a surplus of beauty products still available for purchase.
We waited for just over two hours before getting into the shop where we took pictures, talked to other customers and walked away with t-shirts, nail polishes and the overnight skin serum called “Acid Drops.”
The experience in the shop itself was amazing. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, one of them was a designated photographer for customers who wished to take photos in front of the beautiful backdrop display. It was entirely decorated with yellow floral wallpaper, giving off a happy spring-time vibe.
After exiting the store in search for food, my friends and I were stopped by YouTuber Anthony Aiken Jr., who creates and uploads video related to music and artists. He asked if we would be willing to be a part of his next video and answer a few Harry Styles trivia questions. Of course we agreed to take part and being the super-fans we are, aced the quiz.
Inspired by the day, and the past few months of following Harry Styles around to multiple of his “Love on Tour” shows, we decided that the experiences we have had and the friendships we have made while being a “Harrie” (fan-coined name for those who are a part of the Harry Styles fandom), that we needed a perfect way to commemorate our experiences. Tattoos.
Now, finding a tattoo shop that accepted walk-ins in New York City doesn’t sound difficult, however, after visiting two and calling around 11 others, we were nearly ready to give up on the idea until the last shop I called told us to come in.
At Three Kings Tattoo, we consulted with the staff and had all decided on three different tattoos. I decided on getting a lyric from a Harry Styles song called “Woman” on his self-titled album and walked out with “you flower, you feast” quote on my right and left arms, right above my inner elbow. One of my friends, Siena, settled on a lyric from his song “Fine Line” on his second album. “We’ll be alright” is now tattooed on her left forearm in the singer’s handwriting. The other friend, Kayla, also settled on a lyric (no surprise there), from Harry’s first solo single “Sign of the Times” and is now inked with “have the time of your life” on her inner bicep.
Now many of you may find this ridiculous. Getting a tattoo for a celebrity that we do not know personally may seem like a typical crazy fangirl impulse decision that we will regret in a few years once we are out of this phase in our lives. However, I’m here to justify our decision. The tattoo is not for Harry Styles himself, it is to represent a time in our lives that we just simply had fun traveling around from city to city as young adults, meeting new people, growing more confident in our own skin and loving our lives. I’d never regret making a memory.
That is exactly what this day trip was. We could have easily ordered our “Pleasing” products online and had them shipped to our doorsteps without a second thought. However, we knew that the memories we would make on this day trip would be much greater than express shipping.