Beloved products, nostalgia or fun

"It’s only fitting that this four-year-old shop — a general store-cum-museum of authentic, everyday Portuguese items from teas to toothpaste — is housed in a former soap factory. Displayed in old-fashioned cupboards, the larder here includes Claus Porto soaps (milled seven times), Gorreana tea from the Azores, Couto toothpaste, Arcádia chocolate, and black ceramic swallows (made using 19th-century artist Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro’s original molds).

The idea for the store came to Catarina Portas, a former journalist, when she was researching a book about daily life in Portugal in the 1920s. She noticed that many of the country’s most beloved products were still being sold with the original packaging from decades ago, while others were disappearing. Soon enough, she was convincing owners to collaborate with her, and the store was born. Whether it’s nostalgia or fun, retro packaging you’re after, A Vida Portuguesa’s gorgeous goodies all tell a story. Rua Anchieta 11. 011-351-213-465-073". Celebrated Living magazine.