Uncaged Beauty

Uncaged Beauty sells «crystallised couture created using Swarovski» and it’s the sort of place my six-​year-​old self would have torn through, demanding the entire stock for Christmas and probably my birthday.
Their cartoonish, brightly-​coloured baubles are certainly eye-​catching and grand enough to merit their own post code, making Uncaged Beauty unlike any store I’ve seen in Cardiff, and for that, I give it five stars. Plus, like Amanda, I found something about the set up here that I found strangely comforting — maybe it was the music of Madonna or the flamboyant use of colour — whatever the detail, it made for a pleasant and unique shopping experience.
The highlight was chatting casually with one of the owners (not sure if it was Mark or Casey), who’d make a fine cocktail-​swigging accomplice, thanks to his warm and friendly demeanour. No hard sales pitch here, thankfully.
Uncaged Beauty also offers a new range that parents with young children may find useful: «Bezeal» jewellery, by Sarah and Jerry Warden-​Smith, who create necklaces and rings using medallions imprinted with your baby’s fingerprint.

This is certainly a different shop. The front itself is black and dark, with only a small display set inside a large window. As first, I was a little unsure as to what they were actually selling. Especially because there was loud music pumping forth from the open door and spilling out into Hig Street Arcade (I don’t envy the people trying to eat their bloomers in New York Deli next door to the pulsating noise). The word ‘brothel’ certainly popped into my head.
But upon closer inspection it turns out that this is a jewellery store. And suddenly another word popped into my skull. Bling. And a whole heap of it. Think large sparkly costume jewellery, and you’re just about there. The kind of things you wouldn’t be surprised to see in the Tower of London — well, perhaps not quite to that standard, but you get my meaning, I’m sure.
This is a dark shop which is unlike anything I’ve seen before. While trying to appear classy and stylish, they have just become a little disconcerting.