Desire Lines: Colourful summers from Caroline Duffy at Brown Thomas

New, noteworthy and novel recommendations from our features desk

Sat, 27 Apr, 2024 - 02:00

The look

Fill your summer wardrobe with colour courtesy of Irish artist and designer Caroline Duffy.

Her luxurious new Eden collection of slow, sustainable silk pieces is a joyful bouquet of statement colours across co-ordinating palazzo pants, tops, wrap skirts, hair bows and scarves.

Bold and feminine, the oversized flowers all begin as an original artwork painted in her Co. Louth studio.

Launching the eponymous label in 2020 the 100% organic silk collection is limited edition.

Palazzo pants, €46, silk tops €280.
carolineduffydesigns.com, at Curated Kildare Village and soon to be stocked in Brown Thomas.

The chocolate workshop

Benoit Lorge is marking 20 years as a chocolatier in Ireland.

Supplying to selected and exclusive retailers — including On the Pig’s Back in Cork and the luxury Sheen Falls in Kenmare — you can see his expert skills first hand at his chocolate making workshops at his Kerry base.

Great for kids and families — or grown-ups with a sense of fun — these 90-minute events explain the science of tempering, the history and geography of the cocoa bean – as well as the opportunity to make your own chocolate lollipops.

And the best part? You get to take it all home.

€130 for groups up to 6 people + €20 for each additional person.
lorge.ie

BARBOUR 09 glasses from Specsaver's new collection, priced at €190, included in 2 for 1 offer.

The glasses

If there’s one item that can portray confidence, fun and individuality, it’s a distinctive pair of specs.

And there’s plenty to choose from in Specsavers’ new spring collection with British heritage lifestyle brand Barbour.

We love 09, a browny-orange hue, that seems perfect for the brighter, sunnier days (hopefully) ahead.

€190, specsavers.ie

The scent

Perfumers Cloon Keen have launched a new fragrance. Báinín is named after the white wool homespun for traditional fishermen jumpers.

The scent, the creators say, unfurls likes the softest strands of creamy white wool.

Celine Guivarch joined focuses with the perfume house to create Báinín, promising freshness and warmth with a coastal breath of golden gorse, dew kissed herbs and the delicate scent of rain.

Top notes include bergamot, yellow mandarin, lemon oils, neroli, peppermint, thyme and clary sage.

€130 for 75ml, cloonkeen.com

The movement

Every week, we hear about another free activity happening somewhere in the country.

The latest on our radar is Chester Beatty’s monthly Qigong in the Rooftop Garden.

A traditional Chinese form of meditation, this practice combines slow movement and deep rhythmic breathing.

For those who struggle with traditional seated meditation, this might do the trick.

The next session is May 4 at 12pm. No advanced booking required, but note places are limited.

Practice is outdoors (weather permitting) or indoors with the view of the rooftop garden.

chesterbeatty.ie

The supplement

Manufactured in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, there are now ten different products in the Revive Active range.

We love that they have specific products for kids, teens and people who are perimenopausal and menopausal among others.

With exam time fast approaching, the Mastermind product caught our eye. It’s packed with 11 active ingredients to support brain function, mental performance, cognitive function and the nervous system – perfect for the demanding times in our lives.

The more you buy with Revive Active the more you save but the supplements cost around €49.95 for a month’s supply.

ie.reviveactive.com

The read

Hit the open road with award-winning journalist and writer, Peter Murtagh, who began retirement on an epic solo motorbike journey riding from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska.

From Tip to Top is a colourful and insightful travelogue documenting the people and places he encountered in the Americas. Escapism at its best.