Desire Lines: Swap shops, Aoife McNamara's new collection and the perfect summer cookbook

"The eponymous brand by the 28-year-old Limerick native is now B Corp certified and follows a made-to-order model in an effort to eliminate overproduction and reduce the risk of excess stock."

Sat, 25 May, 2024 - 18:04

Confetti Sprinkles Dress €295, Secrets To Keep Jumper €150, aoifemcnamara.com

The summer dress

From its inception, Aoife McNamara has placed sustainability on the highest pedestal.

The eponymous brand by the 28-year-old Limerick native is now B Corp certified and follows a made-to-order model in an effort to eliminate overproduction and reduce the risk of excess stock.

Operating with a zero waste policy, any leftover materials are repurposed and used to design accessories such as hair scrunchies. Her latest 18-piece collection, ‘Remember’ features co-ords, blazers, coats, dresses, and blouses, priced from €150.

Confetti Sprinkles Dress, €295, Secrets To Keep Jumper, €150, aoifemcnamara.com

The refill store

Waterford now has a brand sustainability refill store at GROW HQ.

Larder aims to encourage a low-waste lifestyle by selling reusable, refillable, or compostable products, to help customers avoid plastic purchases.

For now, you can pick up household essentials including organic cereals, nuts, seeds, rice, sugar, pasta, oils, herbs, spices, dried fruits and vegetables, flours, chocolate, purees and sauces, alongside a range of household cleaning products.

The store also plans to expand this offering soon to include organically grown seasonal fruit and veg grown by GIY at its market garden on the Curraghmore Estate and sold loose or via a weekly veg box order.

Find out more at giy.ie/grow-hq/

The swap shop

Visit Aye in Cork tomorrow for Swap and Sip.

Participants bring up to five pieces of clean clothing/accessories and spend the afternoon sipping drinks, having great food, and revamping their wardrobe.

A pilot evening proved such a success organisers are planning to make this a community-building monthly event.

Sustainable and cost effective — what’s not to love?

Tickets, €25, include brunch and drink of choice, see eventbrite.ie

Sinead Keary The Label Bamboo Short PJ Set (€84.00) in Baby Blue and Pink

The PJs

The latest release from designer Sinead Keary has us dreaming of summer nights.

Crafted from sustainable bamboo viscose and organic cotton, these are soft, breathable and durable while minimising environmental impact. Available in baby blue, soft pink, and navy, in sizes 6 to 20.

€84, sineadkeary.com

The cookbook

If, like us, you struggle to make salads at home taste as good as those you buy out and about, this is the book for you.

The first from Theo Kirwan, one of the brothers behind the popular Dublin-based Sprout restaurants, this cookbook is packed with more than 100 recipes designed to ensure you never have a boring mouthful of greens again.

Sprout & Co Saladology, €25.99, vibesandscribes.ie

The kids' game

Raising an animal lover in your house? Why not introduce them to the art of altruism with one of Farplace’s cute family games.

Farplace The Game focuses on rescuing animals and rehoming them while Woof Days and Cat Days are fun animal-themed card games.

All sales help support the animal rescue charity, which takes in difficult animals from Ireland and the UK that have been rejected elsewhere.

Woof Days card game, £5, farplacegames.com

Murad has developed its own treatment boosters which can be delivered during Hydrafacial treatments to offer enhanced personaliation opportunities

The facial

The Hydrafacial is one of our favourite facial options out there. With the express version, you can be in and out on your lunchbreak with no downtime required.

Now, the dermatologist-led skincare brand Murad has developed its own treatment boosters which can be delivered during the longer facial options to offer enhanced personalisation opportunities — choose from Clarifying, Vita-C, and Retinol.