Category: Products
Understand..
(This is a re-post while my holiday happens, which is maybe while it feels pertinent to bring it up again….)
Many times it’s the word on the street that carries more weight than slick advertising ever can: Modibodi, as sworn and praised to me by two very good friends and worn by their daughters, newly at secondary school and newly coming to grips with monthly meetings of Auntie Flo…
This brand designs modern, period proof underwear, with – and it takes a while to get the head around this – no need for anything other than washing at the end of the day. No leaks, no stains and no worries….
Amongst their many designs, they also produce swimwear – either a one piece or bikini bums. Which quite frankly blows-my-little-mind: For a young teen this could quite literally be a game changer…
(All pics Modibodi and Pinterest)
Prices aren’t cheap, but then again, forking out every month isn’t either. And you can add on the saving to the environment…it really makes these look like no brainers.
Time to purchase my basketful…
Laters, Kate x
Laundry Life x
The weather has changed. A strong wind is blowing in from the north, dropping the temperature by ten degrees plus. As I look out of my study window there’s still enough blue to patch a Dutchman’s trousers, but the heavy grey clouds look like they could gather and coalesce at any moment. Now half is dark, fast moving cloud, the rest blue. The clouds are being chased away. But there’s more behind. Would you put your washing out today?
There’s something inescapably romantic about clothes on a washing line
like the playing cards of a family laid out for all to see.
Fresh air whipping the wet into submission.
The downside can be rust marks from wooden pegs, lack of flexibility from solid wooden pegs, and brittle plastic pegs that age and snap. Hence the joy of these babies by Pincinox: Stainless steel, designed for life, packaged with care and vintage love.
(All pics Pinterest and Pincinox)
Made in France, but buy now and the shipping to the UK is free.
Laters, Kate x
A Handle on it..
Anyone else noticed the wonder of changeable bag straps that are sprouting like spring flowers everywhere? A simple trick to re-invent, re-love and kick off the summer that has me both smiling and reaching for my locked up, locked down purse.
All these examples come from independent suppliers, the places that need our support desperately, and at a fraction of the cost of a new bag they’re a proper brain pleasing, eco friendly, support the little people way to go.
These delectable delights come from Apachy.
This one, nailing the season, comes from South of the River
(All pics Apatchy, South of the River and Pinterest)
At between £19 and £20, they also make perfect presents.
Sorted.
Laters, Kate x
Tasty Pampers x
Even I think I’m a conundrum – I love seeing boundaries pushed, to the extent I hate boundaries. But if something works, I’m loyal – it takes a great deal to convince me the grass is greener on the other side. Hence this post – the pampers that make the cut every time, because not only do they smell like heaven, they also work. Stuck for a Crimbo present? Look no further than Le Labo’s Jasmine 17 shower gel...even Bella has discovered it..I was hoping the plain packaging would put her off…it is pure joy in a bottle and I covet every drop.
This baby – OI all in one milk – works on fly away hair..and anything else. Rub into arms and legs just because it’s gorgeous – the type of scent that turns heads when you walk into a room.
An every day must – Ren Moroccan Rose body oil – for use on face – buy the body oil, ignore the body bit – 100ml versus 30. Bargain. (The only difference is in your mind, put there so you don’t do it. A wall that needs to come down)
This little wonder – Herbivore Orchid – packs a punch – small and powerful – as an extra layer and to extend the bottle, I mix 3 drops in my palm with my Ren rose oil for a mood boosting face cocktail. I’ve used face oils for years and won’t use anything else.
And finally, an old favourite – Elemis Frangipani monoi body oil – because now it smells of holidays, sunshine and smiles. Perfect for the summer. Perfect for the winter.
Laters, Kate x
Totes amazing..
No metaphor represents the end of summer more than abandoned, once loved inflatables, lying discarded like an unwanted skins by over flowing bins, waiting to be hauled off to landfill. A couple of weeks pleasure in return for environmental chaos. But one man’s poison is another man’s pleasure – for Georgia Wyatt-Lovell and her husband, Steve Lovell this is the perfect raw material for their bags at Wyatt and Jack. From deckchairs in the big smoke, bouncy castles in the suburbs and lilos from the beaches, all are gathered together and given new life and new purpose.
(Particularly love this one, designed for bikers and doubles as a pannier. Genius.)
(All pics Wyatt and Jack, and Pinterest)
This is the sweet spot where design, practicality and awareness coincide.
And what a rich place that is.
Laters, Kate x
Smile Plastics!
Hats in the air to Waitrose starting a ‘bring your own containers’ trial to Oxford. Plastic packaging for a range of products like pasta, cereals, rice, coffee, wine and frozen fruit will be removed and replaced with a refill your own station. About bloody time one of the big supermarkets did this. When they roll it out across all stores (fingers crossed) maybe they’ll use Smile Plastics in their design..
Smile Plastics is a material, design and manufacturing house making desirable hand crafted panels from waste material. Their vision is to change people’s perceptions around waste via innovation – to use art and technology to unlock the hidden potential in recycling and open peoples eyes to the unexpected beauty of scrap. In doing so they hope to inspire more people about sustainability and recycling.
(All pics Pinterest)
Transformative.
Laters, Kate x
Minimoderns x
The driving force of Minimoderns is pattern with a story: The founders, Keith Stephenson and Mark Hampshire view what they produce as applied pattern across a range of products, including some incredible wallpapers. It adds a pleasant change, a certain flavour. A different slant.
Their design influences range from mid-century British textiles to vintage toys, literature and even childhood memories.
(Love this for a boys room)
It’s the detail..
Wallpaper, trombone and badger are three words I never expected to use in a sentence.
If you want retro nostalgia with design integrity and are not afraid of making a statement, look no further.
Laters, Kate x
Haru x
Feeling the long days of summer stretching out in a creative dessert? Brain cells fried and inspiration running dry? Let me introduce you to this intriguing little video, particularly if you’re contemplating decorating a kids bedroom in the near future..
Basically it’s a Japanese art form made modern in a fun, accessible way. As much in the world is shrinking, these glorified Washi Tapes have grown and the plain colours can be baught in the UK for a pocket pleasing £11 for a 10m roll. The patterned ones are considerably more, which is a shame, at £63 a roll but both seem easy to use..and simple to remove. I can’t do a link on my iPad, but google, Haru..
Time to get stuck in?!
Laters, Kate x
Mother Dirt x
A little post on a big subject..cleanliness and how much of our identity is tied up with how we smell. Or not.
We’ve long believed that bacteria on the skin are harmful. Except as we’ve got cleaner, we’ve had more problems with our skin. The idea behind Mother Dirt is to embrace the skin for the living eco system it is and help it to reconnect with the balanced state it once had: Yes, this is cleaning with bacteria…it takes a bit to get one’s head around it, but there are people who’ve found these products so effective, one has not showered for 12 years…
(All pics Mother Dirt)
I have deeply held issues with our materialistic societies cavalier attitude in exploiting fears to bring in the money with the multibillion pound cosmetic industry smilingly leading the charge. The pervasive message is we can always be improved, which implies we’re not meant to be happy with ourselves in the first place. Something that women have been conditioned to think for far too long. So is this another beautifully engineered bottle of snake oil designed to further separate us from reality and our hard earned cash?
Or does it actually fly in the face of conventional thinking with the offer of a level playing field and genuine control..Maybe it’s even telling us it’s OK to be us..that we need to be us..
This could be revolution in a bottle..
Laters, Kate x
Stampede x
The Bucket List: The things you think will happen one day but never will unless you set them in action, such as having an inspirational workplace like French graphic designer, Aurelien Dabat.
His is the stuff dreams are made of: In Marseille, not far from the sea, industrial with woodworking machines, not precious but creatively alive with fellow creatives – architects, designers and a painter.
A more instantly achievable bucket list option at around £20 is Aurelien’s Stampville – the retro style box contains 25 woodbacked stamps in an assortment of graphical shapes and textures ripe for exploration and flights of fancy.
(All pics Pinterest)
The only additional requirement is imagination.
J’adore.
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 