Spring is the seasonal time to refresh and reinvent. Which I guess is why a blog re-design is in the works and I’m toying with cutting all my hair off…  Predictable, much huh? In the rest of my life, I’m looking for little hits of renewal in the form of the perfect little black summer dress, tan sandals, new skin and hair care…

The dress is supersweet with a little crochet detailing at the top, but a loose shape that doesn’t matter what the rest of your bod is looking like. And there’s something so chic about pulling on a black dress for summer eves. 

I like the idea of teaming it with a denim jacket and these oh-so-gorgeous nubuck leather sandals from Palmaira Sandals, the traditional handmade Menorcan ‘Avarca’ – or ‘menorquinas’ as someone just commented fondly on my Instagram. It’s the little snippet off the toe that did it for me. So completely perfect design-wise, but with a little quirk that appeals massively! Delight at such speedy delivery preceded a moment’s concern at the snugness and regret that I hadn’t sized up, quickly followed by immediate settled comfort as the leather moulded and eased to my feet. Perfect fit! Don’t you love it? Then followed by a trying-on session with various outfits establishing that these will be very much a repeat wear this spring & summer, for multiple occasions. Apologies in advance for the tedium. (Which is why I’m already eyeing up the currently out-of-stock black pair – c’mon, at £40? Yes please.)

The Weleda products have been a lovely revelation, after, for some nutty reason (years ago in Islington) I decided the brand wasn’t for me. The creams are lurvely. Let me repeat, lurvely. Hydrating, thick, but not heavy, absorbent and gentle. I’ve been using the Skin Food on my hands, Almond soothing cream on my face and the mask I’ve tried once, although I’m a pretty useless masker on the whole, I’ll admit.

I’m also even more useless with my hair – washing it, drying it, caring for it (hence the possible imminent chop). But for those rare occasions when I realise it’s got so stringy and awful looking when I pull it out of my topknot, I want a natural shampoo. But, as any of you who’ve been down this road already, natural shampoos are a tough one. They do clean, but they don’t foam, so you don’t wash as hard as you might (I need the suds and foam to feel like I’m on the right path, alright?) so although the ingredients are all there doing the right thing the foam charade lets them down. For me, anyway.

So, (cripes, this has become a shaggy-haired dog yarn, apols) the long and the short of it, I tried out this gorgeous Swedish brand-new-to-the-UK Maria Nila – for salons, 100% vegan and free from parabens & sulphates – and, as per, winced just before shampoo touchdown dreading the possibility that it wouldn’t foam up and I’d have an utterly unsatisfying hairwash, but then it did. My hands foamed up the shampoo, my hair got properly washed and peace to the world was restored. And then, for a treat and because there was still time, I used a little conditioner. LOVE how the conditioner bottle is a little smaller to make sure both are finished at the same time. Very. Clever. There’s colour-treated ranges too, although I tried True Soft, and I will not lie, my locks are very soft…

Maria Nila True Soft shampoo, True Soft conditioner & True Soft masque* | Palmaira sandals

Hush dress* | Weleda Skin Food, Almond face cream, Iris hydrating masque