1. 'More Love' t-shirts supporting Ukraine
Local designer Lucie Marquis is donating all proceeds from the sale of a bespoke t-shirt style to Choose Love, an organisation supporting Ukrainian refugees and displaced individuals within the war-torn country.
Choose Love aids on-the-ground projects providing vital services, including emergency medical care, food, shelter, clothes, legal and mental health support.
The Lucie Marquis ‘More Love’ t-shirt is available in butter yellow and black colourways and features sunflower designs on the front and back. Poignantly, the sunflower is both a symbol of peace and Ukraine’s national flower.
Purchase a t-shirt at luciemarquis.com or donate directly to Choose Love at donate.chooselove.org.
2. Luxury skincare meets glamour-grunge
Is this Aesop’s most iconic collaboration to date? The luxury skincare brand has teamed up with cult gothic-glam label Rick Owens, both brands having a long-standing mutual admiration for the other.
While the pairing may initially seem unconventional, at its core, Aesop and Rick Owens are brands built on simplicity and nonconformist design values. Speaking to the collaboration, Rick Owens says, “to me, Aesop represents a quiet blend of aesthetic beauty, hygienic beauty and moral beauty. It is a brand that considers its space in the world and uses that space as considerately as possible.”
Products include a travel kit of Owens’ favourite formulations and a certified organic cotton jersey bandanna or wrist wrap, a quintessential Rick Owens accessory. “A garland of thin cotton jersey is my version of a laurel wreath or of a satin gift bow”, explains Owens.
There’s also a limited edition ‘Aromatique’ candle encased in a ceramic vessel blending both futuristic and design principles, just like Owens’ furniture collection.
Lastly, an irresistible new ‘Stoic’ eau de toilette heroes spicy, woody aromas, capturing the partnership’s radical yet equanimous vibe.
The collaboration will be available at aesop.com and in-store at Aesop Auckland City from Friday 25th March.
3. A dedicated space for fine diamonds
Simon James has recently re-opened its doors in Herne Bay, showcasing a beautiful, calm, and considered aesthetic by interior designer Rufus Knight.
The refurbished homewares, fashion, and jewellery store is an ode to modernist, elegant design, featuring warm swathes of brown and sumptuous, burnt-red drapery.
In a first for Simon James, the space includes an intimate jewellery room dedicated to Jessica McCormack’s fine diamond jewellery. Customers can use the room to browse the collection, try on pieces, or attend private consultations.
Based in London and hailing from New Zealand, Jessica McCormack’s pieces are loved by celebrities and royals alike. Simon James is one of the jewellery house’s few stockists worldwide.
Visit Simon James Herne Bay at 230 Jervois Road, Auckland.
4. Skincare while you sleep
Sleep is a time to rest and repair the skin’s epidermis, so why not supercharge this process with a hard-working sleep mask?
Redefining the meaning of beauty sleep, Dr LeWinn’s new Ultra R4 Collagen Surge Overnight Sleep Mask harnesses the dual power of two separate chambers to combat skin fatigue, promising a refreshed face and dewy glow come morning.
The mask’s first chamber encases a silky, water-based serum to energise and awaken the skin, and the second a lipid-soluble collagen serum for plumping and lifting. Because lipids do not mix naturally with water, the chambers work to preserve the purity and potency of the ingredients right up until application.
The formulation cleverly harnesses the soothing effects of a ‘sleep fragrance’ to maximise shut-eye and can be used 2-3 nights a week.
The Dr Lewinn’s Ultra R4 Collagen Surge Overnight Sleep Mask is available in-store at selected pharmacies nationwide and online at drlewinns.co.nz.
5. Elevate your at-home desserts
There are so many reasons to enjoy ice cream in the cooler weather — it soothes your throat, doesn’t melt as quickly, and is perfectly accompanied by a piping-hot dessert pie.
Therefore, we’re excited to get an indulgent ice-cream fix from the comfort of our homes, with indie scoop shop Duck Island releasing an extended range of flavours in pint form throughout supermarkets nationwide.
Flavours include a moreish ‘toasted marshmallow’, ‘pecan butterscotch’, ‘vegan peanut butter cookie dough’, and ‘ambrosia’.
However, if you’re wanting an in-person fix at the Duck Island scoop shops in Auckland, Hamilton, and Wellington, the team have incorporated Ima Cuisine’s cult-status hot cross crème patissiere buns into a new ice cream flavour, packing the spiced bready goodness and vanilla custard into a mixture of plumped currants and citrus peel.
Discover your nearest stockist at duckislandicecream.co.nz and get your Easter ice cream fix in-store from Friday 25 March onwards until Easter.
