5 Reasons Why Spring Makes Us Happy (Clue: It Starts with H&I New Spring Collections)
To give you a taster, think vibrant, cottagecore florals; Kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending ceramics with gold; and artist Nathalie Lete’s magical bird illustrations. There are uplifting scents and skin-kind formulations packed with natural extracts and essential oils. Get ready for collections that channel happy vibes and positivity. We also thought it would be fun to celebrate why spring makes us happy and it starts with sunshine...
1. Spring brings sunshine
Sunshine is the happy light that as medical experts say, triggers serotonin, the hormone that helps boost our mood. This SS22 we’re here to serve up sunshine come rain or shine with our Sunshine Served collection. Sunshine Served is inspired by the idyllic cottagecore trend and the Japanese art of Kintsugi as together they bring happiness. The seven, vegan friendly beauty essentials include velvety hand creams, scented heart soap in a tin, and Happy Mist for Body and Space. Each one is designed to revitalise and uplift, creating feelgood selfcare moments for you and your loved ones.
Imagine sunny flowers of neroli entwined with fresh lime and white blossoms, precious woods, sweet amber and rich musk. That’s Sunshine Served Neroli + Lime, a heady and refreshing fragrance infused with happiness. Neroli + Lime first appeared in a range with the same name. We are delighted to bring the fragrance back in Sunshine Served, following requests from many of you.
2. Spring brings flowers
The first daffodils of spring are the best! Here at H&I we’re all about flowers, and with Mother’s Day coming we’re channelling happy blooms. For those of you familiar with our popular soap flowers, we have introduced a fabulous new box for Sunshine Served, more on these later. First we thought you might like to know some more about the cottagecore and Kintsugi inspo behind our Sunshine Served designs.
The cottagecore trend reimagines an idealised countryside existence, running through flower-filled meadows wearing ditsy-floral dresses, perfect picnics, dreamy cottages with shelves lined with blue and white china. If you cast your mind back to the uneasy days of the first lockdown, when many of us were self-soothing by baking and taking picturesque countryside walks, or nurturing our gardens and window boxes, we were channelling cottagecore vibes.
Cottagecore was the most googled search term for interior decor in January and the style makers say it’s going to be a big interiors trend in 2022. Our floral embossed hand cream and heart soap tins are pure, happy making cottagecore.
Speaking of blue and white china, Kintsugi is a traditional Japanese art that celebrates the beauty of imperfections by mending broken ceramics with gold. The result is more beautiful, resilient and celebrates new beginnings. We found this inspiring because we too can appreciate the resilience that comes after tough times. Our Sunshine Served design reimagines this amazing art. Check out the sides of our soap flowers or the hand cream to see the blue and white china print with seams of gold.
3. Spring is when the birds start to sing
Do you love waking up to the uplifting sound of birdsong as much as we do? Here is where the awesome artist, Nathalie Lete enters our Heathcote & Ivory spring story. Nathalie Lete Myrtle Woods showcases her magical blue birds and botanicals design which she painted during lockdown. Find it in its full, tweeting glory on the hand cream tin and the cosmetic pouch (with hand cream and hand spray tucked inside). All our new packaging has sustainable elements. We have used fabric made from recycled plastic drinks bottles for the cosmetic pouch.
The products are vegan friendly and contain soothing extracts of cornflower, black truffle, reishi mushroom, and essential oils of cypress and eucalyptus. The fragrance is woody, aromatic and fresh, inspired by the forest in spring. It’s gorgeous.
Calling all dog walkers! Myrtle Woods has something special for you. Check out our Dog Walker’s Mini-Must-Haves with hand cream and hand spray in a handy dog treats bag, inspired by Nathalie’s dog Spike (the cutest dachshund).
Could your skin use a refreshing boost? The set of bio-cellulose hydrating sheet masks act like a cooling, high-energy drink for tired skin. Independently tested by a panel of real people with great results. 
4. Spring is time to get creative!
Lighter evenings and fresher, brighter days inspires creativity. Here is where we get to take you behind the scenes at artist, Nathalie Lete’s studio. Last month, H&I content creator, Jo visited Nathalie in her Paris studio to film the artist at work. Just follow the link below to view. 
Watch here
If you fancy unleashing your own creativity this spring, why not give a favourite broken plate or tea mug a new lease of life by mending it with gold. Kintsugi sets are available to buy online. After working your own Kintsugi magic, slather your hands with happy vibes from one of our vibrant and delicious new Sunshine Served or Myrtle Woods hand creams.
5. Spring is time to celebrate the mothers in our lives
Mother’s Day 2022 falls on Sunday 27th March, also the day the clocks go forward. A double scoop of happiness! We know that whilst many of us still have mums in our lives, for others of us, there is someone special we turn to when mum is no longer there. All our mother figures deserve to be celebrated.
Why not gift a box of colourful soap flowers? Our new Sunshine Served Bath Flowers are fabulously colourful and scented with feelgood Neroli + Lime. 
Each soap flower is made of soap petals infused with essential oils of neroli, mandarin and lemon with a burst of lime. They come in a vibrantly coloured, plastic-free gift box printed with an image of the soap flowers (it’s so realistic you’ll think you’re seeing the real thing).
To browse the new Sunshine Served and Myrtle Woods collections, check out our collection pages.
