Buying from local and Irish businesses

[thelegohooverer]

Would anyone be up for a thread to swap recommendations and suggestions?

I’ve been trying to buy from local shops and Irish businesses lately and I have a number of birthdays coming up soon, as well as a mid winter event that cannot be spoken about yet.

I’ll be buying mostly online. And while I’m happy to support any store that is employing locally, I’m less inclined to order from them online as that doesn’t help my local community iyswim.

I’d probably have bought a jo malone candle or a Molton Brown gift set for the upcoming birthday, I’d love a suggestion for something along those lines.

I think it's quite difficult sometimes. I used to try to support local book shops, but the prices seem to be extraordinarily high. I have a great local jeweller (one of those old-fashioned ones that replaces watch batteries and does engraving) and I sometimes buy from there. Lots of "Irish" shops are also expensive - Avoca for example. I would like to be able to buy reasonably priced ethical clothing, but that seems impossible in Ireland.

I do buy as much Irish grown food as I can, and try to buy seasonal veg. My local butcher and veg shop were wonderful during lockdown, especially with their free phone orders and deliveries to older people.

When googling I found www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/0406/1128804-doorstep-market/ but the website is underwhelming to put it mildly. Lots of broken links and very little product which is a shame.

I've bought from this place before - they have loads of stuff from Irish artisans and designers shop.designist.ie/collections/irish-gifts

La Bougie candles (made in Cork) are lovely, better than Jo Malone imo as they use natural wax instead of cheapie toxic paraffin.

Sorry I don't have any recommendations for any products similar to Molton brown. I just wanted to kindly ask not to support Avoca in any way due to their profiting from Direct Provision, and the sex discrimination case successfully brought by a worker in their Belfast shop. Horrible horrible company.

I have to admit I agree about things being so expensive. I’m puzzled how Irish shops manage to stay afloat.

Thanks MarDhea I’ll check out those candles. I’d forgotten about Designist.

Scruffymac I didn’t realise that about Avoca.

I received a gift from this company and I was so surprised by the beautiful quality of the products! Absolutely gorgeous fresh smells and skin felt fantastic after. seavite.com

Great idea.
I have bought products from www.olis.ie/.

I didn't know that about Avoca either. I will be avoiding them in future.

I have bought skin care / make up from theskinnerd.com and from cloud10beauty.com. They’re both Irish businesses as far as I’m aware.

I quite often get good presents by going onto Etsy and selecting Ireland only shops and then just browsing. For instance I had felt Christmas tree decorations made to order in my Mum's dog breed, I got an iPad stand that was made from driftwood that matched the cabinets in my DB's kitchen and I've found some sweet hand-made jewellery.

Do you know what La Bougie candles are made with? I can't tolerate soy wax and that seems to be quite common in candles. It doesn't say on the website as far as I can see.

I have bought candles from www.donegalbogcottonco.ie - they are soy-based with a lovely, clean scent.

OOOh lovely timely thread.

I have designist bookmarked for Christmas ...on the La Bougie page.
I think these are cute: millbee.com/collections/gift-sets.

Any ideas what to buy for a recently turned 18year old girl?

My DD loves jamartprints.com

Great suggestions. Browsing on Etsy is a great idea. I love visiting craft fairs, and if they don’t go ahead, that would be a great substitute.

@thelegohooverer

Great suggestions. Browsing on Etsy is a great idea. I love visiting craft fairs, and if they don’t go ahead, that would be a great substitute.

I just had a browse, and bought a compostable iPhone cover, so that's one less Amazon purchase. There are a lot of face masks all over Etsy at the moment, but there's still other stuff there too.

I bought a candle by Rathbone recently (Irish make though not a very Irish name!) and it’s lovely.

I also love Chupi jewellery - it’s not cheap but very nice for a special occasion.

Brooke and Shoals do lovely candles - the " throw " is great.
Max Benjamin candles are lovely too.

I cam across this brand from a link on the RTE website - looks like nice skincare.
I havent bought from them, have no connection with them.
Interested to hear if anyone has tried them?

My friend owns a beautiful gift shop in Portlaoise town, called Nook & Cranny. I don't live anywhere near her but I often buy from the online shop and have it delivered so that I'm supporting her business. Lovely products and the staff are so helpful if you're looking for ideas or information. This is the link

Max Benjamin candles (and diffusers) are absolutely gorgeous

That Pestle and Mortar skincare range is very well regarded worldwide apparently.
An Irish success story.

Thekind.ie

I've just bough a starter set of pestle and mortar from my local
Pharmacy and it seems nice , has a dispenser so you don't accidentally squeeze out too
Much so should last longer . Waters and wild ( west cork. )do an amazing hand sanitiser but it's pricey

www.watersandwild.com

Another vote for Max Benjamin for candles and diffusers. Excellent customer service too- I once received a broken item ordered online and it was replaced within 24 hrs.

Also adore cleanslate.ie/ for candles. Really unique scents, and I find them so much better than Jo Malone which was my usual go-to.

These are really great. So many brands I hadn’t even heard of!

Would anyone have any advent calendar recommendations? Any kind, and any age group.

Beautiful looking and smelling soaps from here clonfaddasoaps.com/. Palm oil free also