Embracing the Summer Solstice: A Gateway To A More Conscious Lifestyle

The term solstice can be traced back to the latin word ‘solstitium’, combining the words ‘sol’ (meaning sun) and ‘-stit’ or ‘-stes’ (meaning standing or still). The name derives from the Romans’ observation that during a solstice, the sun appeared motionless.  We think this serves as a beautiful reminder for humans to take a moment to slow down, reflect and reconnect with the world around us. It’s a reminder that there is always time to pause, to breathe and be present. 

In a fast-paced world, the solstice encourages us to embrace a sense of renewal as the seasons change, and appreciate all that nature brings us; adapting to a slower, more conscious way of living. We thought we’d share some of our thoughts on how we can move into the new summer season consciously… We’ll run you through some of Summer Solstice Rituals and some of our favourite sustainable products, all ethically made, with the planet in mind.

Summer Solstice Swim

Going for a summer solstice swim as the sun rises, is something truly magical. Whether in a serene lake, the open sea, or a peaceful river, a solstice swim immerses you in the natural world, allowing you to reconnect with the beauty, wonder and the magic of the natural surroundings. For those of you who reside in a somewhat cooler climate, this could be a great opportunity to try cold-water swimming! While it may seem daunting, it’s proven to have fantastic physical and mental health benefits. 

The shock of the cold water essentially sends your body into fight or flight mode, and forces your body to deal with the stress of adapting to the cold. With this, we are also forced to be wholly present in the moment. The cold water stimulates the sympathetic nervous system and triggers the release of endorphins which is why people tend to feel a natural high and a sense of exhilaration or euphoria! 

KYE Intimates is one of our newest sustainable brands, offering a beautiful collection of luxurious intimates made for your every day. Their pieces balance softness and functionality, sensuality and versatility, romance and modernity. Inspired by real people and genuine connections, KYE is a reminder to foster a gentle relationship with ourselves, those we love and Mother Earth.  Their ethical swimwear is timeless and made in Los Angeles using medium weight, double-layered Amni Soul Eco, a fabric carefully chosen for its ability to biodegrade.

KYE Swim is intended to nurture our connection with bodies of water which is why we thought they’d be the perfect brand to feature in editorial. Taking inspiration from the spirit of Sea Ranch’s Ohlson Recreation Center, an open-air complex on the California coast where built structures complement the surrounding landscape, Kye swim offers harmony, comfort, and functionality. These pieces are designed to empower the modern woman, allowing you to feel comfortable, confident and self-assured in their sustainable swim line!

The Start Of Dining Al Fresco

The summer solstice has been celebrated by various cultures throughout history as a time of communal gathering and celebration. With the arrival of longer days and warmer temperatures, outdoor dining provides the perfect setting for socialising with friends and family, whether it’s a barbecue, picnic or dinner party al fresco! We have some wonderful sustainable homeware brands to help you consciously prepare for the summer season and elevate your dining experience!

R+D. LAB’s collection of ethical glassware embodies a unique blend of functionality and purpose. They believe in the beauty of the form, power of colour and character created through craftsmanship and skilled artisans in Italy. They work collaboratively with small traditional manufacturers to create products that are functional, sustainable and meaningful to modern life. Their range of  wine glasses are made from Borosilicate glass, known for its pure, resistant quality, and shaped with a traditional mouth blowing technique. 

We’ve also featured another stunning sustainable homeware brand, Feldspar Studio. Inspired by items their grandparents used daily that were over fifty years old, Feldspar’s ethos is to create objects for life, beautiful things made properly and to last, with an elegant and simplistic aesthetic to weather the trends of time. We love this emphasis on longevity and feel Feldspars ceramics reflect our ethos of investing mindfully in pieces that will last a lifetime and more! 

Their timeless ceramics are ethically made using fine bone china, the strongest type of ceramic. Most of the British factories which originally made bone china pieces have closed down, making the production of china from start to finish in the UK is becoming increasingly rare. Each of Feldspar’s pieces are crafted by a family-run pottery factory in Stoke-on-Trent, in a bid to champion British production and its traditional craftsmanship, proving it’s perfectly possible to make things from start to finish in the UK!

Dressing Sustainably This Summer Solstice

Here at Rev, we stand by mindful consumption, particularly when it comes to clothes! With endless micro-trends, fast-fashion brands churning out cheap clothes, and living in a culture that puts pressure on people to have a brand new outfit for every occasion, it can be really hard to make more sustainable fashion choices. The disposable culture has a much greater negative impact on our environment than most realise, with the textile industry being one of the biggest polluting industries and contributors to climate change.

We believe in buying less, but buying better and quality over quantity! Slow fashion and sustainable fashion brands serve as a wonderful alternative where everything is designed and manufactured, with the planet in mind. Slow fashion encourages people to invest in timeless, high quality pieces that stand the test of time, instead of feeding into short-lived trends. Our sustainable brands focus on creating timeless designs and silhouettes that flatter and adapt to your evolving style across seasons, making them the perfect versatile pieces!

Dāl The Label is one of our latest sustainable fashion brands, who have a wonderful collection of timeless everyday wear, embodying an effortless feminine elegance for any occasion. All of Dāls pieces are ethically made by a handful of small factories in Los Angeles using eco-friendly, recycled materials. Featured here is the Cupro Bias Slip Dress in Sand is the perfect versatile slip dress and a wardrobe staple to take you from a casual daytime look to an elegant evening dress. Pair it with sandals and a denim jacket for a chic daytime outfit, or with strappy heels and some statement jewelry for a sophisticated evening event. Dāl The Label offers everything from sustainable shirts to organic t-shirts, classic trousers to formal blazers, and of course a range of wonderful dresses. They have the perfect collection for those wanting to start a sustainable capsule wardrobe!

If you’re a regular reader of our editorials, you’ll know that Olistic The Label is our go-to for versatile, beautiful dresses fit for any occasion! Founded as the first French sustainable luxury brand, Olisitic offers a new sustainable definition of the feminine wardrobe, combining minimalist silhouettes with a contemporary bohemian touch. Their collection is designed with eco-friendly materials such as peace silk, wood fibers and upcycled luxury deadstock. The Pluma Ikebana Dress is made from GOTS certified organic linen, a lightweight, breathable material which is perfect for the Spring/Summer season as temperatures increase. It features a rafia buckle belt, a V-neckline and carefully crafted sleeves for a resolutely feminine silhouette. We really think you’ll be feeling your best in this beautiful maxi dress!

Finding Time for You!

As we celebrate the summer solstice, a time of sunlight and natural energy, it’s a great opportunity to pause, reflect on ourselves and prioritise our own wellness. We know finding time for ourselves can be hard in our fast paced lives, but if you do have a moment to spare, taking the time to do something you enjoy or find therapeutic can work wonders for your overall well being. The changing of seasons could also be the perfect time to integrate more mindful consumption within other aspects of your everyday lifestyle.

Conscious Skincare 

Taking some time in the morning or evening to build a skincare routine can be therapeutic and really rewarding once you start to see results. Opting for a more holistic approach and choosing organic, natural skincare products that nourish and protect your skin is a great way to support sustainable farming practices and reduce your own environmental footprint. Organic skincare products harness the power of natural botanicals and ingredients to deliver proven results, without the use of harmful chemicals or damaging the environment. Instead, our ethical skincare brands work with the environment! 

Be Here Farm + Nature has a wonderful beauty line which we thought was the perfect brand to showcase during this Summer Solstice editorial. Each product is grown and made on a certified biodynamic farm on three hundred acres of family owned land on top of a spring mountain in Saint Helena, California. They work with nature to grow the highest quality ingredients supportive to your wellbeing and lasting health. Each botanical is planted, nurtured, grown and harvested by hand at Be Here or wild harvested across their property. The plants are solar infused at the peak of their vitality, hours after harvest, using only the rhythms of the sun and moon to extract their healing properties!

At this beautiful time of year with an abundance of natural light, we’d encourage anyone to get outside whenever possible! Getting outdoors and soaking up the sunlight is essential for your body’s production of Vitamin D, which supports your bone health and immune system. Exposure to the sun is a natural mood booster, and is great for reducing stress and boosting your energy levels. We’d also recommend anyone being exposed to the sun for long periods of time, to invest in a reliable, natural SPF. This can help protect and nourish your skin, while preventing signs of premature aging. Featured here is Team Dr. Joseph’s High Protection Sun Cream SPF 30, a fast absorbing sunscreen made from a blend of hyaluronic acid and sea buckthorn to effectively protect the skin from UVA and UVB rays. All of Team Dr. Joseph’s sustainable range is vegan, natural, cruelty free and follows a holistic approach that respects the balance of the skin!

Introducing Obakki – One of our latest organic skincare brands!

We thought this would be a great opportunity to showcase our latest organic skincare brand, Obakki Skincare. Formulated with nature’s wisdom in mind, their commitment to sustainability is at the heart of every product. Each product is crafted with the purest natural, hand cultivated and wild harvest ingredients, designed to give you healthy, radiant skin. These raw ingredients are sourced from women-led cooperatives they partner with in Africa. By offering training in income-generating skills, such as shea butter processing and natural oil extraction, they’re investing in the transformation of entire communities.

The summer solstice is a time where we celebrate the natural world around us. Most conventional skincare products use environmentally damaging ingredients such as palm oil, the production of which is wiping out ancient forests and endangering wildlife across the world. We love that our organic skincare lines such as Obakki use only natural ingredients (always free from palm oil) which will not harm the environment. 

Obakki’s line of thoughtfully curated natural skincare would be perfect to incorporate into a new summer solstice selfcare ritual – whether it’s a morning refresh or a calming evening routine to rejuvenate your skin!

Moments of Mindfulness

Whether it’s taking a long walk in nature or practicing yoga, moving your body can be a great way to de-stress after a long day. Yoga can be particularly good for helping your mind unwind and taking some time for yourself. These moments of quiet and calm have a number of health benefits, helping to reduce stress and improve your mental clarity. 

Practicing a series of Sun Salutations could be a powerful way to honour this special day. This sequence of poses are designed to energise the body and mind, making it the perfect practice for the solstice! Incorporating more grounding poses and meditations is another way to enhance your body’s connection to the world around you. These practices anchor you in the present moment and force you to become more intune with your body and your surroundings. They’re designed to ground and center you, fostering a deeper sense of peace and balance.

Seela Studio has put sustainability at the heart of their brand, developing a beautiful collection of activewear with a focus on responsibly sourced materials and thoughtful activewear. All Seela activewear is ethically made using castor bean fiber. It’s wildly grown so is also biodegradable at the end of its life cycle. Jorgen House also has a wonderful range of sustainable activewear, specialising in maternity-wear to celebrate and support the changing states of our bodies throughout womanhood. With sustainability in mind, Jorgen House works with an Italian mill who collect discarded waste material which would have otherwise been disposed of. These materials are recast using a regeneration process which is then integrated back into threads for knitting.

Bringing Nature Indoors

For those busy days when there aren’t enough hours in the day to spend time outdoors, or when the weather perhaps isn’t so ‘summery’, we love the idea of bringing a touch of nature indoors. The summer solstice is a time to celebrate the peak of nature and its beauty, making it the perfect occasion to adorn your home that reflects the vibrant colours and lush growth of the season. Not only do they add to the overall ambiance of your home, they also have a wonderful positive effect on our mood and well being. 

We’ve featured Molten 1090’s Silver Fleck Vase as a charming piece to showcase some fresh flowers. This sustainable brand is inspired by nature and the raw power of the environment. All of Molten 1090’s pieces are designed and inspired by the elements found within Bermuda’s natural beauty and the raw power of its environment, where the founders were born and bred. This particular piece is made from hand blown glass embedded with champagne silver flecks, inspired by the landform of a volcano.

Also featured is sustainable homecare brand, Kinfill. Their Reed Diffuser in Flowershop is designed to echo the blend of freshly cut stems, crisp greens and crushed petals, perfect for a refreshing spring scent! Kinfills range is developed solely from clean ingredients that won’t harm you or the environment. We also love that they offer plastic-free, refillable options, significantly reducing their waste compared to traditional single-use products we see so often! Their refillable bottles are made from Italian glass, developed to be fully and easily recyclable!

Plastic Free July

This brings us on nicely to talk about Plastic Free July, an initiative of the Plastic Free Foundation that encourages individuals, communities and organisations to reduce their plastic consumption and waste. It aims to raise awareness about the environmental impact of single-use plastics, inspiring people to make more sustainable choices in their daily lives. 

Plastic is so detrimental to our environment as it cannot be broken down naturally, and instead accumulates in landfill and natural habitats for thousands of years. It often ends up in oceans, rivers and other ecosystems, polluting these environments and harming countless species of wildlife that inhabit them. 

Avoiding plastic can be really hard as it is used in so many everyday items. Clothes which are made from synthetic fibres such as polyester, nylon and acrylic are all derived from plastic. We stock so many wonderful brands that show their commitment to sustainability and a greener way of living through the use of recyclable materials and various zero-waste or plastic free policies. This approach not only helps to reduce the amount of plastic entering our landfills and oceans, but also promotes a more circular economy where resources are conserved and reused!

Embracing a plastic-free July and shopping consciously… 

Shopping consciously is a crucial aspect of Plastic Free July! Making informed choices while shopping can significantly reduce your reliance on single-use plastics and you might actually be surprised with how quickly you can adapt to this! 

• Say no to single-use plastic (Plastic straws, bags, bottles)
• Bring your own reusable shoppings bags, water bottles, coffee cups 
• Recycle and reuse! 
• Spread the word! 
• If you have access to refill stores, this is a fantastic way to reduce your own plastic and waste. If you’re London based, we actually have an editorial that runs you through some refill stores around the city! 

As we’ve already mentioned, Kinfill has a fantastic range of eco-conscious alternatives to conventional cleaning products. Refillable, 100% biodegradable and made to blend at home with tap water, Kinfill has eliminated single-use plastics entirely. Sadly, cleaning is something we find ourselves doing pretty regularly! Kinfill is a brilliant brand if you’re wanting to streamline your cleaning cupboard into just a few essential, multifunctional products. It’s also another way to seamlessly incorporate more elements of a greener way of living into your home and daily life. Do this with their brand new cleaning bundles, Spotless Home and Tidy Kitchen!

As the seasons change, the summer solstice serves as a powerful reminder to slow down, reflect and reconnect with the world around us. It provides us with an opportunity to consider our relationship with the environment and the ways in which we can live more harmoniously with it. Embracing this moment can inspire many of us to adopt a greener lifestyle and make more conscious choices within our everyday lives, so we can all play a part in building a more sustainable world for future generations. 

A plastic free July might be the perfect challenge to set yourself!