Over The Hilda

I have been using retinols on and off for several years. It has taken me some time to find the brands that suit my nearly 69-year old skin. Read on and find out those brands that I found worked best for me and one that I am excited to try. BUT FIRST THE SCIENCE… WHAT

Hello, Hello. I am back with my ‘Style Not Age’ Gang. And this month, the theme is Colour Me Beautiful. The outfit below is what I wore to our Harvest Thanksgiving Service last Sunday. Nothing new here I am afraid; I just shopped my wardrobe. The top and skirt were originally a dress from Zara.

Hi Everyone Apologies, I am late with my ‘Style Not Age’  post.  This month, it is all about Sunset Shades. I love red and orange and everything in between. So, you would think I would find it easy to get an outfit together. Well, I have been so busy that it was Sunday night, the

Festival Fashion is a thing.  I love how musical festival-goers wear clothes that are appropriate to the music and performer. Festival outfits go way beyond dressing for the weather, but are a form of self-expression and are nearly as important as the music in many ways. You can tell that I am not attending a

Sicily is beautiful and I only saw a fraction of it. There is so much to love about this island (the largest in the Mediterranean). Our trip to Sicily had everything I want in a holiday: some sightseeing and history, beautiful scenery and architecture and pretty towns with lots to see and do, great food

Hello my friends. Well, there is plenty of evidence that we are experiencing global warming in the recent months. In Ireland, we had a heatwave in early May and wondered if that was our summer. Then we had some good weather in early June and now we have hot weather again. I chose this week’s

Anna chose Summer Whites as this month’s theme. And we have had weeks of fabulous summer weather in Ireland so plenty of opportunities to wear white and not risk getting it muddy! But guess what, it started to rain at the weekend and even though I had worn this exact outfit a week ago, I

If you have been following me for a while you will know that I love a dress. And I am always drawn to red. You will have seen me in many a red dress over the years. This month’s theme of ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ is Emma’s choice, So, it was the perfect opportunity

  I love testing out treatments for you and my latest MOXI  BBL Stack treatment at South William Clinic is a definite winner. To say that I am delighted with the results would be an understatement. What is not to love about more radiant, clearer skin (it works on pigmentation) with a reduction in the

Hello, my friends. I am late with my post ‘Wear your Greens’ for March’s ‘Style Not Age’ challenge.  I have a wonderful excuse. GG and I were enjoying ourselves at a wedding over the weekend. And it has taken me a few days to get this together. Back to reality now and this month’s challenge.

I love leather: real leather, faux leather, I love it all. So lovely leather is my choice of prompt for this month’s ‘Style Not Age’. And I decided to feature my Italian-leather cream coat purchased in Oxfam in Malahide. I saw it in the window and popped straight in to put my name on it.

I have been lucky enough to be able to try out some incredible treatments over the years. And I have put my trust in a variety of wonderful therapists, nurses and aestheticians.  I heartily recommend all of those I have written about. SOUTH WILLIAM CLINIC In 2024, I started my journey with Clinical Director of

Books can be an escape from the real world as well as a reminder of it.  The books I recommend here will enlighten, frighten and enthral. My love of reading has encouraged me to start a book club on Instagram. What does that mean? To be honest, it just means I review a book on

Well, we have had some turbulent weather recently with Storm Eowyn causing havoc in both Ireland and Great Britain. Ireland was basically shutdown. Schools, creches, shops remained closed and there was no public transport. Unless absolutely necessary, we were advised not to go out. We were lucky in Malahide even though we are beside the

“Golden Girls” is our ‘Style Not Age’ theme for December, chosen by Emma. And my friends have really outdone themselves in their outfits, embracing the golden girls prompt in spades. I went for a less full-on approach as you will see. How are you all doing after Christmas? It can be a stressful time for

Hello, my friends. Maybe some of you have noticed that I have been slow about posting recently.  I guess life has got in the way. The world is in turmoil. One of my best friends has been very ill and I lost interest in the blog. But recently, I had a lovely email from a

It was Jacqui’s turn this month and she chose ‘Full Skirts’ as her prompt.  I guess you either love them or hate them. I love the full skirt on other people, but I feel they can be tricky to style. If you are neither tall nor slim you might need to wear high heels and

The Merchant Hotel is perfectly located in the heart of Belfast. There is so much within a short walking distance of the hotel: great shopping, a variety of pubs and restaurants such as The Crown Liquor Saloon and plenty of iconic/historic landmarks e.g. City Hall, The Albert Clock and the Titanic attraction. But to be

Hello my friends. ‘The trees are in their Autumn Beauty’ and so I decided that Autumn Hues might be an appropriate prompt for ‘Style Not Age’. Can you believe that we are heading into November? In Ireland, we have changed over to our winter time and we all had an extra hour in bed on

I have always wanted to visit Istanbul. There is something exotic about the name which conjures up images of past civilizations, beautiful palaces, mosques and emperors. And divided by The Bosphorus, it is the only city to span two continents. The city has had several names throughout its long history, each reflecting a different period

Let me tell you why I ended up on a tour around the George Horn . a few weeks ago. I met co-owner Gerard at the launch of Helen McAlinden’s autumn/winter collection. More on that later! I had taught Gerard about thirty years ago. He had been living in New Zealand, but returned to Dublin

Second-Hand September was Gail’s idea!  And I knew it would be a challenge for me. I used to shop in second-hand, charity and vintage shops when I was in college! But I got out of the habit in recent years. My favourite was Jenny Vander, which opened in George’s Street Arcade in 1974, the year

WHY DID I HAVE A CO2 LASER TREATMENT? I want to look as good as I can for my age. That’s the truth.  I eat healthily, I walk and I ‘do’ yoga. I go to a physical therapist regularly to look after my aches and pains. So, when it comes to my face, I have

Hello friends. Lovely linen is our Style Not Age theme this month. I wore a linen dress from Whistles which is about eight years old. But a shirt dress never goes out of fashion. Right? I might not have worn it much recently, but this gave me the perfect excuse. The weather has really changed