I’ve had so much fun discovering and rediscovering some amazing local brands back in the homeland, so it seems only fitting that this month’s roundup be a ‘proudly South African’ edition.

1 Africology body lotion | 2 Weyandts Anenome coco sticks hanging lamp | 3 Weylandts Chinese kitchen stool | 4 Zana black chevron cushion | 5 Inside Out Home Boutique horns | 6 Savannah room and linen mist by Rain | 7,8 Bamileke stool and woven basket from Inside Out Home Boutique | 9 Zana table linens | 10 Benedict throw by Country Road

AFRICOLOGY

This homegrown skin and body care brand has my full attention. Every product has an aromatic base blend of African potato, rooibos, aloe ferox and marula – a surprisingly fragrant combination. The range, which is 100% natural, includes a small selection of baby care products. Africology is available online. Love it all!

WEYLANDTS

I recently waxed lyrical about my first Weylandts store visit – if you missed it, you can read all about it here. These were two of my favourites in store: the Anenome coco sticks hanging lamp [2] and the Chinese kitchen stool [3].

ZANA

I came across this all female creative team based out of Cape Town a few months ago. I don’t recall exactly how I found them, but I think it may have been via their lovely blog. I love their simple and fesh perspective on design and have been keeping an eye on their creativity ever since. You can shop their range online in South Africa and internationally.

INSIDE OUT

I introduced this delightful Durban based home boutique in my last post. This is a place where I could happily empty my wallet. Its best I stay well clear. These beautiful kudu horns [5] are travelling back to Dubai with me, and if I didn’t already have two at home, the bamileke stool [7] would have been on board too! I adore the pattern on that one.

RAIN

Rain is yet another fresh and exciting discovery for me – although they appear to have been around for a few years. I’m arriving a little late to the party and also starting to feel a bit like a stranger in my own country. This company exudes a strong ethos of social, economic and environmental awareness. They create handmade bath & body products and a selection of homewares using natural ingredients with African origins. And by African origins, we’re talking organic, indigenous plants as used by African healers since the beginning of time.

I visited their outlet in Gateway, Durban and was as impressed with the store’s interior styling as I was with the product offering. I fell hard for the Savannah range [6]. Their beautiful and informative website includes online shopping so I can restock in due course. Win!

COUNTRY ROAD

A leading Australian luxury lifestyle brand, Country Road is by no means of South African origin, but it is well known to this nation as the brand has had a presence in Woolworths for some years now. Woolworths have recently acquired the brand and stand alone stores are starting to crop up in major malls – I visited the newly opened Country Road store in Gateway, Durban.

I was admittedly more drawn to the clothing during my visit, but the collection of decor and lifestyle accessories is definitely worth seeing. With the current cooler weather, I was very tempted by this gorgeous grey lambswool throw [10] but alas, my sensibility got the better of me as I’d have limited, if any, use for that baby back in the desert!