We’re embracing warmer days and longer evenings. A beach holiday would be lovely, but we’re happy just to be outside with an ice cream. Sunny, celebratory shades for lips, eyes and nails are optimistic and remind us of creamy gelato and retro ice lollies, including my childhood favourites, Zooms, now sadly discontinued. Last summer would have been the perfect time to to reintroduce them!

Inspiration comes from the icebox and provides a way to ease into dressing up again – a flash of juicy orange, like a melted icepop, or cool pistachio, adds instant cheer to any occasion as we gather for outdoor drinks and dinner. We’re painting hands and feet in raspberry ripple, banana yellow and sweet candy pink – all set off a (self ) tan nicely, without the sugar spike.

Ice cream parlours are springing up in every town in every county – from Betty’s Milk Bar at Arnotts, serving vegan soft scoop, to Cork’s Casanova Gelato and Popsicle (yes, we want Rich Tea lollies), NoBó on Dunville Avenue in Dublin 6, Blackrock’s SiSi Gelato and Murphy’s (nationwide). Ice cream is the flavour of the month.

Everyone’s getting in on the nail colour act too. Even teen boys are sporting black polish to add an edge to their look. While Harry Styles didn’t invent the idea of wearing mismatched shades, from peach to silver, he wears it well. Women are matching their nails to their Farrow & Ball wall paints, to the renewed bewilderment of the men in their lives. There’s more than a touch of the 1980s going on – scrunchies and legwarmers, Spandau Ballet hair, bright orange and neon shades. I feel that frosted lipstick and nail colours could be the next frontier … Finally, now that salons are back open, take the advice of nail pros and swerve home-gel kits – the pros do it best.