Main featured image: Jil Sander SS22.

As we head towards March 17, everything gets greener. But there’s a paler shade of green that’s catching our eye at the moment. Our March cover celebrated Valentino’s take on the palest shade of spring green – or pistachio, that elegant colour of a box of Ladurée macarons. Try it as a colour accent via an accessory such as a Saint Laurent leather bag, or go full colour in Pangaia’s Pistachio sweatshirt. And let’s not forget pistachio’s star appearance in cakes – if you haven’t eaten the fabulously green pistachio cake at Kai in Galway, you’re missing out big time.

And we’re seeing these little green seeds (rather than nuts) have a bit of a moment in beauty, too – pistachio oil is rich in vitamin E, which is great for the skin as an antioxidant and inflammation-reducer, and it’s good for dry skin. It’s a bit of an underused gem that we’ll be seeing more of in skincare; I’m sure someone must have created a pistachio face mask – it would be such a great colour.

In skincare, Laura Mercier used to do a rather delicious Crème de Pistache body crème (as well as a fragrance), a gourmand concoction that celebrated creamy nutty patisserie, but both are discontinued. A piece in www.nymag.com raves about Pistache Skincare’s Whipped Pistachio Body Butter as an alternative, apparently created by a female pistachio grower – it sounds fabulous. Try Burt’s Bees’ orange blossom and pistachio lip butter (€5.95, www.healthyliving.ie). 

Scent-wise, pistachio features as a note sometimes, though you might not be aware of it – it adds a green and nutty element to Tom Ford’s Soleil Blanc, for example, and Hermes Un Jardin En Mediterranée. More obviously, the Library of Fragrance has a pistachio ice cream fragrance, though we’re most excited about D.S & Durga Pistachio eau de parfum – a limited-edition that’s sadly exclusive to the US (but do check out other perfumes from this NYC-based brand, as they are really smart and intriguing; www.dsanddurga.com). But seeing the divine green bottle did make me turn back to other vibrant green perfumes for a bit of a spring lift on a rainy day, from Chanel’s smokey fresh green No19 to Atelier Cologne’s holiday-ish Pacific Lime.