Skincare During a Pandemic: Discuss
A few people have asked me for a skincare update, which I’m happy to provide. It’s interesting that while attitudes towards clothes and fashion have almost uniformly moved in the direction of “less” and “not a priority”, beauty is a more complex issue. There has obviously been some rethinking and reassessment, especially on the makeup front. But while I know a number of people who have simplified their skincare routines, I probably know more of those who have found solace in pampering or have used the teleworking situation to engage in some hard-core retinoling.
Tribute to the King
This weekend, I woke up to the news that Chadwick Boseman had died. I have to admit, with some embarrassment, that the only role I ever saw him in was T’Challa. While this is surely not enough to properly appreciate him as an actor, it is entirely sufficient for knowing that he made history. I have never had much patience for people who dismiss the superhero genre by default, but not seeing the importance of the Black Panther movie for modern culture is not a sign of refined sensibility, it is just wilful ignorance.
Back to Basics
If you are someone who’s interested in clothes, chances are that in recent months you have been pondering your relationship with them. Does one really need any, beyond track pants? Was the pleasure you took in dressing up real or did you just imagine it? Who even are we when not directly exposed to the gaze of other people and their judgement?
On Recommending Books
“Oh, you like books, tell me, what should I read?” is among my least favourite questions in the world. It’s not that I don’t like to recommend books per se – I do, I like doing almost anything book-related and it’s also rather flattering when people see you as some sort of a book whisperer who can pick the right one for them. But that’s exactly the problem: recommending books is a bit like working with vulnerable animals – very tricky and also a huge responsibility. What if I mess up?
Thinking of Beirut
When I visited Lebanon in the end of 2018, I never got around to writing about the trip on the blog. Not because I didn’t like the visit – I adored the country – but sometimes the right moment passes and you think you can no longer do justice to your emotions and experiences. I always half-hoped I would return to the topic at some point, although I never imagined it would be in circumstances like this.
Lockdown Life: Training Like a Madwoman
A Facebook friend recently shared a Sunday Times article about middle-aged middle-class women who are hell-bent on exiting the lockdown with defined abs. I haven’t read the article for two reasons: 1) it was behind a paywall and 2) I was afraid it would hit too close to home. There is no denying I’m spending significant portions of my week strengthening my core. And I have a hunch that these ab-obsessed women do not come out of that article very well.
Lockdown Life: 6 Things To Do For Instant Fabulosity
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It’s funny how a small thing can derail the best-laid
plans. Actually, slash that, it’s not funny, it’s frustrating and really rather
disheartening, even if you know rationally that it’s not the end of the world (which
is plenty obvious a..
Lockdown Life: The Easiest Banana Cake in the Universe
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If all that talk of daily workouts and cleaning the house has made you worry that I’m turning into an ethereal wellness queen, have no fear. In parallel, I’m also baking like there is no tomorrow. I would be baking even more, if there was..
Lockdown Life: 6 Things I’ve Changed My Mind About Lately
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I’m sure we have all been re-evaluating things recently, from our life goals to food choices. At least personally, I don’t know anyone who’s entirely impervious to the current situation, and that makes me quite happy with my choice of fri..
Lockdown Life: Rethinking Things
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Writing this post has proved trickier than I thought: not because I have no views on isolation living or because they are too complex to get down on paper/screen (frankly, they are pretty basic). It’s not what I have to say, it’s the cont..