My goodness thank you so much for all of your input after last week's post. If you haven't been back to look at the comments on the tougher aspects of midlife and how to deal with them, do take a few minutes to read through them. They show that we're living through it in a completely different way to the generations before us and so we're having to work things out as we go along - but it's helped me [...]
Well hello, it feels lovely to be blogging from somewhere other than my usual desk. I'm typing this on the Greek Island of Ios and if you've seen my Instagram Story today you'll know that it's blowing a gale - but it's a lovely warm wind so it doesn't feel too bad. I have a bit of a different post for you today, it's all about a new skincare product that I've been testing as thoroughly as I can. [...]
Hello everyone, I'm back from my 'week off.' I hope you've all been settling into this new way of living, I thought we'd have a quick Midlife lately quarantine catch up today and then perhaps go on to look at some clothes on Friday. As this spell of good weather continues (she says, touching wood), I'm starting to think about a wardrobe for a summer that is largely, if not completely, going to be spent at home. Before that though [...]
I'm trying not to mention the weather but... I am finding myself glad that we have a couple of escapes to the sunshine booked (although last time I looked, it was even raining in Turkey). Anyway I'm working with M&S today and the focus is holidays. We've spent enough time on here planning holiday wardrobes so I thought I'd look at last minute travel buys, the little extras that make all the difference. I love doing posts like this because [...]
It's a cornucopia post today and a bit of a long one so you might want to pour that cup of tea / glass of wine before you start. I've been testing a lot of beauty products over the last few months and a few have made my 'must tell readers about...' shelf. So I'll start with those and then move on to menopause followed by a bit of a midlife melting pot. By the end of it there should [...]
I've been compiling Mother's Day gift posts for as long as I've worked in retail and as always, this year they're everywhere. So when Marks and Spencer approached me to put one together for them, I pushed back. But then they asked me to go beyond the clichés and do it with a difference and after spending some time looking through their site, I felt that I could. So, today I'm thinking about Mother's Day and the gifts that you [...]
I know I don't usually post on a Thursday but my schedule's a bit topsy turvy at the moment. I have some heavy marketing projects that are keeping me busy and given that we're running a business in the shadow of Brexit (or are we?) I'm not complaining! I'm also halfway through reading all of the feedback to the reader survey so in addition to feeling buoyed by lots of heart-lifting comments (thank you so much), I have some conflicting [...]
As promised, today I’m bringing you the follow up to my trial of Perfect7® Renewal Advanced skin supplements which contain Ceramosides™, proven to help reduce the appearance of wrinkles in 60 days. The day after returning from our long holiday in Turkey, I headed back down to London to have my skin retested by a skin analyst. It was good to catch up with the other bloggers who were taking part in the trial and we were all on tenterhooks [...]
Before we hit the party season full on, I just want to tell you about a project I've been taking part in since summer. You may remember that all the way back in June, I seemed to be travelling up and down to London every week. At the time I mentioned that one of the trips was based around something scientific and as you've probably gathered, the picture above was taken on the day - I can't believe I had [...]
I've had so many requests for both this post and tomorrow's gifts for teens that I'm feeling the weight of expectation! I've been compiling retail Christmas gift posts since 1993 and I have to say that this year has been the hardest. Why? Because as with partywear, retailers are being very careful with their inventories this year and they're sitting on the safe side to ensure that they're not left with lots of stock to clear at a loss on [...]
I was in a meeting with the team at John Lewis a little while ago and our conversation moved on to beauty. I explained that I always find the niche beauty brands to be the most interesting. I like the fact that they dedicate themselves to specific concerns and weight their investment towards research rather than marketing. The irony of course is that this low scale marketing makes these companies difficult to find. So my favourite part of the John [...]
I hope you're enjoying the glorious summer that I ordered for you - it's causing chaos in the retail world. Back in April when I met up with lots of key retailers they were all making plans to pull their summer sales forward because of the awful spring we were having. They were busy trying to order restocks of warmer clothes whilst anticipating a glut of flimsy summer layers. Of course since then, the situation has completely reversed - they [...]
Wow - what can you say about the weather that hasn't already been said across every news channel?! As I type, Storm Emma is blowing in from the sea. There is nothing to shelter us from the coastline and so the winds are whistling around us like something from a horror movie. In all of the years that I have lived here, I have never known the snow to fall so incessantly. So, I decided it was time for one [...]
A few people have asked recently how I've been getting on with the No7 Restore and Renew Serum that I reviewed last year here. As you know, I'm often sent products to test but I only feature the ones that I believe have made a difference. Because I am always trying something new, it isn't often that I then go out and replace a product when I've finished it. However, I have done with the Restore and Renew Serum. The two [...]
Hello! We're back from our amazing adventure in Transylvania and I have so much to tell you. However today I must crack on and catch up with the work that I've missed so I'm forcing myself to stay away from the photos until I have more time. In the meantime, I have a post about how to keep your complexion glowing in midlife. I've been putting it together since I included this picture a couple of weeks ago and was bombarded [...]
It's hard to believe but we've arrived at the post where I reflect on my chic buys of 2017- the pieces that I've worn over and over again. It's trickier this year because I've been experimenting more. As you know when a brand gets in touch with a gifting opportunity, I try to step outside my comfort zone and play with a look that I wouldn't risk my own budget on. This means that there has been less of an opportunity [...]
Gift ideas for women over 40. This is an important post. Why? Because quite a few of my friends' husbands shop from it so I feel a huge sense of responsibility. So, chic Christmas gifts. Ideas for the woman who doesn't really need anything but would quite like a little something to open on Christmas Day. Before I go on, I have a couple of apologies to make. Firstly if you read via Bloglovin, I have been having some compression [...]
It's a last minute post from me today as our house / catsitters have arrived and we're heading off on our holidays. I've been working really long hours over the last couple of weeks just to get everything finished so I feel ready for a break. We're going to our favourite Turkish resort of Kalkan. It's our first family holiday without the effervescent eldest and so I thought we'd go somewhere that we know well. It's going to be very, very [...]
I'm bringing you something a little different today. This week, No7 have asked a number of bloggers of different ages to tell a story. It's the story of beauty in our families and the lessons that have come down through the generations. We are all publishing our posts today so you may see a few different ones around. We'll then be holding a live Twitter chat and you're invited to join in - I'll tell you more about that later. My beauty story Like [...]
I had such a horrendous time trying to get down to London through Storm Doris yesterday that I can't quite think straight today. So I'm bringing you one of those posts that pulls together all of the things I've been meaning to tell you about for a while. Actually I think beauty and books are a lovely combination for a thinking woman's weekend! Tried and Tested Beauty Products Now, I'm planning to write a full post on skincare for women over 40 next [...]
I first got into an expensive skincare habit when I was editing Selfridges' magazine. Every day another bag of something fabulous would land on my desk in the hope that I would review it so I tried just about every luxury brand. Of course in those days I didn't really need it - my skin was youthful and I've never had any problems with my complexion other than slight dryness but I was happy to anoint myself with it anyway. Since then [...]
I don't often do beauty posts but there are a few things I've been using recently that I wanted to share with you. I don't know about you but I'm feeling like the very cliché of a midlife woman at the moment: exhausted. Work has been relentless since I came back from holiday in August. Because my department is new, there is no path to follow, so I never know what is coming next. My new girl enthusiasm has meant [...]
Finding the best moisturiser for 40-something skin 2014 has become a personal mission. One of the things that I'm really enjoying about having my own blog, is being able to write genuine, unbiased reviews of products that I believe really work. When I was editor of Selfridges' magazine, I was able to select, shoot and write about anything in the store apart from the Beauty Hall which was a total, political nest of vipers. I was only allowed to feature [...]
