I’ve just looked up, ‘What week of the year is it?’ so I can signpost this new weekly column and, on learning that this week is the 26th of 2024, I realise we are exactly halfway through the year.
Already?
A case of the grumps
Sometimes you wake up and instead of a feeling of get-up-and-go, you just want to turn over and go back to sleep. My sleep has been wildly poor lately so it’s no surprise that when my alarm goes off at 6 am, interrupting another incomplete sleep cycle, I’m usually a little grumpy about it.
However, I have a cure: watch some makeup tutorials on YouTube. The first one won’t work, the second one will make you think about the makeup you would use if you could be bothered and you’ll be unlikely to finish the third because you’ll be elbows deep in your makeup stores.
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I’m a huge advocate of a morning routine and my usual one is to: wake up, immediately make the bed, brew an espresso shot and then sit quietly to meditate before I slip into gym gear and either do some strength training or go for a walk. It’s the foundation of any productive day as is taking 10 minutes to ‘put on a face’.
Inspired by YouTube videos from Victoria Magrath, Jamie Genevieve and Katie-Jane Hughes, my grump was forgotten and I primped and preened myself, despite the fact I was waiting in for deliveries so going nowhere, to such an extent that I felt as energised and invigorated for doing so as I do after a kick-ass weight training session. So if you, dear reader, are ever in the same boat, may I recommend you try the same and let me know if it works for you too.
I dare say, one might also get the same result from watching workout videos on YouTube but that’s one to keep on the back burner, I think.
‘Delivery rage’
Oh, I mentioned the deliveries didn’t I? This week has marked the hottest week of the year so far and, fool that I am, was anchored to my office to wait for deliveries. They were extremely exciting ones though because among them was the Our Place Wonder Oven. Their answer to the air fryer that can air fry, bake, roast, girl, reheat and toast in a countertop oven that’s so cute it wouldn’t be out of place in a doll’s house.
I knew it was arriving on Wednesday so all I had to do was call the courier on Wednesday morning to get a delivery time. Their reply was the astonishingly vague, ‘It’s an all-day delivery so it could arrive in the next 10 minutes or it might be with you at six o’clock.’ And before you ask, it wasn’t possible to check the driver’s route and hazard a guess or, imagine this, call the driver and ask where they were just to give a rough idea of when they might arrive. So, I employed some yogic breathing, took a chance on a coffee run anyway, and surrendered to a day in a 30-degree office.
It is a thing of beauty though and I’ve filmed an unboxing video and [spoiler alert] It is so cute, that you will want one of your own.
Award ceremonies
I ended the week with a bang! As a guest and presenter at this year’s Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) Beauty Awards lunch. Held at The Londoner Hotel in Leicester Square, it was a huge event filled with many friends and familiar faces from the beauty industry.
Attendance at this awards ceremony is always massive and as I entered the hotel, all I could hear was the growing rumble of the drinks reception two floors below where hundreds of journalists, brand owners, PRs and executives mingled. As I walked down the stairs, the size and extent of the throng becoming visible and louder with each step, my brain, which does not enjoy or easily process this kind of sensory overload, started to do a Jason Bourne-style scan of the room for exits and quick, discreet escape routes.
Luckily, my friend James Read, who has created the beautiful tanning brand Self Glow, was at the bottom of the stairs, took one look at me and pulled me into his side. He’d either seen the cogs working in my brain or had spotted the sheer panic on my face because he held my hand and didn’t let go for a good five minutes. The man is an angel.
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I was honoured to be asked not only to join CEW as a guest but to present and I was delighted to present the award for Best New Home Fragrance to Space NK for their Tuscan Vines candle.
That was the week just gone, but if you want to start next week on a high, then plug into my podcast and make sure you’re subscribed so my conversation with Jonathan van Ness is the first thing you hear on Monday morning…
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