FEBRUARY DOSSIER.

FEBRUARY DOSSIER.

I can’t believe it’s already March, February just flew by. I feel like I was away for most of it but actually it was just the second half. The first 2 weeks was spent planning for the later so I guess my head was always focused around my  trip to Australia.

The month began with a very busy week fitting lots of things in before I went away – including an exciting Cosmo shoot for the May issue, which I will share more of when it’s out. I also wanted to feel really great for my trip and so was sticking to 3 or 4 times a week Pilates classes. It’s amazing how good and present I feel when I stick to this. Normally I do 2 classes a week time allowing. For me it’s both a mental and physical upper, and I had been feeling unusually low in terms of body image. It’s not that I look different when I get low but rather that I allow my mind to be drawn to the ‘bad’ parts of my body, something I don’t enjoy (I mean, who does?). Once I was in Australia and on the beach with my feet in the sand I felt great, though, so I’m glad it was passing and that I powered through rather than letting those negative thoughts stay with me.

I (finally!) relaunched youtube channel in the first week, too, with my first ever vlog documenting our trip to Austria. If you haven’t watched it yet you can here. I’m currently in the process of editing my Australia vlog and I feel really excited at the idea of creating more videos in London, too. Like a flat tour, style videos and of course more skincare and beauty ones, so do make sure to subscribe if you want to watch those too. It had a been a long time coming doing more video and so far I’ve really enjoyed having a different medium to play around with.

My trip to Australia was for my good friend Olive’s wedding, which was of course a wonderful occasion and I’m so happy I travelled over for it. As I mentioned in last month’s Dossier, I get bad SAD and being in the sun and ocean tends to ultimately wipe that out. I do miss living there in terms of lifestyle, but I also still crave the business of London. It’s all about balance I suppose. One of the things I notice the most when I’m there is being barefoot. It sounds super minor but living  in London sometimes I go almost 6 months without my bare feet touching the ground – which makes me feel weird just at the thought of it. There’s an idea called ‘grounding’ or ‘earthing’ that is a therapeutic practice to electronically reconnect you to the earth by being barefoot, or lying on the earth  and even swimming in open water. The positive energy of the earth connects living cells together and is said to help with mental health, inflammation in the body (which lots of pain is caused by) and improve sleep. I think for me that’s why I love to travel so much because I get to be barefoot and swim in the ocean! For me it’s so important and a meditative thing to do.

While I was out there I read Three Women by Lisa Taddeo, a highly recommended book which follows three women over 8 years of their lives, sharing their desires and sexuality and the issues that arise in different situations. It’s written almost as if it’s fiction, which makes it all the more easy to devour. I think it’s a really interesting read and a book every woman (and man!) should read at least once.

FEBRUARY GO-TO’S

Beauty: I was reminded this month just how impressive this product is at prepping the skin for sunshine. It gave me the fastest, healthiest and most long lasting tan – even all my Australian friends were shocked at what a deep colour I was after so little time. here

Style: most definitely my most worn item this month was this beautiful blue top, it is so versatile (I wore it both in London and Australia) and is from a new more sustainable range. here

Home: being away from home and staying with friends in Australia reminded me just how great and important soft bed linen is (just FYI all my friends had very comfy beds, this isn’t a diss!) and made me crave my own bed and soft sheets. Find one of my favourites here