Magic sleep powder! A dream machine!
And more wellness buys that are helping me survive these 429 days of January.
On our Youtube show Friday Night Fashion, Amanda Wakeley and I recently did a rundown of our favourite wellness buys. I’ll be frank with you, I’ve taken liberties with the theme, it’s pretty broad. It’s a mish mash of things from stuff we’re wearing, to stuff we’re ingesting and a few random things that just about qualify as a ‘wellness’ thingie. At this stage, if it’s making me smile it is very good for my wellness, OK? Here’s my favourite things that might become yours too.
Morphee
Ross bought me this for my birthday last year. I love it. But I’m not someone who will tell you that this or that product will send you to sleep. In fact I wrote a whole thing not so long ago about how the only way to guarantee sleep is to stop being obsessed with getting to sleep. But I do find this thing a fantastic relaxation tool. In particular, the different channels of music on it are specifically designed to sync with your brainwaves and I do find that does help to lull me to sleep. There’s a lot of different functions as well, things like relaxation techniques, exercises to help you breathe better and more deeply. I find it a really useful little gadget all in all. But don’t listen to anyone who tells you that any product will cause you to sleep.
This magnesium supplement
OK, even though I just said that above, this stuff really does seem to be helpful with the nodding off. That’s actually not why I take it. I take it because I exercise a lot which apparently makes me more susceptible to losing magnesium. And I’ve been told over the years that women who suffer with migraines are often magnesium-deficient. One of the very pleasant accidental discoveries for me has been that if I have a scoop of this in water before bed, it really does seem to improve the duration and quality of my sleep. It actually tastes quite nice too. Give it a go.
Ingenious Life Collagen
I’m crawling inside myself with embarrassment as I type this but it’s the truth: I’ve had a slew of people ask me recently what my skincare regime is. I have had a lot of compliments about my skin which is obviously lovely, if somewhat startling because I know I don’t look in the mirror and give myself the double thumbs. Ever. But I’d say in the last few weeks there has been a definite up tick in the number of people asking me about my skin. So, the things I think I have been doing differently in the last few months are: 1, I have completely cleaned up my eating habits. That’s probably the most important thing. And secondly I have been taking this supplement. It’s a capsule which is important because I cannot stand the taste of collagen liquid drinks. My hair seems stronger too, so I’m going to keep up with them.
Gym Locker for George at Asda
I’m not a massive supermarket fashion shopper, but I’ve definitely been impressed with this kit. Really nice, sweat-wicking fabrics and this jersey in particular is super cosy. I’d wear this jersey a lot more places than just to the gym.
Jumper 1234 knit
I’ve included a couple of skiing bits in here for those who are Into That Sort Of Thing. I can’t ski, but I do sometimes enjoy drinking wine in skiing outfits in a skiing location. I don’t know why but it makes me feel as sporty as the people who’ve been clomping up and down the mountain all day. And for that setting, you need knits that get you into the spirit and make you look like you too were probably skiing at some point earlier that day and everyone just accidentally missed seeing that. And if you want knits that make you smile you can always count on Jumper 1234. Love love love this riff on apres ski chic.
Moon Boots
Whether or not you’re in the Alps, these are damn useful. I used to get so very cranky if I ever looked out of the window and saw it had been snowing. My god I hate it when it snows in London. You can’t spell ‘snow’ without ‘no’. BUT… turns out if you have the right boots, you don’t have to take baby steps up the high street, clinging for dear life onto shop fronts as you go. Yes Moon Boots look fairly ridiculous. Oh but how brilliant they are at helping you to not break your neck or lose your toes to frostbite.
The Peloton
This is the closest I will ever come to joining a cult. I am fervently religious about my Peloton. I mean… I forced mega instructor Leanne Hainsby-Alldis to become my IRL friend, that’s my dedication level. I kept asking Ross if he would buy me one for my 50th birthday but I was really only joking. No way did I think he would ever spend that money. And it is a lot of money. But once you have the bike, I think it’s incredible value. For £39 a month, our household of three has unlimited to access to the thousands of workouts on the app. There’s spin classes of course, but also strength, pilates, yoga, stretching, some dance classes, meditation. Can never recommend highly enough.
Tory Sport
Sometimes you do just want to have some posh looking workout kit. I had to buy some when I was about to go to the Body Camp in Mallorca with a bunch of strangers. Not everyone needs to know the truth about my usual workout gear, ie food-stained cast-offs from the husband. I’m a big fan of Tory Burch - I know not everyone can stomach the super preppy vibes. And I really love the Sport offshoot for trackpants that are smart enough to wear to work and stylish sporty leggings. These are a great case in point.
Gym Shark activewear
For more affordable workout gear, I’ve long been impressed with Gym Shark. I find it really hardy and, unlike way too many activewear brands, tasteful. Why do so many brands look as though their moodboard was 'Haribo Fangtastic and Pepto Bismal vomit cloud’? This lilac set, above, is really on the wild side for them.
David Gandy Wellwear lounge set
Mr G has put his heart and soul, as well as considerable knowledge of fashion, into this range of timeless, functional loungewear. Despite the largely masculine feel of the website, it’s definitely a gender-neutral brand. I spend as much time as humanly possible in this deeply cosy set. It’s so warm and it washes beautifully. The sizing is big, so size down.
Decent looking weights
I do a lot of weight training at home - guided with instructors on the Peloton app. Rather than finding somewhere to constantly store, and then lug them in and out of the storage, we decided to just find some weights that look decent enough to be out. Like these ones, line ‘em up neatly and it just kind of works.