I love putting these posts together. I keep an ongoing list on my phone that I squirrel away and add to throughout the month, so you’re really getting the good stuff here. Although I mostly write about fashion around these parts, you get something a little more well-rounded in these monthly posts. Still a sprinkling of style, but a decent dose of beauty, with culture, wellness and food shoehorned in as well. ENJOY!
*Paid mention by Hair + Me
My nine-month hair growth journey. When does postpartum hair loss just become hair loss? That was the question I was asking myself last year, when four years after having my son I still felt like my follicles had seen better days. So I signed up for Hair + Me off my own back last November and have been a proud, paying customer ever since. It’s a 100% online service where you fill out a medical consultation and receive a personalised treatment plan that uses scientifically backed ingredients (mine are in capsule form that I just take before bed, so it’s easy to remember). I’m nine months into my treatment now, and I’ve really noticed a difference around my hairline. It’s fuller! It’s fluffier! I have to say, I was pretty shocked when I put the before-and-present-day pictures together. Now, errr, what are we doing about greys?
Get your first month of Hair + Me for £4.99 with my code ANNAHAIR8 and complete your online consultation here.
A baseball tee that feels super chill. We visited the Isle of Wight at the start of the month for a week, and even though I packed my wardrobe into a single tote and gave it about five minutes of thought, I surprisingly packed well! Less is more and all that. I really enjoyed the ease of the LESET Baseball Tee*; with shorts, with cotton poplin trousers like I wore above, with jeans. I could imagine it pairing well with any wildcard trousers or skirts you owned too - it goes with anything. It signals chill, and that’s exactly what I’ve wanted style-wise this month. I’d opt for your usual size; I’m wearing a medium here.
The search for the perfect baby tee is over. It’s here, and it’s this, and it’s only £25*. Over the past few months, I have tried so many, and they all felt like they were cutting off circulation around the tops of my arms. This one, however, has room around that area, but I also like that it isn’t too long in the body so you don’t feel the need to tuck fabric in, which isn’t really what you want to be doing during the summer months. Essentially it ticks all the boxes, plus it’s 100% cotton.
I know it’s summer, but this sweater is GREAT. By now you know the J.Crew Rollneck*. It’s a Substack darling that pretty much gets rave reviews across the board. But I get it. I bought mine back in April and even though it’s not exactly seasonally appropriate right now, I took it away with me to the Isle of Wight and wore it every single day, whether it was thrown in my bag for a beach walk after dinner or put on first thing to eat breakfast outside on the patio. It just makes every outfit feel - do I even dare to say it? Ok, I’ll whisper it… chic. It runs pretty true to size if you like a relaxed fit - I’m wearing a medium here, or you could size down so it felt less oversized.
The tote bag I haven’t put down. I actually picked up the Alex Mill Perfect Weekday Tote* a few months ago for ‘research purposes’ (no really, I’m desperate to make a tote bag!!), but in August it barely left my side. I grabbed it in a rush when we were packing for IOW because I thought the size would be perfect for all my luggage for a seven-night trip (spoiler: it was!), and ever since then it’s become my go-to bag, mainly because it's so roomy. But I also love the two strap options - hand-held feels a little more polished, shoulder straps for practicality - and the colour! I don’t tend to wear much colour on my body, especially in the summer, so this bag is doing a lot for my wardrobe. People always ask about sizing, but I’d say the ‘Weekend’ version must be huge. I wouldn’t want, nor need, a tote bigger than this.
An armpit routine that works. Guys, I’m sweaty. Like, it’s bad. Has anyone jabbed Botox into their pits and it’s worked? Tell me! My algorithm seems to know this about me, so I regularly get served sweaty gal pit routines, and I’m a sucker for ordering anything and everything that comes recommended. They rarely work, but this one kinda does. It doesn’t stem the perspiration, but I’d say my overall odour at the end of the day is fresher, so that’s… positive. It’s a two-parter: a swipe of The Ordinary’s Glyolic Acid* before bed and then a roll of the CYKLAR Mandelic Acid Deodorant* (I like the Naked Neroli scent) after I shower in the morning. I didn’t know that I could smell this good. It’s worth noting that this is a true two-part routine; when I’ve travelled and not used the Glyolic before bed, I don’t feel like it’s as effective at keeping my natural whiff away.
A recipe that’s entered the weekly rotation. You know a recipe is good when you make it once, then again the following week, and the week after that. It’s Emily English’s Chicken Cottage Cheese Meatballs. Cottage cheese haters, I hear you! Me too! I’ve taken to using a hand blender because the curds make me want to barf, but smooth? Smooth cottage cheese is good! It means that these chicken meatballs are so juicy. It’s the kind of recipe where you find your rhythm, and now I can rustle it up in 30 minutes flat. A good weeknight dinner or a good choice for hosting too if you throw it on the table with a side salad and some garlic bread.
Want more recipe recommendations? I’ve 36 more for you here in last week’s post…
The 38 Recipes I Make on Repeat
I’ll admit that this week I was feeling a little low on styling juice. It’s been too hot to think, and there isn’t much content to be mined when you’ve just worn a swimsuit with a pair of old sports shorts all week. In a way, I feel like I’m in a wardrobe off-season. It’s cool. It happens from time to time. I think of it a bit like how I get my best ide…
I <3 IOW. I’ve spoken all summer long about how woefully unprepared we were for the school holidays. We didn’t even book a holiday until June when it finally dawned on us that a six-week stretch in the house might send us a little stir crazy. We managed to find a great self-catered converted barn on the Isle of Wight and had possibly the best holiday we’ve had as a family of three. I mean, I’m sure the glorious sunshine had something to do with it, but being a fairly small island where you can drive from one side to the other in 30 minutes, nothing is a trek, and there was so much to do. We barely scratched the surface:
FOR KIDS: Blackgang Chine (obvs), Robin Hill (we visited three times), grab Bikes and ride the Red Squirrel Trail by Shanklin, and East Cowes is a great spot for crabbing, with a big play park nearby.
FOR FOOD: Loaph is exceptional for brunch (we went back again!), Harvey Browns for a farm shop and cafe, Fin’s for a beachside lunch and The Red Lion for fancy-feeling pub grub (stop by Compton Bay for a sunset beach swim).
The book I couldn’t stop reading. I take Pandora Sykes’ book recommendations very seriously. So much so that I read her recent post - ‘I Don’t Believe in Beach Reads.... But If I did, This Would Be My Beach Read of the Year’ - purchased said book on my Kindle and then went back to reading her post. I literally pre-load them so they are ready to go. She first mentioned ‘Careless People’ by Sarah Wynn-Williams* nine months ago, but I’ll admit I didn’t bite. I’m not really a memoir girl. But this story just keeps snowballing. Meta are suing Sarah for every penny she’s worth for publishing her story. So, with a long train journey stretching ahead, I picked it up at Waterstones, and the girl behind the till said it was the ‘best book she’d read all year’. Reader, I spent the next three days enthralled. Pandora puts it best (read her review here):
It remained juicy and agitating, both predictable (rampant amorality, miscommunication and egos) and surprisingly - devastatingly - revelatory. That the top dogs at Facebook are not bastions of moral virtue will not be surprising to anyone at this point, but what did surprise me is how much of it is about ignorance - American exceptionalism combined with a total misunderstanding of how other countries and cultures operate - and omission, as much as it is about money.
How to buy quiet time in a restaurant with a five-year-old. I have two suggestions for you, and let me tell you, silence is a rarity in our house, so know these are really that good. First up: Lego Minifigures - the possibilities are ENDLESS, but our kid, being a fellow Virgo, remembers their OG configuration once play is complete. I regularly carry around a tupperware box full of them (new ones, combined with my husband’s old stash) in my Alex Mill tote. Whip them out at a restaurant, and the lull between ordering and food feels short (even when it’s not). Second, we had to make a last-minute purchase when we got to Bath and realised we’d forgotten to pack books. A quick trip to Topping’s (EPIC) sorted us out, and we got swindled into buying a Mini Set of Where’s Wally Books* that come complete with a magnifying glass. FUN! Let’s just say I booked an eye test the next day.
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Your equally sweaty friend is on standby for the tote bag. I would like it to say CHUFFED if you’re taking requests xoxoxox
Going to have to get those mini where’s wally books for my son! Thanks for the recommendation. My little one loves the Richard Scarry version - a book called ‘Cars & Trucks & Things that go” and you have to find a little character called Goldbug on each page! Xx