Recommendations for the Seasonal Shift
Comfy clothes, viral lip balm and what to watch to help us vibe into March
Last week, I wrote about my February malaise, but it’s March and time for a vibe shift. The seasonal shift can feel uncomfortable, but here’s a new recommendations list to help!
My Tough Love consumption principles still apply. I shop and consume, even TV, mindfully. So keep reading for my thoughts on the latest viral lip balm, the articles that set my WhatsApp groups alight and the book, TV and film recommendations that are getting me through the seasonal shift.
I’ve tried to keep it as global as possible. The brand sites should automatically direct you to your country’s page when you click the link. Enjoy!
With love,
Tiff x
To get your stylish self out of the house
Le Bon socks
I’m hideously late to the party on this one and my friends, including
have been telling me to buy these socks for months. Why didn’t I listen sooner? All the fun my feet could have had this winter!But it’s never too late to change and the Le Bon Boyfriend socks are, as my friend Claudia said, ‘like walking on clouds.’ They are colourful and addictive. I bought one pair, then went back to buy a few more - you have been warned. Le Bon Shoppe, £11
The Carpenter Trousers
It looks like fashion is all about dressing as workmen, as evidenced by the rise of brands using words like ‘utility’ to sell us clothing. Even Goop is on the trend with some brown carpenter pants for $590.
The L F Markey carpenter trousers are selling out, but the lady in the Dalston store told me that they’ll be re-stocking soon. I got the chocolate colour. L F Markey carpenter trousers, £110.
Everlane has something similar in these Utility Pants, $98
Kiss Me Beauty
The beauty industry is overwhelming, so I try to keep things as simple as possible as I have sensitive skin and a sensitive bank balance. I’m very proud of my uncluttered bathroom, too. I am, however, obsessed with lips.
My recommendation for the Rhode peptide lip gloss had the highest number of clicks, so y’all love lips too. Lip product sales are increasing (I read 800% but can’t find the source, but I believe it) - historically, it’s called the lipstick effect and essentially summarises how small luxury sales boom in a recession.
Recession or no recession, I’ve had a very dry winter and I’m prepping for some summer snogs*.
*Snogs = UK slang for sloppy kisses, a term popular with teenagers in the early noughties.
The Hyped Lip ‘Mask’
The Laneige lip mask is the most hyped baby in town. It’s by a Korean brand, which is shorthand in the beauty world for ‘it has technical and scientific properties that mean it’s probably good’.
I spent a long time down the rabbit hole that is celebrities and influencers losing their minds over this product before purchasing it and I’ve not looked back. I can confirm that its soothing, relieving effects work instantly and last a long time.
Is it really a lip mask? Does it matter? It’s very clever what they’ve done - branded the lip mask as a separate and new product that justifies buying it alongside our four other lip balms. Most people use it as you would a normal lip balm, which is then marketed back to us again as ‘so good, you’ll want to use it all day, too.’ Oh well… all is forgiven because it’s worthy of the hype. I have vanilla. LANEIGE lip mask, £19, Sephora.
Day and night coverage
A foundation recommendation is serious talk. I bought the Westman Atelier Foundation Stick back in November when my friends (same as the sock girlies) told me it had all the buzz. I wasn’t sure at first, but having used it for months, I’ve concluded it’s amazing.
I originally bought it for thicker nighttime-only coverage but it’s so layerable and light to wear that I’ve been wearing it in the daytime, too. Plus, I was having skin issues over winter and my skin would look and feel better after wearing it.
It’s not the cheapest, but as I said, foundation is serious -the bedrock, if you will. Westman Atelier Vital Skin Foundation Stick, £62
For more beauty recommendations, sign up to - I’m a big fan of those two witty humans
How to be a better human
The dating advice for everybody
There’s a lot to learn for everybody in this Matthew Hussey video that I wanted to send to many friends.
Watching it, I was like ‘OMG I DO THAT’. It talks about how to build a real connection with someone instead of nervously filling silences, or trying to be what he calls a ‘pleaser’ on a date.
If you’re someone who comes home from a date thinking: ‘They didn’t ask me any questions,’ then this one is for you.
Culture Talk
The recovery memoir
Gifted to me by the wonderful
, I loved Octavia Bright’s recovery memoir so much that I read it twice and gifted it to a friend. I guess I love growth journeys, writing that takes us into interior lives and gorgeous prose. It also articulates the realities of addiction and recovery in brilliant and illuminating ways. This Ragged Grace, Octavia Bright, UK Bookshop.orgFour Daughters
On a Monday afternoon, I took myself to my favourite cinema (The Rio in Dalston) to see Four Daughters. Two of the women’s daughters joined ISIS and the film shows how trauma is passed down through generations and how hard it is to break the cycle.
Delightful and artfully told, with a sometimes uncomfortable quirky humour to it, the characters - a mix of actors and the mother and two of the daughters are incredibly compelling.
I disagree with The New York Times review that says that ‘the appeal of radicalization is frustratingly murky’ - to me, it’s very clear what the appeal was. Radicalisation represented rebellion and promised freedom - very attractive prospects to those teenage girls.
TV like the good old days
I felt like I’d finished television, so decided to go back to the good old days. I’ve never seen The Sopranos, despite an ex-boyfriend gifting me series one on DVD in 2008. The 25th anniversary is coming up, so I expect there’ll be a lot of discourse about it. Here’s mine: The Sopranos is art. They don’t make TV quite like it anymore and the concept: a gangster goes to see a therapist - is genius. The Sopranos, HBO
The articles that set my WhatsApp Groups Alight
I assume you’ve already read this bonkers story about how The Cut’s financial advice columnist got scammed into giving a stranger $50,000 in a cardboard box, but sharing it just in case you don’t spend as much time on the internet as me and my pals. One to send to anyone who feels bad about being scammed: The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger
Another one from The Cut and I don’t even know what to say. Emily Gould is excellent at writing gossip about herself and this one starts with: ‘In the summer of 2022, I lost my mind’ Anyway, my Gould gossip is that I met her cat once when I lived in New York. Read: Should I leave my husband?
I hope you enjoyed my curations. Anything you’re going to get? Anything to add? Let me and your friends know by clicking the button below:
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"Sensitive bank balance " 🤣 I feel you
Loved this list and will be following up on the socks for sure!