the may review

what i wore, ate and read this month

Hello loves,

This month brought two more weddings my way — firstly the marriage of sweet Holly and Ben, who happened to choose a venue next to where I grew up. I got a lift to the party from my sister’s boyfriend, quite novel for someone who has had to board flights too see her friends get hitched. I met Holly through my old housemate and bff Jamaica, I shared some of my reflections on Instagram but in summary: some of my best friendships in my twenties blossomed through friends of friends, and I’m really grateful.

The second was my dear friend Alice and her wonderful husband Nadir. I met Alice at the beginning of my sobriety journey, we both quit a few months apart and supported each other through the early days, and I guess now the later days too, although our conversations have broadened beyond the sober stuff and she’s now one of my closest friends. It’s rare to meet someone you would genuinely be friends with outside of the circumstances that brought you together, but there’s no question that Alice would have made her way into my life one way or another, even without a mild trauma bond. She’s an absolute ray of light and I’m so happy she’s met someone who is very much the yin to her yang!

I spent a lot of time finishing songs this month, and writing some new things too (!!) I shared one of them here last week — it’s called angel numbers and you can listen to the full thing exclusively on Studio168. I might share snippets on socials but this is the only place I upload the full thing 🫧🤎

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Thank you so much to everyone who subscribes to Studio168. Every subscription helps me get my songs into the world, I’m so grateful for your support! 🤎

If you would like a Studio168 tote, they’re a limited edition run that I send to all founding members when they sign up. If you become a founding supporter of my music, I’ll post one to you wherever you are in the world!

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wearing —

I picked up a last-minute dress for Alice’s wedding when I realised the weather was going to be super hot and I ended up really loving it. It’s from Topshop (which is very good right now, I really rate their heels in particular) and this bag is from there too. Shoutout the Fenty blotting powder, it came in clutch before every photo. They do a miniature too which would be perfect for a tiny clutch bag.

Have loved digging out my summer clothes for last week’s heatwave — I missed this linen skirt so much!! I love the broderie anglais cutouts. Really liked the day I paired my spiral earrings with the beaded necklace I bought in a market in Mexico City earlier this year too. Honourable mention goes to my prescription sunglasses, they’re the Jimmy Fairly Pippa style. Everywhere I go, they come too.

Beauty-wise, Saie sent through their new liners with some glosses — I’ve been wearing the shade Push with their liner in Flirt pretty much every day for a soft neutral lip.

This technically fits into the wearing category: CurrentBody sent over their red light helmet to try. While I don’t need help on the hair growth front — there’s significant clinical evidence to suggest red light therapy helps hair growth, so if that’s something you’re interested in this would be a worthy investment — apparently it can help with scalp condition, which is something i struggle with. I get super greasy, but somehow my scalp stays dry as hell?? I’ll let you know if I notice any changes!

listening —

I updated my Honey playlist with loads of fresh music, mostly from rising artists. Notable exception is a Janet Jackson deep cut I found that I love, it’s called Empty and sounds super futuristic. I saw Tinashe and Zane Lowe talking about it a few weeks later and I agree with everything they said — it was before its time!!

I had a borderline spiritual experience at the Lux tour with Eva — I’m so glad we managed to find tickets, I cried through half the set (complimentary.) I didn’t know Rosalia could do it better than the Motomami tour but I genuinely think this is in the top five shows I’ve seen. It was executed perfectly, I loved being able to follow the lyrics at the top too. Also Eva’s a total gem, if you’re not following her on IG then you should because she’s hilarious but also so thoughtful in her writing about politics and fashion. You don’t want to skip her stories!!

rosalia @ the o2 featuring a very good sniffer dog

reading —

I finished Emma Grede’s Start With Yourself, a self-help memoir from the woman behind Skims and Good American. I really like her directness, it’s clear she’s been sitting on a lot of thoughts about how best to approach career, family life and personal development and it made this book something of a manifesto. There were parts I really rated, particularly her advocacy of taking responsibility for your own life. My life changed when I realised the antidote to feeling hard done by is finding agency in your situation, and hearing her speak about that resonated. She also opened my mind to some different perspectives; the chapter on why she doesn’t advocate for egg-freezing even as a career-driven person, and her argument against giving away your little black book for free, gave me food for thought.

I listened to it on Spotify, I’m a big fan of their audiobook feature especially now I’m trying to move some of my money away from Amazon’s book monopoly. Disclaimer: I do still use my Kindle — I’d find that hard to give up, but I thought moving to Spotify for the books that are available on there and cancelling my Audible subscription was a smart switch. Not perfect but a step nonetheless!

eating —

I finally tried Manteca, a much beloved restaurant in Shoreditch. I went with Millie; we had two starters and two mains, along with two soft drinks each, and the bill came to around £50 a head which I don’t think is bad at all for a London small-ish plates place. The pasta alla vodka was a spiritual experience, definitely my favourite.

Finally — Aviva and Farzam took us to Murger Han for the first time. We had some incredible noodles, but my favourite thing was the crispy pork murger. If you go you have to try it!

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I always recommend products I would use myself and all opinions shared are my own. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase at no additional cost to you. I will always disclose when I work with a brand on any paid partnership.