Anyone For Tennis? Or The Rain In Spain?

Aka choose whether you're more Chris De Burgh lyric or My Fair Lady lyric and stick with me, even if you are neither because we've got stuff to talk about!

You know, I want to watch Wimbledon for the tennis… And I do, I swear! But I also watch it for the occasional celeb spotting in the crowd… Yes, I love watching a tie-breaker, but I also reallllly love spotting Will and Kate or Posh and Becks or this season, Sienna Miller (!!) in the stands at centre court. Yeesh, thank the tennis gods for plopping Siennas Miller firmly back on my radar… She has made Dressing In White (and keeping it clean and uncreased) an art form. From Paris and Roland Garros, where she was all slouchy trousers, white boots and a navy sweater, to Wimbledon where’s she’s swung between broderie anglaise, belted rodeo dresses and jumpsuits – all in white, I daresay, and all with enough formality-meets-insouciance to make me want to weep tears of Actual Envy!

I am probably crying because…

I have always harboured something of a fashion crush on Sienna Miller, but also because I am currently writing this newsy while I should be packing for a holiday. I knowwwww: shame. Said no one reading this ever. Anyhoo, supposed to be packing. Have been voraciously following all the fashion squads’ lewks across the summery seas for weeks on end and now Sienna’s gone and scuppered all my carefully laid plans by looking so cool (and so HOT) in nothing more than a white frock, a black belt and a red lip! So, my question is: can normal people get away with this? Or will we splatter our first international café au lait down some important and unmissable bit of said frock? Or sit somewhere dusty and have bum prints on the dress for the rest of the day? Or have too much fun with the red wine later? Please let me know (or send help) …

So, where am I headed?

No one asked, but here you go… I’m off to Madrid, not because it was recently voted the Coolest City In Europe. Nor because hotelier lan Shrager and his cool crew recently opened Edition Madrid – their Spanish city outpost of the famed designer hotel group. Am I staying there? Erm, no… But we’ll both have views of Gran Via so close enough! If you’re travelling anywhere over the next few weeks of winter school holidays, from Malelane to Maldives, can I share these amazing travel-sized beauty products with you? Two local brands that I absolutely adore do brilliant minis – Skoon and Standard Beauty… Skoon offers its skincare best-sellers in a 15ml size while Standard Beauty offers its fantastic serums in a 5ml travel size (so you can pack ‘em all!) and their moisturisers in 15ml. Also great for everything else in a smaller size is The Body Shop… And I am packing their newly-launched Boost Hair & Body Wash.

Hello there, The Body Shop Wellness range

Thanks, in no small part, to Covid, Google searches for the word ‘insomnia’ hit an all time high. And I wouldn’t be the editor-in-chief of Modern Wellness is I didn’t tell you that good sleep is one of the key tenets of wellbeing… I love writing about sleep because the sleep economy is worth trillions globally. Trillions. To the point that you can buy a sleep robot to spoon you if you really want to. I don’t want to, in case you were wondering.

With this in mind though, Body Shop has launched a new range that taps into three key routines – sleep, breathe and boost. Yes please X3. The sleep range makes use of lavender and vetiver to help you relax and sleep better. Breathe helps harness The Calm with eucalyptus and rosemary and Boost gives you a buzz with bergamot and mandarin. Yes, I’m all Boost all the way! Ole! That last bit was for Spain. Because I don’t want to pull out my celebratory castanets just yet!

By the time you read this…

I will be melting in the 30-plus degree heat! So send me your recommendations for Madrid and Barcelona - where I am headed next.

And wish me luck - I am travelling with my two punks… This in itself is no hardship - they are very funny teenage delights. Expensive, yes, but delights nonetheless! Their fave past-time du jour however is roasting their wonderful, ahem, mother. A past-time they find both hilarious and endlessly enjoyable. Bastards. So, I have two weeks where I have to have a very firm handle on both my self-esteem and my Zara budget!

Chat soon xx

PS Here’s more Sienna that you didn’t ask for but the other look I loved!