Lifestyle

From a Lidl trolley bag to thrifted berets and a vintage Louis Vuitton bag, fans attending this year’s shows proved that fashion in the capital is all about experimentation, eccentricity and a sense humour Continue reading...

Therapist-backed ways to build self-trust. The post When Growth Feels Uncomfortable: The Real Reason Imposter Syndrome Shows Up appeared first on Camille Styles .

After a decade at the top, the Bake Off winner is reclaiming her career and refusing to soften her edges. She discusses racism, gaslighting – and why comfort food is more important than ever In a food world where the trend is for protein and weight-loss injections and sugar is the supervillain, Nadiya’s Quick Comforts seems somewhat contrary. There are golden syrup dumplings. There is a chapter devoted to deep frying, with cheese balls and ingenious deep-fried cannelloni. “If I could write an entire book on deep frying, I absolutely would,” says Hussain with a laugh. “This is how I cook, this is how I eat, this is how I show love to my family. Everything in there is stuff that my kids absolutely love.” It’s about balance, she says – there are also lovely recipes for soothing plant-based dal and delicious noodles – because “I think anything that’s an extreme version of itself is dangerous”. Continue reading...

I was in New Orleans for work, without travel insurance, when the car crashed into me. In the months I spent recovering, I began to think seriously about how I treated my health The SUV slammed into me at a crosswalk, where I had right of way. It was 2024 and I was on the first night of a work trip to New Orleans. Time slowed down as I flew 2 metres through the air and crashed on to the road in what felt like slow motion. When I managed to stand up, there were waves of adrenaline juddering through me. My friend, Brandy, and a group of strangers helped me to the side of the road, and it was then that I remembered my annual travel insurance had expired the week before. In a prim, defensive tone, like a dowager who’d just had a fainting spell and resented all the fuss, I insisted that I was perfectly fine and didn’t need an ambulance. Then I blacked out. The paramedics arrived and, despite my protests, they wouldn’t take no for an answer. On the stretcher, I started calculating how much money I had in my current account, how much I could put on a credit card and how much I could plausibly ask to borrow from my parents. My lack of insurance was entirely due to my own fecklessness, but being forced to run these sums with a head injury, after begging not to receive help that I obviously needed, was an almost comically bleak experience. Continue reading...

Americans should take a closer look at the super-efficient drying racks that save money and electricity on laundry I tried 10 laundry baskets to find the best hamper in the US Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things Recently, I spent a long weekend in a cabin in Oregon where one of the best (and most useful) features of the space was in the bathroom. It wasn’t the Toto toilet or the rainfall shower head, but another luxury: a shiny chrome towel rack that, to my surprise, quietly warmed my bath towels . Enchanted by this device, I experimented with a wet swimsuit, which I left draped over its bars for a day. I returned to find it warm and dry enough to pack away, as if it’d spent a day basking in the sun on a clothesline. Best for high capacity Tors + Olsson X Frame Best for a tight budget Maas & Bath Heated Drying Rack Continue reading...

Adds to cart. The post The Spring Edit: 24 Products Readers Can’t Stop Buying appeared first on Camille Styles .

Curated, not cluttered. The post 5 Things to Banish From Your Bedroom for a Fresh, Clean Start appeared first on Camille Styles .

Some think yoga isn’t for them – but there’s ‘something for everybody’. Experts share what to know about the mindful practice that can improve strength and sleep Countless articles and studies tout the benefits of yoga. It can improve balance, strength, flexibility, digestion and sleep. It can also reduce stress and support mental wellbeing. And yet many people feel like yoga isn’t for them because their bodies don’t look or move a certain way. “That is how I felt before I started practicing yoga,” says Jessamyn Stanley , who has written two books about yoga and co-founded the yoga app The Underbelly . “I always thought yoga was just for thin, white women,” she says. Continue reading...

They practically plan themselves. The post 30 Weeknight Meals for When You’re Short on Time (and Energy) appeared first on Camille Styles .

I’ve been without a hob in my new kitchen for three months after an emergency engineer was forced to disconnect it When Wickes installed my new kitchen, I noticed an odd, worsening smell that I put down to the ongoing works. It was nearly two months later that I realised it was gas. My supplier dispatched an emergency engineer, who discovered a leak in the newly fitted hob and categorised it as an immediate danger. The gas supply to the hob was disconnected and Wickes sent a replacement, but no one came to install it. Continue reading...

Highlights from behind the scenes at the 2026 Baftas ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall on London’s Southbank News: One Battle After Another defeats Hamnet and Sinners as Robert Aramayo takes best actor Peter Bradshaw’s take Find the full list of the night’s winners here The best quotes of the night The best looks f rom the red carpet Continue reading...

Your $1,000 laptop deserves a protective home on the road. A tech journalist and frequent traveler recommends his nine favorites The four best personal-item backpacks that fit under US airline seats Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things Whether you’re flying across the country on vacation, meeting with an important client downtown or just heading to your local coffee shop for work, there is a good chance you’re bringing a backpack along, with a laptop squirreled away inside. While you can toss a laptop into just about any bag, the best laptop backpacks are specially tailored to pamper what is probably one of your most expensive (and delicate) possessions. That means a padded pocket lined with soft non-scratch material, easy access to your computer without unpacking everything and lots of extra pockets for portable mice, chargers and other accessories. Add in all of the standard backpack considerations such as capacity, comfort and durability, and you have a lot of factors to consider. Best overall: Mission Workshop Meridian backpack Best for travel: Peak Design Travel Backpack Continue reading...

From star nominees to winners in the fashion stakes, photographs that capture the flavour of this year’s awards ceremony • How the night went down • Peter Bradshaw’s verdict on the Baftas’ winners and losers • News: One Battle After Another defeats Hamnet and Sinners as Robert Aramayo takes best actor • Find the full list of the night’s winners here • The best quotes of the night Continue reading...

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts • This week’s question: what would happen to the world if computer said yes? I’ve always thought it would be good to acquire an old warehouse in every town throughout the land and convert it into low-rent community workspaces for artists, local charities and small businesses getting off the ground. A kind of people’s WeWork. What would others do with a humungous, but not unlimited, pile of dosh to benefit society? Roland Freeman, West Yorkshire Send new questions to [email protected] . Continue reading...

The Sunday Scaries, solved. The post The Sunday Night Reset That Actually Made Me Look Forward to Mondays appeared first on Camille Styles .

From Our Place to Caraway, we tested 13 nonstick pans free of harmful Pfas chemicals. Here’s how well they stand up to high heat and everyday cooking The five best induction cookware sets Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things So-called non-toxic pans are often under a microscope. If you go down an internet rabbit hole about “ toxic cookware ,” you’ll find scary phrases about heavy metals, chemical coatings and something called polymer flume fever. It’s enough to make you side-eye the skillet you use every morning. What’s actually going on? At the Drexel Food Lab , we investigate questions like these. When we started our search for the best non-toxic pans, we immediately reached out to our best colleague for defining toxicity: Dr Caroline Schauer, head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University. Best overall: Our Place Titanium Always Pan Pro Continue reading...

The crunch changes everything. The post Blistered Broccolini Pasta With Garlic, Lemon & Breadcrumbs Is the Ultimate Dinner Glow-Up appeared first on Camille Styles .

From nostalgic faves to new releases. The post The 34 Best Family Movies for Movie Night (All Ages, All Vibes) appeared first on Camille Styles .

Can’t wait to ditch that heavy parka? Here are three lighter options for the warmer days ahead Continue reading...

Finding clarity, one pose at a time. The post The Powerful Connection Between Yoga and Mental Clarity: How My Practice Became a Lifeline appeared first on Camille Styles .

Making choices can be difficult when options are not clearly better or worse than each other – how does one even begin to decide? I love cats. I’d been idly keeping an eye out for a less allergenic breed, when bam – a kitten became available. Suddenly I had to decide whether to take the leap. Even though I’d been considering cat ownership for a while, I felt anxious. I mulled over all the responsibilities: vet bills, stubborn allergies, years of commitment. One big sticking point was travel. Having a cat would be rewarding, but did I want it right now if it meant I couldn’t decide on a whim to book a cheap last minute flight to another city? Did I want to buy Fancy Feast, or stay fancy-free? Continue reading...

With more than 200 possible symptoms, long Covid isn’t easy to treat and diagnose. Rolled-back federal funding has led longhaulers to ask: is this all in my head? I am 30ft below the surface of the Blue Grotto, a crystalline diving hole in central Florida. Between the water’s embrace and the restriction of my wetsuit, my blood pressure finally stabilizes. The long, deep breaths I pull from my respirator keep my heart rate nice and low. I feel lighter than I have since April 2022, when I first contracted long Covid. I feel childlike at the fact that I can do this at all – get scuba certified – when on land I’m often confined to a wheelchair or a walker. Continue reading...

The practices helping me stay present—without throwing my phone in the ocean. The post How I’m Learning to Use My Phone, Without Letting It Use Me appeared first on Camille Styles .

On adult friendships and alignment. The post The Friendship Audit: How I Evaluated My Relationships—and Rebuilt My Inner Circle appeared first on Camille Styles .

It used to be fairly easy to get work that paid at or around the minimum wage. But with a shrinking number of positions come ever more hoops to jump through, from personality tests, to trial shifts, to towers constructed of marshmallows It is 10.30am, and Zahra is sitting in a business centre in Preston, attaching marshmallows to sticks of uncooked spaghetti. There are 30 interview candidates in the grey-carpeted room, split into groups of five, competing to build food towers. Already today they have had to solve anagrams, complete quizzes and rank the importance of various kitchen items. Just to be shortlisted for this two-hour interview round, Zahra had to write an online application consisting of 10 paragraphs about her work experience. As she builds her spaghetti and marshmallow tower, she thinks: “What am I actually doing here? This doesn’t relate to the job at all.” The job in question is not what Zahra, 20, plans to do for ever. It is as a crew member for Wingstop, a chicken shop chain, with a salary of £10.80 an hour – 80p an hour above minimum wage for her age range. During the interview, she says, “a woman with a notepad was staring at us, and all the shift managers were watching. It was so awkward.” A week or so later, Zahra received a short rejection email. “It felt like a waste of time,” she says. “What a joke.” Continue reading...

Its ‘fibre checker’ tool confirmed I could have a connection, but a month later it changed its mind My internet provider informed me by email that full fibre broadband had become available for my property, confirmed by Openreach’s “fibre checker” tool. After a month, Openreach declared the connection uneconomical due to blockages in the conduits below the road . Continue reading...

Cases among younger people are rising – such as with actor James Van Der Beek, who died on 11 February at age 48 Actor James Van Der Beek died on 11 February, aged 48; he had been diagnosed in 2023 with colorectal cancer. According to the World Health Organization, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. While rates are declining overall, cases among younger people are rising. Continue reading...

While there is no one recipe for a successful relationship, we can learn from each other to build one that lasts What is the key to a good relationship? For some couples, it’s important to share hobbies. Others say having individual interests is imperative. I’ve read that couples who sleep in separate beds are the happiest and I’ve also read that sleeping in separate beds is the death knell of romance. When I got engaged, I asked my parents – who have been married for 40 years – what advice they had for me, and my mother offered: “Contribute as much as you can to your retirement accounts.” OK! Continue reading...

From handheld to corded, self-emptying to stick models, these are our resident cleaner’s favourite vacuums for a spotless home • The best cordless vacuum cleaners, tested • How to make your vacuum cleaner last longer Buying a vacuum cleaner isn’t as easy as you might think. With so many brands and models to choose from, it can be bewildering. Sticking with established brands isn’t necessarily a safe bet, with past performance being no guarantee that the latest models will be as good. Meanwhile, prices can be deceptive, with some affordable models now closing the gap on top-of-the-range brands when it comes to cleaning performance. You can’t know all this by browsing through a department store or online. The ideal thing to do would be to take a few models home to try them out – but good luck persuading anyone to let you do that. Thankfully, you won’t have to try because I’ve tested an array of models for you. I’ve measured each one’s ability to perform a range of real-world cleaning jobs, so you can discover the best vacuum cleaner for you. Best corded vacuum cleaner overall: Shark Detect XL Car + Pet LA791UKT Best cordless vacuum cleaner overall: Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty IP3251UKT Continue reading...

Valentine’s, Galentine’s, staying in – or going out? Sometimes it’s just nice to dress up Continue reading...

Being codependent is often seen as a bad thing. But a new book makes the case for ‘healthy dependency’ Many of us desire deeper relationships. What we don’t always agree on is how close is too close. Dating advice often casts intimacy as a tightrope – pull back too much, or push for more. Either move is read as a red flag. Between discussions of incompatible attachment styles , the importance of boundaries and the dangers of love-bombing , it’s easy to get the impression there’s a correct level of closeness to aim for. In truth, intimacy isn’t one-size-fits-all and comfort levels vary – not just between individuals, but across their relationships. Continue reading...

There are times when it is better to wear underwear than not. Here’s what the experts say In 2015, during a particularly energetic performance of the song American Woman in Stockholm, Lenny Kravitz split a pair of leather pants right down the crotch, revealing his manhood to the world. I’m sorry to say I think about this incident somewhat regularly. Not out of titillation, but because it planted in my head a troublesome question: just how many people, rock stars or otherwise, aren’t wearing underwear in public? Continue reading...

From capsule to bean-to-cup, espresso to filter, these are the coffee makers our aficionado rates the highest from his test of 29 • The best espresso machines to release your inner barista When it comes to something as earth-shatteringly important as coffee, everyone has an opinion. Some crave a single perfect shot of espresso, while others seek the milkiest latte; some love Starbucks and others, well, don’t. This is why the idea of there being a single best coffee machine is fanciful – everyone’s idea of the perfect coffee couldn’t be more different. As a selfless service to coffee drinkers everywhere, I’ve spent the past year researching and trialling coffee machines to produce a shortlist of tried-and-tested recommendations. The list spans all the main types of coffee maker: manual espresso, filter, bean-to-cup and capsule. (Not sure what all of this means? Read our dedicated guide to the different types of coffee machine .) Best budget manual coffee machine: De’Longhi Stilosa EC230 Best budget bean-to-cup coffee machine: De’Longhi Magnifica Evo Start Continue reading...

When one of you wants the beach, and the other wants the city, how do you agree on a destination? Here are eight real-life solves to make sure everyone gets the trip they want Sometimes planning a holiday is the easiest thing in the world, scrolling through hotels with sparkling swimming pools, picturing yourself on that soft-sand beach or poking about down the narrow alleys of an atmospheric old town. Other times, it can be a convoluted jigsaw, trying to satisfy multiple tastes, expectations and wants. One person wants the convenience, buzz and history of an ancient city, while the other wants nothing but sea and sand for miles. One wants heart-pumping activity day after day, while the other doesn’t want to lift a finger all week. Perhaps that need to cater to diverse interests is why over 80% of us are planning to travel somewhere new this year, according to research conducted by the travel company TUI. Continue reading...

With the right styling, a hooded top doesn’t have to be restricted to travelling or working from home Continue reading...

The perils of online research. Plus: 104 years’ cryptic compiling from just two setters I regret to announce that a handy sense-check tool is now no longer available. I was recently checking a clue (“Leftmost colour on the French flag”) in our addictive new Mini series. ( There’s a new one every day : tell your cryptic-sceptical friends; it might bring them our way.) I typed “french flag” into Google. In, say, 2020, it was possible to type “spotted hyena diet” and clock where the Featured Snippet was taken from. I was initially sceptical but if it was from, say, Britannica, one more click would confirm that the luckless gazelles had been clued accurately. More often than not, it was indeed from a reputable source and the rest of the time, the information was usually correct, just requiring a further bit of searching to find a Britannica, a Collins, or, best of all, a Guardian. Continue reading...