I look like a magician above but those white gloves are a godsend if, like me, you have ruined sheer tights just pulling them on. I have had so many instances over the years where a finger has created a hole or ladder, and I was unable to wear the tights in question!
UK Tights kindly gifted me with these gloves which, for just a fiver, eradicate the problem! Genius. Perfect for a hosiery fan's stocking filler (if I'm not mixing my metaphors).
Beauty Advent Calendar Bought
On the subject of stocking fillers, I am already admiring on my shelf this year's beauty Advent Calendar. You may think these are a complete hype and that I should know better. Well, I've been getting one of these since the fad started, around five years ago, and I cherish the count down in December when each little window is opened. I find the small sizes perfect for when I'm travelling, and it's good to get new introductions to products.
In the past I've had Advent calendars from John Lewis, Charlotte Tilbury and Decleor, to name three, and this year I impulsively bought the Look Fantastic calendar without looking to see what was in it. They have good brands and it's a big, substantial product so I'm sure there will be lots to love. I find that buying a different one each year is good because otherwise you get served up with the same brands each time.
And still on the subject of Christmas, I've bought a new tablecloth for the big day (yes!) and something I've always wanted, a traditional Nativity stable with hand painted figures. I will so enjoy arranging them and admiring it. No photos until Christmas.
You can deduce from this I am one of those irritating people who organizes and plans well in advance!
A New Magazine - Platinum
It's very unusual these days to see a new print magazine launching. I have been an avid reader of magazines all my life, starting first with Princess Tina, Pink, Jackie, Fab 208, 19 and Over 21, and moving through Cosmopolitan, Easy Living (gone), She (gone), More (gone), Red, and finally Woman & Home, Good Housekeeping, Grazia. And others too numerous to mention.
I have written about the history of some of the magazines mentioned in my old blog, here.
In recent years, very few magazines pass muster for me, Those aimed at my age group are positioned clearly at grandmothers who bake, and I don't see myself in that bracket. I'm an older version of my younger self. I'm still fun loving and curious; I love fashion and beauty; keeping up with new trends, staying fit. I don't mind cooking but as a working woman, I don't have time for complicated recipes.
I find my solace in the over-40s blogging community, where there are plenty of like minded women. Some are mothers and grandmothers, some have retired, but we all have a certain joie-de-vivre, even if we are dealing with issues like organizing funerals, stay-at-home older children and parents with health problems.
Platinum describes itself as "the inspired magazine for inspiring women." The cover, as you can see, shows Julie Walters. I love her of course, but she's such a regular choice for magazine front covers. There's a coterie of women who regularly turn up in W&H and GH: Julie, Helen Mirren, Fern Britton, Judi Dench, Lorraine Kelly, Suzanne Reid.
I would love to see more of women like Vivienne Westward, Zandra Rhodes, Marian Keyes, Lady Hale, Carol Vorderman and some of the other women featured in my Remarkable Women board on Pinterest.
I was immediately struck by how similar the magazine looks to Woman & Home. "Platinum Picks" is an exact copy, in the same place, as a similar regular in both W&H and GH! Surely the editors could have placed it somewhere else if they were determined to copy the formula?
The women featured throughout the magazine are aged 50s upwards, so it's clearly supposed to appeal to my age group. The adverts, early on, seemed to be on target, but towards the end of the magazine, deteriorated into ads for stairlifts, bladder leaks, writing wills and retirement living. Plus too many "Platinum Partnerships" (also know as advertising features). Guys, I want luxury and escapism in my magazines!
A lot of the content was factual and a little hectoring in tone. I enjoyed the articles about wild swimming and Jay Aston from Buck's Fizz, who has overcome mouth cancer. The rest was....blah. There was hardly any mention of social media yet women over 40 do use it. Some of us are even on Instagram!
If we need information on writing wills, sorting funerals, statins, dementia care, bladder leaks or equity release, we can look online. I don't want to see it in my monthly magazine treat, something I want to enjoy on a rainy Sunday afternoon or beach in summer.
Finally Got Netflix
We finally added Netflix to the Sky and Amazon roster and we're currently enjoying The Crown. I'm surprised how lavish it is and largely historically accurate, so far. So that's the current "watching."
Latest Podcast of Choice: Dear Joan and Jericha
Dear Joan and Jericha is back for its second series. I absolutely love this although I must warn you, it is not for those who are easily shocked. The two agony aunts sound like tweedy middle-class ladies from Tunbridge Wells, but their responses to the questions they're "sent" are the compete opposite of what you would expect. Hilarious.
I'm also enjoying Angela Scanlon's Thanks A Million. Angela interviews someone each week and finds out, at the end, what they're thankful for. It sounds schmaltzy but the interviews are interesting and Scanlon draws the best out of people.
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