Good things #11
In which I try to solve sleep-wrinkles, crave Korean food thanks to a sad book and realise I might have become someone who likes running
Dear friends,
Happy Friday! And guess what? My daughter has Covid again for the second time in just over 2 months.
Yep.
So “Good Things #11” comes to you today through a veil of my tears. Not really, it’s fine. The sun is shining, the rest of the family are OK (so far) and Good Things always abound. First up… I’m 39 but why do I look 99-years-old in the mornings?
Beauty: Can a silk pillowcase really sort out our sleep wrinkles?
So, when I wake up in the mornings, I now have a cross-hatch of wrinkles etched horrifyingly across one side of my face. I look in the mirror, touch my hand gently to my face and think, “My God, how long have I been asleep for?”
But then I realise I’ve just been sleeping on my side and my ageing skin doesn’t bounce back as fast as it used to. In a panic I Googled it and, to be honest, it didn’t make me feel much better:
“Sleep wrinkles disappear immediately on younger skin, but will eventually become permanent from constant compression and decreased skin elasticity with age.”
I text my cousin (beauty expert Alexandra Bailey) for help and she was literally aghast that I don’t rest my head at night on a silk pillowcase. Apparently it’s a must. Alex says:
“The smooth surface of a silk pillowcase creates less friction against your face. Also it absorbs less moisture than a cotton pillowcase, so if your skin is dehydrated it’s another step towards resolving that. A double bonus is that sleeping on silk is great for your hair too. Again, less friction and helps with frizzing.”
So, I spent £23 on a silk pillowcase and genuinely my hair really has been frizz free in the mornings. Nice and smooth and silky. Sadly, I do still look 99-years-old for the first hour of the day but, I must admit, a silk pillowcase does feel more appropriate for a woman (or a man!) of advancing years than scratchy old cotton. Come on, we’re worth it.
LOOMBERRY 22 Momme 100% Natural Pure Mulberry Silk Pillowcase is on Amazon, £23
TV: The Dropout on Disney+ and The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley on Sky Store
Two recommendations in one up next: First, The Dropout. Amanda Seyfried plays convicted Silicon Valley fraudster, CEO Elizabeth Holmes in this brilliant new four-part series. And if you don’t already know the story then I’d also recommend watching the documentary: The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.
Basically, Elizabeth Holmes was a young, very ambitious entrepreneur who had a brilliant idea to transform how we do blood tests. Prick your finger for one drop of blood and a small machine would perform hundreds of blood tests from that single drop. No more needles. No waiting. And you could get it done all by yourself, at the supermarket, quickly, easily, staying totally on top of your own healthcare. Truly, it’s a brilliant idea. And investors funnelled millions her way.
Turns out though, making that machine was really hard. Impossible actually. And it’s literally unbelievable how far Elizabeth Holmes got with it all before she was found out. Amanda Seyfried plays her brilliantly, even nailing the way she never seems to blink and also the way she talks in a strange, Thatcher-esq deep voice to give herself more gravitas. The absolute blag of it!
|The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley is on Sky Store (watch the trailer here), and The Dropout is on Disney + (Trailer here).
Podcasts: Why I Run
I run a little bit. But only since last March, when I started running purely to win calories as part of a calorie-deficit diet. I absolutely hated running before last March. And I also found nothing more boring that people talking about running, or trying to convince me that running was good. But here I am, one year later, enjoying a podcast of people talking about running and I’m even nodding along as I listen to it like these runners are “my people”. So what’s happened to me?
Why I Run discusses how pounding the pavement can be a form of active meditation. It gets your blood going but it also clears your mind, brings a connection between your mind and body also helping you to get into that elusive, creative “flow” state. It can be a form of physical and mental discipline, helping you build to mental strength and to push your boundaries a little bit, which feels good. And crucially (and one thing I personally like) is that it gives you some time to yourself where no one can catch you.
I started running to win calories (I like to eat biscuits for breakfast), but I have to admit over the last year I’ve grown to enjoy all the above good things too. From a former hater of running, who has zero interest in ever running more than 4km at a time, I’d recommend this podcast to anyone who thinks running is boring and pointless.
Books: Crying in H Mart
“Will have you in tears!” says Marie Claire magazine on the back cover. “Great!” I thought in the bookshop. “I love being in tears!” Do we really need to read a sad book right now? Well, the answer is “Yes”.
I’ve just started to read Crying in H Mart but I love it already. The author is Korean, and grieving for her mother, but the story begins just before her mother becomes ill, making it even sadder because we first get to see the relationship between them. The stresses and strains but also, the love.
It’s about the complexities of the mother/daughter relationship and how our memories, and the way we show our feelings, can often be tangled together with cooking and eating food. It’s clever and really absorbing. It will definitely make you cry but will also make you extremely hungry for Korean food. With Mother’s Day this weekend, it’s a reminder to appreciate everyone out there who goes by the name of “Mum”.
Treasure from the internet: Remember that little girl?
To help support the cause you can donate money to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s “Good Things” newsletter! Please “like” it with the little heart if you have!
And please share it far and wide, I’d really appreciate it. Welcome also to all the new people this week!
You can reply to this or find me on Twitter @emilyincam if you want to say “Hello”.
See you next week!
Love, Emily xx