Dua Lipa, Celine Dion and Sarah Pidgeon Swear by This Trophy Jacket-and-Jeans Formula for Instant Fashion Confidence

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Summer, it's been fun but it finally—finally!—feels like colder temperatures have arrived. And if you're feeling a bit thrown for a loop after an unseasonably warm September, there's one hot-weather outfit formula that you can quickly Autumn-ify. All you need to do is substitute the "nice top" for a trophy jacket in the famous "jeans and a nice top" outfit formula.

In Paris, jeans became the "casual" vehicle by which to wear really quite fancy jackets during the day. Céline Dion kickstarted the "jeans and a trophy jacket" formula to greet the paparazzi stationed outside her hotel—and, since then, we've seen every hot jacket (tweed jackets; military jackets; leather jackets) coupled with jeans. The final ingredient in many cases is a nostalgic court heel (imagine!), making this a trifecta—jacket + jeans + heels—that you almost certainly have in your wardrobe. The trio is very '90s red carpet when celebrities didn't coordinate every look with a stylist but, instead, wore a mix of their own clothes and gifts from favourite brands, delivering less polish but way more personality.

Céline Dion

Céline Dion (Image credit: Getty Images)

Céline Dion's tour looks have been a collection of jaw-dropping gowns (not an overstatement!), but her on-the-street outfits have been just as captivating, particularly this peplum-waisted jacket paired with straight-legged jeans (Givenchy by Sarah Burton). A peplum waist might trigger alarm bells, understandably, but it's actually a very sensible partner for straight-up-and-down denim, providing not just contrast but sculptural interest.

Liberowe

Velvet Peplum Jacket

Jeanerica

Kyoto Droit 1990

Le Monde Beryl

Leather Petra Mules

Daisy Edgar-Jones

Daisy Edgar-Jones (Image credit: Backgrid)

Daisy Edgar-Jones has engaged in some on-point period dressing while promoting Sense and Sensibility. And while the corseted gowns and archival pendant necklaces were ravishing, it, again, was a jeans-and-jacket combination that captured our attention (her take on a modern-day Elinor). It felt like a particularly good way to wear a military jacket, which can feel slightly on-the-nose paired with tailoring. Instead, low-rise jeans with a very slight flare (perhaps even too slight to be called "boot-leg") were the perfect foil.

Mango

Jacket With Strip Collar

Abercrombie & Fitch

Slouchy Straight Jean

Gucci

Vittoria slingback pumps

Sarah Pidgeon

Sarah Pidgeon (Image credit: Getty Images)

Sarah Pidgeon put a trophy spin on everyone's favourite jacket. Her take on leather wasn't an oversized biker or a minimal blazer (very CBK) but, instead, a cinch-waisted, bell-sleeved style that had as much romance (and softness) as one can eke out of leather (bravo, Balenciaga!). The split-hem jeans, with frayed edges trailing under the spike of a court-heel stiletto, added a counterbalance of grunge.

Ducie

Bernadette Jacket

Arket

Coral Wide Jeans

Toteme

Nappa Kitten Pumps

Dua Lipa

Dua Lipa (Image credit: Backgrid)

A (Matthieu Blazy-era) Chanel tweed jacket is now the ultimate shopping acquisition (as well as his shoes, which are extremely hard to get your hands on or feet in). And Dua Lipa just demonstrated how to wear one if you manage the seemingly impossible—with nothing more, nothing less than jeans and pumps (take note that her jeans stop just below the ankle for a super-polished appearance).

Sister Jane

Fringe Tweed Jacket

Levi's

Ribcage Ankle Jeans

Charles & Keith

Aira Kitten Heels

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The Human Cost Of Fashion’s Heat Crisis: “It Feels Like Being Locked Inside A Pressure Cooker At High Flame”

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For garment workers in the dense industrial hub that surrounds Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, a typical day begins at 5am. They make breakfast for their families and clean the house before walking to work—a journey that can take up to an hour.

In Dhaka, the weather is both warm and humid—the temperature rarely drops below 26°C, and in the summer months it can reach as high as 45°C. During heatwaves, which are increasingly frequent and protracted as global warming’s consequences land, inside the factories, where T-shirts and trousers are made for the world’s biggest clothing companies, temperatures can be a sweltering 38°C.

And it’s not just in Bangladesh—across China, India and Vietnam, where much of the world’s clothing is produced, rising heat stress is threatening the lives and health of the people (mostly women) who work along the supply chain. Less than two per cent of them are paid a living wage to cut and assemble clothing under the immense pressure of volume-based production targets.

The speed of their labour is the last price component that can be squeezed in fashion’s seemingly bottomless search for the cheapest goods. Materials, electricity and logistic costs are relatively fixed, so when a fashion brand demands a lower price, labour is the only movable variable.

Now, ultra-fast-fashion brands and mass retailers, from Shein to Kmart, sell T-shirts for as little as £2.16. Before the retail mark-up is applied, the cost price might be just a third of this. And once fabric and overheads are accounted for, there are mere cents left for the people who construct and sew garments.

As heat adds another layer of stress and risk to jobs already fraught with zero-hour contracts (where there is no guarantee of minimum hours), no sick leave and hazardous working environments, the fashion industry is facing a reckoning over its treatment of workers.

(Image credit: Getty Images/Marie Claire)

“We wear bras, blouses, sarees and aprons in 40°C heat. It feels like being locked inside a pressure cooker at high flame,” says a 36-year-old sewing machine operator from India who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Sometimes, I think I’m like a broiler chicken—just waiting to burst.”

She has been working in the garment industry for nine years and has a number of strategies in place to meet her production targets, fearing scolding from line supervisors if she falls behind. She avoids drinking water to minimise toilet use and chews gum to suppress thirst. “I only pee at lunch or after I reach home,” she says. “That’s how I survive, by controlling my body.”

Another 39-year-old woman from India works as a fusing operator—a physically demanding job using a heat press machine to attach brand labels onto garments. She has been in the industry for five years and works at a factory that produces clothes for major international brands where the production pressure to meet high volume targets is intense. “If I go to the toilet, when I come back, my table is loaded with garment pieces and I’ll be yelled at. So I control myself from peeing to avoid scolding. I hardly drink water—only when I feel like fainting will I drink a little,” she says.

A 33-year-old tailor (also from India) who works six days a week to support her household describes the factory—which has no ventilation and only a few functioning fans—as a “furnace with no relief” in the summer months. She is on a day-pay contract with minimal security and no benefits and is expected to make 120 to 130 pieces per hour.

“If I don’t meet my piece count, I won’t get paid,” she says. “We don’t even have time to wipe the sweat off our faces. If we stop, the pieces won’t get done—and then the supervisor scolds us in front of everyone. That’s very humiliating.” As we have seen across Europe this summer, extreme heat is no longer a projected threat—it is already disrupting lives all over the world. Every one of the past 11 years has been one of the hottest on record.

If I go to the toilet, when I come back, my table is loaded with garment pieces and I’ll be yelled at.

(Image credit: Getty Images/Marie Claire)

The World Meteorological Organisation has confirmed that the global average surface temperature in 2025 was 1.44°C above the pre-industrial average.

In the worst affected places, temperatures are also rising at night, limiting the ability of anyone without air conditioning to experience a reprieve. But despite its prevalence, and the fact that it is the leading cause of weather-related deaths globally, heat is viewed differently to other extreme weather events. Because droughts, floods and bushfires are visually more dramatic, the threat they pose to human life is better understood.

By contrast, extreme heat is viewed as an annoyance, and experts say we are unprepared for its catastrophic health impacts and how unevenly it affects different social groups. Dr Harshita Umesh is the founder of Vaada Hope Foundation and a surgeon in training from Bengaluru, India.

Garment workers present at the hospital where she is a resident with a range of health problems, many of them compounded by the heat and their precarious working conditions. These include dehydration, headaches, fainting, cardiovascular strain, an inability to concentrate which results in injury, gastrointestinal issues from food spoilage and insufficient water intake, urinary tract infections, kidney stones and irritability that can result in violence from their managers.

To make matters worse for the women inside the factories, extreme heat’s impact on menopause, pregnancy and fertility is under-researched. “Garment workers usually drink very, very little water so that they don’t have to use the restroom. The consequences of that ends up being a urinary tract infection, it ends up being sepsis, it ends up being kidney stones, it ends up being people in the hospital,” Umesh says. Heat is “an underlying stress that exacerbates everything else around it”, especially for female garment workers who may already be in “a chronic condition of starvation and are under a lot of stress already”.

In two reports released at the end of 2025, human rights campaigners Amnesty International accused fashion brands, factory owners and the governments of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka of failing to ensure garment workers had the right to unionise and collectively bargain.

The harsh reality of these workers’ lives—powerless to demand better conditions and under such intense time pressure that bathroom breaks are out of reach—is just one part of the inhumanity in these jobs.

(Image credit: Getty Images/Marie Claire)

Garment workers usually drink very, very little water so that they don’t have to use the restroom.

Another is that they do not have paid sick leave, and Umesh recounts stories of women who present in hospital, needing treatment, but refuse it because they cannot afford to take the time off work. “If you have a quota to meet, you might not go to the doctor on time,” she says. Meaning something like a small injury to a finger can get infected and swollen. Usually, such an injury would be curable with medication and time, but if “you have to go back to work or your family will starve”, you will refuse treatment.

She recounts incidents of patients returning when the infection becomes too bad to ignore—if it’s spread to the bone, the only option to save their life is to amputate the finger. “Every garment we wear tells a story and it shouldn’t be one of blood, sweat and tears,” Umesh says. “Workers must be paid a living wage, not because the world is watching but out of respect for human dignity and life.”

To make an already difficult situation even worse, the solutions—air conditioning and extra fans—are compromised by how much they cost to install, old infrastructure that cannot physically support them and by pressure from the fashion industry to decarbonise the supply chain, which means using less electricity, not more.

Solutions are further compromised by global instability impacting fuel sources. In May, due to energy shortages linked to the Iran war, Bangladesh manufacturers were forced to turn off fans and air conditioning to save power while temperatures peaked. Pivoting to renewable energy from solar panels seems like a logical solution, but infrastructure and who shoulders the expense of installation remains a barrier.

While the issues of the industry’s environmental harms and contribution to global warming are entwined with the harm it perpetrates on workers in its supply chains —namely through over-production—there is an urgency missing from the industry’s approach to the health impacts of heat stress. Grace Forrest, the founding director of the human rights organisation Walk Free, believes the fashion industry is too focused on innovation to lessen its environmental footprint.

(Image credit: Getty Images/Marie Claire)

“Right now, harmful impact is far outpacing the delivery of effective and structural sustainability solutions,” she says. “Many of the ‘solutions’ will not address the human harms stitched into the fashion industry.”

Dr Hakan Karaosman is a supply chain expert and associate professor at Politecnico di Milano. He believes at least part of the solution is fashion brands changing their business models and accepting that they must pay a fair price. “We are seeing production as a commodity. We are seeing workers as a commodity. So we don’t really humanise the workforce,” he explains. “Let’s ask the workers how we can help them improve their conditions so they can be more dignified.”

The women who gave their voices to this article asked for urgent, basic interventions that are so simple it is heartbreaking to consider how difficult their working days are. “A glass of lime water—if [lime] is too expensive, then at least cold water. Something to make it bearable,” the 33-year-old tailor says.

Other requests include more frequent and unpenalised toilet breaks, air coolers or air conditioners during high-temperature periods, electrolyte water, better ventilation and roofs that are made of materials other than metal. The 36-year-old sewing machine operator asks for something that would help the people at the top—those making the decisions that impact the workers’ lives—have more empathy for them.

“Let the directors of these fashion brands sit in our seats—just for one hour,” she says. “Let them feel this heat, this sweat, this pain. Maybe then they’ll realise that they are killing us for their profits.”

This story was initially published by Lucianne Toni on the Marie Claire Australia website

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I Smell Hundreds of Perfumes a Year—Merit’s New Fragrance Made Me Stop and Pay Attention

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I’ll admit, I’m a self-confessed perfume snob—and I’m very particular about the type of fragrances I wear. I like to smell elegant, understated and expensive, which usually means something nuanced, beautifully balanced and difficult to immediately decipher.

So, when a makeup brand branches into fragrance, I’m always sceptical. To me, it can often feel like a commercial play to drive sales rather than an exercise in olfactory exploration and genuine brand enrichment. However, Merit’s first fragrance, Retrospect, was one of the few exceptions to this rule. Despite ultimately being a skin scent, it is incredibly complex and nuanced, opening with a burst of bergamot, pear and ambrette before settling into something softer, muskier and more lived-in. It’s also incredibly good value for the quality, with 30% fragrance oil and a price tag of £72.

Today, Merit revealed its second fragrance: New Wave. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be rushing to try it, but after the success—and, frankly, the perfumery credentials—of Retrospect, I made a point of getting my hands on it. And it really didn’t disappoint.

(Image credit: Lottie Winter)

First, the bottle. It’s the same molten, pebble-esque form as its predecessor, complete with that distinctive thumb-dent, but New Wave has been given its own identity with a slightly different lid and warm, golden juice.

Next, the fragrance itself. New Wave is an amber, but if that immediately makes you think of something powdery and sweet, you'd be mistaken. Yes, the amber character is apparent almost immediately, with a distinct vanillary warmth, but it's cut through by the dry, herbaceous quality of angelica seed. It’s slightly earthy and almost medicinal, stopping the amber underneath from becoming too plush or predictable.

This tension makes sense when you look at its construction. Master perfumer Dominique Ropion and perfumer Meabh McCurtin took the historic Ambre 83 accord, with its rich, resinous, vanillic character, as their starting point, then worked to make it feel lighter and more contemporary.

As it settles, the edges soften and orange flower starts to come through, but not as an overtly pretty white floral. Instead, it's more of a resinous floral: warm, slightly honeyed and almost balsamic, with the flower kind of absorbed into the amber rather than sitting on top of it. Ylang-ylang adds to that solar warmth, but I find the orange flower much easier to identify on my skin.

Then comes the dry-down. The sweetness recedes and the woods, ambroxan and other amber materials come to the fore, leaving behind something smooth, dry and distinctly ambroxy. There’s still a trace of that original warmth, but by this point it feels less like classical amber and more like warm skin against dry wood.

The base itself is extensive. Benzoin, labdanum, olibanum and patchouli sit alongside ambrofoam, ambroxan and musk; earthy cypriol and vetiver; tobacco; cedarwood and oakwood; then vanilla bean and tonka bean. On paper, it sounds as though it should be overwhelmingly rich. On skin, it’s remarkably controlled.

(Image credit: Lottie Winter)

For me, this is where New Wave stands out. It doesn’t progress neatly from bright top notes to a floral heart and finally a heavy amber base. The amber is there from the beginning; it's everything around it that changes. This feels particularly apt given it was initially inspired by an afternoon at the Musée Picasso in Paris, where the Merit team became interested in Cubism and Surrealism—and, specifically, the idea of knowing artistic rules well enough to break them. Ropion and McCurtin have essentially applied the same principle to classical amber perfumery: retaining its richness and sophistication while playing with the way we expect it to unfold.

New Wave is also an extrait de parfum, and its longevity reflects that. It has impressive presence when first sprayed, but it isn’t one of those fragrances that enters a room before you do. Instead, it develops slowly over several hours, becoming warmer, woodier and more intimate as the day goes on.

Retrospect was the fragrance that made me think that Merit deserved to be taken seriously as a perfume brand, and New Wave has confirmed it. The two smell very different—Retrospect is softer, muskier, and more intimate; New Wave is warmer, richer, and more assertive—but both show the same attention to composition.

At £79, it represents exceptional value for this level of perfumery. But more importantly, New Wave doesn’t smell like a fragrance created to capitalise on a successful beauty brand. It smells like the work of two very accomplished perfumers who were given enough room to make something genuinely interesting. And, for a perfume snob like me, that makes it a very easy recommendation.

Launching 22nd October on meritbeauty.com

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I Smell Hundreds of Perfumes a Year—Merit’s New Fragrance Made Me Stop and Pay Attention

https://ift.tt/TnGwMLF

I’ll admit, I’m a self-confessed perfume snob—and I’m very particular about the type of fragrances I wear. I like to smell elegant, understated and expensive, which usually means something nuanced, beautifully balanced and difficult to immediately decipher.

So, when a makeup brand branches into fragrance, I’m always sceptical. To me, it can often feel like a commercial play to drive sales rather than an exercise in olfactory exploration and genuine brand enrichment. However, Merit’s first fragrance, Retrospect, was one of the few exceptions to this rule. Despite ultimately being a skin scent, it is incredibly complex and nuanced, opening with a burst of bergamot, pear and ambrette before settling into something softer, muskier and more lived-in. It’s also incredibly good value for the quality, with 30% fragrance oil and a price tag of £72.

Today, Merit revealed its second fragrance: New Wave. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be rushing to try it, but after the success—and, frankly, the perfumery credentials—of Retrospect, I made a point of getting my hands on it. And it really didn’t disappoint.

(Image credit: Lottie Winter)

First, the bottle. It’s the same molten, pebble-esque form as its predecessor, complete with that distinctive thumb-dent, but New Wave has been given its own identity with a slightly different lid and warm, golden juice.

Next, the fragrance itself. New Wave is an amber, but if that immediately makes you think of something powdery and sweet, you'd be mistaken. Yes, the amber character is apparent almost immediately, with a distinct vanillary warmth, but it's cut through by the dry, herbaceous quality of angelica seed. It’s slightly earthy and almost medicinal, stopping the amber underneath from becoming too plush or predictable.

This tension makes sense when you look at its construction. Master perfumer Dominique Ropion and perfumer Meabh McCurtin took the historic Ambre 83 accord, with its rich, resinous, vanillic character, as their starting point, then worked to make it feel lighter and more contemporary.

As it settles, the edges soften and orange flower starts to come through, but not as an overtly pretty white floral. Instead, it's more of a resinous floral: warm, slightly honeyed and almost balsamic, with the flower kind of absorbed into the amber rather than sitting on top of it. Ylang-ylang adds to that solar warmth, but I find the orange flower much easier to identify on my skin.

Then comes the dry-down. The sweetness recedes and the woods, ambroxan and other amber materials come to the fore, leaving behind something smooth, dry and distinctly ambroxy. There’s still a trace of that original warmth, but by this point it feels less like classical amber and more like warm skin against dry wood.

The base itself is extensive. Benzoin, labdanum, olibanum and patchouli sit alongside ambrofoam, ambroxan and musk; earthy cypriol and vetiver; tobacco; cedarwood and oakwood; then vanilla bean and tonka bean. On paper, it sounds as though it should be overwhelmingly rich. On skin, it’s remarkably controlled.

(Image credit: Lottie Winter)

For me, this is where New Wave stands out. It doesn’t progress neatly from bright top notes to a floral heart and finally a heavy amber base. The amber is there from the beginning; it's everything around it that changes. This feels particularly apt given it was initially inspired by an afternoon at the Musée Picasso in Paris, where the Merit team became interested in Cubism and Surrealism—and, specifically, the idea of knowing artistic rules well enough to break them. Ropion and McCurtin have essentially applied the same principle to classical amber perfumery: retaining its richness and sophistication while playing with the way we expect it to unfold.

New Wave is also an extrait de parfum, and its longevity reflects that. It has impressive presence when first sprayed, but it isn’t one of those fragrances that enters a room before you do. Instead, it develops slowly over several hours, becoming warmer, woodier and more intimate as the day goes on.

Retrospect was the fragrance that made me think that Merit deserved to be taken seriously as a perfume brand, and New Wave has confirmed it. The two smell very different—Retrospect is softer, muskier, and more intimate; New Wave is warmer, richer, and more assertive—but both show the same attention to composition.

At £79, it represents exceptional value for this level of perfumery. But more importantly, New Wave doesn’t smell like a fragrance created to capitalise on a successful beauty brand. It smells like the work of two very accomplished perfumers who were given enough room to make something genuinely interesting. And, for a perfume snob like me, that makes it a very easy recommendation.

Launching 22nd October on meritbeauty.com

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As a Pilates Regular, I Was Sceptical of NordicTrack’s New At-Home Reformer—But It’s Convinced Me to Ditch Expensive Classes

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We're deep in 2026, and the hype around reformer Pilates is showing no signs of waning, much to my delight. I've been practising the method religiously (trust me, I am evangelical about its benefits) and couldn't be more thrilled that it's well and truly hit the mainstream.

But just like anything popular, with great interest comes great responsibility. It's fair to say that reformer Pilates is a market that's being capitalised upon—and iterations have sprung up that I'm definitely sceptical about. Far from being a trend, Pilates is a centuries-old methodology that demands precision, technique and a deep understanding of the fundamental moves as a bare minimum—not only to bank the benefits, but also to ensure that we're not doing more harm than good to our bodies.

It follows, then, that the advent of home reformer beds is something I've felt conflicted about. On the one hand, I totally endorse home reformer beds making Pilates more accessible (hefty price tag aside), but on the flip side, the practice is all about tiny, preferably hands-on tweaks that can take a move from easy to eye-watering in a second—something that, IMHO, simply can't be replicated in a home environment.

It's fair to say, then, that I was dubious my mind would be changed on this—that is, until I tried NordicTrack's brand-new Ultra 1 reformer bed—their first designed specifically for at-home use. I was lucky enough to try one out in a 1-to-1 lesson with Reform RX co-founder and Pilates pro, Yvette McGaffin; find out if it won me over below.

In the meantime, we don't like to brag, but our Pilates content is stellar: check out our guides to the best Pilates exercises of all time, the best Pilates moves for building muscle, and the best Pilates moves for runners—plus, find out how one Health Writer got on when she tried the viral Pilates with Izzy 25-day challenge, here.

I Tried NordicTrack's Luxe New Ultra 1 At-Home Reformer Pilates Bed—and I’m a Huge Fan

What is the NordicTrack Ultra 1 reformer?

NordicTrack's Ultra 1 reformer is the brand's first home bed offering. Building on the strength of its popular treadmill technology alongside the boom in home and online workouts, the Ultra 1 combines a sleek home bed with an integrated screen, allowing you to access online classes.

"The Ultra 1 Reformer is a studio-quality Pilates experience reimagined for the home," shares Yvette McGaffin, director of Pilates at iFIT and founder of Reform RX. "What makes it different is that we haven't simply taken a traditional reformer and put a screen on it; the whole experience has been designed around how people actually want to use Pilates at home.

"The Ultra 1 Reformer also brings together the physical experience of a premium reformer with the intelligence and content ecosystem of iFIT. So you get the feeling of being in a beautiful studio, but with the convenience and consistency of having that experience at home."

The result? A seriously stylish reformer that matches with substance: the classes are plentiful and tailored for beginners and advanced users alike, while the machine is intuitive and simple to get the hang of—more on this below.

NordicTrack's Ultra 1 reformer is the brand's first home bed offering, building on the strength of its popular treadmill technology. (Image credit: Anna Bartter)

What are the benefits of using the NordicTrack Ultra 1 reformer?

The mental and physical benefits of a consistent Pilates practice are well-established, and if you're a regular MC UK reader, you'll likely be acquainted with them. We're talking improved posture, core strength, balance, mobility and body awareness (to name just a few)—but the Ultra 1 goes beyond these advantages and offers something that's really at the heart of an effective Pilates regime: consistency.

"For me, the biggest benefit is consistency," agrees McGaffin. "Pilates is one of those practices where you really feel the benefit of doing it regularly, and life can make that surprisingly difficult. Even when you love your studio, getting there at a particular time, week after week, isn't always realistic.

"Having a reformer at home changes that. You can get on for 20 or 30 minutes when it works for you, before the kids are up, between meetings, or at the end of the day. And that ability to make Pilates fit around your life, rather than your life around Pilates, is where I think the real value lies."

@kayleighhjaynefit

♬ original sound - Kayleigh Jayne

Is the NordicTrack Ultra 1 reformer suitable for everyone?

It would be easy to assume that an at-home reformer bed would only suit those with some in-class experience, but McGaffin says this isn't necessarily the case.

"A really well-designed at-home reformer can be a wonderful place to start," she tells MC UK. "You don't need to be flexible, strong or 'good at Pilates' to begin. That's what the practice is for. The crucial thing is having the right instruction. Pilates has a language of its own, and if you've never used a reformer before, things like spring resistance, footbar positions and carriage movement can initially feel unfamiliar."

However, not all home-based reformers are created equal. If you're a beginner, look for one that is intuitive and preferably offers real-time feedback if you're unsure of spring changes and other tricks that more experienced users think of as second nature.

"For a beginner, those little details can make a big difference," agrees McGaffin. "You're not standing there wondering whether you've put the right springs on—the equipment and the instruction work together to give you that reassurance, so you can focus on learning the movement and building confidence."

Anna's first impression of the machine is that it's super chic, as well as smooth, seamless and sleek—no clunking metal or squeaky springs. (Image credit: Anna Bartter)

Can an at-home reformer bed ever be as effective as in-studio classes?

So, time for the million-dollar question: is a home reformer bed really as good as going to a class IRL? For me, the proof will be in the pudding (more on this below), but McGaffin offers an alternative view, too.

"I don't think anything completely replaces being in a room with an exceptional instructor, and I wouldn't want to pretend that it does," she reflects. "There's something special about an instructor being physically present, seeing your body and making those tiny adjustments. That's part of what makes Pilates such a beautiful practice."

That being said, there's no doubt that the way we work out has changed almost beyond recognition in recent years, with more and more of us choosing to exercise via online classes from home. According to research conducted by PureGym, around 25% of UK adults solely work out at home—raising the question: should we ditch the either/or mentality around the idea altogether?

"We've moved beyond the idea that home and studio have to compete with one another," agrees McGaffin. "A great at-home reformer can give you access to high-quality instruction, consistency and a genuine reformer practice in a way that fits around your life. For someone who might otherwise do Pilates once a week because of time or logistics, being able to practise three or four times at home can completely change the relationship they have with movement."

"For me, the real opportunity is making Pilates part of everyday life, not something you only do when you can get to a studio."

@simonesharice

♬ original sound - Simone | Pilates + Wellness

I tried NordicTrack's newest reformer bed, the Ultra 1—my honest thoughts

It's safe to say, as a Health and Fitness Writer, the very best part of my job is having access not only to the newest, most exciting wellness launches but also being lucky enough to meet expert trainers who have poured their heart and soul into the products I get to test.

So, it's with much excitement and a lot of gratitude that I arrive at a stunning venue in central London to try out the Ultra 1—and my instructor is McGaffin herself. We start strong, as she comments that I 'look like I do a lot of Pilates'—reader, she's not wrong. But Pilates is so much more than an aesthetic, so I know she's saying I appear strong, and she's about to put her theory well and truly to the test as she puts me through my paces on the bed.

My overall first impression? Well, without doubt, it looks super chic; you can tell that this is a seriously impressive machine, right off the bat.

"Aesthetics were important to us," shares McGaffin. "If you're going to have a reformer in your home, it needs to feel like something you want to live with, not something you want to hide away."

But more than this, it feels really good to use, too. It's smooth, seamless and sleek—no clunking metal or squeaky springs here. In fact, you can't see the springs at all—but you'll know from the screen whether you're using the right ones, which is super handy if you forget mid-movement.

"Rather than having exposed springs that you manually adjust, the springs are engaged using simple push-buttons, so changing your resistance is much more intuitive," explains McGaffin. "The machine then shows your spring engagement and footbar position in real time on the screen, so you have a clear visual cue that you've set the reformer correctly before you start moving."

So, it looks good, and it feels good—but does it feel like a decent workout? In a word: absolutely. I'm impressed by the range of sessions available on the connected screen (which you can tilt, pivot or swivel so as not to interfere with your workout) and also by the real-time feedback I'm getting. As a Peloton fan (six years and counting—and still going strong), I have no doubt that I'd make excellent use of the Ultra 1 at home as well.

Now to find the room for it...

Anna finds the machine hard to fault—and loves the fact that you can't see the springs at all, but can tell from the screen whether you're using the right ones. (Image credit: Anna Bartter)

Shop MC UK's reformer Pilates edit now:

Sweaty Betty Pilates Crew Gripper Sock 2 Pack

Aside from the bed itself, grippy socks are a reformer Pilates non-negotiable. Trust us: nobody wants their feet slipping around when attempting to look effortless in a hold.

Crz Yoga Butterluxe Halter Neck Crop Tank Top

I already own (and love) the Crz Yoga leggings, and this matching halterneck bra has been languishing in my basket for far too long.

NordicTrack Ultra 1 Reformer Pilates Machine

Ready to take the plunge? Here's the exact model I tested; it comes complete with a five-year frame and two-year parts and labour warranty, as well as a 30-day trial period, too.

Why is now a great time to launch the Ultra 1?

Why now? I asked McGaffin—and it's clear she's given plenty of thought to this very question already.

"We're seeing a really interesting evolution in Pilates," she tells me. "It's gone from being something many people discovered through a studio or a particular instructor to becoming a much bigger part of how people think about strength, longevity and wellbeing. I love that Pilates has become more accessible without losing what makes it special."

"After more than 20 years in this industry, what excites me most is seeing people discover that Pilates doesn't have to be intimidating or performative. You don't have to look a certain way, be incredibly flexible or already know what you're doing. You just have to start."

"For me, the future of Pilates is about bringing together great movement, great teaching, thoughtful design and technology that genuinely serves the experience. The machine should never be the hero. You are."

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Lisa Eldridge Says Oily Skin Can Still Have Glass-Like Glow—Here’s How She Gets the Balance Right

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There’s something so beautiful about glass skin when it’s done well—the complexion looks fresh, healthy and naturally luminous. But as someone with oily skin, I know better than anyone that it’s always a tricky balance. You want that fresh, almost reflective luminosity that makes glass skin look so beautiful, but there’s a fine line between looking intentionally dewy and simply looking shiny.

The good news is that you can absolutely adapt glass skin to work for oily skin. For me, it’s all about strategic product placement, plenty of skin prep, liquid and cream make-up formulas and, crucially, targeted powder application. You don’t want to mattify the entire face and lose all that lovely luminosity; instead, you want to take down shine only in the areas where you don’t want to emphasise it.

Always Start With Really Well-Prepped Skin

The goal is skin that looks incredibly hydrated and moisturised. Glass skin is really about using as little makeup as possible and allowing the skin itself to show through, and that only works if your complexion is properly prepped beforehand.

Having oily skin doesn’t mean you need to strip the skin or make the whole face matte, either. I’ll always apply Bioderma Sébium Pore Refiner to the areas where I know I tend to get shiny. It helps to mattify the areas I don’t want to emphasise and knocks back shine a little before my makeup goes on, without taking away that overall freshness.

Bioderma

Sebium Pore Refining Cream for Combination to Oily, Acne-Prone Skin

CeraVe

Oil Control Moisturising Gel-Cream for Combination and Oily Skin

Be Very Strategic About Where You Add Glow

Rather than adding luminosity all over the face, I concentrate it on the places where I naturally want the light to catch.

I start by applying a liquid highlighter across my cheekbones and brow bones, along the nose and a little on the Cupid’s bow. This gives you that beautiful glassy, opalescent finish, while still allowing you to keep other areas of the face more controlled.

Lisa Eldridge

Lisa Eldridge Elevated Glow Highlighter Cosmic Rose

Vieve

Skin Dew

Keep Your Base as Light as Possible

Next, I apply a skin tint or dewy foundation from the centre of the face outwards, keeping the layer really light. You don’t need to completely cover the skin to create this look—in fact, the less base you can get away with, the fresher and more convincing the finish tends to be.

Under the eyes, I like to use a dewy concealer. My Luminist Concealer works particularly well here because it lifts shadows while brightening and adding luminosity. Then, rather than adding more foundation wherever I need extra coverage, I’ll use a tiny dot of Pinpoint Concealer to neutralise any redness.

That precision is really important. By concealing only what you want to conceal, you can leave as much of your natural skin visible as possible.

Lisa Eldridge

Pinpoint Concealer Micro Correcting Pencil

Lisa Eldridge

Seamless Skin Luminist Concealer

Bobbi Brown

Concealer Brush

Powder is the Secret to Success

Powder is where oily skin needs a little more care. I’ll set just under my eyes to stop unwanted shine, then use a light, invisible powder across the centre of my forehead, around my nose and on my chin.

The trick is not to powder everywhere. I only want to mattify the areas where shine can become distracting, while leaving the cheekbones and other high points of the face luminous.

You shouldn’t really be able to see the powder on the skin. I’m looking to lightly mattify and control shine, while still allowing all that beautiful luminosity to come through. For me, that contrast is what makes glass skin work on an oily complexion: it’s not about eliminating shine, but choosing exactly where you want it.

Charlotte Tilbury

Airbrush Flawless Blur Loose Powder

Lisa Eldridge

Lisa Eldridge Seamless Blend Brush No.9

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Is Your Beauty Routine Ruining Your Eyesight? Spoiler: You're Not Going to Like the Answer...

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Eyes are the first thing you notice when you meet someone. So, it makes sense that we spend a considerable amount of time and money making them look their best. We invest in a good eye cream to soften fine lines or reduce the appearance of dark circles. We buy a lash-lengthening mascara and brightening concealer to look slightly more awake. But recently, I've started wondering whether we've become so preoccupied with how our eyes look that we've forgotten about how well they actually work.

It all started when I started experiencing exceptionally dry eyes after my regular Botox top-up. Having never had any eye-related issues before, I suddenly found myself constantly blinking and squinting at my laptop, rubbing my eyes and struggling to focus. The irony wasn't lost on me: I was investing in treatments designed to make my eyes look younger, yet I ended up squinting and acting like someone who desperately needed to see an optician.

But according to the experts, some of the products and treatments we're using in the pursuit of better-looking eyes could be contributing to the problem. "The makeup, skincare and treatments we're using are contributing hugely to the rise in dry eye and ocular allergies and sensitivities that we are seeing," says Nicola Alexander-Cross, optometrist and co-founder of Peep Club.

Perhaps most surprisingly, however, it's not necessarily the invasive treatments you'd expect that deserve our attention. Some of the potential offenders are the simple, everyday products sitting innocently in our bathroom cabinets—and being used every single day.

First, Let's Talk About Meibomian Glands

I'll admit, I'd never heard of a meibomian gland until I sat down with Dr Elizabeth Hawkes, Consultant Ophthalmic and Oculoplastic Surgeon, but it turns out they're rather important when it comes to eye health.

Sitting within the eyelids, close to the lashes, these tiny glands secrete the oily component of our tear film. As Dr Hawkes explains, that oil acts as a protective layer over the ocular surface. If the glands become blocked or their function is disrupted, it can contribute to conditions including blepharitis (chronic inflammation of the eyelids) and dry eye.

Dr Hawkes explains that many eye makeup products, removers and surfactants can disrupt that oily tear-film layer. Even something that sounds reassuringly 'natural' isn't automatically innocuous. Coconut oil, for example, doesn't contain preservatives but any oily product could potentially block the glands.

Dry eye might not sound particularly serious, but anyone who has experienced it will know how disruptive it can be. "You can have a red eye, a gritty eye, foreign-body sensation, and it can make wearing makeup feel uncomfortable," says Dr Hawkes.

Your Eye Makeup Remover Could Matter More Than You Think

"The products that are going to do the most damage are the ones that touch your eye itself or lash line, and the ones you use most often," says Alexander-Cross.

It's why she singles out everyday habits such as wearing eyeliner and removing eye makeup. A product you use directly around your eyes once in a while is one thing; a formula containing potential irritants that you massage over them 365 nights a year is another.

Preservatives are Alexander-Cross's "number one offender" when it comes to eye health, particularly in eye makeup removers, lash-growth serums and whitening drops because of their proximity to the lids and ocular surface. Dr Hawkes agrees that preservatives are something worth paying attention to, and there's one in particular she wants people to know about: Benzalkonium chloride, commonly shortened to BAK. It helps keep certain formulations sterile and prevents them from going off. But Dr Hawkes explains that BAK can also be toxic to the cornea, which is especially alarming seeing as BAK can be found in some eye drops—the very products we might reach for when our eyes are uncomfortable.

None of this means every mascara or preserved eye product needs to go immediately in the bin. But if your eyes are persistently dry, red, itchy or uncomfortable, it's worth looking not only at what you're putting in them, but what you're putting around them every day.

When it comes to eye makeup removers, Dr Hawkes points me towards Optase, which makes a preservative-free eye makeup remover designed for sensitive eyes. She also highlights preservative-free lubricating drops, like Hycosan, for people experiencing dryness.

It Might Be Time to Re-Think Retinol Eye Creams

Retinoids are among the best-evidenced ingredients we have for tackling visible signs of skin ageing, so it makes sense that we'd want those benefits around the very area where fine lines often appear first. But both experts urge some caution around repeated application close to the eye.

Alexander-Cross says retinoids can affect the delicate meibomian glands, while Dr Hawkes tells me that for patients with a history of dry or sensitive eyes, she may favour eye products containing ingredients such as peptides or hyaluronic acid rather than retinol.

That doesn't mean retinol is inherently "bad for your eyes", nor that everyone needs to stop using a retinoid eye cream. It's more about recognising that the ocular surface and the skin surrounding it aren't entirely separate ecosystems.

It's also one of the reasons Dr Hawkes believes there's a case for using products specifically formulated for the eye area rather than automatically extending every face product right up towards your lashes.

"The cream that you need for your face compared to what you need around your eye is different," she explains. "Eyelid skin itself is different—and, importantly, it's skin with an eyeball in the middle of it."

Dr Hawkes would also like to see more eye creams ophthalmologist-tested (which isn't the same as dermatologically tested, by the way). When products undergo appropriate ophthalmic testing, she explains, the ocular surface can be examined for signs that the formula is having an adverse effect.

Lash Serums Deserve Some Scrutiny, Too

Few products illustrate the crossover between beauty and eye health quite as neatly as lash serums. We apply them millimetres from our eyeballs, often every night for months at a time, in pursuit of longer, thicker-looking lashes.

Alexander-Cross particularly flags prostaglandin analogues, which are found in some lash-growth serums. She says they have been associated with changes including pigmentation and periorbital fat loss. But again, frequency and placement matter. Alexander-Cross's general rule is that the products most likely to affect the eyes are those used most frequently and closest to the ocular surface.

That includes the popular makeup technique 'tightlining'— applying eyeliner directly to the waterline, which places cosmetic ingredients right next to the openings of the meibomian glands.

Alexander-Cross isn't suggesting these beauty habits need to disappear altogether. Her advice is more pragmatic: lash-growth serums, tightlining and whitening eye drops may be fine occasionally, but she wouldn't recommend using them regularly.

What About Professional Tweakments?

Of course, many people have taken their eye beauty routines into the realms of clinical tweakments. "There is absolutely a spectrum when it comes to aesthetic treatments and the potential risk on eyes," says Alexander-Cross.

At the lower-risk end, she places permanent eyeliner and cosmetic tattooing, lash lifts and tints, lash extensions and some IPL and radiofrequency treatments. The main risks here include allergy, ocular-surface irritation, scratching and infection. These can still be severe, she stresses, but are generally reversible.

At the more serious end of the spectrum are Botox around the eyes, aggressive lasers such as CO2 and, in particular, tear-trough or dermal filler around the eyes. While the likelihood of a serious complication is low, if something does go wrong, the consequences can be severe and potentially irreversible.

The one procedure both experts would categorically advise against is an aesthetic intervention that surgically changes the colour of the iris. "This is simply not worth the risk," Dr Hawkes says.

For invasive procedures around the eyes, Alexander-Cross says the person performing them is one of the biggest risk factors. The anatomy surrounding the eye is extremely complex, so she advises seeking an appropriately qualified medical professional with specialist expertise in the area.

She also recommends stretching out the time between procedures as much as possible to allow the eyes to recover and taking particularly good care of the ocular surface between treatments.

But Can Any of This Actually Affect Our Eyesight?

This was the question I really wanted answered. Irritated eyes are one thing, but could something as seemingly benign as dry eye actually affect your vision?

"Yes," says Dr Hawkes.

For us to see clearly, light has to pass through the cornea, the transparent surface at the front of the eye. If that surface is disrupted, Dr Hawkes explains, vision can become blurred or misty. It's why someone with dry eye may find themselves blinking repeatedly and briefly seeing more clearly afterwards: blinking has redistributed the tear film over the corneal surface.

More surprisingly still, Dr Hawkes says significant dry eye can even affect an eye-test prescription. "If you've got really dry eye, it will affect your prescription," she says. Someone struggling to read a line on an eye chart may find it becomes clearer after using lubricating drops.

Importantly, we're not talking about your eye cream slowly making you blind. Dr Hawkes describes the visual changes caused by dry eye as typically misty or blurred rather than serious and permanent.

But there is something rather ironic about spending hundreds of pounds trying to make our eyes look better while potentially overlooking everyday habits that can affect how comfortably and clearly we see.

The Eye-Friendly Edit

Optase

Sensitive Eye Makeup Remover

Peep Club

Dark Circle Lidstick™ Correcting Balm

Clinique

High Impact High-Fi Full Volume Mascara

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