There’s a point each autumn when the trusty jeans combination just needs a little update. This season, an argyle knit, with its overlapping diamond pattern and heritage feel, is the best way to breathe new life into the fail-safe outfit formula.
For autumn/winter 2026, Khaite and Altuzarra are offering a fresh interpretation of this knitwear classic. Try an oversized diamond motif for a bolder take, or introduce a little colour with an argyle cardigan layered over a plain white T-shirt. A short-sleeved knitted tee also works well beneath a blazer, with just enough pattern showing to break up darker tailoring.
(Image credit: Launchmetrics )
We've put to edit of the best argyle knits for every price point. If you’re stuck for styling ideas, start with a classic beige trench, straight-leg jeans and leather ankle boots. Choose a knit in muted shades of grey, chocolate or navy to keep the combination understated, or let a brighter colourway become the focus.
How to Style Argyle Jumpers:
M&S
The Trench
Sezane
Le Droit Jeans
ZARA
Leather Ankle Boots
Beyond denim, try an argyle jumper with tailored trousers and loafers for an alternative workwear look, or a neat cardigan with a midi skirt. There’s plenty of scope to play with the pattern, but your existing autumn staples make a good starting point.
Shop the Best Argyle Jumpers
ZARA
Oversize Argyle Knit Jumper
ME+EM
Argyle Relaxed Jumper
Jigsaw
Wool Cashmere Argyle Cardigan
JW AndersonX Pringle of Scotland
Turtleneck Sweater
Massimo Dutti
Wool Argyle Knit Cardigan
COS
Argyle Wool-Alpaca V-Neck Jumper
Lisa Yang
Juniper Argyle Cashmere Sweater
M&S
Argyle Crew Neck Oversized Jumper
Reformation
Cove Cashmere Oversized Crew
Arch4
Bronagh Argyle Cashmere Sweater
Boden
Marta Longline Merino Jumper
ALIGNE
Deana Knitted Argyle Cardigan
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The Beauty Digest is my Beauty Director’s edit of what’s actually worth your attention. Each week, I’ll be sharing the new launches I’m using and loving, the viral treatments I’m putting to the test (and what I really think of the results), plus my take on the industry conversations everyone’s talking about.
The New Launches on My Radar
Diptyque Paris
The Citrouille (Pumpkin) Classic Candle
Whether you celebrate Halloween or not, this candle deserves pride of place in your home. It’s a beautifully unexpected take on pumpkin, swapping the standard spiced-latte sweetness for something far more refined. It's autumnal without being predictable, and very possibly the chicest possible nod to spooky season.
As someone with permanently dry lips, I've become a bit of a lip balm connoisseur. And while I've amassed an impressive collection of formulas promising the world, very few deliver anything beyond temporary relief. Dr.Reju-All's Advanced PDRN Rejuvenating Lip Serum is different. Alongside PDRN, the formula contains allantoin to soothe, vitamin E to condition and lactic acid to gently exfoliate flaky skin. The smoothing effect is immediate, and the hydration actually lasts.
Liberty LBTY. Fragrance
Orchard Refillable Travel Atomiser
An ambitious decision to fly to a four-day wedding with nothing but an under-seat ‘personal item’ left me facing a monumental beauty dilemma: which of my beloved fragrances would make the cut? Thankfully, salvation arrived in the form of Liberty's Orchard Refillable Travel Atomiser, which serendipitously landed on my desk this week and allows me to decant my favourite fragrance without sacrificing precious luggage space.
When Bobbi Brown first launched her concealer-and-corrector duo under her namesake brand back in the 90s, it helped cement her status as a household name in the beauty industry. So when the legendary makeup artist announced a 2.0 version under her second brand, Jones Road, I was keen to compare notes. The new Wide Awake duo includes the Brightening Neutralizer, designed to counteract the blue, purple and brown tones associated with dark circles, and the Brightening Concealer to add coverage and luminosity.
So, the all-important question: how does the duo compare to the original? Well, I think it's better. The formulas feel more substantial and less creamy, delivering greater coverage without the heaviness or cakiness you might expect. In fact, somewhat counterintuitively, they actually feel lighter on the skin than the originals. The result is impressive coverage that still looks remarkably like skin. Which is exactly why everyone loves Bobbi.
Beauty Buzz: The Accessorisation of Beauty
(Image credit: Givenchy)
Not so long ago, beauty products were confined to our makeup bags, only surfacing for a touch-up in the club toilets or a surreptitious reapplication in the back of a cab. Now, they're taking centre stage as accessories in their own right.
Rhode arguably pioneered the phenomenon with its viral Lip Case, which quickly became a status symbol. Since then, the brand has expanded into collectable charms and carabiners, but the SS27 shows took things to another level. Dior has taken the concept decidedly upmarket with its new Médaillon Lip Balm, housed in an ornate, vintage-inspired compact that can be attached directly to your phone. Even Givenchy is getting in on the action, with its on-the-go powder compact belt medallions and lipstick hair accessories.
Of course, there's an element of novelty, but I suspect something more enduring is at play. Beauty has become another way of signalling personal taste, with products increasingly designed to be seen as much as used. And, as someone who has spent an infuriating amount of time rummaging around the bottom of her handbag for a lip balm, I can certainly see the appeal.
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For most women, finding a breast lump is the stuff of nightmares. While we know that the symptoms of breast cancer are more varied (and often harder to spot) than simply a lump, this is the scenario we tend to worry about in the middle of the night.
For 41-year-old psychologist and mum of two, Roxy Rhodes, it was exactly this discovery that changed her life forever. Just days after her mother-in-law finished her own breast cancer treatment, and the night after her 39th birthday, Rhodes felt a tiny, pea-shaped lump in her chest.
What followed was a gruelling two-year journey that pushed her to her limits, both mentally and physically, while also challenging all her preconceptions of breast cancer and the treatment process.
Below, she shares her story.
“Being ‘Young’ When Diagnosed With Cancer Changed the Course of My Treatment.”
“In December 2023, between Christmas and New Year, my mother-in-law found a lump in her breast. In May, we were all booked on a long-awaited family holiday to Disneyland, which had been postponed due to the COVID pandemic.
The day before my birthday in April, my mother-in-law, Gail, got the all-clear after a lumpectomy and five rounds of radiotherapy. We were all thrilled as it meant that she’d be able to join us on our much-anticipated trip.
But on 23rd April, the day after my 39th birthday, we were dealt another blow. I was just going to sleep; I’d said goodnight to my husband, Tom, and as I rolled over to get settled, my hand grazed my boob, and I felt the tiniest lump. It was total luck that I felt it. I immediately asked Tom to feel it, and he agreed there was something there, but as I’d had cysts in the past, I just assumed that that’s what it was again.
It was very round and pea-like, but smaller than a pea. If ever I felt that there was someone looking after me, it was in the weeks that followed, and it became clear how fortunate I’d been to have found it.
My overriding feeling was how on earth I was going to find the time to deal with making a doctor’s appointment and everything else that would be needed—I honestly just wasn’t overly concerned about it. That became a recurring theme throughout my treatment: I had to find time to fit it in.
(Image credit: Roxy Rhodes)
What Happens After You Find a Breast Lump
I messaged the GP, and they rang me to tell me to go in and get it checked, which I did the same day. Again, the doctor was quite reassuring, but he said he could feel a lump and he had to refer me for a mammogram. So, I was put on the two-week cancer pathway, which is standard NHS practice whenever someone presents with a lump.
The service is very stretched in my area, so I ended up waiting longer than two weeks. But I was keen to get seen as soon as possible, so I ended up making a private scan appointment.
The clinic was amazing; it’s essentially a one-stop shop where you can go through the whole diagnostic process in one go, from mammogram and ultrasound to biopsy. When I was having the ultrasound, the doctor was incredibly thorough—and I was so fortunate that she was. She said that because she couldn’t quite see the very bottom of the lump, she was going to do a biopsy for the sake of clarity. If she hadn’t done this, things could have looked very different for me.
As soon as we walked into the consultant’s room, I knew instantly that I had cancer. As a psychotherapist, I’ve worked a lot in the NHS, and the moment I saw her face, I just knew. And then came the absolute worst part of the whole journey for me, which was having to watch my husband find out. Out of everything that was to come, that was my worst moment.
Once you’ve been told you have cancer, you move into the life of being a patient that same day
Roxy Rhodes
After Diagnosis, Things Happen Really Fast
I found out that the lump was hormone-positive but didn’t yet know if it was HER2-positive (HER2-positive cancers are typically more aggressive and are treated in different ways), so we weren’t sure of my treatment route.
Despite this, once you’ve been told you have cancer, you move into the life of being a cancer patient that same day—and it’s genuinely like a full-time job. I can’t explain how many letters you get, how much admin there is to deal with, how many appointments get cancelled, or how you don’t know what they’re for. It’s a constant bombardment of letters and paper arriving. Trying to manage where I was supposed to be and where, and then fit my life in around it, was a real challenge.
Since I was under 40, I was sent for an MRI scan, and there they discovered another lump lower down the same breast, which hadn’t shown up on the ultrasound. Because there were two lumps, I had to have a full mastectomy; I couldn’t just have a lumpectomy anymore.
We found out that the cancer was grade 1, stage 1, which is the tiniest cancer. I still count myself incredibly lucky we caught it at that stage when I think about how much treatment I ended up having. However, because they still weren’t sure about my Her-2 results, they couldn’t confirm my treatment plan for what felt like ages.
(Image credit: Roxy Rhodes)
I finally had my mastectomy in mid-July, but I still didn’t know whether I’d need to have chemo, and we were all just praying I wouldn’t need it.
However, we eventually found out that the tumours were HER2-positive, which meant I did need chemo. I had twelve weeks of treatment, every Friday. They also removed my lymph nodes. Because I was so young, they didn’t want to risk skipping chemo, plus wanted to ensure nothing was floating around.
I also had a year of Herceptin injections, every three weeks for a year, which started when I was in chemo.
Again, because I’m young, the advice was to take Tamoxifen, a drug that blocks the effects of the hormone oestrogen in certain tissues, for ten years, but I chose to come off it after four months. They push you into full menopause, and I couldn’t handle it. The joint pain, exhaustion and lack of energy were too much for me after everything I’d already been through.
The chemo ward is full of people at their bravest. It’s a privilege to be with them at their most vulnerable.
Roxy Rhodes
Don't Be Scared of Chemotherapy
From the moment I found out I had cancer, my biggest fear was chemo, due to my perceptions of what it would be like from seeing it portrayed in the media. And one of the most important things I would say is that it’s absolutely nothing like you think it’s going to be—it was totally fine.
TV tends to show perfectly bald people throwing up, but I wasn’t sick once. You’re given anti-sickness tablets the whole way through, and the dose is fine-tuned to your exact weight and height, so it’s so well controlled. I felt a bit nauseous after my first session, so I took two anti-sickness pills but never had to take them again—I didn’t even feel sick. I also don’t know anyone else who was sick—and I got to know everyone.
The first chemo session is terrifying. There are so many different types, and before you go into your first session, you have a kind of therapy session, and it seemed almost like they were trying to scare us. Bearing in mind, I was terrified. I felt like they were trying to get us to take it seriously, when all the way through I’d tried to maintain a positive outlook.
I was so lucky that I live close to a specialist cancer treatment centre where I had all my treatment, and I can honestly say that I used to look forward to it. On a Friday, it was only breast cancer patients as well, which made it feel almost like a little coffee morning—all the nurses were amazing, and I got to know the other women really well. You’re given lunch and endless cups of tea by the wonderful volunteers, and it’s just such a gorgeous atmosphere. We were all laughing and giggling, and it was honestly lovely.
On the chemo ward, you’re meeting people at their very bravest, and it’s such a privilege to spend time with them when they’re at their most vulnerable.
(Image credit: Roxy Rhodes)
Losing My Hair Was So Much Harder Than I'd Expected
I finished chemo at the beginning of December, and I lost my hair after my fourth session, and that was the second worst day of the whole experience. I’d thought I might get away with it, and I felt like I’d gone through so much already. It felt like I was losing my hair forever.
I remember we shaved my head on a Sunday, and on the Monday I had to go to a school assembly for one of my kids, I wore a wig for the first time—and honestly, that was the time I had to be the absolute bravest, as I felt like everyone could tell. Over time, I got used to the wigs, and I wore some pretty crazy ones.
I do feel, looking back, that I could have challenged the chemo decision, but I didn’t realise at the time that I may have had a choice. I don’t know if I would have said no to it, but with hindsight, one of my biggest takeaways is that you have to question everything, much more than you think.
The cancer teams tell you that when you have to make a decision, to ask yourself the following questions:
What are the consequences if I do this?
What are the consequences if I don’t do this?
What other options are there?
What if I do nothing?
The Type of Cancer You Have Changes Your Treatment Plan
Be prepared to wait to find out what type of cancer you have, and make sure you get this information as soon as possible, as your whole treatment plan depends on it.
Hormone-driven tumours tend to be a ‘good’ thing, as they can be treated with medication and you might not require chemotherapy. So, it’s vital to be clear about what kind of tumour you have, as early on as possible.
People will surprise you all the way through the process, in good and bad ways. People you hardly know will step up and be amazing—there was one guy I worked with who used to cook me a homemade pie every week without fail and drop it round to my house—a good hour’s round trip for him, once a week.
And other people will let you down beyond belief, and you have to be ok with that, too. People that you’d think would be there won’t be. Also, once you’ve finished chemo, everyone thinks you’re back to normal, and things are fine again, but your life has changed forever. Any grace you had was gone.
(Image credit: Roxy Rhodes)
Finishing Chemo Might Feel Like an Anti-Climax
I remember after my last Herceptin injection, when I was officially finished with treatment, I expected to feel relieved. But it’s not relief. It’s so strange, this whole thing that you had for three months that took up so much time and headspace just ends, and there’s no transition period or support through this—you just stop going there.
You’ve built it into your life, and suddenly it’s gone, and you don’t have that structure—it’s such a weird feeling not to have any more appointments. You don’t get to say goodbye to the team who have cared for you; you just never go back—and it feels like you’re cut off from that support.
I feel really strongly that there should be more focus on the transition out of active treatment, in the same way as there is going in. I didn’t feel like I needed that much support while I was in treatment, but afterwards I really struggled and felt a bit numb.
Please don’t ever think you’re too young for critical illness cover.
I wasn’t even aware that I had this cover in place, but I’m so grateful that I did. They paid out immediately as soon as I was diagnosed—it’s not life-changing money, but it’s absolutely allowed us to do some things that we wouldn’t otherwise have been able to.
I’m self-employed, and I managed to carry on working fairly normally, but if you do have to take leave, this money will be incredibly important. There’s no financial support when you’re self-employed, so critical illness is crucial.”
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Content warning: The below contains references to and descriptions of sexual assault. If you or someone you know has been affected, you can call the rape and sexual abuse support line at 0808 500 2222 or use the online chat (both are free and are open 24 hours a day, every day of the year).
The case against Jane Doe, as scores of strangers have assembled it online, begins the morning after. She reportedly walked home from Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity house and told her roommates she had taken ketamine and had sex with multiple men, without calling it rape or assault. One roommate later said she seemed to be “in shock.” The next day, she texted one of the men she would later accuse to reassure him. Days later, she still wanted to attend a Halloween party at Chi Phi.
The Jane Doe in question has become the centre of one of the most closely watched campus sexual assault cases in years. Her civil lawsuit, filed in September, accuses seven Chi Phi members of sexually assaulting her after she says she was pressured into taking ketamine at the house in October 2024. The Tompkins County district attorney declined to prosecute, but the case only grew from there. Governor Kathy Hochul appointed Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor, and an #IamJaneDoe solidarity campaign spread across social media.
But the informal prosecution—the one running in comment sections, group chats, and viral threads—keeps circling back to what Jane Doe did in the aftermath. The logic is stubbornly persistent: that a real victim would act like one right away, and that anything short of immediate collapse or a police report is something closer to regret. It is an assumption that decades of research have discredited, and one that survivors exposed to even a fraction of this scrutiny recognise immediately, because most of them failed the same test.
Jennifer Freyd, Professor Emerit of Psychology at the University of Oregon and founder and president of the Center for Institutional Courage, has spent decades researching how people respond to sexual trauma. Asked whether there is a typical response against which to measure Jane Doe’s, her answer was simple: “No, I don’t think there is.” In anonymous surveys, Freyd and other researchers have asked people about sexual experiences behaviourally, without first requiring them to identify what happened as rape or assault. Some respondents describe experiences that meet the legal definition of rape, she says, but still do not use the word themselves. “Very few people say that they were raped,” Freyd says. “Even if they just indicated to us with a behavioural item that their experience met the legal definition of rape.”
While the public debate has turned on what Jane Doe should have done, Marie Claire asked five women who say they were sexually assaulted in college to describe what they actually did in the hours and days that followed. If post-assault behaviour is going to be used as a litmus test for credibility, it seemed worth asking the people who say they have actually lived through it what the morning after really looked like for them.
I was trying to do what felt like normal college behavior on paper.
Caroline Raphael
Caroline Raphael, now 27, was 18 and in her first semester of college at the University of Miami when she says she was drugged at a fraternity date party and sexually assaulted afterward. What she remembers first about the next morning is the few seconds before she remembered. “Just like I was waking up confused, but not scared or that anything had happened or that anything was wrong,” she says. “And then that ended really quickly and I remembered everything and it was horrifying.”
Her next thought was about an exam. “It was an excuse to think about anything else,” she says. Raphael grabbed her books and computer and went to the common room on her floor, where she read without absorbing much. “Feeling frantic and feeling like I couldn’t pause,” she says. “I had to move and keep going.” Friends from the night before tried to check on her. “I don’t even think I said words,” she says. “I think I just was hands up, like I can’t do this. I can’t talk about it.”
She took the exam anyway, sitting through it thinking, Why am I here? Why am I doing this? Afterward, walking with a classmate, she started crying and told her some of what had happened. Over the next several days, Raphael went to a tailgate, another fraternity party, and a football game, where she did a beer bong. “I was trying to do what felt like normal college behaviour on paper,” she says.
Freyd sees that pull toward normalcy in case after case. “There’s this desire to not have had a terrible victimisation experience,” she says. “If you can return to things being normal, then maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. People don’t want to be victims. They don’t want to have lived through a terrible thing.”
Research bears this out at scale. Across 28 studies encompassing nearly 6,000 survivors, psychologists found that roughly 60 percent of women whose experiences met the legal definition of rape never identified them as such. Among college-age women, the figure was closer to 63 percent.
I feel like I was trying to rewrite it as a bad hookup.
Amalia Bob-Waksberg
Amalia Bob-Waksberg, now 35 and based in Oakland, California, was a 19-year-old freshman at Brandeis around 2010 when she says she was sexually assaulted while visiting a friend at Harvard. She woke in the man’s bed the next morning and remembers leaving while he was in the shower, then finding her friend and the friend’s boyfriend in a dining hall and trying to explain the night. “I was trying to make it sound playful almost,” she says. “I feel like I was trying to rewrite it as a bad hookup.”
On the shuttle back to Brandeis, she fell apart. “I went into a foetal position in a ball on the floor of the shuttle crying,” she says. “I was really embarrassed, but I felt so out of my body.” A friend met her at the stop and helped her find someone to talk to. Bob-Waksberg says her therapist was eventually the person who put a name to what had happened: “You were sexually assaulted.” Bob-Waksberg was still parsing what that meant. “I wasn’t raped, so I didn’t know if I could use that word,” she says.
Amalia Bob-Waksberg with her husband and daughter. (Image credit: Courtesy of Amalia Bob-Waksberg)
In the days afterward, someone uploaded a photo from the party to Facebook. Bob-Waksberg tagged herself and her friend in one. “Looking back, I remember being like, ‘That’s so weird that I did that,’” she says. “I think I was trying to rewrite that night as a fun thing.” The man she says assaulted her later sent her a Facebook friend request.
Those things can exist together, Freyd says: someone can be deeply distressed and still resist the explanation for why. “People are complicated. There can be two things going on at the same time,” she says. “If they’re able to compartmentalise it and in some sense pretend it didn't happen and that everything's okay, that’s a very understandable desire.”
Only one in five college students who experience rape or sexual assault report to police, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. What happens when a survivor first tells someone can help shape what comes next. Freyd says survivors will sometimes disclose only a small piece of an experience to someone they trust and wait to see what happens. “If it doesn’t go well, they shut up,” she says. “But if they get really supported and there’s a compassionate, respectful listening occurring, they may tell the whole story.”
Rachel Newman, 22, had someone who listened. Her morning began around six, when she says she woke to a man she knew raping her in her dorm room at a small college in Florida during her first semester. Newman says she pretended to remain asleep, hoping he would stop. Eventually, she physically moved him off her but stayed in the lofted bed because getting out would have meant crawling over him. “I didn’t really want physical contact from him in that moment,” she says. She thought about whom she could call once it was a reasonable hour. “And I went back to sleep.”
When Newman woke again, she began calling friends. Most were off campus, so she eventually reached her roommate, with whom she had recently had a fight, and the two met in a parking lot. “All I could say was I needed to go to the ER, but I couldn’t verbalise, oh, I need to get a rape kit, or I have just been raped. And so I remember I made her guess because I just couldn’t get the words out.”
Rachel Newman. (Image credit: Courtesy of Rachel Newman)
She remembers the rape-kit process taking about eight hours. Her roommate stayed and brought snacks: cotton candy and Apple Jacks. At one point, Newman put on one of the monthly playlists she kept on her phone, only for it to shuffle to a song called “Bimbo Doll.” “That’s probably not the best song for the circumstances right now,” she remembers saying before turning the music off.
Newman reported to campus police two days later and also pursued a Title IX case. The criminal investigation remained open for two years without charges; the Title IX case was dismissed after the other student unenrolled. “There’s just no right way to respond,” Newman says. “There’s no guidebook on how to navigate something like that.”
It took Jill Christman about a year to find the word for what happened to her. She was 18 and a freshman at the University of Oregon when she says an older student raped her during a fraternity trip to a houseboat on Lake Shasta. Christman says he put a pillow over her face so other people wouldn’t hear her struggling. By the next morning, the man was offering her donuts from a paper bag stained with grease. “You get first choice,” he told her. She remembers the bright sun after a long, cold night. She remembers him looking “monstrous” in the daylight. “I wanted to reject everything about the situation,” she says.
She still needed to get back to Oregon, so she rode back in an SUV with him, her friend and others from the trip. He started calling her almost immediately afterward, she says, apparently thinking they would go on another date. Christman, meanwhile, returned to being an honors student and a straight-A student and remembers crying when she was alone. “Nothing stopped me from doing what I was supposed to do in the world,” she says. “It would’ve been completely imperceptible to anyone who knew me except for when I was alone and I was crying.”
“I failed to identify what happened to me as rape,” Christman says. “I just didn’t know how to name it. I did not have language for what had happened to me.” About a year later, as a sophomore, she read Robin Warshaw’s I Never Called It Rape and began telling people what had happened.
Jill Christman as a college student. (Image credit: Courtesy of Jill Christman)
The man, in Christman’s telling, used the word before she did. Within weeks of the assault, she needed a ride from Eugene to the Portland airport and knew he would give her one, so she asked. When he picked her up, she says, a lace belt she had worn the night of the party was tied to the mirror of his car “like a trophy.” On the way, he stopped at his parents’ house, took her into his bedroom and pushed her down onto the bed. Christman panicked. He laughed and asked, she recalls, “What did you think I was going to do? Rape you?”
Freyd calls this larger dynamic “betrayal trauma”: when the person who harms you is someone you trust or depend on, acknowledging the betrayal can threaten the relationship itself. “If you respond to that betrayal by pulling away or confronting the person, that can put the whole relationship at risk,” she says. In some cases, a person may try to salvage the relationship by smoothing over what happened or making it feel somehow okay.
Christman, 57, wrote the full story down 30 years later for Roxane Gay’s anthology Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture. She describes shedding the shame around assault as a decades-long process. Looking at Jane Doe’s account now, Christman says: “I would say that she reached a place of clarity and truth astoundingly quickly. It took me a year to say that.” And then: “It’s going to take her years to put the shame down. I know that because I’ve been through it.”
It’s going to take her years to put the shame down. I know that because I’ve been through it.
Jill Christman
The basement computer lab at Beloit College was empty, which is why Kristina Erickson went there early one morning during her freshman year. She was 18, and minutes earlier, she says, she had pushed a man’s hand away and said no, but he persisted.
Afterward, Erickson made an excuse about getting ready for breakfast and went straight to the computer lab in the basement between their dorms, connected by a tunnel. She hesitated before logging in, worried her username might leave some kind of record. Then she typed a question into Google, trying to find out whether what had just happened to her was rape. She refined the search, adjusting the terms, but couldn't find an answer that felt right. “I didn’t want those words to apply to the situation,” she says. Then she closed the browser and went to breakfast. She’s fairly sure she saw him there.
In the years that followed, Erickson became one of the most visible sexual-assault prevention advocates on her campus, leading Take Back the Night rallies and training with the Sexual Assault Recovery Program (SARP) of Rock County to counsel survivors in hospitals and with police. On the hotline, Erickson says, it was common for women in their fifties and sixties to call about something that had happened when they were children. “They finally had the time to process it,” she says. “Life stopped enough that they kept thinking back to what happened.”
Erickson, now 35, was 20 when she started counselling other survivors. Often, the women would describe what happened and ask the same question: Was that rape?
Erickson always knew the answer. She recognised it every time.
This content originally appeared on Marie Claire US
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Until earlier this year, I was what you’d call blessed in the ‘being able to sleep’ department. Aside from a few (albeit lengthy) periods when my children were little, I’ve always slept well and soundly, having no trouble falling—and staying—asleep.
The summer I turned 47, though, everything changed. Literally overnight (excuse the pun), I began waking at around 4 am—every. Single. Night. I was going through a bit of a tough time, so initially I simply put it down to being stressed—but when things resolved and my sleep was still all over the place, it became clear that something deeper was going on.
Clearly, I’m a prime candidate for being perimenopausal, but since I have the hormonal coil fitted, I honestly can’t say I’ve experienced that many symptoms so far—and my periods are pretty much non-existent, and have been since I first had the coil 10 years ago (life-changing, but that’s a story for another time).
So, it took me a little while to make the connection between my sleep issues and my hormones. But when the penny finally dropped, it was clear that peri was doing me dirty when it came to catching z’s (the night I woke up bathed in a sheen of sweat really cemented the fact).
And while initially, I was still falling asleep pretty easily, this too has started to shift, and it can take me upwards of an hour to drift off, even when I’m really tired. I don’t cope well on little sleep (or when I’m cold, or hungry…there’s a pattern, here!), so I started doing a little digging to see what I could do to help myself. It wasn’t long before my feed was flooded with supplements (nothing excites the algorithm like a menopausal woman, it seems), and I came across the Huberman stack.
While not designed specifically for menopause (and I’ll go into exactly what the ‘stack’ is below), Stanford University neuroscientist and podcaster Andrew Huberman designed his eponymous supplement stack with sleep firmly in mind. Keep scrolling to see if it transformed my slumber, but in the meantime, do take a look at our extensive sleep content, featuring everything from how to improve sleep and how to boost energy when you're tired to the symptoms of exhaustion you shouldn't overlook—plus, find out how one Health Writer got on when she tried a 10-minute sleep micro-habit, here.
I Tried Andrew Huberman’s Sleep Stack Supplement for a Week To See if It Would Help
Why Do Women Struggle With Sleep in Perimenopause?
It seems a cruel twist of fate, if you think about it. Many perimenopausal women are just exiting the sleep-deprived years of having small children, when we are all desperate for a full night’s sleep and are surviving rather than thriving every day, when we’re hurled straight into a decade (or more) of menopause symptoms.
But why is our sleep affected? Well, it’s complicated.
“Sleep problems are one of the most common, and most overlooked symptoms during the menopause transition and may be attributed to a few complexities going on in a woman’s body at once,” explains GP, TV doctor and women's health expert Dr Semiya Aziz. “These can be loosely attributed to hormone fluctuations, night sweats and mood and anxiety issues.”
Here's the real kicker. “Declining oestrogen and progesterone both affect sleep patterns,” shares Dr Aziz. “However, the underlying mechanisms are far more complex, and it's important to understand that not every woman’s sleep issue is caused directly by hormonal changes.
“Progesterone has a mild calming, sleep-promoting effect, whilst oestrogen helps to regulate body temperature, serotonin and melatonin levels. As the levels of each hormone become erratic, sleep may become lighter and more fragmented, although complex processes are involved and can not all be attributed to hormonal variability.”
2. Vasomotor Issues
“Night sweats and hot flushes (also known as vasomotor symptoms) are common in menopause and can wake women up,” she continues. “Even if women aren’t fully alert, they can disrupt their sleep quality significantly.”
3. Mental Health Shifts
“Mental health changes can make early-morning waking very common, as perimenopause brings anxiety, low moods and racing thoughts,” says Dr Aziz. “The relationship is interestingly bidirectional: anxiety and depression can disrupt sleep, whilst persistent poor sleep can worsen mood and emotional regulation.”
What Is the Huberman Sleep Stack and What Are the Benefits for Perimenopausal Women?
As touched on above, Andrew Huberman is an American neuroscientist, best known for his hugely successful podcast, The Huberman Lab. Rated consistently as the number one wellness pod, it has over five million subscribers, while his following on Instagram alone is over eight million.
And his sleep protocol is a large part of his success: back in 2021, he launched his toolkit for sleep—and the rest, as they say, is history. From this, Huberman developed his ‘sleep stack’: a cocktail of three sleep-inducing supplements, magnesium, apigenin and L-theanine.
“Although Andrew Huberman’s protocol wasn’t specifically designed for perimenopause, its mechanics are pretty well-suited to the symptoms many women face,” sharesGP and clinical lead at Treated, Dr Daniel Atkinson. “The trio can work well for sleep issues.”
You've probably heard a few people talking about the benefits of magnesium for sleep, and research does show a link between the supplement and improved energy, circadian rhythm and sleep regulation (take a look at this study from the journal Nature and Science of Sleep). And the experts agree.
“Magnesium is brilliant for calming the central nervous system and relaxing tense muscles,” says Dr Atkinson. “Threonate is particularly clever because it crosses the blood-brain barrier effectively, while Bisglycinate is highly absorbable and gentle on the stomach. And both of these help boost GABA, a neurotransmitter that quiets brain activity, which can ‘plug the gap’ left by lower progesterone levels.”
2. Apigenin
Again, clinical studies show apigenin to be useful in promoting good sleep architecture—but it's worth noting here that this is animal, rather than human, research.
“Apigenin is the active compound found in chamomile tea, but in a highly concentrated (50mg) dose,” shares Dr Atkinson. “It binds to the same receptors in the brain as anti-anxiety medications, helping to turn off the racing thoughts that keep you staring at the ceiling.”
3. L-theanine
“L-Theanine is an amino acid found naturally in green tea,” Dr Atkinson continues. “It increases alpha brain waves, which promotes a state of relaxed alertness and takes the edge off physical anxiety without making you feel heavily sedated.”
This is also supported by the science, with research showing a link between L-theanine and sleep quality.
It’s clear, then, that the efficacy of the trio of supplements individually has some scientific backing, but what about when it comes to treating menopausal symptoms? There’s been a fair bit of noise online, recently, about whether menopause supplements are really worth the (admittedly eye-wateringly high) money. It’s estimated that the market is worth a staggering $17 billion, with many women spending upwards of £1,800 per year on supplements. So, what do the experts think about the efficacy of the sleep stack, in particular?
“Potentially, these supplements could help women sleep, but I think we need to be realistic about what they can achieve,” says sleep specialist, nutritionist and founder of Rare Street Pilates, Nikki Behrens. “Certain nutrients and compounds may help support relaxation and sleep quality, particularly if someone has a deficiency or is struggling to switch off mentally.
“However, supplements cannot correct the hormonal fluctuations responsible for many perimenopausal symptoms. I would always look at the bigger picture first: nutrition, stress, exercise, hormonal symptoms and sleep habits.”
It’s important to note here, too, that while the supplements do have some research behind them, they haven’t been tested on perimenopausal women.
“Magnesium and L-theanine do have small studies suggesting benefits for relaxation or sleep quality,” notes Dr Aziz, “but these weren’t conducted in perimenopausal women specifically, so the evidence is not strong enough as an established treatment for perimenopausal insomnia.”
I Tried the Huberman Sleep Stack for a Week—My Honest Thoughts
Days One to Three
The jury being out, there was only one thing for it: I had to give the stack a try for myself.
For the sake of clarity, I didn’t purchase Huberman’s actual stack. There are a number of products that contain the same supplements available, so I simply plumped for one that seemed reasonably priced and would arrive in good time.
And it couldn’t come soon enough: my Oura ring gives me daily feedback on my sleep, and let’s just say, the picture hasn’t been pretty. This being said, I’m a little sceptical that the stack will make any difference.
On the first night, I only take one of the three recommended capsules (the supplements are blended together, so you’re not taking them all individually)
Note to self, though: do not take a capsule unless you’re able to actually go to bed within an hour or so. On night three, I made the mistake of taking it too early and having to wait to collect my teenage daughter from her job at pub closing time; let’s just say, I wasn’t up for a 1 am kitchen chat with her (sorry).
Whether I felt sleepy because I knew I had to stay awake (always the way), or because of the supplement, who knows—but ultimately, the end result was the same, and I was winning.
And it seems it wasn't just beginners' luck, either, as the next two nights continued in the same vein—so far, so good.
Days Four to Seven
Is it a placebo, or are the supplements actually helping? At this point, I’m not even really sure I care. While I’m still waking up around 4 am, I’m definitely less alert when I stir, and I'm able to get back to sleep more easily than before, which I’m absolutely taking as a win.
Interestingly, though, I also got my first period in almost 60 days during the trial week, which might account for my overwhelming tiredness (surely not just me?), but again, I’m taking all the sleep I can get, right now.
Perhaps my biggest win, though, is that I'm so much more tuned in to what my body and brain need to really be able to switch off. Focusing on taking the supplement half an hour to an hour before bed provided me with a concrete deadline to start winding down—something I'm notoriously poor at doing, usually. I even found the time to try out the LED face mask that's been gathering dust in my bathroom for a couple of months, so perhaps this new routine will garner benefits beyond my sleep, too.
So, will I continue with the stack? Honestly, I’d be really interested to try the supplements individually, to see which one is most effective, or if I really do need them all. But that’s a challenge for another time; for now, I’m all in.
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Therabody Rechargeable Padded Sleep Mask
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The Supplement Stack Sleep Supplement
This is the exact supplement blend that I tried and can recommend, as I tolerated it well (as you can see above!) I genuinely think it helped my sleep.
What else can we do to benefit sleep in perimenopause?
“Aside from speaking to a GP, menopause specialist or pharmacist about your specific symptoms and addressing them directly using aids such as HRT, there are other natural measures that you can use to help yourself,” shares Dr Aziz. “I recommend the following:
Keeping a regular sleep schedule, which helps anchor your body clock; routine is often key.
Keeping your bedroom cool, dark and quiet, with breathable bedding and nightwear that helps with night sweats.
Watching caffeine and alcohol intake, which both contribute to night sweats and night waking. While alcohol helps some fall asleep faster, it often fragments sleep throughout the night.
Moving during the day, as regular exercise and daylight exposure, especially in the morning, support healthy sleep, though you should try to avoid very intense exercise closer to bedtime.
Tracking your cycle and symptoms (so that you have a report to take to your GP) can reflect patterns, indicating when your sleep is better and when it is worse, allowing you to address it directly.
“The last and final tip is to seek help if problems persist. There’s no need to suffer in silence, and a conversation with your GP might be able to address any other underlying causes and address them with treatment, where appropriate.”
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There is no shortage of beauty brands vying for our attention. Between the seemingly endless stream of celebrity launches, viral TikTok discoveries and increasingly elaborate skincare routines, you’d be forgiven for thinking we’ve reached peak beauty. Do we really need another serum? Another fragrance brand? Another product promising to revolutionise something we’ve been doing perfectly well for decades?
Well, occasionally, the answer is yes. Because every so often, a brand comes along that offers something that’s actually innovative. It could be as simple as solving an everyday frustration, bringing a fresh outlook to a familiar category, or, sometimes, a product that makes you wonder why no one thought of it before.
Finding these brands, however, is becoming something of an art form. With so much noise surrounding new launches, separating true innovation from clever marketing tactics isn’t always easy. And while a viral moment might generate thousands of sales, it doesn’t necessarily make for a brilliant product—or a business with any real staying power.
It’s something I was particularly interested in discussing with Catherine Spindler, President of Sephora Europe and the Middle East, ahead of SEPHORiA’s London debut. After all, few retailers have quite the same vantage point when it comes to identifying the brands that might become tomorrow’s household names.
“The beauty market is undoubtedly more competitive than ever,” she tells me. “The challenge for brands is to offer something genuinely meaningful in a crowded landscape. Virality can be an incredibly powerful introduction to a brand, and social media has transformed how quickly new products and founders can reach consumers. But awareness and long-term success are not the same thing.”
Instead, she points to repeat purchases, consistent product performance and the ability to innovate beyond an initial hero product as more meaningful indicators of longevity.
“We are seeing innovation across several areas, from advanced technologies that help us better understand individual skin needs to next-generation ingredients, new beauty rituals and a more holistic approach to self-care.”
Which brings me to three particularly interesting names: Substance of Light, French Cowboy and Omad’s. All relatively young European businesses, all approaching established beauty categories from rather different angles, and all recently recognised at the inaugural Sephora Prize, selected from 150 applicants.
Here is why they’re worth having on your radar.
Substance of Light: The SPF Brand Tackling One of Skincare’s Most Enduring Problems
If there’s one skincare mantra we’ve all heard a million times, it’s to wear SPF every day. And to reapply it throughout the day. The trouble is that while the advice is perfectly reasonable, the practicalities are somewhat less appealing, particularly if you’re wearing a full face of makeup.
The French brand Substance of Light is trying to solve this problem. Founded in 2021 by Clara Nentille, the brand approaches sun protection as something that needs to fit seamlessly into everyday life, rather than requiring us to pivot our routines around it.
Its formulations combine high UV protection with skincare benefits and an emphasis on texture, but the product that really caught my attention is its spray format, designed to be reapplied over makeup, while offering adequate protection.
It’s not attempting to reinvent the entire concept of sun protection. But it identifies the gap between what consumers know they should be doing and what they realistically do. And that, arguably, is where some of the most useful beauty innovation happens.
The brand took first place at the Sephora Prize, securing three years of mentoring and development support. But the underlying idea, not the accolade, makes it one to watch.
French Cowboy: A Different Kind of Niche Fragrance House
Niche perfumery has undergone something of a transformation in recent years. Once the preserve of dedicated fragrance devotees and prohibitively expensive boutiques, independent perfume houses have become increasingly prominent in mainstream beauty culture.
But with so many new fragrance brands entering the market, the definition of niche has become a little more complicated. An edgy bottle and a quirky description of sandalwood aren’t necessarily enough to make a fragrance interesting.
French Cowboy, founded in 2025 by Ashley Santiago and Adrien Ollat, takes a slightly different approach, aiming to make haute parfumerie more accessible by creating scents in collaboration with personalities from the contemporary creative world. Take their Vanilla For Breakfast Eau de Parfum, created in collaboration with Mia Fall, a Paris-based French beauty influencer and academic specialising in artificial intelligence, big data and robotics. She’s a self-confessed vanilla maximalist, and the fragrance features four different vanillas, each chosen for the face its extraction method reveals to create the fragrance Fall always wished existed.
Omad’s: The Haircare Brand Bringing a Family Beauty Secret Into the Modern Age
Founded in Belgium in 2021 by Zoé Jadot and Julien Dupont, Omad’s takes its inspiration from a homemade haircare recipe passed down by a grandmother. Its sole focus? Products designed to gradually and naturally brighten blonde hair at home.
The appeal is easy to understand. For anyone who wants to maintain or subtly boost their blonde hair without committing to a dramatic colour transformation, the prospect of gradual brightening is an attractive one.
And in an industry where more products, more steps and more complicated routines are frequently presented as progress, this hyper-focused approach feels remarkably refreshing.
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Ladies, I’m calling a town hall meeting—I need to air an intrusive thought. When did being knackered become a personal failing—and “fixing” it a measure of how well we’re doing at life?
Actually, I lied. This isn’t an intrusive thought so much as a conversation I’ve been having with almost every woman in my life. We’re on the same treadmill—the seemingly endless urge to fix everything, with the wellness world giving us an ever-expanding toolkit to keep us running.
Guilty as charged. The minute I feel sluggish or vaguely unlike myself, I’m hunting for answers, only stopping when I feel satisfied with my “fix”. That fix being: supplements, cold plunges, earlier bedtimes, caffeine hacks, morning sunlight, protein, electrolytes, exercise. Anything to get me back to firing on all cylinders, preferably by tomorrow. It rarely occurs to me to question the pace I'm trying to maintain. I simply want to feel better so I can crack on. Perhaps that’s the mantra of modern life: feel better, do more.
Hardly surprising really when there’s always another fix promising to get us back to 100%. A 2025 Which? survey found that 76% of UK adults surveyed took supplements, with one in six supplement users taking at least four. We’re certainly not short of solutions. But are we getting any closer to asking the right questions?
So, for the sake of our fatigue, take a seat: an intervention is on the cards. For a month, I stopped trying to “fix” my tiredness and started paying attention to what it might be telling me. With expert advice, I’m separating useful fixes from wellness waffle—and discovering whether, in trying to outrun my tiredness, I’ve lost touch with the basics my body actually needs.
What Happened When I Stopped Trying To “Fix” My Tiredness For A Month
Is It Normal to Feel This Tired? What Tracking My Energy Revealed
Tracking my fatigue for a month was always going to be humbling for a chronic Type A who says yes to everything, then wonders why she’s got nothing left. Being busy is my kryptonite, but also my go-to excuse for feeling tired; finding a fix is my knee-jerk reaction. Cue a flurry of little rituals designed to wipe the fatigue slate clean: checking Oura scores, bargaining with myself over whether a sluggish morning needs a stronger coffee or an earlier night, the PM slump fixed with a protein bar of electrolyte (yes, I really do tell myself these work)
But my notes revealed that tiredness wasn’t the shapeless fog I’d assumed. It has rhythm.
Where I was in my cycle was a clear starting point. My energy ebbed and flowed with it, while the daily dips were surprisingly predictable: I often felt a slump around noon, then another between 4 pm and 6 pm. Mornings between 8 and 10 a.m. were generally better; I’d often get a second wind around 1 pm, and sometimes again in the evening. Exercise threw up another surprise: on days when I felt too exhausted to move, a workout could leave me feeling as though someone had plugged me back in.
My Oura score was less straightforward. I’d become so invested in its nightly verdict that a poor score could have me writing off the day before it began. More REM sleep also seemed to coincide with better energy, even after fewer hours overall—an interesting pattern, though hardly proof that one sleep stage held the key.
To make sense of it all, I spoke to GP Dr Jessica Little, who explained that she would first look at three things: “the pattern of fatigue, the duration of fatigue, and the impact it is having on everyday life”.
My cycle, it seemed, offered a useful clue. Little says, "A predictable dip linked to poor sleep, stress, or the days before a period can be reassuring. If tiredness follows a familiar menstrual pattern but you otherwise feel well and can carry on as usual, that may represent your individual normal.”
I’m assured that understanding our baseline matters more than running to any “fix”. “A noticeable change from this—struggling with work, exercise or socialising when you previously managed comfortably - is more concerning”, explains Little—particularly if someone who previously managed work, exercise and socialising comfortably is now struggling to get through an ordinary day. "Fatigue that persists for several weeks without explanation, worsens, doesn’t improve with adequate rest or starts affecting everyday life warrants investigation. The same goes for fatigue accompanied by symptoms such as breathlessness, palpitations, unexplained weight loss or heavy menstrual bleeding."
My cycle explained a familiar dip, but not necessarily everything. To stop reflexively reaching for another hack, I first needed to understand what was driving my tiredness in the first place.
(Image credit: The Vault)
Sleep Debt, Stress or Something Else? How to Work Out What’s Behind Your Fatigue
According to my Oura ring, I’m accumulating sleep debt. But what does that actually look like beyond a less-than-glowing sleep score? My stress levels? Also seemingly endless. With sleep deprivation, stress and the general admin of being a functioning adult all competing for the blame, how can I work out which is contributing the most?
Sleep scientist Sophie Bostock explains that the effects of sleep loss can show up in surprisingly everyday ways: “We become more easily distracted, our reactions slow down, and everyday tasks require more effort. Sleep loss can also make us more emotionally reactive and less motivated.” So, with my energy diary full of afternoons when concentrating feels like wading through treacle, my first port of call before heading for my usual oat flat white or magnesium supplement is to check whether I'm getting enough sleep to begin with.
Bostock also points out, “we can become so accustomed to functioning below our best that we forget what feeling properly rested is like” - a rather uncomfortable home truth. “One of the warning signs,” she continues, “is when tiredness starts to feel normal.”
To work out whether sleep debt might be contributing to my fatigue, her advice is refreshingly unglamorous: try going to bed ten to fifteen minutes earlier a week, and see whether my mood, concentration or energy improves. If I have the opportunity, allowing myself the gift of sleeping without an alarm could offer further clues. Am I naturally sleeping longer? Does my energy improve after a few days?
But what if being tired isn’t the problem—but how we feel about it?
Psychotherapist for female leaders, Katie Williams, has an explanation for my need to fix my fatigue. A caveat: I think a few of us are about to feel very seen. She suggested the rather alien concept: what if it’s not the tiredness we can’t stand, but what we’ve come to believe it says about us? “Most of us are carrying far more than we can handle, and have been doing so for years,” she says. “ For high-achieving women, productivity can become so tangled up with self-worth that when our bodies can’t keep up, it feels like a threat.”
I’d say we all know this feeling far too well. It’s not just that I’m feeling exhausted; it’s that I’m exhausted and not getting everything done. I’m falling behind. I’m not keeping up. And apparently, another thing I need to control.
Research from 2012 backs this up. A longitudinal study of 2,121 working adults found that performance-based self-esteem was a strong predictor of burnout over time, with a stronger association among women than men. It begs the question: are we tired, or do we feel guilty about not doing more?.
“When we’re stressed and activated, we’ll look for solutions, something to ‘do’ or a way to fix the problem, rather than considering changing our way of being,” Williams says. Perhaps I’m not just trying to get my energy back. I’m trying to get back to being the version of myself I think I ought to be—minus the fatigue.
(Image credit: The Vault)
Beyond the Quick Fix: What Helped When I Stopped Trying to Outrun My Tiredness
Without my classic “fixes”, I turned to nutritionist Hannah Alderson and GP Dr Ravina Bhanot to ask what going back to basics looks like. No, we’re not talking about another self-improvement project, but a toolkit for tuning in to what my body needs, what’s genuinely helping, and when to simply leave my tiredness alone.
1. Get Curious Before Reaching for a Fix
“When does your energy dip? Are you dragging yourself through the morning on coffee alone, hitting a wall mid-afternoon or feeling inexplicably exhausted in the days before your period? Do you feel better after eating, moving or resting?”
Alderson suggests looking for clues in the rhythm of your day. Skipping meals, under-eating, or relying on caffeine to compensate for poor sleep can all contribute to feeling depleted. “The point isn’t to diagnose yourself from an energy diary, but to spot patterns before automatically reaching for another supplement.”
2. Eat Enough Before Adding More
Wellness culture loves a new superfood, but Alerson’s advice is disarmingly simple: “start by checking you’re eating enough.” Build meals around protein, fibre, healthy fats and carbohydrates (remember: carbs are not the enemy), rather than obsessing over one macronutrient or cutting out entire food groups.
3. Don’t Expect Electrolytes to Rescue a Bad Night’s Sleep
Maybe a “fix” I relied on a little too much. “Using electrolytes to fix your tiredness is another example of wellness culture turning something physiologically important into something we supposedly all need more of, " says Alderson.
She notes these are essentials for fluid balance and muscle and nerve function; however, “most people eating a varied diet and drinking enough will get what they need. They’re useful when you’ve lost significant fluid and salts through prolonged sweating, vomiting or diarrhoea—not as an automatic upgrade to your water bottle.”
4. Give Your Body the Cues It Needs
A personal favourite, and one I’ve been really leaning into this month, is a warm shower or bath before bed. Bhanot suggests that this simple ritual, ideally one to two hours before bedtime, may help us fall asleep faster and improve sleep quality. And there’s evidence to back her up: a 2019 review found that passive warming before bed was associated with faster sleep onset and better self-rated sleep quality.
A win-win situation if you ask me.
5. Stop Treating Every Dip in Energy as a Problem to Solve
Maybe the bigger lesson for me. The basics—eating enough, drinking water, getting the rest you need—matter. But the point isn’t to turn them into six more rules to follow perfectly.
It’s to pause when the familiar urge to fix kicks in and ask a different question: what might I actually need right now? Food? Water? A break? An early night? Or perhaps a change to the pace I'm expecting myself to maintain?
Hey, sometimes a practical adjustment helps. And sometimes tiredness is a signal that you’ve taken on too much. I went into this experiment wanting to, ironically, find the right “fix” for my tiredness in relinquishing control and ditching everything I held so dear in the fight to find something that alleviated my tiredness. But instead, I came out more confident in my ability to recognise when I was reaching for one of my “crutches” by default. Not every feeling needs optimising. So, without further ado, I’ve put down the quest for a quick fix and picked up a little curiosity instead.
(Image credit: The Vault)
Shop MC UK Anti-Fix Wellness Picks Here:
TALA Wide Leg Pyjama Bottoms
An expert-backed way to stop trying to hack your fatigue? Go back to basics and permit yourself to slow down. These cosy pyjama bottoms from Tala are a firm reminder that a reset doesn’t need to be earned; instead, doing less (in matching pyjamas) is exactly what you need.
Laura Mercier Ambre Vanilla Honey Bath
In the name (and spirit) of giving your body the cue it needs to wind down, why not indulge a little? Bhanot recommends a warm bath before bed to help you fall asleep faster, so consider this your invitation to run the bath, add a little luxury and let the day go.
Sweet Bee Organics Breathe Deep Cloud Balm
Not a fix, but a little something that’s recently stumbled onto my radar. If, like me, you struggle with a blocked nose and sinus problems this time of year, you’ll know the colder months can mean disrupted nights and a whole lot of tossing and turning. Enter Sweet Bee Organics’ Breathe Deep Cloud Balm - a cooling botanical organic chest balm with menthol vapours, made for the seasonal moments when you're feeling sluggish and run down, or simply in need of some comforting care.
What to say to your GP about tiredness
If your fatigue has lasted six weeks or more, don’t just write it off as being busy. Make that appointment and go prepared. Women’s hormone specialist Dr Louise Newson explains what to tell your doctor, and why the details matter.
“Tired all the time, often shortened to TATT by healthcare professionals, is a common issue I hear a lot in the consulting room, but it is very non-specific. That’s why it’s really important to be as clear as possible about your symptoms and how they’re affecting your everyday life.”
Before your appointment, Newson encourages you to make a note of when it started, any patterns, other symptoms, plus what it’s stopping you from doing.
“A symptom diary can help you spot patterns and give your GP a clearer picture. Most importantly, don’t downplay how much your fatigue is affecting your life.” As Newson explains, these details can help your doctor understand where you’re at with your symptoms, their severity, and possible causes.
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