What the Morning After a Sexual Assault On Campus Really Looks Like

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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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Perimenopause Ruined My Sleep, So I Tried the Huberman ‘Sleep Stack’ for 7 Days—It’s Changed My Shut-Eye for Good

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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.”

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1. Hormonal Fluctuations

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.”

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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,” shares GP and clinical lead at Treated, Dr Daniel Atkinson. “The trio can work well for sleep issues.”

Let's take a look at them each in turn.

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1. Magnesium

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.

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Can Supplements Really Help Women Sleep?

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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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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Beauty’s Next Breakout Stars—Why Beauty Fans Are Flocking to SEPHORiA London

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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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I Stopped Trying To “Fix” My Tiredness For A Month. I Started Listening To It Instead

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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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Why Makeup Artists Are Embracing the Anti-Blush Movement—And How to Make It Look Good

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Over the past couple of years, the beauty world has seen a blusher boom, with bold shades trending and high-flush blush everywhere. The trend culminated in what social media dubbed ‘blush blindness’: people overloading cheeks with bright pinks and bold corals in almost clown-like fashion. As a result, a new movement, the anti-blusher trend, is emerging.

We asked some of Marie Claire’s favourite makeup artists to explain the trend, its long-term appeal, and the anti-blush buys to shop now.

What is the ‘Anti-Blush’ Trend, Exactly?

Contrary to its name, anti-blush still actually involves blush. You didn’t really think it would be that easy, did you? “It isn’t about abandoning blush at all; it’s moving away from highly saturated shades, the obvious pinks and corals, and choosing colours that feel much closer to the natural tones within the skin,” says makeup artist Lisa Caldognetto. “The finish is so much more understated—so you’re not noticing this immediate pop of colour of blush that we’ve typically seen. It’s softly-defined, really healthy and pulled together. It’s almost a blush, bronzer and contour all merged into one.”

The term blew up when creator Kim Senser made a video calling MAC’s Skinfinish Coloustruck Blush in Film Noir Buff ‘the anti-blush’. She tells Marie Claire she describes the trend as “the opposite of what I had been seeing for blush. Instead of that bright pink, or reddish blush, it feels muted, neutral and naturally skin-like. I have always loved the ‘no-makeup’ look.”

Makeup artist Adeola Gboyega describes it as “sitting somewhere between blush and bronzer. You’re still bringing warmth and colour into the complexion, but it doesn’t necessarily look like an obvious, traditional blush.”

And there’s an important distinction, adds Gboyega: “Anti-blush doesn’t have to mean cool, taupe or completely neutral. It can definitely have warmth to it—think bronzed rose, terracotta, caramel, brick red, raisin or warm brown tones. It’s more about choosing colours that feel like they melt into the complexion, rather than sitting on top of the skin as a really obvious pop of pink or peach. It gives you that barely-there blush effect. You can see warmth and dimension in the face, but you might not immediately look at it and think, ‘she’s wearing blush’.”

Though a trending term now, this technique has been around for a long time, says Gboyega. “What I find really interesting about this trend, both as a makeup artist and as a Black woman, is that this way of using colour on the cheeks really isn’t new,” she says. “Women with deeper skin tones have been doing versions of this for years, we just didn’t have the anti-blush terminology attached to it.”

Often, women of colour often did not have the luxury of choice, explains Gboyega, as there weren’t as many blushers made with deeper complexions in mind. Black women therefore almost created their own versions of blush. “We would look beyond what was traditionally being marketed as blush and choose shades we knew would bring warmth, dimension and life back into our skin. Shades like MAC’s original Raizin blush became staples for Black women because they had enough depth and richness to actually show up beautifully on deeper skin tones, while giving that warm, almost bronzed flush that we’re now seeing described as anti-blush.”

How to Choose an Anti-Blush Shade

While some beauty trends are best left as TikTok filters, this particular look can be adapted to you, making it worth transferring from screen to real life. “Anti-blush isn’t one specific colour; it should look different depending on your complexion,” instructs Gboyega. “The key is choosing a shade with the right level of depth and warmth for your skin rather than just looking for something that’s labelled neutral.

“For pale to light complexions, I’d look at soft beige-pinks, muted rose, caramel and lighter terracotta tones, while for light-medium to medium skin tones, slightly richer caramel, warm rose, terracotta and bronzed shades work really well,” she recommends. “For medium-deep to deep complexions, you want enough richness and pigment so the colour doesn’t disappear into the skin. This is where burnt rose, deeper terracotta, raisin, chocolate and red-brown shades really come into their own.”

The main thing to remember is not to overthink it. Don’t “get too caught up in finding a product specifically marketed as an anti-blush,” advises Gboyega. “Look at how the shade actually behaves on your complexion. It could be caramel, terracotta, bronzed rose, raisin, warm brown or muted red. You’re looking for something that brings warmth and colour into the face without reading as an obvious traditional blush.”

Convinced? These anti-blush shades come highly recommended by our pros.

The Best Products for an Anti-Blush Look

MAC

Skinfinish Colourstruck Blush in Gingerly

Vieve

Sunset Blush Balm in Pesca

Kosas

Impressionist Multistick Cream Cheek + Lip Color

Charlotte Tilbury

Airbrush Flawless Blush Blur in Forbidden Cherry

Lisa Eldridge

Velatura Balm Dewy Lip & Cheek Stick in Cinnbon Bun

Armani

Dolci Blush in Mauve Blush

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3-Day Hormone “Resets” are Trending—So I Asked Women’s Health Experts What Your Hormones Actually Do In 72 Hours

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Scroll through wellness TikTok long enough, and you'll find a new promise: fix your energy, curb your cravings and boost your mood in just three days. You only need to search #hormonereset to see there's no shortage of day-by-day plans, along with real-life testimonies of women claiming they feel like a completely different person by day three.

It's not hard to understand the appeal of a three-day hormone reset. Instead of completely overhauling your life, you commit to 72 hours of 'clean eating', early nights and a few supplements, and your hormones supposedly fall back in line. And for women in perimenopause or menopause who are often dealing with symptoms that can easily be dismissed, a quick fix can feel especially tempting.

I'll admit it's something I'm more intrigued by, particularly after turning 40 this year and knowing that stage of life is slowly creeping up on me. But can you really fix your hormones in just three days? With October marking Menopause Awareness month—a time when women are looking for answers about their hormones—I wanted to know how much can change in our bodies in 72 hours, and how much of the hype actually holds up?

The research is a good starting point. Take this 2026 systematic review of almost 2,000 women experiencing menopausal-related symptoms, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It found some evidence that dietary changes may improve certain symptoms. But the researchers said more high-quality evidence was needed, and crucially, they weren't 'three-day hormone resets'.

So, what do the experts say? I spoke to three leading women's health professionals to find out whether there's any such thing as a quick fix for hormone health. Keep scrolling for your guide, and while you're here, don't miss our explainers on the everyday habits that can be impacting your hormones, how to balance your hormones and the best foods for hormone health.

As 3-Day Hormone “Resets” Trend—What Our Hormones Actually Do In 72 Hours

What is a 3 day hormone reset?

While there's no official definition, the plan tends to follow a pattern. "These diets and resets typically promise things like blood sugar stabilisation, reduced inflammation and improved insulin sensitivity to 'reverse' hormone resistance and reset metabolism," explains Bethany Francois, a specialist eating disorder dietitian.

Typically, this includes cutting out foods, such as refined sugar, alcohol, gluten and dairy, as well as prioritising high fibre, healthy fats and lean proteins and reducing snacking to promote a longer overnight fasting window. Francois says that they can also encourage supplements or herbal products like magnesium or ashwagandha.

While most of this probably sounds sensible enough, Francois warns there isn't good evidence that any of these behaviours can reset or rebalance your hormones. "Cutting out gluten and dairy without evidence of an allergy or intolerance isn't going to improve someone's health."

Chartered clinical psychologist Dr Tracy King explains why the idea of a three-day hormone reset is so appealing. "Instead of thinking, “I need to change my whole life and sort myself out,” a three-day reset gives us a boundary," she says. "Doing something different for three days feels possible and gives us a sense of “self-efficacy” (the feeling that our actions can change how we feel), which reduces helplessness and naturally improves mood."

Can you actually reset your hormones in 72 hours?

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In short, no. "The idea around needing to 'reset' your hormones is generally misleading, especially whether it can be done in such a short timeframe," says women's wellness issues expert Dr Shirin Lakhani.

Hormones naturally fluctuate throughout the day, as well as across the menstrual cycle and during perimenopause and menopause. "It’s very important to note that hormones aren’t something you need to 'fix'," says Dr Lakhani. "The aim should be to understand and manage symptoms where they are affecting quality of life, rather than trying to force the body back to an earlier hormonal state."

And Francois agrees. "Your body is constantly checking and regulating your hormone levels, so it's not something that needs periodically resetting," she adds. Blood sugar is another popular target, but rises in glucose and insulin are normal and necessary. Companies know that menopausal women are a vulnerable group—but implying that they all need to be worried about possible insulin resistance and their blood sugar levels is really damaging," she says.

And while diet can influence hormones, the evidence isn't exactly suggesting a quick fix. One 2025 trial of 234 postmenopausal women found that a mainly plant-based dietary intervention was associated with lower levels of estradiol and free estradiol—but the intervention lasted 24 months, not 72 hours. The study doesn't tell us how quickly these changes occurred, but it certainly isn't enough to provide evidence for a three-day hormone reset.

That doesn't mean you can't feel differently after three days, though. "What you eat over a 3-day period can absolutely change how you feel," adds Francois. Bloating, for example, can be affected by short-term factors including fibre, stress, salt, fluid intake and portion size.

And it's worth bearing in mind Dr King's point that how we feel can change much faster than our underlying hormonal system. "If we have poor sleep, stress, irritability, or are more tearful or anxious, a structured three-day plan can really help improve some of these things.

Put simply, a three-day reset might change how you feel, but that doesn't mean it has reset your hormones.

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What can you realistically do to support your hormones in three days?

Rather than trying to completely reset anything, experts suggest focusing on behaviours that can make you feel better. "I'd move completely away from the idea of needing to reset anything," says Francois.

Instead, start with these four areas.

1. Eat regular, balanced meals

There's a lot of advice about what we should and shouldn't eat when it comes to supporting hormone health, and it can quickly become overwhelming. Francois' advice is refreshingly simple: eat regular, balanced meals.

"I'd focus on eating regular meals that include a combination of protein, carbohydrates and fats," she says. She recommends eating a variety of fruit and vegetables, plus getting fibre from foods such as beans, pulses and wholegrains.

Going too long without eating can also make cravings harder to manage. "Cravings for food that provide quick sources of glucose tend to increase the hungrier we are," says Francois. She suggests snacks combining different food groups, such as carbohydrates with protein or healthy fats.

2. Get outside every day

We know movement can support mood and energy, and Dr King has a particularly simple suggestion: get outside every day for a short walk early in the day, ideally around the same time each morning.

"A short walk outdoors early in the day combines several things our brains respond well to: daylight, movement, routine and a clear signal that the day has begun by the regulation of melatonin, which impacts our sleep-wake rhythm."

It might not sound like a revolutionary hormone hack, but that's the point. According to Dr King, our nervous system responds well to predictability, so a simple routine can be more useful than constantly searching for the next wellness fix.

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3. Prioritise sleep

If you're not always prioritising sleep (guilty), you'll know only too well the impact a rough night can have on your energy and mood. And while one good night's sleep won't magically rebalance your hormones, it can help you feel better surprisingly quickly.

"You can definitely implement strategies that can make you feel better within three days, such as making changes to sleep," says Dr Lakhani.

Francois also points to sleep alongside regular movement and social connection as important lifestyle factors when it comes to energy and mood.

Shop trending wellness products

Altra Womens Torin 9

Prioritising getting outside is one of the easiest things you can do to support your hormones. I'm adding a bit of colour to my autumn walks with these Altra Torin 9s—they're lightweight but cushioned enough to make clocking up my steps feel more enjoyable.

Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300

We might not see as much sunlight in the winter months, but a sunrise alarm clock will gently wake you up with gradually increasing light, helping to align your body clock. This Lumie model has been voted the best overall sunrise alarm clock in MC UK's guide.

The Hormone Balance Handbook

This handbook includes over 75 recipes, tailored to different phases of your cycle, and it's packed with info on how your hormones function and their impact on your body.

Are three day resets safe for women in perimenopause or menopause?

"A three-day plan is unlikely to address the underlying hormonal changes taking place during perimenopause or the menopause," says women's wellness issues expert Dr Shirin Lakhani.

She warns against severe calorie restriction, eliminating entire food groups, fasting for prolonged periods or taking multiple supplements without a clear evidence base.

"For women in perimenopause or menopause, a healthcare professional can help distinguish what is likely to be part of the menopausal transition from symptoms that need further investigation," she adds. "You shouldn't feel that you need to “detox” your way through symptoms that deserve proper medical attention."

Dr Lakhani recommends speaking to your GP if symptoms are persistent, worsening or interfering with your daily life, rather than repeatedly trying short-term resets. 

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