The Sunday Telegraph Stella - January 16, 2022

Ispy…

16 January 2022

LucyBoynton

From SECRET AGENT to ’60s siren MARIANNE FAITHFULL, why it’s the biggest year yet for Britain’s most exciting actor

Plus

Reese Witherspoon shares her beauty secrets

The Sunday Telegraph

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Award-winner

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On the cover and right Lucy Boynton, photographed by Agata Pospieszynska

Fashion

6 | The conversation

Lisa Armstrong on the trick to shopping sustainably

9 | The grid

Our 10 most-wanted this week

Features

10 | In my own words ‘I celebrated my meno-versary with a minibreak’

12 | On the cover

Rising star Lucy Boynton on the spy we’re going to love and playing ’60s icon Marianne Faithfull

20 | Report

The joys and pitfalls of being the go-to parent

25 | Trend

How body art got big among the over-40s

Smart beauty

30 | Talking beauty

Reese Witherspoon shares her skincare regime and inspiration with Sonia Haria

33 | Guest editor

Model Adwoa Aboah on the products she loves

Smart living

34 | Home front

Six exciting new brands to watch out for

38 | Eat in

Perfect partners: Diana Henry’s delicious chicken and rice recipes

44 | Book-it list

Treat yourself to a relaxing spa break – you deserve it

50 | What Katie did next

Our columnist enlists old friends and new to help on her house The Sunday Telegraph 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 0DT Tel 020 7931 2000 Editor Caroline Barrett Deputy editors Kate Bussmann, Naomi Greenaway Art director Jason Morris Production director Stacey Thomson Assistant editor Francesca Ryan Features editor Laura Powell Directors of photography Naomi McMullen, Krishna Sheth Picture researcher Rebecca Harrison Chief sub-editor Charlotte Cox Deputy chief sub-editor Tina Nandha Sub-editor Joanna Morris Deputy art director Sinéad Ham Junior content producer Néamh Randall Head of fashion and style Lisa Armstrong Fashion news and features director Bethan Holt Senior fashion editor Caroline Leaper Style editor Tona Stell Fashion editor Tamara Abraham Fashion assistant Sophie Tobin Beauty director Sonia Haria Beauty editor-at-large Annabel Jones Food editor Amy Bryant Acting food editor Lisa Markwell Interiors editor Jessica Doyle Editorial apprentice Emilie Hill Editorial manager, magazines & lifestyle Angela Connell Daily Telegraph deputy editor Jane Bruton Head of magazines Sasha Slater Creative director Kuchar Swara Head of magazine advertising Claire Juon STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

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Cover styling: Leith Clark. Lucy wears: high-neck knit, £18, Beyond Retro (beyondretro.com). Tulle dress, £250, Reveligion (reveligion.com). Tights, £21, Falke (falke.com). Shoes, £1,100, Chanel (chanel.com).

This page: sport coat, £6,820, shirt, £274, and bow tie, £193, all Thom Browne (thombrowne.com). Hair: Halley Brisker at The Wall Group. Make-up: Valeria at The Wall Group. Stylist’s assistant: Aurelie Mason Perez

She may only be 27, but Bohemian Rhapsody star Lucy Boynton is already 15 years into her acting career – with this year set to be her biggest yet. In this week’s issue she joins us to talk about her new role in the ITV adaptation of the 1962 Cold War spy novel The Ipcress File.

Also in this issue we ask, are you the default parent? The one who automatically picks up the pieces, is the go-to person when the school calls, organises the family diary...? It all seems very old-fashioned. On p20 we look at how you can change the dynamics in your relationship.

Enjoy the issue.

Caroline Barrett

PICK OF THE FLICKS

Did someone say ‘Oscar season’?

Throwing its A-lister studded hat into the ring is Nightmare Alley, the new film by Guillermo del Toro (who won Best Director and Best Film in 2018, FYI). Starring Bradley Cooper as a drifter who falls in with carnival folk and learns the tricks of the grifting trade from faux-clairvoyant Toni Collette, we follow him and girlfriend Rooney Mara (above) as they set out to con 1940s New York high society. Also starring Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe and Ron Perlman, this ultra-stylish film noir builds to a hell of an ending. In cinemas Friday

NEW RESTAURANT TO KNOW

How’s Veganuary going? In need of some excitement? Step this way… or, more accurately, step the way of Mallow, in London’s Borough Market. From the team behind veggie institution Mildred’s, its menu is 100 per cent plant-based, but 0 per cent boring.

We loved the hispi with tahini and chilli bean oil; while the salted maple butter served with the sourdough is incredible (especially given it’s not, you know, actually butter). The superfriendly staff are full of advice, making this the place for amateur vegans as well as the pros. mallow london.com

Jewel purp pose.

Earrings, g , £56, £ , PD Paola (pdpaola.com)

Comes naturally.

Plant Stem Cell Booster Serum, £80, Naturopathica (uk. naturopathica.com)

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STELLA LOVES

Rock your body. £85, Dora Larsen (dorallarsen.com )

Coat couture. £389, Baum und Pfe erdgarten (baumundpferrdgarten. com)

All C-ing eye. Light Aura Vitamin C + Peptide Eye Cream, £37, Summer Fridays (revolve.com) Refills and thrills.

Manifesto Colour Stick, £12.99, Zara Beauty (zara.com)

Hot to shop The teal deal. Solid-oak sideboard, £3,550, Jonathan Adler (uk.jonathanadler.com)

WIN

If you’re doing Dry January, here’s something to raise a glass to: new online alcohol-free off licence Zero.Zilch.Zip. zerozilchzip.co.uk

A stylish, sustainable Habbio sofa, worth £2,000 It’s where we’ve spent much of the past two years – so isn’t it high time for a sofa update? Here to help is British furniture maker Habbio, which is offering one lucky Telegraph subscriber the chance to choose their perfect new style. Select the ideal colour, fabric and size for your sofa – which is made from 100 per cent recycled materials, and is completely recyclable. Sitting down and saving the planet? Sounds good to us.

See telegraph.co.uk/ extra-stella

Flare necessities. Jeans, £95, The Hippie Shake (thehippieshake.co.uk)

LOVELY LISTENING

Tomorrow is supposedly ‘Blue Monday’ – aka the gloomiest day of the year. But we say, no, it doesn’t have to be so! Instead give Hop Up, the new album by ex-Maccabees frontman Orlando Weeks, a listen. He has said that when making the record ‘the choice was always to take the more positive and uplifting-sounding step’ – and the result is irrestistibly perky, ’80s synth-influenced indie pop. Check out the bouncy, clapalong Bigger or the piano-inflected Big Skies, Silly Faces and be cheered right up.

Out now

Cheers. Stemleess wine glasses, £160 for six, Estelle Colore ed Glass (estelle coloredglass.co om)

Striking posey. Cushion, £165, Liberty (libertylondon.com)

Star appearance. Dress, £389, Sandro (uk.sandro-paris.com)

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Edited by Charlotte Cox

The smart way to shop sustainably By doing our homework and being aware about what we buy, we can all do our bit to help the planet

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THE WAY FORWARD 1. Wool coat, £925, Another Tomorrow (matchesfashion.com) 2. Certified-wool cardigan, £139, and tank, £109, both Whistles (whistles.com) 3. Printed silk velvet skirt £249, Brora (broraonline.com) 4. Organic shirt, £250 0, and jeans, £195, both Mother of Pearl (motherofpearl.co.uk k)

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Moaning that shopping sustainably is expensive really doesn’t cut it

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of the provenance of what we buy. Moaning that shopping sustainably is expensive really doesn’t cut it. H&M, Zara and co are all pushing out ranges that claim to be more eco-aware.

They’re not perfect, but shop these and they’ll get the message that we care about this stuff. Buy less. Or from vintage sites – so well-curated and packaged now that even the fussiest will find the experience enjoyable.

As for the niche brands – they deserve our support. This trouser suit by Aspiga, for instance, is made from organic (stretch) cotton needlecord. If you want more luxury, Another Tomorrow, like The Row but less expensive, has impeccable eco and welfare credentials. Meanwhile, Mother of Pearl’s fashion direc-

to or Amy Powney is passionate on th he subject and delivers values yo ou can trust at a mid-price point with a high-fashion eye. Even w laabels, that don’t make a song an nd dance about it, such as Erde em, are making small batches in n the UK and Europe, using prroperly paid craftspeople.

In other words, there are many ways to approach the m sh hopping challenges ahead.

Th his Gucci bag? I lusted after it fo or years and eventually, about 10 0 years ago, I got my hands on on ne. And boy do I treasure it.

I’v ve just seen a pre-owned one on n farfetch.com for £1,600, which is considerably more than w I paid for this one in 2012.

Iff I ever want to get rid of it, I’ll tu urn it into profit, not landfill.

Photography: Sarah Brick. Styling: Sophie Tobin. Make-up: Charli Avery. Hair: Graziella Cawt w horne Vella

ACCORDING TO the new ‘laws’, everything I’m wearing in this picture is sustainable. No smugness here. Dressing sustainably is a bit like practising safe sex – open to interpretation.

It can be recycled, which sounds great, until you discover it was made in LA. It can be ‘faux’ leather – better for animals, but terrible in terms of CO2 emissions. It can be ‘vintage’ – and only a year old. It can be deadstock (made from off-cuts of fabric that used to be jettisoned), or old stock (ie last season), but your buying it may ultimately be e fuelue ling more demand for said stock. s Complicated? It gets mo ore so.

In China, they’re making extra plastic bottles so that the faashion industry can greenwash its wares by advertising that th hey’re made from recycled bottless.

Conversely, things that sound s pretty bad, aren’t always. Polyester gets a terrible press, but b if you’re wearing old, good qualq ity polyester (not all are equ ual) that would otherwise haave been dumped then, well, OK. O Leather? If you’re a committed vegan there’s probab bly no such concept in your miind as humanely farmed. So this t comes down to personal ethe ics. But good-quality leaather can be almost infinitelly repaired, as the awe-inspiringly skilled crew at The Restorry will tell you. Look after it and it will look after you. As for wh hether the animals were well treaated – this can be checked out on many brands’ websites. The clu ue’s in the price. A really cheap le eather bag? You do the maths. An nd ask the questions. That way eve en the less responsible fashion brands b will realise this stuff matterrs.

I suppose I’m saying we w all need to become more cogn nisant

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The conversation Lisa Armstrong

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LISA WEARS Organic corduroy blazer, £205, and trousers, £125, both Aspiga (aspiga. com). Wool-mix tank, £192.50, &Daughter (and-daughter.com).

Necklace, Monica Vinader, as below.

Aeydē boots, Gucci bag, and other jewellery, Lisa’s own

BUYS TO TRY Pre-loved bag, £850, Marc Cross (aarchlabelagency.com)

Recycled-gold pearl pendant, £95, Monica Vinader (monicavinader.com) Recycled-wool jump per,, £119,, Baukjjen (baukjen.com)

Crêêpe de Chine blouse, £396, Erdem (erdem.com) STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

Chrome-free leather boots, £290, Arket (arket.com) 7

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Stella’s ultimate edit… For the week’s most exciting buys, read between the lines BOLD DESIGN Wool-blend jumper, £165, Jigsaw g ( jjigsaw-online.com) g )

WINTER TRENCH Checked coat, £125, Warehouse (warehousefashion.com)

T H E

F A S H I O N

CLASSIC WITH A TWIST Asymmetrical goldplated earrings, £130, Charlotte Lebeck (charlottelebeck.com)

Edited by Sophie Tobin

O F F I C E - F R I E N D LY Wide-leg trousers, £95, Paisie (paisie.com)

V E G A N L E AT H E R Cross-body bag, £129, JW Pei ( jwpei.co.uk) STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

LIMITED-EDITION Cotton sweatshirt dress, £139, Whistles (whistles.com)

SNUG STYLE Cashmere wristwarmers, £59, Johnstons of Elgin ( johnstonsofelgin.com) ADD A MONOGRAM Cashmere scarf, £155, Begg x Co (beggxco.com)

TEAM WITH THICK TIGHTS Box-pleat skirt, £69.95, Massimo Dutti (massimodutti.com)

NEW YEAR, NEW KICKS Leather trainers, £90, Boden (boden.co.uk) 9

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Fashion

‘I celebrated my “meno-versary” with a minibreak’

RAISING A FLUTE of sparkling wine, I clinked glasses with my husband Peter. ‘To the menopause!’ we toasted. It was 13 November 2021 – exactly a year to the day since my last period – and I was clinking to my official menopause. It’s not a milestone many women choose to acknowledge, but one I firmly believe shouldn’t pass without ceremony or celebration. After all, this day had been a long time coming.

Six years earlier I’d noticed my regular-as-clockwork periods becoming erratic. At 46, I realised I was entering perimenopause. But

Instead of dreading the menopause, Michelle decided to embrace it

instead of dreading the menopause itself, I looked forward to the day my periods would finally cease. For decades I’d suffered debilitating hormonal migraines during my period, sometimes for up to two weeks in every month. Having fewer periods during perimenopause at least allowed me some respite.

Still, I was a little anxious about the prospect – I’d heard enough horror stories from friends about erratic mood swings and mortifying hot flushes. But thankfully, apart from 10

occasional moments of brain fog and light joint pain, I didn’t experience any debilitating menopause symptoms or need HRT. I also didn’t feel like I was losing my femininity, either. In fact, I felt like I was regaining my identity. After homeschooling both my sons through their GCSEs, with one son now working and the other in college, entering menopause meant I had more time than ever to focus on myself. My child-bearing years didn’t feel like anything to mourn and instead I embraced my new independence. I finally had time to start my own copywriting business, Let ME Write, and also write a series of children’s books, something I’d dreamt of doing for a long time.

I’d always used a tracker app and after having a period in November 2020, as months passed without another, I began to realise they’d finally ceased and that my menopause, which is officially the year after your final period, was fast approaching. And unlike birthdays or anniversaries, my menopause would only happen once in my lifetime, so I felt that date, and the new phase of my life it marked, deserved celebrating in a special way.

Even so, I wasn’t sure if I’d be perceived as ‘over-the-top’ when I suggested going on a ‘menopause minibreak’ to my husband, but he loved the idea and booked a cottage for us on the Norfolk coast. My sons looked vaguely confused when I explained

our plans, but they were nonetheless delighted to have the house to themselves while we went away.

It was 13 November 2021, exactly a year to the day after my last period, when Peter and I were sitting in a country pub, celebrating my menopause with fizz. The day wasn’t tinged with any sadness. In many ways, I felt relieved – looking forward to life without periods was joyous. I could officially wave goodbye to PMS and migraines and look forward to focusing on myself.

The rest of my ‘meno-break’ was glorious, involving all of my favourite things: the theatre, windswept beach walks and leisurely dinners.

When we got home, a few friends confided that they wished they’d celebrated their official menopause too, rather than letting the day slip past quietly. While other friends who are still perimenopausal have vowed to mark the occasion when the time comes.

I understand for many women the menopause not only arrives with unpleasant side-effects, but also as a glaring physical reminder of the ageing process. And sadly, even though it is a certainty for all women, the subject can still feel taboo or embarrassing. By embracing my menopause, I’ve felt empowered to reframe that narrative. I’ll always be a mother to my sons. But the end of my child-bearing years highlights that I’ve done the hard yards. Surely now, I deserve to reap the rewards.

So I’ve marked 13 November – my ‘meno-versary’ – in the diary for this year, too. On that day, I’ll raise a glass to myself again, as a reminder of the fresh – and exciting – opportunities post-menopausal life has brought me.

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Courtesy of Michelle Eshkeri

For Michelle Eshkeri, 52, going through the menopause was a joyous time

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In my own words

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Lucy wears Bolero jacket, £2,755, and tweed skirt, £1,730, both Chanel (chanel.com).

Socks, £40, Patou (patou.com)

Photography AGATA POSPIESZYNSKA Styling LEITH CLARK 12

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‘Asayoung woman,youare inherently underestimated’ But overlook Lucy Boynton at your peril. She’s just 27, with a 15-year film career already in the bag, and looks set to go stratospheric this year as a super-cool ’60s secret agent in a new ITV drama.

Emily Cronin meets her STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

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LU C Y B OY N TO N

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Alamy, Netflix

Miss Potter, 2006

‘I’ve always found the ’60s fascinating. Adding to that the world of espionage – it’s irresistible’

Sing Street, 2016

the 1962 Cold War spy novel by Len Deighton. Lucy plays Jean Courtney, an agent with a steel-trap mind. The first time we see her, she’s on her way to work, stepping off a London bus in a teal skirt-suit and neat tweed hat. When she reaches her corner desk, another agent asks her to sign off on his summary of a recent operation. Jean corrects every line, then eviscerates him with a glacial, ‘I will not sign this.’ Lucy plays her with pure nerve and precision – but Jean’s parents and fiancé believe she’s a tea girl at the BBC. Lucy nods. ‘Jean is so self-possessed and intelligent, and aware of all of her capabilities in an environment and a world that is not willing or ready to see that in a young woman.’

She was drawn to ‘every element’ of Ipcress, from the period to the cast (her co-stars include Joe Cole as Harry Palmer and Tom Hollander as Major Dalby), to the spy-versusspy intrigue. ‘I’ve always found the ’60s fascinating. Adding to that the world of espionage – it’s irresistible.’ And then there’s the character of Jean herself. In the 1965 film STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

The Ipcress File, 2022

Bohemian Rhapsody, 2018

starring Michael Caine, Jean was a secretary.

For 2022, Trainspotting writer John Hodge updated her as an agent in her own right.

‘She’s just undeniably cool and so empowering to read and to embody,’ says Lucy. ‘It was kind of terrifying to take that on. She’s so much more than I felt I was, but I just absolutely wanted to be a part of it.’

Instead of the muted, anonymous colours you’d expect a spy to wear, she plays to social expectations of upper-class femininity in bright colours and jewels. Forget the men in black – the most formidable spy in Ipcress is a lady in red. ‘She can dress in the boldest colours and hide in plain sight,’ Lucy says. ‘People see her and don’t assume that she could be in such an influential position. She uses people’s underestimation of her in her favour.’

Has Lucy ever felt underestimated in her career or ambition? ‘Inherently as a young woman, you are underestimated. Especially at a young age, and as an actor – it’s very easy for people to assume that they know what you can do.’

The Politician, 2019

Underestimate her at your peril: at 27, Lucy has been working as an actor for over 15 years, in a remarkable range of projects.

‘She’s highly intelligent and self-possessed – witty and watchful and nobody’s fool,’ Tom Hollander tells me over email.

‘Obviously stunning, and blessed with truckloads of what I think is known as star quality. But it’s what’s going on underneath that is truly compelling: the understatement, the old-fashioned reserve; sometimes steel, sometimes all mischief.’

Lucy was born in New York. Her parents, Graham Boynton and Adriaane Pielou, both journalists, moved the family back to London when she was four years old. She and her older sister Emma-Louise were reluctant to let go of their American accents. ‘We would catch each other saying “to-mah-to” instead of “to-may-to”, point a finger and say, “English girl, English girl!” It was the ultimate insult. Whereas now I feel very British, and so grateful to have grown up here.

‘I really align with the British sensibility.

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WHAT’S THE PROTOCOL for greetings in the age of omicron? ‘Are you hugging? I’m hugging,’ says actor Lucy Boynton, removing her black face mask and leaning in. It’s a crisp December morning, with anxiety and Christmas cheer swirling in the cold West End air. With her choppy blonde bob, striped polo-neck and high-waisted jeans, Lucy could pass for an east London creative-agency worker. But thanks to a streak of buzzed-about roles and a sense of style that’s made her a red-carpet star (not to mention her status as half of a Hollywood It couple, through her relationship with Rami Malek), Lucy is one of the most in-demand young British actors working today.

Across a coffee table at The London Edition in Fitzrovia, Lucy – familiar from roles as varied as the young Beatrix Potter, Freddie Mercury’s best friend Mary Austin in Bohemian Rhapsody, and scheming socialite Astrid Sloan in The Politician – is unaffected and thoughtful, ready to talk about everything from lockdown (‘I got through it with lots of books, and Veep’) to sexual politics (her sister, journalist and presenter Emma-Louise Boynton, last year hosted a series of Sex Talks, exploring the pursuit of pleasure, in the bar of the hotel where we’ve met). And especially spies.

That’s because her latest project is The Ipcress File, ITV’s new miniseries adaptation of

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Hair: Halley Brisker at The Wall Group. Make-up: Valeria at The Wall Group. Stylist’s assistant: Aurelie Mason Perez

‘I really align with the British sensibility. I love the cynical sense of humour, the self-deprecation’ permit her to audition for, declining anything too out of step with school term dates, or too dark or mature (the 2009 adaptation of Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones, which went on to star Saoirse Ronan, was among the projects they passed on). ‘She wanted to protect my childhood and keep me young for as long as possible. Because when you’re a child on set, you’re treated like a child, but also with the expectations of an adult – you work eight-hour days and you’re expected to turn up prepared, and deliver.’

She learnt quickly to avoid talking about her roles when she was at school, ‘and to kind of keep those two worlds separate’. It helped that she had a supportive, tight-knit social group. Her best friend from school, Ellie, remains her best friend today. ‘It was an exciting side piece – she came with me to my first premiere, but then we went back to school as normal and never talked about it.’

James Allen’s, the all girls school she attended, sounds understanding of her acting career, if not particularly progressive in its outlook. ‘Everything was taught in the context of the inevitability of male bosses,’ she says. ‘I do wish the school had had a more feminist education. When you have 800 girls, the opportunity of celebrating what it is to be a woman and kind of injecting into these girls the idea that you can do anything would be so powerful.’

She took a break to finish school and considered university, going so far as to start applying for courses in psychology. ‘But then I realised I already knew that acting was what I wanted to do’ – so she started auditioning again.

Her breakthrough came when she was 22 STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

Lucy wears Checked waistcoat, £595, and trousers, £450, both Vivienne Westwood (viviennewestwood.co). High-neck knit, £18, Beyond Retro (beyondretro.com).

Shoes, £845, Christian Louboutin (christianlouboutin.com). Leather beret, £385, Emily-London (emily-london.com). Socks, Thom Browne (thombrowne.com)

and played teenaged tough-girl Raphina in 2016’s Sing Street. Roles in the supernatural horror Don’t Knock Twice and Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express followed (she’s been hooked on the half-moon manicures she had done for the film ever since). But most viewers will know her from Bohemian Rhapsody, the much-lauded Freddie Mercury biopic. As Mary Austin, she played the singer’s best friend and constant. The production was plagued with chaos, going through a change of director before it went on to win four Academy Awards. How challenging was the shoot?

Very challenging, Lucy mouths. ‘There were definitely some tearful phone calls to my

mother… [But] especially because of the experience of filming, we all became so close,’ she says. ‘We were unbelievably lucky to have had people who acted as anchors. And Rami [Malek, who played Mercury] was a leader on that set, in a way I’d never seen before. I don’t know how that film would have turned out without someone like him.’

Lucy and Rami have been together since meeting on the film. While she found success early, his breakthrough didn’t come until his mid-30s, when he starred as hacker Elliot Alderson in the techno-thriller series Mr Robot (he’s 13 years older than Lucy). Aside from an effusive Oscar acceptance speech (‘Lucy 17

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I love the cynical sense of humour, the self-deprecation. And a certain practicality – I guess it’s that classic stiff upper lip element, that you just grit your teeth and get through.’

She describes a dreamy childhood in south London – ‘a lot of invisible animals, a lot of playing on my own’. Her mother bribed her to read, paying Lucy 70p per completed book. ‘I chose the skinniest books I could find. Joke’s on me, because it triggered my love of reading.’ When she was 10, a casting director sat in on a drama lesson and invited Lucy to audition to play the young Beatrix in Miss Potter, starring Renée Zellweger as the adult Potter. She got the part and still considers herself ‘so lucky’. ‘That first project was so child-friendly, and the most romantic version of this industry you can find.’

Lucy’s mother chaperoned her on set.

‘Her attitude was, “You’ll do this one beautiful, enchanting film, and then you’ll go back to school.” Cut to now and I’m still doing it.’

Years later, Lucy found out that her mum and agent filtered the projects they would

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‘She’s freed me from feeling anxious about getting it right, ever. You’re always gonna get it right if you feel good. That’s all that it is.

If you loved it at the time, you can’t regret it.’

Looks she’s loved include the harlequin Christian Dior gown and spiky lashes she wore to the premiere of The Politician in 2019, and the perfect little striped shift dress she wore to Chanel’s Métiers d’art show in December. ‘That’s kind of my favourite shape, where you feel really free and mobile, but chic. Chanel do it right.’

Off the red carpet, she’s most likely to be found in jeans and a T-shirt, or a striped polo-neck, like the one she’s wearing today.

The blue quilted handbag and double-C logo boots add a decidedly more luxurious note to her outfit (she’s worked with Chanel and is

Getty Images

‘At a young age, and as an actor – it’s very easy for people to assume that they know what you can do’ ‘I kind of forget about it, and then I come back, and of course I want to celebrate the work that I’m lucky to get to do… But the idea that anyone would read into that as my full personality is slightly concerning.’

The red carpet is one of the only places Lucy and Rami are ever photographed together. Despite that one time they appeared in matching pale-grey looks at the 2019 Critics’ Choice Awards (hers was Gucci, his, Givenchy), she swears they never intentionally coordinate. She’s said that red carpets can be nerve-racking places, so is it nice to walk them with someone who gets it? ‘Christ no! Imagine having to stand next to your person and present in a way that feels authentic… Who we are behind closed doors is who we are, and then the red carpet – wonderful as it is when it’s in celebration of your work – is a strange thing.’

She may find it strange, but that doesn’t keep her from being very good at it. Her playful and adventurous sense of style has made Lucy someone red-carpet watchers look forward to seeing. She works with stylist Leith Clark and make-up artist Jo Baker to ensure she never appears in anything short of a major look. In September, she wore a deep-Vneck black Chanel jumpsuit and a dramatic, ’60s-inspired cat-eye to the premiere of No Time To Die, in which Rami played the villain, Safin. ‘I used to be really scared of it, the fashion industry is quite daunting. But Leith does it in a way where it feels like an expression of you and an enhancement of who you want to be in that environment,’ Lucy says.

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RED--CARPET READY Abovee Lucy with her partn ner Rami Malek at the Oscar ceremony in 2019. Left In Christian Dior at the premiere of The Politician in 2019.

Below w At Chanel’s Métieers d’art show last yeear

the face of Chloé’s first all-natural perfume).

‘I’m tremendously lucky to be carrying that around,’ she says, stroking the bag. ‘I recently heard Nicola Coughlan [from Bridgerton] say that if you have a nice bag, it doesn’t matter about the rest of the outfit. I love that.

I really believe that you can have the right bag and then wear jeans and a T-shirt and feel put together.’

After the Stella interview, she’s off to record more audio for Ipcress. She’s looking forward to revisiting the project – ‘One of my favourite experiences of my career, ever.’

The cast and crew spent five months shooting in Liverpool in early 2021 before going to Croatia. Filming under lockdown conditions bred unity. ‘The whole cast and crew became really close,’ she says, then declines to show me the Ipcress WhatsApp group.

She’s full of praise for her castmates. Tom Hollander was ‘electric – everyone picked up that energy from him’. Once, filming an elaborate shoot-out in Croatia, ‘Tom was getting so carried away the director kept saying, “Tom, you don’t have to do your own sound effects for the machine gun.” It was brilliant.’

Next up is Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?, an Agatha Christie adaptation directed by Hugh Laurie and co-starring Jim Broadbent and Will Poulter. ‘Lucy has a glittering intelligence that draws your eye at every moment.

She lets you into her brain, rather than hurling it all over the room,’ Laurie says. ‘The tighter things get, the cooler she becomes – 90 seconds till sunset, the horse is getting skittish, the matches are wet, the car won’t start – and she turns into an assassin.’ All qualities no doubt useful in her role as Lady Frankie Derwent, who stumbles into a murder mystery with friend Bobby Jones (Poulter).

There’s also a biopic about singer-songwriter Marianne Faithfull in the works, with Lucy attached as star and executive-producer. She sat next to Faithfull at the Chloé show in Paris in February 2020, just before the pandemic pressed pause on the project. ‘She was everything you would want Marianne Faithfull to be,’ Lucy says, smiling. ‘She was really cool and nonchalant about [the film].

‘I think she’s had her story told so many times that she doesn’t seem anxious about it in any way; she’s just excited for it to happen.’ The film will see Lucy time travelling back to ’60s London. Her Marianne will pursue love and find infamy as a figurehead of Swinging London, alongside Mick Jagger.

‘There’s this narrative that has followed her around, of people trying to impress this angelic image upon her, that she keeps trying to buck against. I hope this feels more authentic to her.’

But first, Ipcress: she’ll get to see the first two episodes at a screening later today.

What is it like – seeing the finished version of a much-loved project for the first time?

‘Terrifying at first,’ she says, ‘but then it’s like watching a home video of something you experienced with your whole family.

When you can finally see everyone’s work, it’s beautiful.’

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Boynton, you are the heart of this film, you are beyond immensely talented, you have captured my heart. Thank you so much’), they’re intensely private. She responds to any questions about their dynamic as a couple in the singular: ‘How did you two spend time in lockdown? Baking projects?’ ‘I never got into that – I just read a lot.’ And she won’t even confirm that they live together in London and Los Angeles. It’s a subtle but firm way to hold a boundary.

‘Just having to talk about [my relationship] is a really strange feeling,’ she says. ‘Especially since the whole point of my job is that you don’t know much about me, so that I can disappear into characters. Having to field questions that are very personal feels like it’s taking away the possibility of [doing that]. I would always much rather talk about work.

Anything else feels counterproductive.’

Her ambivalence about the public-private divide extends to social media. ‘I’m not very on it and I don’t have any instinct to engage with it,’ she says. The images she sporadically shares with her 950k Instagram followers include pre-red-carpet snaps, casting announcements and book recommendations.

BIANCA BAGNARELLI

A FRIEND WAS on a bus travelling through Cuba towards Havana, at what would have been around 9pm in the UK. Her 10-year-old rang to ask where the back door key was, as she wanted to lock up before bed. Panicking, my friend asked her daughter where Dad was. ‘He’s already gone to bed,’ she replied.

‘And I didn’t want to disturb him.’

None of my female peers has a 1950s-style marriage, and yet – like our woman in Havana – many are the ‘default’ parent. Lockdown threw thiis fact into harsh relief. Often wommed the dual burden of homeschoolen assum e earning a living – and many of their ing while husbands settled for just being present but as much he elp as a hallucination. Other women bristled at their previously office-bound men

Areyou theonethey runto?

It’s called being the ‘default parent’ – the giver of comfort and keeper of all things from clean football kit to party invitations. While many women relish the role, Anna Maxted believes caring and sharing works better for families 20

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Illustration

family benefits when both parents are equally capable of stepping up.

My husband Phil worked from home until recently – he’s been around and engaged for most of our three sons’ lives (they’re now 15, 17 and 19). Phil is a sensitive, competent adult, and more pragmatic than I am. I may be a

more consistent listener, but his opinions – on emotional and practical matters – are always sound. Several tasks are definitely Dad’s – from admin such as transferring money to their school accounts to chats on personal matters (teenage boys, I find, don’t want to have certain conversations with their mum).

But apart from that stuff, I’m usually their go-to parent. Why this touching faith in a mother’s omniscience and readiness to serve? My 19-year-old son has noticed that many fathers he knows seem to believe ‘their contribution to the family begins and ends with work’.

This may still be true – though in fairness, men don’t always arrive at this view alone.

When our first son was born, anxiety under-

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acting the hausfrau and piping up with parenting opinions at the breakfast table.

While the pandemic exaggerated the situation, but being the default parent is not a role many women have shaken off – before or since. Many, of course, contentedly embrace it, but personally I feel that the whole

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some really powerful feelings. You suddenly can’t compromise.’

You may be at peace with your childhood, unbothered about third-party opinions, and expect your husband to be present and engaged in the minutiae of his kids’ lives – yet you’re still the default parent, as one acquaintance noted, ‘because you spend more time with them and do more for them’. And if that works, that’s great. No one needs to defend wanting to nurture their own children.

For many of us, being the default parent works just fine.

But even women who are the main earners can find they’ve been assigned the role of default parent. And while some women are

ulate your expectations. Do you want your partner to take on more of the emotional or the practical load? Some mothers buckle under the emotional labour of having to remember everything – Stripy Tights Day, birthday parties. Others feel that’s their area, but unloading the dishwasher, ordering the groceries and putting the car in for an MOT is too much. Yet Dr Kilbey points out that few couples have practical conversations about how all the jobs are divided up.

Be honest, not defensive. ‘A lot of people tread the well-rehearsed arguments that they know don’t have a solution, rather than dealing with proper change,’ she says. It’s pointless complaining that he never comes

In the early days, I tried to be perfect. I was the default parent because I was determined to be. Never mind that I was half dead from exhaustion Left Anna with husband Phil and two of their three boys

happy with that, others aren’t. Occasionally a supposedly modern man will emerge as hostage to his gendered conditioning – and have a tantrum because he thinks he’s doing the ‘lady’s’ job.

A friend who worked full-time would return home when her children were small, and her husband would declare, ‘I’m off to the pub!’ No washing or tidying was done, or dinner cooked. ‘I’d do a day’s work and come home to a day’s work.’ Over time, happily, ‘We came to a much better understanding that these were “our” children, not “my” children, even though it took some tremendous rows.’

If you’re not happy, the first step is to artic-

How to change your ‘default’ settings

By Dr Elizabeth Kilbey 1. Objectively reflect on ‘what does being a mother mean to me?’

2. Ask yourself, what are my assumptions, what am I trying to achieve, am I trying to be perfect?

3. Make time to discuss your parenting blueprint – and your partner’s – do they fit?

4. Have an awareness of your part in this – if they offer to do something, do you take over, or criticise?

5. If you’re overwhelmed, be clear about what’s not working and what the problem actually is.

6. Be clear about what you need from your partner, what you want them to do more of.

7. Unrealistic demands, such as ‘always be home by six’, create stress. Is there a compromise?

8. Discuss what’s rigid and where there’s space for change. Be pragmatic.

home from work early when you know he can’t. Better to say, ‘I feel our relationship is unequal, can we talk about addressing that?’

If gatekeeping is an issue, it’s helpful to reflect on why you struggle to relinquish control. Is it that you don’t trust him – if so, a tactful conversation is due – or are you unduly anxious? Often the worry is ‘will he remember to feed them, put on their pyjamas, does he know where the Calpol is?’ says Dr Kilbey. But more anxiety-provoking is the question, ‘Will he nurture them, take care of their feelings?’ And some women secretly fear that if he’s marvellously competent, they’ll feel redundant.

Tough as it might be to accept, your child’s relationship with their other parent is independent of you, says Dr Kilbey. ‘You want that child to have a good relationship with the other parent because it’s in their best interest.’

This swiftly became apparent for us – partly through necessity. When our kids were six, four and two, my husband was the one who took them on day trips to castles and seasides, while I worked – feeling envious, a little insecure, but happy for them. Currently, he’s office-based, and I’m the parent at close range – ordering hair gel, chatting about girlfriends, making them tidy up.

Now I see there’s fluidity, and enough love that one doesn’t have to hoard it. You work out which parent is good at what, and by the time your darlings reach college age, your dual parenting isn’t flawless but it’s better choreographed. And your relationship with your children is all the feedback you need.

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pinned my parenting – about being a good mother, and being seen as such. So in the early days, I tried to be perfect. I was the default parent because I was determined to be.

I growlingly guarded my position. Mainly, I needed to prove to myself that I was competent, and consequently Phil was forced to assume a more minor role. Never mind that I was half dead from exhaustion.

Even now there are expectations and assumptions around women’s roles, says consultant clinical psychologist Dr Elizabeth Kilbey. In those days, I happened to be the main earner. Even in the 21st century, says Dr Kilbey, ‘Mothering is not associated with breadwinning. The mothering role is about the nurture – the stereotypical female caregiving, hands-on, time spent. Absence is synonymous with neglectful mothering.’ It means that for us allegedly liberated, working women, there’s tension. Give up waiting at the school gates, she says, and we’re ‘giving up being perceived by society as a handson proper mother. Those aren’t the sort of narratives I hear men talk about. They don’t say, “I feel less of a dad by going out to work and being the breadwinner.”’

I still remember being shamed by another mother for having part-time childcare. We met at a children’s party, and she said, with narrowed eyes, ‘How funny. We all know your son from seeing him with his nanny at the park – but you don’t even know who we are!’

No surprise if we overcompensate to manage our guilt. ‘We still live in a world where there’s a picture-perfect version of mothering – where you have the nursery made up well in advance and everything colour-coordinated, signing your child up for Baby Einstein at three weeks old,’ says Dr Kilbey. ‘There’s not a father stereotype in the same way.’

Sometimes, we rightly complain about men not pulling their parenting weight – other times, we don’t let them. One friend wasn’t allowed to read his daughters a bedtime story, or indeed, have any say in their upbringing – his wife insisted on doing and controlling everything. It was agonising for him, and they eventually separated. She was extreme but I too have felt that my husband couldn’t possibly meet my standards, and I’d have struggled if our young children had sought him out for comfort over me.

‘It feels like women want to invest more heavily in the emotional space component,’ says Dr Kilbey. ‘They say, “I’m less bothered about the dishwasher, but I want it to be that when the children fall over and scrape their knee, I’m the one they run to.” Women more often want the emotional currency.’

It’s a concept known as maternal gatekeeping and we can be prone to it, says Dr Kilbey, because having a child reminds us of how we were parented. So we might naturally re-enact aspects of what we know, or indeed, consciously try to parent differently.

‘Being a parent brings new skeletons out of the closet. You can become very over-protective, guarding the space, because what you’re trying to do is repair what was painful for you.’ She adds, ‘It puts you in touch with

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SOPHIE MORGAN The sports presenter has many tattoos, including this intricate one on her back

New year,newtattoo

@sophlmorg, Rex Features/ITV, Getty Images

(and a piercing or three while you’re at it!)

AFTER A YEAR on maternity leave, slumping around in leggings, I was feeling distinctly unglamorous. My clothes didn’t fit but, with the pandemic raging, I had nowhere special to be and couldn’t quite make myself buy any bigger ones.

However, I did make one style upgrade and it proved to be more of a mood-booster than I could have predicted. Inspired by Instagram images of influencers with pretty jewels snaking up their ears, I decided to get myself a new ‘stacked’ ear wardrobe to distract from my new eyebags. Bling instead of Botox, if

you will. Two more piercings in my left ear and one in my right won admiration from my five-year-old, as well as a trio of mum friends who signed up for their next piercings, too.

Traditionally, extra holes and inkings were something done – and regretted – by rebellious teenagers, but in recent years, they’ve crept towards the mainstream. Now, the pandemic seems to have pushed the trend fully centre stage.

In 2022 getting a new hole doesn’t need to involve a trip to an intimidating piercing studio, thanks to a glut of luxe piercing bars popping up in department stores and boutiques. Upmarket London piercing parlour

LUCY LIU The Hollywood actor shows off her earring stack STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

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Extra piercings and inkings? They were once so very unrefined… until high-end jewellers and our nation’s respected dames started getting in on the act. Jessica Salter explores the rise of body decor

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‘There are lots of big life moments you go through as a woman, from childbirth to divorce, and usually we just get on with it. But I wanted to mark this change’

SIENNA MILLER The style icon has piercings in her helix, conch and lobes

HELEN THORN After a traumatic time, having these two tattoos was ‘cathartic’

Helen Thorn, 43, co-host of podcast Scummy Mummies and author of the book Get Divorced, Be Happy, got her first tattoo last July: ‘I’d just gone through the most horrific period of my life. I found out my husband had had an affair and entered lockdown suddenly single.

Every day I went walking with my children to this local spot where there were lots of oak trees and I really felt like they helped heal me.’

Having not had a tattoo before – ‘never been interested in them’ – she decided it would be something meaningful. ‘There are lots of big life moments you go through as a woman, from childbirth to divorce, and usually we just get on with it. But I wanted to mark this change.’ She sat for an hour with tattoo artist Rebecca Vincent and told her the story: ‘It was so cathartic.’ Together, they decided on an oak leaf, as a ‘symbol of strengt g h’.

‘I wanted something to remind me of what I’d gone through and how much stronger I am.’

In November, she was back in Vincent’s chair to get ‘forty two’, written in her children’s handwriting, tattooed on to her arm to mark the end of her 42nd year and the marathon (42km) she ran last year. ‘I love that I see them every day and they are a reminder of where I’ve come from, where I’m going and that they involve my children,’ she says.

She’s not alone; a huge number of women are using tattoos to commemorate life milestones. For example, Clemmie Telford, 39, parenting writer and author of But Why?, got her latest tattoo (of 15) to commemorate ‘my darling granny who died aged 100’. ‘It was my way of channelling her spirit,’ Telford explains. ‘Every time I get another tattoo, I look in the mirror and I feel more like myself.’

Meanwhile, Jo Fiddy, 41, a life coach, recently got a tattoo ‘to mark coming out of my depression and anxiety’. The iridescent feather on her inner wrist is ‘to remind myself that life is for living and how far I have come’. And television presenter Sophie Morgan, 36, says her multiple tattoos are her way ‘of beautifying my paralysed body and of taking control of what I’ve lost’.

For many of the women I spoke to, tattoos and piercings are a powerful way to articulate something emotional. For others, like myself, the sparkle in the ear is the perfect way to accentuate an ageless twinkle in the eye.

CURATE YOUR EARDROBE

Gold and onyx single earring, £95, Monica Vinader (monicavinader.com)

Pavé teardrop, £190, Sacred Gold (sacredgold piercing.com)

Gold and topaz staple threaded stud, £125, Otiumberg (otiumberg.com)

Gold crystal curved piercing stud, £175, Astrid & Miyu (astridandmiyu.com) 27

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Getty Images, @scummymummies, @helenwearsasize18, @rebecca_ a vincent_tattoo

and jewellery shop Sacred Gold has seen a rise in ‘women over 40 with more refined, luxurious taste’, according to its resident piercer Nicole Mitchell. Meanwhile, fashion jeweller Astrid & Miyu reports piercing appointments have increased by 280 per cent since 2019, with notable uptake among older customers.

And such is the success of Monica Vinader’s five piercing parlours (decked out with comfy pink chairs and sweets in bowls) that the brand is opening two more in February.

‘Earrings were our fastest-growing category over the last year and it has shown no signs of slowing down, which I think really speaks to the popularity of ear stacking as a new and bold form of self-expression,’ says Vinader, who is herself planning on getting a second piercing on her lobes soon.

While second (and third) lobe piercings are most popular, Astrid & Miyu, which has piercing salons in London and Manchester, says there is a rising interest in older women getting piercings on their helixes (top of ear), conch (midway up) and tragus (the bit of cartilage at the entrance to your ear; apparently the least sensitive to pain).

But in terms of midlife taboo-busting, tattoos take it to the next level. Celebrities from fashion designer Samantha Cameron, 50, to Halle Berry, 55, have them, as well as national treasures Dame Helen Mirren, 76, and Dame Judi Dench (who got her first tattoo aged 81).

Nicole Mitchell, who is also a tattoo artist, says more women are coming in to discuss ‘delicate and fine-line tattoo styles. They’ve become more mainstream and offer a more accessible version to many people who previously thought tattooing was very “heavy duty”.’

For some, it’s a deeply personal, permanent amulet to carry them through or mark a passage out of challenging times. For others, it’s a symbol of bodily reinvention that doesn’t involve the normal punishing new year diet and fitness regime. But whatever the reason, now more than ever, tattoos or piercings are making an appearance on midlifers’ wish lists.

Rosanna Wollenberg, 32, co-founder of jewellery brand Otiumberg, which counts Claudia Winkleman, Fearne Cotton and Ella Mills among its fans (while Paul Mescal famously wore its silver chain in lockdown hit series Normal People), agrees: ‘We have definitely noticed an interest from our slightly older customer demographic.’ Between her and her co-founder sister Christie, 36, they have 13 piercings, but recently their 63-year-old mother got her second holes done, too.

There’s also a shift in the range of jewels you can get pierced with. Instead of the standard-issue piercing studs (most regular studs can’t be used because they ideally have sharp tips and a narrow post to help the earrings stay in place while the piercing heals), you can now get pretty jewels or hoops put in from day one. Otiumberg is responding to demand with a new range of piercing earrings launching this month, while Monica Vinader, Astrid & Miyu and Sacred Gold each have a line of pretty ear jewels that can be used to pierce.

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Smartbeauty Face value DROP of the WEEK

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There’s plenty of that, too.

Photography TOM HARTFORD

STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

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Talkin ng beauty Sonia Haria

‘My skincare routine is a huge part of my life’ Actor, producer and all-round Hollyw y ood icon Reese Witherspoon tells Sonia Haria about her beauty regime, best-loved role and biggest inspiration

THERE ARE FEW stars with a voice as familiar as Reese Witherspoon’s. Speaking over the phone from LA, she is warm and polite, her Southern accent just as it sounds on screen. However she’s talking to me not about her new projects (she is one of the most successful actors and producers in Hollywood), but as global ambassador for skincare range Biossance, which she signed up to after trying the products. And as we speak, it’s clear that her approach to beauty is more than skin deep.

‘I’ve always felt beauty and skincare is a big part of self-esteem,’ she says. Born in Louisiana and raised in Tennessee, Reese, 45, now lives in California with her talent-agent husband Jim Toth, their son Tennessee, 11, and her children Deacon, 18, and Ava, 22, from her first marriage to actor Ryan Phillippe. She puts down much of her attitude to her upbringing. ‘As a child, I remember watching my mother getting ready for work every morning and thinking how beautiful she

was. She always had red lipstick on, which I thought was so glamorous,’ she recalls. Reese’s mother Betty was a huge influence. ‘I grew up with a very strong mother and a very strong grandmother. My mom always taught me, when you put yourself together and take care of yourself, you present more confidently to the world.’

Indeed she does. Named by Forbes as one of the world’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2019, she sold her production company Hello Sunshine last summer for a reported $900 million, having proven that fema ale-led stories work. An avid re eader, who studied English litterature at Stanford (she leftt early to pursue acting), Reese was behind (and starred in) hit TV series including Big Little Liess and most recently, Th he Morning Show, alongside Jennifer Aniston.

In that, Reese plays news reporter Bradley Jackson, who is pluck ked from relative obscurity y to

co-host a breakfast show alongside Aniston’s experienced anchor. By season two, Jackson’s in the driver’s seat – having ditched a mousy-brown hair colour for blonde, a change that speaks volumes. ‘She’s trying to fit in and get along,’ says Reese. ‘She dyes her hair, gets fake eyelashes and gets really comfortable with the trappings of fame and power. But what are the pitfalls of wanting that kind of success?’

The role that brought Reese worldwide fame, however, was a protagonist who refused to ch hange:: Elle Woods, of 2001’s Legallyy Blonde. ‘She’s definitely a modern feminist,’ Reese e says of Woods, who folllows an ex-boyfriend to o Harvard Law School and finds her calling.

‘She was my most fun character. In the first movie she had 40 costum me changes and every one was better than the last. Elle Woods is a characterr who loves beauty and fashio on and truly believes women n can be feminine, be-

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lieve in themselves, and fight for equal pay and equal rights.’

Her job has helped her ‘learn so much more about skincare. I am not the most knowledgeable person in a beauty space, so when I do my research and ask friends, I really do listen,’ she tells me. It was a recommendation that led Reese, who has sensitive skin, to invest in the entire range by Biossance – a brand that focuses on plantbased formulas backed by science. ‘I love the products, so I called them up to say so.’ They snapped her up as a global ambassador last April.

Although she describes her beauty routine as ‘elaborate’, it actually sounds relatively straightforward. ‘The way you care for your skin in the morning and at night is very important, and it’s a big part of my life,’ she explains. ‘In the mornings I

Main image courtesy of Boissance. Rex Features

‘I grew up with a very strong mother and very strong grandmother’

STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

wash my face, put on eye cream, the Squalane + Omega Repair Cream and sunscreen. At night, my skincare is about removing all my make-up as I usually wear a lot of it at work. I clean my skin with the Biossance Elderberry Jelly Cleanser, which breaks down all the make-up, put on the brand’s Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil, a cream and that’s it.’

As for what’s next, there are a dizzying number of projects, from those she’s producing (Where the Crawdads Sing) to those she’s acting in (Sing 2, out on 28 January) to those she’s acting in and producing (Legally Blonde 3 – yes, really). ‘It’s been such a rough time for so many people, so I’ve been doubling down on creating hopeful, optimistic movies and TV shows, hoping that it will put some positivity into the world.’ Sounds like just what we need.

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Left Reese with the Squalane +Vitamin C Rose Oil, £55, Biossance (cultbeauty.co.uk).

Below left In Legally Blonde in 2001

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Adwoa Aboah loves…

The model, 29, is a face of Rimmel London and a big beauty enthusiast. Here are her all-time favourite products

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Kind & Free Clean, Volumizing and Lengt g hening Mascara, £9.99, Rimmel London (superdrug.com) This is a must-have – it conditions and lengthens.

I keep my routine simple and this is my go-to.

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Adwoa Aboah for Rimmel London Kind & Free

ADWOA’S TOP TIP When applying mascara, if you have your mirror low down, it reduces the mess you make on top of your eyelid. This way you don’t ruin your eyeshadow!

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Original Clear Balm, £6.95, Dr Paw Paw (drpawpaw.com) I like to use this as a lip balm but it’s also a really good moisturising and soothing product for other areas of the body.

Brazilian Bum Bum Cream, £44, Sol de Janeiro (uk.spacenk.com) With a hydrating blend of ingredients, including coconut oil and açai oil, this body cream is really conditioning and replenishing.

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Manketti Oil Pomade, £52, Charlotte Mensah (charlottemensah.com) This is packed with nourishing ingredients and is kind to your hair. It absorbs well, too, so doesn’t leave it feeling oily.

Sleep Drops 10% CBD, £69, Oto (otocbd.com) A more recent discovery for me, and I love it. It really enhances a relaxed and peaceful night’s sleep.

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English Pear & Freesia Bath Oil, £20, Jo Malone London ( jomalone.com) I like to have a bath at the end of the day, it’s a relaxing ritual for me. This oil softens my skin and gives it a smooth texture with a subtle scent.

And we love...

Caroline Barrett editor

@carolinebarrettuk

STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

The Atomiser, £120, Aromatherapy Associates (boots.com m) This oil diffuser fills a room with the most relaxing scents. My favourites are Deep Relax (for obvious reasons) and Forest Therapy. Worth the investment.

Long-W Wear Eye Pencil, £16, Il Makiage (ilmakiage.com) This velvety eyeliner is the absolute dream – especially if you’re not great at applying. Good to have in your bag for day-to-night make-up.

Undone Undirty Shampoo, £18, S George Northwood G (georgenorthwood.com) I’m a huge fan of these products – they’re fully sustainable. The latest product to join the Undone family is this shampoo; it’s not too heavy v and leaves my hair manageable.

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Guest beauty editor

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Interiors

New kids on the block

Looking for fresh inspiration for your home?

Check out these six new British brands for stylish pieces that’ll set your space apart

The expert edit TV presenter and tastemaker Laura Jackson is known for her eye for interior design. Her latest endeavour is Glassette, an online marketplace co-founded with former homeware buyer Daniel Crow, which she describes as ‘a digital treasure trove full of beautifully designed, consciously crafted pieces that really bring me joy’.

Browsable by room, category or mood (say, ‘Margaritas at Midnight’), there’s a curated edit of affordable accessories from boutique brands around the UK – think tableware by Rebecca Udall and Late Afternoon, cushions

by Goods of May, and colourful art prints by Aah Yes Studio.

Upcoming product launches include collabs with artist Lucy Mahon and glassware company The Vintage List.

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A new wallpaper brand is always something to take note of, and Dado has arrived offering a fresh take: papers with patterns created by artists and designers, all printed to order in the UK on high-grade paper using eco-friendly inks. Its launch collection includes collaborations with artist Matthew Burrows, printmaker Jo de Pear and designer Gabby Deeming of fashion label Daydress, who has translated the pretty block-printed fabrics used to make her dresses into stylish, characterful wallcoverings – perfect for those who prefer to decorate like they dress.

TOP TIP

Mixing stripes with florals is a fun way to layer pattern

Far left Place mat, £115 for six, Polkra x Anna Glover.

Bowl, £19.20, Arbala.

Clay candleholder (pictured used as vase), £30, and vase, £60, both Hodge Pots.

All at glassette.com.

Left Floral Ogee wallpaper, £138 a roll, Dado x Daydress (dadoatelier.com) STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

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Fashion for your walls

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TOP TIP

Picking three key colours – here, pink, yellow and green – brings cohesion to a maximalist look

The designer look We’ve long been fans of the trad-with-a-twist style of interiordesign duo Salvesen Graham, so their first full homeware range is exciting news. Named The Collection, it includes furniture (the checked skirted armchair and lacquered cane side tables are particular winners), as well as decorative accessories such as candleholders, cane mirrors and trays – everything you might need to put a room together. Previous collabs with other brands and designers, such as gingham cushions with Edit58 and scallopedged rugs with Jennifer Manners, are also available via the website.

Left Little Check fabric (on tablecloth and lampshades), £110 a metre, lamps, £575 each, cushions, from £75, and mirror, £650, all The Collection by Salvesen Graham (salvesengraham.com).

Below Tray, £175, and console table, £450, Sharland England (sharland-england.com)

Adorn your home Her jewellery has been seen on countless celebrities, including Gigi Hadid, Billie Eilish and the Duchess of Cambridge, and now Missoma founder Marisa Hordern, a self-confessed interiors addict, is coming for your home. Her new sister brand, Missoma Studio, combines her two passions, offering embellished ceramic vases, lacquered jewellery boxes and pretty trinket trays.

Right lights A good lamp changes the atmosphere of a room instantly, and there are plenty to choose from at Palefire, launched by former art dealer Rowena Morgan-Cox when she couldn’t find the style of lamp she wanted for her own home. The range includes ceiling fixtures, pendants and table lamps, all made from recycled paper pulp and hand-painted in bold colours and patterns inspired by art nouveau, abstract expressionism and Murano glass.

Left Cloche pendant, from £340, Palefire (palefirestudio.com).

Above far left Ceramic vase, £65, Missoma Studio (missoma.com) STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

Wicked wicker For those who admire Louise Roe’s interior style, her debut homeware collection at her new brand Sharland England is full of treasures. Rattan pieces including furniture, planters and trays come at affordable prices (from £75 for a planter) and with on-trend details such as braiding and loops. There’s also a collection of antique chairs with bobbin legs and decorative back splats, which have been updated with new frilled cushions.

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Interiors

The dream team

Diana salutes chicken and rice, a classic combination that unlocks a world of easy and adaptable dinners

THE STAPLE I GREW UP WITH wasn’t rice, but potatoes. There was a big jar of basmati, but it was used as a percussion instrument when my siblings and I put on concerts (it accompanied our rendition of Little Donkey every Christmas). We didn’t eat rice until my mum got into what was then thought of as glamorous foreign food – goulash and chilli and Madhur Jaffrey’s Mughlai chicken – and we cooked it badly. I don’t know where this approach came from, but we drained the cooked rice in a sieve, then ran cold water through it, followed by boiling water.

This was done very carefully so we actually ended up with a bowl of rice that had separate little grains. But we were better at potatoes.

Now there are eight bags of different types of rice in my cupboard: jasmine rice, basmati, several kinds of risotto rice (carnaroli, vialone nano and arbo-

‘Chicken and rice’ rolls off the tongue, as if the two were meant to be together rio all produce different results) and a couple of kinds of paella rice. The rice used for paella, and other Spanish rice dishes, is a marvel. It must not be stirred. You just leave it to drink in the stock and other flavours around it, until you have grains swollen with umami.

There are 40,000 varieties of rice, categorised in different ways: by fragrance, where it’s grown – under water or on hillsides, for example – texture (sticky or not), grain size and shape.

‘Chicken and rice’, like ‘tea and toast’, rolls off the tongue, as if the two were meant to be together. All over the globe, they’re joined – it’s an elemental combination. Neither chicken nor rice is strongly flavoured, so the cook can take these basics and dress them up. If you google ‘chicken and rice’, your head will spin. You could make a different dish

every day of the year: Turkish chicken and rice pilaf with dill, chicken and sausage jambalaya, chicken biryani, arroz con pollo (I must have cooked this a thousand times). There are Iranian baked rice and chicken dishes, which are more complicated and can contain yogurt. They’re turned out so the tah dig, the crusty rice from the bottom of the pan (much prized), can be seen.

The most useful chicken and rice dishes to know about, because they’re so adaptable, are pilafs, where the rice is cooked by the absorption method (as in the recipe on p43), Spanish rice dishes, which don’t need much attention, and fried rice dishes (if you can make egg and chicken fried rice, you’ll never throw out leftover rice again). I also put chicken – just the shreds from a leftover roast – in risottos to make another meal out of not very much.

Then there are baked chicken and rice dishes. I make a huge range of these with very different flavours, an approach I started when I had my first child. This is good ‘cooking in exhaustion’ food as it all goes into the oven.

You must stick to specific measurements but can alter the character of the dish at will. Use a 30cm-wide shallow casserole, 175g basmati rice (washed in a sieve until the water runs clear) and 550ml boiling stock. Sauté onion and garlic before adding the rice, and anything else you fancy – aubergine, pumpkin or mushrooms – plus spices and flavourings. Try something as simple as pumpkin, ginger and chilli, then add the rice and stock. Put bone-in chicken thighs – they can be browned or, if you’re in a hurry, left raw (season them with sea salt to make the skin crunchy) – on top and bake at 180C fan for 40-45 minutes. The chicken will be golden, the stock absorbed and the rice tender.

It’s a great blueprint recipe. A couple of days later you can make something completely different using the same basic components. If you have chicken and rice, good eating is never far away.

Key to dietary information VG Vegan 38

V

Vegetarian

DF Dairy-free

GF Gluten-free

If you can’t get butifarra sausage, use spicy Italian sausages or, failing that, any good-quality spicy sausage

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Diana Henry Stella’s award-winning food writer

GF

Arroz a la catalana Serves 6 Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes A Spanish rice dish from Catalonia. There, it also includes pork ribs and can be made with rabbit instead of chicken.

The great thing about Spanish rice dishes is that you shouldn’t stir them, so this is hands-off once you’ve done the initial browning.

When the rice is added, you stick the dish in the oven, where the rice just sucks up the stock and goes gorgeously brown on top.

Ingredients

6 large chicken thighs, bone in and skin on 2 tbsp olive oil 435g butifarra sausage, cut into chunks 200g thick-cut ham or ham from a hock, either chopped or torn 1 large onion, finely chopped 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 plum tomatoes, chopped 1.2 litres chicken stock 325g paella rice 230g jar of pimiento piquillo peppers, drained 3 tbsp roughly chopped parsley Juice of 1/2 lemon

oil, pour the excess out until you have 2 tbsp in the pan. Fry the onion until it’s soft and golden, then add the garlic and the tomatoes and continue to cook until the tomatoes are thick and pulpy.

Add the stock and put the chicken, sausage and ham back in the pan, together with any juices that have come out of the meat. Bring to just under the boil, then turn the heat down low and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 180C/170C fan/gas mark 4.

Add the rice, pouring it in around the chicken.

Season. Stir a little to make sure the rice is under the stock, but don’t stir it after that. Transfer the dish to the oven and cook it for another 20 minutes, uncovered. In this time, the rice will absorb the stock and become tender.

If it’s still a little wet, or the rice isn’t tender, put it back in for another 5 minutes then check again.

Cut the peppers into strips and strew them over the top. Scatter on the parsley then squeeze on the lemon juice and serve.

Method

Trim any straggly bits of chicken skin from the thighs and heat the olive oil in a shallow casserole, about 35cm across. Brown the chicken all over – you’re just getting colour, not cooking it through – and season it. As the chicken is cooked, transfer it to a bowl.

Add the sausage to the pan and brown it all over too, then add the ham and cook it for another minute.

Lift these into the bowl containing the chicken.

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DF

Chicken and egg fried rice Serves 4 Cooking time: 30 minutes, plus 20 minutes for the rice in advance Woks in our home kitchens never get as hot as they do in restaurants, where they have a lot of power under them – so dishes like this won’t be as perfect as they could be. Unless you’ve grown up stir-frying, it’s hard to get it right too. All those different elements cooked in one pan?

You have to think about how much time each one needs.

Nevertheless, I have, over the STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

years, managed to do chicken and egg fried rice in a way that works, at least for the family on a weeknight.

I cook the dish in stages and do the eggs in a separate pan, otherwise I end up with rice and scrambled eggs.

I don’t even think about making this with freshly cooked rice (it will just get sticky). I use Chinese chilli bean paste in other dishes too, so don’t feel buying it is a waste of money. The alcohol is my own thing (goodness knows what Ken Hom would think) but I love its flavour with ginger. You can leave it out if you don’t fancy it.

Ingredients

31/2 tbsp groundnut oil 300g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

3 shallots, chopped 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 3cm piece ginger root, peeled and grated 4 spring onions, trimmed and chopped 175g Savoy cabbage or white cabbage, hard core removed and the leaves cut into narrow slices 300g chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces 250g pak choi, washed and sliced lengthways 4 large eggs 2 tsp sesame oil 600g cold cooked rice 1 tbsp Chinese chilli bean sauce or paste 5 tbsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry (optional) Soy sauce and chilli oil or chilli sauce, to serve (optional)

Method

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok.

When it’s really hot, add the mushrooms and fry briskly to get a good colour. Season.

The mushrooms will exude water, so make sure this has evaporated off. Remove from the pan into a bowl.

In the same wok, heat 11/2 tbsp of oil and toss in the shallots, garlic, ginger, the white bits of the spring onions and the cabbage.

Stir-fry for a minute, keeping things moving, and add the chicken. You want to get a good colour on it.

Season and stir-fry for 2 minutes, add the pak choi and cook for a further minute. Add everything in the wok to the mushrooms.

Mix the eggs with salt and the sesame oil. Heat half of

the remaining oil in a small pan and cook the eggs as you might an omelette, tilting the pan and pushing the cooked egg away from you to let the uncooked egg flow into the hot pan.

Use chopsticks to break the egg into ribbons. Put the remaining oil into the wok and heat till very hot.

Toss in the rice and stir-fry for 3 minutes or until you can see and smell some of the rice toasting. Season, then add the cooked ingredients, the egg and the chilli paste.

Add the wine or sherry, if using, and toss the mixture around. Serve with the green bits of the spring onions on top, and soy sauce, chilli oil or chilli sauce on the side, if you like.

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Cook the rice in advance, then spread thinly over a baking sheet to cool it down quickly

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Chicken, cardamom, carrot and orange pilaf Serves 4 Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour This Middle Eastern dish is scented, a little sweet and very pretty. In the original, the orange zest, cooked in sugar syrup, ends up a lot sweeter. I’ve toned it down, partly for ease, partly for health reasons. It’s still a gorgeous dish. It can be made grander with saffron butter.

Soak a pinch of saffron strands in 11/2 tbsp boiling water for 20 minutes, melt some butter and add the saffron water. Pour this on before serving.

If you can get on top of making pilafs, you can do them with lots of different ingredients. I often make them with what I have – the remains of a roast leg of lamb, toasted almonds and dried sour cherries, for example – so I’m always stocked up with long-grain rice and dried fruit and nuts.

Some pilaf recipes suggest soaking the rice in water, but if you’re making this last minute, just wash it in a sieve

Ingredients

300g basmati rice 1 orange 1 tbsp olive oil 600g chicken thigh meat, cut into bite-sized pieces 1 tsp coriander seeds 7 cardamom pods 40g butter 1 onion, finely chopped 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 900ml chicken stock 125g carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks 1 tbsp granulated sugar 25g unsalted pistachios or blanched almonds, chopped 4 tbsp chopped coriander

Method

Put the rice into a sieve and rinse it under the tap until the water runs clear.

Cut the rind off half the orange with a very sharp knife or potato peeler, trying to remove it in broad strips. Slice away as much of the white pith as possible and cut the rind into fine strips.

STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

Squeeze the juice from the orange into a bowl.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and quickly brown the chicken pieces over a high heat to get a good colour (you are only colouring the meat, not cooking it through). Remove to a bowl.

Crush the coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle and put into a small bowl.

Crush the cardamom so that you can remove the pods (discard them), then crush the seeds.

Heat half of the butter

in a heavy v -bottomed pan and sauté the onion until pale gold. Add the garlic and cook for a couple more minutes, then add the spices and cook for another minute. Add the rice and stir until it’s well coated in butter and just beginning to toast. Add the stock and the orange juice and bring to the boil. When the surface starts to look pitted, turn the heat right down.

Tumble in the browned chicken and cover the pan.

The rice will cook in the

steam. Don’t stir or you’ll release the starch and the rice will become sticky. It will take about 15 minutes to cook.

Meanwhile, melt the rest of the butter in a pan and sauté the carrots over a medium heat until softened (they need to lose their raw bite). Remove the carrots and put the orange rind into the buttery juices. Cook for a couple of minutes over a medium heat until softening, then add the sugar and stir until

all moisture is cooked off and the zest is slightly caramelised. Gently fork the carrots and the rind into the cooked rice, along with the nuts and coriander.

Serve immediately.

For thousands of recipe ideas, go to telegraph.co.uk/ cookbook

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G

So spa,sogood

Ease into the new year: these 16 fabulous getaways will refresh mind, body and soul – from sleep retreats in London to boujie treehouses in the Alps

Home… Retreats within reach Seaham Hall

Seaham, County Durham Best for… sea air The spa here alone is worth the trip, with wood-panelled outdoor hot tubs, a salt sauna, a herbal sanarium and waterbeds.

Dinner at spa restaurant Ozone can be taken in your gown and slippers. Nod off in your superking-sized bed to the in-house hypnotherapist’s relaxation videos. Rooms from £295 a night, b&b; seaham-hall.co.uk

The Grove

Chandler’s Cross, Hertfordshire Best for… instant relaxation Popular with celebrities, this is the place to celebrate an occasion, thanks to its ‘urban beach’ and the award-winning Sequoia spa with its black mosaic-tiled pool. The Glasshouse, one of three restaurants, offers all-you-caneat sushi buffets – and don’t miss the dessert cart. Rooms from £370 a night; thegrove.co.uk

Careys Manor and SenSpa

The Cadogan

Best for… playing lady of the manor New Forest ponies munch on the nearby village green and there are three pubs in walking distance, but the highlight here is the 22,000 sq ft SenSpa, with swimming and hydrotherapy pools, saunas and an ice room.

Try the 90-minute Thai massage to feel reborn. Rooms from £170 a night, b&b; careysmanor.com

Best for… a good night’s sleep Since opening its doors in 1887, this hotel has welcomed all sorts of famous faces, from Oscar Wilde (famously arrested in room 118) to supermodels. A Harley Street hypnotherapist partnered with it to create a Sleep Concierge service – meditation recordings, pillow menus, sleep spray and one-on-one sessions. Rooms from £530 a night, b&b; belmond.com

New Forest, Hampshire

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Chelsea, London

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Book-it list

Buxton Crescent Hotel

Buxton, Derbyshire Best for… period splendour It has taken 17 years and £70 million to transform the once-derelict crescent building into a spa hotel and restore it to its Georgian pomp.

The 81 bedrooms are suitably grand with roll-top baths and views across the landscaped municipal gardens.

The spa itself has naturally heated thermal pools, surrounded by original tiling and ironwork.

Treatments include underwater jet massages and a salt cave, plus there’s a fabulous rooftop pool.

Rooms from £155 a night, b&b; ensanahotels.com/ buxton

Green Farm Ashford, Kent

Best for… chilled-out yogis Hosts Martin and Maryann are experts in instantly making you feel at home at this weekend yoga retreat, which takes place in their home, a 15th-century building with a beautiful barn converted into a studio. When you’re not ommm-ing, there is a pretty wild-swimming pond and adjoining day spa. Meals are convivial affairs around a big table and breakfast eggs are laid by their own chickens.

Two nights from £645 per person (single occupancy), full-board; greenfarmkent.co.uk

Sopwell House

St Albans, Hertfordshire

The Parkgate Hotel Cardiff, Wales

Best for… a slick city spa Housed in a former post office that opened in 1897 to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, this beautifully restored hotel has a smart brasserie restaurant, The Sorting Room, and a top-floor spa, with Elemis treatments, a small pool and heated beds overlooking the skyline. Rooms from £111 a night, b&b; theparkgatehotel.wales STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

Best for… football fans The signed T-shirts lining the walls of the corridors are a colourful reminder that this hotel was once the pre-match base for the England football team. Today the spa, which recently had a £14 million overhaul, is the draw, with an indoor pool, hot tubs, steam room and gym.

The hydropool and chilled outdoor lounge area with its big sofas and cosy braziers is made for lolling in your dressing gown with the Sunday papers. From £245 pppn, half-board; sopwellhouse.co.uk 45

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When travelling, check the latest Government Covid guidelines at gov.uk/uk-bordercontrol

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… and away Spa hotels in the sun The Grand Park Istria, Croatia

Best for… a ‘fly and flop’ Found in the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the Istrian Riviera, The Grand Park sits across the bay from the town of Rovinj, overlooking its Venetian-influenced architecture. Slick and modern in its aesthetic, the hotel has beautifully designed rooms at affordable prices with spectacular views throughout – from the rooftop infinity pool to the balconies where breakfast is served.

Pula airport is less than 40km away, so it’s also a good option for a long weekender. Rooms from £228 a night, b&b; maistra.com

Nana Princess Crete, Greece

Nobu Marbella Marbella, Spain

Best for… haute hedonism A Bloody Mary station at breakfast with a view of the sunlit sea sets the tone at this pleasure-filled hotel.

At Chiringuito, its seafront restaurant, waiters serve cocktails, oyster platters and every type of charcuterie imaginable, a DJ plays Ibiza-style house music and double daybeds are dotted around for lounging.

By night, there’s a cocktail bar and nightclub. The worldclass massages at Six Senses Spa will ease any hangover.

Rooms from £404 a night, b&b; marbella.nobuhotels.com STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

Best for… a space-age spa This beachfront hotel is all sweeping glass architecture and in-room ‘chromotherapy’ lighting. There are a vast number of bedrooms to choose from – ours came with ocean views, a private pool and more smart-home technology than you can shake a remote control at.

The vast basement spa has the feel of a James Bond villain’s lair – all neon backlighting and dark wood. And it doesn’t get more 007 than the ‘Gold Therapy’ anti-ageing body wrap and massage.

Rooms from £303 a night, b&b; nanaprincess.reserve-online.net

The Belvedere Hotel Mykonos, Greece

Best for… cocktail lovers This chic resort, found on a hillside overlooking the ocean, has a luxurious but utterly chilled-out vibe. Seven whitewashed buildings are connected by cobbled paths and surrounded by leafy gardens. The pool is the central focus, with a bar area nearby, complete with midcentury record booth and shelves of vinyl where the resident DJ plays. To really unwind, book a Blissful Marma massage, which lives up to its name. Rooms from £245 a night; belvederehotel.com 47

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Book-it list

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And finally... Wellness with wow factor Hôtel Royal, Evian Resort

WHAT TO PACK

Évian-les-Bains, France

Best for… regal g grandeur This five-star palace hotel was built in 1909 for Edward VII – who died before he could stay there. It’s high on a hill above Lake Geneva, surrounded by snow-capped mountains; expect top-notch service, seriously delicious food (there’s a Michelin-starred restaurant, Les Fresques, on site) and spa treatments to soothe the stresses of the day. The electric bikes right outside the door were a quick and easy way to whizz down into town. Rooms from £255 a night; evianresort.com

Corn leather and bamboo trainers, £120, Saye (sayebrand.ccom)

Quilted tote bag, £79, Arket (arket.com)

Waldhotel at the Bürgenstock resort Lucerne, Switzerland

Best for… a touch of old Hollywood No expense has been spared in this ultra-luxurious detox palace in the Swiss Alps, home to a state-of-the-art medical spa complete with cardiologists, endocrinologists, dermatologists, dentists and aesthetic doctors for injectable ‘tweakments’ and more besides. It’s also great for nature walks (try the guided Alpine Detox Walk, where phones are banned) and forest bathing.

Three nights from £1,200 pp; buergenstock-waldhotel.ch

Towelling dress, £102, Araminta James (aramintajames.com)

Stanglwirt Resort

Near Kitzbühel, Austria Bamboo leggings, £55, Bam (bambooclothing. co.uk)

Edited by Laura Powell

San Luis South Tyrol, Italy

Cotton towelling swimsuit, £35.99, Oysho (oysho.com)

Best for… peace and solitude A weekend in this elegant treehouse resort in the Alps will bring out your inner 10-year-old – there’s nothing like the excitement of waking up 15ft in the air, enveloped by pine trees. There are 16 treehouses, each decked out in a cool, modern style with plump sofas, cosy stoves and sheepskin rugs, plus a veranda and swing chairs so you can sit out and enjoy the view over the lake. In winter it becomes a snowy wonderland with ice skating.

From £255pppn; sanluis-hotel.com

STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

Best for… sauna connoisseurs Arriving at this gargantuan spa retreat, at the foot of the Wilder Kaiser mountains, feels like stepping back in time.

Staff greet you dressed in dirndls and lederhosen and it has been family-owned since 1772. As well as being home to a working farm and traditional inn, there is a spa with several pools and five saunas, including one lined with rock crystals and an organic spruce one, which was rustic and candlelit – pure romance. From £101 pppn, b&b; stanglwirt.com 49

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Book-it list

‘In some ways, I feel like a new person’ IT IS A NEW YEAR, a new house and a new beginning. In some ways, I feel like a new person too, because although my house still has the same problems it had last year (which came up in the survey six months ago), having survived a move to Land’s End and back, I feel more able to tackle them.

It’s surprising, though it shouldn’t be, how having a roof and four walls changes things. I no longer fall asleep – like I did in the caravan – terrified I’ll be crushed by a tree. It’s easier practically now I’m not worrying about where to live, where to get post delivered, which doctor I can see or whether my laptop has enough charge to last the day. The catastrophes that used to keep me awake have evaporated and – as yet – new ones haven’t taken their place.

More surprisingly still, my ex offers to let me have our dog for three months when I move into my house, while he goes away. We spend nights cuddled by the fire, her tucked like a furry hot-water bottle under my feet.

Everything about having moved into my new home is exciting – like a child moving into a Wendy house, even the most prosaic things are a thrill. Each day brings another first: the first post (a card from friends up 50

the road), my first bill (for the agonising high council tax), my first row with BT over why the internet doesn’t work.

My plan for tackling work on the house is boringly practical – first, I’ll focus on things that will keep it standing, and save shopping for toile de Jouy curtains for last.

Having enjoyed being surrounded by women since I moved out of Lon-

Everything about my new house is exciting – like a child moving into a Wendy house.

Each day brings a new first don, when I move into the house, the men come into their own. My friend Nick turns up to help me put a bed together that I’ve bought on eBay. Martin arrives to advise on interior design and plumb in the washing machine. Rob, in true Princess Margaret style, buys me a deep clean as a house gift, so two women spend four hours sweeping cobwebs, vacuuming carpets, scrubbing kitchen cupboards and dousing the bathroom in bleach; ‘my Chanel No 5,’ as Rob says.

Among the urgent work that

needs doing is gable ends strapped to the roof (although I have no idea what this means, the insurance company has insisted on it because of former subsidence issues), having the chimneys swept, and sorting out the damp work and woodworm.

Although I was warned about cowboy builders, I get lucky with the workmen of Somerset, who not only manage to squeeze me in despite being unusually busy, but also call me ‘my lover’ in their lush Somerset burr. ‘Are any of them hot?’

Martin wants to know. But he’s disappointed. My favourite builder is old enough to be my dad, and has only come out of retirement after his wife died because he found himself bored without work. He’s working with an assistant who, he tells me, started as his apprentice at 17 and is in his 70s now.

He turns out to be a goldmine of knowledge and help, turning up when I move in and spending three hours investigating the house, establishing where every pipe leads, where the stop cock is hidden, and how to get the boiler going (all of which I could have lived here 20 years and never worked out).

Not for the first time on this journey, I feel that although I’m doing this alone, it isn’t at all lonely.

STELLA | 16 JA N UA RY 2022

Jooney Woodward

In her new home, Katie finds support from people she expected – and plenty she didn’t

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What Katie did next Katie Glass

STELLA | 16 JA N UARY 2022

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STELLA | 16 JA N UA RY 2022

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