M A G A Z I N E
FRANK
Issue 12 Feb March 2021
FRANK by name FRANK in nature
FRANK's Product of the Month
Ellia Adore Ultrasonic Essential Oil Diffuser Open your senses with the Ellia Adore Ultrasonic Essential Oil Diffuser. This uniquely shaped diffuser features a rounded, frosted glass design that complements any décor. Not only does aromatherapy provide a beautiful aroma for your home, but it can also have a positive effect on both your physical and mental well-being. With just a few drops of your favourite essential oil, the Ellia Adore Essential Oil Diffuser can transform your environment and spirit.
A Scent That Lasts The Ellia Adore Diffuser uses ultrasonic, highfrequency technology to convert water and essential oils into a fine mist that is then dispersed into the air, filing your environment with a natural aroma that lasts and provides soothing benefits.
www.homedics.co.uk
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“What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.” Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay
G I V E A W A Y
The CANAMIS Finest CBD oil drops collection is the highest quality CBD available in the UK. Our CBD is a broad-spectrum formulation, which means it is completely free from THC but a complete profile of cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids. To cover the earthy flavour of CBD, we blend it with natural rose and lychee flavours for a taste sensation.
canamis.com
GIVEAWAY!.. Watch out for our Instagram post to enter to win these four CANAMIS CBD oil drops.
Orange Oil A burst of citrus flavour with a subtle and warming fragrance of lingering orange.
Peppermint Oil Aromatic peppermint awakens the senses, with a soft and sweet cooling finish.
Cherry Oil Dances on the palate with a sour surprise, melting into a buttery almond finish.
Strawberry Oil A sharp and sweet taste of strawberry, plucked straight from the vine.
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Editor's note
''Frank is for women who want to be informed, inspired, look good and be healthy.''
This Spring READ
Hello everyone, Welcome to the new issue of Frank. I hope it will provide some much needed escapism whilst giving you some ideas on how to keep yourself emotionally buoyant during these challenging times.
Fearne Cotton Speak Your Truth
WEAR
We celebrate nature and all its glory with our fashion pages shot by photographer and model Liddie Holt and beauty gets deep with detox ideas.
Whilst we are all in lock down why not cook up a storm with Francseca Klottrup’s store cupboard recipes, inject some colour into your workouts, dip into The Simon Savidge reading list and lose yourself in the world of Franks favourite French dramas. It’s a big one gang, so take your time and enjoy. Stay safe and much love,
In interviews, we hear from the celebrated author of ‘I am an island’ Tamsin Calidas about being in tune with nature and finding our true selves.
Linda Farrow Round link tortoiseshell acetate glasses chain
WATCH
We talk to the brilliant artist Alison Jackson, whose sculpture of Donald Trump with his pants down has been causing a stir in Soho, London. Alison talks to Frank about her life and work in the time of Covid.
Les Misérables on Netflix
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Melanie X
Contents Feb March 2021
O Pioneer
FRANK LOVES
Preloved Fashion
Product of the Month
p1 Product of the Month p4 Canamis Giveaway p10 Cover Photographer Interview Liddie Holt p12 Working from Home Desk Treats
p52 Positive Purls p54 SS21 Trend Report p62 Slip into Spring
BEAUTY p64 FASHION p14 p16 The Preloved Fashion Revolution p22 Super Nature Fashion Shoot p38 Sustainable Stylish Pieces p42 Fashion Interview - O Pioneers p50 O Pioneers Giveaway
p64 FRANK Loves Peep Club p68 Winter Warriors Fiona Eustace p72 Sustainable Beauty p76 Bath Oils
www.thefrankmagazine.com
INTERVIEWS p78
Tamsin Caladis p80
p80 Interview with Tamsin Calidas p102 Interview with Alison Jackson p112 The Loves, likes & vibes of…Gary Cockerill p114 Interview with Dr Nadine Hachach-Haram p118 Interview with the founders of Art.Box
MPowder p124
GIVEAWAYS... Keep an eye out for all of our giveaways on @thefrank_mag
HEALTH & WELLNESS p174 p124 Interview with Rebekah Brown p128 MPowder Giveaway p130 Nourish your Health JS Health & Giveaway p132 Fuss Free Nutrition with Francesca Klottrup p142 Protein with Sandie Fredriksson p146 The Wonders of Hygge Kate Tilston p150 CBD Oil for Anxiety
The Reading List with Simon Savidge
WHAT TO… p152 p154 Cushion Up p158 The READING List Simon Savidge p162 Meet the Italians - Insta Box p164 Frank the Francophile p168 Positive Home Projects Lisa Dawson p172 The FRANK Directory
Artist Alison Jackson
AND MUCH MUCH MORE.........
www.thefrankmagazine.com
T E A M
MELANIE
Photo by Alan Strutt
MILLIE
Photo by Alan Strutt
F R A N K
''Melanie Sykes was a fashion model before moving into hosting TV and Radio shows. Alongside her presenting work, she is now Editor in chief of FRANK magazine. As a woman over forty, she felt there was a gap in the magazine market for women her age and wanted to rectify that. “I believe it is never too late to try something new and creating and editing FRANK is the perfect project at this stage in my life and something I am relishing." ''After 15 years in the tech world, Millie now has successful businesses in publishing and social media, delivering original content and design. She says she is excited about helping FRANK to be the magazine of choice for women over 40.''
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF - Melanie Sykes DESIGN DIRECTOR - Millie Cooper BEAUTY EDITOR - Fiona Eustace FASHION EDITOR - Annabel Kerman CONTRIBUTORS Kate Tilson Simon Savidge Lisa Dawson
CONTACT US hello@thefrankmagazine.com International Distribution | FRANK Magazine FREE Subscriptions Worldwide | www.thefrankmagazine.com
Copyright © 2020 The Frank Magazine. Nothing from this or any other publications of The FRANK Magazine may be reproduced by letterpress, photo-offset, photocopying, microfilm or any other method whatsoever without the express written consent of the publisher or of the holders of the copyright of the author in question. This publication has been compiled with the greatest care. However, the publishers do not in any way hold themselves liable for any errors that may have arisen. www.thefrankmagazine.com
BE KIND TO YOURSELF + THE
Cover Photographer Liddie Holt www.thefrankmagazine.com
@thefrank_mag
FRANK loves
SKIN ALCHEMISTS Sesenne Rejuvenating Facial Elixir
''Glowing skin that looks fed, renewed and rejuvenated''
I
Opulent oils of cell-reviving rose de mai,jasmine and rose geranium lightly perfume your skin. Illuminating lemon and carrot seed help to diminish lines and even skin tone. Returning to my herbalist roots, I sourced whole plants Healing calendula and yarrow restore and rejuvinate skin used for centuries to treat skin conditions from conscious to unveil a dewy finish, with wrinkle-fighting growers. Through time honoured methodology these Frankincense improving skin’s elasticity.Anchored in a plants were infused in single farmed oils, cold pressed to base of nature’s known retinol Cacay Seed Oil blended retain their full nutrient spectrum. I then distilled the with other powerhouse botanics for the ultimate healing most potent ingredients from the rainforests of the and renewing blend. Caribbean to conjure a natural perfume which encourages Theresa Edward founder of Skin Alchemists a deep breath and connecting with your heart chakra.The alchemist in me combines these elements to form a sophisticated vitamin cocktail which repairs, nourishes skinalchemists.com and rejuvenates skin, whilst calming sensitivity and revealing a lifted, brightened and glowing complexion. wanted to create a hero product which fed,nourished and rejuvenated delicate facial skin
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F R A N K
I N T E R V I E W
Cover Photographer & Model
Liddie Holt When and how long did you model for? My modelling career began in 1982 when I was 18 & I am still taking assignments today so I reckon around 40 years.
What were the greatest elements of the job? The greatest elements of the job are the places I have visited, the people I have met & the opportunities which have presented themselves...
When did you get into photography? To be submerged in fashion & exposed to some of the worlds most beautiful locations, photography was a way of savouring such experiences. I didn’t want to let go of any of it. I kept a photographic diary of everywhere I went & the people I was drawn to, this led to a natural evolution of a passion which is still with me. I simply love capturing all of which my eyes feast...! I’m greedy so I doubt I will ever stop...!
How would you describe your style of images ? My imagery is real and textured. It raw as, it is rich. It is an expression of how I see everything, raw and true.
What inspires you creatively? There is rarely a day passes whereupon I am not stirred by something I am confronted with, this can be light, colour, shape or form. There is beauty in everything, you just have acknowledge it.
You obviously love being in nature. What does it give you? Have you always been drawn to the countryside? As for nature it never ceases to amaze, I love the way it adapts, I love its surprises it’s so easy to take all for granted. if you simply sit & observe, it’s an overwhelming accumulative workforce, whether this involves the weather or mankind or particularly at present both. It’s a joy to observe with a camera.
What have been your greatest life lessons as you have matured? I am concerned for what lays ahead, so I will continue to indulge & catalogue what is in front of me, for as far as I can see it is beautiful...
“ My imagery is real and textured. It is as raw as, it is rich.
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“There is rarely a day passes whereupon I am not stirred by something I am confronted with, this can be light, colour, shape or form. There is beauty in everything, you just have acknowledge it.”
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Home Work
desk treats
This limited edition tumbler, complete with a lid and straw is perfect..from desk to lounge, from lounge to the kitchen or anywhere your heart takes you.
By Terry's Baume de Rose lip balm is the cult product on every one desk right now.
The elegant marble base is handcrafted in Italy's Carrara region.
Allow an exquisite marriage of crisp greenery and deep smokiness to elevate your home.
BACCARAT Crystal Clear by Virgil Abloh Tumbler £425 HELLO DAY Marble Notepad £79.95
BY TERRY Baume de Rose Nourishing Lip Balm £40 CIRE TRUDON Abd El Kader Candle (3kg) £450
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NEVER MISS AN ISSUE
Frank is for women who want to be informed, inspired, look good and be healthy. thefrankmagazine www.thefrankmagazine.com
Stella McCartney courtesy of vogue.com
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FRANK FASHION
In this issue’s fashion we explore the great outdoors with photographer Liddie Holt in a model free shoot that reflects our times. Plus we look at how we can make the new trends work for now, and focus on optimistic spring knits and current wardrobe stars house slippers. And if buying new doesn’t currently feel right, we round up the top preloved fashion sites to make your spending more circular.
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THE PRELOVED FASHION REVOLUTION
6
ONLINE STORES TO HAVE ON YOUR RADAR
By Annabel Kerman
It’s clear fashion is in the midst of a sea change; that attitudes to how we shop have been flipped on their head in recent times. Rewind even five years and for many, second hand clothes carried the hard to shift whiff of the charity shop bargain bin. Not party conversation. Fast forward to 2021, to joke about wearing second hand would be like conversational tumbleweed. These
conversations ARE now the party. Industry insiders now predict second hand shopping could overtake both the fast fashion market and the luxury market in the next 8 years. No more questions. It’s been an incredibly fast turnaround, fuelled by the urgent need for change in our attitudes to sustainability. For the ‘woke’ Gen Z generation, secondhand shopping means unique items without damaging the environment, with zero negative connotations. For us non Gen Z’s (but trying for woke-ness), the rise of preloved luxury appeals for its quality and longevity. Plus there’s no disputing that covid has changed our shopping habits: with time away from the materialism of normality, the nation is choosing quality over fast fashion. And now that purchasing must be done online, luxe well designed websites of preloved brands that deliver to our doors are enough to deal the knockout blow to any last preconceptions. Here is Frank’s select of our current favourite preloved luxury stores and brands, whether you prefer insta friendly, cult classics or something in between. And not a bargain bin in sight.
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EDIT SECOND HAND Frank favourite Edit Second Hand launched in 2010 from a West Sussex store, selling personally edited stock of mid luxury favourites like Bella Freud and Isabel Marant up to big hitters Gucci and Chanel, all for up to 70% off. Owners Darcy and Amy’s have a sharp eye for what’s currently on trend, and active instagram account. See something you like? grab it quick or it will be gone. Contact the store directly for selling.
BEST FOR: Personal contact for shopping and selling insta friendly designers editsecondhand.com
1. RELLIK Rellik in London’s Notting Hill was created by three store holders from the Portobello Market, and is a leading luxury vintage seller, attracting both Hollywood A-listers and fashion insiders. Brands like Ozzie Clarke and Yves Saint Laurent from as early as the 1940’s mix with recent collections, but founder Fiona says that the best pieces are often found in private wardrobes. Rellik recently launched online with shipping worldwide, so we can all join the in crowd.
BEST FOR: Sourcing special vintage designer pieces with A list credentials. relliklondon.co.uk
2. www.thefrankmagazine.com
MY WARDROBE HQ My Wardrobe HQ launched in 2019 as the UK’s first fashion rental online marketplace,a circular fashion destination renting and selling contemporary luxury brands, teaming with high end brand partners to stock new and past season pieces. Rent an item for two weeks, love it, then choose to pay the difference to keep it, with the option to share it back on the platform. Plus they now do bridal and kids wear. What’s not to love.
BEST FOR: Entering a circular community of renting, buying and selling.
3.
mywardrobehq.com
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RESELLFRIDGES Selfridges ‘Project Earth’ initiative explores more planet friendly and circular ways to shop. Resellfridges was launched in 2020 with the idea of creating a long term brand resale platform within the store and online, with a a pop up vintage store within a store in conjunction with Oxfam, and a vintage bags edit available now online. Selfridges is also home to the physical store of the Hurr platform, the peer to peer clothing rental company dubbed the ‘airbnb’ of fashion.
BEST FOR: Expertly curated Vintage bags, and fashion rentals selfridges.com
4.
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ROH ROH New kid on the block Roh Roh is a freshly launched Manchester based brand selling luxury authentic high end vintage. The in-house team have a combined experience of over 50 years in luxury fashion, and not only highlight every preloved piece’s imperfections, but provide authenticity verifications for every purchase. They are also launching a photography, valuation and resale service to make it extra easy for those wanting to sell via the platform.
BEST FOR: Peace of mind with high end luxury purchases. roh-roh.com
5. www.thefrankmagazine.com
6. VINTED Vinted its more of a traditional second hand site than luxury preloved (you’ve most likely seen it advertised on TV) but we browsed Ganni, Rixo and a plethora of other mid level lux brands. Working an Ebay style format, Vinted started as a moving house clothes resale startup and now has a community of 37 million worldwide. Simply upload your images, and set your price, with zero selling fees, buyer protection and a refund policy. We’re itching to clear our wardrobes.
BEST FOR: Straight forward easy sell wardrobe editing vinted.co.uk
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F A S H I O N
S T O R Y
Super Nature
Sustainable pieces in Spectacular landscapes Photographer and Model Liddie Holt Fashion Editor Annabel Kerman
HUNTER rainmac, LOCK & CO trilby
ANYA HINDMARCH at Edit SecondHand bag
CURRY & PAXTON at Wolf & Badger sunglasses
LONDON UNDERCOVER umbrella
OHELO at Bear & Bear water bottle
BLANKET at Bear & Bear
HUNTER Boots
SSONE jumper
STOCKISTS bearandbear.com editsecondhand.com hunterboots.com lockhatters.com londonundercover.co.uk ssone.com wolfandbadger.com
F A S H I O N
SUPERNATURE By Annabel Kerman
Sustainable, stylish pieces to suit the great outdoors, whether you swim, run, hike, or just walk the dog.
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1. VOITED at Bear and Bear Cloudtouch pillow blanket £119 bearandbear.com 2. SANDQVIST at Bear and Bear Stig backpack £64 bearandbear.com 3. LISH Wilmot teal blue dog jumper from £40 lishlondon.com 4. EVEERVITAL Zip up swimsuit £118 evervital.co 5. APPLE sports watch from £429 apple.com 6. DRYROBE Advance wild swimming robe £150 dryrobe.com 7. ELVIS AND KRESSE Fire and Hide belt £80 elvisandkresse.com 8. VEJA Venturi running shoes £140 veja-store.com 9. LOCKE & CO Chippenham Fedora hat £94.80 lockhatters.com 10. CONSIGNED at Wolf and Badger Belt bag £35 wolfandbadger.com 11. SPEEDO wetsuit £52 speedo.com Nature photos by Liddie Holt
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S U S T A I N A B L E
F A S H I O N
Sustainable comfy clothing
made with LOVE Flo & Sang is a collaboration of two female friends both with over 20 years of experience in the fashion business. Both Flo & Sang are constantly looking for new ideas to bring to their customers, through fabrics, prints and new styles. Ideas are everywhere! The Brand was developed to offer women of all ages a range of Easy to wear, Laid back luxurious Basics.
''We get such a kick out of seeing all our customers wearing our clothes, it is just so fabulous to see such a wide range of people looking not only stylish but comfortable in our range. We like to think of it as an “Inclusive Brand” and we are proud to boast of customers who range from 16-90!'' www.floandsang.com
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F A S H I O N
I N T E R V I E W
O Pioneers
A grown up fashion label for women who still want to be playful.
O Pioneers is a British clothing label founded in Camden, north London by Clara Francis, actor and jewellery designer and Tania Hindmarch, PR and home seamstress. Here they talk to FRANK about all things fashion and more. www.thefrankmagazine.com
Photography Credits: Natasha Merchant www. natashamerchant.com
''We’ve always shared an interest in ‘fashion’ and a leaning towards vintage clothes, charity shop gems and girlie frocks. Throughout the years of designing and making things for ourselves we were always happily surprised to find that friends, and friends of friends, loved our styles and often asked us to make for them too!
Although beautiful, we want our dresses to be practical. For wear everyday – not just saved for best! We’re both working mums so we know how important that is! Most of our clothes are made in cotton so they are machine washable (check the washing instructions on each item) and all our dresses have big side pockets because there’s always something to carry!
One morning, walking our dogs on the Heath we Our clothes are made with quality in mind and decided to create O Pioneers, our own small designed to be staple wardrobe pieces to be worn label, where we could share some of our designs and enjoyed for years to come. Our simple with like-minded women. The items we sell are designs draw inspiration from old sewing all things that we wear ourselves. We hope that if patterns and the nostalgia and romance of we love them, you’ll love them too. dressing up. Because that’s how we like to dress! Our main idea: a few simple, feminine and flattering designs, hand-crafted in the most beautiful, end of stock, heritage fabrics. This means most of our pieces are limited editions and one offs.
O Pioneers is a grown up fashion label for women who still want to be playful. It is our labour of love and we hope you love it as much as we do.'' Clara and Tania
“Our customer base is really very eclectic. From women from their 20’s through to women in their 70’s. We think she’s a very discerning customer, she knows exactly what she wants, what suits her, she has a strong sense of self and of her own style.”
www.thefrankmagazine.com
When did you start the brand and how? We met when our oldest kids were babies, 14 years ago now, in a book group for mums in Camden Town where we both lived at the time. Over those years we have together plotted and dreamed of starting our own clothing brand. We are both massive lovers, hunters and hoarders of vintage clothing, we have a shared love of pieces from the 70’s, Tania loves the 80’s and Clara has a huge archive of Victorian and Edwardian white Lawn dresses.. (we like a mashup)...we are also both extreme fuss pots and could never find exactly what we wanted to wear so our dream was to create a brand encompassing the absolute perfect items of clothing...the perfect dress... the perfect blouse...the perfect tank top. Beautiful, fun AND practical. We launched ‘O Pioneers’ just over a year ago. We have been trading almost exclusively during the pandemic, a very peculiar time to start a business!
Why at this stage in your life did you decide to go for it? For Clara it was very much to do with the a creative need and compulsion after the death of her daughter, Maudie to (a) keep busy and (b) nurture something new and beautiful and for Tania, she had just come out of a horrible divorce and having given up her career 15 years ago to stay at home and bring up the kids found herself “up shit creek” financially and was finding it very hard to get back into the work place after such a long absence.
Where did the name ‘O Pioneer’ come from? We spent MONTHS trying to find the perfect name...list after list after list!! We are both rather bookish, both love reading so we knew we wanted a name that came from a literary piece or just had a certain poetry to it. We also wanted a name which encapsulated the romanticism of our brand. We realised we both loved the novel “O Pioneers” by female American author Willa Cather and the poem of the same name by the mighty Walt Whitman. It seemed perfect as our style of clothing does hint at the Pioneer style ( that and of course a very British aesthetic as well!) We also felt like Pioneers ourselves - both In our mid 40’s, Tania coming from a PR background, Clara coming from an Acting/Jewellery background that we ourselves were pioneers, striding into scary, unknown territory, starting something new at this age, when we already feel half clapped out, is scary. We have since found out that when Clara’s Grandfather, Hans, escaped Nazi Germany and fled to the UK in 1939 and joined the British Army. His regiment was called the “Pioneers Regiment” ..she only found this out about six months ago and it just seemed so unbelievably perfect, like he was watching over.
“O Pioneers is based on our over riding philosophy that if an item of clothing is desirable, well-made and stylishly classic it will be a loved item in your wardrobe that gets revisited time and time again, for years to come.” www.thefrankmagazine.com
What is the ethos of the brand? We want O Pioneers to reflect our core beliefs in slow, sustainable fashion; timeless style; flattering designs; quality making, with attention to detail. The antithesis of ‘fast fashion’, O Pioneers is based on our over riding philosophy that if an item of clothing is desirable, well-made and stylishly classic it will be a loved item in your wardrobe that gets revisited time and time again, for years to come. We try wherever possible to use past season and end of line fabrics from quality textile icons such as Liberty London, we focus on making our clothes as individual as possible whilst retaining a very definite O Pioneers vibe. We only make small runs of each item in any particular fabric design or colour-way and we avoid waste wherever possible by using offcuts from the pattern cutting process to create beautiful patchwork and applique embellishments and of course face masks have sold A LOT of facemasks... As working mums, it is important to us to collaborate and work with other female businesses and artisans, as we understand the fine balance between work and family. We work with talented women in and around London and beyond, who share our vision and help us create our beautiful dresses and knitwear. we believe in the mantra, ‘Buy well, buy once’. We are also very mindful of the practicalities of daily dressing.Many times in the past we have bought a beautiful top or dress that sits unworn, unloved in our wardrobes because it is impractical or uncomfortable to wear, it might have a sleeve that’s too long and dangly and therefore gets wet when we’re doing the washing up or even clothing that is ‘Dry Clean Only’ that we’re reticent to wear because it will need to be taken to the cleaners and that’s a palaver so we don’t bother wearing it... We try to make sure ALL our dresses are, to date, machine washable at 30 degrees and if hung up when wet, don’t even need ironing!!! We have practicality at the forefront of our minds when we’re designing our garments.One zip. Few buttons. Dressing with ease but without being bland. We live our brand. We wear our brand everyday. We want comfort, practicality, longevity and beauty in our clothing.
We love the ‘beautiful dresses NOT to be saved for best’ How pertinent is that in terms of our current covid situation? We absolutely believe wholeheartedly that beautiful clothes are there to be worn every day not stored in our wardrobes waiting only for special occasions. This was our ethos at the very dawn of O Pioneers - obviously we have the odd days when we pull on our jeans and a sweatshirt but more often than not you’ll find us wearing a dress - a dress with boots or trainers but a dress, none the less. We definitely both have the "dress up gene” We want dressing up each morning to still be fun and exciting - like when you’re a kid “Who do we want to be today?” In regard dressing in a pandemic - We believe our ethos has come into its own during this pandemic. People have realised that making an effort with what you wear even when working from home has a massive impact on your mental health. Many of our friends said to us that getting out of their tracksuit bottoms and putting on something beautiful instead, even if not leaving the house, made them feel infinitely better. We are currently both individually walking our dogs on Hampstead Heath during this third pandemic in our dresses, this time with thermals underneath and wellies on of course!! Never underestimated the feel good factor of a heavenly frock!
“We try wherever possible to use past season and end of line fabrics from quality textile icons such as Liberty London, we focus on making our clothes as individual as possible whilst retaining a very definite O Pioneers vibe.”
www.thefrankmagazine.com
“Our customer base is really very eclectic. From women from their 20’s through to women in their 70’s. We think she’s a very discerning customer, she knows exactly what she wants, what suits her, she has a strong sense of self and of her own style.”
www.thefrankmagazine.com
“We want O Pioneers to reflect our core beliefs in slow, sustainable fashion; timeless style''
What has the been the inspiration for the style and the signature look of the clothes?
the design process with only a fabric swatch, other inspirations can be a character in a book we’ve read or a film we’ve seen. For a while we were obsessed with a TV show called Godless. We spent a couple of weeks doing our We wanted our brand to have a quintessentially British local supermarket shop dressed for riding a horse out in feel. Incorporating that unique often eccentric way that the British style things together... Edwardian day dresses the plains! We are heavily influenced by what our mums wore in the 1970’s, what we wore in the 70’s. Both our mixed with 1970’s flounce and a smattering of what’s happening NOW thrown into the mix. As an actress Clara mothers are incredibly creative. They made our clothes loves the concept of transformation and there’s no reason when we were kids and both our mums used Liberty Fabrics to make them, so we love to incorporate them into why the day to day way we dress cannot hint at a little our collections. There is a certain nostalgia that comes transformation and play within ourselves. Dressing with using those same fabrics, a continuum, a safety and a should fun. We are inspired by the fabrics themselves and often start comfort. www.thefrankmagazine.com
"People can be secretive as to where they source their fabrics etc and of course, where they get their clothing made. We naively found that people are generally not forthcoming with this information...so we were like a couple of Miss Marples trying to find our way through the forest. picking up nuggets of information as we went along. We’re still learning all the time."
up nuggets of information as we went along. We’re still learning all the time. In regard to fabrics, we did a small article for the Liberty Store website, their fabric buyer read it and offered us an account with them direct, this has been incredible for us because he allows us to buy older stock that is just sitting gathering dust in the warehouse. We love using up the old rather than printing more.
Tell us about the process, sourcing fabrics, sketches etc? Although Clara ran a successful Jewellery business and Tania worked in PR before starting O Pioneers’s and having ones foot in the fashion world it is essentially starting over again when beginning this venture. People can be secretive as to where they source their fabrics etc and of course, where they get their clothing made. We naively found that people are generally not forthcoming with this information...so we were like a couple of Miss Marples trying to find our way through the forest picking
Who is your customer, I imagine they cross all age groups? Our customer base is really very eclectic. From women from their 20’s through to women in their 70’s. We think she’s a very discerning customer, she knows exactly what she wants, what suits her, she has a strong sense of self and of her own style. She isn’t a slave to fashion, she desires clothes with personality, beautifully made, that will elevate her wardrobe and won’t ever date. Our customer is no fool!
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How much does social media help the brand? Social Media has been integral to the success of our little brand to date. Instagram as a marketing tool is simply incredible. We started this business with very little money. We both put only a small amount into the pot each. We have had no outside investment at all. So it wasn’t like we had any sort of marketing budget to begin with - we were entirely relying on social media and word of mouth to spread the word of our brand. The reach of instagram is so wide and fortunately we have a product, aesthetic and ethos that has really engaged with people. Our followers have embraced what we are trying to do with the brand and come along with us for the ride.It’s been such a wonderful, life enhancing experience.
Tell us about the fund raising you did in 2020 with the mask making. Who are your chosen charities and why? We talked a lot when setting up O Pioneers about the idea of creating a company that would, one day, give something back to the community. We thought that if we ever made a success of things we could donate a proportion of sales to charity. We didn’t expect it to happen quite as so soon as it did! In March at the beginning of the pandemic Clara did some voluntary work for ”Age UK Camden” it was here that she saw the desperate situation that was occurring in regard severe food shortages within the community we live in so it was a no brainer that we would donate a proportion of all our sales at that time to “Age UK Camden”. Around Who is your team? the same time the Bereavement Charity “SLOW ( Surviving the Loss of Your World)” also needed help as Well It’s currently just pretty much the two of us doing EVERYTHING in the day to day running of the business obviously all their planned fund raising events for 2020 had to be immediately cancelled leaving the charity with a - design, sampling, sourcing fabrics, social media, shortage of funds. This charity is incredibly close to our marketing, fulfilment, post office runs, it’s all US and we’re bloomin’ exhausted... we’re such a new brand we’ve hearts as SLOW is the charity that helped Clara so very much when her two year old daughter, Maude, died very not permanently employed anyone yet! It’s also a bit of a suddenly of Sepsis in 2011.... So we then, with great pride, family affair. We are delighted to say that both of our mums hand knit all of the tank tops that we make and sell. donated a proportion of our sales to SLOW and finally we were then approached by the wonderful Isabel Spearman Tania’s brother set up and maintains our website, Clara’s brother does the odd photoshoot with us. We have a couple asking us if we would be interested in making face masks which matched our dresses and give a percentage of the sale of wonderful local seamstresses that work from their homes making one off pieces and special orders for us and a of each face mask sales to another wonderful charity “The ICS - The Intensive Care Society” This charity helps brave little factory in the East End of London make our larger quantities. Anthony Lycett and Natasha Merchant are our Front Line NHS staff who work in the ICU by offering them much needed psychological support at such a brilliant photographers and that’s pretty much it for the horrendous time in their working life. All in all we donated moment. to them all around £10,000. We are very proud of this. www.opioneers.co.uk @_Pioneersuk www.thefrankmagazine.com
O Pioneers Giveaway
WIN!.. The Clara Dress Watch out for our Instagram posts to enter. www.thefrankmagazine.com
F A S H I O N
Anthropologie Gaia Multicoloured Jumper £130.00
Positive
Purls
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We want our knits with optimistic vibes only, this Spring.
BLAKE LDN La Vie En Rose Sweater £335
CECILIE BAHNSEN Frida ribbed & cable-knit sleeveless silk sweater £535
LOEWE Anagram-embroidered oversized mohair-blend jumper £650.00
PINKO Olga illustrated wool-blend jumper £148
MARKUS LUPFER Laura sketch lip-intarsia wool jumper £300
MOLLY GODDARD Claus striped lambswool sweater vest £280
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F A S H I O N
SS21 Trend Report By Annabel Kerman
A
Spring 2021 Fashion Trend report might seem like a non sequitur this month, when many of us barely leave our houses, socialising is carried out from the waist up, and the idea of ‘working a look’ is only a prerequisite for a zoom fancy dress party. There’s no denying the fashion industry has had its share of struggles in recent times. A year ago the challenge was aligning the flamboyancy of fashion month to a more conscious global attitude. Then weeks later, faced with the biggest pandemic of our generation, the question became ‘is there any place for fashion in this new world?’ Tracksuits became our new best friends. But while it's true that lockdown has revealed a need to consider clothing on a basic level, of comfort and purpose (and who can deny a tracksuit is cosy AND practical!) there comes a point we need to rediscover the mood enhancing boost that getting dressed up can give us. After all, are we dressing for our own pleasure or for others? And in case anyone feels guilt about such frippery,there are reams of articles supporting the idea that clothes can have a positive influence on our mental health. So it should come as no surprise that designers didn’t sink into a sea of jersey for SS21. Yes there were easy to wear pieces, like slouchy loose legged trousers and throw on denim. But there was also welcome positivity: Top to toe colour, from bold primaries to sweet pastels, or statement maxi dresses offering us the option to channel Margo from the Goodlife (We’ve been Barbara for long enough) Here are Frank’s choice of cheer bringing new season pieces this season. Whether through purchasing, shopping our wardrobes, or buying preloved, these key catwalk looks combine wearability whilst bringing a little sunshine to our Spring. Take it as doctor’s orders.
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All Imagery Courtesy of Vogue.com
SLOUCHY TROUSERS If any year was made for non restrictive trousers it's 2021. Skinnies have officially had their day, slouchy, loose and wide are the new watchwords. These are trousers designed for getting things done. And looking on point while we do it. (Stella Mccartney, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Fendi, Shiaparelli)
COLOUR Head to toe colour is the fashion world’s two fingers up to covid; a literal in your face blast of positivity designed to clear out those cobwebs and set 2021 on the right course. Choose from the season’s acid green, canary yellow or tomato red, or go for sugary pastels in pink and baby blue. Grey tracksuit begone. (Roland Mouret, Roksanda, Prada, Givenchy, Emilia Wickstead)
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DENIM Easy to wear denim is key for spring summer but the biggest take away from the catwalks was relaxed wide leg jeans, with more than a little nod to the 1970’s. For those of us obsessed with Jenna Colemans Serpent Style this is joyous news. (Victoria Beckham, Paco Rabanne, Balenciaga, Ami, Chloe)
MAXI DRESSES A trend surely designed for those of us who haven’t had Joe Wicks on our radar in recent months : floaty ankle grazing maxi dresses in florals and brights. Instant throw on glamour that we don’t need to breathe in for. (Chanel, Michael Kors, Valentino, Giorgio Armani, Alberta Ferretti)
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SPRING KNITS Season straddling knitwear makes perfect sense when life is unpredictable. Tank tops rule for Spring but cardigans, bra-lets (for the bravest) and slouchy knits all tick the box. Try a loose knit over a statement dress for winning high-low style. (Erdem, Louis Vuitton, Celine, Tory Burch, Michael Kors)
MAXI COATS A statement cover all maxi coat, ideally in a look at me print, is a lockdown game changer. Throw on for a supermarket dash with maximum impact for minimum effort. Who will ever know you have your pyjamas on underneath. (Dolce Gabbana, Marni, Prada, Dries Van Noten, Christian Dior)
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CUT OUTS A flash of of flesh has been sneaking its way back onto the catwalks for the last few seasons and this Spring tiny peep holes, modern lasered knits and interesting cut out neck lines feel pleasingly subversive after months of hibernation. Plus we all know an interesting neckline is what zoom parties are made of. (Prada, Fendi, Chloe, Issey Miyake, Victoria Beckham)
WINDBREAKERS Fashion has chosen to give this sensible staple a makeover for SS21, worn over anything from a party dress a la Molly Goddard to Celine’s fluffy slippers. A shoo in replacement for the quilted coats we’ve been surgically attached to all Winter, those daily walks are feeling rejuvenated already. (Molly Goddard, Celine, Plan C, Burberry, Maxmara)
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F R A N K
“Buy less. Choose well. Make it last” -Vivienne Westwood.
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F R A N K
L O V E
Practice Safe Specs Eye fatigue? Blocking harsh blue light from computer and phone screens has never been so important.
Quay Australia My Type £49
Quay Australia On The Fly £39 Photo Pinterest
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Free People The Iron Stitch & The Wardrobe Blue Light Readers £52.00
Bluelight Glasses Erin Blue Light Glasses £36
Photo Pinterest
Free People Canyon Blue Light Glasses £24
Free People Ashbury Sky Blue Light Glasses £32
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F A S H I O N
SLIP INTO SPRING
By Saskia Purr
The humble house shoe is enjoying its moment of fame. Whether you choose cosy or chic we can guarantee you’ll find a slipper that fits.
STOCKISTS
Molly Goddard X Ugg SS21 Photographer: Ben Broomfield for Vogue.com
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Zara.com Wolfandbadger.com Kurtgieger.com Theoutnet.com Cultgaia.com Dunelondon.com Hush-uk.com Freepeople.com Net-a-porter.com Anthropologie.com Accessorize.com Laineslondon.com Matchesfashion.com Very.com
ZARA braided sateen slippers, £25.99 OT JUST PYJAMA at Wolf and Badger, emerald velvet slippers, £77 KURT GEIGER, otter lobster embroidered slip-ons, £129
AQUAZURRA at Outnet sunflower embellished moire slippers, £124 CULT GAIA sand ray flats with feather puff, £310 DUNE teal velvet Wynona slipper, £55
HUSH midnight shearling slippers, £55 FREE PEOPLE coffee run fluffy flats, £60 SLEEPER AT Net-a-porter camel shearling slippers, £220
ANTHROPOLOGIE neutral leopard print slippers, £30 ACCESSORIZE zebra motif fur slippers, £45 LAINES LONDON embellished eye sliders, £35
JW ANDERSON at matches fashion chain house loafers, £495 GUCCI at Matches Fashion shearling tweed slippers, £520 GG at Very fluffy charcoal slip-ons, £100
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F R A N K
L O V E S
Peep Club Heated Eye Wand
The Eye Wand uses highly innovative technology that has changed the game when it comes to solving dry eyes. It gently massages under eyes to promote circulation and unblock your Meibomian Glands – a leading cause of dry eyes - to help lock in the tears that keep your eyes super hydrated throughout the day. As a bonus, it also helps improve collagen production, circulation and elasticity!
We love being part of this club - FRANK
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Face Mists
for Spring Skin
Immerse yourself in the lightweight, deeply moisturising goodness of Tata Harper Hydrating Floral Essence skincare treatment.
Treat the skin with the Sunday Riley Pink Drink Firming Essence, a peptide-infused essence that works to resurface and hydrate the skin for a renewed and refreshed feel.
Refresh and hydrate the complexion with the Herbivore Rose Hibiscus Face Mist, a skincare treatment made with a selection of natural botanicals.
Keep skin smooth, strong and balanced with the help of Drunk Elephant Sweet Biome Fermented Sake Spray. This unique cocktail supplies skin with nutrients, hydration and potent antioxidant protection to help promote a healthier complexion.
TATA HARPER Hydrating Floral Essence by Tata Harper
SUNDAY RILEY Pink Drink Firming Essence by Sunday Riley
HERBIVORE Rose Hibiscus Face Mist by Herbivore
DRUNK ELEPHANT Sweet Biome Fermented Sake Spray
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FRANK READER OFFER use code FRANK2SAINT for 20% off our main collection
B E A U T Y
E D I T
Winter Warriors Detox your skin By Beauty Editor Fiona Eustace @fionaeustace
DETOX... that word sends
shivers down my spine . The thought of depriving myself at this time of year is not something I love to do, but a skin detox is entirely different and it's both enjoyable and rewarding. With the winter months upon us it's crucial to treat yourself with extra care. Everything from the weather outside to the products we use inside our homes and on our bodies effects us and shows up over time on our skin. So take some time and treat yourself to some of the amazing treatments that are available. Our skin is our largest organ and some of its functions are to protect us against infection, regulating your body temperature and insulating us against the elements. Detoxing the skin will cause it to change and you may start to notice inflammation, puffiness and redness as well as blemishes. When cleansing the skin, dirt and toxins are pushed up to the surface, sometimes showing up as blemishes and spots. This is when some people stop using a product as they think it isn't working but this is in fact, the detoxifying process in motion. Remember to take time as you need to clear out anything that is congesting the surface of your skin.
Here are a few of my favourite devices and products that will help you create the best skin to live in.
Olivierewilson Micro Needling Hair Roller with Nanogen Hair Serum £66 www.olivierewilson.com Olivierewilson makes it twice in this Beauty Edit as I did not know you could microneedle your hair to achieve thicker locks. For someone who has had fine hair all her life this is revolutionary. Tests show that you can get up to 40% increase in hair count by using a microneedle once a week. OW has teamed up with Nanogen, the hair fibre experts and have created a fantastic serum. This gorgeous non greasy product contains scalp nourishing and detoxifying ingredients. Niacinamide which exfoliates dead skin cell and green tea extract that is an antioxidant powerhouse. Using the roller after the serum helps promote collagen which forms stronger hair follicles and also increases blood supply, delivering the vital nutrients.
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Nurse Jamie Dermascrape Ultrasonic Skin Scrubbing & Skincare Enhancing Tool £70 www.cultbeauty.co.uk Don't let the name put you off, this little device packs a real punch. Ultrasonic therapy stimulates cells that are much deeper than the superficial layers of skin, which jumpstarts collagen, reduces inflammation and promotes blood circulation. The Dermascrape is a unique 3 in 1 ultrasonic device that is suitable for most skin types. The device temporarily improves your appearance and glow, cleansing your skin, extracting unwanted debris and it also enhances your favourite skincare products.
Olivierewilson Cryo Ice Sticks £90 www.olivierewilson.com These beautiful Ice Sticks are ergonomically designed to fit the contours of your face, neck and body. They are great to use after microneedling, laser or a peel. They can be used directly on the skin or over a mask, serum or cream. Glide the sticks from the centre of the face outward to flush the lymph and detoxify. I was really impressed with these, I loved the instant relief they gave my tired puffy eyes and I loved using them to massage my face and neck which helped to reduce any inflammation. The added bonus is you can also pop them onto the nape of your neck and they will relieve tired shoulders and are great for relieving tension headaches too. Such a treat if you sit on your computer all day. I keep mine in the fridge but you can keep them in the freezer for added coolness. Make sure you run them under water before use, you don't want them to stick to you. www.thefrankmagazine.com
E Cooking Derma Roller £73 www.lookfantastic.com E cooking’s new skincare tool is so easy to use. Lightly move the roller in a hashtag motion over your skin, avoiding your delicate eye and lip area. It will make your skin red but this is actually a good sign. The needles are 0.5mm long which means ideally you should use once or twice a week, depending on the sensitivity of your skin. Even though this roller won’t technically detox your skin, if used in conjunction with a serum, it will aid absorption of up to 90% meaning that it will help after a deep cleanse. Other benefits include reducing fine lines, improving signs of blemishes and tightening loose skin.
Naya Dry Facial brush £26 www.nayaglow.com If gadgets are not your thing, then this gorgeous little facial brush could be just what you’re looking for. We have all heard of the benefits of dry body brushing, and now we can do the same for our faces. Effectively removing dead skin to help your skin breath. It will also stimulate blood circulation and your lymph flow. It is 100% vegan and made from locally sourced wood in collaboration with the forest ranger. This a beautiful addition to your beauty regime and it's kind to the planet.
Epsom salts £5.95 www.epsomsalts.co.uk Epsom Salts have been used as a therapeutic remedy since the 17th century. They are renowned for their healing properties. They help eliminate toxins from the body, promote sleep and are a great stress reducer. Just add 250g to your warm bath and soak. You can do this up to three times per week for optimum benefits. I like to add a few drops of essential oil to my bath as well. In the evening I use Neal's Yard Lavender oil (www. nealsyardremedies.com £9.50) and if in the daytime, I use Neals Yard Grapefruit which is great for uplifting mood and emotions.
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Drunk Elephant £67.00 www.drunkelephant.co.uk This gorgeous face mask by Drunk Elephant is packed full of AHA’s and BHA’s. Alpha hydroxy acids (AHA’s) are fabulous water soluble acids derived from sugary fruits which effectively exfoliate the surface of your skin to reveal baby fresh skin below. Beta Hydroxy Acid (BHA’s) more commonly known as Salicylic acid can penetrate deeper into your hair follicles and dry out any excess oil and dead skin cells which can visibly make your dermis (The deeper levels of your skin) fuller and plumper. Babyfacial has been created especially to resurface and reveal radiant looking skin.
Boscia Detoxifying Black Cleanser £27.00 www.revolve.com Boscia has been around for 32 years, originating in Japan, it is the world’s first 100% preservative-free skincare for sensitive skin. The Detoxifying Cleanser is formulated with Activated Charcoal and Glycolic acid. It warms as soon as you start to lather it between your hands. It dissolves pore-clogging impurities, oil, and makeup whilst also brightening skin and minimising pores.
Caudalie Overnight Detox Oil £30 www.uk.caudalie.com Caudalie makes sensational products, the Beauty Elixir has been a staple in my kit for many years. Rich in Omega 6 and vitamin E, this detox oil helps stressed skin regenerate overnight, leaving the skin detoxified and the complexion refreshed. The dry oil texture is suitable for all skin types and is easily absorbed with no stickiness.
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S U S T A I N A B L E
B E A U T Y
SUSTAINABLE BEAUTY
KJAER WEIS CREAM BLUSH
The original refillable brand, Kjaer Weis is a little slice of conscious luxury. The refillable blushers, powders, lip products and foundations come in long-wearing, refillable metal compacts and all formulas are certified natural or organic. Enhance your complexion with fresh colors and a creamy, buildable formula. Easily control the color intensity from sheer to bold thanks to moisturizing, skin-loving ingredients like castor seed, jojoba, and rosa rubiginosa oils. Safe enough to multitask on eyes and lips. kjaerweis.com
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If you're reading this right now, relax your shoulders and unclench your jaw.
B E A U T Y
S M E L L S
BOY SMELLS ASH
H
and poured in LA, this modern luxury candle brand is famed for its gender-neutral scents. Packaged in bright pink boxes and stylish glass votives, the cleanly formulated candles are made from natural products including beeswax and coconut wax. Let the Boy Smells Ash candle warm and inspire by evoking happy memories of evenings spent beside the fire. A blend of dry hay, black coal and palo santo create a rich, smoky scent, with additional notes of juniper berries that linger and transcend.
The candle features a blend of all-natural, ethically harvested coconut wax and beeswax, combined with natural oils and a lead-free braided cotton wick. The burn time is approximately 50 hours. Boy Smells create scents that are sensuous, accessible and bright. Created to elevate intimacy beyond the gender binary, these candles have been designed to be enjoyed by everyone, embracing both masculinity and femininity.
www.boysmells.com www.thefrankmagazine.com
Coconut and beeswax blend with braided cotton wick, in glossy black glass tumbler.
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B E A U T Y
R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S
Bath Oils
Pamper your mind and body Immerse yourself in an unwinding or uplifting bath to soak away the stresses of the day with these mood enhancing bath oils.
2
1
A unique and luxurious aromatic blend of essential oils which combine to help ease stress and relax tension in both mind and body, bringing you back to your complete and natural self.
The breath-taking scents of orange, cinnamon and clove work to transport the body to a heavenly world, while the senses and mind are relaxed and put at ease.
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3
4
Refresh and destress the body with the help of Ren Atlantic Kelp and Microalgae Anti-Fatigue Bath Oil, a luxurious bath oil that helps to nourish and replenish the skin with essential minerals.
5
The premium-quality bath and shower oil offers optimal comfort while boosting blood circulation, protecting the skin and making it soft and supple. It also functions as an immunosuppressant.
6
When gently massaged into the skin, it leaves it feeling satin smooth, and when diluted in the bath, it neutralises the effects of hard water and acts as a protective emollient. 1. OLVERUM Bath Oil by Olverum 2. SUSANNE KAUFMANN oil Bath Winter 3. REN CLEAN SKINCARE Atlantic Kelp & Microalgae Anti-Fatigue Bath Oil
Eau de Campagne Bath and Body Oil is a perfumed skin care oil that leaves the skin soft, supple and comfortable.
4. AROMATHERAPY ASSOCIATES Inner Strength Bath and Shower Oil bs 5. DIPTYQUE Precious Oils for Body and Bath 6. SISLEY-PARIS Eau de Campagne Bath Oil by SisleyParis
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@thefrank_mag Art by Amy Judd
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F R A N K
I N T E R V I E W -
L O N G
R E A D
I am an Island
Tamsin Calidas is a writer and photographer living in the wilds of theScottish Hebrides. She worked in various roles in advertising, publishing and the BBC before giving it all up in 2004 to move to a tiny, remote island in Scotland to run a derelict croft with sheep and horses.
Congratulations on the success of the book ‘I am an Island’. Did you know in your gut it was going to be a big hit with people? I am glad I started because it was an utterly transformative journey. Writing was all part of my own metamorphosis. It took me back to the heart and still point of those incredibly tough beautiful island years. It made me cry, and also to remember so many times of incredible beauty and happiness. Interestingly writing the book also strengthened my gut feeling that from the first moment I saw it, this island has been my home. That feeling endures. I am glad of this. It is a gift - and for which I am incredibly grateful. Living so simply, is deeply nourishing- it is rewarding because its rewards are not always immediately obvious or accessible, but over time, they grow and deepen inside you. Sometimes it takes time to understand this. And to feel how those truths are unique because they have come through the raw When I first started writing, I honestly was not sure of experience of living. Money cannot buy these things. We where that journey would take me. I knew that I’d all know this. The real gifts are made up of lived experienced something immense, but I was still so close to experiences that you hold inside you. It felt important to it, it took some work to distill the bigger truth of it. The share some of these because they were so intimately core or heart of the book, was still forming. Writing was connected to nature. an organic process. It had its own life, and impulse. Often I sensed the life of it inside, like a chrysalis, stirring. Thankyou so much Melanie. Its been a very busy few months. As a first time writer, I had little idea what to expect. Writing was an intensely physical process. It asks so much of you, so you give this. It was wholly absorbing, and so there was not the space to think, outside of this or to ask, what happens later? I remember asking my publisher, do you think many people will read this? I hadn’t quite realised how deeply my team had loved I AM AN ISLAND and how it would speak to others too. All I knew, was that the book needed to be written. That was enough. My task was simply to deliver my island life as authentically as I was able to. But yes, I did have a gut sense - I knew that what I’d experienced was urgent and important.
It’s not always comfortable going through that process. It takes stamina, resolve and commitment. Often, that feeling kept me awake, so that I would have to get up, move about and then to try to get it down. It’s important to go with that flow, so the writing is immediate and sensory. It helps translate that gut feeling more authentically. You tread closely to the raw experience that has been lived. It feels like following a trail - you have to trust.
“We all share similar experiences. We are all feeling beings. I Am An Island is uniquely able to translate this, and to speak directly to others because it taps into our senses. I hope it will shine a light of empathy and compassion.” www.thefrankmagazine.com
This is your first book. Was it difficult to start writing? It took a lot of courage to start. And even after I got the bare bones down, I knew there was still more to give. Trauma keeps you locked into its circuit. You have to wait for its membrane to tear, to be able to touch, taste, hear and see those those harder experiences. Reliving the tough beauty of those years - breaking my hands, foraging and living off the land, learning to live alone, coping with solitude and finding connection with nature, a journey that becomes a necessity after the tragic accident described in Act 2, Swallow - all of this this took courage to write. But I knew in my gut, that it was important to not hold back, because this was the only way I could retrieve and heal those memories, and to help shape and transform those harsh times into something lasting, beautiful. Now, I get a jolt each time I see the hardback it makes me smile. And to feel again. And when people write to thank me, I know that I was right to go with that first gut instinct. It is a blessing to realise that I AM AN ISLAND is finding such a home in people’s hearts. That is a beautiful thing.
It’s unusual to have a book that hits so many notes, tackles so many important themes, and speaks to so many different people. What do you think makes it so compelling? I guess it is the intensity and raw honesty of my story. These things happened, and sometimes, I wonder quite how I coped. Yet it is not just this. The island holds its own deeper metaphor. We are all islands - and this is for anyone who has ever felt alone, or silenced, or struggled to cope when all that they turn to or look to for our usual supports - all that we call ‘normal’ - suddenly falls away. Ultimately, even though this story is unique and personal to me, it becomes a more universal experience because of the emotions that give voice to it. We all share similar experiences. We are all feeling beings. I Am An Island is uniquely able to translate this, and to speak directly to others because it taps into our senses. I hope it will shine a light of empathy and compassion. The language helps with this. It is a hook and a pivot. It helps us to experience the island, not at a distance, but viscerally, through our senses.
And this is as it should be. Life is meant to make us feel. It asks of each of us, not just to read, but to truly feel and to experience with me. In a way it directly and subtly taps into our deeper emotions. Love, fear, vulnerability, cold, the warmth of friendship, the weight of loss. These feelings I hope help engender understanding, compassion, empathy. This is what for me makes the book so important. The nature is felt. Not as something separate to us, but as a living presence. The wilderness, the nature, is an integral part of our innate nature. Feeling this, experiencing this, is all part of the deeper journey. It leads us on that trail to find our true belonging. This then, is just the start of the journey. It is one thing to feel, inhabit or witness our experiences intensely, but the challenge is how we may free ourselves, and actively grow, rather than being contained or defined by them. Each chapter is shaped and draws it meaning from this. Just like the freezing water I turn to when I have nothing left to draw comfort from, it shows how sometimes the most challenging experiences hold the greatest rewards. There is a skill in learning to draw closer towards all we hold back from. Living close to nature teaches us this. It inspires a deeper understanding of our basic wants and needs; resilience; stamina; creativity; simplicity. Nature shows that by letting go, we learn to live more closely attuned to that source or core that is ancient, and lies inside each of us. This is the real gift. Whenever you sense this connection, you are never alone. Honing those skills, is a process. You become more instinctive, as your full sensory body is animated. You start to live more intuitively, and with intention - a sixth sense that is all part of our wiser nature. This is our inheritance. Our older senses and skills that belong to each of us, and that connect us to our place on the earth, more deeply than our rational, thinking mind. This is when life flexes and opens - all the beauty lies here. No matter what you go through, the earth will hold and sustain you. Nature holds a great secret. If we connect, really connect with our bodies, rather than with our minds that instinctively separate, we can gently make this transit. Connection is not a thought. It is a feeling as real, and deep as loving a friend, a lover, your mother, or child. We are family. We do not separate. We heal the divisions inside each of us, with each other, and with our beautiful earth. Knowing becomes a heart’s impulse. Once we experience this, there is no going back. This is where the magic lies.
Writing with the intimacy of first person. I wanted the reader to feel as if it was their own experience. I fell in love with the island - but love is not always easy. It asks of us. www.thefrankmagazine.com
This is your first book. Was it difficult to start writing? It took a lot of courage to start. And even after I got the bare bones down, I knew there was still more to give. Trauma keeps you locked into its circuit. You have to wait for its membrane to tear, to be able to touch, taste, hear and see those those harder experiences. Reliving the tough beauty of those years - breaking my hands, foraging and living off the land, learning to live alone, coping with solitude and finding connection with nature, a journey that becomes a necessity after the tragic accident described in Act 2, Swallow - all of this this took courage to write. But I knew in my gut, that it was important to not hold back, because this was the only way I could retrieve and heal those memories, and to help shape and transform those harsh times into something lasting, beautiful. Now, I get a jolt each time I see the hardback - it makes me smile. And to feel again. And when people write to thank me, I know that I was right to go with that first gut instinct. It is a blessing to realise that I AM AN ISLAND is finding such a home in people’s hearts. That is a beautiful thing.
It’s unusual to have a book that hits so many
notes, tackles so many important themes, and speaks to so many different people. What do you think makes it so compelling? I guess it is the intensity and raw honesty of my story. These things happened, and sometimes, I wonder quite how I coped. Yet it is not just this. The island holds its own deeper metaphor. We are all islands - and this is for anyone who has ever felt alone, or silenced, or struggled to cope when all that they turn to or look to for our usual supports all that we call ‘normal’ - suddenly falls away. Ultimately, even though this story is unique and personal to me, it becomes a more universal experience because of the emotions that give voice to it. We all share similar experiences. We are all feeling beings. I Am An Island is uniquely able to translate this, and to speak directly to others because it taps into our senses. I hope it will shine a light of empathy and compassion.
“At first, poetry spilled onto the page. I could not initially get beyond this. And then I knew I had to journey deeper, and recover some of the more difficult truths, that were important to face.”
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The language helps with this. It is a hook and a pivot. senses and skills that belong to each of us, and that It helps us to experience the island, not at a distance, connect us to our place on the earth, more deeply than but viscerally, through our senses. our rational, thinking mind. This is when life flexes and opens - all the beauty lies here. No matter what Writing with the intimacy of first person. I wanted you go through, the earth will hold and sustain you. the reader to feel as if it was their own experience. I fell in love with the island - but love is not always Nature holds a great secret. If we connect, really easy. It asks of us. connect with our bodies, rather than with our minds that instinctively separate, we can gently make this And this is as it should be. Life is meant to make us transit. Connection is not a thought. It is a feeling as feel. real, and deep as loving a friend, a lover, your mother, or child. We are family. We do not separate. We heal It asks of each of us, not just to read, but to truly feel the divisions inside each of us, with each other, and and to experience with me. In a way it directly and with our beautiful earth. Knowing becomes a heart’s subtly taps into our deeper emotions. Love, fear, impulse. Once we experience this, there is no going vulnerability, cold, the warmth of friendship, the back. This is where the magic lies. weight of loss. These feelings I hope help engender understanding, compassion, empathy. This is what You write of solitude and loneliness, yet this is framed for me makes the book so important. The nature is in so many different ways, often it felt like it was felt. Not as something separate to us, but as a living something that helped you. How did you get there? presence. The wilderness, the nature, is an integral part of our innate nature. Feeling this, experiencing It’s interesting isn’t it how our difficulties, that this, is all part of the deeper journey. It leads us on initially can so often inhibit or restrict us, often lead us that trail to find our true belonging. to find expansive solutions, that take us far beyond ourselves. This then, is just the start of the journey. In real life, there was a tsumani of events. All the It is one thing to feel, inhabit or witness our things we all experience, yet rarely all at once came experiences intensely, but the challenge is how we together. I was grief-stricken and struggling to cope may free ourselves, and actively grow, rather than my confidence was shattered. Simple tasks became being contained or defined by them. Each chapter is overwhelmingly difficult. I remember how helpless I shaped and draws it meaning from this. Just like the felt. I was out of my depth and simply trying to keep freezing water I turn to when I have nothing left to afloat. You just to take a breath and then another. draw comfort from, it shows how sometimes the most Sometimes, when you are in the midst of that wave, challenging experiences hold the greatest rewards. that is all you can do. There is a skill in learning to draw closer towards all we hold back from. Living close to nature teaches us Now looking back, I am grateful. Hitting rock bottom this. It inspires a deeper understanding of our basic was a strange relief - because that’s when you realise wants and needs; resilience; stamina; creativity; there’s nothing left to fear. When you feel this, really simplicity. Nature shows that by letting go, we learn feel this at a moment of crisis, it is life changing. That to live more closely attuned to that source or core time came to me in winter. I was in sea, it was freezing, that is ancient, and lies inside each of us. This is the and snow was falling. I had given up but in that real gift. intense solitude, I realised I was not alone. The sea was breathing with me. The wilds were listening. In that place of extremity, life was stripped back to the beauty Whenever you sense this connection, you are never alone. Honing those skills, is a process. You become of a single quivering breath. more instinctive, as your full sensory body is Everything was interconnected, one life, one breath. It animated. You start to live more intuitively, and was a deeply spiritual experience. I felt the universe was with intention - a sixth sense that is all part of our beating with love. It taught me that, at times of crisis, there wiser nature. This is our inheritance. Our older is no place for fear.
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Breath is life. It is an astonishingly simple wisdom. It led me a point of surrender, and then it uplifted me, in the water and brought me back to safety. That was the turn around moment. I was aware, in that wilder silence, and in every cell of my body, of a bigger consciousness or presence as if Spirit was breathing.
understood by a great many people. It is like the elephant in the room. We tread around it, but it’s important to understand and empathise with it, not just so we can recognise it in ourselves and others, but to ask what is this experience asking of me? How can I grow?
Each chapter holds a truth, glimpsed by a process of paring back. I visualised this as a mandala necklace, each bead or chapter. Each bead offers a fleeting glimpse of Now, I turn to nature, the wilds, the raw elements for island life, and my own struggle and inner growth. Those strength. It is always there, and is such a beautiful gift. beads were strung then onto a living thread of nature The landscape hones this resilience. Each day, waking alone, I turn my face to the mountains, as a luminous glow this is the heartbeat of the book. As we journey, my of light flickers over the horizon. It is my call into the day. heartbeat slows, finding respite in this deeper rhythm and pulse. I guess we all feel this, wherever we are and Nature is a great source and inspiration. But it is more however we are living. It calls to that wilder space inside than this. It’s easy to forget how we are much older each of us. beings. Our bodies, our senses, still hold this wisdom. I actively make a conscious practice of waking. With each breath we take, millions of other sentient lives are sharing How did you feel just before publishing with it that inspiration. One pulse, that beats synchronising with being such an open account of your experiences? our own heat beat. Try it. You will feel your body calming, and quieting. Nature is breathing too. There was no time to really consider this. And maybe that was helpful. It meant I was able to write openly. The There is also another wisdom that the earth teaches. writing process was so immersive, and our publication deadlines were very close. It was bought at Frankfurt and So often, we talk of what happens to us as if we are owed I delivered the complete manuscript in the following something from life. But it is important to reframe this. I Spring. It was an extraordinary intense process. I was often think that it’s more helpful to ask, what is it that life swimming daily in the sea, and living very close to nature is asking of me? When we are living reactively, we pivot and this made the writing more accessible. Whenever I from highs to lows and back again. At the outset of the am in raw contact with the wilds around me, it calls the book, there are many dramatic situations full of contrasts writing. I like to write this way, so that objects, sounds - from Nottinghill to a tiny island; noise to silence; and the salt light is experienced. Living so deeply within violence or threat to peace and calm. The story is full of nature, with the beautiful wildlife such an intimate part of high and low points, and this light and darkness is my daily life, made this process easier. But it pierced the dramatised by the landscape. silence - perhaps simply by putting words to it. Reconciling these opposites, asks of us. It is also of finding When I started writing, it felt like a membrane started to a middle way. shear. At first, poetry spilled onto the page. I could not initially get beyond this. And then I knew I had to Nature provides this. She offers balance. Living with journey deeper, and recover some of the more difficult simplicity declutters. It invites us to ask questions. How truths, that were important to face. That took some do we quantify abundance or poverty, hope or loss of work. Tapping into this, was the start of the real book. direction, love or fear. Are the drivers outsider of us, or Writing so honestly was challenging, but I wanted to instigated by our own choices. How do we mitigate this? invite others to journey with me. It had to be this way if We all, at some stage, have to deal with the big moments the book would help others. I wanted this book to be felt that, at some point, inevitably find us - love and loss, life to be written in the body - so that the reader too, would and death, grief and healing - but at what point to we find feel the power of nature to heal and to hold. I knew this our healing, comfort and moments of rest and stillness in was the secret. the calming rhythms of the natural world around us. Stillness is compelling. When it inhabits solitude, aloneness or loneliness, It asks of you. I think that journey into isolation, without drawing back, was
And that is when the writing started to really flow. This is a book written with love. Writing it was an integral part of this healing process - it taught me that love overcomes fear.
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“Swimming daily is a discipline like a martial art. It takes you beyond your own limits and physical discomfort, to find a place of stillness. I call this touching the void.”
Did you feel brave when you were writing it ? All writing that asks of us requires courage. The process of writing was an integral part of my journey. The book had to be written. At times, it felt like the book wrote itself. The process of writing was very helpful. The experiences I write about - love, betrayal, solitude, the unfulfilled longing to be a mother, the joy of deep friendship and its sudden shattering loss, set against a raw backdrop of nature - led me back unflinchingly to the heart of the story. This is a journey into our essential existential humanity what makes us human, what makes us feel connected or isolated, together or alone. Loneliness was a visceral experience. It had saturated me to such a deep cellular level the words had to take the reader there too, for this journey to resonate. All writers and readers are brave when they create or journey with another - it becomes a shared experience. We are all brave in this process. Opening your heart with empathy asks of us.
Spring Equinox, Summer Beltane and our final checked manuscript at the Autumn equinox. It’s just how it happened. And that felt significant - as if this really was a book of the earth, that was being gifted love and light by something inexplicable.
You have helped many people in many different areas. Was that a motivation for writing the book? You have helped many people in many different areas. Was that a motivation for writing the book?
It is uplifting and deeply moving to receive so many letters, emails, and feedback from such a wide readership across the world. And yes, it is a both incredible and humbling to glimpse how many people my book has touched. I think it’s tapped into a yearning that many of us feel. A deeper metaphysical question that asks, what and where is home, and how do I truly belong, or find peace, on this earth. I think we all understand that nature provides for us, but we are left with questions when it really comes to those bigger, yet very simple Writing allowed me to hunt and track my emotions. questions, of how in daily life this might sustain us. So yes, the book’s motivation, its question and also To look at each forensically. And seek ways to its answer lies in that deeper metaphor. We are all capture this, transform and to channel it islands seeking connection. constructively. I wanted to cast out a line and see what lay out there. It was interesting exploring this. The language itself became a sensory pivot. It also asked that I distill a much bigger intensity of lived experience to its bare minimum. But to get there, I had to retrace that inner journey, and go back into wilds, to confront fear, darkness and all that was feral, and to shine a light on it. Writing in the first person helped this process. The book invites the reader on a journey. It offers an open hand and asks, come with me. I would sit down, with my notebooks, records, photographs, and other paperwork as reference. Yet it was the nature again that gave me the inspiration and stamina. It felt like I was being guided. It was not planned, but by some beautiful synchronicity, every section of writing - the three acts that comprise the narrative arc, and which set the pace and drive of the book - were delivered on days of universal power - the Winter Solstice,
My challenge was to share this, not just as a linear journey, but as a meditation that leads us back to source. This book is a true story that invites the reader to discover how. I Am An Island is a love song to the wilds. It is also an exploration into our own internal wilds. So its journey into nature leads us to seek our innate nature - and how this process is interconnected. Rewilding is an intimate, authentic process. It takes place inside us. My experience allowed me to explore this in different ways. The reader is invited to ask different questions - what does it feels to belong, and to be an outsider; what do we do if the structures we usually rely on - work, health, friends, marriage, family, - all fall away. What is it then that we might turn to? Are we connected or disconnected to the very ground under our feet. And how creative are we in finding ways to live more simply, so the earth that might nourish our basic wants or needs.
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That point of tension is in Raw Element at the end of Act II. It is the point of crisis. And necessarily, the moment of transformation. It asks, us simply to keep taking another small step and breath. Life is of flow. And as I discovered in the water, the breath of the universe is of Love. Each reader is invited to similar questions, to seek comparable or different solutions in our own life. To seek empathy, and to find compassion for ourselves and each other. It invites us to feel. Perhaps it is this that makes this book - and the experience of reading it - so meaningful, uplifting and urgent for each of us. Nature is our greatest teacher. Yet we are profoundly disconnected from the earth we live in. We have to learn the language, to break this impasse and to heal. It is there waiting for each of us, a crisis that we need to overcome. Nature has less expectations. Swimming at the great tides, and at the times of day when a ‘crisis’ is felt in nature - the shattering of darkness or light with the great fire of the sun, or the light of the moon, is when this experience is truly inspirational. It teaches you that everything, daily, in nature, has to break down in order to renew. It gives you permission to reframe your own small life, against these bigger continuums and cycles and to reevaluate your own place within it. That is always an unforgettable and humbling experience. You realise you are simply one breath in a bigger whole. It brings you closer to a much greater sentience and an appreciation for all things. It teaches gratitude and is an inspirational framework to live by. Like the sea, or the glittering universe, it is filled with an abundance that never tires or ends. This book is of the journey through and finding grace in the experience itself. Life is a journey. It is ours to experience and discover. I think people find this motivating. We get up and try each day. It takes the pressure of outcomes. It gives permission to fail. This is what it means to stay open, and to keep evolving. There is a beautiful synchronicity here. Its journey of wilding can take place in a city, or on a remote shore in the Hebrides. it is possible anywhere and everywhere, because it starts inside us. At its fundamental level, It asks that we slow down. To live more closely attuned to the natural world, around us. Not just to observe, but to feel. Birds, flora and fauna, wind, weather and raw elements. Literally, to feel, using our full sensory
awareness, how our environment outside makes us feel within. It asks that we listen. To go beyond skin. To feel our heart beating. To breathe. That is the first step to shedding our pelt. We are the most dominant species on the planet and yet we live with a profound awareness of our disconnection from each other and our own selves. We hide or euthanise this behind endless distractions. We are too busy. Our restlessness is two fold - it stops us thinking or feeling, yet it creates incessant thoughts. It is the source of our anxiety. So often, we seek to create a life that meets our own expectations. We create ever tighter constraints, wants and needs. Without realising, we can limit or restrict ourselves. More importantly we silence our inner wild being. We are out of kilter with ourselves. We have lost our innate nature. Simplicity is the root of our being. We are ancient beings in a modern world. Starting here slowing down - is the start of the journey. Our very fears, anxieties, aloneness, loneliness or isolation hold the source of our own healing Inside each oyster lies a pearl. Our most profound growth, wisdom and truth comes from places of suffering. Loneliness, loss, grief, hardship, vulnerability, pain. It is here that our growth lies. Creating moments of stillness to listen is essential. Solitude is essential. Simplicity of living pares back distractions. It silences the noise. Its only when our thoughts slow, that you can start listening. My loneliness took me deep into nature. I foraged off the land when I ran out of money, so I could eat. Later, when things got really tough, I made myself a shelter and lived in the woods for several weeks. I learnt to eat leaves off the trees, to strip bark and to learn how a foot square of grass is not just green shoots, but if you know where to look, can offer a rich abundance of wild, medicinal and nourishing herbs and leaves. In the end, I am grateful for what loneliness teaches. It taught me to find my strength within and to grow a new and wilder skin. Loneliness taught me gratitude for living a life of solitude in close proximity with the raw landscape, wildlife and nature that surrounds me. It taught me that regardless of all the people that exist on this earth, and the love we share and connections we find or make in life, in the end we are islands. We have to face our own challenges alone, and learn independently how to overcome them. We are so used to asking what do I want from my life, we can forget to ask a more fundamental question - what is my life asking of me?
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“My challenge was to share this, not just as a linear journey, but as a meditation that leads us back to source. This book is a true story that invites the reader to discover how. I Am An Island is a love song to the wilds.”
You have a wonderful way of describing nature. What is your writing process? Living and working in nature allows a cross over of tasks. You are looking, listening, thinking, writing, photographing, absorbing the life around you. I always bring a sketchbook, notebook, camera, and dictaphone. It’s a rich, fertile experience and an ongoing process of saturation. I try to capture this as it is experienced. I find it keeps the raw material fresh, vivid, alive and sensory. Writing, painting or photographing is not separated from my working day. But I will always try to go with the flow. If it’s coming, then you have to take your lead from this and spend that time writing. If it doesn’t flow, I move back into nature. Writing is subtle, like the swift shift of clouds or light. If you think, it is gone. Absorb in the raw wilds, and that flow of life comes. It becomes a process of synchronicity.
You have lived on the island for many years after the last page of your book. Will there be another ? How has life developed since then?
large in any community, helps. Many are finding it helps to overcome outworn rifts. Even so early in the year, all around in nature there are signs of spring. Each day is a new day. We are all in this together. And yes, it asks of us all.
How does an ‘average’ day pan out for you? I wake about 4.30 or 5am. In winter this is before sunrise. I come downstairs, say hello to Maude and light a fire. Once the range is on, and a steaming coffee is on the table, I start writing. At dawn, I am outside with the sky and first light. The first birds are waking and I talk to them. The light, weather, wind, moon and tides shape the fabric of my day. I try to live closely to these rhythms with the daily tasks I choose - biodynamics influence every aspect of each day. It makes sense to live this way. You learn to listen more closely to the season, weather, temperature, wildlife and growth. Nature guides you.
I go to the water at sunrise or sunset. I have the choice of a fresh water loch on the croft, or the sea that is waiting across the fields, but I always like to swim in the The island is a constant source of inspiration. I am sea. There is a life in the water that is invigorating. It is grateful for this. Living so closely to nature, is a gift. more demanding but it gives so generously there is An idea came to me over the summer, following nothing quite like it. In the winter months, and early publication and this was signed in the autumn. It will spring, the sun and moon are both in the sky, and this ask of me in a different way, deepening connections lends a dramatic quality of light, and also makes the with the nature around me and all that makes this tides stronger. After, I warm up making the rounds, island my home. checking livestock across 22 acres of croft land. In winter, the sheep need feeding with hay, and additional The book had to be written. It wrote itself. And many hard feed. If it’s a new moon, I harvest wood. It means have reached out with support. My story explored my the sap flow is in the root, and not in the tree’s limbs. It own experience, yet many threads were felt by others. matters, not just for the dryness of the wood, quickening Unconscious bias can run so deeply, sometimes it is in its curing. Trees are living, sentient organisms; culling daily life yet invisible. I am still here and the island is wood requires compassion and an awareness of their life my home. Words are important. Understanding comes cycles and natural rhythms. When you start living like with tolerance and empathy. It has been interesting this, it influences every aspect of your own life. and helpful to talk with others about this on the island. It has deepened our conversation and helped many Only one thing has changed. It has led to a subtle and others, both here and in outreach communities, and still profound shift. further afield, experiencing difficulty. I lost my mother just before Christmas. It was sudden, And then the bigger situation. Life has been yet after many years of a terminal illness, I thought I challenging for everyone over the last year, with the was prepared. The reality was different. Losing a pandemic. This is felt here in the islands too. That parent is always life changing. When both are gone, it is brings a different focus to our daily lives. Community is felt differently again. It has been a life changing experienced vividly, by our supportive help for each experience. other. Giving freely, getting involved, quietly or at www.thefrankmagazine.com
My mother was not afraid of death. Her death was brave and graceful. This has transformed my daily life at a profound level. It has led to some simple changes that are helpful. I start each day now with a few minutes of stillness. Sometimes this is in the open sea at dawn; or sitting on a hill, watching the sun rising; perhaps I am out on the croft in the pouring rain feeding the sheep, or talking to the wild birds. At other times, I pray or meditate. It does not matter what we do. Or how or where we find this stillness. But I’ve found it helpful to actively carve out time for this. Making a conscious time for stillness is uplifting and affirming. There is nothing to lose, and all to gain. Small profound changes start to happen in your daily life. I call this, saying Yes to life, in whatever shape or form it finds you. Whatever it asks, I try to stay open. This too leads to so many shifts in our thinking, core fibre and subtle being. It is transformative. And this too is flowing into new friends, connections and possibilities. It helps me to stay open. It has a ripple effect that is felt by others, and this too leads to a reciprocity. Life is good. Each moment is different, and offers fresh opportunities, even living on a tiny island. It is a helpful experience because it shows a horizon can be expansive or restrictive, shaped not just by the sky around us but the open sky within. Tell us about your stunning photography. There is nothing more photogenic than nature but you manage to capture the life of it too. When did you develop this skill ? What equipment do you use. Thankyou. I guess this is how I feel the world. It is very sensory. I experience nature as a living being. Even as a child I felt the birds, plants, animals and rocks were listening. If I bumped into something, even an object, I would want to soothe it’s hurt. Conscious animism is a gift. It is a deep awareness of the sentient world. I am grateful this feeling has never left me. When you feel this, deeply in your heart and soul, the world around us is not an object or separate from us. It is felt as another living animate being. I guess my imagery taps into and connects with this sensory life. It is how I feel the world around me. To capture this, you have to seek to truly experience this. Over time, this leads to a deeper connection again, and intimacy with the nature around you. Stillness, akin to meditation or prayer, is something that is felt by wildlife. It is when beautiful experiences happen. Wild birds resting on an open hand. I feel blessed to have shared this.
There are times to capture this. And other times, to let the moment pass by, uninterrupted. I use very basic equipment. A handheld camera (Sony A6000) and shoot in Raw. I also like to use Nikon. I have in water housing for my camera, and if very rough, I will use a simple Go Pro, although I handhold this, without props. There is a risk here of losing it, but it keeps me free, shooting at angles that would otherwise not be possible. It’s important to move fluidly with the water, synchronising breath and wave, especially when working around the stronger tides and in close proximity to rocks and skerries. I would love to work with a upgraded professional kit, with full zoom and functionality in-water - but for the time being, what I have seems to work well.
Wild swimming seems to be catching on since the pandemic. Tell us what it brings to you and what it can do for others? I’ve been swimming daily for nearly 5 years. Regardless of weather, storms, snow or freezing mists, sub zero temperatures or illness, I have gone to the water. I always turn towards the tides, rather than fresh water. Over that time, my relationship with the sea has changed. As with anyone or any thing you set aside or make time for, my bond with the sea has deepened over the years. I went to be part of the tides and the weather and the incredible wildlife - I went in storms, and calm, freezing temperatures of 6 degrees water and minus 15 degrees windchill. It took me to a place of stamina and endurance I had no idea existed. And it was utterly beautiful because for three years, that was my world. I gave all of myself to it. And I am glad of this. I learnt that if you listen to that great call of nature, that asks of you, it gives back to you with an open hand. I go to immerse deeply in nature. I go to lose and find myself. I take my in water camera with me and that is all part of the experience. You lose yourself and become porous, so the salt light, cold and raw elements become a part of you. In the water, it is hypnotic. Your spirit becomes part of that great breath of tide. Each time, I come back I am subtly changed. I am not a competitive swimmer and my body, following my car smash and other accidents, is not well suited to measuring outcome or benefit by distance, time in the water or how my stroke is improving. I am a strong swimmer yet the ‘swimming’ aspect is not my motivation.
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“Swimming at the great tides, and at the times of day when a ‘crisis’ is felt in nature - the shattering of darkness or light with the great fire of the sun, or the light of the moon, is when this experience is truly inspirational. “
Swimming daily is a discipline like a martial art. It takes you beyond your own limits and physical discomfort, to find a place of stillness. I call this touching the void.
connect to this, as a resonant lived experience, the smaller things in life all seem to fall into their right place. Life becomes simple again.
The tide and weather conditions here are demanding. In winter, the temperatures plummet, the rocks are treacherous, and fresh water rushes off the cliffs and hills. After the thaw, the beautiful ice patterns and several meter long icicles dissolve and the migrating birds start to wing in. I love to swim when the tides are high and the winds are strong. It focuses my breath in a way that leads to a deep inner calm. I swim off the rocks. This takes some practice and timing is critical. It is like a dance with nature.
What animals do you see and swim with? How does it feel to truly immersed in nature?
The wildlife is abundant here. I write of this in my book I AM AN ISLAND. Swimming at all times of the day and night, The eastern shore of the island has otter, the larger birds such as greylag, and canadian goose. I like to swim on the rugged western and northerly shores. Deer swim over at the narrowest point from across the channel, and in the autumn and winter, adolescent seals are close inshore. In summer Gaining mental stamina is a process also. We create so months, porpoise and dolphin drive in the mackerel, so in many hard lines inside our minds. That habitulise or tell some coves, the water is black and seething with tiny small us, you can or can’t do this - not just giving permission fry. Jellyfish make the late summer a greater challenge, but also opening or closing down on our willingness to try. although the blue moons are inquisitive and gentle- it can feel odd to bump into them, but unlike the orange lions The sea has taught me to trust when I had given up all mane jellyfish, they do not sting. In the late summer and hope. It is there for everyone. It teaches at such a autumn, sea eagles soar above, and occasionally golden profound level, if you are open and listen, it gifts whatever eagles. Their wingspan and uplifted feather tips are it is we need. However, you swim, the sea teaches that distinctive and make our buzzard appear diminuitive. buoyancy and resilience starts with your breath. You The full moon in November brings in the shy woodcock, and take one breath in and then you breath out. And you do it snipe. , and the tiny gold crest It is humbling to think of again, and again and again. And over time, you learn to their resilience. Barely the size of a fifty pence piece it has draw towards those lines or points of difficulty or travelled from Siberia. resistance. You learn to embrace all that you hold back from. We have so much to learn from nature. Yet these skills are dormant inside each of us. This opens you at such a deep and fundamental level, life your sensory body gains sensitivity. It relearns skills we takes on a whole new meaning. You commit yourself. have all forgotten. You become acutely aware of the other lives around you. You learn to tread more gently, to listen The benefits of cold water swimming is well documented. more deeply It helps ease stress and anxiety, optimises natural endorphin and opiate release, promotes neuromuscular resilience and vitality and also enhances all the natural organs in the body. Yet for me, these are add ons. The core benefit is that we come home, back to our deepest source. We came from the sea, and our body is made up of 99. plus % of water. It makes sense to attune to this deeper rhythm and cadence, and to feel the benefit of this in every aspect of our being. So often, we seek to define ourselves by a single layer or fragment - yet we are infinitely more complex and nuanced than this. The benefits are simple. You connect with yourself, your breath, the beat of your heart, the present moment and your full timeless being in a way that goes beyond any linear definition of time. It takes you right to the heart of a bigger experience of life - one in which we, and all things, are connected by a universal breath and sentience. I call this living fully, with conscious animism. When you
What are the most magical daily moments for you? I love to swim at dawn. Waking, I always look to my window that is beside my bed. A low reef of sky, with the first flickering dawn arriving, is always enough to get me moving. I love to be in the water as that great ball of fire starts lifting over the horizon and the mountains. I have done this now for four years. There is a moment, before that happens - about twenty minutes before the sun rises or the moon sets - that something immense, universal happens. It is long before the chorus of birdlife, or the rustling of the trees. It happens before that. The sea flexes, and gathers its muscle. There is an incredible lifting and surging of the water, regardless of the lunar phase, although this is always most intense at the spring or keep tides. The lunar cycles have an immense impact on the texture of the water also. At the empty moon, the water is softer, more viscous, concentrated, gathered and compact and there is often a contained
stillness, and an density of water, that is felt in an swirling uplift, like a bird’s wing’s lifting from below. It carries you and yet you are also less buoyant than at the full moon, which is more expansive, fast flowing and exhilarating. Swimming at the great tides, and at the times of day when a ‘crisis’ is felt in nature the shattering of darkness or light with the great fire of the sun, or the light of the moon, is when this experience is truly inspirational. It teaches you that everything, daily, in nature, has to break down in order to renew. It gives you permission to reframe your own small life, against these bigger continuums and cycles and to re-evaluate your own place within it. That is always an unforgettable and humbling experience. You realise you are simply one breath in a bigger whole. It brings you closer to a much greater sentience and an appreciation for all things. It teaches gratitude and is an inspirational framework to live by. Like the sea, or the glittering universe, it is filled with an abundance that never tires or ends.
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How has the sea changed your life? The sea has literally changed my life. There is a unique quality of light, energy and clarity in the water here. When you swim daily, your ions are forged differently over time. Swimming daily at dawn, in all conditions and seasons, I can honestly say the cells in my body today are different to the ones that lived inside me four years ago! Daily connection with the sea and the wilds has been transformative to my inner life. I live very simply. I choose to spend much of my day outside and close to nature. I rise with the sun and sleep when I am tired. I have close friendships but I prefer quality to quantity. I spend some each day in solitude. It helps to tap into stillness. It also draws you closer to others if you each have that space. I listen in to my body to ensure the contacts I make are authentic connections. We each have an inner pilot light or flame - it is important to share this with others who will draw close in love; and to lift their light also. I am conscious of what saps or nourishes my voice and energy. Most of all, I tune in. We all have a wilder instinct that lives inside. When we live in a way that nourishes this, life changes around us and from within.
Why do you think humans are so drawn to the ocean? What does sea swimming mean to you? Sea swimming is oxygen. The water, the wildlife, the nature - all of it is breath. It inspires, invigorates and expands all that is possible in a moment, in a day, in a life. It gifts me a place of connection that flows into every aspect of my existence. I am so grateful for having been drawn to the sea, and listened to its calling. It changed my life. And it saved my life. For this I will be forever grateful. It is there waiting for all of us. Once you have immersed, you will never look back. It takes you into a deeper experience of humanity. And understanding our connection with the earth, and our interconnectedness with the wider universe. I truly believe this can only be experienced through direct experience to be glimpsed, and to start a journey of fostering a greater empathy and understanding.
In a world that has had to be locked down and isolation rife, what skills can you share that you developed to embrace this state of being and still stay emotionally buoyant? We all have different ways to cope with degrees of solitude. It is akin to acclimatising to different depths in the water. The manner in which we adjust or maladjust, often fluctuating between coping and not coping, is unique to each of us. Often we share an unwillingness to admit we are struggling. Or an ability to understand exactly where that point might be. Admitting vulnerability or our own culpability is often difficult. I was also interested in that line that marks where we feel able, or unable, to ask for help. It is one thing to feel, inhabit or witness our experiences intensely, but the challenge is how we may free ourselves, and actively grow, rather than being contained or defined by them.
Many people have found getting back to nature and the joys of the outdoors as an uplifting yet grounding pursuit during the pandemic. What is it about nature, in your words that reminds us who we actually are? We are all ancient beings. Nature is not something apart. It lives within us. It is part of us, our soul and psyche, a conscious animism. We live often, in our heads rather than inhabiting our instinctive body. This separation becomes habitual over time. We forget how connected we were, instinctively to the natural world around us as children. We deracinate ourselves from our true nature. The question then is how do we reanimate and nourish that inner spiritual dimension, the flame that makes our lives dance with the universe. That is a question for each of us, but ultimately, finding or recovering that interdependence is not a rational cognitive decision. It comes with training the eye of the heart. It is not just a compassionate response,
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but one that is innate inside us. Nature is a part of our being. It is as intimately connected to us as our own family, loved one or child. When you feel this, your body comes to rest. Your mind quietens. And that is when the magic starts to happen. Wildlife responds to this. Wild birds, deer, and many other creatures will start to approach you, inquisitively. This is a practice we can all introduce into our daily life. Stilling our mind. Slowing our breathing and feeling how our body attunes differently to the nature around us. It is deeply humbling and liberating. Our separateness is annulled. We are all interconnected. Cultivating this wilder aspect of ourselves, is life changing. We open to nature with empathy and understanding - not because we think, but because our hearts are feeling. It is a matter of conscience.
“Connection is not a thought. It is a feeling as real, and deep as loving a friend, a lover, your mother, or child. We are family. We do not separate. We heal the divisions inside each of us, with each other, and with our beautiful earth.“
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Take a break 4-7-8 Breathing or “relaxing breath” This breathing exercise is an alternative to equal breathing that can also help you fall asleep faster. It has roots in yoga’s pranayama, which is all about helping people learn how to gain control over their breath. Begin by sitting or lying down in a comfortable position. Your eyes can be open or closed. Press the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, slightly open your mouth, and exhale until you reach the bottom of your breath. Close your mouth and quietly inhale through your nose for 4 counts. Then hold your breath for 7 counts. Finally, exhale very slowly so that it takes a total of 8 counts to return to the bottom of your breath. Repeat for 4 full breaths, and work your way up to 8 breaths over time.
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Portrait by Natasha Cheek
Alison Jackson British Artist www.thefrankmagazine.com
lockdowns, those that have kept in the industry have achieved that through a true passion for what they do, I am well and safe and spending 99% of the time in my and a lot of hard work and sacrifice. Nothing will stop them now. There is a call for artists and the arts in this flat with an hours run every day to keep fit. I take the Covid climate : hoarding and wall street art, outside art pandemic seriously and hunker down to explore new and digital art is coming through fast. I make a lot of ways of working creatively remotely. I find this a very efficient and creative way of living, as I can focus on the direct sales from my website now which is non curated. The artist direct with the viewer and I work with online script, idea or sculpture in detail without being as galleries and this works extremely well. I set up a distracted by daily events as usual. I care about other photography competition intended for the young and /or people who live near around and make sure the disadvantaged to discover talent, creative people who vulnerable have what they need. I think everyone is haven’t had a chance yet and their work I have arranged helping everyone as much as possible . to exhibit on Saatchi art and they do extremely well and can see potential making a living as an artist with the Is your brain constantly buzzing when coming help of Saatchi and myself and great committee up with your images what with everything that initiating it
Where are you and how are you?
is happening in the world? My brain is constantly buzzing and constantly coming up with ideas, life gives me ideas every second - I observe in detail everything and this sparks my imagination - there is so much in the news at the moment, it is incredible – Trump, Biden protestors, BLM, Covid, variants, Brexit, politicians, I can’t stop thinking of ideas.
How did you start your career in art?
I was working as a reception and quickly promoted to a young producer in a TV company at a young age and wanted to direct. I was shortlisted by C4 and British screen for a short film I wrote (under the reception desk whilst at work so no one could see) The production company wanted a older man to direct it, which wasn’t’ what the prize was supposed to be for, so I never made the film unfortunately (its still a great script) Directing Are you managing to work and get shoots wasn’t an option for a woman and at my young age. It organised? was a man’s world. This made me more determined to My nose is sore!! I have had so many PCR tests. Funnily direct a film. I took myself off to college, so I had some concrete foundation in the creative world and started to enough 2019 was one of the busiest years I have ever learn about making art and being creative, without any had in terms of photography exhibitions around the commercial agenda. I just wanted to be a strong artist world, and shooting and abroad! and creative. I was very disappointed and fed up with It was very difficult at first as I had to revise how to shoot without creating any danger to anyone re Covid. I the politics of the commercial world started out making a joke about how we needed fishing When Princess Diana died, Britain came to a stand still. nets on poles to pass cameras without coming close to People were mourning her death as if she was a close another and actually we ended up using these relative but very few had actually met her and knew her techniques in the shoots for real. They only knew her through media stories and The rule on my shoots is Covid safe first, job in hand second - however pressured you are to do the job fast or pictures. I wanted to explore this gap between real and the fantasy of the real created by imagery, the media as normal. and publicity construction and manufacture of This means slowing down, thinking before going near celebrity. I made realistic looking images of Diana using anyone - No one can come closer than 2 m. So many lookalikes, depicting fantasies that existed in the public rules have been put in place. mind. The first was a picture of Diana and Dodi and Despite all this misery, swabs jammed up your nose, hands red raw from rubbing alcohol, and the slowness of their mixed race child, highlighting elements of their relationship and her history that we were thinking about normal 2-hour photographs or videos taking Longer to at that time collectively: Was she in love with Dodi ? make, 8 hours instead, the cast and crew are always Was she engaged ? Was she pregnant by him? Was she excited and determined to turn up everyday. COVID murdered because she was pregnant by him? has put life and death into perspective and whilst the creative industry hasn’t had the best support during www.thefrankmagazine.com
cast really knew the horror of being cast for a sculpture, wet cold plaster jamming them into a position for hours the whole thing took a day - it was something they will never forget - the start of a journey I started trying to make this sculpture in 2016 - I had difficulty in getting the sculptor team I wanted to make it -they agreed in 2018 and the they turned out to be Trump supporters and against it!! They refused to continue on with it and I had to remove it to another foundary. The first difficult team messed up 3 Museum shows by obstructing the finishing of it with delaying tactics and difficult behaviour and not being straight with me At last just on time the new craftsman team finished it with flying colours fast - just in time for the elections Then … no museum or gallery would take it - the original Museum it was made for in NY refused it - saying it was On hearing I wasn’t allowed to exhibit it, I staged a scene upsetting their staff - the 2nd LA venue didn’t want it saying it would cause too much attention from Cronenbergs film in time for the opening of the exhibition. When I came downstairs to see it all in place it However when I got to LA with the doppelgänger Trump had been vandalized, proving I wasn’t allowed to show my I shoot scenes with him on the Street and crowds (1000’s of people ) came out of nowhere to hurl abuse, but then want work in the college at all. I was excluded from all art a selfie shows at the college until the day I was leaving at my With a smile!! Lovers and haters love to hate him – it graduate show. Staging scenes and styling lookalikes proved that the likeness or an image of a celebrity is all realistically to look like the real deal did get round the issue of breach of copyright, but I still was not allowed to that is needed, the real doesn’t have to exist – the copy will show my work. I had letters written to me from the college do – in fact is better and he is most accessible and you can own the copy in person threatening to expel me if I spoke or showed my work to We don’t care anymore that everything is fake , we the press. Prince Philip refused to open the show – the actually like it – so the copy is key press went crazy giving me whole pages for weeks in the mainstream media on how I was such a tasteless artist and You don’t have to exist any more for real, you can be replaced by media – and no one will actually really know. the TV journos vilified me. It was a scary and interesting time. I questioned why the media vilified me and yet publishing my work every week See 2016 stunt in NYC where I took the lookalike out to Trump Tower and 5th Ave was shut down because of the on early pages and covers. 1000’s and 1000’s of people who came from nowhere to hurl abuse and then want a selfie. People wanted to believe this How much of a buzz is it now to see peoples lookalike was real, and some did believe he was, or liked reactions to your work ? the confusion anyway (he was styled well) what fascinates me is what you look like is more important than if you are It’s fascinating to see peoples reactions as I drove around the real deal. it really doesn’t matter if you are real or not. west end of London - both lovers and haters of Trump Trump and Kim and Boris have tapped into this confusion loved it - Lovers and haters love to hate him - either they by making themselves look cartoon; Trump the Flintstone, agreed with Trump about women or they agreed that the Kim, Jessica rabbit, Boris also a Flintstone, this makes world was being f****d by Trump - this is the central them more ‘real’ by their cartooness and it give them a usp. position I wanted to take – sitting in the middle just Which is good to escalate to iconic status. simply mirroring up the world we live in with everyones different views and the horror / shock of it. I wanted to explore this gap of virtual belief systems created through imagery and the media. I was having difficulty in doing my work at the RCA as the college were against it – they were a Royal college after all. I wasn’t allowed to show my work at the College for various different reasons, mainly on bogus copyright grounds. For internal college shows, I was using Maria Testino’s famous pictures of Diana to raise questions about Diana. RCA said I was in breach of Testino’s copyright and I had to stop work on this, again I wasn’t allow to use Cronenberg’s Crash in an installation I was making about the correlation of this film and in relation to Dianas crash, how we could not stop wanting to find out what bit of artery left which bit of body etc. I found it abhorrent, it was a great installation.
When did the Trump sculpture come into fruition? The whole process was a nightmare: the actual making process was wet and cold - I don’t think the actors being
Talking reactions I am sure people are ‘shocked’ by your work. How much of that inspires you to keep going or not. Are you a rebel or are you just love the fun of it? It is frightening creating controversial work, but I
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compelled to do it somehow – I have to be brave and have always had a mischievous or rebel streak. I have this natural instinct to say it - in a visual, a film, a sculpture - whatever medium it doesn’t matter - and it just pops out. Early in my art life when I was been seriously criticised (by press, college, fellow students, friends family etc) for making a Princess Diana piece of work a tutor at the Royal College of Art asked me why I was frightened of controversy. That question sort of cut through it for me and I thought, well why am I frightened ? but I still am and often get led into mildness but burst out of it again shortly after into artworks or pieces like this Trump sculpture or Trump walkabout to Trump Towers, work that create debates and horror, love or laughter, weirdly.
“My work is designed to be thought provoking and provocative. I don’t want my work to be passive. It is about our preconceptions being disrupted and broken. It is not about the celebrity themselves.”
In my one woman theatre show in London talking through the difficulties of making the work and the behind the scenes of this - the most laughed about picture and video is of Trump was a KKK ceremony -I don’t understand why that is funny at all - but it produces a belly laugh from the audience. I think the only way you can get that message out there is through an art and artist. The artist has no one to answer to – other than whether it is a good piece of work or not. There is no corporate, commercial or policital structure to have to answer to to people who are paying you in advance.
“My brain is constantly buzzing and constantly coming up with ideas, life gives me ideas every second - I observe in detail everything and this sparks my imagination.”
How can a politco talk about Trump’s relationship with the KKK without being sued or ignored? But if I take a photo of ‘Joe Smith’, who just happens to look like Trump, with his pointy-head friends, then everyone can understand that, they can picture the real implications of Trump’s loyalties by having it literally presented to them! Art can just throw things out there, it’s not restricted by reality, and that means it can really get to the heart of things, the thorn in the side, it’s a mercy and merciless. It’s going to hurt when you go that far.
get flack) but if I do it its always a great piece that creates debate and talking point and dilemma - divided views … challenges peoples preconceptions There are some hysterical press headlines then. Lots of controversy.
What has been your most ‘controversial’ piece and did you expect it?
`I never expect any controversy - I am always surprised. Princess Diana works, an exhibition about Bin Laden Do you ever feel nervous when releasing your 2003, Trump at Trump Tower and Trump sculpture. Unmade works, a film about Dubya bush, new work? Schwarznegger, and Bin Laden - never made for the USA, and never made for UK was a revealing fake bio pic I know when I am producing a good piece of work because I feel very nervous, very anxious and wondered on Tony Blair whilst he was at the height of his power the powers that be didn’t want the disruption – or they whether I should be thinking, feeling these thoughts or were frightened – this is all the more reason why doing this work at all – I know I am on the edge when this happens. Most of the time I continue ( I always need penetrating films or controversial views / films need to be encouragement as it is frightening knowing I am going to made. www.thefrankmagazine.com
Covid has forced a direct audience. No museum or gallery would accept my Trump sculpture but it has been a huge success direct with viewers, on socials, on facebook. I have a new fan group. It went viral and hundreds of people came to see it at Soho Revue gallery and to meet me. A female with balls, who practises high craft realism and questions it. The middle man has been cut out this way. No one is editing, selecting, or curating my work. The viewers decide direct themselves.
Your work dealt with the blurred lines of the media long before the term ‘fake news’ came into common parlance. What do you think about that and how the world has turned?
believe it is telling the whole truth when its not, even if we know it is not true we still can’t help ourselves half believing it is. It’s like a good lie, always a grain of truth in it. Celebrity culture is born of imagery. Multiple studio shoots or staged doc moments spread about for the publicists pr and commercial gain and we are seduced by the medium of it looking real and true and wanting to believe it, a need for a belief system, even though it has been created by the media publicists and celebrities themselves.
I raise questions about how it is done. We think we know celebs intimately but we only know them through imagery – we have bought into this construct. My work is authentic, John Smith and Mary Brown really exist in this picture just you think it is Wills and Kate I think fake news has been around since the birth of your mind is fucked…as it is authentic just not what you photography, traditional media blames the socials but I think. There are many responses to my work; some was raising questions about traditional media fake news understand all its layers. Many just see the accessible, since Princess Diana and that was also the birth of witty layer. Some people don’t like it at all and some tabloid and newspaper highs, the Daily Mail wrote a story people don’t like me personally. Some also think I am an about the Queen betting using one of my pictures as the intrusive nasty person when I am raising questions about hook, it looked real but was totally constructed. our collective nosy intrusive greedy voyeuristic nature. Some just have mixed feelings. They think the work is The very nature of photography is deceitful, a slimy intellectually easy, and easy to make. They medium that you cannot trust or rely on to give you the misunderstand my very considered work. My work is full truth, so I deconstructed this to try find the designed to be thought provoking and evocative. I don’t boundaries of truth and fake within photography and our want my work to be passive. It is about our culture today. It is very difficult and confused as preconceptions being disrupted and broken. It is not Photography is highly seductive and seduces you in to about the celebrity themselves. www.thefrankmagazine.com
“ I know when I am producing a good piece of work because I feel very nervous, very anxious and wonder whether I should be thinking, feeling these thoughts or doing this work at all – I know I am on the edge when this
Portrait by Francesco Guidicini
I designed the concept to work across all arts and media platforms, blurring the boundaries of every category.
How have you navigated the art world, since her work sits so closely to pop culture. Have you found it hard to win your rightful space? Because my work is about blurred boundaries that confuse us, my work also confuses which category it should sit in, I believe. I like to make art for everyone but also want to sit foremost in the fine art world. This way I have an independent voice and the art world are more likely to accept my controversial or penetrating ideas that other arts and media platforms although the BBC allowed me to do some wonderful work on my tv series double take and really pushed the envelope with me. I love pop culture, we live in it but perhaps I addressed our image based society created by the media too early. We were in it as soon and TV and film arrived. Look at Warhol’s Marilyn, he is celebrating a pr photograph of her !!! Celebrating a piece of cheesy bad studio photography that was making her a star. No one was addressing our craze on media contructed celebrity and fake news - I could see it coming bigger than in Warhols day and maybe that was too early - I fully engage with correct pop culture ways and debate, its politics and content
Where are you and what are you working on right now? I have been in Hollywood opening my exhibition at Fotografiska Neuehouse - it has been fantastic - I love Hollywood the stars, the warmth and the fake - The construction and the enjoyment of that construction. I would love to live there and make a new TV series about fake - I am writing and developing an idea at the moment. I would love to start working with more YouTubers, TikTokers, and online influencers. They are kids that understand the construction of celebrity branding as well as I do. Where I’ve torn it down, exposed it, they have used those blueprints to build themselves in that image. Their views are better than any TV show, they’re the ones we want to watch. Elon Musk has inspired me at the moment – transitioned from Original celebrity, to contemporary celebrity. From serious inventor with fun rumours of
scandals and embarrassing hair transplants in the background, to ironic satirization of himself on Twitter. Or maybe I hope that if I make some work on him, I’ll end up with a free Tesla parked in my driveway…
What do you think of meme culture, do you see it as treading on your toes a bit or do you welcome satire becoming mainstream? I think it is the youtubers wanting publicity and the only where to go is showing their private lives not just their public persona image, they are possibily trying to deconstruct the public persona image but I think all they can do now for pr ( as everything else has been done ) is delve (show display) private moments of their lives, whether these are constructed and staged, like public pr images, or not. I am still trying to seriously raise questions about this. Whether in traditional media or socials media, they have the same thinking behind it. nothing new – also welcome memes – it moves on the content (into private) a bit even if not the thinking . I could say I welcome this, it opens up a whole other world to my work. I’m more concerned about The Crown copying me – if I see Olivia Coleman on the loo, I’m ringing Netflix! It makes me reflect on how much celebrity image presentation has changed. From stiff portraits to easyshot meme. It was once all about keeping the private and real very separate from the performance. Celebs ran away to secret compounds and we were all desperate to see what they got up to!!! Now youtubers and vloggers voluntarily give up all that information – I can see Jeffree Star getting plastic surgery, Belle Delphine have sex, idubbbz on the loo – literally everything I reveal through my lookalikes, They understand the private is the best marketing to themselves and I am trying to expose that which staging it – saying don’t believe everything you see is authentic – youtubers monetise their private takes by purposefully pushing these boundaries. They are tying to desensitize their image - it’s a race to appear the most real and relatable, ’oh, I’m not really a celebrity cos I facetune my pics, and cry over a pizza on my kitchen floor, and I’m going to show you that’ – but the more ‘real’ becomes the image of celebrity, the more that ‘real’ becomes the performance, and highlights the fake.
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"I am quiet, reflective and extremely observational I spot everything, never miss a thing - but at the same time I have a lot of energy to kick start things in every area, love new ideas and implementing them, some would say I’m entrepreneurial." They are living 24/7 as performing cartoons like the A listers; Trump, Kim Boris. They have just proved my theory. Whether an A lister or youtuber it’s the same strategy of fame, marketing, publicity and commerce etc I was particularly struck by a Memeulous video once. He refuses to reveal his face, and instead wears a bandana wrapped around his face, with big sunglasses and a cap. He wears the same thing in every piece of content he puts out, and this costume has become his iconic USP (just like the A listers have done for centuries / decades) the face that millions of fans see every week. And through wanting this idea of privacy, he has become even more just a living cartoon. His sunglasses give him big black eye sockets, and the bandana a sort of weird wide smile, always staying the same, always looking the same. He might as well have been drawn from a Beano comic, but he’s a real person! You have to be cartoon to prove you are real – (same as Kim, Trump and Boris, Elton – nothing new) above the confusion of you can’t tell whats real of fake anymore as we live our lives through a mediated format of imagery – distancing us from the truth.
Which artists do you admire and why? Warhol, who was interested in worship of the surface and the power of iconic imagery and his investigations and studies into humanity. His films are extraordinary studies. Damien Hirst, for changing the face of the fine art world, blurring the boundaries of art with design and bringing the language of pop culture into stuffy, outgrown
fine art world. Banksy for his controversial work in the street, Greyson Perry and some of Sasha Baron Cohens early work and his interviews.
You have a bit of a 'rock n roll’ image energetically. What is the reality? All of it - I am quiet, reflective and extremely observational - I spot everything, never miss a thing - but at the same time I have a lot of energy to kick start things in every area, love new ideas and implementing them, some would say entrepreneurial, very detailed and like to play with image of others and myself. I am sometimes look smart, conventional and straight, sometimes rock n roll - always in black - its a uniform and easy - I like to fit the scene I enter so will change accordingly to fit in most of the time - this way I can fit in and learn from the people around me without them being alarmed or focussed on me and my look or shocked by my outward appearance before they know me.
Lastly your sculpture of Trump with his pants down, where is it right now? Trump with pants down is in the Soho Revue Gallery 8 Brewer Street London. I have to thank the owner of the gallery very much indeed as she took on this controversial sculpture when the USA museums and galleries (which is was made for ) were rejecting it on the grounds it is was too controversial. You can see him through the window, there is no need to go in particularly during lockdown. As people pass by they take selfies and videos. The comments are amazing. I have become a mini celebrity on the socials. People have been coming for miles to see me ! (I could hear viewers outside the viewer saying thats her, yes thats her and pointing at me) questions asked with wonderment like ; how did you make something so detailed and realistic ? How do you manage to have the balls. They wanted to see me as much as the sculpture-they have wanted to see what type of person and who could have created something so realistic, so controversial so public, all on my own - it circulated on Facebook and people rushed to get to see it and meet me in time before the show came down. Luckily the show has continued to go on. Thanks to Soho Revue Gallery, I am very very grateful to them as without gallery’s like this there would be no place for artists like myself, speaking out and raising questions, trying to tear down the walls of censorship and look behind the shiny facade of politicians.
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www.alison-jackson.co.uk
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Where is your favourite place in the world to visit? I’d have to say South Africa is definitely up there. And the most idilic place I’ve been was the Maldives. I also love cities and I’m a big fan of Rome or anywhere cultural and with beautiful art and architecture.
The Loves, likes & vibes of... We ask a few FRANK questions to the multi talented make up artist and beauty business owner GARY COCKERILL, founder of Make up Intelligence.
The best advice you have ever been given? To be myself and to take every opportunity that comes my way. Nothing lasts forever but make every moment count.
What are you watching on the telly box right now? Its a Sin. It’s probably one of the best dramas I have seen in a long while on TV. It focuses on the outbreak of AIDS in the 80’s and a group of friends living in London and coming to terms with a disease that would change their lives forever. The acting is Incredible, the writing is spot on and so well made. It takes me back to when I first met my husband Phillip and all the stigma with being a gay man. It’s funny, heartbreaking, educational and a must see. I definitely recommend it.
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Which grooming products are on your beauty counter? Aesop Citrus Melange Cleanser, Kiehl’s oil free moisturiser, ESPA cooling body moisturiser, Eyedew dazzling eye drops, Mark Hill volume spray & GHD style final fix hairspray. If I’m feeling like I need to add some warmth to my face I use James Read H20 mist tan.
What is your favourite product from your own range? The Illuminate Hydrate and Mattify it's a dual ended primer, one side to give the perfect warmth and glow to the skin and the other side to mattify and disguise any fine lines and large pores on the skin. Also the Dual Mascara, one end to lift and curl and the other to lengthen and volume.
Who would you love to make up? I love making everyone up. The power of makeup is such a positive thing. It’s gives everyone the confidence they need to get through their day.
How would you cheer up a friend? Spending time with them. Listening to them. Giving advise if it’s needed. Making them laugh. Laughing is the best.
Your scent of choice? Jordan belfort, Chemistry. I just love the scent. Everyone comments on it when I wear it. It’s so fabulous.
Who’s wardrobe would you like to raid?
Name your go to chic restaurant? I do love an old fashioned restaurant. I’m really loving a French restaurant in Soho called L’Escargot. The Beef Bourguignon is Amazing.
A bit of Beckham crossed with a bit of Adam Lambert. I actually like my own wardrobe right now. My friend Stephen Williams he designed me some incredible statement jackets for me.
What are you wearing right now? At the moment jogging bottoms and top from Zara. It’s comfy and easy. I’m in a Slouchy mood.
Your favourite tune? You always look so fresh, what is your secret? I guess I’m lucky with my genes. My mum has wonderful skin still at 78. I do drink lots of water and try to eat well.
Advice you would give your younger self? Never give up.
Top tips to starting a beauty business? A great idea. A hero product. Believe in yourself. Transparency. A good team. Be true to yourself.
Whats your idea of the perfect night in? With my husband Phill, snuggled up with my dogs Lola and Chloe watching something fab on the telly. Eating great food and a glass of vino.
Because of lockdown I’ve been watching a lot on YouTube and listening more to the radio. I suddenly have been taking more notice of Andrea Bocelli. I think he’s incredible and I really like Dua lipa and The Weekend.
I launched my makeup range in September last year. Makeup Intelligence, makeup that does the thinking for you. A collection of multipurpose products for the complexion and colour cosmetics for the skin, eyes and lips. It’s been a life long dream to create the range so a lot of passion, expertise and creativity as a makeup artist went into it. And it been a joyous journey.
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Dr Nadine Hachach-Haram Plastic Surgeon and Founder of Proximie
Dr Nadine Hachach-Haram FRCS (Plast), BEM, is Consultant Plastic Surgeon and Head of Clinical Innovation at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. In 2015, the NHS clinical entrepreneur drew on her surgical experiences and her passion for innovation and education, to create Proximie; a technology platform on a mission to save lives by sharing the world’s best clinical practice. Dr. Nadine received the British Empire Medal in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours for her innovative work within the fields of surgery and medicine. She also undertakes a number of roles to help advance surgery, including council member of the Royal College of Surgeons Future of Surgery Commission, council member of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS), Innovation UK and council member of the Royal Society of Medicine plastic surgery section. www.thefrankmagazine.com
When did you realise the medical profession for you? Growing up in post-war Lebanon in the early 1990s definitely shaped my desire to become a surgeon. Seeing the human impact conflict exacted on my homeland had a profound influence. You would see a lot of deformities, people with arms and legs injured and missing. Things that perhaps you shouldn’t see as a teenager. I look back at devastating events such as the Qana Massacre, in 1996 as a pivotal moment. My Mum’s family is from Qana, and we used to spend our weekends and summers there. At that point I started to get interested in the ability to help patients and to look for opportunities. Soon afterwards, when I was 14 a family friend who was a plastic surgeon was going down to Sidon (a city 40km south of Beirut on Lebanon’s Mediterranean Coast) to do some reconstruction for some young trauma patients who had deformities in their legs from burns, contractures, and blast injuries. He was probably a bit surprised I wanted to go with him! But he was willing to take me which was great, I owe him everything for that. I still remember the day. He picked me up at 6am in his jeep, and we drove down to the south and I saw him operating on these children and I think at that point, I just knew that this is what I wanted to do. I was mesmerised. After that, any time I could get into an operating room I wanted to see what was going on. Even now, I still love it. It’s very humbling, you are in an operating room, the patient is asleep, you have a team around you trying to make a positive difference in a patient’s life.
Did you love the study, the hard work to get there? To a certain degree, I think all medical trainees are united by a desire to want to learn and hone their clinical skills. Wanting to become a surgeon was a vocation for me, so it never felt like studying or hard work. I think COVID-19 has definitely shown that innate desire for medical trainees to want to learn. We are seeing surgical education suffer as a result of the ongoing fight against this global pandemic, but the next generation of surgeons are subsequently embracing the use of new technologies like Proximie to ensure their skills never plateau. The next generation of surgeons are becoming the early adopters of Proximie, and are leveraging the platform to practice their skills at a time when access to operating rooms is almost completely off limits.
You are the founder of Proximie, tell us about it? I founded Proximie based on the ethos that shared knowledge leads to accelerated learning and better patient care. Proximie was built to allow experts to virtually scrub-in to operating rooms and cath labs around the world, to support, coach and mentor each other, and to really look at the continuum of expertise throughout a surgeon’s career. I had been exposed to early-stage telecommunications platforms, but all of them are anchored to one moment in time. One meeting, one call, one conference, but then it’s gone. The options available did not enable a continuum of sharing knowledge and expertise, and they were too passive. You can’t do remote surgery in 2D. It has to be more immersive than that. What we wanted to do with Proxmie was to create a multi-sensory experience that was a catalyst for collaboration and could digitise a surgeon’s footprint. We wanted to extend the geographical reach of a surgeon and create the effect of a borderless operating room that could empower physicians to remotely share knowledge that could ultimately reduce variation in care, and help save lives.
“Proximie was built to allow experts to virtually scrub-in to operating rooms and cath labs around the world, to support, coach and mentor each other.”
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Your TED talk about Proximie is brilliant. How was that experience for you? Nerve wracking! I’ve probably never been that nervous before to be honest but it was incredibly exhilarating and what an amazing opportunity. I feel in very esteemed company and very grateful that I was afforded the opportunity to talk about a subject that I really believe in, on such an amazing platform. I have actually never ever watched the talk back. I hate seeing myself on film so it’s not something I have ever revisited, but it’s definitely one off the bucket list!
With the pandemic amongst us how valuable is this type of innovation and practice right now? COVID-19 is accelerating the adoption of telehealth technologies across the board and we’re no different. In 2019, we did 1,200 procedures. By the end of 2020 we’d already done about 8,000. Looking widely at the numbers we’ve grown about 900% year on year in terms of users, and we’re now assisting over 800 procedures per month. A recent paper in The Journal of Urology concluded that Proximie “allowed more flexibility in patient scheduling and reduced travel costs with similar outcomes” compared to face-toface, and I think what we’re increasingly seeing during the current pandemic is Proximie used to enable surgeons to stay connected and collaborate from a distance. This is obviously critical as we continue to try and stop the spread of the disease. It’s a matter of limiting physical numbers in operating rooms and Cath Labs but increasing clinical expertise. The platform has been used in orthopaedic trauma, emergency cardiology cases, general surgery,
neurosurgery and spinal emergency surgery. Additionally, we have expanded to provide remote expertise to clinicians working in Intensive Care Units, while Proximie has also been used in conflict zones where medics are often physically isolated from peer support. To give you an example of a recent case, Proximie enabled an interventional cardiologist in Washington DC, USA, to virtually ‘scrub-in’ to collaborate with a London cardiologist, during a transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR). The critical intervention, which happened in real-time and from 3,733 miles away, helped to save the patient’s life. The procedure took place under strict COVID-19 conditions. Given current travel restrictions, physically connecting this team of experts to perform the lifesaving operation would have been impossible, and we’re seeing our technology used as a means to bypass the restrictions imposed
What is your favourite surgery to perform ? I love all surgery and every case is unique in its own way; the patient and their journey, but I am very fond of reconstructive breast surgery. For some women, part of their recovery includes restoring a part of themselves that was removed. It's a very personal decision but for many women there are a lot of benefits that are both psychological and physiological. It's a surgery that can elicit a range of very different emotions. But for some women it can improve recovery after breast cancer, it can play a critical role in restoring self-confidence and of course body image.
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I am very fond of reconstructive breast surgery. For some women, part of their recovery includes restoring a part of themselves that was removed. It's a very personal decision but for many women there are a lot of benefits that are both psychological and physiological.”
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“Growing up in postwar Lebanon in the early 1990s definitely shaped my desire to become a surgeon. Seeing the human impact conflict exacted on my homeland had a profound influence.”
surface. That it was really about building scalable, sustainable models of support and delivery, so I started to look at technology and the idea for Proximie was born.
Tell us about receiving the British Empire medal? What does it mean to you? It was incredibly humbling and I am very proud, particularly as it happened so early in my career. I’m passionate about innovation in healthcare and how we can leverage technology to improve the care our patients receive here in the UK and across the world. I believe this award was recognition for the spirit of innovation that is palpable throughout the NHS, and I strongly believe the British Empire medal was a testament to the collective endeavours of my colleagues, and certainly not just for me. I was very fortunate to have so many great collaborators and teachers, like Professor Mosahebi, who was an inspirational mentor to me during the early stages of Proximie’s launch.
Some people when they see he term ‘plastic surgery’ as vanity but its origins however are very How is your working week? different. The effects can be life changing for As a frontline surgeon, it has been very different and very many….. Plastic surgery is not just about aesthetics, far from it actually. It is based on the philosophy of repairing form and function, such as addressing birth defects like cleft palate reconstruction, post-cancer reconstruction or resurfacing the body after a serious burn. It also includes post-injury restoration, like bomb blast reconstruction. The injured are often the forgotten casualties of any disaster, but plastic reconstructive surgery means people have a second chance. The injuries sustained in serious accidents can have lifetime consequences and a very significant impact on their quality of life. Severe nerve injuries, functional injuries, and extensive scarring will affect form and function; there is never a quick fix, but reconstructive surgery affords people an opportunity at a better quality of life, which is something I’m incredibly passionate about. Everyone should have access to safe surgery. I spent 10 years working as a surgeon on global health initiatives around the world. During that period I definitely found myself feeling like I simply wasn't doing enough. You start to look back and see what impact you’ve had and how much you’ve actually been able to scale expertise or support independent delivery of care locally. When I looked at the Lancet Commission that revealed five billion people in the world lack access to safe surgery, I realised that we were only scratching the
varied on a week to week basis. We've seen the cancellation of surgeries across the board, and a lot of resources are obviously being channelled into managing the pandemic. Some cancer surgeries are continuing but otherwise our focus has been on COVID-19. At the same time we are taking Proximie into new countries and new environments. It's obviously exciting, but incredibly challenging at the same time.
How do you keep yourself healthy, mentally and physically? What do you do in your down time? I know it's very cliched, but I would definitely say my family are fundamental to my happiness and my health. I have three young children and my husband, all of whom are a constant source of inspiration and happiness. They keep me grounded and we have a large extended family too. Having that network in place is critical for me. It takes a lot of emotional and physical energy to drive and grow a business that's disruptive; there are a lot of highs and a lot of lows. My family live and breathe the journey I’m on as much as I do, and I couldn’t do this without them. In terms of my down time, I’m a big Arsenal fan so checking in on the Gunners is always high on my list. Even that can be a little stressful at times though!
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Creativity & Courage As artists and designers Dina Sawalha and Tracy Laughton together span 30+ years of art and design teaching in schools both classroom and group activities. They are passionate about the holistic benefits that the creative process brings to the individual and community they are part of.
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s Henri Matisse so famously said “creativity takes courage” and we have observed first hand how through the creative process children and adults can be encouraged to alter a closed mindset to be receptive to experiences they would never have allowed themselves to previously have. This then feeds into every part of their life. The benefits to their mental health, body and each other we strongly believe to be an investment in the future of the individual, society and our planet as a whole. For us creativity is not about the “end product” but about the creative journey.
Our aim is to provide this wealth of experience and knowledge in a box to everyone’s doorstep. Children and adults alike can have an outlet that they can enjoy individually, together as a family or with friends resulting, we believe in a positive life affirming experience. Hence art.bybox.
Imagine receiving your art.bybox through the post We will be at hand to encourage, guide and facilitate your journey - from getting you started, to tips on the use of art materials and art history references. Time to explore individually, with family or friends. www.thefrankmagazine.com
What was the initial concept behind the creation What benefits does Art.bybox have? of Art.bybox?
The Materials are sourced and supplied, tried and tested for purpose and price this avoiding unnecessary time and The initial concept was to distil all of our hands on cost trying to find the materials yourself. Delivery direct experience and make the joy of creating accessible to all regardless of age. With the view to helping people see the to your door. Chance to play, explore, create invest in holistic benefits of allowing yourself to be in the moment, you and your own wellbeing. It can be individual or social, whatever you want it to be. Being in the moment and promote a positive life affirming experience. when you create is both relaxing and exhilarating- a Our aim was to …..educate, entertain, inspire, inform, positive life affirming experience, affording the interact and therefore facilitate growth mindset. We see this as an investment in health and wellbeing for opportunity to look back and think “I created this”. It’s what makes is human! now and the future, of the individual and communities they are part of. An investment in ourselves and the Mind – we feel very passionately that a creative mind is a planet for the future. great way towards positive mental health. We have a friend who works for mind.org.uk and wanted to help it Who is Art.bybox for? continue to do great work in these difficult times. For each art.bybox sold £1 is donated to mind to support the It’s for everyone. We say age 7 upwards as you need to great work they do. be able to read but there is no reason younger children couldn’t do it with adult help. It’s to facilitate creating What kind of Art do you personally prefer to do? alone, with another person or as a group – friends or family. T – If I had to narrow it down I would say painting. Especially abstract. I find the freedom it affords me when What is included in an Art.bybox? I’m just in the moment, reacting to what’s in front of me, pushing paint around, just utterly liberating. Each box contents the tried and tested materials you D – I’m all about colour! Creating with colour in an need to go on your creative journey. For example box 1 impressionistic way gives me so much freedom. “let’s get started” has paints, brushes, pencil, fine liner, two different types of papers, art history references. What has the feedback been like from customers? Creative guidance notes are also included to provide a framework to follow along with a little gift. Overwhelming if we are honest. People have wholeheartedly embraced the principles of just having a How has Art.bybox helped you, especially go and experiencing the journey. The idea that there is no during lockdown? right or wrong, good or bad has really taken hold, and that creativity is for everyone. There have been lots of It’s been an amazing journey for us so far, we both began questions and voicing of anxieties or excitement, which lockdown utterly exhausted from the weeks of anxiety in are all human emotions that people are obviously in the school environment due to Covid, and turned to touch with and voicing openly, which is so important for creating everyday as a form of relaxation and escapism us all. from the news and anxiety in the world around us. It helped just be calm and in the moment, focusing on the Where can people find out more about Art. positives in everyday life, for example nature in the garden and the sound of birdsong – positive life affirming bybox? values. www.createbybox.com Art.by box packaging – where possible we use or instagram and facebook Art. bybox environmentally aware packaging and products. Our boxes and mailbags are recycled and recyclable, along with the paper tape. The paper packaging in the box is recyclable, up cycled from previous packages we have received. The cartridge paper is made from coffee cup off cuts which would otherwise end up in landfill. www.thefrankmagazine.com
FRANK Life Hack Create a Morning Ritual One thing that can really help you have a good mood permanently is to keep a morning ritual. This helps you get in the mood for the rest of the day. A positive start to the day can help you shield yourself from getting too upset or angry when something does go wrong. If you want to do this properly, then, you do need to open up your morning with a specific ritual. Some go for a swim, some go for a walk, others will read something very specific in the morning; it’s entirely up to you.
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Keep on Moving
Fitness has never been so fun and colourful
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1. Bala Bangles 2 Lb. Weights 2. Bala Bands 3. Bala The Power Ring 4. Cork Massage Therapy Balls 5. FP Movement Jump Rope 6. Yoga Design Lab Yoga Wheel 7. P.volve Heavy Ankle Band 8. Cork Roller All available at www.freepeople.com www.thefrankmagazine.com
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Embracing the
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Rebekah Brown was turned away by her GP because she was ‘too young’ to have symptoms of menopause. So, she found herself trawling the aisles of the local health food store, staring at a vast range of products and ingredients she knew nothing about. Curiosity cut through the brain fog. She looked further into the bio-chemical changes the female body goes through in menopause and what vitamins we all need at each stage, regardless of symptoms. She explored the impact and practicality of dietary changes. She researched what herbs and vitamins have seen results in trials and, critically, what dosages have an impact. Armed with insight, and a growing sense of frustration that women were under-served with honest information and better options, MPowder was born. Interview by Millie Cooper www.thefrankmagazine.com
How did MPowder come about? It began with a personal mission to get well! I just couldn't find anything on the shelves at the time that felt thoroughly researched and specifically targeted to the biochemical stages we went through. The offerings felt dated and lazy. Like going back to the 1980s and the era of generic multivitamins. We know so much more about the power of nutrition now. And I couldn't see that robustness of research in the products on the shelves. There was no attention to dosage levels. There was no supporting research. There was no sense of authenticity or purpose. I didn't trust what I was seeing. I was also shocked by the inherent message that these menopause brands conveyed. I felt like I was in an end-of-life aisle! And it made me angry. Our generation views ageing very differently from our mothers and grandmothers. We are also the first generation likely to live 40-50% of our lives in post-menopause. This isn't a stepping down point. This is a stepping up point. Yet the imagery was all of women with dentures, comfy cardigans...standing in cornfields. I wanted to take something that was evidence-based and honest. That addressed the full range of symptoms that women experience. I wanted something that paid attention to dosage levels and extraction techniques. And I wanted something easy! Where someone had done the hard work and I just had to remember to take it once a day. And I wanted it to be more than a product - I wanted an environment where I could explore other practices or interventions that could help me further. A curious space for curious minds that applied the same rigour to alternative therapies or life hacks as it did to the sourcing of ingredients. That is the DNA of MPowder.
What differentiates MPowder products from other supplements? We have worked really hard to take the data from clinical trials (of which there aren't nearly enough - but that is a whole other story!) and then overlay the experience of nutritionists, naturopaths, herbalists and functional doctors working with women transitioning through menopause every day. It means that each recipe has ingredients that are either selected for the potential shown in those clinical settings and/or on the ground results seen by our experts with their clients. We then test our recipes with our community before we launch them to ensure the efficacy we've designed for is realised. And this accountability is then built into our range for customers too. We actively encourage women to track the impact
our blends have on their symptoms for the first month. We know everybody is different and that every woman's menopause journey is unique too. By providing a free symptom tracking service, women are able to evaluate the effect our blend has on them - and we are able to actively intervene with additional support if we can see persistent symptoms aren't getting better. The final point of difference, and perhaps the most critical one is that we are very clear that MPowder is not a silver bullet. We cannot cure menopause with a powder. This midlife point has a massive impact on how we feel about ourselves, what we want to do next, our sense of purpose. It is why we're more than a product range. We're a community. The programmes and courses we facilitate support the nutritional impact of our powders. They encourage women to adopt a curious mindset. To try new things. To find their path. We believe that midlife is a superpower. You just need the right tools and support to harness it.
''MPowder believe that the way we experience menopause could be intrinsically linked to nutrition – that our diet can have a significant bearing upon this transitional phase of our lives and the founders have analysed data, and worked with a legion of experts to lessen the symptoms and make the experience, well… easier! Together they’re ‘changing the change’ and encouraging you to take charge of your menopause – there’s nothing hush-hush or taboo about ageing, and MPowder's natural supplement makes it refreshingly, rightfully positive''
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''MPowder is the world’s first plantbased supplement powder range crafted to target the three distinct biochemical stages of the menopause.'' Why do you think the menopause is so poorly supported? I could talk on this for a LONG time! It begins with a fundamental lack of insight, as a result of a long-held assumption that women are tiny men. This has been exacerbated by the fact that until very recently the doctors were men, the researchers and clinicians were men and the people innovating and bringing to market new and better products were men too. The biology of the female remains a black box. We know more about our first puberty because fertility is a focus for all of society. But menopause - this reverse puberty - has been largely ignored.
But can you imagine a world where the power of the female body is truly understood and realised? Where teenage girls relish getting their periods because of the value of their hormones and their cycle. Where we look forward to midlife and beyond for the wisdom, drive, confidence and creativity it brings. That is what we should be aiming for.
Is a lot of wellbeing about living whole and eating well’? I think that we feel our best when we take a whole life approach. If I had to prioritise what has the largest impact, I'd start with the symptoms. I think stress is the single biggest thief of wellbeing. And addressing how you respond to stress (we can rarely make it go away), is the foundation of feeling well. Nutrition plays a significant part in that. But so can many other practices. I think what nutrition offers all of us, is a very accessible gateway into looking after ourselves. It doesn't need to be complicated. But it does require a recognition of your worth. It is about taking time to make sure what you put on your plate is going to nourish you. It is quite literally fuel for life. And what we do now, in terms of nutrition, doesn't just power our day - it powers our future.
What does MPowder hope to achieve as a business? We want to build a global community that is also driven by the women it serves. We want to have the best, most effective products available - that are informed by the latest research. We want to agitate for a rethink about what midlife can be. We want to be a catalyst for others; to share what we learn so that women have more brands and choices available to them.
A lack of insight leads to a lack of education. Menopause was not part of the biology curriculum until this year! And this change has only been brought about by grass roots lobbying in the UK. So you have generations of girls entirely unprepared for menopause. And, critically, generations of boys who don't know what it is either. Finally, I think you need to look to how innovation is encouraged. How change happens. You have to follow the money. The reality is that women will change this space. And yet female founders receive just 2% of Venture funding in the world today. And VCs are very slow to back sectors they don't understand (or see themselves in). Female focused brands are seen as niche (just 51% of the population, right?!). We have to fight so much harder to get support. We have to cap our ambition. Be cautious in our outlook. Think small. Without real investment, innovation is suffocated. www.thefrankmagazine.com
''Menopause was not part of the biology curriculum until this year! And this change has only been brought about by grass roots lobbying in the UK. So you have generations of girls entirely unprepared for menopause.''
What are your biggest challenges as a business owner and how do you overcome them? Launching a business during a global pandemic has to be up there! It has been a huge challenge to take our brand to market at this particular moment in time. We've had logistical curve balls - from a world-wide shortage of a particular fig powder to issues in sourcing recycled cardboard. Everything has taken longer than we wanted. Fulfilment houses are overworked. Courier services are struggling. And that has huge implications - for our community who want and deserve new solutions and greater support now - but also for our ambition. We're ready with a full range and yet we're fighting to get the ingredients into the UK constantly. We have trialists ready to try new blends, but we're still waiting on the product to come off the production line. I've learned to hustle and think creatively. But also to trust in the generosity of our community. The women who buy from us know we're doing our best.
They want us to stay true to that - to refuse to compromise on ingredients or packaging sources. They'll wait because they know that when we're ready they know that we'll be sharing something we're really proud of.
What’s your favourite quote or mantra you can’t live without? I can achieve all that is possible in a calm and peaceful manner (my mum shared that with me as a mantra when I was at Uni. I love its circulatory nature. And it feels truer with age)
Who or what gives you the most inspiration? The women in our community. Rediscovering themselves. Making changes. Taking charge of their health. And sharing their story to ensure that the women who follow don't experience menopause in the same way. The women in this space reframing how we view midlife inspire me too. Check out @and.bloom if you ever need a reference for how beautiful ageing is.
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''Launching a business during a global pandemic has to be up there! It has been a huge challenge to take our brand to market at this particular moment in time. We've had logistical curve balls from a world-wide shortage of a particular fig powder to issues in sourcing recycled cardboard.''
What’s your actual typical day look like? Right now - it’s a juggling act. I have a son away at uni and one teenager in the house navigating secondary school by screen. I try and squeeze my work hours around his school schedule so we can grab lunch together and dinner. But I often fail (he makes better sandwiches anyway). I try and stick to a morning routine of meditation, gratitude journaling and a cold shower.
We believe natural nutrients at the right moments, will power you through the menopause.
That is the minimum - and there is no excuse - it's a 15 minute commitment, maximum. Our team works hard to connect virtually too. Every Tuesday we take a wonder walk - which I've shared with our community as a simple concept that has made a big difference to us as a team. Each week we log off, for 45 minutes, and take a local walk and dial into a conference call. We each share one win, one Where can everyone keep up with you to learn challenge and one ask of the group. And we take a shot of more? our location - an image that brings us a sense of wonder. Then we return to the warmth of the home. It ensures we @mpowderstore breathe, we connect beyond the urgent 'to-do' list and www.mpowder.store that we ask each other for help.
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MPowder Giveaway Peri-Boost Bio-Stage N°1 You've had a cycle in the last 2-11 months, and you're 43+ or starting to experience symptoms of peri-menopause — Supports improved hormonal balance, helps reduce tiredness and fatigue and improves skin elasticity and density.
Meno-Boost Bio-Stage N°2 — COMING SOON 12 months after your last period — Targets hot flashes, blood pressure regulation, heart health, skin health, bone density, energy and mood.
WIN!.. An MPowder that suits your cycle. Watch out for our Instagram posts in March to enter.
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Nourish your Health ''Every ingredient in each of our formulas is supported by traditional scientific research, and the knowledge of our team of experts. Our nutrition experts ensure that every ingredient placed in our formulas is at a therapeutic dose, creating a medicinal and powerful product'' JS Health
IMMUNE - 60 TABLETS Designed to support the immune system and relieve symptoms of common colds and flu. £30.99 Immune + contains Andrographis, Echinacea, Olive Leaf, Ginger, Oregano, Vitamin C and Zinc. Andrographis decreases the duration and helps relieve symptoms and severity of common colds and flu, such as cough, throat irritation, nasal congestion, ear irritation, tiredness, weakness and headache duration. Zinc and Echinacea support your immune system to fight illness, and are involved in healthy immune system function. Zinc and Olive Leaf are antioxidants which reduce free radical damage to body cells. ANXIETY + STRESS FORMULA - 60 TABLETS Designed to reduce anxiety, stress and irritability. £31.99 Anxiety + Stress contains Ashwagandha, which is traditionally used in Ayurvedic medicines as a
rejuvenating tonic. It is an adaptogen to help the body adapt to stress, and relieves feelings of general malaise and debility. Passionflower is traditionally used in western herbal medicine to reduce and relieve the symptoms of mild anxiety, stress and nervous tension, relieve irritability, and calm and soothe the nerves. Vitamin B5 supports cognitive and mental function. Vitamin C is an antioxidant which reduces free radicals formed in the body. PM+ SLEEP FORMULA - 30 TABLETS Supports a deeper sleep, relaxation, nervous system health and muscle relaxation, and relieves restlessness. £24.99 The more potent version of our original PM multivitamin, this formula is designed to calm your nerves, support your nervous system, and give you the most dreamy, relaxing sleep yet! The ingredients in this formula relieve sleeplessness, nervous tension and unrest. Sweet dreams!
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After using the JS Health Detox & Debloat formula I have a flatter happier tummy and I am sleeping so much better at night. I noticed the difference within a week after suffering a sluggish digestive system on a daily basis for the last few months. Millie - FRANK Mag
DETOX + DEBLOAT Containing nutrients to support the liver and reduce digestive discomfort, this vitamin is your ticket to a calm and happy tummy! DETOX: Milk Thistle is traditionally used in western herbal medicine to maintain and support natural liver cleansing and detoxification processes. Turmeric is proven to maintain and support liver health, and acts as a hepatoprotectant to protect the liver. Turmeric is also a strong antioxidant, which can reduce free radicals formed in the body. DEBLOAT: Fennel is traditionally used in western herbal medicine to relieve digestive discomfort and decrease, reduce, and relieve abdominal bloating and distention. Milk Thistle and Turmeric help promote bile secretion and flow, and relieve inflammation. uk.jshealthvitamins.com/
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F R A N K
R E C I P E S
Fuss Free Nutrition Francesca Klottrup Chef - Nutritional Therapist
E
ating well can be simple and affordable. All it requires is the knack of maintaining a well-stocked supply of staple ingredients. Utilising tinned, frozen, and dried foods can get you quite far in eating a balanced diet. Frozen vegetables are ideal in ensuring you stay on top of your 5-a-day. Long-life vegetables, like onions and garlic, give meals body. Tins of tuna or pulses are convenient protein. Dried wholegrain pasta and rice bulk out meals, and your fibre, and condiments (mustard or soy sauce) and dried spices (cumin, chilli flakes and even dried stock cubes) keep meals interesting. It can help keep the shopping lists streamlined and minimise food waste too. It also pays to have a slightly systematic approach when buying fresh ingredients. For example, opting for a few items that have a relatively long shelf life (eggs, yoghurt, cheese,smoked fish) will see you through the week.Always having a couple of green vegetables on hand (broccoli, spinach) for those minerals, fresh herbs to brighten and lift meals - but start off with only getting parsley (versatile) and coriander (for anything vaguely “exotic”).
You could invest in fresh basil but it bruises and wilts easily so there is less chance of it lasting (I’d opt for dried oregano for anything vaguely Italian). Always have fresh salad leaves (try rocket or watercress rather than the generic iceberg) and a tub of hummus to help take an unimaginative lunch up a notch. For the fruit bowl go for bananas (quick snack),lemons (to brighten flat dressings or sauces) and having a bag of frozen berries makes an easy topper to yoghurt (dessert) or porridge (breakfast). It might all sound rather formulaic but systemising your staples makes eating well conveniently easy.Here are some examples of flavourful, no fuss meals to create at home.
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Peasy Spinach Soup Whilst this soup comprises of freezer and store cupboard ingredients, it tastes refreshing and feels restorative with all these greens replenishing those vitamin and mineral stores. Serves 2
Ingredients 600g Frozen garden peas 300g Frozen baby leaf spinach 1 Large onion, finely sliced 2 Garlic cloves, crushed 1 Vegetable stock cube, mixed with 500ml hot water 150ml Oat milk Sea salt & cracked black pepper Olive oil Pinch ground nutmeg 4 tbsp Oat based crème fresh Place the peas in a large bowl. Boil the kettle and pour the hot water over the peas to defrost them. Sauté the onion in a large saucepan with a lid. Once the onions have softened add the garlic and cook for a further minute. Next add the frozen spinach and stir around for 5 minutes to help it start defrosting.
Add the stock and keep on a medium heat for 5 minutes with the lid on. Drain the peas and add them to the saucepan and continue heating the soup base for a few minutes (don’t overcook the peas otherwise they’ll lose their vibrant green colour). Blend the mixture adding the oat milk until smooth and season. Reheat the soup and serve with a spoonful of crème fraiche, sprinkle of nutmeg and any nuts and seeds you have lying around.
Notes: The frozen spinach can be replaced for fresh (just don’t cook it as long), the oat milk for cow’s milk and if you want to take the level of nourishment up a level use bone broth instead of vegetable stock. Allergens: Cautionary note for gluten with oat milk
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Red Pepper & Almond Romesco Pasta
This velvety all-in-one sauce requires zero cooking and delivers a great dose of vitamin C and healthy fats. It’s been added to pasta here, but it would work just as well with gnocchi or poured over a tray of roasted veg. Serve with a portion of steamed greens to balance the peppers sweetness.
Serves 2 – makes 700g of sauce
Ingredients 2 Jars of roasted peppers – 500g drained 150g Whole almonds 90ml Olive oil 1 ½ tbsp Sweet smoked paprika 1 tbsp Sherry vinegar 2 tbsp Parsley, chopped Sea salt & black pepper
This velvety all-in-one sauce requires zero cooking and delivers a great dose of vitamin C and healthy fats.
250g Spaghetti Put a medium saucepan of salted water on to boil. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, add the peppers, almonds, oil, paprika, vinegar and salt and pepper to a blender and puree to create a sauce. Decant to a bowl. Drain the pasta, drizzle a little of olive oil over it and season with salt and pepper. Mix the romesco sauce through the pasta and garnish with parsley. Notes: Flaked or blanched almonds would work equally as well. To improve the digestibility of the nuts soak them in water overnight, rinse then puree. It’s removes phytic acid – an anti-nutrients that can bind to dietary nutrients and prevent them from being absorbed.
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Mixed Bean Medley
It’s undecided if the best things about this recipe is its versatility or that that the only real effort it requires is locating your tin opener. You can use any mixture of beans and pulses and should you fancy you could add leaves, seeds, crumbled cheese or strips of chicken. This base already offers lots of fibre and plant-based protein to keep you full and energised. Serves 2-4
Ingredients 1 Tin (400g) black-eyed beans, drained 1 Tin (325g) sweetcorn, drained 1 Tin (400g) butterbean, drained 1 Tin (400g) haricot beans, drained 1 Tin (400g) chickpeas, drained ½ Large cucumber, diced 15g Dill, finely chopped 15g Flat leaf parsley, finely chopped Handful of salad leaves 1 ½ tbsp Dijon mustard 1 Large lemon, juice & zest 90ml Olive oil Sea salt & black pepper Mix the beans and cucumber together in a large bowl. Mix the mustard, oil and lemon in small bowl and season. Stir the dressing mixture through the beans and sprinkle the herbs through. Add the salad leaves. Notes: The beans can be gently heated in a saucepan before mixing though the dressing for something more warming. Allergens: mustard
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Tomato Lentil Curry Fragrant rather than spicy, this easy to prepare curry only requires some basic prep then it’s left to work it’s own magic. The lentils are already rich in plant-based protein but you could go further an add chicken, beef, prawns or paneer – the poached egg is a firm favourite as a runny yolk adds a luxurious finish and keeps things easy to digest.
Serves 4 Ingredients 1 Large onion, finely sliced 1 Vegetable stock cube, mixed with 250ml hot water 2 Large garlic cloves, crushed 2 Large bay leaves, dried or fresh 2 400g Tins green lentils 500g Red lentils 3 tbsp Garam Masala 250g Cherry tomatoes, kept whole 2 400g Tins plum tomatoes 2 400g Tins coconut milk, full fat Olive oil Salt and black pepper
Continue heating to toast the lentils and spices but keep stirring to prevent the ingredients sticking. Add the stock, letting this absorb before adding the plum tomatoes and coconut milk. Season and simmer for 10 minutes. Lightly dress the green lentils in olive oil, season with salt and pepper and add them to the pan. Continue cooking for a further 10 minutes then serve, topping with a poached egg, spoonful of yoghurt and sprigs of coriander. Notes: This is perfect for freezing, so make a double batch. The lentil base makes this suitable for blending to turn any leftovers into a thick velvety soup.
Garnish Fresh coriander Poached egg Greek yoghurt
Allergens: Egg, dairy (garnish only)
Sauté the onion in wide based saucepan in olive oil until it has turned soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute before adding the garam masala, red lentils and cherry tomatoes. www.thefrankmagazine.com
Francesca Klottrup Chef - Nutritional Therapist
www.francescaklottrup.com @francescaklottrup Photos byFrancesca Klottrup
F R A N K
L O V E S
Let's Get Grounded CUTTING THE CR*P THIS YEAR GROUNDED PURE PLANT POWER M*ILKSHAKES
GROUNDED, a new London based 100% natural food and drinks brand, step into the light this Veganuary with their plant-based protein m*Ilkshakes. Made with coconuts, not cows and available in two flavours: m*lk chocolate and mint choc, each shake is crammed full of pure plant power. No nasties. Nothing artificial. Just real ingredients straight from the ground. ''We’re GROUNDED. We believe if you mess with nature, it’ll probably mess with you. So we don’t. Which is why our shakes are crammed full of pure, plant power and absolutely nothing else. Our drinks are 100% natural, with absolutely no hidden nasties. Our CHOCOLATE PROTEIN M*LKSHAKE is made using fairtrade, organic cocoa powder and creamy coconut milk. Our MINT CHOC PROTEIN M*LKSHAKE is made using fairtrade, organic cocoa powder, pure peppermint oil and creamy coconut milk. '' * Skimmed milk typically contains 5g of sugar per 100ml. Grounded’s protein m*lkshakes contain 4.9g of sugar per 100ml.
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“At GROUNDED we’re all about cutting the cr*p. As a space synonymous with health and fitness, it’s mind boggling how many products sacrifice real, quality ingredients, for ‘too-good-to-be-true’ nutritional info. Especially at this time of the year, there’s a real need for a clean, genuinely natural, plantbased option, so our m*lkshakes have come just at the right time.”. Gabriel Bean, Founder.
“We know this is the most natural plantbased protein drink out there, we challenge you to find a better tasting one too." Bryn Ferris, Co-founder.
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H E A L T H
C O A C H
“Hey Siri… How much protein in an egg?” Sandie Fredriksson teaches busy women how to lose weight in a way that feels freeing and sustainable. She also takes an empowering approach to ageing well, with her 8 week plan ‘Healthy Habits for Life’.
By Sandie Fredriksson
?
Whether from animal sources, plants or powders, we all include protein in our diets, but are we getting enough? Sandie explains the role of this essential macronutrient, how much to target and why the older we get, the more it matters.
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I
want you to know how much protein you’re getting because the truth is, most women don’t get enough of it. Even those that are focussed on making healthy choices are often falling worryingly short - and actually, previous to my career as a health coach, I was one of them. I’d start my day with avocado on toast and pat myself on the back for my low-calorie lunchtime veggie soup or salad. Much like many of my clients (and perhaps you), it wasn’t until the evening chicken breast, salmon or steak that protein finally took its turn in the spotlight. But then I trained as a nutritional chef and realised how little attention I’d been giving to this vital part of my diet. It was a light bulb moment when in one of my very first classes, the lecturer called protein the ‘hero’ ingredient on a plate. “The word protein is derived from proteios; the Greek word meaning of primary place,” she said. “The clue’s in the name!”
“What’s all the fuss about protein?” Here’s the science-y bit (I’ll keep it short!). Proteins are composed of chains of amino acids, which play a part in just about every process in your body, from repairing damaged cells to manufacturing all our wonderful hormones, like estrogen, insulin and thyroid. Your body is incredibly smart and can naturally produce eleven of the twenty amino acids it needs to function. So, what about the other nine? Well, your body relies on you consuming those in your diet, and it needs you to do that every single day. For the most part, the human body has no specialised cells to store protein efficiently, as it does for fat and carbohydrate. That’s what makes the ‘every day’ part so important. Ridges in your nails, flaky skin and hair loss can all be visible signs your body may not be getting all the protein it needs. But what about the symptoms we can’t see? Neglecting this key macronutrient also means neglecting your immune system, which relies on the protein you eat to function properly. The past year has reminded all of us that as we age our defence system ages with us - but it’s not just about fighting a new coronavirus.
TOP TIP: If you find that woolly sock season brings with it a relentless carousel of runny nose, chesty cough, sore throat and fever, try upping the amount of protein in your diet. Many of my clients have found this simple change made a big difference to their winter resilience.
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“How do I know if I am getting enough?”
One natural ageing process you can easily reverse is Most health experts recommend a minimum of one gram muscle-loss, but you need to eat sufficient protein to do it. per kilogram of your healthy body weight per day, and if I appreciate that asking for help getting up out of your you are very active (especially weight training), you can chair after dinner might feel a long way off, but try not to bump that up to 1.5 to 2 grams. For example, I weigh 58 make this an ‘I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it’ situation. The medical term for muscle-loss is sarcopenia, kilograms and target 90 grams of protein a day. However, as I am now in the habit of skipping breakfast, which appropriately, albeit rather horrifyingly, comes from the Greek meaning ‘vanishing flesh’. Is it just me, or getting it all in does requires some deliberate planning. Organic eggs, Greek yoghurt, wild-caught fish and grass- are these Greek origin stories proving to be remarkably fed lean meats are my daily go-to sources, plus I also grab motivating? an extra 20 grams of protein with a protein powder most For further motivation, check out 74-year old fitness days. No longer reserved for the likes of athletes and influencer Joan MacDonald’s Instagram @trainwithjoan. bodybuilders, these supplements have gained If you love a before and after photo (I do!) you’ll love mainstream popularity – and for good reason. More on hers. Joan has captured the attention of over a million that later. followers while documenting her four-year health and A side note for the vegans and vegetarians amongst you. fitness journey and four-stone weight loss, proving it’s never too late to get stronger and leaner. Whilst I’m not Animal proteins are ‘complete proteins’ meaning they suggesting you match Joan’s 150 grams of protein a day contain all nine essential amino acids, yet many plant(she weighs around 60 kilos), I am urging you to based proteins are ‘incomplete’, having most but not all incorporate strength training in your age-well plan and nine. If you are following a plant-based diet look to combine your plant proteins to get the full complement of consume enough protein to fuel your efforts. nine essential amino acids. Just to chuck a little more metaphoric fuel on our ageing fires: the older we get, the harder it is for our bodies to make use of the protein we do eat. Something your PT will cleverly refer to as ‘anabolic resistance’. Simply put, If tracking your protein sounds like a tedious chore, try you just don’t make muscle like you used to. That’s why using Siri as your digital assistant: it takes your teenager a fraction of the effort it takes you to get leaner and stronger. It's also why the older you are, “Hey Siri, how much protein in 100 grams of chicken?” the more dietary protein you need. “There are about 26g of protein in 100g of chicken.”
TOP TIP:
My client’s love this time-saving hack, and yes, it works for chickpeas and lentils too.
“Why is protein so important as we get older? As you move into your fifties, fracture-proofing your body becomes a priority, but you may be surprised to learn that your bones start deteriorating long before that. Studies point to a positive effect of high protein intake on bone mineral density (alongside other key nutrients and regular resistance training). One of the most frustrating things about bone loss is that you cannot really reverse it. But fortunately, there’s a lot you can do today to hold on to what you already have, and starting in your forties is not too soon!
''As you move into your fifties, fractureproofing your body becomes a priority, but you may be surprised to learn that your bones start deteriorating long before that.''
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“Will protein help me lose weight?” It’s no secret that your metabolism starts slowing down in your forties. As the muscle moves out, the fat moves in! Every week I speak to women who tell me they’ve tried diet upon diet, losing weight only to pile it back on again. It’s a soul-destroying cycle, and one of the first steps I take to free them from it is to increase how much protein they eat. That’s right, I ask them to eat more, not less. For some reason people think dieting means eating as little as possible when what it really means is eating the right types of foods, especially protein. This helps to protect their muscle mass and metabolism; the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest. It also keeps them feeling full for longer because your body digests protein slowly. Of all the foods we eat, protein burns the most calories in the process of your body breaking it down. While it’s normal for our energy levels to fluctuate a little throughout the day, including protein at breakfast and lunch will help you avoid those mid-morning and 3pm energy slumps. You know, the ones that send you off on a frenzied hunt for something sugary and before you know it, you’ve blown through 200 calories on shortbread biscuits.
TOP TIP: For my clients who struggle when we reduce the size of their dinner plate, I recommend chewing slowly on a few bites of the protein element in their meal first. This helps them feel fuller sooner, and stops them from needing to go back for more.
“So, what about protein powders?” Over the past five years, these powders have transitioned from the gym to the kitchen and become a convenient, no-fuss way for women to top up their protein and meet their goal. Most standard servings of protein powder provide around 20g of protein for less than 100 calories, which is why I often include them as a valuable weight loss tool. But not all protein powders are created equal and what you don’t want to see on the label are things like sweeteners, chemicals and additives. If you are happy with a dairy-based powder, I recommend choosing an organic whey protein sourced from grass-fed cows (whey is a by-product of the cheese making process). However, my favourite, and the most popular with my clients, is Nuzest’s Vanilla Clean Lean Protein - a pea protein formula with a complete amino acid profile. Just add nut milk or water, or both.
TOP TIP: Throw in a teaspoon of peanut butter, two walnuts and a square of dark chocolate for a delicious but healthy (and wonderfully protein-packed!) snickers-inspired shake. www.sandiefredriksson.com @thehealthyhabitscoach www.thefrankmagazine.com
''It’s a souldestroying cycle, and one of the first steps I take to free them from it is to increase how much protein they eat. That’s right, I ask them to eat more, not less.''
L I F E
C O A C H
The Wonders of Hygge (pronounced hoo-gah in simplistic terms)
By Kate Tilston
noun 1. a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture).
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I
n essence, hygge means creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with good people. The warm glow of candlelight is hygge. Cosying up with a loved one for a movie – that’s hygge, too. And there's nothing more hygge than sitting around with friends and family, discussing the big and small things in life. Perhaps hygge explains why the Danes are some of the happiest people in the world. I learnt about Hygge from a Danish client of mine some years ago as I explained to her how I actually liked to embrace the winter months rather than fight against them at which point she explained the concept of hygge and how it made a huge difference to her life. Hygge didn't originate in the Danish language but in old Norwegian where it meant something like "wellbeing." It first appeared in Danish writing around the end of the 18th Century and the Danes have embraced it ever since. One good thing about hygge is that you can apply it anywhere, and Danes allocate it generously to everything.
So, what is it about hygge that I think is particularly helpful to people right now, particularly during this winter lockdown? Firstly, having always embraced winter (not so much January and February) I have not struggled as much as many of my clients and friends have through the winter months. Let’s face it, as much as we love cold sparkly winters days where we can get out for a bracing walk, they are not as regular as we would like and often, we are left with grey, drizzly and dark days to somehow get through at a time of year when there doesn’t feel like a lot to look forward to anyway. Add into the mix a lockdown during a global pandemic and January and February, even March feel never ending. So, what if we took a leaf out of the Danes book and added some hygge elements to our lives? Could that make a difference? One of the great things about hygge is by making some small changes (mainly to attitude) it’s relatively easy to add into our lives and costs very little.
“If we think about the next couple of months where we need to stay in to stay safe, it seems to me that creating an environment and a way of being to make that time not just easier but positively cosy, has to be a good thing?”
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Firstly, it’s about creating the right environment and everything I’ve ever read about hygge mentions candles! Candles everywhere. Not scented candles but candles to provide a soft flickering light, that feeling of cosiness. Add to that a soft and snuggly blanket so that you can tuck up in the warm and feel like you are being hugged -(something we are all missing right now.) This last year, many of us have widened our range of “loungewear” or more “practical pyjamas” as we’ve stayed at home. Now is the time to really get the use out of those. Socks, leggings even leg warmers all fit the bill – it’s about comfort and cosiness and whatever that looks like for you, goes! As you can imagine, hygge style of eating is also about comfort but more importantly is about mindfulness, it’s about sharing the experience with friends and family and although we can’t necessarily do that right now, we can still be mindful about a) what we’re eating and b) creating a relaxing environment in which to do it. If you read books on hygge the Danes talk a lot about coffee & cake – their coffee shops are something else and its part of their culture, but they also talk about creating comforting soups, big bowls of stew sitting around a fire or tucked up in the warm– get the picture?
“hygge is a fantastic way to practice selfcare that feels achievable if you adopt certain elements of it.” www.thefrankmagazine.com
So, if we think about the next couple of months where we need to stay in to stay safe, where we will get out for exercise and some fresh air when we can, it seems to me that creating an environment and a way of being to make that time not just easier but positively cosy, has to be a good thing?
“One of the great things about hygge is by making some small changes (mainly to attitude) it’s relatively easy to add into our lives and costs very little.”
Here are some of the other things you can do to create that feeling of hygge; 1. cook a simple but nourishing dinner, eat it by candlelight and instead of having the TV on, listen to some music or chat to family members. 2. Buy yourself a bunch of flowers – they can be a bunch of daffodils that cost very little, but they will remind you spring is on the way. 3. Have a screen free evening – play a board game, listen to music or curl up with a good book. 4. Have a go at making something whether its baking, cooking or some sort of craft – it doesn’t matter how it turns out just enjoy the moment. 5. Have a film night/afternoon – get the popcorn in or whatever treat you fancy, snuggle up with the warm blanket and just indulge yourself for a while. 6. Head outside for a bracing walk whatever the weather and then come back in, have a hot bath and get cosy in your pyjamas even if it’s only 4 O’clock in the afternoon!
I think that right now, while the world is feeling crazy and sometimes like it’s spinning out of control, it’s ok to simplify things, to stop and look at how we take care of ourselves and to me personally, hygge is a fantastic way to practice self-care that feels achievable if you adopt certain elements of it. It won’t be for everyone and I’m sure there will be people who read this who have a different understanding of the concept BUT we are all learning to adapt, we are all learning how to be kinder to ourselves so if even a little bit of hygge (or something similar) creeps into your life, to me, it can only be a good thing.
Now I appreciate that this can all sound idyllic and that the reality is that when you are trying to manage a hectic life, perhaps home schooling whilst working from home or looking after vulnerable family, it might seem that there just isn’t the time to add these things into your life. I get that but take it from someone who has added bits and pieces of this lifestyle to her life and has talked with endless clients about the concept of hygge, it can make a big difference to Kate Tilston how you feel. Practical Life Coaching www.katetilston.co.uk kate@katetilston.co.uk www.thefrankmagazine.com
H E A L T H
&
W E L L N E S
CBD Oil For Anxiety What We Know & What We Don't Know Words Edward Buckwald
ANXIETY can manifest in different ways for different people. While stress may come and go with
other life events, anxiety is often a persistent feeling. Anxiety affects around one in six people in the UK. So if you are often struck with the feeling that everything is too much and you want to run away, don’t worry, you’re certainly not alone. Anxiety may also accompany depression, particularly when your feelings of anxiety make you want to avoid certain situations. The most common way to control your anxiety is to avoid the situation that is making you anxious. But this isn’t a sustainable method if you are anxious about things like work, school or social situations. There has to be a better way to take control of these feelings.
What treatment is available for anxiety? A visitor to your doctor may lead you down the route of guided self-help, cognitive behavioural therapy, or medication. The most common treatments for generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) are Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and Serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). These are both antidepressants that will alter your brain chemistry, increasing the “happy hormone” serotonin. Although these options will work for some people, they also have an extensive list of potential side-effects. You can read more about the potential side-effects here. Individuals seeking a more holistic approach may hear their friends and family recommending CBD oil. You should always consult with your GP before stopping antidepressant treatment and exploring other options. Canamis cannot offer medical advice. www.thefrankmagazine.com
How can CBD oil help with anxiety? Reducing your stress levels is considered to be an effective way to manage anxiety. This means different things for different people. Some will reduce their workload. Some will delegate tasks at home. And some will explore methods such as meditation and mindfulness to become more aware of their stress and how their body responds to it. CBD oil has also been suggested as a method for controlling stress and anxiety. CBD oil offers an alternative to modern pharmacological treatments for anxiety and depression. With very few potential side effects and no lasting side-effects that we know of, this could be a gentler solution that is closer to nature. This is why we created the Canamis Curated Collection for Balance. By embracing CBD oil in different forms, it becomes easier to work this into your daily routine. The CBD oil offers a ritual in self-care, the sweet strawberry gummies provide a mindful treat, and the soft gel capsules offer slow-release CBD that is just like taking a multivitamin.
What is CBD oil? CBD oil is extracted from the cannabis or hemp plant. It is one of around 113 cannabinoids discovered in the plant which are capable of interacting with the human endocannabinoid system. You can learn more about this interaction in our CBD guide. Many of our customers turn to CBD oil as a way to manage their stress and anxiety. Taking CBD oil is an incredibly mindful act of self-care that complements activities like meditation and exercise. So even if you don’t feel an immediate sense of calm from taking CBD oil, there is benefit in the increased awareness you feel and in developing a wellness routine.
In 2015, a team of researchers from the New York University School of Medicine and the Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante carried out a study exploring CBD oil as a potential treatment for anxiety. They explored preclinical, human experimental, clinical, and epidemiological studies and found that there was good evidence that CBD is effective for treating generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2019, researchers across the United States published a study into the use of CBD for sleep and anxiety. 72 adults who reported having anxiety and/or sleep problems participated in the study. 79.2% reported lower anxiety levels in the first month. 66.7% reported better sleep.
What we don’t know about CBD oil for anxiety If all of the studies have one thing in common, it's that they all state that more testing is required. CBD is safe for human consumption, but more research is required. At the moment, many CBD users rely on anecdotal evidence from their friends and family members and then discover they also like the results CBD can offer. We’re all for this word-of-mouth approach to healing, but a word of caution. CBD oil is not a magic solution to all of the problems under the sun. Be cautious of anyone trying to sell it to you in this way. We believe CBD oil is best seen as part of the journey to wellness, not a shortcut. This could mean improving your diet, introducing more exercise into your day, and embracing meditation or mindfulness to help you manage anxiety, stress and depression.
What do we know about CBD oil for anxiety? The interesting thing about CBD is that we are still learning about it. You can learn more about the potential uses for CBD oil by looking at the studies completed in the past few years canamis.com www.thefrankmagazine.com
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E D I T
ART HOUSE
Elegent pieces to brighten up any home VOGUE New York Summer Vogue Cover Print
LIGNE ROSET Les Oiseaux Ceramic Vase (33cm) Designed by esteemed French designer Pascal Mourgue, Ligne Roset’s Les Oiseaux presents a humorous twist on jugstyle vases. Mirroring its black bird emblem’s beak in its elongated spout, the enamelled ceramic design is reminiscent of pottery from antiquity yet feels fresh and contemporary.
Vogue’s vintage magazine covers of the 1920s and 1930s capture a moment in fashion history like no other, with the glitz and glamour of all-things Art Deco often reflected in the work of Spanish fashion illustrator and painter Eduardo García Benito. This framed iteration, titled New York in Summer, made its debut in the month of July 1926, and depicts a woman gazing at her compact mirror in order to perfect her red lip.
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FORNASETTI Buongiorno/Buonanotte Vase (30cm) The Buongiorno/Buonanotte vase form Fornasetti is adorned with the face of none other than opera singer Lina Cavalieri – an enduring muse of the famously eccentric designer. One side of this sinuous piece showcases the singer wide awake while to the other she’s soundly asleep, creating an effect that directly corresponds to the name of this standout design.
VILLEROY & BOCH Iconic La Boule Set
SELETTI Love Edition Mouse Lamp Those with interiors of the eclectic kind – or even with living spaces in need of personality – will find a unique point of interest in this mouse-sculpted lamp form Seletti. Love is well and truly in the air with its rosy-hued façade; not forgetting, of course, the heart-shaped bulb within the creature’s clutches, illuminating any surrounding space with the universal shade of romance.
The term icon gets thrown around, but Villeroy & Boch crafts its Iconic La Boule set with an expert blend of modernity and classicism in pristine porcelain, cementing its status as a contemporary tableware mainstay. Its presence as a part of your table service is unrivalled, serving as a series of striking accents to your chosen tablecloth. Including a serving plate, plates, bowls and flat bowls, you can curate your dinner table to best showcase each eye-catching element.
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B O O K S
The READING List SIMON SAVIDGE, book reviewer and broadcaster known more often than not as Savidge Reads.
The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr (Hardback, Quercus, £18.99) If you are looking for an emotional epic to curl up with this month, then look no further. Set on the Mississippi plantation of Empty we meet Samuel and Isaiah, two men trying to survive enslavement. Two men who are also in love in a time before homosexuality had any labels. Slowly but surely Samuel and Isaiah become the focus of others on the plantation and as we spiral out to their individual narratives we see how, in some, misunderstanding leads to betrayal, lies, labelling, bigotry and devastation and how others simply accept the love as it is.
you all that this book, whilst having many glimmers of hope and being a testament to how we continue to love despite all, will quite probably break you along the way. Be prepared to be haunted by The Prophets once you have read it.
Robert Jones Jr is a stunning writer. His characters come fully formed, flaws and all. The way he writes about the spectrum of love, and its sibling hate, is quite incredible. What is also quite spine tingling is that as you read his writing, and this novel, it gives voice to those silenced from the past. It’s like a choral voice of history pours through his fingers and onto the page. I don’t say this lightly, or often, The Prophets is a masterpiece. It has very quickly become one of my favourite books of all time. Though I should also forewarn
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Outlawed by Anna North (Hardback, W&N, £14.99)
READ ME
With little option left Ada becomes an outlaw, rather than a nun. She joins the infamous Hole in the Wall Gang, a motley crew who terrorise the towns surrounding them yet at heart are all folk who have been ostracised by society and even their loved ones. As Ada sets her sights on a way in which she believes she can help all women in the future, she agrees to be part of a heist so dangerous it could leave the whole gang dead. What follows is a gender bending, rip roaring, pistols at dawn escape that will have you gripped to the very end. I challenge you to a duel if you don’t read this in a sitting or two.
We all need a bit of an adventure and a good old romp at the beginning of the year don’t we? I can promise you Anna North’s third novel Outlawed will provide you with just that, in book form. Ada is a young woman newly married and enthralled by the excitement of it all. However, when she can’t conceive, after trying in ways she probably shouldn’t, she has to flee her hometown. For it is the year 1894, where women who can’t conceive are deemed witches and hanged.
I should add I am slowly but surely falling in love with modern western novels, something I never thought I would say, especially those written with a modern eye like this. How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang is another such book I would highly, highly recommend and I am looking forward to getting to Tea Obreht’s Inland in the not-too-distant future. Yee-haw!
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Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden (Hardback, Canongate Books, £14.99)
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Death is not who you think she is. She is a black, workingclass woman, who shape-shifts as she goes about doing the business she was simply born to do. She is also utterly exhausted. Eternity is a long time and she has had enough. So, when she meets Wolf Willeford, a troubled and struggling young writer, she starts to tell him her stories and the book you have in your hands is in part the memoir that follows. You might think this all sounds a bit grim and depressing and, yes, it certainly often hits your emotions, especially as Mrs Death talks about her own grief. It is also a truly life affirming and celebratory book that brims with humour and love. There is an utter magic to Salena Godden’s writing which, funnily enough as she is a poet, has a poetry to it both when the novel is in prose and in verse. It is experimental but never alienating. Godden has created a fabulous, unforgettable novel that is quite unlike anything I have ever read before (and I read a lot, ha!) both with the story it tells and the way it is told. If anything, it is a book we all need at the moment because of the way it looks at all forms of grief and how it reminds us life is short and we must make the most of it.
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The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey (Paperback, Peepal Tree Press, £9.99)
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Whilst this novel has been out for a while, it has just won the Costa Book of the Year 2020 and so is sure to be gaining a much wider audience, of which you should certainly be one. The Mermaid of Black Conch is the mesmerising, gritty, fantastical tale of Aycayia, cursed hundreds of years ago for her beauty by a group of jealous wives. After centuries dwelling down in the depths of the sea she is drawn to a fisherman and his music. However, after mistaking a boat of American tourists for David’s, she is captured and what follows is a story of love, otherness and transformation. Though as we know all too often transformations are not always for the best, nor are they always permanent.
Roffey’s novel flips the mermaid tale (sorry!) on its head. There is absolutely not a pretty ‘Disney’ transformation ahead for you. It’s messy, painful and all too vivid… in a brilliant way. It’s also a book that has so many layered themes such as difference and otherness, folklore and cultural heritage, feminism and the history of slavery, as well as the power and nature of, well, nature. You’ll fall in love with it, with David, Aycayia and Miss Rain. You’ll also love to loathe Priscilla. I think 2021 is going to see a boom in Caribbean fiction, to get ahead of the trend make sure you head to Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud which I adored when I read it last year. I shall also be picking up How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones very soon.
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A love affair with Italian food INSTABOX THE MOST EXCLUSIVE ITALIAN INGREDIENTS, INSPIRED BY SOME OF THE BEST CHEFS, INFLUENCERS COOKS AND RESTAURANTS IN THE WORLD, DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR DOOR.
FF
ounded In 2020, a natural progression of Delitalia, instabox Italian food boxes have been created to deliver the UK’s love affair with Italian food to your front door with the help of leading Italian chefs, cooks, influencers, experts and authors. For hundreds of years Italians have been joyfully feeding inhabitants of the British Isles. As early as the tumultuous 18th century, Italian “Eating Houses” started to appear in Piccadilly, Soho and the burgeoning Italian community of Farringdon. The 1930’s witnessed the arrival of the first Pizzeria, arguably an enormous moment in the history of British eating habits. But it was the 1960’s when the trattoria revolution helped to lift a grey, bedraggled postwar nation out of its economic and social slump into an exciting era of dining. Visionary restauranteurs, such as Mario Cassandro and Franco Lagatolla introduced British diners not only to a more authentic approach to eating Italian, but also to Italian style, design and “La Bella Vita”
Meet the team left to right... Jo - ingredients expert. Joe Hurd - media and culinary expert. Becca - logistics expert. Combined these guys are here to create the most amazing experience delivered in a box..... an Instabox
In our lifetime we saw Italian food redefine itself yet again, under a talented quorum of cooks and chefs alike. The great names of Carluccio, Contaldo, Locatelli, and countless others only known to their staff and millions of patrons, propelled Italian food into a new, simpler, authentic era that brought the heeled peninsular closer than ever to British diners, both in the restraunt and at home. Heavy sauces and ziggurats of pasta were out, replaced with dishes of vegetables that received a simple benediction of olive oil possibly from the verdant regions of Liguria or Tuscany. Regional fish soups, plates of delicate prosciutto paired with sweet Amalfi peaches and the lightest ravioli and tortellini replaced the heavier excesses of the carb laden dishes that went before.
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What you will receive... x4 250g Neapolitan Dough Balls (Frozen), 500g Riscossa Spaghetti, 500g Fior di Agerola Fior Di Latte Cheese, 700g STAR Pummaro, 250g Mulinello Fennel Salsiccia, 300g Aprilatico in Crema, 420g Casa Marazzo Grilled Peppers 1 ka Arborio Rice
GIVEAWAY! Win an Instabox... Look out for our Instagram post Italian food truly emerged as the diet associated with health, wellbeing, long life and good times.
When the Cornavirus hit and clients in hospitality began to close, an unprecedented moment in the history, Delitalia were forced to reinvent the wheel and make our products available, to you, through instabox, so the beauty of Italian eating, and entertaining didnt have to stop all together We have a range of boxes some we have created ourselves, designed around our favourite dishes, regions and ingredients, others by our friends in the industry. Whether you are looking to create the perfect plate of pasta with the sweetest tomatoes grown on the slopes of Vesuvius, risottos using world class rice from the alpine plains below Piedmont; thick, rich ragus with fresh Sicilian sausages or the lightest Neapolitan pizza speckled with fior di latte cheese from the mountains of Campania, we think we can sort you out. Likewise if you want to take a wine flight from Calabria to Friuli, or just plan an awesome night in with a big plate of antipasto, olives, pepperonata, hand stretched grissini and a bottle of franciacorta, we can also help out there.
At instabox we think that we are part of this simple story of feeding people the best Italian produce. Its true that 2020 has brought new challenges, monumental challenges perhaps, but while the doors of your favourite Ristorante Check out @instabox_uk and be part of the next, exciting evolution of Italian food. and Trattoria, or that Pizzeria you and the family treat yourselves too on a Friday night, remain closed, we think we can help. Instabox was the brainchild of the team at Delitalia, a company founded by Martino Mainiero, 2 other colleagues and his right hand lady, Jo 16 years ago. Since its founding, Martino’s love of Italian food, culture and entertaining have been an important part of the UK’s Italian dining scene. Supplying all Italian restaurants from the local trattoria, to the very top, fine dining establishments, his knowledge and passion for great Italian food and drink have been instrumental in the success of the company and to a degree, the UK’s impressive representation of the Italian cuisine.
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F R A N K
L O V E S
Frank the Francophile THE BUREAU Within the French secret service, one department knows as the DGSE manages the missions of all undercover operatives working under fake identities to identify intelligence sources. After 6 years undercover in Syria, agent "Malotru" is called back home. He will face the difficulty to forget his undercover identity, the disappearance of a colleague in Algeria & the training of a young girl. Starring Mathieu Kassovitz, Sara Giraudeau, Léa Drucker
SPIRAL In French with English subtitles. Eager to restore her tarnished reputation, Police Captain Laure Berthaud leads her squad on the hunt for a serial killer. Judge Roban uncovers under-the-table financing organized by someone close to the French president. Prosecutor Pierre Clement goes into private practice... with Josephine Karlsson.
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Call My Agent At a top Paris talent firm, agents scramble to keep their star clients happy -- and their business afloat -- after an unexpected crisis. Starring: Camille Cottin,Thibault de Montalembert,Grégory Montel Creators:Fanny Herrero
LUPIN Inspired by the adventures of Arsène Lupin, gentleman thief Assane Diop sets out to avenge his father for an injustice inflicted by a wealthy family. Starring: Omar Sy, Ludivine Sagnier, Clotilde Hesme Creators: George Kay
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F R A N K
L O V E S
Blue Notes
Reach out the old fashioned way with these gorgeous note cards.
JENNA HydrangeaVase of blue flowers Pack of 6 £20
PAPIER Piscine Lunar Notecard Set £20.00 for 10
SLEEPY BEE STUDIO Tissue Wrapped Ethereal Stationery Set £20
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SMYTHSON Thank You Floral Notelets £27
SMYTHSON Nile Blue Kings Correspondence Cards £12
SARA MILLER Parrots Note Cards, Pack of 10 £8.00
MARBY AND ELM Lockdown letter writing paper set. A5 headed sheets, 2 follow-on sheets and 6 envelopes. Navy pack of 6 £12.95 www.thefrankmagazine.com
F R A N K
I N T E R I O R S
Positive Home Projects How to Brighten Your Space & Your Mood By Lisa Dawson
Even without the added bonus of a worldwide pandemic, the first few months of the year always feel endless. Our bank accounts are feeling fragile thanks to the joys of festivity, not to mention ourselves. The weather is generally rubbish, it’s cold and windy and sitting on the sofa watching Netflix is extremely appealing whenever a free moment occurs. But fear not. It’s the most excellent time to embark on home projects and there are several good reasons for this. One, it’s warm and cosy in your house. You don’t need to/can’t leave it anyway in most cases, so combining the benefits of your central heating with a productive job is a winner on all counts. Two, you are close to the kitchen and therefore, the coffee maker and fridge. These are essentia components of both large and small DIY jobs. And finally three, it’s pretty much a cost free activity. Most importantly, just little updates can have a big impact on the way that you feel.
So what can we do to refresh our homes and bring some sunshine to these months of gloom? And more importantly, how can we make a difference without splashing the cash? Here are my Top Three tips to help you ditch the Winter blues and brighten up your spaces.
''Take a good look at your furniture and how you are using it. Furniture isn’t meant to stay put.'' www.thefrankmagazine.com
Edit What You’ve Got This, I can assure you, is an extremely invigorating task. Edit those accessories, reassess those rugs and shuffle that sideboard - looking at what you’ve got and how you can utilise it to its best is actually very good fun. Concentrate on one room at a time. Strip the shelves, empty the cupboards and lay it out all in front of you. Ask yourself three important questions. 1) Do you still love it? 2) Do you still love it but don’t feel as if it fits what you’re trying to achieve in the room? And finally, 3) Do you really NOT love it anymore?
Divide into three piles. Keep the pile that you still love and want to incorporate into your space. Take the pile that you still love but that isn’t working, put it in a box and store it in the Holding Area. Everyone has a Holding Area. It might be a cupboard, it might be a garage, it might be the loft - it’s where you put things that you’ve lost the love for but can’t quite bring yourself to ditch. And then finally, take the items that you no longer love (not even a little bit) and donate, sell or rehome (or do as I often do and stick them in your WhatsApp group to see if any of your friends want to rehome them). Only repositioning the items you keep means that you’ll only be surrounding yourself with things that really sing to you.
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Rearrange Your Space Take a good look at your furniture and how you are using it. Furniture isn’t meant to stay put. It may fit nicely into one space, but it’ll look just as good in another with the added bonus of giving your room a completely new look. If you’ve got two downstairs spaces - a living room and a dining room - why not try a swap? You’ve got nothing to lose (apart from your patience if you need your partner to assist you. I have never moved a piece of furniture with my husband without wanting to physically drop the piece of furniture on his head). Even just moving the position of the sofa can be mood enhancing. Plus, in my case, encourage you to hoover. I regularly swap side tables and rugs from room to room because why not? New position equals a new look and a feeling of satisfaction that you’ve made a change. The same applies to your lighting - by swapping a table lamp for a floor lamp, you’ll free up space and create the possibility of a new look. Sideboards can double up as bookshelves, bookshelves can double up as picture ledges, picture ledges can double up as book display shelves. It’s a real mood enhancer to feel as if you’ve made a change for the better.
''Check out what you’ve got in your old paint store and see if any of those pots would be a good option for an upcycle. '' www.thefrankmagazine.com
Look around your home and work out what you'd like to change. I’m not talking extensions or hardcore structural changes - I’m talking furniture that is making your eyes bleed, walls that need a lick of paint (perhaps a colour pop), a hallway that could do with the wow factor, even a chipped picture or mirror frame that could do with smartening up. Check out what you’ve got in your old paint store and see if any of those pots would be a good option for an upcycle. It’s all about making the most of what you already have, looking at it with fresh eyes and most of all, embarking on a mini project that will boost your happiness levels and focus your attention which is so important in these times of madness. So those are my top tips for updating your home without spending the cash. Just these small changes can be truly mood boosting and creating a home that makes you smile is an excellent boost to happiness levels.
Make Good What You’ve Got. With solid moves towards sustainable living and with, in many cases, more time on our hands due to lockdown restrictions, repurposing and upcycling what you already have is a truly satisfying task. My list of items which are ready for action this lockdown fills a full A4 page and ranges from dressers through to chests of drawers with everything in between, including plant pots, vases and lamp bases. Your space, your home, needs to make you feel comfortable and happy. It needs to reflect you and it needs to make you feel good. www.thefrankmagazine.com
THE FRANK DIRECTORY
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THE FRANK DIRECTORY
SKIN ALCHEMISTS
Beauty AMLY BOTANICALS
Raw cacao known as "food of the Gods" in ancient South American cultures is rich in antioxidants, high in magnesium, vitamin C and the fatty acid Omega 6, promoting cell repair and rejuvenation, a benefit doubled by the added unrefined Cocoa butter. Our raw cacao is ceremonial grade and sourced directly from a female farmer in St Lucia.
Co-founders Lisa Smallpeice and Kerry Moore knew that by weaving together their individual areas of expertise and knowledge they could create a very special and deeply effective beauty and wellbeing line unlike any other.
@AMLYBOTANICALS
@SKINALCHEMISTS
GLOVED HAND CARE
Active-Hydrate Hand Wash and Instant-Absorb Hand Lotion bound together in one, highly giftable, set. Pairings to give some much needed TLC this winter, fully recyclable and single use plastic free
FFERN
@GLOVEDHANDCARE
Raw cacao known as "food of the Gods" in ancient South American cultures is rich in antioxidants, high in magnesium, vitamin C and the fatty acid Omega 6, promoting cell repair and rejuvenation, a benefit doubled by the added unrefined Cocoa butter. Our raw cacao is ceremonial grade and sourced directly from a female farmer in St Lucia.
@FFERN.CO
CANAMIS CBD
At Canamis, our goal is to create the industry’s leading range of CBD products and make them accessible to all. Our founder, Edward Buckwald, with 25 years as a respected and trusted osteopath has researched, developed and seen first-hand the enormous benefits of CBD and now shares his experience and vision for this exciting new CBD company.
ANCIENT + BRAVE
and skin from within.
@CANAMISCBD
CRYSTAL EARTH HOLISTIC HAIR
Crystal Earth XTAL Crystal coded, luxury, vegan haircare, free from sulphates, parabens + silicones At Crystal Earth we believe that as custodians of the planet, we must do all we can to take good care of it, while also nurturing our own wellbeing.
True Collagen Powder True Collagen provides easily digestible, highly absorbable and clinically researched Type 1 hydrolysed collagen peptides. A real hero supplement for active lifestyles, fasting protocols and beauty rituals to effortlessly nourish the body
@ANCIENTANDBRAVE
PEEP CLUB EYES
The Eye Wand is a highly innovative technology that has changed the game when it comes to solving dry eyes. It heats up to 42C in less than a minute. It gently massages under eyes to promote circulation and unblock your Meibomian Glands – a leading cause of dry eyes
@CRYSTAL.EARTH. @PEEPCLUBEYES
HOLISTIC.HAIR
SAINT IRIS ADRIATICA
Skin wellness for modern life. Blissful, naturally active skincare powered by pure botanicals and ADRIATIC™ sea remedies. Cruelty free British made
OLIVIEREWILSON
@SAINTIRISADRIATICA
Ice Sticks - for Tighter, Brighter skin! Designed to lift, sculpt and tighten the skin. Cold therapy has been proven to encourage circulation, dial down redness and reduce puffiness. Cold therapy activates the production of collagen and elastin in the dermis and increases oxygen delivery. This increase's the skin's ability to rejuvenate itself and appear more firm and toned.
@OLIVIEREWILSON
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“Breath is life. It is an astonishingly simple wisdom.” Tamsin Calidas
Photograph by Liddie Holt
