I bought the April issue of Belgian ELLE yesterday to get inspiration for this post. You know, to get a feeling what’s trendy in April. As I flipped open the magazine, out flew a special-themed ELLE-leaflet called “Spécial Ménopause“. So here’s your spring inspiration: eat a lot of calcium.

Since the magazines are not being helpful, herewith my own list for things in April:

When Steve Bannon goes skin-deep aka “Wear sunscreen”

It’s Easter so it’s kind of the season for people to see Jesus and Virgin Mary make an appearance on their toast etc. Imagine my Easter-horror when I saw Steve Bannon’s face appear on my décolletage. See, I exposed my skin to the sun the past week. For two days. Wearing Japanese +50 SPF and a sartorial equivalent to a burka. Despite all possible measures taken (except for completely staying indoors), my chest has gone all Bannon – red, irritated, itchy, just not good. In addition to the tips below, I’m retreating back to my coffin and shall reappear some time in September.

Tried & tested for sun-irritated skin: 

For cleansing: Mahalo The Unveil Cleanser if you’re super sensitised. If you manage a bit more grit, go for Odacité’s Green tea matcha/spirulina powder that turns into a lovely mousse when you add water. Gentle, effective. 

For toning: Linné Renew Serum. You will not want to live without this once you try it. 100% natural, fights wrinkles and Bannon-situations with hyaluronic acid, tomato and vitamin E.

For moisture: May Lindstrom’s The Blue Cocoon in the evening, de Mamiel Daily Hydrating Nectar SPF 30 in the morning.

For fun: Patchology’s Flashpatch Hydrating Lip Gels. Individually packaged, gelly mouth-shaped patches you put on your mouth and keep there for about 5 minutes if you manage to be quiet for that long. Meant to hydrate the lip area. More for fun insta-pictures, if you ask me. 

April reading

March was a good reading month. (Almost) every evening too cold to sit on a terrace with rosé in hand was spent reading. Herewith something I can recommend to take you into April:

​Christine Mangan: Tangerine. An unsettling psychological debut (unsettling as in it left me unsettled, I was quite sure until the very last moment that the two friends were actually one and the same person). Thriller about friendship and obsession. Set in Tangier, Morocco. Read an excerpt here.

Gail Honeyman: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. I was not sure I would like the book when I first picked it, but it is actually very good. Deals with many of the millennial societal issues we’re confronted by the press daily: loneliness, mental illness, unfulfilment at work. A very fresh and contemporary take on these. Set in Glasgow, Scotland, which adds a nice touch (if only for the accent).

​Meg Wolitzer: The Female Persuasion. I have actually not yet finished this, but it is an almost comically witty despite the subject matter, which is power, womanhood, feminism. It is kind of a coming-of-age story of a college student who discovers feminism via a guru who holds a lecture at her university. Nice references to Gloria Steinem and such superstars. Much more than your regular campus novel. And again, the language is fabulously witty.

Jaron Lanier: Dawn of the New Everything. I had to include one geeky non-fiction about artificial intelligence and virtual reality. This one is the latest by the unbeatable Lanier, whose earlier books I’ve also written about. You will not be disappointed should you have an interest in this subject matter. A philosophical and mind-expanding take on the device called virtual reality and what it really is. And means. 

Other:

– French Vanity Fair run a long interview with Charlotte Gainsbourg and her husband and there’s Kylie Minogue’s Proust questionnaire in the end. 

– Trendy plants. See picture. You cannot take a photograph without a trendy plant these days. Goes well with Marie Kondo’s cleaning bibles (I still have not done spring-cleaning. Have not yet decided whether to aim for ​sparking joy or to go for hygge, lykke or lagom. I did vacuum yesterday, though).

– Easter chocolates sales. Yes, this is a thing. 

– Sun. In moderation (see Steve Bannon- comments above).