April Lifestyle Edit
How to lose yourself in entertainment, eat well, be charitable and savour little luxuries this April
Breakfast...
... Matilda Goad Breakfast Set
London-based creative Matilda Goad spent her formative years in fashion and floristry, assisting Venetia Scott at British Vogue and florist Melissa Richardson at JamJar Flowers before venturing into interiors. Her Breakfast Set, created in collaboration with Matches.com, has just gone online. Sweet and cheerful, for sun-strewn mornings.
Art fix...
... #ArtistSupportPledge
Artists have found themselves without work, teaching, technical support and gallery work, but the art community is rallying to hold each other up. This scheme sees artists post pictures of their work for sale, costing £200 or less, with the hashtag #artistsupportpledge. For every five sales an artist makes, or £1,000, they then pledge to purchase a work from a fellow artist, continuing the flow of sales. A wonderful way to support our emerging creatives.
Click here for more information
Image: Matthew Burrows Studio
Read...
... Raven Smith's Trivial Pursuits
Smith's debut non-fiction title switches between autobiographical and investigational, and is utterly hilarious, punctuated with moments of beauty.
'When I get to the pearly gates of heaven, will a viral tweet count for or against my entry?'
Listen...
... Khruangbin
Soft, wistful soul infused with Thai funk. Utterly unique, and sweet validation that in dark times such as now, music can sustain us.
Listen to our favourite track on Spotify here
Little luxury...
... Bella Freud socks
Swap slick trainers for a pair of cosy, stylish socks. Bella Freud expresses her long-standing admiration for the music of Bob Marley with these white socks, which are patterned with intarsia motifs that reference the Jamaican artist’s songs.
Donate...
... to food banks.
With the frenzied stock-piling and the stripped supermarket shelves of recent weeks, food bank donations are dwindling at a rapid and worrying rate. The Trussell Trust is a nationwide network of food banks providing emergency food supplies and support to those living in poverty, and needs your help more than ever.
Click here for more information
Tend...
... your urban sanctuary
In this moment of crisis, nurturing new life restores our sense of hope. Whether ordering leafy houseplants or tending to your outdoor sanctuary with the sun on your skin, gardening feels like a luxury.
Read our guide to making the most of London gardens, from bijou balconies to soulless cement blocks here.
Beauty buy...
... Grown Alchemist Limited Edition Intensive Body Hydration Kit
A boon for dry, intensely scrubbed hands and thirsty skin, courtesy of Persian rose, argan extract, açai and pomegranate. It's the little things.
Eat...
... pasta delivery boxes from Pasta Evangelists.
Beef tortelloni with fresh black truffle butter and hazelnut crumbs, porcini and wild mushroom lasagne, prawn and chilli ravioli with grissini crumb, samphire and sage butter... Sound good to you? Pasta Evangelists delivers mouthwatering artisanal pasta straight to your home. We've tried it, and it lives up to the hype.
Click here for more information
Wear...
... Raey's long belted cardigan
A perfect hybrid of dressing gown, shawl and cardigan, we have our eye on this beauty from Matches' in-house brand Raey. In a choice of five colourways, it comes in at a cool £595, but you'll be living in it these coming months for cosy mornings and cool evenings.
TV...
... Killing Eve, BBC One
Not one, but two wickedly smart and stylish Phoebe Waller-Bridge phenomena land on our television screens this month. Killing Eve Season Three airs week by week on BBC One at 9pm on Sundays, starting on 19 April.
And as if the return of dark angel Villanelle isn't enough, another project from Waller-Bridge drops on 15 April. Run is a comedy-drama about a former couple (Merritt Wever and Domhnall Gleeson) who leave their dissatisfying lives behind them.
On stage (on screen)...
Thanks to the National Theatre's NT Live programme, there's a large archive of thrilling theatre shows captured live on film. As a special concession during closures and quarantine, the National Theatre are making the productions available to stream for free on YouTube. Starting from 7pm on Thursday 2 April a new show will be broadcast each week.
Click here for more information
Cookbook...
... Falastin
A colourful love story documenting a childhood full of flavour from Palestinian Sami Tamimi, Ottolenghi's executive chef, along with his colleague Tara Wigley. Recipes include Hassan's Easy Eggs with za'atar and lemon, fish kofta with yoghurt, sumac and chile, pulled lamb schwarma sandwich, flatbreads, and labneh cheesecake with roasted apricots, honey and cardamom. A must for every keen (or budding) cook.
Beauty buy...
... Trinny London BFF Cream
Most of us are forgoing makeup in favour of fresh, bare faces to give our skin a break as we shelter indoors, but we mustn't forget that all important SPF. Trinny London's BFF cream can be worn alone or beneath foundation, and is the secret to subtly radiant, glowing skin.