When my visa to move overseas finally got approved, after many years and lots of false starts, I immediately called my mum and shared the exciting news. There was a brief pause, then Mum cleared her throat. ‘Well, before you move out I need to clean your apartment, and especially […]
On 1st May this year, Johanita Dogbey, a 31-year-old Ghanaian British woman, was killed in broad daylight in Brixton, London. The man accused of attacking her, Mohamed Nur, a 33-year-old Somali British man, is currently in police custody and awaiting trial. Her death adds to a long list of Black […]
The idea of salt water being beneficial to the skin or body and using it in beauty or wellness treatments is known as thalassotherapy. Historical documentation talks about it as far back as 1725 in a number of different parts of the world. Fun fact: I have thalassophobia, which is […]
Long-distance relationships are nothing new but what about mid-distance relationships? Also known as ‘wanderlove‘, mid-distance dating comes with a similar set of challenges to the long-distance version. So what is mid-distance dating? While there’s no dictionary definition, it’s usually dating someone who doesn’t live in the same city as you […]
Seven-year-old me has been waiting for this day for a long time: the opportunity to dress up like a real-life mermaid. You could say that I’ve been in training — all those dress-up parties, Mermaid Barbie fashion shows and an Aquamarine phase, when I tried (fruitlessly) to highlight my dark […]
Welcome to Money Diaries where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We’re asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last penny. This week: “I’m a 31-year-old accountant based in London. I’m originally from Australia but moved to London […]
Thanks to our brains and our reflexes, a lot of us don’t have to think twice about breathing. It’s a relatively unnoticeable, usually monotonous, involuntary function that, unlike my needy Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, doesn’t often need our attention to live. We breathe in, we breathe out, you know the drill. […]
Content warning: This article discusses body image in a way that some readers may find distressing. For me, growing up fat was equivalent to being cursed. I certainly felt that in my late teen years, when I lost a lot of weight and people started treating me differently. The curse […]
I’ve been autistic my whole life, but I didn’t know it until late last year. Truthfully, I went through most of my life never even thinking about autism, because, as a woman, I never saw myself represented in autistic stories. It wasn’t until my mid-20s (when I began to get […]
Acne doesn’t discriminate — especially on where it decides to set up camp. The bumps can park on your face, appearing on your chin or cheeks. Or, they can pop up on other parts of your body — including your scalp. Even though it’s covered in hair follicles, the scalp […]
