The Gloss January 2016

RUBY WAX'S GOOD MENTAL HEALTH / THE DETOX HOLIDAY / A YEAR OF GUILT-FREE LIVING / THE NEW NOMADS

MAGAZINE JANUARY 2016

with THE IR

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ISH TIME

A GOOD

GLOSSIP FASHION’S NEW IDEAS FOR 2016

Purism. Sensuality. Intelligence.

To see what else bulthaup kitchens have to offer please visit our new and exclusive studio space on Dublin’s Hanover Quay. www.bulthaup-hanoverquay.ie

Realm Concepts Ltd. The Waterfront Hanover Quay. Dublin 2 Tel. 01 480 44 00 hello@realm.ie Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram @bulthaupHQ

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. Photo Michel Gibert. Photograph used as a reference only. With thanks to: TASCHEN, Inatable sculpture: Frédéric Nakache.

JANUARY 2016 NEXT ISSUE

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 4

INSIDE THIS ISSUE 13 HUNTING & GATHERING Lighten up with shades of mellow yellow

16 WHAT’S TRENDING IN 2016 Your glossy guide to pivotal cultural events and future style obsessions

21 FASHION’S NEW IDEAS Get acquainted with the coolest new designers, brands and stylists

26 MOODBOARD New year, fresh approach.

Susan Zelouf is tidying up

29 A YEAR OF HEALTHY LIVING Penny McCormick’s distinctly holistic approach to turning over a new leaf

32 FEEDING AN OBSESSION Sarah Breen on social media’s role in the rise of orthorexia

34 FREE YOUR MIND Living in a state of heightened stress?

Ruby Wax knows what to do

38 LET’S DO LUNCH Anne Harris talks Rising and repression with Diarmaid Ferriter

40 BEAUTY Terry de Gunzburg talks exclusively about science and your skin

42 FOOD Add zest to mid-winter with Trish Deseine’s lemon tart

44 TRAVEL Tim Magee flies to Tenerife in search of a detox

45 WINE A healthier lifestyle doesn’t have to mean going teetotal, writes Mary Dowey

46 BOOKS Emma Donoghue on adapting Room for the screen

47 THIS GLOSSY LIFE The nomadic lives of two travel-obsessed families

STAY IN TOUCH Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @theglossmag for around-the-clock updates, or Like THE GLOSS Magazine on Facebook. Find daily updates on our new website, www.thegloss.ie, and visit our new website www.lookthebusiness.ie for our latest business events, career and style advice.

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4 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

PUBL ISH E R

JAN E MC DON N EL L E DITOR

SARAH MC DON N EL L STY L E E DITOR

AI SLI N N COFFEY BE AUTY E DITOR

SARAH HAL LI WEL L A R T E DITOR

L AURA KEN N Y ASSISTA N T E DITOR – F E ATUR E S

SARAH B REEN ASSISTA N T E DITOR

HAN NAH P OP HAM A DVE R TISIN G SA L E S DIR E CTOR

TRACY ORMI STON CON TR IBUTIN G E DITOR S

Polly Devlin, Antonia Hart, Catherine Heaney, Penny McCormick, Katy McGuinness, Aoife O’Brien, Peter O’Brien, Therese Quinn, Luis Rodriguez, Natasha Sherling CON TR IBUTIN G PH OTOGR A PH E R S

Michael Dwornik, Neil Gavin, Renato Ghiazza, Olivia Graham, Neil Hurley, Lisa Loftus, Barry McCall, Joanne Murphy, Liam Murphy, Amelia Stein, Suki Stuart THE GLOSS welcomes letters from readers, emailed to letters@thegloss.ie. THE GLOSS is published by Gloss Publications Ltd, The Courtyard, 40 Main Street, Blackrock, Co Dublin, 01 275 5130. Subscriptions Hotline: 01 275 5130.

12 issues delivered directly to your address: Ireland: t49.50. UK and EU: t80. Rest of world: t115. Printed by Boylan Print. Colour origination by Typeform. Copyright 2015 Gloss Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. This magazine can be recycled either in your Green Bin kerbside collection or at a local recycling point.

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The stunning new Peugeot 208 is now available with a €3,000 scrappage allowance or €750 Peugeot customer reward for you to spend as you choose… €750 deposit contribution, 3 years free servicing, 3 years free road tax, Peugeot accessories or even that much-needed weekend away. You decide. See www.peugeot.ie for details.

Combined consumption (l/100 km): from 3.5 to 5.4. CO2 emissions (g/km): from 87 to 125.

Active city brake is available as option. (2) 5 years warranty is made up of 3 years manufacturer’s warranty and 2 years extended manufacturer’s warranty. (3) On registrations up to 31st January 2016. Peugeot 208 range RRSP from €14,845 plus delivery.

Finance Example: Peugeot 208 1.2 82bhp Allure. Retail Price† €19,590.60. Customer Deposit / Trade In €6,857. Finance Amount €12,733.60.

36 monthly payments of €175. Total Cost of Credit €881.89 which includes a documentation fee of €63.49. GMFV†† (Optional Final Payment) €7,252. APR 2.9% as at 22nd October 2015. Min deposit 10%. †Includes delivery & related charges. Model is shown for illustrative purposes only. ††Guaranteed Minimum Future Value (GMFV) is payable if you renew or retain the vehicle at the end of the agreement. Further charges may be applied by your Peugeot Dealer subject to kilometre limits / condition of the vehicle. *Lending criteria and conditions apply. Offer available on all new Peugeot 208 Allure models registered up to 31st January 2016 at participating dealers.

APR 2.9% which is inclusive of a documentation fee of €63.49. This is a Hire Purchase agreement provided by Bank of Ireland t/a Bank of Ireland Finance.

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~ GLOSS IP

Y R A U N JA

Preserving the humble THANK YOU LETTER ... shopping with the HORSEY SET ...

Dame Joan Collins does DOWNSIZING and up-and-coming Irish artists to WATCH ...

S

till putting off writing those thank you letters? According to an editorial in The Times, it is no longer considered rude to forego penning a personalised note.

Apparently a heartfelt email or text is just as good now. That might be a relief to a new generation, who can hardly hold a pen let alone master the art of refilling an ink cartridge.

GOING ONCE: Dame Joan Collins does de-cluttering in typically glossy style.

   Apparently the date by which most people ditch their New Year’s resolutions is January 17. In order to avoid this, take advice from psychologist Professor RICHARD WISEMAN who advises we make only one resolution, avoid repeating resolutions and don’t run with the crowd. “Break your goal into a series of steps, focusing on creating sub-goals that are concrete, measurable and time-based.”    Condé Nast Traveller has identified twelve spots for drinking and dining in Dublin, six of them in the vicinity of Portobello.

The Bernard Shaw made the cut (there’s a double-decker bus in the back garden, in which fresh pizzas are made in a makeshift kitchen located next to the driver’s seat) and Bello Bar, a hopping music venue which hosts gigs by Dublin’s upand-coming bands. Also on the list, Locks Brasserie, Sister Sadie, The Camden Kitchen and Wall & Keogh. Meanwhile, the grapevine is rustling with news of an ambitious new venture between a second generation Dublin developer and an established restaurateur. It seems our hunger for new restaurants is unabated, as well as our penchant for pinching “concepts” from London and New York.    Given the year that’s in it, we will be embracing the wearing of green, safe in the knowledge that it is a catwalk trend for spring. Green calls on the wearer, “to

6 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

   Dame JOAN COLLINS is clearly a fan of Newbridge Silverware. Not only was she their guest when they hosted a special preview of her show-stopping gowns (auctioned in December by Julien’s Auctions, Hollywood), she also appears to have a fondness for their jewellery.

Several statement necklaces from their collection turned up in the recent auction. The jewellers, founded by WILLIAM DOYLE, also have PRINCESS GRACE and GRETA GARBO collections at their Kildare Museum.

  

Mired in austerity for so long, at Christmas one couple became part of the posh rum revolution, acquiring a bottle of delicious golden stuff from Guatemala, serving it in postprandial snifters with lots of ice, starting with pudding, and continuing well into the night. The first bottle, duly drained, was replaced, then joined by Bulleit rye whiskey, then a bottle of Ciroc vodka and so on. Offered a Noble Drink rather than a glass of some old Sauvignon that was hanging around, friends seemed much more fun than they’d ever remembered, breezily accepting a cocktail at any time of the day. Dreading the day the tree would come down, and the fancy drinks table with it, his wife anticipated life might feel a bit 2008 all over again, like there was nothing to look forward to. The table stays, she insisted. Cheap at the price.

sister, KELLEY BURKE, runs the popular Dublin fashion business Style Jump. Sartorial savvy runs in the family.

  

explore, push the envelope and escape the mundane,” says LEATRICE EISEMAN, of the Pantone Colour Institute.    “Waiter there’s a fly in my soup!” is no longer a legitimate complaint this year. Bugs and edible insects are set to be one of the latest foodie trends, as in mealworm hummous or cricket burgers. We’re not sure that will fly (excuse the pun) here so we’ll stick to other trends such as Brazilian barbecues (and caipirinhas), Persian cuisine and “glo bowls” – fusion food served in bowls.    Colouring for adults is, of course, all the rage, though we haven’t come across a mandala motif we’re excited by just yet. Step forward IAIN R WEBB’s Vogue Colouring Book of 50 outline drawings. Be prepared for more Vogue offerings (and much playing of Madonna’s iconic song) as British Vogue celebrates its centenary this year with an exhibition at London’s National Portrait Gallery, opening February 11.    If you venture to the chic Lisburn Road in Belfast, check out the latest boutique opening, Real, for cashmere, Italian design, coffee table tomes, garden inspiration and specially commissioned arm candy. Meanwhile, Mojo & McCoy in Hungerford, England is garnering quite a following.

That’s McCoy as in AP MC COY, considered the best ever jump jockey, who met his wife Chanelle at Punchestown racecourse when she was 19 and he was 23. They married in 2006 and live in Berkshire on 80 acres. CHANELLE MC COY describes her new retail venture as “a business launched over a glass of wine” with CAMILLA PARKER BOWLES’ daughter LAURA LOPES. The store is already a favourite with the Middleton sisters. Chanelle is joined by sister HILARY BURKE in this venture. Another

Undoubtedly one of the It Bags of AW15 (along with Chloé’s Drew) was Loewe’s Puzzle bag, designed by JW ANDERSON. It can be carried several ways … Worn cross-body, held by its top handle or slung behind as a rucksack. The fashpack prefer to clutch it underneath – a sort of semi-clutch. Not practical, but it gets noticed in pap shots.    Now that the festive season is over, low key entertaining at home is on the agenda. For some hostesses it’s a chance to show off the art collection as well as culinary skills, for what’s on the wall is as important as what’s on the plate. Irish art is having another moment, according to JANE BEATTIE, head of Bonhams Ireland. She told us, “Irish art at the top level of the auction market is well regarded by global collectors, particularly in the UK and US.” Bonhams has hosted a number of exhibitions at their Molesworth Street premises over the last two years. Apart from the blue chip names (JACK B YEATS, PAUL HENRY, RODERICK O’CONNOR), on the radar for collectors at the moment are works by ELIZABETH MAGILL and ALICE MAHER as well as sculpture by FW MC WILLIAM and ROWAN GILLESPIE.    Reports from the Alps in late December announced a dearth of decent white stuff but that didn’t deter the postChristmas migration of SoCoDu’s birds of a feather, many alighting – thanks to their improved economic conditions – at the snazzier hotels, like Le Blizzard in Val d’Isère or Der Berghof in Lech. Others rented a chalet with über-cool company Hip Hideouts, while the very fancy few decamped to their own mountain homes-away-from-home, with some even driving all the way to their destination. We cannot think why, other than the fact that nothing sets a reincarnated tiger cub’s heart throbbing as much as the sight of a spanking new Rangey a long way from home, disgorging its passengers somewhere enviable. ^

www.newbridgesilverware.com/guinness

The GUINNESS™ word and HARP device are trademarks and are used under license. Please remember to drink GUINNESS™ responsibly. © Guinness & Co. 2015

THE WEDDING SALON AT THE MERRION ON MARCH 5 FROM 11AM - 4PM

RUNNING ORDER ❖ MORNING COFFEE Introduction

to planning your wedding ❖ HAIR by Brown Sugar ❖ MAKE-UP by Brown Thomas ❖ THE DRESS with guest bridal

designer Louise Kennedy ❖ THE CEREMONY A talk by

guest celebrant

C

alling all brides-to-be (and their mums, bridesmaids, friends) …

THE GLOSS MAGAZINE’s Wedding Salon, held at The Merrion hotel, is a must for brides who want their wedding to be simply sophisticated, intimate and memorable. Event planner extraordinaire, Tara Fay will host a day of bridal dressing, hair and make-up, table design, menus, flowers, gifts, photography, budgeting and planning.

Every attendee will receive inspirational ideas and practical advice. Tickets are d75 (limited availability) and include coffee, luncheon and gift bag as well as a Wedding Salon folder of useful information and contacts. Come on your own, with your mum, sister or friend – it’s also a lovely gift for someone you know who has just got engaged.

❖ MUSIC, FLOWERS,

STATIONERY, GIFTS ❖ LUNCHEON WITH WINE Themed

tables, floral displays, menus ❖ PHOTOGRAPHY with guest

photographer Barry McCall ❖ DRESSING FOR THE WEDDING

Salon show by Brown Thomas ❖ PERSONAL SHOPPING

The wedding party, lingerie and honeymoon

FOR TICKETS (d75 TO INCLUDE COFFEE, LUNCHEON WITH WINES, GOODIE BAG AND INFORMATION FOLDER) OR QUERIES, CALL THE GLOSS ON 01 275 5130.

WITH NAOMI CAMPBELL

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HUNTING

end s p o tt i n g a t r

S U N S H I N E STAT E

YELLOW PAGES

“Nature rarer uses yellow / Than another hue / Yellow she affords only scantly and selectly / Like a Lover’s Words ...”

So wrote American poet Emily Dickinson. Gucci went against nature in its cruise collection, and so did Raf Simons (now ex-Dior) with a yellow print skirt and top. You can still pick up, by the way, Simons’ bright yellow Stan Smiths for Adidas if you move fast and have a man in your life who likes hivis footwear. Yellow streamed onto cruise catwalks as if none of us had an issue with how to use this awkward cuss of a colour. You could “put all your dogs in bright yellow collars and leads like all the dogs in Paris”, as Diana Vreeland might have done, or “have your bed made in China ... the headboard and spread of yellow satin embroidered in butterflies ...”

Or you could take sensible advice: twin it with gold for a modern approach, or let it spill, sunshine-like, onto your table, in the guise of a shapely bowl.

PHOTO G R A P H BY DAYM IO N M ARD E L

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | January 2016 | 13

GATHERING channel the t

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DAYMION MARDEL

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YELLOW FEVER

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LIGHTEN UP

1. Ombre Couture eyeshadow in Jaune Aurora, GIVENCHY, d24, at Debenhams. 2. Yellow Bleus d’Ailleurs porcelain bowl, HERMÈS, d100, at Brown Thomas. 3. Test Pattern acrylic

co-polymer on plywood painting, RONNIE HUGHES, at Rubicon Gallery, 10 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2. 4. The colour of spring: Pantone 12-0752 in Buttercup 5. Block-colour Blake suede belt, d175, at LK BENNETT, Dundrum Town Centre, Dundrum, Dublin 16. 6. Limited edition City Guide Yellow Box, d505; WWW.LOUISVUITTON.COM. 7. Mustard cross-front satin mules, d495; WWW.GUCCI.COM. 8. Citrine Cabochon ring, ELSA PERETTI FOR TIFFANY & CO, d740, at Brown Thomas.

9. Colour-block crepe pleated skirt, MARNI, d1,490;

www.net-a-porter.com. 10. Yellow Focus Citron wool rug, d4,460, at ROCHE BOBOIS, Beacon South Quarter, Dublin 18.

For stockists, www.thegloss.ie

14 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

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THE NEW RANGE ROVER EVOQUE from €41,745*

BORN IN THE WILD. RAISED IN THE CITY. landrover.ie

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Featuring groundbreaking design and a brand new Ingenium diesel engine – our most fuel and emission efficient ever.

Land Rover’s legendary capability is also now enhanced by the new All-Terrain Progress Control.

Book your test drive today and conquer the urban jungle.

Official fuel consumption figures for the Range Rover Evoque Range: Urban 5.0 – 10.3, Extra Urban 3.9 – 6.4, Combined: 4.3 – 7.8.

CO2 emissions 113 – 181g/km. Price shown is for the Range Rover Evoque Coupe 2.0 eD4. *Delivery and related charges additional.

THE LOWDOWN APRÉS-SKI CHIC

SNOW BUNNY: Style influencer and avid snowboarder Veronika Heilbrunner strikes a pose for Chloé’s new skiwear collection.

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Even if you’re not hitting the slopes, rest assured that these pieces will also be perfect for battling Ireland’s subzero temperatures. Look the part in Chloé’s 1970s-style Snow capsule collection or Stella McCartney’s closefitting and reassuringly cool Winter Sport collection. Massimo Dutti and Topshop also do alpinewear well. Of course, Chanel ski goggles will always be top of our wishlist.

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2016

WHAT’S TRENDING IN

JONATHAN SAUNDERS

All the pivotal cultural events and future style obsessions you need to know about

THE COLOUR Studio 54 sprinkled its glamour on shows from Philip Lim, Hugo Boss and Marc by Marc Jacobs with shades of blue on eyes. Whether cobalt or turquoise, experiment with a dash of liner or wear it on nails with Chanel’s rich dark Sunrise Trip.

16 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

1. Cream and oatmeal intarsia wool sweater, 0950; matching hat; 0180, both CHLOÉ SNOW COLLECTION at www.net-a-porter.com. 2. Star-print merino onesie, PERFECT MOMENT, 0315; www.net-a-porter.com.

3. Brown Earthkeepers fold-down boot, 0179.90, at TIMBERLAND, 31 South Anne Street, Dublin 2.

4. Gold Lifestyle Lady ski helmet, KASKE, 0733; www. harrods.com. 5. Camel Aprés Ski wool leggings, 079.95; 6. Aprés Ski Limited Edition skis, 0695; both at www.massimodutti.com.

THE SOUND When Lana del Ray’s management team signed 19-year-old Dua Lipa in August it became apparent that the Albanian singersongwriter, based in London, was about to blow up. Her energetic sound – poppy beats and soulful vocals – is the perfect antidote to dreary days.

We have Be The One on repeat.

MICRO LIVING Japan’s minimalist retailer Muji has commissioned three designers, Naoto Fukasawa, Jasper Morrison and Konstantin Grcic, to create three micro homes, each intended as a retreat from urban activity that can be set-up anywhere. The Y:Cube housing scheme in London is also impressive: 36 flat-packed one-bedroom apartments stacked in three-storey blocks designed to be easily transported and quickly installed. New small space living projects could be the answer to our own housing crisis, according to Denise O’Connor of Optimise Design, speaking at the recent Tassimo Architecture and Design Trends event.

MICRO COFFEES Vivy T12 Intellibrew coffee machine by Bosch, from 069.99; www.tassimo.ie.

THE LOWDOWN MODELS ON THE BIG SCREEN Karlie Kloss makes her acting debut alongside Naomi Campbell and Jourdan Dunn in Zoolander 2, out February 12. 

THE PAINT COLOUR

Alessandra Ambrosio has her first speaking part in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, out June 3.

DEMI COUTURE

Kate Moss plays herself in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, out July 1.

SAINT LAURENT

Farrow & Ball’s Peignoir No 286 is a greyish pink with a modern edge, inspired by boudoir chiffon gowns. Start with your walls and pair with grey woodwork.

Peignoir Estate Emulsion, ¤53 for 2.5l, at Farrow & Ball, 14 Cornmarket, Dublin 8.



Josep Font, creative director at Spanish heritage house Delpozo, designs enchanting pieces that celebrate femininity. Font’s couture-like approach, with intricate paillettes, statement appliqués and fabulous floral prints, are utterly lustworthy and make his the SS16 fashion designer name to drop.

EVERYDAY TIARAS

THE COLLABORATION Spring’s key trend is tonal beauty – keeping lips, eyes and skin all versions of the same shade – and MAC’s new Ellie Goulding collection is a must-buy. For evening, add a wet-look shine with MAC’s Foiled Shadows (¤21), a new formulation spotted backstage at countless shows. All limited edition, at Brown Thomas.

THE LUXURY LONG-HAUL STAY Sri Lanka’s popularity continues to grow so act fast to secure a room at the island’s newest hotel, the Owl and the Pussycat.

It’s sophisticated and bohemian, offering an authentic slice of island life with a little added luxury. See www.otphotel. com for tempting lead-in rates.

No longer the sole preserve of an Irish hen party, tiaras have taken on a new cool-girl status with Saint Laurent, Miu Miu and Chanel all nailing the look this season. When buying, choose a shape opposite to the shape of your face: if you have a long face, opt for a rounded style, a rounder face requires a more pointed peak. Wear with day old hair, a leather jacket and attitude.

Glinda tiara, ¤18.50, at MONSOON.

DEMOCRAT VS REPUBLICAN

THE HAIR

THE WHEELS

THE SLOGAN

DEMOCRAT “She has the most amazing hair in the world,” says Santa Nikkels, Hillary Clinton’s stylist, denying that she wears a wig. REPUBLICAN The reason for Donald Trump’s elaborate comb-over? A botched hair transplant in the late 1980s, according to online conspiracy theorists. WINNER Republican. By a hair.

DEMOCRAT A San Diego architect named Paul Sasso tricked out an all-electric $100,000 Tesla and created The Bern Machine to support the Bernie Sanders campaign. REPUBLICAN Jeb Bush’s wife Columba drives a green Mini Cooper with a “Viva Jeb! Presidente 2016” bumper sticker. WINNER Democrat. By miles.

DEMOCRAT Rebuild The American Dream urges Martin O’Malley, the former Baltimore mayor whose great-grandparents emigrated to the US from the west of Ireland. REPUBLICAN A New American Century says Marco Rubio, the junior senator from Florida.

WINNER Democrat. Not that we’re biased or anything.

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | January 2016 | 17

VICTORIA BECKHAM

THE LOWDOWN

IT’S A JUNGLE OUT THERE With Rudyard Kipling’s 150th anniversary celebrations last month and two Jungle Book films in the pipeline, all things tropical print are in.

Feuilliage, one of the creations from Parisian fabric designer Edmond Petit, would make a striking wallcovering with its glossy, jewel-like shapely leaf motif, and will be showcased at Paris Deco Off (January 21-25). www.paris-deco-off.com

THE BRILLIANT LIP For a summary of spring’s newest beauty looks, see the Victoria Beckham show. Super-bright lips against glowing skin are in. Go no-holdsbarred with MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour (¤28), a new gloss-like formula that sets to a velvet matte.

THE LIVED - IN LOOK In with the old: mismatched and unfluffed interiors. It’s the Instagram effect. But, interiorlovers beware! The au naturel look is, more often than not, very carefully orchestrated.

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SEVEN HIGHLIGHTS FOM THE 1916 CENTENARY CALENDAR MARCH 6 Proclaiming a Republic: The 1916 Rising at The Museum of Decorative Arts and History, Collins Barracks, Dublin 7. A major new exhibition that explores the ideas and people who participated in the 1916 Rising.

MARCH 8 The Women of 1916 at Richmond Barracks, Inchicore, Dublin 8. A celebration of the role women played, focusing on the 77 who were held afterwards at Richmond Barracks.

DAYTIME PYJAMA DRESSING The “loungwear as daywear” trend is here to stay, thankfully, eliminating any need to change from day to night. Coco Chanel was wearing pyjamas as daywear in the 1920s.

These delicious pieces are too good to sleep in ...

4 1. Bird-print silk crêpe de chine blouse, 0980; matching trousers, 01,100; both VALENTINO. 2 & 4. Silk pyjama tops, from a selection, £145stg each; WWW.YOLKE.COM. 3. Backstage at SONIA RYKIEL SS16 show.

MARCH 9-APRIL 23 The Plough and The Stars at The Abbey Theatre.

The story of Easter 1916 told from the point of view of residents of a Dublin tenement.

APRIL The Women of 1916/Stormy Petrel at the GPO. A collaboration between artists Alanna O’Kelly,

Brian Hand and Orla Ryan, based on the symbolism of the stormy petrel, the world’s smallest seabird, a metaphor for women and their role in the Rising.

APRIL 2 This is Ireland at the National Concert Hall. Glen Hansard gathers friends and collaborators to celebrate Ireland through music.

JUNE 24 1916 in Contemporary Art at the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork. An exhibition of personal interpretations of 1916 by artists including Rita Duffy, Robert Ballagh and Alice Maher.

OCTOBER 14 The Count, The Countess and The Tommy at the Civic Theatre, Tallaght. A musical written and presented by Myles Dungan featuring songs from the 1916 era, by writers including Ivor Novello.

BACKLESS SHOES DINING BY NUMBERS Sexy Fish, London’s newest megarestaurant, refuses to seat parties larger than six. Time to edit your circle of friends.

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Show yours off with midi-length hemlines 3 2

1. Turquoise Merry suede clogs with glitter heel, WWW.JIMMYCHOO.COM. 2. Two-tone suede mules with snake and pearl heel detail, from CHANEL’s Metiers D’Art 2016 collection. 3. Black leather mules, GUCCI, 0695; www.net-a-porter.com.

FR EE SI N K C A BI N ET *

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THE LOWDOWN

GIORGIO ARMANI

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CALL OF THE WILD THE COOLEST CUT This could be the year to brave a short fringe – Giorgio Armani, Prada, Lanvin, Loewe and Christopher Kane all took things short and sharp. Rather easier to carry off, and with a serious whiff of the 1980s, are the quiffs seen at Simone Rocha and Dries Van Noten – wear big and bunched up, with lots of grips; Kevin Murphy Session Spray (at Preen Salon, 52 Dame Street, Dublin 2; www.preendublin.ie) will help to keep it in place.

From dinnerware to serving trays, exotic patterns are making a welcome reappearance. The 2016 twist is that these colourful designs are now being printed on the humblest of materials, like melamine and tin. Glamping anyone?

1. Screen-printed tin plates, d12 each; WWW.AUBAINMARIE.COM. 2. Printed melamine collection, MATTHEW WILLIAMSON, from d6 each, at Debenhams.

THE EXHIBITION Exploring the relationship between designers and the tools they use to create haute couture, manus x machina: fashion in an age of technology at the Costume Institute will include more than 100 ensembles from 1890 to the present day, including a floor-length Chanel wedding gown designed by Karl Lagerfeld (left). The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, New York, May 5-August 14.

Closer to home, at the V&A in London, Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear, April 16-March 17, scrutinises the innate connection between underwear and fashion, from the earliest corsets to current lingerie trends.

1 GOING FLEXITARIAN That’s being a meat-eater one day, vegetarian the next. Oliver McCabe’s The Fuel Food Cookbook is our new bible.

2 FERMENTED VEGGIES Try Barry Fitzgerald’s at Bastible, 111 South Circular Road, Dublin 8.

3 PEAR JUICE According to new research, one cup is enough to cure hangover symptoms.

4. COCONUT PALM SUGAR Higher in B vitamins, potassium and iron than refined white. Spoon away.

CÉLINE

Grin and bare ,em (your shoulders, that is).

Add collarbonegrazing earrings, as seen at Céline, to add subtle emphasis.

CHLOÉ

SHOULDER ZONE

VICTORIA BECKHAM

BALENCIAGA

J CREW

4 FOODIE TRENDS

ULTIMATE FLATS If your idea of dressing up involves throwing on a pair of killer heels, rethink your approach: haute slippers are where it’s at this spring. Strictly for evening wear and not the school run, though.

Red Pajama satin shoes, from the Trademark SS16 collection. Trademark designers Pookie and Louisa Burch are the daughters of US entrepreneur Chris Burch and former step-daughters of Tory Burch. www.trade-mark.com.

20 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

STAR POWER: Marilyn Monroe famously wore an Aran sweater in Let’s Make Love (1960).

SPINNING A NEW YARN

KNIT WIT: Alexa Chung in one of her own Aranesque designs for Madewell.

Before the word came into common parlance, Inès de la Fressange was an influencer. She was Karl Lagerfeld’s greatest muse at Chanel before they fell out – the epitome of Coco Chanel’s modernity and spirit. Since leaving the maison she has gone on to carve a niche for herself as the fashion world’s greatest Parisian. She’s now resident ambassador at Roger Vivier and a sometime L’Oréal girl.

Such is her allure that she has collaborated with several brands in the hope that she bring her je ne sais quoi to their designs. The advertising campaign for her AW15 offering with Uniqlo included shots that could be vignettes from a post-war film: little suits with nipped-in waists and dresses in vin chaud colours.

Surprisingly, the collection also features chunky knits.

The only other actress I’ve seen nailing this look is Marilyn Monroe (Gerard Darel bought the jumper rights and produced its own version of the “Marilyn” several years ago). With an emphasis on natural fabrics, styles and colours, de la Fressange drew on deep forest greens and firs for the collection – all elements of the French countryside. She revives vintage ski sweaters, cable knits, Nordic and jacquard patterns. They all accentuate femininity while being comfortable.

Donegal-born model Faye Dinsmore realised that internationally, Aran fans like Alexa Chung were seemingly unaware of the sweater’s Irish origins. Baffled

by The Row’s Aran-style offering priced at over $3,000, she began to recruit knitters from her native county to meet an increased demand for authentically-crafted clothing, made with local wool. Fans include her fiancé Paddy Cosgrave, who divulged in his closing address at the Web Summit that despite feeling “roasting”, there was no way that he would remove his signature blue knit. Busy with her recent signing to Ford Models New York, however, Dinsmore’s cosy sweaters are, for now, something only friends can receive as gifts.

On the opposite peninsula, a new company in Kerry is also reviving the humble Aran sweater. Crafted with merino wool and designed to withstand inevitable wear and tear, the Little Yarn Company (www.littleyarncompany. com) creates sweaters for kids to rival any grandparent’s handmade Inès de la Fressange gift. Aran is officially chic. for Uniqlo.

PMcC/HP ^

TRENDS THE SHAPE OF 2016

FASHION’S NEW IDEAS Get acquainted with the designers, brands and stylists destined for big things this coming year

NEW NAMES YOU NEED TO KNOW From left: Copenhagen-born über-stylist Pernille Teisbaek (wearing JW Anderson), fashion’s most powerful and sartorially-striking couple, style editor Veronika Heilbrunner and her partner Justin O’Shea, fashion director at www.mytheresa.com and Italian stylist, designer and fashion consultant, Gilda Ambrosio.

THE STYLE COUNCIL

TODAY’S INFLUENCERS

M O OD

STELLA MC CARTNEY

E TH

THE A-GAME This year Merriam-Webster is adding the word “athleisure” to their dictionary. The official definition?

Casual clothing designed to be worn for both exercising and for general use. Always ahead of the game, US designer Tory Burch has added Tory Sport to her hugely successful fashion empire. Her SS16 Sport collection is classic yet fresh – prepare to fall in love. As always, we want what we can’t have: Tory Sport is not delivering to Ireland just yet.

Double-take worthy? Donatella Versace and Bottega Veneta’s slick tracksuit. Just add heels, natch.

STELLA MC CARTNEY

TORY SPORT

Where these ladies go, fashion will surely follow, as evidenced by their combined 1,000,000+ Instagram fans. Pictured left: Argentinian model Candela Novembre (Chiara Ferragni’s bestie) who is renowned for her killer wardrobe; sisters Giovanna (editor and stylist) and Sara (designer) Battaglia; and Italian stylist Elisa Nalin, one of the fashion industry’s premier purveyors of cool.

What they’re discussing, you’re likely to be wearing next season.

THE PRINT

PICNIC DRESSING CHECKS & STRIPES It’s time to trade your pretty florals for bold stripes and checks – we love them for their high-impact appeal.

On the high street, LK Bennett previewed a great linen stripe maxi skirt for SS16 that perfectly ticks both the print and length boxes. www.lkbennett.com.

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | January 2016 | 21

ROBERTO CAVALLI CHANEL

GUCCI BACKSTAGE SS16

TRENDS

THE GO-TO DESIGNER

KOOKY GUCCI CU FO S

22 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

GIAMBATTISTA VALLI

Alber Elbaz

MASS EXODUS In 2015, Raf Simons resigned from his position as creative director at Christian Dior, Alber Elbaz, creative director at Lanvin, dramatically exited the French powerhouse and Donna Karan stepped down from her eponymous label. Scottish talent Jonathan Saunders quit his own label after twelve years – it will cease to exist come summertime. So, who’s in?

Peter Dundas was appointed creative director at Roberto Cavalli while Massimo Giorgetti took the helm at Emilio Pucci.

Femininity in abundance this season, as designers dressed to frill — sheer tiers at Delpozo, silk cascades at Roberto Cavalli, satin ruffles at Mary Katrantzou — adding drama to dresses, tops and skirts. Layers of generous fabric sashayed down multiple runways; swishy ruffles on sleeves and skirts with extra-deep flounces. However, froth and frills were cut with a modernising casualness. To get the balance just right, team with paredback accessories like contemporary flats and minimal jewellery. Think romantic, but not hopelessly so.

THE SILHOUETTE

TROPHY VINTAGE-STYLE DRESSES

Jonathan Saunders’ last show (SS16).

If AW15 was all about the knit, SS16 is fully focused on the dress. And not just any dress: these are statement-making affairs with beautifully intricate details. Eschew anything sheath-like and embrace a more retro silhouette – and never underestimate the appeal of a high-neck, low-hemline gown. Whatever you do, don’t be afraid to experiment.

ERDEM

RS

DELPOZO

GUCCI

GUCCI BACKSTAGE SS16

FRILLSEEKERS

GUCCI

THE MOVE

TH E

Alessandro Michele

PREEN

Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s accessoriesdesigner-turned-creative-director, winner of International Fashion Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards 2015, has single-handedly pioneered fashion’s new individualist attitude and designed a SS16 collection that embodies everything we love about eccentric maximalism. It is all about creative, OTT dressing where every permutation works – whimsical, colourful and purposefully mismatched, Michele’s new look is already becoming recognisable. The takeaway? Rejoice in your own personal style.

TRENDS

STELLA MCCARTNEY BACKSTAGE SS16

DETAIL THE

PLEATS PLEASE

R

E

SAINT LAURENT

O

N THE ST DO R

Emma Cook

ET

W

If you haven’t yet jumped on the pleat bandwagon, now is the time. We saw pleats of all shapes and sizes on the SS16 runways, from angular knife-pleats to the more classic accordion pleat. Best in show were Sonia Rykiel, Altuzarra and Stella McCartney’s renditions, which felt chic and modern all at once.

THE DECADE

NINETIES NIGHTIES

THEY MEAN BUSINESS Brand consultant Alasdhair Willis and creative director Emma Cook have been appointed to oversee the reinvention of high street stalwart Warehouse, which is set to re-launch in autumn. This is exactly the style shake-up the high street needs. Fashion journalist-turned-entrepreneur Natalie Massenet, doyenne of luxury e-commerce (her online clothing empire Net-A-Porter sold for £950stg million), is keeping the industry guessing by not revealing the true nature of her new start-up, Imaginary Ventures. Best things come to those who wait ... In Dublin, 2nd Space is Drury Street store Om Diva’s newest offshoot. Both a retail and a creative space, its focus is on affordable, vintage fashion and accessories and hosting a curated series of talks and seminars by undergraduate design students and fashion insiders (it was upstairs at Ruth Ní Loinsigh’s Om Diva store, Atelier 27, that designer Umit Kutluk cut his couture teeth).

The best students will be selected to create affordable, ready-towear collections and receive the mentorship of a panel of industry professionals. 2nd Space, 19 Upper Stephen’s Street, Dublin 2.

Above: Natalie Massenet.

Below: Umit Kutluk with actress, Sarah Greene, photographed for The Gloss, October 2014.

Classic nineties rock and roll lingerie-inspired slip dresses made an appearance at just about every SS16 show.

And they are incredibly versatile: wear alone at night or team with an oversized cardigan (another SS16 must-have) or fine knit polo-neck sweater for day. ^ T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | January 2016 | 23

STRAP

From our 2016 Collection

Rathnew, Co Wicklow Telephone 0404 65000 www.newcastledesign.ie

BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

MOODBOARD 5

1

“INSTEAD OF THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX, GET RID OF THE BOX.”

“KEEP ONLY THOSE THINGS THAT SPEAK TO YOUR HEART.”

DEEPAK CHOPRA

I’m saying goodbye to creative chaos at the Francis Bacon Studio in The Hugh Lane, Parnell Square North, Dublin 1.

MARIE KONDO, THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP

2

I’m buying better, buying less, beginning with this copper cutlery set, $490 from www. theminimalist. com.au.

3

“AFTER EVERY WAR, SOMEONE HAS TO TIDY UP.” WISLAWA SZYMBORSKA

4

THIS MONT H T H E M OOD IS :

TIDY

I’m saying hello to my dream closet, styled by Nina Holst at www.stylizimoblog.com.

SUSAN ZELOUF believes travelling light begins with tidying up While we never got over the bi-weekly deliciousness of slipping into a tightly made bed fitted with freshly laundered sheets, we felt intimidated by the handwritten notes our thorough housekeeper taped to food items languishing in the fridge past their sell-by dates: EAT or OUT. The luxury of coming home to a clean house was blighted by being asked to rule, to decide what to condemn and what to spare. Employing household staff is a distant memory, harkening back to a brief period of disposable income.

In recent years, we’ve employed blinkers instead, vaguely surveying or willfully ignoring cobwebs and dust, the contents of jammed closets, heaving dressers, invisible desktops, bulging file cabinets, sagging bookshelves, dangerous medicine chests, the stale larder and whiffy refrigerator, whose foodstuffs almost audibly beg the question of us: “To freeze, or not to freeze?” Then suddenly, the blinkers slipped, and finding ourselves up to our chins in clutter, we realised it was time to make a change.

The trouble with tidying is that it requires more than a bucket and mop, a pair of rubber gloves and a bottle of white vinegar from our green cleaning arsenal. The first thing we need to get our turbaned heads around, when resolving to straighten up, is the idea that we need both more and less than we think we do. In her essential best seller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo posits “We should be choosing what we want to keep, not what we want to get rid of.” So, how do we identify what we need and what holds us back, what brings us joy and what weighs us down, which things are perfect paradigms for the person we dream of becoming and which are fraught reminders of troubles we’ve put behind us?

Kondo’s book is a practical guide to approaching your stuff: categorise

26 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

your things and pile them on the floor, clothes first. Pick them up one at a time, until you become aware of your relationship with it, like when you approach dessert, first admiring how it looks on the plate before gently easing your fork into that wedge of layer cake and guiding it to your lips (note: gratuitous cake reference is purely for our own gratification.)

Kondo instructs us that sentimental possessions like photos and letters are best left until last, once you’ve got the hang of discarding (note: there’s always room for love letters.)

There is a preparedness, a spiritual readiness to travelling light that is yours alone to do. To help each other prepare for tidying up as if our lives depended on it (and the opportunity to live our best lives asks that we make room for what’s to come) let’s play the More or Less game. It goes like this: identify what you want more of in your life, and what you want less of by filling in the blanks: More _______ Less _______. List as many or as few as feels right. Here are some of ours: More cake, less candles. More fun, less fear. More sleep, less caffeine. More colour, less black. More kissing, less cursing. More dancing, less sitting. More living, less streaming. More birding, less tweeting. More wonder, less worry.

When you’ve made your own list, you’ll be ready to tidy; to discard those jeggings, consign any clothes that mark you, donate unhelpful selfhelp books, dump that stack of unread New Yorker magazines from 1987, thrift the shoe box-full of tiny hotel soaps, flush the colon cleanse capsules (expiry date 2006), bin that packet of seaweed nori for making sushi, say goodbye to sexy undies you don’t feel sexy in and dresses with necklines so low you’d need a warmed serving spoon to properly position your breasts.

Hey wait, that’s our house! ^ @SusanZelouf

THIS MONTH’S MOODBOARD I’M FILLING MY DAYS with joy, not clutter. (1) Calendar 2016 at Coco Lapine Design. www. cocolapine.bigcartel. com. I’M LEAVING NO TRACE with (2) Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson. www. bookdepository.com.

I’M TIDYING in style in Orla Kiely’s multistem apron (3). www. kilkennyshop.com.

I’M ORGANISING my beauty arsenal in stackable storage, available from Muji (4) or to order from www. containerstore.com.

I’M DECLUTTERING my home, guided by this magical little volume (5). You’ll find it in all good book shops, or underneath a pile of clothes.

PROMOTION STRAP

Lawson Mpame and Hishan Murungu

Hayley McKay and Susan Burke

Competition winners, Tina and Paul Kirwan

Yolanda Zaw

Kairit Neiland and Georgo Gacsi

Shane Gillen

Jenny Dixon and Dylan Townsend

Kathrin Graneis and Leonie Linde

Treble & Bass

TRICKED OUT The fash pack gathered at the Tommy Hilfiger flagship store on Grafton Street for the annual Holiday Shopping Evening

Valerie Oyiki and Stephanie Esambe Dearbhla Hogan and Ruth Bergin

Adrienne O’Hora

Fashion stylists LORNA WEIGHTMAN, JAMES PATRICK BUTLER and JUSTINE KING offered style advice throughout the evening as guests nibbled on canapes and sipped Whiskey Sours and specially created Cherry Hilfigers. Hilfiger’s latest party collection, featuring easy, sparkly skirts, pretty blouses and signature tweed jackets, proved a hit. Actor and filmmaker DYLAN TOWNSEND, actress JENNY DIXON and model DEARBHLA HOGAN were among the guests in attendance.

Lorna Weightman and James Butler

Chris Dobbin and Justine King

Aisling Bray and Sibeal Carolan

Elena Cernat

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARC O’SULLIVAN

TOMMY HILFIGER hosted their much-anticipated annual WINTER SHOPPING EVENING at the Grafton Street flagship store last month in association with THE GLOSS MAGAZINE. Guests at the festive event, spread over three floors, were treated to music from acoustic duo TREBLE & BASS as well as party tunes from DJ ADRIENNE O’HORA. Illusionist SHANE GILLEN was on hand to perplex and mystify shoppers with a selection of card tricks while ROSIE WHELAN created sweet, seasonal face art.

HEALTH

FEBRUARY MIND YOUR MING TANG TO DO: Heal your energy.

THE EXPERT: Irish-born Vicky

A YEAR OF

HEALTHY LIVING From the newest technological innovations to the latest holistic trends, PENNY MC CORMICK looks forward to a healthy 2016

JANUARY GET FIGHTING FIT

TRUNK ARCHIVE

TO DO: Boost your immune system.

THE EXPERT: Nutritional therapist, Henrietta Norton, author and co-founder of www.wildnutrition. com says, “Your digestive system is where 70 per cent of your immunity resides. These good bacteria are found in live natural yoghurt or a good daily supplement and ensuring you have adequate levels could reduce your susceptibility to attack. Eating a rainbow every day will help too: vegetables provide an array of phytonutrients that keep our cells in ‘fighting form’. Used in Tibetan medicine for thousands of years for the treatment of disease, shiitake, maitake and oyster mushrooms have

gradually crept into western complementary therapy.

They are rich in polysaccharides that support the immune system’s response to viral infection.”

JOIN: The Health Club at The Shelbourne for a threemonth intensive programme designed to transform mind and body. The membership includes a one-on-one session each week and a bespoke nutritional programme as well as Tabata, Pilates, kickboxing and other classes.

DRINK: Pick up a signature “Hollywood” juice packed with carrot, orange, mint leaves and turmeric, the super-spice, from The Juicery at The Westbury, created by juicing pioneer, Cindy Palusamy. In London, try the delicious “London Greens” blend of pear, spinach and coconut water at The Juicery at The Marylebone. It’s as refreshing and tasty as it is nutritious.

WATCH: YouTube sensation AJ Jacobs’ TED Talk: “How Healthy Living Nearly Killed Me”. The New Yorkbased writer’s amusing anecdotes are eye-opening. He concludes that if you make a New Year’s resolution, decide to follow it with joy rather than grim determination …

LIFE HACK: No time to get to the gym? Try WOGA – that’s web yoga – by Brooklyn’s Dirty Yoga, who offer 28-day schedules at www.dirtyyogaco.com. Instant Butt Trainer, by Hanneli Mustaparta, is the best bottom workout app and is easy to use just about anywhere.

Moane is a Master of Feng Shui who informs us that February heralds the Year of the Fire Monkey – when innovation and creativity will be rewarded. Home is particularly important and, for good luck and health, Vicky suggests keeping the area outside your front door (known in the Feng Shui business as your Ming Tang) unblocked with ample space to allow the universal energy or “qi” to flow in and circulate.

Silver Heart Decluttering is vital apparently, as is Chakra with diamond and having a metal sound somewhere in green quartz your space – a bell, chiming clock or pendant necklace, piano music will do. Opening windows Thomas Sabo, on a daily basis is important too, though c575, at Arnotts. if that is not possible, opening curtains will suffice.

ADD: A little colour to your life. Rose Quartz and Serenity (that’s light blue and pink to me and you) are officially the Pantone colours of the year for 2016. “They reflect wellness and a soothing sense of order and peace,” says Leatrice Wiseman, Executive Director at Pantone Colour Institute.

WEAR: Thomas Sabo’s new fine jewellery Chakra collection is inspired by global wellbeing symbols with energy coming from a central stone.

READ: Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life by Karen Rauch Carter – a Feng Shui classic guaranteed to generate immediate positivity.

EAT: Brinner (breakfast for dinner), sprouted greens and Kohlrabi and Maca root – the latter being a member of the radish family, it is known for its ability to improve general health, balance mood and increase energy. Seaweed is also on the up – so time to resurrect the Carrageen Moss pudding recipes; Darina Allen served this local delicacy at her own wedding reception.

LOVE HACK: Read Mandy Len Catron’s To Fall In Love With Anyone Do This on www.nytimes.com, based on an essential list of 36 questions to ask on a first date.

MARCH TURN OVER A NEW LEAF TO DO: Improve your working environment.

The benefits of plants in the office are manifold – from combating sick building syndrome (try Ficus pumila) to providing a calming effect (use Coffea Arabica). There is an entire green floor in Google’s Dublin offices while Skype’s headquarters in Palo Alto has grass rugs, wooden benches and shed-style meeting rooms to bring the outdoors in.

THE EXPERT: “Our research suggests that investing in landscaping the office with plants will pay off through an increase in office workers’ quality of life and productivity,” says Marion Nieuwenhuis of Cardiff University’s School

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | January 2016 | 29

HEALTH of Psychology. For on-trend greenery try an Areca Palm – the huge fronds are very effective at air filtering.

WATCH: On your daily commute try “TED-ED: Lessons Worth Sharing”. Many of the episodes are only three minutes long and include random snippets of interesting trivia, ideal for water cooler moments.

READ: Charlotte Moss: Garden Inspirations (Rizzoli) is a timely read for ensuring beautiful floral displays in your garden all year long.

LIFE HACK: Focus@Will, an app developed by neuroscientists, plays music designed to keep you on track while you work. Trials showed listeners improved focus by 15 per cent and lasted 400 per cent longer without being distracted. www.focusatwill.com

with the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. The result is a beautiful line of red carpet pieces “infused with tactile charm, a nostalgic aesthetic and a historical legacy”.

LIFE HACK: South Koreans are leading the field in beauty innovations and they are huge advocates of masks – see the Innisfree collection (especially the Jeju Bija & Aloe Capsule) from www.maskhouse.co.uk. Take note: individually dosed products are huge in So-Ko.

Julia Restoin Roitfeld wearing H&M Conscious Exclusive.

digitally. Asking others how they see us can offer a different perspective, as can reading poetry.

READ: Diana Athill’s memoir Alive, Alive Oh! And Other Things That Matter. At 91, Athill dwells not on death but on life. This is an optimistic outlook from a former literary editor who now lives in a nursing home. “One good thing about being physically incapable of doing almost anything is that if you manage to do a little something, you feel great.”

LIFE HACK: School of Life founder Sophie Howarth has masterminded a new website called The Department Store for the Mind where each item promises to promote health and well being. www.deptstoreforthemind.com

Hotel Aguas de Ibiza

MAY PEACE IN A POD

APRIL SO-KO POPS TO DO: Get beautiful skin.

THE EXPERT: According to skincare guru Sarah Chapman, the key to healthy, beautiful skin is as follows; “Always protect your skin in the sun and spend money on a good cleanser. Choose products with vitamin A to help fight the ageing process. Support skin with omega oils, both internally and externally. And be careful with harsh exfoliators and microdermabrasion.” She suggests facial massage: “Use your knuckles (held in loose fists) and finger tips to roll, knead and drum life back into your skin. These movements help stimulate lymphatic drainage to reduce puffiness, boost the vital supply of oxygen and stimulate a healthier functioning dermis. When used in combination with your products, it will increase their performance.”

WEAR: H&M’s new Conscious Exclusive collection, fronted by Julia Restoin Roitfeld, is launching on April 7 in tandem with the much anticipated exhibition “Fashion Forward – Three Centuries of Fashion,” a collaboration

30 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

TO DO: Turn down the volume.

Noise pollution causes stress, irritability and a feeling of being drained. The World Health Organisation says 40 per cent of the EU population is exposed to noise levels in excess of 55 decibels (the average washing machine is 70 dB). Our love of open plan living is exacerbating the problem.

THE EXPERT: In 2012 the Noise Abatement Society launched Quiet Mark, a non-profit that campaigns for a reduction of noise in the environment. Quieter appliances are now in the pipeline from brands such as Whirlpool, Dyson, and Samsung. Miele already has an “extra quiet” option on its machines. In future, how we reduce noise in our homes will be as important as how we made them energy efficient ten years ago. In the workplace, quiet pods are the new hot-desking.

READ: Every Room Tells A Story by Kit Kemp (Hardie Grant). Hotelier Kemp shares her approach to design and how she infuses rooms with colour and pattern.

LIFE HACK: Rough day? Ty Aromatherapy Associates Clear Mind Bath and Shower Oil to help soothe and calm.

JUNE MIND OVER MATTER TO DO: Get happy.

THE EXPERT: Psychologist Elaine Slater (who practices at the Priory Hospital in London) suggests interrupting negative thoughts immediately, rather than going down a rabbit hole of misery, pretend to feel more positive than you do and learn to say no (rather than strive for perfection). She also recommends a digital detox and to physically connect rather than always communicating

JULY ARE YOU SOUPING? TO DO: Take a break.

THE EXPERT: Paul Joseph, co-founder of Health & Fitness Travel, predicts a rise in bleisure travel – mixing business with leisure – with many resorts now offering advanced office facilities on site. Oxygen therapy and fitness training at hotels is another by-product of our increasingly polluted environment, as are active meditation vacations. Also on the rise are back to nature spas using organic products in al fresco environments.

Finally, healthy foodie holidays are increasing in popularity: “With a range of healthy diet and nutrition options at retreats around the world, foodies can choose tailor-made wellness meal plans, including alkaline, Ayurvedic, macrobiotic or raw food diets. Juice cleanses are now taking a back seat to soup cleanses,” Joseph says.

BOOK: The Healthy Holiday Company offers a wide variety of trips including six nights at the five-star Hotel Aguas de Ibiza with fitness classes, kickboxing and runs. It’s a different side to the party island. www.thehealthyholidaycompany.co.uk USE: For pre-holiday prepping, apply Legology’s AirLite Daily Lift for Legs – a contouring cream from former Telegraph beauty editor, Kate Shapland.

READ: Inspired by the perennial allure of American interiors? Pack In Pursuit of Beauty, The Interiors of Timothy Wealen (Rizzoli).

LIFE HACK: Input your travel dates, destination and usual sleeping times to Jetlag Genie and this clever app will work out a personalised alarm clock to soften the blow of jet lag – great for long distance travel.

HEALTH Culloden Estate and Spa

AUGUST PHONE A FRIEND TO DO: Say thank you.

THE EXPERT: Lifestyle and wellness expert, Padma Coram, practices from the exclusive Grace Belgravia Health Club and Spa. “Studies suggest that a positive attitude contributes to greater success in work, greater health, peak performance in sports and business and a faster rate of recovery from surgery,” she says. “That’s why practising gratitude needs to be constant. It’s not a blindly optimistic approach either in which the bad things are ignored – it’s more a matter of where we put our focus and attention.” Coram suggests keeping a journal to list things for which you are thankful on a daily, weekly or monthly frequency. “When you feel like complaining, make a gratitude list instead. I have a gratitude group and we meet on the phone once a week – this has had an amazing impact on my life.”

STAY: At any of the Hastings Hotels (including Culloden Estate and Spa and Ballygally Castle) you can immerse yourself in a foodie experience and enjoy Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink. Each hotel enlivens menus with charming suppliers’ stories too, such as Who Made My Breakfast?

READ: Life Hacks: Handy Hints to Make Life Easier by Dan Marshall or Life Hacks by Keith Bradford. Both are anecdotal and a mine of little-known but useful facts.

LIFE HACK: “Utilise your creative energy first thing,” advises Salman Rushdie. “You wake up every day with a little package of it and you can waste it on emails and phone calls. I go straight to my writing desk before I even have coffee.”

SEPTEMBER LET THE GAMES BEGIN TO DO: Recalibrate.

Inspired by the Rio Olympics and the inevitable backto-school feeling, it’s time to audit your annual to-do list and get back on track with an exercise programme.

READ: The Feelgood Plan: Happier, Healthier and Slimmer in 15 Minutes a Day by Dalton Wong and Kate FaithfullWilliams. Jennifer Lawrence, just one of Wong’s many A-list clients, writes the foreword to this inspirational book.

THE EXPERT: Wong believes that you don’t have to join a gym to get fit: “Depending on your fitness levels, do ten to 50 squats first thing in the morning and before you go to

bed for a toned bottom and legs. Breathing is a critical component to help relieve stress. The more you practice breathing from the diaphragm, the stronger your core will be and the more relaxed you will feel.” The good news is Wong’s regime allows for treats too. “By performing high intensity exercise before your little indulgence, your body will use that cake for fuel. I like to set a timer for 15 minutes, which is only one per cent of your day. I advise clients to use sprinting as a good form of fat burning. It’s free and all you need is a pair of trainers and some space.

If you don’t like to jog, then try using a rower, bike or even skip. Just get moving!”

STAY: There’s still time to enjoy a jaunt to Biarritz.

Stay at Sofitel Le Miramar Thalassa Sea and Spa where designer Alberta Ferretti goes to recalibrate each year; its thalassotherapy facilities are impressive.

LIFE HACK: Learning a new language? Listening to related podcasts in your sleep will speed up absorption.

OCTOBER HIT SNOOZE TO DO: Maximise your sleep routine.

THE EXPERT: Dr Nerina Ramlakhan, author of Tired But Wired, says the choices we make throughout the day impact our sleep. Eating breakfast is important – miss that and the body goes into fight or flight mode. “To sleep well we need to feel safe, and stress makes us feel vulnerable.”

Creating the right environment is also important. A good mattress will last seven to ten years before it should be replaced as, by then, it is likely to be saturated with sweat, bacteria and dust mites. It’s essential to choose one that strikes the correct balance between the cushioning materials and the number of springs inside to give you sufficient support and to keep your posture in check.

If you’re not sinking into the mattress, there will be no engagement from the springs. A topper won’t be necessary if you’ve got the basics right and some companies even offer differing spring tensions if partners are of different weights. Mist bed linen in This Works Deep Sleep Pillow spray to ensure a good rest – it’s very potent.

WEAR: Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Night Cream aka Instant Beauty Sleep in a Jar. It acts like a mask, instantly plumping and smoothing skin.

LIFE HACK: Withings’ Aura Lamp has a built-in speaker that plays soothing music to help you nod off, an under mattress sensor to track your movements and it also monitors the room for air quality. The LED light helps you wake up with blue light – proven to aid productivity. www.withings.com

NOVEMBER LIVE LIKE A GREAT DANE TO DO: Get cosy.

The Danish have a word for cosy – hygge – that implies a mix of relaxing, eating and drinking. Anne Line Hansen’s online boutique has offerings to help you achieve it – it’s all about natural beauty in the form of seasonal flowers and soft lighting. www.esensualliving.com THE EXPERT: Designers agree that getting the lighting right is crucial to a sense of comfort at home (Danes burn more candles per head that any other country in Europe).

Iris Dunbar, Principal of The Interior Design School, says, “A single chandelier-style light can create a focal point in a hallway or over a dining space, but a group of smaller pendants can be used to the same effect. Unusual colours or finishes give a contemporary feel – warm metals and even marble and wood pendants are very on-trend – but there are some beautiful modern handblown glass pendants on the market too. Don’t forget to choose the right bulbs for your needs; a warm white is will create a cosy mood while a bright white may be more suitable for a workspace.”

CHECK OUT: Rita Konig’s interior selections at www.ritakonig.com – her Venetian tumblers are divine and she points out, “the glass you drink out of is key to the pleasure of the drink.”

READ: Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way by Lars Matting. Do you use newspaper as the first step or the classic valley and bridge system – two logs laid side by side to create the valley with a firelighter between them? All you need to know about kindling and keeping warm.

LIFE HACK: Invest in a Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir or Pine & Eucalyptus candle for an added sense of warmth.

DECEMBER TURN THE OTHER CHEEK TO DO: Survive the party season.

THE EXPERT: Naturopathic doctor and go-to nutritionist for celebrities such as Sienna Miller and Laura Bailey, Dr Nigma Talib is able to face read. She says she can assess immediately whether her clients have a wine face, gluten face, dairy face or sugar face and can medicate accordingly. Her tips on how to party like a pro include eating well. “Drinking on an empty stomach is a no-no as the alcohol will affect you much quicker,” she says. “I recommend healthy protein and fat intake over the holidays to curb your cravings and keep your blood sugar levels steady. Eat slowly – it can take your brain 20 minutes or longer to realise you are full.” Secondly, know your limits. “If you are drinking wine, choose lighter and drier wines as they have less sugar content. Avoid mixing alcohol with sugary drinks to prevent sugar face. Finally, alcohol works as a diuretic and sugar messes up your stress hormones – take a multi-vitamin B complex, fenugreek tea or a supplement and fish oil to ensure you put back in what alcohol takes out.”

READ: A Boy Called Christmas and also Reasons to Stay Alive, both by Matt Haig. The former puts the happy into Christmas and the latter recounts a suicide attempt, his recovery and how he overcame anxiety and depression. It’s upbeat and funny, teaching us all how to live better, love better and feel more.

Both are good stocking fillers too.

WEAR: A red lipstick for instant pizzazz.

MAC’s Ruby Woo is considered iconic and suits all skin tones, while NARS’ limited edition Steven Klein collection is eye-catching.

LIFE HACK: When the Christmas rush gets too much, two dabs of Origins mindclearing formula, Peace of Mind On the Spot Relief, really delivers. ^

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | January 2016 | 31

SOCIAL MEDIA

FEEDING AN

OBSESSION

What happens when healthy eating spirals into a dangerous compulsion?

SARAH BREEN looks at social media’s role in the rise of orthorexia nervosa

S

it down to brunch with any group of women and chances are high that at least one of them will be “trying to be good”. Usually, this means avoiding something. It could be gluten, or sugar, or yeast, or maybe all three. Or it could be something seemingly innocuous, like pineapple, because it’s hard to go a day without hearing that some apparently healthy food is actually like “heroin” to our bodies.

Sidestepping entire food groups as a diet strategy is nothing new, people have been terrified of carbohydrates since Robert Atkins demonised them in the 1990s, but dietitians universally agree that cutting out certain foods completely is not a good idea. It’s not good for our bodies, or our minds. The long-term consequences can include untold stress, anxiety and, if left untreated, malnutrition. Yes, malnutrition is now a genuine first world problem.

The term orthorexia nervosa (from the Greek “ortho” meaning correct and “orexus” meaning appetite) was coined by an American doctor named Steven Bratman in 1996 to label his “diet obsessed” patients in California.

Although it is not currently recognised as a clinical diagnosis, orthorexia refers to a fixation on eating the “right” food, that is, foods that are pure, clean, wholesome and usually very low in calories. They are the leafy vegetables that we are told every day are best for us. They are the exotic berries and seeds that model nutritionists champion on their blogs and in their cookbooks and credit for their clear skin and flat stomachs.

Solid statistics on orthorexia don’t exist, but anecdotal evidence suggests it’s something of a modern phenomenon, affecting adults of both sexes and teenagers too. Orthorexics are fundamentally preoccupied with eating clean. Off the menu is sugar, anything processed or fattening and refined carbohydrates and, in their place, fresh fruits and vegetables, some grains and lots and lots of juices. It might explain why the NutriBullet was the best-selling electrical product in Brown Thomas last year. Everyone knows someone who’s juicing.

32 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

After suffering from digestive problems her entire life, California native Jordan Younger turned to veganism as a last ditch effort to ease her symptoms. And it worked – after just a few months on a largely plantbased diet she felt better than ever and was completely converted. She started a blog, The Blonde Vegan, to chronicle her new lifestyle and was surprised when it took off dramatically. It seemed everybody wanted to know the secret to feeling – and looking – amazing.

Today, Younger is a social media celebrity with more than 125,000 followers on Instagram, although she is now known as The Balanced Blonde. Because, while Younger’s

foray into veganism started for genuine health reasons, her restrictive diet soon took over her life.

“In the beginning it was great,” says Younger. “Becoming vegan helped me appreciate the importance of healthy, whole foods. I was about a year into it when I started developing more serious food fears that made living daily life much more difficult to navigate.”

With her blog becoming increasingly successful, Younger moved to New York to attend college.

“Eventually the restrictive tendencies of the diet became too much for me, I had started following raw vegan principles and doing far too many juice cleanses,” she

SOCIAL MEDIA says. “I pretty much only felt safe eating green, leafy vegetables and drinking green juices. Smoothies were always my main source of sustenance. I became afraid of some high glycaemic fruits and veggies, quinoa, dried fruit, anything with refined sugar or flour, and even certain nuts. I ended up becoming very difficult to eat with, to cook for and inevitably to spend time with. It was rough for those around me.”

The line between a normal interest in healthy eating and orthorexia is blurry, but warning signs to look out for in young people include an obsession with “good” food, excluding junk food and anything processed, thinking and worrying about food frequently and avoiding social situations that involve eating.

Jacqueline Campion, a vivacious 25-year-old Dubliner was just six years old when she first started to feel that some foods were better than others; there were foods to be enjoyed and foods that made her feel uneasy, anxious, even scared. Her mother noticed abnormalities in Jacqueline’s approach to eating from an even earlier age.

“I had a lot of rules around food that I made subconsciously,” Campion says. “As I got older, in my pre-teens and teens, I analysed food constantly trying to figure out what was ‘good’ and ‘bad’. There was a lot of deprivation, not because I wanted to lose weight or look like a model, but because I never felt good enough.”

Marie Campion is Jacqueline’s mother and the founder of the Marino Therapy Centre in North Dublin. She has worked with people suffering from eating disorders for over 25 years and first encountered clients, both men and women, being preoccupied with the quality of their food, as opposed to the quantity, in the early 1990s. “It’s much worse now though,” she says. “Health and fitness are so promoted, people who are not feeling good about themselves are taking it to extremes. There’s a lot of confusion about what’s healthy and what isn’t. I find that people suffering from orthorexia often over-exercise too. These people are intelligent, but they’re also supersensitive. They share pictures on Instagram and it becomes an obsession.”

A quick scan online through hashtags like #eatclean, #livelean and #whole30 reveals just how extreme the new approach to healthy living has become. From high protein lunch ideas to thinly veiled ads for laxative tea – Kylie Jenner advertises those for what’s rumoured to be a six-figure sum – the general consensus seems to be that carefully controlling what you eat is the key to achieving optimum health, happiness and, in some cases, celebrity.

Not to mention racking up those all-important “likes”.

With levels of obesity at an all-time high, and affecting children as well as adults, you might wonder how an interest in healthy eating could possibly be wrong.

“What I dislike about those hashtags is that many young girls think that they have to eat exactly what they see in an Instagram photo in order to be healthy or to look as lean and fit as the person who may have posted it,” says Jordan Younger. “People have lost their sense of self and their sense of worth,” Jacqueline Campion says. “They’re too busy comparing themselves to everyone else online.

When I see an Instagram feed that’s full of exercise and food all I see is loneliness. Because I’ve been there, done that, but I would have been too ashamed to broadcast it.

Today people are celebrated for it.”

In October, an Australian teen blogger, Essena O’Neill, went viral for revealing to her half a million followers just how fake the life she curated online was, calling it “contrived perfection” and admitting she regularly skipped

meals to stay slim. “This was the reason why I quit social media: for me, personally, it consumed me. I wasn’t living in a 3D world.” She deleted 2,000 pictures and re-named her account Social Media Is Not Real Life.

“If you’re a balanced person, this stuff doesn’t influence you,” says Marie Campion. “But social media definitely exacerbates the problem. I treat people who will only eat green food and there are severe medical consequences to the point where their bodies aren’t producing hormones.

It’s all driven by fear. Even in schools, children are taught about good and bad foods. But, really, there is no such thing. Body love should be on the curriculum instead.”

At the Eating Disorder Centre in Cork, Trish Shiel had always been aware of orthorexia but now, instead of reading case studies in training, she’s seeing it face to face. “The difference between orthorexia and anorexia is that it starts off with a somewhat ‘noble’ idea,” Shiel says.

“Ostensibly, at the beginning, it’s about being very healthy.

But the problem is that it can spiral into a full-blown eating disorder.”

According to the World Health Organisation, Ireland is on course to become the most overweight country in the EU. One in five of our children is now considered to be obese. Understandably, tackling this problem has become a huge priority for the HSE and the Department of Health and Children. But some of the strategies being

“Ostensibly, it’s about being VERY HEALTHY. But the problem is that it can SPIRAL into an EATING DISORDER.” implemented may be doing more harm than good.

Karen Macken is a dietitian manager at the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork who also works with clients at the Eating Disorder Centre. She agrees that schools have a responsibility to foster a healthy attitude to food and nutrition in children, but the approach has to be gentle and nuanced. She cites The Food Dudes, a programme designed to encourage children to explore more fruits and vegetables, as a success story. “Some organisations have given harmful messages in schools and, as a service, we have had to step in and counteract those messages,” she says. “Some of the kids were starting to develop limitations in what they were eating.”

Jacqueline Campion is careful about describing exactly what her life was like in the deepest grips of orthorexia for fear of influencing those who might be of a susceptible mindset. “At my worst, when I was about 16, I was restricting essential nutrients that my body really wanted and needed,” is what she will say. “My mind overruled it.

There is an obsession about healthy eating in society right now. We are creating a generation that’s afraid to nourish.

Thankfully, it hadn’t taken hold when I was in recovery. My personal experience is nothing compared to what children are exposed to now.”

“There’s a lot of conflicting advice out there about nutrition,” Trish Shiel says. “The way it’s put forward is dangerous, especially for younger people who can’t weigh things up in a critical way. It becomes black and white territory. In order to have a healthy, balanced relationship with food it all comes down to following your instincts.”

So how can we strike that balance when figuring out what to put in our shopping baskets and on our plates?

It’s less about restricting and following rules and more about applying a basic knowledge of nutrition and making allowances for occasional, guilt-free treats.

“Intuitive eating is recognising the body’s needs and then sitting down and nourishing the body,” says Karen Macken. “Some people might think that that means you can eat chocolate all day. That’s not what it’s about because, if you really listen, your body will signal that it’s had enough chocolate pretty quickly. It’s an art and it takes time for people to re-learn it, but we do naturally have that intuitive eating ability.”

Jordan Younger has been very transparent about her recovery from orthorexia, which she describes as “a daily struggle but overall a very positive process”. Her book on the subject, Breaking Vegan (Fair Winds Press), is out later this month. “I found help through lot of great friends in New York and I started seeing an eating disorder nutritionist and therapist,” she says. “Once we learn to trust our bodies, we can listen to them and nourish them properly.”

Jacqueline Campion has been fully recovered from orthorexia for five years. In that time, she’s come to realise how much control over her own life she’d given up in order to make clean eating her top priority. “I have yet to outlive the conditioned years in quantity, but as for quality? My relationships and friendships have completely turned around,” she says. “I used to play music in a band but orthorexia stole that from me. My passion for music, my hobbies, my quality of life, are all back. When you get out of the vacuum of fear, there’s so much positivity and freedom. I can now see opportunities everywhere.” ^ www.eatingdisordercentrecork.com; www.marinotherapycentre.com

THE PRINCIPLES OF INTUITIVE EATING ACCEPT YOUR HUNGER When we are ravenous, we make poor food choices.

Don’t wait that long to eat. Learn to recognise your body’s gentle hunger cues.

DON’T DEMONISE FOODS Cravings can lead to a cycle of bingeing and guilt. By making no food off-limits, you can enjoy certain treats in moderation.

THROW OUT THE RULE BOOK Diets tend to be very black and white. There is no such thing as “bad” foods. Challenging this mentality is freeing.

CELEBRATE EATING Nourishing your body is an incredibly satisfying experience. Give yourself enough time to prepare and enjoy your food, even if you are eating alone.

DEAL WITH YOUR FEELINGS Emotional eating often turns into over-eating. Food is never the answer to boredom, loneliness, anger, anxiety or sadness.

RECOGNISE YOUR FULLNESS Check in with your body frequently during a meal, especially if you’re eating something highly palatable, like dessert. Respect your fullness instead of carrying on regardless.

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | January 2016 | 33

ILLUSTRATION BY ÁINE CASSIDY

WELLNESS

FREE YOUR MIND Living in a constant state of heightened stress? The antidote to this modern phenomenon is mindfulness, and you should practice it daily, says RUBY WAX

W

e are all frazzled, all of us ... well, most of us. When I say “us”, I’m referring to the “us” in the free world who live relatively scot-free of invasion, hunger, plague and the raining-down of frogs; the lucky “us” who’ve won the jackpot by being born in the right place at the right time.

And yet we, the winners, complain of stress.

Earlier in our existence, life was tough, but no one died of stress. They died of disease. They died because of old age (at around 22-and-a-half ), accidents, childbirth, bad teeth ... but not from stress. My theory is that the concept of stress kicked in only when we came up with language.

We could no longer just sling a spear, now we had

34 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

thoughts with words that gave us internal reviews of how well or badly we slung it. Usually, they were bad. Then the floodgates opened because we needed more space in our brains to fit in all that thinking, so around 100,000 years ago (I can’t give you an exact date), out of the blue, we found that our brains had grown about three times bigger in size. Our big brains pushed us to conquer new frontiers; we filled up the Earth with shopping centres and nail bars, but then what? So we became pioneers of thought, using technology instead of the Conestoga wagon to raise our flag in new and far-off lands, hurtling out our opinions, political stances, our likes and dislikes, no longer on foot but through the Internet.

No one is addressing the exhausted elephant in the room: why are we making our lives more difficult? Why

do we stuff ourselves full of so much detritus? We’re so clogged up upstairs it’s difficult to make sensible decisions: should I worry about Iceland defrosting or about getting the right toothpaste? Our brains are not computers, they don’t need charging; they need to rest, and there is no rest. Who has time to rest? It’s become a dirty word. People who haven’t got a single open threeminute slot in their day because they’re dashing from meetings to lunches to workouts to appointments to cocktails are thought of in our society as great achievers, they are role models, but in my opinion (and I say this with compassion) they should be burnt at the stake for making many of us feel inadequate.

We need to wake up and notice the signals that our minds and bodies are giving us; to slow down sometimes

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WELLNESS and notice the scenery. I don’t mean forever, just to stop for petrol once in a while before going back to the race we call life. I know a neuroscientist who recently had a severe heart attack. He announced after only three days that he was not going to take a single day off work and would resume his lectures from his hospital bed, plugged into a lung machine and nasal feeding tubes, thus proving that neuroscientists can also be idiots.

Another thing that is frazzling us is that we constantly compare ourselves to other people, always sniffing around to find out who’s top gun. Some people are satisfied with their lot – I know they’re out there in the country somewhere, among the trees, growing their own chickens, pulling udders for a living and sitting around the fire toasting marshmallows. As for the rest of us, we’re assaulted by messages from the ether, about what we don’t have but should have if we want to be cool. It’s no longer just about keeping up with your neighbour but about leaving that neighbour in the dust, seething with resentment.

Here’s another fly, or bee, in the ointment of why we’re so ... antsy all the time: choice. I’d say that 99 per cent of our lives is now taken up by the act of deciding.

We suffer from decision overload: we forget we have a limit, and if we push it too much we hit neural fatigue. Some of the above “frazzlers” are contemporary problems that come with our Western culture whether we like it or not, but there are certain evolutionary human features we’re born with; they’ve worked brilliantly for us in the past but are now backfiring down the street of life like an old banger.

Mindfulness is a way of exercising your ability to pay attention: when you can bring focus to something, the critical thoughts quieten down. It’s not about paying attention to something outside but about being able to focus inside, being able to stand back and watch your thoughts without the usual commentary on them. As with any skill that has to be developed, you have to practise; it isn’t part of the human package. My definition of mindfulness is noticing your thoughts and feelings without kicking your own ass while you’re doing it.

When you use mindfulness, you learn to accept things the way they are without trying to change them. Here’s a little metaphor to help you understand your thoughts. Picture your mind as a bottle of clear water with sand at the bottom. When it’s agitated by thoughts or feelings, it’s as if you’ve shaken the bottle: the sand disperses and the water is now murky.

When you hold the bottle still, the sand settles, just as your mind settles when you watch thoughts rather than reacting to them.

Just like learning any other skill that takes practice, it doesn’t just come by crossing your fingers. Mindfulness exercises aren’t difficult in themselves – in fact, they’re often pleasurable – the hard bit is that you have to do them every day, even if it is for only a few minutes, to reap the benefits. Before you roll your eyes, let me remind you that whatever you’ve learnt in your life you’ve learnt it

through repetition, including the ability to read this word. Eventually, you will be able to use mindfulness whenever you need it in your daily life, but first you need to build some muscle to strengthen your ability to focus.

So you begin by focusing in on what’s going on in your mind. Each time you practise, you’re building up an area in your brain that corresponds with your ability to pay attention. Our minds aren’t built to linger; we keep flitting: it’s the mission statement of every cell in our bodies to keep checking our surroundings for possible danger, otherwise we wouldn’t be here, we would have been on some kebab millions of years ago.

Remember: our brain has no idea the caveman days are over so, God bless it, it’s still vigilant for predators.

The point of this is that as soon as you’re focused on a sense, the gabbling mind automatically becomes just background noise, because you can’t be focused on a sense and thoughts at the same time. The human brain just can’t do it; it’s either one or the other.

Focusing on the senses keeps you grounded while your thoughts jump around you. With practice, you will build your ability to shift your mind intentionally when distractions arise.

I think that becoming mindful is a result of intentionality. Once you have made the effort to shift your focus intentionally, you’re immediately in the present. You can’t listen to a sound tomorrow or yesterday, it’s always now, and when you’re in “the now”, there are no critical thoughts, just feelings. This ability to focus on a sense works as the anchor for you and for your practice of mindfulness.

With a clearer, calmer mind you can think more creatively and productively.

An enormous benefit of mindfulness is that you get a free ticket to that rare destination: the present. If you don’t believe me, let me point out that the reason you plan a holiday or an event for months in advance is to experience it “in the moment”. But when you get to your dream hotel or tent, your mind will probably be on something else: “Why did I spend all this money? Why didn’t I go on a diet? I forgot to feed the hamster. This isn’t as good as I thought it would be. I bet it’s better some place else.” You spend a fortune on a wine that costs more than the annual GDP of Bolivia to relish its oaky undertones but your mind is somewhere else so you miss the whole experience, and now you’re urinating it out without having tasted it. So much of what we do in our everyday lives is to achieve an experience, a taste, smell, sight or sound in the moment. So when people say, “I don’t really care about being present,” remind them how much money and time they’re spending to get there. I’m going to finish with a quote from Stephen Sutton, a teenage cancer victim who said, “You have 86,400 seconds today. Don’t waste a single one.” ^ Extracted from A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled by Ruby Wax (Penguin Life), ¤17.99. © Ruby Wax 2016. wwww.penguinrandomhouse.co.uk

“Once you have made the EFFORT to shift your focus intentionally, you’re immediately in the PRESENT.”

36 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

CLASS ACTION Where better to start practising mindfulness than in the classroom, writes KATE O’BRIEN

M

indfulness in Irish schools is happening around a wider conversation about wellbeing in Ireland, with ambassadors like Bressie and Conor Cusack leading the way. So much so that the topic was at the heart of the recent Feilte – Festival of Education in Learning and Teaching Excellence – in Dublin. Anita Fennelly was among the speakers at this year’s event. She teaches sixth class at Heath National School in Co Laois and feels that modern classrooms are very stressful, with a huge responsibility on the teacher – as leader of that space – to manage curriculum goals, the children in her care and parent expectations.

After ten years teaching, Fennelly was feeling somewhat disillusioned so enrolled on the Well-Being, Happiness and Mindfulness in Primary Schools course with Chill Out Ireland, which she has introduced to her pupils, noticing that the children seem more at ease and happier, and their work has improved too.

“Mindfulness has opened their eyes and they notice things they hadn’t seen before. Some have issues going on at home and, by just using a number or a colour to express how they are feeling, they acknowledge their emotions and are helped to accept these thoughts.”

It’s not all chanting, “om” either. Fennelly uses props like worry boxes and mind jars to help the children visualise what is happening in their heads. Some days we just sit still, heads down on desks, while other days it’s stretching out on the ground with blankets. “They love it. Those moments are special, the smell, the warmth of it all. I use the time to check in with myself too. We are planting the seeds now in the hope that they will nurture themselves in the future.”

While this all seems the perfect nurturing environment for children to learn, some are concerned that trying to smooth out life’s bumps can impact children’s ability to cope later in life. “Mindfulness is not about making problems go away,” Fennelly says, “but it helps children handle their emotions – here comes anger, here comes sadness and pain. The emotions are still there, but they are better able to navigate the waves.”

Ripples are impacting third level education too with the new Mindful Way model of sustainable education, research, life-long learning and sharing at NUI Galway. Spearheaded by Lokesh Joshi, Vice President for Research and Stokes Professor of Glycosciences, NUI Galway is the first European university to embark on such an initiative. “I have found over 2,500 peer-reviewed articles, with studies demonstrating mindfulness and its application in various aspects of our lives. We are aware of several universities across Europe that have established research centres to focus on mindfulness research. We want to go further by making this part of the university’s culture,” he says. ^

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INTERVIEW

LET’S DO LUNCH

by Anne Harris

Over venison and pheasant on St Stephen’s Green, historian Diarmaid Ferriter talks Rising and repression

I

t is said that history repeats itself first as tragedy, then as farce. Sometimes, however, it does the whole cycle first time around. Professor Diarmaid Ferriter and I are sitting at a window table in Thornton’s Restaurant at The Fitzwilliam Hotel, overlooking St Stephen’s Green, one of the main theatres of the Easter Rising. To our right is the College of Surgeons’ rooftop from where Constance Markiewicz shot a policeman “with disturbing satisfaction”, and facing us, The Shelbourne, nemesis of the Rebels trapped in the Green. “John MacBride said to the insurrectionists afterwards ‘If you’re doing this again, don’t lock yourselves into four walls’. Their military strategy wasn’t very sophisticated.” Ferriter is being mordant, but he is quite clear about the reason for the Rising. “People weren’t free. Only 700,000 men in Ireland had the vote.”

The 1916 centenary has finally dawned, accompanied with surreal timing by a proposal to downgrade history in the Junior Cert cycle. But first the Fitzwilliam Hotel prompts a homely thought in Ferriter. “I know the honeymoon suite.

We got a present of our wedding night here, but I was sick all day – a virus – and when we arrived I collapsed. A doctor came and gave me an injection in the backside. That was my wedding night in The Fitzwilliam.”

38 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

ILLUSTRATION BY LAUREN O’NEILL

I can see he is clocking Thornton’s for possible restitution – a date night perhaps, for himself and Sheila, his wife. “We go out one night a week together. I can’t understand people who stop doing that.” The menu, a planxty of game and fish and seaweeds, Ferriter describes as pure poetry.

When we meet, the dust is settling on an academic skirmish over his review of Tim Pat Coogan’s book on de Valera; the sort of controversy which brings out the stilettos in academe but leaves the public cold. This time, the paradoxical personalities of the protagonists – the elder, permanent enfant terrible Coogan versus the shockingly young Ferriter, already attaining “éminence grisedom” – have captured public imagination. Eminence in historians is largely judged by published work. At age 42, the UCD professor’s list of achievements, including twelve books, is prodigious.

Does it all begin with the desire to talk to dead people, as Shakespeare scholar Stephen Greenblatt observed? Ferriter spends long hours buried in the archives yet does not have a subterranean pallor. On top of that, he is sexy in an Yves Montand, world-weary way. Clearly something keeps his oxygen levels normal. His natural earthiness helps. And his three daughters, who are the light of his life, play a part, as does his solid, liberal Dundrum

upbringing. “My Dad was a real politics and history man.”

But there is something very conscious about his chosen pace. A man who until recently wrote everything in longhand and still bakes brown bread, values his stability.

As does the “historian’s historian” who doesn’t “actually hang out with many historians”. His view is outward on the world, not inward on his peers – a rarity among academics.

“In history we debate whether history is a science or an art.” Like many a great practitioner, Ferriter has decided it’s a craft: “It’s all down to how you approach your craft.

And I love the archives. Because you have to complicate the narrative, not simplify it. We mediate the layers, of course.”

Every Friday, he disappears down the archives coalmine and every couple of years he emerges with gold. Like Occasions of Sin, his towering study of sexual dysfunction since the foundation of the State.“Trawling through all those sex cases, abuse and assaults over the decades, was hard. All the horrible things that were done to people. I’ve no doubt there was joy, but it’s not documented. It’s very difficult to find any pleasure in sex in Ireland.” There is one surprising source of satisfaction. “We have an image of Ireland being a place of repression but looking at the reports, you realise that the civil service of the time were conscious of the separation of Church and State. There was an integrity there.”

His latest book, A Nation Not A Rabble is a cautionary tale for those inclined to romanticise the Rising. Among many other things, it records the heartbreaking pleas by the widows of the insurrectionists for paltry pensions and their harsh treatment at the hands of our founding fathers.

So where would Diarmaid Ferriter’s allegiances lie, had he lived a hundred years ago? “I would have favoured the IRB, because it contains the word republic and I am very sympathetic to the ideals of the republic. Gerry Adams claims Sinn Fein is heir to 1916 but Arthur Griffith, Sinn Fein’s founder, wasn’t even a republican.”

Pádraig Pearse is the one dead person Ferriter would dearly like to have talked to “though I would not have liked him”. He is active on the Commemoration Committee but he is currently talking to dead islanders for his next book on islands and already the archives are exposing the chasm between myth and the record. “The Blasket islanders were celebrated as the essence of our ancient civilisation. The records show they were treated as second class citizens.”

For good or ill, history shows us who we really are. The truism that those who don’t learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them, is true. To not even teach it is tragic. Former Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn, who suggested making history optional, may believe Junior Cert students can’t comprehend our complicated narrative.

Diarmaid Ferriter and his ilk are the ones to reach that generation. “We’re campaigning on it,” he says fiercely.

I have a feeling this will be a good year for history. ^

the reckoning 2 x three-course set lunch Glass Chablis Infusion Americano Total incl 10 per cent service charge

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BEAUTY THE GLOSS

EXCLUSIVE

STOP � SMELL THE ROSES Terry de Gunzburg is the French beauty pioneer responsible for creating many iconic products, among them YSL’s Touche Éclat. She talks to SARAH HALLIWELL

E

very great beauty idea you’ve ever heard of probably originated from Terry de Gunzburg. The French make-up artist, now in her late fifties, was creative director of beauty at Yves Saint Laurent for 15 years, working alongside the legendary designer. She created the world’s best-known beauty product, Touche Éclat, in 1992. She went on to conceive her own brand, By Terry, in 2001, “a bespoke house of colour that’s very extravagant, with no limits for creativity and luxury”.

De Gunzburg has always been in the vanguard of what’s new in beauty and “in love with science”. “My father is a PHD scientist, I studied medicine before entering the world of beauty and my husband is in cancer and antibiotics research so science is a very big part of my life.

I have always been fascinated with understanding every aspect of plants.”

Roses have always been at the core of By Terry skincare.

“I have a passion for roses – my mother used to bathe me in rose water and in my teenage years, I used rose water as a tonic. I like their colours, textures, the velvet, dewy touch of their petals and the infinite potential of their active ingredients. I certainly consider myself to be a pioneer in exploring the essence of roses from skincare to make-up to fragrance. Having researched the field of botanical science for more than 20 years, I use every part of the flower – the petal, stem, extract and oil – to get the crème de la crème of their benefits, which include skin rejuvenating, hydrating, antioxidising and brightening properties.” De Gunzburg’s Cellularose range is based on advanced botanical research, in which the star ingredients are rose native cells, the most powerful and naturally regenerating part of the flower.

“With a unique bio-process we can fully reconstruct the cellular composition of active roses. In Liftessence, we use Ruby Rose, which offers exceptional and unprecedented firming and lifting potential; we use white and pastel roses for brightening and perfection in other lines.” The just-launched Liftessence Global Serum and Oil Elixir are rich in fatty acids, lipids, proteins and antioxidants to help firm and sculpt facial contours. De Gunzburg’s eponymous fragrance line, launched in 2012, also celebrates the rose, such as the darkly beautiful Rose Infernale.

The beauty world has changed alot since de Gunzburg started out in the 1970s.

“The definition

40 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

“With celebrities dictating BEAUTY, we see trends pop up that don’t work for everyday women.” of beauty has changed so much – now there are so many trends that everyone is homogenising and individuality has been lost. However, there are also amazing new discoveries and advanced technology which have brought a positive evolution to beauty and research. Social media is a very interesting new tool; it’s super-fun and very powerful but it does distort reality. All the filters on Instagram make it so easy to achieve a perfectly smooth complexion – but this is not real! We will definitely be returning to a more natural and spontaneous look. That’s why it is very important to take care of your skin.”

De Gunzburg’s signature look has always been skin that glows – that holy grail championed once again on the SS16 catwalks. “Glowing skin is much easier to achieve nowadays due to advanced technologies. In previous years, the only way to achieve it was using make-up, but now we can make it glow from within, thanks to advanced research. Your make-up should deliver enhancement, comfort, wellbeing, lightness, youthfulness and freshness.

Cleanse, hydrate and feed the skin – that is fundamental.

Follow by correcting and highlighting in the most natural way possible, and avoid concealing too much so you don’t look photoshopped.”

De Gunzberg has always created multi-tasking products, such as Light Expert Foundation, in a nifty click-to-go brush “to speed up the application and give you a flawless, healthy glow within minutes, since we’re all busy.” Her Hyaluronic Face Glow championed natural moisturiser hyaluronic acid in 2011, long before the current trend for it took hold.

De Gunzburg’s own regime includes using a Clarisonic brush twice a week. “I also take a lot of food supplements including multivitamins, Q10 enzymes, green tea and charcoal tablets, vitamin C and calcium, and acai, as it’s the best antioxidant. Last, but definitely not least, drinking lots of water is a must. I eat no meat and very limited sugar, apart from natural fruits, as they really help boost the skin’s quality.” Her essential products include her own Baume De Rose and Terrybly Growth Booster Mascara, plus Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse, sulphate-free Everlast shampoo and L’Oréal conditioner.

De Gunzburg is immensely proud that her daughter Marion Assuied is now the company’s CEO, but there’s no sense of de Gunzberg stepping back, or even slowing down. “Our biggest challenge is to be able to keep up with marketing trends without falling into their trap – I refuse to do something or to launch a product just because it’s the fashionable thing of the moment. With celebrities dictating beauty more than experts, we see trends pop up that don’t work for everyday women, and this is terrible – I detest seeing those women who have fallen into the contouring craze. Contouring is great if done properly but it is very hard to do unless you are an expert. And done badly, it is one of the worst things! For me, we are just at the beginning of a new cosmetic era, focusing on the natural rather than synthetic, from formulas to pigments and botanical extractions. Our R&D unit is working with some very advanced research on a product that is utterly beautiful and yet also the height of functionality – let’s say it will be the iPhone 7 of the cosmetics industry.”

By Terry is at SpaceNK. ^

TERRY’S PARIS “Paris is such an amazing city with so many places to see. Go to GALERIE VERO DODAT where our first By Terry boutique is – you will also find the LOUBOUTIN shop and a lovely art gallery, GALERIE DU PASSAGE. This covered passage is so charming and will protect you from the rain!

The fashion hall of LE PRINTEMPS HAUSSMANN has a great selection of accessories. MARIUS ET JANETTE is a fantastic fish restaurant I like to go to for dinner, while for lunch and tea time I Iike LE BRISTOL. I ‘d recommend visiting FONDATION LOUIS VUITTON, designed by Frank Gehry, for exhibitions.”

This picture: Fondation Louis Vuitton. Right: Galerie Vero Dodat.

BUSINESS WISDOM THE ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF? I am proud that TransferMate has regulatory approval throughout Europe, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand and 50 states of the USA – no other Irish company has ever secured US statewide approval. We are the only company in the world to have secured approval from the Reserve Bank of India for a particular vertical.

DID ANYTHING IN YOUR EARLY LIFE EXPERIENCE INFLUENCE YOUR JOURNEY TO YOUR CURRENT ROLE? I always had an appetite to “do things better,” and have been lucky to work with entrepreneurs who share the same view as they strive to bring products and solutions to global problems.

WHAT KEEPS YOU AWAKE AT NIGHT? My kids. On the business front – talent acquisition and retention, the constant drive to move ahead of competitors and ideas to accelerate revenue growth.

WHAT IS ONE CHARACTERISTIC YOU BELIEVE A BUSINESS LEADER SHOULD POSSESS? Vision. And the ability to communicate and instil that vision in their team. A good leader will also inspire, communicate well, delegate and display confident commitment.

HOW DO YOU APPROACH DIFFICULT SITUATIONS? Difficult situations are best tackled openly and calmly, and face to face.

FROM THE DESK OF ...

Sinéad Fitzmaurice

PHOTOGRAPH BY AL HIGGINS

GROUP CFO, TRANSFERMATE GLOBAL PAYMENTS, A SUBSIDIARY OF THE TAXBACK GROUP

THE CV After training as a chartered accountant at PwC, Sinéad Fitzmaurice became a manager and began working internationally. She returned to Ireland at 30, joining The Taxback Group, where she worked closely with the group CEO, Terry Clune. Five years later, she co-founded TransferMate Global Payments. Since then, TransferMate has handled in excess of $5bn of crossborder payments.

DESCRIBE YOUR ROLE: I manage the overall financial risks of the group while assisting the CEO and board in shaping the overall strategic direction. As a co-founder of TransferMate, I was responsible for the global regulatory licence and operational back office infrastructure build. I also drive the strategic growth plan of the firm.

YOUR COMPANY’S BUSINESS PRIORITIES FOR 2016?

This year will see us accelerate growth significantly and scale our global sales force. We are embarking on a fiveyear plan to grow to 18 times our current size.

HIGHLIGHTS AND CHALLENGES? The challenges become the highlights. I joined The Taxback Group right at the start of its significant scale and diversification. Scaling the systems, scaling the talent and managing the risks of a fast-paced entrepreneurial business is always a challenge. My biggest highlight was co-founding TransferMate.

WHICH IS THE MOST USEFUL WAY TO ENGAGE CLIENTS: A BUSINESS BREAKFAST OR LUNCH? Breakfast briefings or lunches are always good for general PR but to really engage with a client it has to be face to face and one on one.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU TO GET READY IN THE MORNING? About an hour, but it’s difficult to time in between sorting school lunches and uniforms.

With our four children under ten, and one with special needs, mornings are a masterclass in multi-tasking.

YOUR TOP THREE PIECES OF ADVICE FOR WOMEN WHO ASPIRE TO BE IN LEADERSHIP ROLES? Grab all opportunities presented to you with both hands, forget you are a woman and be confident in your ability and delivery. ^

MY WORKING LIFE:

THE WAY I DO BUSINESS 1. STRONG POINTS I strive for the highest possible standards and expect the same from my team. 2. WEAKNESSES At times, my business drive can consume my thoughts. 3. WORK/LIFE BALANCE It’s an “always on” environment when you’re running a global company in different time zones. If your family is getting your attention while you are at home, then, I think you are on the right path. 4. LOOKING THE BUSINESS Workwear should mean business attire. It’s much harder to discipline an informal dress code. 4. PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE I started paying into a pension at 27; I believe employers could do more to encourage a future-savings mindset.

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | January 2016 | 41

FOOD TARTE AU CITRON Every year in Paris, an expert panel of writers and patissiers name the capital’s ten best tartes aux citrons.

They look for the perfect combination of acidity, sweetness and texture, and a touch of creativity. The filling should be light, unctuous, not too sweet, with a good balance of lemony taste between the peel and juice, and the pastry crumbly, but not too much.

Claire Damon, of Des Gateaux et du Pain, adds olive oil to her filling and olives to the pastry while Jacques Genin includes a touch of basil in the lemon cream.

Sebastian Gaudard like to mix yuzu juice to his but Cyril Lignac strays most from tradition, with hazelnuts in the pastry and a thin sheet of white chocolate with shiso leaf as garnish.

As always, I leave the interpretations and variations to the masters, and prefer to keep things simple at home.

This recipe is an absolute must-have in any classic repertoire, and a godsend for mid-winter entertaining.

FOR 6 (25 minutes preparation; 1 hour cooling; 25 minutes cooking) 1 tbsp grated lemon zest • 3 tbsp lemon juice • 125g caster sugar • 50g unsalted butter • 4 eggs, beaten FOR THE PASTRY 250g plain flour • 100g cold butter • 25g caster sugar • 1 egg yolk • 1 to 2 tablespoons very cold water 1. Sift the flour into a baking bowl. Dice the butter, drop it into the flour and rub it through with your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix through lightly.

Mix in the cold water, with the egg yolk loosely beaten in, and gather the pastry crumbs into a ball. Cover with cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.

Tangy citrus fruits are in season and offer a welcome burst of sunshine when the mercury plummets, writes TRISH DESEINE

H

ow fortunate it is that after the Great Carb Overload of Christmas, citrus fruits have their high season in January!

The vibrantly coloured, vitamin-filled reservoirs of sunshine appear so refreshing after weeks of rich food. Their versatile blend of sweetness, acidity and bitterness make them wonderful enhancers of pretty much any dish, and more often than not I find myself reaching for a lemon or lime to squeeze or grate as I’m doing a final adjustment or seasoning. In my kitchen, they are almost as important as salt and pepper, with only pomegranate molasses moving into their territory when I need some high-powered sourness.

Preserved lemons give me both lemony f lavour and a little spike of pickle. My almost-finished jars of marmalade are often emptied into marinades for pork and duck or roast root vegetables and onions. A spoonful of bitter marmalade whisked into the cooking juices of any roast game gives a very decent instant sauce.

Tired lemons, limes and oranges find themselves sliced beside garlic cloves and quartered onions with (quite a bit of) butter, thyme and rosemary when I’m roasting pork, poussin or chicken pieces. I really cannot do without them.

Of all the kitchen gadgets I have tried over the years, one of the best investments was a mid-range, easy-to-

clean citrus juicer. It allowed me to keep cartons of juices and smoothies out of my fridge (given half a chance, my children would empty over a litre in the morning) and gave my family a proper sense of nourishing. The fresh aroma of cut orange or grapefruit peel and the hum of the machine was a very satisfying and gentle way to wake my kids and get their day off to a good start.

Citrus fruits are at their peak for the next month or so and every year I hope I will be organised enough to make marmalade during the f leeting few weeks Seville oranges are on offer. (Now that I have been invited to join local ICA meetings, I think my time has come to live up to their standards.)

With my marmalade-making endeavours sorted, I love the easy pace of January entertaining. When blood oranges arrive they, teamed with table oranges, are always spectacular with smoked fish or meats and spinach or rocket in a fresh and simple starter.

For many of us, January is a time to readjust after the festive excess and that means salad. But I find chilly days call for warming, wholesome dishes and soupswho-think-they-are-stews. A small sliver of not-sosweet lemon tart,or a silky little pot of lemon posset are the perfect lip-smacking end to a hearty, one-pot main course. ^ @TrishDeseine

42 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

3. Roll the pastry out to fill a 18/20cm tart tin.

4. Put all the filling ingredients except the eggs into a small saucepan. Heat gently, without stirring until the very end to make sure the sugar is dissolved. Leave the mixture to cool down completely.

5. Mix the beaten eggs into the lemon mixture. Pour into the pastry base and bake for ten minutes. Then reduce the heat to 180°c and bake for a further twelve to 15 minutes. The pastry should be golden and the centre of the tart slightly quivering.

6. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a couple of hours before dusting with icing sugar and serving with whipped fresh cream.

LEMON AND LIME POSSET If time is too short to make pastry, these little pots of sunshine will round off an informal January supper very nicely.

FOR 6 (10 minutes preparation; 5 minutes cooking; 2 hours chilling) Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon and 1 lime (you need 100ml juice) • 125g caster sugar • 500ml double cream 1. Put the juice, zest and sugar into a pan and bring to the boil until the sugar dissolves, stirring from time to time.

Keep warm.

2. In another pan, bring the cream to the boil.

Whisk it into the warm lemon syrup, pour through a sieve into little pots or ramekins.

3. Let the posset cool and then chill it in the fridge for two hours or so before serving with almond biscuits or shortbread thins.

PHOTOGRAPH BY DEIRDRE ROONEY

A VIRTUOUS TART

2. Pre heat the oven to 200°c.

THIS WONDERFUL LITTLE PLACE . . . B R IG HTO N

Novelist Jojo Moyes has written 13 critically acclaimed books, including Me Before You, which has sold over three million copies worldwide

ADVERTORIAL

CityJet DESTINATION

FLORENCE

This picture: The Gucci Museum.

Above: St Regis hotel.

I

hadn’t been to Brighton in 20 years when I stayed at a friend’s house there after a literary festival, and instantly fell in love. Soon afterwards, on a cold February half-term, I decided to view a flat and persuaded my three children that a day at the seaside would be fun.

The flat was awful (the estate agent confessed it had taken them four hours to clean it up enough to photograph), and walking along the seafront in Siberian winds, we grew grumpy and despondent.

But when we stumbled into an Italian seafood café on Hove seafront, lured in by the jewelled ice creams in its window and, licking double chocolate cornets in a steamy booth, our moods were revived instantly. At my husband’s urging, we decided to view another flat – a wreck – and whether it was the view of the sea or the bonhomie that follows good food, we bought it there and then.

Since then Marrocco’s café has become as much of a lure as the flat itself. I work in Brighton two days a week, and we go as a family on weekends. My reward for a successful 48-hour writing stint is always pasta with a whole crab or fish stew, perhaps followed by lemon cheesecake. When I am brave enough to swim in the sea in the mornings, I dash there afterwards, shivering, for coffee and a croissant.

Writer friends nearby joke that the café is our office. Often I write there alone, gazing out at the grey scudding sea, listening to the chatter of other freelancers and timewasters, and the hiss and scald of the Italian coffee machine.

The children ask for the pizza, but it’s really the atmosphere they love. My youngest hero-worshipped the waiter who knew him by name and occasionally pulled him out of the block-long summer queue for ice cream. He brings his favourite waiters gifts – you can see his little paper robots behind the till.

The waiters are equally solicitous of elderly relatives, adapting menus for finicky palates, or serving up their showstopper seafood platter, which I first bought for my mother, and which left me – a former oyster refusenik – dreaming of their briny magnificence for weeks after.

In the three years since we have been going there the menus have gotten a little smarter, Above: Marrocco’s. This image: Brighton Pier. the interior a little grander, but I hope it doesn’t change too much. There are too few places like Marrocco’s – a café that serves great food – a safe place, a seafaring home from home. ^ ÓRLA DUKES @OrlaDukes Marrocco’s, 8 King’s Esplanade, Hove; www.marroccos.co.uk

RIVALTO on the Arno is lovely for lunch (you can sit on the wall of the river) and, for the purest Tuscan flavours, try

Our CityJet Florence insider knows where to STAY, what to EAT and when to GO ...

ZEB GASTRONOMIA, owned by son

Early spring is when Florence is at its most delightfully uncrowded, when a visit to the Uffizi and its Caravaggios, Da Vincis and Botticellis is calm and leisurely, and when ascending to the top of Brunelleschi’s cupola in the Duomo doesn’t require a lengthy wait. But, as well being the most wonderful centre of Renaissance art in the world, Florence has undergone a recent cultural, artisanal and food revival with a new list of must-do’s. First stop is to check in with CityJet’s seamless service (a super-smooth transfer from Dublin via LondonCity to Aeroporto di Firenze), complete with generous cabin baggage allowance and in-flight refreshments. I’ll be packing light (sunnies, scarves, supercomfortable boots) so I have lots of room for shopping in the designer boutiques of Via Tuornabuoni, home to Prada, Giorgio Armani and Cavalli. My favourite pharmacy, SANTA MARIA NOVELLA, once a rococo chapel, is now a place of worship of a different kind, and treating myself to a new artisanal spritz from ANTICA OFFICINA DEL FARMACISTA DR VRANJES (a favourite of Vogue and Vanity Fair), is also on the agenda.

EAT/DRINK The 19th-century food market MERCATO CENTRALE is a must during the week, with the best of artisan Italian food from olive oil to truffles, cheese, olives and pasta on offer.

with cocoa. SOSTANZA is timeless for

and mama power team Alberto and Giuseppina Navari. Menus are recited, rather than written, and specialities include

homemade

pasta,

orange-

scented ravioli in an apple-and-fennel sauce, and Italian beef stew laced dinner and Trattoria 4LEONI attracts a fashionable crowd. Make sure to make time to visit IL GELATO VIVOLI, the best gelateria in the city.

EXPERIENCE The cool young things gather in the Piazza San Spirito, where people-watching while sipping a Negroni in one of the many stylish bars is fun. I’ll be nipping into THE GUCCI MUSEUM to see Hilary Swank’s iconic gown and the Gucci-upholstered 1970s sports car, followed by a glass of the region’s signature chianti in the PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA (where Friar Savonarola held his first Bonfire of the Vanities in 1947). If weather permits, after a visit to the GALLERIA PATINA, I’ll pop next door to the best gardens

in

the

city,

the

GIARDINI BOBOLI. SLEEP This stylish city is full of unique places to stay: my choice will be the HOTEL BRUNELLESCHI, a medieval church furnished in contemporary style with a glass staircase and four poster beds, minutes from the Uffizi, while lovers of classic luxury might opt for the ST REGIS HOTEL and its rather grand atmosphere.

CITYJET CURRENTLY SERVES AMSTERDAM, ANTWERP, AVIGNON, LONDON CITY, NANTES, PARIS (ORLY), FLORENCE, ROTTERDAM, LA ROCHELLE AND TOULON AIRPORTS, WITH ROUTES OUT OF DUBLIN AND CORK. SEE WWW.CITYJET.COM FOR RESERVATIONS, OFFERS AND FURTHER INFORMATION

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | January 2016 | 43

TRAVEL

Hotel Botanico was redesigned and renovated in 1995.

The Oriental Spa Garden

STRAP

Xxxxx

MAN in A SUITCASE

In desperate search of sleep and sun, TIM MAGEE finds himself booking last-minute flights to Tenerife – with mixed results

S

omeone needs to open a hotel chain called Antidote with the tagline: We are not a home from home. It would come into its own at this time of year.

After Christmas, I’m yearning for a holiday from the holidays. I want an antidote to pale-skinned gluttony, hospital talk and a winter straight out of Game of Thrones. Usually it’s something I‘d plan carefully. This year though, fleeing rain, relatives and functioning alcoholism, I hadn’t been my usual picky self about where I was going.

I was just going.

After 20 minutes of thumbing temperatures and prices on the weather and Skyscanner apps, and getting a sunburnt nod from a bird in the know with boots on the ground, I booked Tenerife for the following day without any idea of where to stay. I figured any five-star bubble bathed in sun would do.

I’m lucky enough to feel at home in Miami, Paris, New York, LA, Lisbon and a dozen other big cities and small countries but I knew little about the Canaries. I knew it was named after big dogs and not little birds, that it has decent wines, that César Manrique’s architecture is cool.

But I never thought I’d actually go, in the same way that, when the notion struck of taking a cruise, a voice in my head would warn, “Not for you, sir”.

When I got to my first stop in Tenerife, a grand-sounding five-star in Coste Adeje, I wished I’d listened to that snob in my head. Arriving to the Vegas-like entrance, straight from the longest trip you are ever going to do in that class of cramped flying container with a couple of portaloos and food that would survive a nuclear winter, needs a least a smile of welcome.

I pulled up to the door but there wasn’t a smile or a person to put a smile on. It had said five-star on the booking, not something that holds much water with me but at least you would be hopeful. After wandering through the set and cast of the sequel to the Poseidon Adventure with the vibe of the green room at The Jeremy Kyle Show, I finally found someone that could give me directions to the car park. They sent me to the wrong car park. After spending more time trying to check in than I had in renting a car and getting in from the

44 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

airport, I carried our bags to the five-minute walk to the room. A room which, like the entrance, was Ceausescu chic with air-conditioning about as effective as a fly’s fart. There wasn’t any drinking water, complimentary or otherwise.

I rang room service and they proudly said it would be around 25 minutes. I went out to buy some water and plan the rest of my trip.

I’ve never paid any regard to crowd-sourced opinions.

I’ve relied on a mental slide rule and projector that cross references some favourite travel and food writers with a single website I trust. It’s as scientific as throwing chicken bones at the moon but has always worked. This time, a tired, hurried shambles, I had trusted the stars and comments of one of the biggest booking engines in the

“The following morning I was leaving COSTA ADEJE with more HASTE and hope than I had left IRELAND.” world. Never again. The following morning I was leaving Costa Adeje with more haste and hope than I had left Ireland and pelting up the coastal motorway to Puerto de la Cruz.

I didn’t know exactly what I was heading to but knew this time I had used the slide rule and chicken bone process and that anything would be better than the Alcopops-a-lips Now I had just left.

I wanted to be near a real town. I wanted a quiet but grand pool, old school hospitality with locals and the sea on my doorstep. I wanted a lot, but I got that and more at the Hotel Botanico. When we pulled up this time, a man and a woman in crisp brilliant white jackets and brilliant white smiles took our baggage, our car and any concerns we had away.

The Botanico is exactly my kind of hotel. Not trendy or new, nor a precious museum, but more like a Grand Dame’s classy cousin. A tropical, colonial, oriental cocktail that

The sub-tropical gardens are home to over 200 species of plants and trees.

shouldn’t work, the Botanico is perfect. A rare thing where the owners have enough cop to know that keeping the hotel pristine and looking exactly like she did 30 years ago will keep it perfect for the next 30.

Its people are without pomp and on just the right side of ceremony and it’s home to gardens and a handsome pool with a deep end framed with a pick and mix of ages and nationalities, the biggest number reassuringly being from the Spanish mainland.

A poolside that I didn’t really leave much. For the most part I didn’t go anywhere. I had planned to see Spain’s highest peak, the nearby restless Mount Teide (next time) and anyway I could see that from my room. I had planned to work my way around the vineyards and the old towns like Garachico (next time) or any number of black beauties of beaches that fringe northern Tenerife (next time) but things kept getting in the way.

Breakfast got in my way every day. Apparently the best on the island. Poolside, it’s a procession of spangly fresh fruits, good coffee, better Cava and cooked to order treats.

After breakfast, after you had moved all of 15 feet to the sunlounger, then books would get in the way. The old town of Puerto de la Cruz has very good seafood restaurants and tapas bars, or so I hear. I did leave the hotel regularly, for lunch and dinner, which was all the way across the road to the brilliant little tapas bar and wineshop Restaurante and Vinothek Meme. There the daily routine of grazing on pimientos de Padrón, cracking croquetas and heaven’s finest jamón would always get in the way.

Even inane thoughts kept getting in my way of planning anything except not leaving the hotel. Can we grow these little Canarian spuds at home? Does my gazpacho really taste better the hotter I am? Is the new Fargo series actually better than the movie? How is it I can swim with decent rhythm yet dance like I am walking on coals? How much jamón can I eat before I am officially a protected product?

What I mostly ended up doing was falling into a cycle of reading, drinking lots of water (including the world’s best, Vichy Catalan), working out every day, and getting converted into a happy human pretzel every other day – as The Botanico is home to one of the best spas in Europe. All the while never hearing local news of local problems and topping all of that with tons of sleep.

My idea of legging it to the Canaries for a winter break I thought might be a supposedly fun thing I’d never do again. It wasn’t. In finding The Botanico I’ve stumbled across what is one of my favourite hotels and a powerful antidote to my own preconceptions. ^ @manandasuitcase

HERE’S TO GOOD HEALTH

Healthier drinking doesn’t have to mean no drinking.

MARY DOWEY has some clever recommendations

T

ime to sober up. The party’s over and I’m not talking about Christmas. The whole concept of ‘safe drinking’ with guidelines to make us feel that a few drinks enjoyed regularly won’t do us a bit of harm is falling apart at the seams like that suspiciously reasonable coat you fell for in last January’s sales.

In 2012 the Department of Health revised the recommended weekly limits for alcohol consumption downwards – from 21 units (or small drinks) to 17 for men, and from 14 to eleven for women. The thresholds for over65s are lower again: eleven for men and seven for women.

But these figures may soon begin to look generous. Alcohol is now the third greatest risk factor resulting in death or disability within the EU. According to www.alcoholireland. ie, even at low levels of consumption it increases the risk of developing over 60 diseases and medical conditions. So don’t be surprised if our government follows Holland in its latest recommendation that alcohol be avoided entirely.

Should we swallow that? It’s a personal choice, obviously. To me, wine is one of life’s greatest pleasures so there is no question of abandoning it but I’ve set a few health-conscious rules …

1. DRINK LESS. If, like me, you’re trying to keep within current guidelines, remember that one standard glass of wine rarely equates to one unit of alcohol. It’s invariably more – maybe as high as 1.9 units if you’re downing a generous glass of some blockbuster red. Back labels on wines in supermarkets such as Marks & Spencer and Tesco can be helpfully precise.

2. KEEP TRACK. Don’t allow top-ups so that you know exactly how many glasses you’ve drunk.

3. GIVE THE LIVER A REST. At least three days a week, if you’re wise. And don’t binge the rest of the time.

4. CHOOSE LOWER ALCOHOL STYLES. Although the fashion for wildly intoxicating wines is waning (finally), most whites are still typically 13-13.5 per cent alcohol by volume and reds 13.5-14 per cent ABV. But it’s not that difficult to find examples of both colours at around twelve per cent or less, and you’ll be surprised how much better that apparently small reduction makes you feel. Lower alcohol is mainly associated with coolish conditions. (The warmer the weather, the riper the grapes, containing more sugar for yeast to convert into alcohol.)

So look first to Germany (whose Rieslings may be as low as eight per cent ABV); Austria and the more northerly parts of France, Italy and Spain.

5. FAVOUR ORGANIC, BIODYNAMIC AND (MAYBE) NATURAL WINES. Although the philosophy is admirable, I’m not yet convinced about natural wines: some are so badly made that they taste dreadful and the term “natural” is neither defined nor regulated. But, of course, organic or biodynamic certification is A Good Thing. Growing grapes without chemical fertilisers or pesticides is to be encouraged. ^ @MaryDowey

3.

1.

2.

1. CALUSARI PINOT NOIR, ROMANIA 2013.

My first Romanian hot tip. This is deliciously good value – soft, raspberryish and inviting.

12.5% ABV. From Whelehans Wines, Loughlinstown; www.wineonline.ie; d9.95-d10.95.

2. CHÂTEAU PLAISANCE FRONTON 2013.

This organic blend of Negrette, Syrah and Cabernet Franc from southwest France was a favourite at THE GLOSS December wine dinner at The Merrion.

12.2% ABV. From Sheridans, Dublin 2, and www.sheridans cheesemongers.com; d16.50-d18.

3. DIWALD RIESLING EISENHUT RESERVE, WAGRAM 2012.

You’ll want to sip and savour this magnificent organic Austrian. A treat aperitif. 12.5% ABV. From Clontarf Wines, Dublin 3; Little Green Grocer, Kilkenny; Olive Branch, Clonakilty or direct from organic specialist www. marypawlewines.ie; d30-d32.

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | January 2016 | 45

BOOKS BEDSIDE TABLE

What is VALERIE MARTIN reading?

CHANGING ROOM Adapting Room for the screen was a joy for novelist Emma Donoghue. Now with a Golden Globe nomination, she explains the journey to SARAH BREEN

E

mma Donoghue was rushing out the door to pick up her daughter from school when she discovered, through Twitter, she had been nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay. “I was certainly startled to find myself on that list,” she says from her home in London, Ontario, where she has lived for 17 years since emigrating from Ireland. “I’m particularly happy that the film is up for Best Motion Picture because, even though it’s small in some ways, it has huge impact. I’m thrilled that it is getting this much recognition.”

Published in 2010 to widespread critical acclaim, Room is the remarkable story of a five-year-old boy and his mother who are imprisoned in an eleven foot by eleven foot garden shed with no contact from the outside world, save for nightly visits by their captor, Old Nick. Brie Larson plays Ma with an intense mix of vulnerability and quiet determination while newcomer Jacob Tremblay lights up the screen as innocent Jack.

“Compared with my other books, this one struck me as having the kind of plot that could make the leap to screen,” Donoghue says. “The story has a certain momentum.”

Lenny Abrahamson (What Richard Did, Adam and Paul) saw the potential too and first contacted Donoghue about adapting it in 2011.

They began work about a year later, with Donoghue writing the screenplay and Abrahamson directing. “Together with Lenny’s producing partner, Ed Guiney, we made a very unusual agreement to work together in developing it, only formally selling the rights just before filming began. I kept waiting to have one of those bruising experiences with the film business that everyone tells writers they will have, moments when you feel betrayed or ignored or shut out, but I really didn’t. Lenny was fantastic in every possible way. I couldn’t have had a better guide to lead me into the world of film.”

As well as being the screenwriter, Donoghue was also an executive producer which allowed her plenty of creative control.

“I had input, but you should never abuse your power. To push Lenny into making any decision that he wasn’t happy with would have been perverse because it had to be his film. But I did get to be part of the discussion for casting and I’m thrilled to bits with the end product.”

American writer Valerie Martin won the Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel, Property. Her latest book, Sea Lovers, is a collection of twelve whimsical short stories exploring themes including obsession, passion, justice and duplicity.

Serpent’s Tail, S13.50.

Having a child with such a central role (Tremblay was seven when shooting began, he is now nine) meant there were plenty of restrictions once filming started. “We all benefited from working to a child’s timetable,” Donoghue laughs. “We couldn’t do night shoots or really long days and we had to have regular breaks, so it meant the hours were very civilised.”

Did she ever have an inkling they had a hit on their hands?

“I always had a good feeling about it. Lenny said early on that he believed we would get a big mainstream audience, but only if we made it without compromise. I saw the first rough screening in April and I wept like a baby. He had done something so magnificent and I knew Brie’s performance would attract a lot of award conversations. It’s been so heartening to find people responding so well to this little film.”

With the reception being so encouraging, screenwriting is something Donoghue is keen to pursue – and the offers are already rolling in. “I’m trying my hand at a whole new thing in my late 40s and it’s very exciting. As a writer, it’s fatal to get too comfortable. Keeping yourself in that state of mild panic is crucial. I’ve already started to get offered strange gigs. The other day I got to meet Nick Hornby, a huge thrill, and he was saying that when he writes a novel it just gets published – it’s bliss. But when you write a film, there are so many ways the project can get stymied and blocked and stonewalled. Coming in as the adapter of my own novel was definitely the best stepping stone.”

One aspect of this entire project that particularly delights Donoghue is that it is a Canadian/Irish production. “It’s a coming together of my two countries,” she says. “It just feels wonderful to me.” With Room once again climbing the bestseller lists, she is currently working on rewrites of her latest book, The Wonder, due to be published in September. “It’s set in midlands Ireland in the 1850s and is about a little girl who claims to live without eating,” she explains. “It’s another odd story. If you write to pursue commercial success, I think all you produce is derivative work. You have to forget all that and follow your curiosity wherever it leads.”

And if you’re wondering whether there are film producers already calling, you’d be correct. ^ Room is in cinemas from January 15.

“I’m TRYING my hand at a whole NEW thing in my late 40s and it’s very EXCITING.”

46 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

SENSO AND OTHER STORIES

by Camillo Boito, translated by Christine Donougher The title story of this collection was the subject of a film by Luchino Visconti. Visconti chose to make the anti-heroine, Contessa Livia, a middle-aged aristocrat, rather than the brazen young countess married to a man twice her age who narrates the original tale. In her “secret notebook,” Livia documents her obsession with a young Austrian officer who is more interested in her husband’s money than in her. It ends badly, especially for the lover. Dedalus, about S11.

A MAN IN LOVE

by Karl Ove Knausgaard This is Book Two of Knausgaard’s autobiographical sextet. I read Book Three first, accidentally following the chronological sequence of the narrative.

Knausgaard is sometimes compared to Proust, but I think the correct comparison is Chekhov. Not Chekhov himself, but one of his self-flagellating, narcissistic characters.

Why do I care whether Karl Ove will ever persuade Linda to undertake her share of the housework? Why does my heart ache for him when he kills the bat? I can’t say, and I can't stop reading. Harvill Secker, S26.99.

TALES OF THE NEW WORLD

by Sabina Murray Murray has a fierce, take-no-prisoners way with history. These stories of famous explorers unfold in shocking vignettes. See Mary Kingsley, lodged in a chief’s hut in the liquid jungle of West Africa, pulling down from the rafters a basket packed with human fingers and toes. Sympathise with Magellan’s translator, the luckless Pigafetta, as he confesses his unrequited love for the captain. There’s a high degree of accuracy in the alarming details that seamlessly abound in these wondrous stories.

Grove Press, about S11.

This Glossy Life The New Nomads

Dublin, London, Ibiza ... a love of travel keeps some young families on the move, as SARAH BREEN finds out

C Chloe Arnold and Jason Manville, photographed with daughter Sive, by Daniel Holfield, at Clissman Caravan Park, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow. Styled by Roxanne Parker.

hloe Arnold attributes her deepseated wanderlust to a childhood of adventure and aeroplanes. “That idea of escape, of getting up, up and away, is something I was born into,” she says. “I took my first f light when I was just a few weeks old. My father got his private pilot’s licence when he was in his 30s and I vividly remember, as a child, f lying over Ireland in a tiny Cessna. We travelled far and wide, to places like Kuala Lumpur and Bali. I have an aunt and uncle in New York so we visited them, going skiing in Vermont, and we have family in Australia too.”

Arnold, the daughter of property developer David Arnold and Mo Arnold, and sister of actor Leigh, is one of a new tribe of Irish in their 20s and 30s who grew up in Ireland but are as comfortable living and working across several countries, with young families in tow. And along with others like Kojii Helnwein, overleaf, who are bi- or even tri-locating, she believes life on the move is incredibly enriching ...

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | January 2016 | 47

THIS GLOSSY LIFE

After studying at the London School of Fashion, a successful modelling career, and the launch of her online clothing business, www.traxedo.com, Arnold continued living a largely bohemian life. These days, she and her husband, musician Jason Manville, and their three-year-old daughter, Sive, divide their time between Dublin and Ibiza, with regular trips elsewhere as often as their schedules allow. “We tend to spend the off-season in Ibiza,” she says, “where we live in the countryside. It’s peaceful and rustic. There are markets every weekend where you can pick up fruit and vegetables for next to nothing. Sive thrives there.

Even if it’s cold and windy, she’s happy to run around on the beach. There’s an open-mindedness that comes with travelling that I want my daughter to learn. I want her to be as familiar with as many different people, cultures and languages as possible.” The slower pace really appeals to Arnold too. “It’s a magical place – calm, interesting and unique. The light is incredible – I find the grey skies in Ireland hard to deal with sometimes.” With Sive due to start school in Ireland in 2017, Arnold is adamant that the family takes full advantage of their freedom while they can. “Every few months we move around – I love it and find it very exciting. I know that once Sive starts school we’ll be more restricted.”

Being on the move means that Arnold has pared back her lifestyle accordingly.

“When you stay in one place too long, you tend to hoard things,” she says.

“Travelling has taught me that you don’t need so much to function and survive.

I’m not materialistic – I didn’t even use a buggy when Sive was little, I carried her in a sling for the first year. Living lighter is very freeing and a liberating feeling.

You don’t feel tied down by ‘stuff ’. And I don’t spend a fortune on gadgets and toys because children lose interest so quickly.”

When Sive starts school, the family will finally be required to settle down. Is anything appealing about the idea? “We have the most incredible country and I’ve been neglectful of it – I want to explore Ireland. I have lovely memories of my parents packing six of us into the car and going on road trips to Connemara and Kerry. Dublin is really thriving too, there are so many lovely new restaurants, shops and cafés.”

As far as Arnold is concerned, home is where her family is, whether that’s in London, where they were based until recently, Dublin, Ibiza or beyond. “For me my family is my home, wherever we are in the world.”

Kojii Helnwein had a static, normal childhood in suburban Dublin. Well, as

normal as can be expected when her father, Enda Wyatt, was the bass player in An Emotional Fish, one of the most successful bands to emerge from Ireland in the 1990s. “My dad was adamant that we stay in Dublin and stick with school. He wanted to keep our lives as calm and stable as possible, even as he travelled. Now that I have three kids of my own I appreciate that, but I’m not quite as traditional myself. As a child, I wished I could go on tour with him – his travelling definitely instilled a curiosity in me.”

At 18, Helnwein, already a musician herself, packed her bags and hit the road. And she hasn’t really stopped moving since. “I went to New York with a boyfriend. We sold everything we owned, bought a tent and took off travelling on Greyhound buses. We found ourselves in all sorts of weird situations and strange places. We hiked the Grand Canyon, camped at Niagara Falls – we were fearless.”

Helnwein studied stage management and technical theatre production before becoming a freelance stage manager for several years, touring the country. She is also a singer, songwriter, model and actress, all jobs which in many ways prevent her from putting down roots. “In my career, the hard part is that if you travel too much, people forget about you and you end up starting from scratch again when you come back. I’ve learned the importance of networking and staying in touch.”

In 2004, Helnwein was working full-time as a model and on the brink of moving back to New York when she received an email from an artist who wanted her to pose for him. She was more than a little surprised when the photographer, Cyril Helnwein, turned out not to be a middle-aged man. “Well, Cyril is not the youngest name in the world, is it?” she laughs. “I was expecting a 50-year-old and there was this handsome guy with tattoos and a leather jacket.

We’ve been together ever since – it was pretty much love at first sight.”

“We were living in downtown Los Angeles when I got pregnant with our first baby. Back then, LA was gritty but we lived in a nice, tight-knit community of musicians and artists. Just before my daughter was born, we got our friends together and said, ‘Let’s get married tomorrow’. But Croí decided to come early. A friend ended up marrying us a few weeks later. We had a plan to have a bigger celebration in Cyril’s family home, but we just got so busy that it never happened.”

That family home is Castle Gurteen de la Poer, owned by Cyril’s father Gottfried Helnwein, an Austrian visual artist, and his wife Renate, who bought it in 1998. For the past two years, it’s the place all the Helnweins, including Kojii, Cyril and their three children Croí Sequoia, now ten, Éala Cheyenne, four, and two-year-old Captain Solas Wyatt, have called home. It’s also where Dita Von Teese and shock rocker Marilyn Manson married in 2005.

“We decided to stay in Tipperary for a while to let the kids enjoy country life. We wanted them to experience the polar opposite of the urban life we had been living.” The concept of home means . different things to different people, but for freebirds like Helnwein it’s really more about the people than the place. “We’re not the only ones living at the castle,” she says. “My husband’s parents are here at the moment, as well as his sister and her husband. The family being together really fills the place.”

After a magical Christmas spent with extended family in Gurteen, open fires and the biggest Christmas tree they could find, the Helnweins are looking forward to a planning a round the world trip en famille.

“When we met first, Cyril and I were very spontaneous,” Helnwein says, “we were known for going to the airport and just getting on the cheapest f light for a weekend away. But once you have children, you have to plan ahead.

I want to take them everywhere – to India, Thailand, China, Japan, Mexico and Brazil. We have to make sure f lights are reasonably short, stopovers aren’t too long and that we definitely have a bed when we get to our destination. But every time we take them somewhere new I can see how much they’re learning. My four-year-old can use chopsticks. My two-year-old already has some Spanish and German words. As well as learning to navigate airports and cities, their communication skills grow and it brings them out of their shells.” ^ Daniel Holfield and Roxanne Parker create relaxed, unique family portraits.

See www.sandalsandgreenhouse.com.

“Every time we take them SOMEWHERE NEW I can see how much they’re LEARNING. My four-year-old can use chopsticks ”

48 | January 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

THIS GLOSSY LIFE STRAP Cyril and Kojii Helnwein and their children, photographed

by Daniel Holfield at Castle Gurteen in Tipperary.

Styled by Roxanne Parker.

TTHHEEGGLLOOS S SMMAAGGAAZZI N I NEE| |September January 2016 2009|| 49 15