RAW TALK. • 29th December 2024

A reflection on 2024 that I’ll be carrying into 2025

I can’t lie, I hate all the “new year, new me” bollocks. Surely there is no worse a time to try and radically reinvent yourself? It’s still dark at 4 pm, everyone has a post-Christmas come down and I’m usually exhausted from the festive chaos. And if that wasn’t enough, my TikTok feed has already ditched the gift hauls and fake Christmas card pranks in favour of relentless tips on how to lose weight, get rid of crow’s feet wrinkles using tape and quit cloud chasing (vaping).This summer, after wr...

RAW TALK. • 27th November 2024

25 lessons I’ve learnt about being a woman in the last 25 years

Last week, I turned 25, and so naturally, it felt only right to share some of my so-called quarter-life-century “wisdom.” Apologies in advance…You don’t ask, you don’t get. Simple.Don’t bother trying to connect to WiFi on the Tube. After frantically tapping 'EE Wifi Auto' in vain, by the time it finally connects, you’ll be speeding off to the next station, adding unnecessary frustration to your morning commute. Even worse, when you finally get through, you'll have no time to reply before the sig...

RAW TALK. • 18th July 2024

I’m completely and utterly exhausted, you?

Good morning, lovely people! How are you? I’m sorry I didn’t send out my last newsletter, but a few things got in the way (aka Glastonbury), and then it was general election week and I was interviewing for a new job, so work was chaotic and any plans to sit down and do some writing went completely out the window. Life has been very busy. But that’s fine because it’s good to be busy, right? Or so I thought...In today’s fast-paced world, everyone seems obsessed with being busy. A quick search for...

RAW TALK. • 14th June 2024

Having an Instagram boyfriend is no longer a joke, it’s a necessity

In 2017, yet another Instagram post went viral. The picture? A boyfriend sprawled awkwardly across a beach, trying to capture the perfect candid shot of his girlfriend. The image was posted by the account Boyfriends of Instagram, created with the hope of encouraging followers to share funny behind-the-scenes footage of men going to great lengths to get the ultimate shot of their girlfriends for “the gram.” The account swiftly became the “original anti-influencer influencer club” and now boasts n...

RAW TALK. • 31st May 2024

Out of Office

All being well, this newsletter has magically landed in your inbox at the usual time of 7:30 on a Friday morning, thanks to technology keeping its promise and allowing me to schedule this post a whole week in advance. Or perhaps my flatmate kindly sorted it out after I sent her a panicked message from a sun lounger in Sifnos, Greece, nursing a pounding hangover from last night’s visit to Loggia Wine Bar.

Apologies for the brag, but I’m finally on holiday after an intense nine months of hustling

RAW TALK. • 17th May 2024

Thank God for my girls

It is funny how much the TV shows, films and books we consumed as children shaped our dreams and expectations about love and life. Growing up, many of the stories I read and watched revolved around finding that perfect prince charming in order to live “happily ever after” because romantic love was the key to happiness, right? No wonder many of us (especially women) have been planning our weddings since we were five, crafting checklists for our ideal partners and frequently discussing the pursuit

RAW TALK. • 3rd May 2024

How the London Marathon restored my faith in humanity

The United Kingdom is the second ‘most miserable’ place to live on the planet, according to a new study. And boy does it feel like it. Gone are the heydays of the 2012 Olympics, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the 2011 royal wedding. Instead, we are still grappling with the repercussions of the pandemic, the unrelenting cost-of-living crisis and great political uncertainty. Here in London, people reckon the capital is dying because it is hostile, expensive and depressing. You only have to switch

RAW TALK. • 19th April 2024

An ode to the Notes app

Flipping through someone’s notes on their phone is the most intimate and intrusive thing you can do. To commit this act would feel illicit in much the same way that reading someone’s diary would because reading someone’s notes gives you unparalleled insight into their behind-the-scenes. From their payday wishlists, ambitious life goals, post-meeting considerations and ratings of people they have slept with, there lies bare the phone owner’s most unfiltered thoughts. As well as the measurements f

RAW TALK. • 12th April 2024

Shifting towards a plant-based diet is not necessarily better for your skin

On 21st July 2023, I rolled out of bed, I went to the bathroom and I cried. Not because my plans to sit in a beer garden all day long would have to be cancelled yet again due to another rainy day in the wettest summer since 2006, but because of my reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Until last year, I had never had more than the odd pimple on my face. But that summer and for the five months that followed, my face was unbearably sore and itchy. Puss-filled whiteheads and deep, inflamed cysts domi

RAW TALK. • 5th April 2024

Why we all need little luxuries in our lives

I had to make a very important decision at the end of last month. Should I buy my favourite Clipper Snore & Peace nighttime tea and not be able to afford public transport for the day, meaning I’d have to walk an hour and a half in the wind and rain to meet my Granny? Or should I take the bus there and back and be dry, but be missing the most essential part of my evening routine that night? I chose the nighttime tea. Why? Because this little luxury is my comfort blanket, and without it, I’d feel

RAW TALK. • 31st March 2024

The Season

It’s official. British Summer Time is here. And so return the moans about the weather, the tinkle-tinkle of ice cream vans, awkward tan lines, hayfever sniffles, strawberries and cream, bustling pub gardens and the Season. The English social season.

According to The British School of Excellence, the Season is the name given to several social and sporting events that take place during spring and summer. This calendar of prestigious events typically attracts royalty, celebrities and high society

RAW TALK. • 22nd March 2024

The Comparison Game

I’m sorry I didn’t send out my newsletter last week, I was too busy playing the comparison game. And I lost, catastrophically.

I’m embarrassed to admit that recently, I’ve sat on my phone for hours a day fixating on what other people are doing. My screen time has gone through the roof. But being unemployed and stuck at home makes it hard to break away from these bad habits. Lately, even when I’m walking down the street or hanging out with my friends, I have often caught myself thinking, ‘Why ha

RAW TALK. • 18th July 2024

I’m completely and utterly exhausted, you?

Good morning, lovely people! How are you? I’m sorry I didn’t send out my last newsletter, but a few things got in the way (aka Glastonbury), and then it was general election week and I was interviewing for a new job, so work was chaotic and any plans to sit down and do some writing went completely out the window. Life has been very busy. But that’s fine because it’s good to be busy, right? Or so I thought...In today’s fast-paced world, everyone seems obsessed with being busy. A quick search for...

RAW TALK. • 8th March 2024

It's 2024. Do we really want Bridget Jones back?

Eight years ago, Bridget Jones was my idol. As I leant up against the back of a shed at a GCSE summer party in my leopard fur coat, ripped fishnets and leather mini-skirt, a Marlboro Gold in hand, and swigging Chardonnay straight from the bottle whilst flirting with a few boys, I couldn’t help but think, “God, Bridget would be proud.”

Looking back, she probably wasn’t the best idol to have.

But for many girls of a similar age to me, Bridget Jones undoubtedly left her mark. I only had to type “

RAW TALK. • 1st March 2024

Welcome to Raw Talk.

I guess I’m lucky. I’ve never really struggled with talking to people. On my first day at nursery, I waved my mother goodbye without a single tear in my eye, as I couldn’t wait to chat (more like scream) to all the other kids. At school, I overheard a girl in the year above me saying, “She’d be pretty if she didn’t talk so much.” Once at a dingy old pub in Old Town, Edinburgh, a seasoned gentleman approached me and quipped, “You can talk for Britain, love.” And yes, admittedly, after a few glass