#17 Mid-week Quickie: the Sezane jacket I have in 3 different colours, my verdict on the viral Tower 28 SOS spray and an excellent bingeable Netflix show
Plus a Sydney bathhouse must visit and hair products helping my humidity ravaged hair
Happy Wednesday friends!
After flying back from Wellington, New Zealand late Friday night, Angus and I started the weekend by visiting bathhouse, Capybara in Surry Hills for the first time. We’d both been so keen for so long but had never gotten around to booking. We booked a 90 minute quiet session (no talking permitted, super serene vibes) at 8.30am where we could use the sauna, steam room, heated mineral pool and cold plunge.
You can take it all at your own pace and dip in and out of each facility as much or as little as you want. As you can imagine, it the most wonderful way to start the weekend (or any day, really) and it was so fun to do with Angus, despite the no chat policy. I’m always trying to find little wholesome moments like these, they fill my cup in a huge way.
Film/TV/Books
I need to start this section with a quick retraction from the previous MWQ - where I said The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren was terrible. I ended up finishing it on my flight to Wellington and loved the last 150 pages. I still stand by my comments that the first 180 pages of the book was trash - super corny and cringey. But it gets better and yeah, I really enjoyed it. :)
I’m reading another romcom book now called Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter. Right now I’m avoiding books categorised by one of my friends as, “thinkers,” I’m really in my mushy/easy book phase (aka Smooth Brain).
Running Point is a new Netflix TV show and we binged the whole thing over the weekend. Made by Mindy Kaling and starring Kate Hudson - despite loving both of these women - I didn’t have high hopes but about 5 minutes in, I knew it was going to be great. And it was! Genuinely funny, a good concept and really well made.
A Real Pain dropped on Disney+ and I really enjoyed it. Written, directed and starring Jesse Eisenberg (and Kieran Culkin deservedly won an Oscar this week for his role), the film follows Jesse and Kieran’s characters who are cousins, embarking on a trip to Poland, their late Grandma’s hometown, to pay respects to her and learn more about their Jewish heritage. The film was endearing, slightly uncomfortable at times, but overall heartwarming and awkwardly charming.
And of course, I’ve cleared my weekend schedule this weekend for in the incoming new season of Drive To Survive! If you’ve never watched, it’s well worth it to go back and start from the beginning. You might be like me and completely surprise yourself and begin to love the sport. There’s so much drama, gossip and of course, the cute drivers - what more could you want!?
My F1 fan girl status reached new heights when I was asked to do an interview with Annie Brown (her Substack Books + Nice Things is a must subscribe!) for Vogue Australia about my love for the sport. It’s in the March issue, out now.
Fashion/home
If you’ve been a long-time subscriber to Smooth Brain, you’ll know how many times I’ve raved about these Neuw Denim jeans. I just got a new pair, in a different style and colour and they are just fab - linking them here. I shared them on instagram and the most common question was if they are true to size - they are!
Another example of, if I like something, I’m going to get it in a different colour - I got this denim Sezane Will jacket in the colour, Latte (above). I also have the suede mustard colour and suede camel colour. I size up so that it’s just that little bit more oversized and the quality is really good.
I bought and love the Deiji Studios linen vintage floral pillow cases so much that I needed to get the matching bedding!
Always on my Facebook Marketplace grind, I snapped up these vintage tulip chairs this week. For now, we’ll use them in our kitchen but ultimately my plan is to replace our dining table chairs with an assortment of mismatching vintage or unique chairs, collected over time.
Beauty bits
I just finished my first bottle of the much hyped Tower 28 SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray. It’s full of hypochlorous acid, helps calm and sooth your skin, supports the skin barrier, keep flare-ups at bay and fights bacteria that causes clogged pores and acne. If you’ve seen this red bottle all over social media and wondered, ‘does it actually work?’ I was right there with you. I can confirm, it truly helped my acne prone skin so much over the last few months of using the spray. I now fear I can’t live without it. I spritz after cleansing, throughout the day if needed, post workouts and pre/during/post flying.
More skincare updates: affordable (nothing is over $32) UK brand Byoma just launched at Sephora. Aimed at simplifying your skincare routine but delivering efficacious results, Byoma is made by Marc Elrick (also the founder of Tan Luxe) and harnesses the best research and ingredients from Korea into the Byoma formula. Beyond the colourful packaging, this brand is one to watch and a great option for those on a budget or starting their skincare journey.
I went to a new nail spot, Sindoba (located in Salon Lane, Bondi Junction) for a manicure last week and it was incredible. Soni specialises in Russian manicures, as well as BIAB and Biosculpture. She uses products from Chanel, Dior, Hermes, Jo Malone as well as the usual nail brands you’d expect. I was blown away with how clean and thorough my manicure was. I opted for a regular polish - the colour is Rose Coquille by Hermes.
I’m always on the hunt for brilliant lip combos and Lily Rose Depp’s lip by makeup artist Nina Park for the Oscars was an immediate screenshot and save. Lily wore all Chanel Beauty:
LE CRAYON LÈVRES Longwear Lip Pencil in Nude Brun and Brun Foncé
LE ROUGE DUO ULTRA TENUE Ultra Wear Liquid Lip Colour in Merry Rose
ROUGE COCO BAUME SHINE Hydrating Beautifying Tinted Lip Balm in Blushing Pink
New local brand, Hotel of Beauty recently launched Health Retreat - a tinted serum (think Drunk Elephant bronzing drops) with SPF 15, packed with beautiful skin loving ingredients niacinamide, polyglutamic acid, vitamin c, vitamin e, squalene etc. It’s so nice under makeup or worn on its own for a beautiful glow with a hint of colour.
On the hair front, humidity has been ruining my life in so many ways but one of the more egregious and unforgiveable acts against me is how it messes with my hair. I’ve had to rejig my hair routine to help with this. I’ve been using Kerastase’s Nutritive range and loving. I have oily roots and dry ends and I find this range properly cleans my roots, doesn’t weigh my hair down but does a brilliant job of hydrating my ends.
I also went back to an old favourite - the Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair hair mask and reminded me how much I love it and how well it agrees with my hair.
Before I finish, if you’re in need of an outrageously delicious sweet treat - I tried Pepe Saya’s buttery salted caramels and I haven’t been the same since! They are so completely divine and would make for such a thoughtful little gift for someone.
More Smooth Brain Thoughts soon!
Ali xx
Also, a quick note from me, I am launching paid subscriptions. If you’re able to support my work, it’ll be $5 a month (less than a cafe coffee) and with that you’ll access: my City Guides (+ the archive), Shopping List, Monthly Fits and Faves, essays and deep dives, my interview series Secondhand Conversations.