The people who are really good at spotting such things are the writers of lifestyle blogs. Because a blog can be written at any length, with few constrictions and no prescribed agenda, these guys have the time and the mindset to do so. Informative and prettily produced, a good blog really can be a balm for the soul.
The websites of most brands now produce a regular newsletter, journal or blog that drives home the brand’s values and ethos. Along the way, these missives – with their exquisite photography and thought-provoking content – are as life-enhancing as the brands themselves.
Here is our pick of the most soothing and uplifting lifestyle blogs around.
INGREDIENTS LDN
Ingredients LDN is a charming online homewares store that celebrates a slower pace of living. Its founders say: ‘We like to think that if we use our values to shape our homes, our homes will, in turn, shape the life that unfolds within them.’ You’ll want to buy everything on the website. Its journal is at once a genius marketing tool and a manifesto for soulful living. The endlessly nourishing articles are called things like ‘Cultivating an appreciation for the journey’ and ‘Becoming mindful curators of what we consume’. They may not mean to, but they make you stop and think about how you’re living your life.
TOAST
These days, we are enjoying TOAST’s ancillary offerings (you can read about their brilliant podcast here) as much as we are its fashion. Much more than just a clothing brand, TOAST behaves like a blueprint for contentment in the modern age. They say: ‘At TOAST we encourage a mindful approach in everything we say and do. When we recruit, we look for intelligence, imaginative thinking and a supportive and collaborative style. We are looking for creativity and always welcome new ideas.’ We say: do not miss their captivatingly beautiful weekly articles on books, artists, seasonal recipes, travel and the stories of their makers and materials.
VOTARY
Aaaaah, this brand. It feels so good, it might just blow your cashmere socks off. As if the natural, plant-based skincare and stunning green packaging were not pleasing enough, Votary’s blog is the cherry on the cake. With its weekly updates, including news of launches and openings, interviews with industry experts, advice on beauty, sleep and wellness, it is – like the Votary range itself – ‘crammed with nourishing ingredients and loaded with goodness.’
WILDLAND
In 2007, Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen and his wife Anne established Wildland to help conserve and protect some of Scotland’s most precious and beautiful landscapes. They have since bought hundreds of thousands of acres in the Highlands and restored several tumbledown buildings, lovingly shaping them into beautiful hotels and lodges. They say: ‘Whether we’re focused towards the land, traditional crafts or businesses bringing new ways and new skills to the Highlands, the properties, or the people who work with us or live alongside our estates, we are fundamentally committed to nature, history and the future of communities old and new.’ If you can’t go and stay at one of their impossibly stylish (in a laid-back, Scandi way) hotels, console yourself with a frequent perusal of the gorgeous Wildland website and blog. As you read its meandering posts, you can almost smell that fresh Highland air.
NEPTUNE
Beautiful furniture and accessories are the order of the day at this 20-year-old British stalwart. It offers the big-spending style maven everything they may covet in interiors magazines. It is all properly beautiful, properly made and properly practical, too. Luckily for us, the great minds behind the brand choose to share with us plenty of their great taste and knack for good living through its journal. This weapon in Neptune’s armoury covers everything from the recipe for a delicious bonfire-night cocktail to tips on how to settle on the perfect flooring from your home. In order to be genuinely interesting to the reader, though, Neptune’s blog doesn’t simply praise its own wares, it looks behind likeminded labels, too. The post on Harris Tweed’s noble history will tickle all fans of homegrown interiors.
HUSH
You may not remember it but there was a time, in this century, before we valued slow evenings spent lounging around in cosy pyjamas, reading prettily bound books and eating a couple of health-giving squares of dark chocolate. We were busy winning at our careers and travelling the heck out of our holiday allowance. The people at Hush spotted a way to calm us, though. They sold us easy-to-wear, on-trend, school-gate fashion but they also put into our heads the idea that our sisters, mothers and best friends would simply love to receive a pair of cashmere socks and bar of imaginatively wrapped chocolate for Christmas. The brand’s blog taps into that vibe while feeding the discerning reader food for thought as well. There’s baking, books and interviews with fitting messengers like the founder of the innovative stationer, Marby & Elm.
HEDGEHOG
You need to have kids or be a kid at heart to love this website. If either of those are a given, then it will be rich pickings for you each time you log in. We love Hedgehog as a website because it delivers imaginative, unusual, charming and creative things for children (as well as a selection of treats for adults, like Breton tops and smart welly boots). Its blog, meanwhile, is enchanting and homespun, extolling the virtues of upcyling and the harvest festival and picnics. It’s one to turn to when you feel like improving your children with some truly intentional parenting.
NIGEL SLATER
On the website of the king of cookery writers is a section called GARDEN. Click on it and you will discover an elegant, sporadically updated chronicling of Slater’s life in his garden and the other gardens he loves. Throughout the year, with his inimitably graceful style, Slater writes short posts that muse on developments in his garden. It is such a peaceful read. Here’s a passage: ‘I like the fact that [my Christmas] wreath is made mostly from found objects, twigs from the forest floor, honesty from the Fern Verrow garden. Hedgerow finds. It suits this old house. Hanging on the front door, it tends to polarise passers by. A bit like me really. Amused laughter (that’ll be the shiny laurels and red ribbon brigade) or the click of cameras from those who understand and appreciate its wild, organic soul.’ See what we mean?
If you liked reading this, then you might like:
Ingredients LDN
Six Of The Best: Gardening Podcasts
By Becky Ladenburg
November 2019