Lifestyle news — food, travel, fashion, and trends in how people live.
‘Pretty weird’: How a viral video shows a striking discrepancy in men and women’s knitwear
A TikTok video showing that Abercrombie & Fitch sells a $95 men's jumper made of 100% merino wool while charging the same price for a women's jumper c…
Helen Goh’s recipe for rice pudding with hibiscus-poached pears | The sweet spot
Helen Goh serves cold hibiscus-poached pears over hot spiced rice pudding, combining tart fruit with warm, creamy rice fragrant with cardamom, bay, le…
‘Christmas is all in the preparation!’ Chefs on eight easy things to do now – so you can relax on the big day
Tom Childs, head chef at Kerridge's in London, says advance preparation is key to a relaxed Christmas Day. "Get organised like a commercial kitchen an…
Houseplant hacks: do you really need to feed your plants?
Houseplants can survive without fertiliser, but they may not thrive. Plants generate energy through photosynthesis, yet they need minerals from soil t…
How to brighten up a school lunchbox | Kitchen aide
Claudine Boulstridge, who has packed lunchboxes for her three children for 15 years, recommends using a bento-style box to simplify daily meal prep. …
Is it true that … dock leaves cure nettle stings?
The common remedy of rubbing dock leaves on nettle stings probably does not work in any way unique to the plant, according to John Tregoning, a profes…
The pet I’ll never forget: Mae the labrador, who keeps me safe with her keen nose and piercing stare
Mae, a black labrador trained as a medical alert dog, has helped her owner regain independence after years of struggling with multiple sclerosis, post…
Banquet 88, London E1: ‘Sweet, rich, fiery and moreish’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
Banquet 88 opens at St Katharine Docks in Tower of London, a 140-seat Chinese restaurant from the Good Fortune Club group. The menu features sake cher…
Blind date: ‘I told her I don’t like the theatre. In retrospect, I can see why a playwright would be offended’
William, 28, a PhD candidate from Cambridge, and Abigail, 24, a theatre artist, met for dinner at Kobe in London's West End as part of the Guardian's …
Why tradwives are fleeing the movement: ‘I can’t undo my past – but I can warn other women’
Bernadine Bluntly, a prominent tradwife influencer, posted a video in April renouncing the movement she had championed for years. Bluntly, 36, had pre…
The pest I’ll never forget: the cats who filled our house with live mice
Two kittens adopted during lockdown turned a mouse-free house into a hunting ground by repeatedly bringing live prey indoors. Mimi and Ruben, tabby tw…
A new start after 60: At 26, I saw my dream Porsche. At 68, I built one from scratch
Bill Drysdale saw a Porsche 904 at Silverstone racetrack when he was 26 and decided he would own one someday. The price rose above £1m over the years,…
This is how we do it: ‘We don’t have penetration – but it’s by far the best sex I’ve ever had’
Nina and Noah have built a fulfilling sex life without penetration, after discovering that penetrative sex caused Nina pain consistent with vaginismus…
CurrentBody Series 3 review: a fully customisable LED mask that helps exactly where you need it
CurrentBody's Series 3 LED mask offers six light wavelengths that can be mixed across 125 light points on the device, enabling users to customise trea…
Sin or virtue? How envy can actually be helpful
Stacy Kim, a social scientist and life coach, argues in her new book that envy can serve as a useful signal rather than a vice to suppress. Kim writes…
Why do we measure root ginger in ‘thumbs’ and centimetres rather than weight? | Kitchen aide
Recipes often measure fresh ginger in "thumbs" or centimetres rather than weight because the ingredient varies so much in shape that a precise measure…
Should we tip on takeout? We weighed all angles and the answer is …
# Should You Tip on Takeout? It Depends on Economics and Signals The credit-card screen asks for a tip when you pick up your pizza. It feels odd. Eco…
Greg Wise on how he and Emma Thompson coped with failed IVF: ‘We hit an existential crisis – she was not a proper woman and I was not a proper man’
Greg Wise has recalled the emotional toll of failed IVF attempts with his wife Emma Thompson as they tried to conceive a second child over many years.…
Crowded nest? How parents and their adult kids can live together in peace
# Record numbers of adult children moving back home. Here's how to make it work. More than one in three men aged 20 to 34 now live with their parents…
‘A form of anti-status status’ – how much would you pay for a plain tote bag?
Plain canvas tote bags have become luxury items, with designer versions selling for hundreds or thousands of pounds despite their resemblance to super…
Delays, deodorant and ripped up carpet: how airlines handle mid-flight ‘biological hazards’
A family's transatlantic flight on Air New Zealand turned messy when a stomach bug struck during sleep. Kate Carson's three-year-old daughter began v…
‘No influencers’: the hotels, restaurants and beauty spots restricting photoshoots
Several hotels, restaurants and tourist destinations are imposing restrictions on photography and content creation to manage overcrowding and protect …
‘Wrong’ type of credit card wrecked my Enterprise car hire pickup
A family's car hire at Carcassonne airport in France fell apart when Enterprise Rent-A-Car refused to accept their Visa credit card. The card, issued …
‘How green are our valleys?’: in the footsteps of miners on south Wales’s new forest trail
Wales has opened the first stage of an ambitious new hiking trail that winds through woodlands and reclaimed mining landscapes across south Wales. Th…
Fridge or not? What’s the best way to store bread?
**Store bread in a greaseproof paper bag at room temperature, not the fridge, to prevent staleness.** Sophia Handschuh, co-founder of Sourdough Sophi…
The pet I’ll never forget: Orlando was paralysed and almost died – then became the perfect guide dog
A puppy raiser in Swanley, Kent, describes the ordeal of nursing Orlando, a guide dog prospect, through a near-fatal case of tetanus. The puppy arriv…
Is it true that … you need to take 10,000 steps a day to be healthy?
The 10,000-step daily target originated in a 1960s marketing campaign for a pedometer, not from medical research, according to Jack McNamara, senior l…
BT charged me for more than a year despite landline being dead
A BT customer has been charged £32.99 monthly for a landline that has not worked since May 2025, when the company switched the service to Digital Voic…
Buvette, London WC2: ‘It’s actually rather lovely’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
Jody Williams' New York brasserie Buvette has opened in Neal's Yard, Covent Garden, bringing French-inspired dining to a neighbourhood dominated by yo…
Festivalgoers, gamers and shoppers: the rise in online scammers targeting your hobbies
People aged 18-34 face nearly three times the risk of online scams compared to those over 65, according to recent research. Social media emerges as th…
The Welsh mountain inn that helped conquer Everest
The Pen-Y-Gwryd hotel in Snowdonia, Wales, played a central role in the 1953 Mount Everest expedition. The hotel served as the British base camp for c…
They asked for 80 homes – she gave them 157! Council-housing miracle named Britain’s best new building
A council housing project in Croydon has won the RIBA Stirling prize, Britain's most prestigious award for new buildings. Lion Green Road, designed by…
Gen Z wrestle with shame from ordering delivery food: ‘This economy is not for the weak’
Caroline Bauldree, a 24-year-old nanny in Raleigh, North Carolina, orders food delivery nearly every day. She wants what she wants. "If I want sushi, …
From spritzes to sours: how sherry is becoming mixology’s hottest ingredient
Sherry is having a moment in cocktail bars across London, with bartenders crediting the fortified wine for transforming ordinary drinks into memorable…
‘Some things are worth dying for’: Karl Bushby’s incredible 28-year walk home, through deserts, kidnappers and polar bears
Karl Bushby, an ex-soldier, has completed a 36,000-mile walk that began in Hull in 1998 and took him across the Americas, Asia and Europe. He recently…
‘People sell their best stuff on Vinted’ – how charity shops became a dumping ground for unsellable clothes
Charity shops across Britain are struggling to cope with surging volumes of donations, many of which are soiled, worn or unsaleable, forcing staff to …
Houseplant hacks: is it eco-friendly or risky to reuse nursery pots?
Reusing plastic nursery pots for houseplants works if you clean them thoroughly first, according to gardening guidance. The main concern with reusing…
Whale meat curry for dinner? Study of bygone seafood recipes shows how UK tastes have narrowed
Ruth Thurstan from the University of Exeter has traced a significant narrowing in British seafood tastes over the past century by analysing more than …
Is it true that … muscle turns into fat if you stop working out?
**Muscle Does Not Turn Into Fat When You Stop Working Out** A common belief about fitness holds no scientific basis. Muscle and fat cannot convert in…
Squeezy olive oil bottles, Meghan’s pot filler tap and the rise of ‘cheffy’ kit in home kitchens
Home cooks are increasingly buying restaurant-grade kitchen equipment, driven by greater visibility of professional chefs on social media and in open …
How to storm-proof your home, from roof tiles to garden fences
The Met Office has warned that this winter could bring unusually wet and stormy conditions linked to a supersized El Niño effect. Insurance payouts fo…
Indian Cafe Racer, Birmingham B5: ‘A good news tale for the local food scene’ – restaurant review
Indian Cafe Racer has moved from a cramped back room to a proper restaurant with 65 covers on Bristol Street in Birmingham, a shift the Guardian calls…
Experience: I became the world’s oldest crowd surfer at 99
A 99-year-old from Ohio broke the world record for oldest crowd surfer, completing a goal from a bucket list compiled for a documentary about his life…
‘Vibrant, design-led and surprisingly green’: why the Dutch city of Eindhoven is perfect for a relaxed arty break
Eindhoven transformed itself into a creative and design hub after electronics manufacturer Philips departed the Dutch city in the late 1990s. Philips …
The dreadful decline of hosting at home: ‘I feel shame any time a friend comes over’
Fewer people are hosting friends and family at home, a shift that reflects broader changes in how people socialise and spend their time. In the US, t…
The fashion industry wants women to wear bras again - but is underwire the answer?
Fashion houses are pushing underwire bras back into the spotlight after years of comfort-focused alternatives dominated the market during lockdown. U…
Alone with the stars, lynx and wolves in ‘Empty Spain’
Spain's depopulated interior regions of Extremadura and Castile and León are attracting a new class of visitor drawn by dark skies and wildlife, offer…
‘It’s hard to imagine the fires of July’: a bike ride through the Cairngorms in Scotland
A wildfire that erupted near Glenmore and Abernethy in the Cairngorms national park on 15 July burned more than 33 square kilometres of moorland and f…
The butter boom – how the world fell back in love with the glorious golden spread
A butter boutique opened in Paris this summer has drawn enough traffic that its owner installed a bench and queue barriers within two months. Le Butt…
‘Just look at this monstrosity!’ Inside Britain’s bilious back yard shed wars
Since the pandemic, luxury sheds and garden rooms have proliferated across Britain, transforming backyards into home offices, gyms and extra living sp…
The pet I’ll never forget: Poppy the curious, clever dog – who searches for missing people
Poppy, a black labrador picked up as a nine-week-old puppy near Callander, Scotland, now works as a search and rescue dog finding missing people along…
A new start after 60: Menopausal and out of work, I sat crying in my car. Now, I’m a standup comedian
Barbara Scully spent years unable to find employment after working as a stay-at-home mum. The Dublin-based performer now performs her one-woman show "…
‘People are deserting it’: why are London mansions struggling to sell?
London's most expensive properties are experiencing sharp price cuts as wealthy buyers pull back from prime real estate markets. A flat in South Kens…
More celebrities are embracing grey hair. For other women, it can come at a cost
Olivia Colman has become the latest high-profile figure to embrace grey hair, appearing at the Zurich film festival this week with a grey, curly mane …
Saunas, cinnamon buns and coastal scenery on the new rail route from Malmö to Oslo
A new direct train service launched this summer connects Malmö in southern Sweden to Oslo in Norway in 6.5 hours, replacing fragmented bus and train t…
How Athens discovered a new, confident Greek cuisine
Athens has emerged as a Mediterranean food destination, marking a sharp turnaround from its reputation as a culinary afterthought. The Greek capital'…
Sali Hughes on beauty: a buzzy new brand is aimed at women over 40 – and the industry is taking notice
Sarah Creal, co-creator of Victoria Beckham Beauty, has launched a new beauty brand aimed squarely at women over 40. The move reflects a gap Creal ide…
‘Learning to ski has empowered me’: how one mum overcame her fear of the slopes in her 40s
Rachel Tompkins was 42 when she first strapped on skis at a Swedish resort, frozen by fear on the mountain. Now 46, she says learning to ski has been …