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Articles by Jo Phillips
Celebrating Cultural Travel as you Age
Travel can take on a different character as you get older. The physicality and energy for excursions can fade, but that doesn’t mean you need to narrow your horizons. With more time for longer and deeper exploration, this is the era for cultural holidays with manageable adventure and awe-inspiring attractions, views and learnings to treasure. How you approach these trips is all-important in you balancing curiosity and discovery with comfort and enjoyment.
A Seductive Perfume: Quiet Luxury New for 2026
The heritage of Middle Eastern mukhallats (custom oil blends) and traditional layering provides the direct blueprint for the new perfume for 2026 from Widian called Polite Oud Extrait de Parfum. As an Emirati luxury house based in Abu Dhabi, the house’s entire brand ethos is built on translating traditional Arabian scent rituals into contemporary niche perfumery. The new EDP niche fragrance, Polite Oud, represents a full-circle evolution of this regional heritage.
How to Choose a Perfume Online in the UK Without Smelling It First
Buying perfume online saves a trip to the shops, but it comes with an obvious problem: you can’t smell anything through a screen. A full bottle of eau de parfum can easily cost £100 or more, so a blind purchase that doesn’t suit you is an expensive mistake. The good news is that you can cut that risk right down. This guide sets out six steps for UK shoppers buying for themselves or as a gift, from working out what you already like to paying a retailer you can trust.
Christmas Advents To Fall In Love With 2026
The traditional holiday countdown has begun, and so we enjoy the artful transformation and anticipation as our daily ritual of sensory indulgence begins. Take, for example, the humble advent calendar; today’s version is no longer a mere seasonal novelty; it is a thoughtfully curated canvas of discovery. Luxury that invites us to engage our senses through evocative scents, luminous makeup textures, design-led craft, and tactile comforts.
Bruce Munro’s Beautiful Moments Of Light in The Dark
Long before light became an art form, it was the simplest way we had of remembering someone. Think of the scrape and flare of a match, the faint smell of sulphur, the small flame trembling as it catches the wick. Across centuries and cultures, it is the same quiet gesture: a lantern left burning in a window, the soft hiss of a flame. In the raw days after a loss, when words fail us, we reach for light; it is the most instinctive act of remembrance we have.
Milestone Birthdays: The Best Presents for a Four to Seven Year Old
Somewhere between four and seven, children’s presents stop being about what’s safe and start being about who they’re becoming. It’s the stretch when a favourite character appears, when friendships begin to dictate taste, and when a present can either land perfectly or sit untouched for a year. Two categories tend to dominate the birthday wishlist at this age, and they sit at opposite ends of the personality spectrum. One is about movement and independence. The other is about stories.
Our Epic Wonderful Weekend Life In London
The damp autumn air along Mayfair’s cobblestones was crisp and biting as Maya, Julian, and Leo stepped out into the early afternoon light. A London weekend is never best measured by hours, but by atmosphere, touch, and the quiet resonance of humanness. As autumn deepens across the city, true luxury lies in slowing down to engage with physical mediums, where the body in motion meets the visceral warmth and sound.
Great Stories Are The Best Scented Memories
The air in Northern Ireland has a way of capturing and holding onto memory. Think sharp with coastal salt, grounded by peat and wet earth, and steeped in the quiet resilience of those who built something out of nothing. But for the woman behind Stories Perfume, her strongest connection to the past wasn’t a place. It was a phantom trace of fragrance on silk and gold.
Frieze 2026 London, Explore The Best On Show
As October brought its crisp autumn bite to the capital, London once again dissolved into a sprawling, multi-venue theatre for the global art world. From the humming white pavilions of Regent’s Park to the historic Georgian townhouses of Mayfair and Marylebone, Frieze Week 2026 felt less like a trade fair and more like a collective pulse check on where culture, commerce, and collective memory currently collide. Read about Frieze 2026 here in Frieze 2026 London, Explore The Best On Show.
Is Matt Damon Set to Finally Win an Oscar for The Odyssey?
Matt Damon is one of the most famous A-listers in Hollywood. Surprisingly, though, he has never won the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was nominated for Good Will Hunting in 1998 and The Martian in 2016, but ultimately lost out to Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio respectively. Now could finally be the time for Damon to get the recognition that many people believe he deserves.
Martin Scorsese to Return to Las Vegas for New Netflix Series
Iconic director Martin Scorsese is returning to the casinos of Sin City itself, Las Vegas, for a new eight-part Netflix series.The octogenarian Oscar winner, best known for works like Goodfellas, Taxi Driver and The Wolf of Wall Street, also directed the 1995 Academy Award nominated Casino, starring regular muse Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci.
Powerful Alchemy Of The World Of Laura Geller Make-Up
Laura Geller Make Up Women walked in intimidated; they walked out feeling empowered. This was the power behind make-up queen Laura Geller when she opened her beauty studio, which quickly turned into a word-of-mouth make-up sanctuary. By the nineties, she’d brought the backstage actress sensibility to real women on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Laura stripped away the pretentious jargon and spoke to women like a friend sitting across from them at a kitchen table.
Explore Oud Bottled to Beautiful Perfection for 2026
Oud; a monumental ingredient that continues to endlessly fascinate perfumers. Yet, for all its ubiquity, very few truly know how to handle its magnificent, raw beauty. Agarwood, as it is also known, is not a single, static idea; it is a chameleon with infinite facets, smoky, medicinal, animalic, leathery, sweet, and deeply earthy all at once. To capture its soul requires an understanding that goes far beyond relying on standard clichés.
Maison Louis Marie, The Magic Alchemy of the Unpolished
The Alchemy of the Unpolished: Maison Louis Marie and the Ancestral Raw. There is an intoxicating power in the untouched. In a landscape saturated with too many scents designed by marketing committees that try to command a room with synthetic volume, true luxury really becomes the return to the earth, unadorned, textured, and unapologetically and beautifully raw.
Éditions de Parfums Frédéric Malle Not Merely A Beautiful Scent
Nostalgia can carry a quiet violence, the sudden exposure of raw emotions that leaves no room for any defence. It arrives unbidden, dragging us into memories woven from equal parts ache and elegance; a happiness already shadowed by its own ending. To allow oneself to feel something so unrefined and exposed is a quiet act of rebellion. But then it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
Dior Perfume Revisited With Respect, Love and Affection
Perfumes rarely die dramatically; some are simply retired by their houses whilst others are changed beyond recognition because of the changes in perfume ingredient laws. We are left bereft; we are perfume widows, forever searching for a lonely bottle to perchance find. But what if magic happened? What if a perfumer brought back some scented heroes from a bygone age?
The Powerful 90’s Alive, Beautiful Raw to Polished
Before the term ‘Cool Britannia’, before London of the 90s became the biggest buzzword and a creative magnet, it’s good to remember it was not a happy place. It was a city emerging from a deep economic hangover, draped in wet asphalt, damp wool, and petrol fumes of a post-industrial cityscape.
PR in the Trust Economy: Why It’s Worth Prioritising
There was a time when PR was the first thing to go. A pretty line on a spreadsheet, quietly trimmed the second the budget tightened. Not any more. In 2026, the brands growing fastest have figured out something simple: reputation isn’t a side project that sits next to the “real” work of selling and making things. It is the work. Every launch, every new hire, every customer complaint that catches fire online is a story being told about you, whether you meant to tell it or not.
Managing Thigh Chafing and Skin Irritation After Major Weight Change
A major change in weight can leave your wardrobe fitting differently, but sometimes the bigger adjustment happens underneath it. Loose skin around the inner thighs can rub during workouts, commutes, festival days or nights out, leaving the area sore even when the outfit itself feels comfortable. That can turn getting dressed into more of a calculation than it used to be. Cycling shorts under a dress, softer seams and breathable fabrics may help, while skincare can reduce some of the irritation.
Styling Your Outfits for an Active City Break
The most iconic cultural spots in a city often take a while to get around. Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar has over 4,000 shops to explore, and Paris’s Louvre spans a colossal 72,000 square metres. You might not be planning to scale mountains on your city break, but visiting museums, gallery exhibitions and market squares keeps you active and racks up a hefty step count.
The Beautiful Sexy Scent of Pigmentarium’s Olfactory Club
Many of us are quietly obsessed with the arts that speak without uttering a single word. There is a delicious, thrilling tension in things unsaid: That lingering look across a crowded room, the shift of light through a sheer curtain, or even a trail of scent that remains in a room long after its wearer has stepped out into the night.
Raw Interaction at Justin Caguiat’s New Exhibition for 2026
Raw Passion, Sacred Echoes: Sensing Justin Caguiat at Serpentine South There’s something so wonderfully grounding, so utterly basic, almost guttural, about the way basic materials grab hold of us. It is a sensory experience where the human spirit collides with textures, tones and substances. When these are then explored in buildings or artworks, they tell a story that speaks directly to the heart. The raw directness is part of its power, but its references are not always evident.
The Case for Comfort: Making Tracksuits and Jeans Look Considered
Comfort and style are no longer treated as opposing forces. The rise of the matching tracksuits as everyday dressing has changed what counts as polished, replacing the old assumption that looking put together meant feeling slightly uncomfortable. What separates a considered tracksuit from a purely functional one is largely down to fabric and fit.
Explore Quiet Luxury in The World of Niche Perfume 2026
In modern luxury, true opulence is no longer defined by excess. We are all so overwhelmed that a quiet space has become more than a choice; it’s a necessity. We look around and wonder; where is the peace? We are sold the idea that many beauty houses have adopted, that they come with a sensory-led approach where craftsmanship and emotional resonance intersect to enlighten and heal us, but some houses don’t add it on, they are just born that way.
The Perfect White Beautiful Smile
Let’s be honest, most of us want a bright, camera-ready smile, but none of us wants to give up our morning matcha, evening red wine, or favourite tangy snack to get it. For years, the quest for pearly whites meant choosing between messy whitening strips that slide down your throat or pricey dental appointments that leave your teeth throbbing at the slightest gust of cold wind. But technology is changing all that and even the idea of home tech now means so much is affordable and at hand.
Reclaiming the Frame: Blaxploitation the Art of Beautiful Raw
Before the revolution, Hollywood’s representation of the Afro-Caribbean-Islander community was notoriously sanitised or pushed to the margins. Across films of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, Black actors were frequently flattened into palatable tropes like the ‘Magical Negro’ or presented solely as passive victims. Blaxploitation shattered this polite veneer, thrusting Black protagonists and raw urban environments directly into the centre of the narrative frame.
How does live Roulette work?
Live Roulette combines the traditional rules of Roulette with a real dealer and a physical wheel, letting you watch each spin through a streamed video feed. It sits alongside slots, table games and jackpots in the full games catalogue, though it helps to understand the basic rules, betting options and house edge before you play. How live Roulette differs from standard online Roulette The central difference between live Roulette and standard online Roulette is how the outcome is produced.
Perya Color Game on GZone: Discover Filipino Carnival Fun Online
For many Filipinos, a perya brings to mind town fiestas, bright lights, carnival rides, food stalls, and simple games enjoyed during local celebrations. Perya Color Game fits this atmosphere through its recognizable colors and easy-to-follow format. Instead of learning complicated combinations, players choose from the displayed colors and watch the dice results.
How to Choose Vape Refill Liquid
Choosing the right pod kit or a similar system is crucial for a lovable vaping experience, but that doesn’t mean you can use any e-liquid. In truth, getting the right liquid for your vape is as important as choosing the hardware itself. That’s because using the wrong liquid can easily cause frustrating issues such as poor flavour, leaking, damaged coils, and even a significantly reduced device lifespan.
Aesop, A Beautiful Refined Rawness In Scent
Traditional fine perfumery often polishes raw materials, stripping away soil, moisture, and rough edges to create an idealised, smooth finish. But in this process, does something get lost? It’s not unlike cooking when using chemical versions of a taste; say, an Apple, it never is quite as good as the real thing, is it? Although all good perfumes need a level of synthetic notes, replacing too many naturals can often bring about poor results.
How Do Celebrities Balance Studio Time With a Global Tour?
Partway through the Eras Tour in May 2024, Taylor Swift started planning her next album, and the tour still had months to go. By the time it closed after 149 shows, The Life of a Showgirl was almost completed, much of it having been recorded in the gaps between European dates. Plenty of the biggest acts in music have done something similar. Coldplay recorded parts of Moon Music during their Music of the Spheres World Tour, and Bryan Adams has famously made whole albums in hotel rooms between gigs.
Why a Beach Holiday Doesn’t Have to Mean Doing Nothing
When you picture a beach holiday, what do you see? Hours spent on a sun lounger, where you stay until dinnertime? A bag parked next to you, filled with sunscreen and bottled water and chunky, sand-covered books? That type of holiday still has its place. In fact, it’s ideal when you need a proper break from a busy routine back home. But it’s possible to mix things up and plan a coastal escape around more things you genuinely enjoy, giving you a fulfilling getaway.
Raw Archives | Cent Magazine Raw
Categories Featured Issues
How Beanies Became a Y2K Streetwear Essential
The early 2000s were a particularly experimental period for streetwear. Baggy jeans, oversized hoodies, graphic tees, chunky sneakers, and statement accessories moved between skate culture, hip-hop, alternative fashion, and the mainstream. Among these pieces, beanies became some of the simplest yet most recognisable accessories of the era.
The Bad and The Beautiful Musicians Trumas Recorded for Life
We do love to peek behind the curtain and see the mechanics behind greatness. But when we do its often akin to the moment in The Wizard of Oz, when, Dorothy’s dog, Toto, pulls back a corner curtain in the throne room, exposing an ordinary old man operating levers, smoke, and a microphone, fooling everyone about his power.
Kiehl’s Since 1851 It’s Beautiful Arrival In London for 2026
Kiehl’s Since 1851 is inviting Londoners to celebrate the grand opening of its brand-new flagship space on Carnaby Street with a dedicated consumer event on Thursday, 1 October 2026, starting from 1:00 p.m. Situated in the heart of one of London’s most iconic shopping destinations, the new location seamlessly weaves Kiehl’s rich 175-year legacy, from its humble origins as an authentic Old World apothecary at Pear Tree Corner in New York City’s East Village, into a modern, consumer-centric...
Barbie and Ken Get a Beautiful Fashion Makeover.
It’s that time of the year to up your doll collection, not becuase its fashion season but because Barbie and Ken are getting the ultimate fashion makeover, courtesy of fashion’s favourite pop-art icon, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. This is whimsical street-style flair, and a dynamic aesthetic that blurs the line between high art and pure play; the highly anticipated Barbie Signature x Jean-Charles de Castelbajac collaboration is officially dropping via Mattel Creations.
Yakosaka, The history of the Japanese Love for Denim
It’s funny how some cultures get absorbed into others, and from one said culture, what is then taken into people’s hearts. In the 1950s and 60s, post-WWII Japan experienced a massive influx of American culture. Hollywood films featuring Marlon Brando and James Dean turned jeans, specifically Levi’s 501s, into the ultimate symbol of rebellion, youth, and cool.
Dress Yourself, Your Room, Your World, With Beautiful Fragrance.
To dress yourself, your home, your world is to build a quiet curation of texture, form, and mood that begins long before a coat is buttoned or a room is fully arranged. Perfume in all its forms sits precisely at this intersection; it is both the final, invisible layer of getting dressed and the ambient soul of a living space. Just as a heavy wool lapel structures the silhouette or a soft linen curtain transforms a sunlit corner, scent functions as living decor for both the body and the room.
What makes a game a classic?
Gaming trends can change quickly, with new technology, formats and styles regularly influencing what people choose to play. Yet some games remain familiar and widely enjoyed long after their initial release. While there is no single formula for creating a classic, straightforward mechanics, distinctive design and plenty of reasons to return can all contribute to lasting popularity. Find out more in What makes a game a classic?
Marc Jacobs Beautiful Make Up Makes Me Smile
Luxury beauty is rarely delightfully irreverent; it’s serious, packaged in black and white, sleek gold or matte metallic packaging, but why shouldn’t it be more fun?
Honest, Beautiful and Scented to Perfection, Meet The Lab Co
Once upon a time, vanity demanded lead white powder be put on our cheeks to achieve a flawless, pale complexion that signalled high social status, wealth, and freedom from outdoor manual labour, yet it was deeply poisonous. It took time for us to even begin to understand the harm we were doing to ourselves. We didn’t even wash daily until the mid-19th century, and that seems to be only because scientists proved that germs, not ‘bad air’, caused disease.
The Powerful Long and Short Shots In Beautiful Cinema
The camera follows characters through space continuously without visible cuts, or with hidden stitches designed to make sequences feel seamless. Or there are the quick, rapid-fire edits that splice together short shots to manipulate time, construct rhythm, or sync movement directly with audio cues. Both these devices work in film to create a dynamic mood. But which? Find out more in The Powerful Long and Short Shots In Beautiful Cinema.
Murdock London’s Beautiful Soho Leather, A Scent, of Place and Time
It may be strange to realise, but before Leather became a scent people wore on purpose, it was a smell people tried desperately to hide. In fact, our journey into scent may have been completely different had we not chosen to disguise the smell of Leather. Well, not the actual scent of leather but the pong (and it is a pong) of Leather treatment. For their 20th birthday, Murdock London has launched a new scent for 2026: Soho Leather.
My House Smells Rather Beautiful
Our homes are our castles, more than a backdrop for daily routines, and they are, most importantly, our sanctuary. We may well think of them as our fluid canvases that reflect our style, our needs and state of mind. Just as lighting, curated music, colour palettes or rearranged art shift an atmosphere, atmospheric scent is one of the most powerful ways to instantly redefine a room.
We All Need A Little Bit Of Lip Love
The Anatomy of a Kiss: Why Lip Health Matters Whether you’re leaning in for a cinematic kiss with your lover or dodging a notoriously damp peck on the cheek from your Auntie at Sunday lunch, one truth remains: lips carry serious weight in human connection. But while we spend endless energy preparing them for chatting, pouting, and kissing, we rarely give them credit for being the most dramatic, high-maintenance real estate on the face.
LFW New Trends for S/S 2027 To Love
It’s day three at London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2027, SS27, and it has already brought a vibrant mix of theatrical flair, romantic elements, and structured tailoring to the runway. Lots of drama already on show with tulle, feathers, crinolines and corsetry, sheer against knits, structured via flowing, macro versus floor length. Don’t be afraid to go to sea next season with nautical trims, or relax in resortwear.
Truth to the Tables
Roulette has always looked good on screen. The wheel spins, the ball bounces around, chips sit on the luxurious green felt and everyone seems to be waiting for the same thing. Add a glamorous casino and a confident character in a tuxedo, and you have the perfect cinematic moment. It’s easy to see why filmmakers keep coming back to it. But real roulette is less theatrical. The wheel doesn’t care who’s playing or if the number has some special meaning.
The Little Details That Make Casino Games So Memorable
Why does anyone remember a watch? A Rolex Datejust hasn’t told the time any better than a kitchen clock since 1945. What people remember about it is the little magnifying bubble over the date, the Cyclops lens Rolex added in 1953 so the numeral could be read at a glance. Owners have argued about it ever since. That lens is the watch, as far as memory is concerned. The movement underneath is just what it’s attached to.
Why Non-Surgical Aesthetic Treatments Appeal to Londoners
London has always been a city where personal style is negotiated in public: on the Underground, in offices, galleries, gyms, restaurants and the streets between them. Beauty trends arrive quickly here, but so does scepticism. The modern client is often less interested in a dramatic makeover than in treatments that can be researched, discussed and fitted around a busy routine.
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