A few things making my midlife lighter
I wish they came with the husband; they do not. Image courtesy Dagsmejan
Dagsmejan pajamas
Super-soft pajamas made from natural fibres that accommodate the hot and cold sleeper? When Swiss sleep-tech company Dagsmejan reached out and offered me a pair of their jammies, I said yes please. Then I spent an entire Sunday wearing them because they felt so good. I even made a Reel about it. Dagsmejan makes different sleepwear collections designed around things like temperature regulation and sensitive skin, plus recovery wear, travel and loungewear, bedding and other sleep tools. I do not think they are exaggerating when they claim to make some of the most comfortable pajamas in the world. And here's something lovely: dagsmejan is a Swiss word referring to those final days of winter when the warmth of the spring sun begins melting the snow. I got the Nattwell top in light pink, with cuffed bottoms.
Kind patches
I love a disruptive company, and I think we've all swallowed enough supplements. Kind puts various ingredients into patches designed to be worn for 6-8 hours, with recommendations about where on your body to put them. Transdermal patches are an interesting delivery concept and not every ingredient has been proven to absorb through the skin in a clinically meaningful dose. But people use estrogen patches, right? Anyhoo, consider this my personal experiment. First, understand that I cannot tolerate turmeric supplements. They make me feel absolutely terrible – and, bizarrely, incredibly irritable. Like I want to take off all my skin. The first Kind patch I tried was Depuff, without realizing turmeric was one of the ingredients. It took me a few angry, ugly days. So, you know, I was absorbing. But don't let that stop you – I'm the sensitive bunny who can't go back to the closest Bar Burrito. I've since sworn off Depuff and done well with their MB/metabolism patches, which contain ingredients including orange peel, bitter orange, grapefruit and green tea extracts.
Bonafide Serenol: when you have to survive the day
I'm living with family for the summer and for the most part it has been heaven.
But I'm also not in my own space and I've had a few not-great sleeps and rough mornings as a result. Non-hormonal product specialist Bonafide to the rescue. Bonafide, which is coming back to sponsor the Hotflash inc Summit this year, had already sent along Seronol, marketed for mood swings and irritability associated with PMS and menopause. It definitely did the job for me. I felt noticeably less reactive, got my work done, then took Bonafide's sleep product Noctera that night (another new favorite) and got myself back on track.
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The Dink on AppleTV
The Dink isn't necessarily laugh-out-loud funny every minute. It's just consistently amusing. And underneath all the pickleball absurdity, it gets at things we don't talk about enough. Like what happens when you leave a marriage expecting your life to become magnificent and for your ex to suffer – and then discover that your ex is actually doing really well and you are only so-so? How much of your own life can you waste needing someone else to regret losing you? And then there is Mary Steenburgen. She's in her 70s. She's hot. She's funny, confident and insecure and she knows how to enjoy herself. She is a real woman, not some inspirational older-woman mascot. I especially loved her relationship with the younger tennis pro, played by Jake Johnson. I don't want to ruin it for you. But watching someone experience rejection, absorb it, grow up a little and discover that the other person can still be enormously valuable to their life healed a tiny part of me.
The heated eye mask
This started as an eye thing and has become a brain thing. Like most of us, I spend an absolutely ridiculous amount of time staring at screens. A heated eye mask for 15 minutes feels wonderful after I've been working on the computer for hours. If it's black-cat themed? Even better. But I keep thinking about something a doctor said when I was on a panel in Abu Dhabi a few years ago. She found that during menopause that taking a genuine 15 or 20 minute-break lying down with her eyes closed really improved her energy. Her point was that we take in an enormous amount of information visually, and sometimes removing that input is part of actually resting. And if you, like me, are still struggling with "I have to do everything all the time" syndrome, then maybe knowing your eyes need a warm break from the screen will help you take the time you need to recharge your brain and body too.
CuraYou: The weird device I love
This product continues to be so, so worth it. At first when CuraYou gave me their heated red light therapy wraparound device, I thought it was just for a sore back. (It is excellent for that, by the way). Then I used it to heal after a terrible ankle sprain when I fell off a curb in 2025. My ankle is good as new. Earlier this year I broke my second little toe on my coffee table, same thing. I even wrap it around the area over my liver sometimes, just to give old Ethel a little extra love, you know? CuraYou promises the most intense irradiance on the market – this refers to the intensity of light reaching your skin, which combines with time for effect. CuraYou has published three new studies, too: Red and blue light therapy for gingivitis; Red light therapy for wound healing and red light therapy benefits for osteoporosis.
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Hapbee: Argue placebo with me if you must
Another rare piece of wearable technology has somehow become part of my life: Hapbee. I bought this myself. It was not cheap. I paid for it out of my own pocket at the Dubai Active Show a couple of years ago. And I still use it. Hapbee has a range of settings intended to create different states – calm, focus, energy, sleep and so on – using patented, ultra-low radio frequency energy to mimic the magnetic field signatures of natural compounds in the cells. Which means, conceptually at least, I can choose the THC setting without consuming cannabis. Wild! Here's what I know from using it: when I've worked too hard and get into that tired-but-wired, crabby state, it's one of the things I reach for. I put it on and, very often, feel myself gradually unfurl. And weirdly, I use it in the opposite direction too. If I'm tired and need to get something done, I use one of the more energizing settings. Want to tell me it's placebo? That's ok. But I ask that you try it when you're crabby, tired and wired first.
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Crazy Uncle Hard Root Beer
This summer's deeply unserious discovery: hard root beer, a nostalgic, refreshing little summer treat. Yes, I am aware that a person could simply pour vodka into root beer. No would never do that. This though: it tastes like somebody took a childhood summer drink and said: What if we made one just for grown-ups? It's sweet enough that I only want one or two. Strong enough for a gentle buzz. And I'm kind of a crazy aunt, so it fits. Grab yourself a delicious cold one, but only if that works for you.
And don't forget to have a brilliant last few weeks of summer.
AM x
