My current 5 hyperfixations

The serum, the chocolate milk, the hobby, the person and the film...

Well, that was a slightly extended Christmas break, but we’re back and not having a bad January either. How about you?

I also have to confess, that I decided to bide my time, whilst the ‘new year, new inbox’ clear out was happening. The fear of making your Substack unsubscribe list is very real…

There’s so many things we could talk about today, but honestly, I’m sick of hearing about the US TikTok ban and to quote Donald Trump, I have the concept of a plan to write something about how depressingly beige the Molly Mae documentary is, but I just can’t be arsed right now.

Instead, what I would love to do, is another round of my current 5 hyperfixations.

Once again, please do share yours in the comments because I am always willing and able to be influenced.

1 Cacaolat

You know my love of M&S Food and I didn’t think they could top it, but somehow they did by surprise stocking my all time favourite chocolate milk in January.

Now, a chocolate milk tier list is a Substack post I’ve had in the drafts for months, so I really should get round to posting it, but just know that Spain’s Cacaolat is so good, I have quite literally risked the entire contents of my suitcase to bring it back from Marbella.

Not only that, but I love this chocolate milk so much, that I discovered a UK seller (El Comado in Bristol) that ships it… however they have been out of stock for months.

So, you can only imagine my joy that I don’t have to book an Easyjet flight to be reunited, I just have to pop to my local M&S.

Oh, and guys, if you’re reading this… please stock the big bottles next.

2 Junk journalling

The last time I shared my hyperfixations with you it was colouring, but don’t fret, I’ve got a brand new Bobbie Goods book on the go as we speak.

However, I have also fallen head over heels with the hobby that involves collecting your rubbish and Prittsticking it into a notebook.

Depending on what videos you watch, junk journalling has either no or several rules. My interpretation is that I’m now like a magpie every time I go out, on the hunt for something I can stick in my book and cover in washi tape.

The menu from The Devonshire, I’m looking at you. The empty packet of Curly Wurly Squirlies we demolished watching Babygirl? You’ll do nicely. A magazine from the Everyman cinema that I snaffled? You’re coming home with me.

3 Lancôme Génefique Ultimate Serum

If you've noticed (I hope you have), I don’t tend to recommend overly expensive skincare. That’s because, there are so many great, affordable brands out there.

This is what I had on my mind when I went on an overnight trip with Lancôme last year.

The day was split into three presentations: Skincare, Makeup and fragrance. My group had all things skin first and I went into the session with a Simon Cowell level of preconceptions. Especially, when I was presented with a black bottle that I’ve overlooked on so many occasions previously.

However, as we started geeking out on ingredients, beta-glucan came up. I’d never heard of it, but their highly informative powerpoint, showed me that it was a key ingredient in one of my all time favourite skincare products: Rhode’s Glazing Milk.

That caught my attention. As did the back of the hand test.

Fast forward from August to January and I just finished, what I’m sure will be my first of many, Génefique Ultimate Serums.

Essentially, it’s a hydrating serum, with added skin-barrier calming ingredients. Beta-glucan plays multiple roles including minimising redness and moisturising to such an extent your fine lines become less visible.

While I’m sure there are cheaper alternatives out there, I want to give Lancôme their flowers, for a formula my skin just loves.

4 Babygirl

When I saw the trailer for Babygirl, I immediately WhatsApped my friends and told them, we need to go see it… together.

That’s because Babygirl is a horny film for horny girlies.

Nicole Kidman plays the unsatisfied CEO - who appears to have it all, including a regular sex life with her husband, Antonio Banderas (or as Lucy P referred to him, Puss in Boots).

When Harris Dickinson joins her company as an intern, he unlocks something within her, that she’s kept repressed, her entire adult life.

Fast forward to the two of them, alone in a hotel room, while Harris does some interpretative dance moves to George Michael’s Father Figure.

Truly a film exploring sexual liberation for women and what they actually want (not Mel Gibson or traditional penetration).

Oh, and the soundtrack is *Chef’s kiss*.

5 Spencer Pratt

Like most of you, I watched the LA fire footage in horror and if it wasn’t for Spencer Pratt, I think I’d still be frozen in existential climate crisis dread.

Clearly, I’m not the only one, as Rose wrote a dedicated piece to Spencer and his wife, Heidi, on her Substack: Love Letters.

As all millennials know, Spencer and Heidi aka Speidi, were the OG reality bad guys on our favourite Californian show: The Hills.

Spencer has always been endearing for his fearlessness at being disliked (kind of like Kanye pre anti-semitism and everything else) and is an Internet personality I’ve followed because of this humour.

Sadly for Spencer and Heidi, their house burnt down, along with their entire neighbourhood and since then Spencer has been non stop posting trying to get Heidi’s 2010 Superficial album to number one.

Of course the power of TikTok has made it happen, but the constant fear of Bad Bunny overtaking that spot, is keeping Spencer and the rest of his supporters on their toes.

Truly, the only content I worried about missing during the brief US TikTok void.