Table of contents for April 2026 in Platinum

April always feels like the month where we sit up a little straighter. Not fully sprung, not exactly skipping, but no longer wrapped in an emotional fleece with soup stains on our jumpers. But is it me or has this winter has been a tough old slog? Cold, relentless and oddly draining in ways that go beyond the weather. Hormones wobbling, bank balances squinting, energy levels doing that irritating thing where they vanish by 3pm. So, this issue is about steadying ourselves. Getting back onto solid ground. Building foundations that feel calm, doable and, crucially, kind. Think of it as inching out of hibernation rather than bursting forth in a bright new dress shouting ‘New Me!’ (Though if that’s your thing, our Fashion Director Nicky will happily sort you out…

Q What’s the biggest life lesson you’d share with your younger self? Bullies are invariably unhappy. Wrongfoot them by showing concern and sympathy for the pain they can’t express. Q What keeps you up at night? Making mental lists of things I need to do in the garden and, increasingly, in my beehives. Q When have you been most proud of yourself and why? When my team, from New College Oxford (captained by Kate Mosse), won veterans’ University Challenge. My brain has never been so on fire. It’s been downhill ever since… Q What’s the lie you tell most often? That I want to come out to dinner. I adore my friends, but I am the son of a quiet father and would always rather go to bed with a good book, especially…

Mind-bending results from yoga With around one in 10 of us on the mat in the UK, yoga has definitely moved into the mainstream. An hour or so moving through downward dog to cobra to child’s pose (where I spend most of the class), leaves us feeling calmer, taller and mentally clearer. Yoga fans have long suspected the breathing, moving and meditative elements of the practice reach way beyond a hamstring stretch. A new, small randomised controlled trial of older adults (aged 65–80) has found that practising Hatha yoga twice weekly for 12 weeks significantly improved memory, attention and reasoning, compared both with gentle physical activity and with doing nothing at all. A major systematic review of yoga and brain health concludes that regular practice – combining postures, breath work…

Hello, Platinumistas! How are you all? With the days getting a little longer, the Platinum fashion team are striding forward into the light. And our layers are becoming lighter and the colours brighter too – hooray! Few pieces in fashion earn the title of true wardrobe staple, but the trench coat is undoubtedly one of them. Elegant yet practical, polished yet effortless, it has long been the hero of transitional dressing. When the seasons are in flux and you’re caught between layers and lightness, the trench steps in as the perfect in-between. Traditionally, we think of the trench as classic beige, double-breasted, belted and dependable – aka, somewhat dull. And while that timeless version will always have its place, this season the trench has been given a fresh fashion makeover.…

‘I’ve always loved fashion and personal style, and I enjoy mixing high street with high end. I believe in investing in great pieces, but I’m always mindful of cost per wear when I buy. I don’t really chase trends; instead, I gravitate towards timeless favourites – especially a denim jumpsuit. In fact, I’m something of a jumpsuit collector, I absolutely love them… except, of course, when I need to go to the loo!’ Get the look We love this look for its quiet sophistication. The all-in-one silhouette feels modern yet wearable, showing how denim can be both polished and purposeful. We’ve trawled the high street to find the best pieces to help you recreate this look as we know just how much you’ll love wearing it too. This one comes…

Your spirits are high. You’re going away. A hike. A bike. A train trip. A road trip. A flight. And for the brave (or slightly unhinged), a motorbike trip. Then comes packing, and the mood dips as you rummage for resealable plastic bags to guard against leaks, spillages and the inevitable moment when a rogue toiletry baptises your favourite outfit. Or worse, you discover at security that you’ve exceeded the airline liquid allowance (fake tan is my personal nemesis). SOUND FAMILIAR? Thankfully, beauty brands are finally on our side. Not only are they offering clever liquid-free options, many are also creating products that are genuinely eco-friendly – delivering great skincare while being kinder to the planet. Plastic is being phased out, packaging is getting smarter, and eco beauty has come…

I’m officially of “pensionable age” – whatever that means – but every Saturday I still haul myself from Suffolk to London, put on the headphones and become “Sally Traffic” all over again. People often assume a long career comes from some grand plan. In my case, it’s mostly been happy accidents. I started out as an actress because my mother was convinced her daughter belonged on the stage. I went to drama school, but my first real break came when I lied my way into a job at London Weekend Television by claiming I could do shorthand. I absolutely couldn’t. When someone dictated my first letter, the shock was mutual. Somehow, I kept the job, working as a production secretary on a current affairs programme – a blend of journalism…

If we were really honest with each other, we wouldn’t automatically say, ‘I’m fine.’ We’d say, ‘Actually… I’m tired.’ Not the sort of tired a good night’s sleep will fix, but the deeper kind. The tiredness that comes from caring about everything. Other people’s feelings. World events on a relentless news loop. Family dynamics. Money. Work. Health. Whether we’re doing life, and peri or menopause, properly. Whether we should be doing more. It’s exhausting being this switched on all the time. You might think, well Denise, that’s just life, right? Because this kind of mental load is normal, especially for capable, conscientious women who are used to holding everything together. The problem isn’t that we can’t cope. It’s that we’ve been coping for decades, and it doesn’t seem to be…

Sally Boazman Better known as Sally Traffic, Sally Boazman is a much-loved British traffic reporter on BBC Radio 2. A broadcasting pioneer, she revolutionised travel updates by introducing live reports from motorists on mobile phones and lorry drivers on CB radio, and is still broadcasting today. Read her interview on p76. Sarah Davies A neuroscience-informed coach, Sarah Davies helps midlifers find clarity, confidence and calm without burning out. Blending smart strategy with warmth and practicality, she supports clients to create focus, momentum and lives that feel aligned from the inside out. Read more on p78. Helen Stanton The independent bookseller and book champion is based in the North East. She owns Forum Books in Corbridge, the bound in Whitley Bay and The Accidental Bookshop in Alnwick. In this month’s Platinum,…

THE INVITATION by Veronica Henry (£16.99, Orion Publishing Co) Be swept away by this wonderfully romantic novel set between post-war London and Foxwood Manor in the rolling Somerset countryside. Sparkling Clementine is newly in love with Alfie Arbutus, who will one day inherit Foxwood. It had been his brother’s destiny but Edwin died in the war. Stella and Edwin had a secret wartime love affair that changed everything – now she has her young son to prioritise. Edwin’s mother, Elizabeth hopes that reinstating the glamorous Snow Ball at Foxwood will be a step towards healing but during the preparations, secrets of the past, if revealed, threaten that. • Captivatingly romantic! YOU & ME AND YOU & ME AND YOU & ME by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees (£16.99, Vintage Publishing)…

I am often asked about the role of a daily multivitamin and interestingly, my answer has changed over the years. A decade ago, I would have said that, unless you have a specific deficiency, you should be able to get all the nutrients you need from a well-balanced diet. However, there is increasing evidence that the nutrient value of our foods today is significantly less than generations ago and, that over the age of 50, we become less efficient at absorbing the nutrients from our food. My husband and I now take a multivitamin every day and I thought, this month, we would take a look at the three most common supplements people ask me about. VITAMIN D The most important role of vitamin D is to maintain healthy bones…

STYLE CHALLENGE ‘I had a corporate job as an air traffic controller for 20 years. I was always suited in Hobbs and Russell & Bromley high heels, but that all changed when my daughter got meningitis when she was a baby and my brother died suddenly. I ended up signed off work with chronic fatigue, skin conditions that left me unable to wear tight clothing, crippling anxiety and depression. Writing and swimming saved me; I’ve recently published my first book, feel excited about the future, and would love a look that reflects my new author life.’ NICKY’S STYLE ASSESSMENT If you didn’t know you wouldn’t know. Nothing about Emma reflects the tough journey she’s been through. Apart from the clothes she’s wearing, she’s upbeat, positive and excited about the future.…

‘I’d worked in fashion all my life,’ Jo Cooper tells me, name-checking the likes of Debenhams, John Lewis and Clements Ribeiro. ‘But I could see how women’s clothing was changing. Where there was Wi-Fi and coffee, there was a workplace. Women were dressing for themselves.’ Comfort, Jo believed, had become the new cool – an idea Coco Chanel captured perfectly: ‘Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.’ At the same time, she felt disillusioned by the rise of fast fashion. ‘Rails of unwanted, unthought-through polyester made me sad,’ she says. So Jo distilled everything she valued in her own wardrobe – natural fabrics, colour, ease, clothes that move with real life – and NRBY was born. The brand’s mantra, ‘Clothes for home and nearby,’ became shorthand for what…

You know it, the kind of exhaustion that sleep won’t remedy. A weariness in your very bones that seems to sap the life-force right out of you. I started calling it soul flu a while back and it is something I suffer from, often. And despite being very knowledgeable now on all the ways this flu can ravage me and how to fend it off, I still succumb to its power here and there and it can render me quite helpless. And this is one of the reasons why I am here and why I so fully believe women must gather. The mental load of women is one of the wonders of the world, if you ask me. And even trying to begin listing it could be quite the Olympic…

DATING DILEMMA Sinead*, 63, a health and wellness practitioner, went through a difficult divorce after more than 20 years of marriage. After one relationship post-divorce, she has been single for the last five years. With her grown-up children now out of the house, she recently moved from London to Edinburgh to set up a new home, a new practice for her work, and ultimately build a new life. With this fresh chapter unfolding, it felt like the right moment for Sinead to focus on dating again. ‘I had dabbled in online dating but was wary, I kept hearing all the negative stories,’ she says. ‘I joined Eimear’s group coaching after a friend recommended it. I thought it would be good to get some support as I have been out of…

Q‘I feel like I’m permanently switched on and running at full tilt. Work is relentless – I run a department in a multinational and, after losing two team members who were never replaced, I’ve ended up carrying their workload as well as my own. I’m exhausted, never get a proper break, and even though I’ve read every productivity book going, I never feel caught up or in control. ‘I’m 56, so it’s far too soon to retire, but I genuinely don’t know how long I can keep going at this pace without burning out. Several of my friends have been made redundant recently, so I feel I can’t risk stepping back or changing direction while I’m still trying to build my pension. The truth is, I feel driven more by…

Spring is the perfect time to revalue home décor and as I still navigate the newness of our next-chapter house, I can’t help but feel a mix of apprehension and nostalgia. Originally the fresh start was more than just a change of scenery; it was an opportunity to move on and embrace a new chapter in midlife. With two teenage daughters who are growing faster than I can keep up with, it would be a home and evolving canvas for our changing lives. Decorating a new space is like telling a story, blending precious moments of the past with the promise of the future. Our previous home was a collection of years spent together, filled with furniture and accessories that have witnessed countless noisy family gatherings and quietly paced down-times.…

I hop on to a train in Glasgow. Although I’m off to meet friends in Edinburgh, I have my laptop stashed in my small rucksack. I love working away from home – in cafés, libraries and especially on trains. So I’m looking forward to cracking on with some writing on the 50-minute journey. At least, I thought this was the Edinburgh train. When the announcement comes that it’s about to depart for Alloa – an admittedly picturesque town in Clackmannanshire – I shriek and leap off. Close call! This brain-foggy thing that seems to be happening, yet again? I’m not a fan of it, obviously – but I’m also determined to play it down. To be labelled as ditsy-woman-of-a-certain-age is a tad annoying, in the way that, back in the…

Noted & noteworthy April’s Nature Marker: The subtle spring shift April brings a quiet shift: the landscape starts to ease forward. Trees show the first murmurs of new life, buds rounding subtly, as though the branches are ready to return to the world. Magnolia petals tighten with anticipation, blackthorn drifts into soft blossom, and catkins loosen themselves into movement again. Even on the chillier days, there’s a sense that the natural world is preparing for its reveal – not rushing, just steadily reclaiming colour and shape. What’s On: April Almanac This month’s Almanac gathers the kind of outings that add a spark to spring - the shows that stir something, the stories that stay with you, the small adventures that remind you that life is bigger than your to-do list.…

Splurge Savvy…

SO, WHAT IS IT? It’s a radiofrequency (RF) microneedling treatment that has quietly built a reputation among practitioners for doing what so many of us want for midlife skin: improving tone, texture and firmness at the same time, without the drama or downtime of more aggressive procedures. Let’s be honest, most of us aren’t chasing one single fix. It’s rarely just wrinkles or just sagging, it’s the combination of fine lines, crepey texture, visible pores, background redness and stubborn pigment that makes skin look tired or uneven. Sylfirm X is designed to tackle that whole picture, rather than zooming in on one feature and ignoring the rest. HOW IS IT DIFFERENT TO OTHER RADIO-FREQUENCY TREATMENTS? Sylfirm X uses ultra-fine, gold-plated microneedles to deliver controlled radiofrequency energy into the skin. Microneedling…

If you’d told my younger self that my 50s would be the decade I’d run three independent bookshops, put on huge author events with the likes of Michael Palin and Matt Haig, and win a FutureBook Award, I’d have laughed. But that’s exactly what happened. I’ve always been a reader. We didn’t have a television when I was growing up in the North East – even for my age, that was pretty unusual. People felt so sorry for us they’d donate old tellies and, being the 1970s, they would literally explode: a pop, some smoke out the back, and that was that. So I read. Constantly. I’d take a book to bed, wake up early, and finish it in the morning. My mum was a nurse, my dad an artist…

Since I’m the Kitchen Shrink, it might not surprise you to hear that I have a collection of psychological crockery. My favourite mug is the one I’m drinking coffee out of right now: it has a cartoon of Freud on it and a speech bubble that says, ‘It’s like when you say one thing but mean your mother.’ This is, of course, an example of a Freudian slip – that unconscious slip of the tongue – which here implies the classic psychological trope that who we are harks back to our early relationship with our mothers. However, this time of year means that Mother’s Day is in the air. So in this month’s column – and in somewhat Freudian style – I’m going to say lots of things about food…