There is at my core, a deep-seated desire to return to “normality.” I long for the days when I could walk the streets of New York with the Saks sale being my only preoccupation. I even miss aimlessly wandering around the Selfridges food hall, which is nothing more than a high-end fishmarket minus the smell and the fish.

Of course, things will never be the same. They never are.

BUT it is my birthday (shortly) and in my bid to steer my own fate to normality, I have sprinkled myself with narcissism dust and I am partaking in my favourite online activity: sale shopping.

So far, this is what I have my eyes on….if you are thinking why so many shoes, then honestly, you and I need to have a tête-à-tête.

Foreo UFO face mask

Foreo, were one of the first manufacturers of skincare devices that I was aware of.

My mother has an early pastel pink, NASA like contraption that really never quite worked. The brand has however come a long way. This mask has had rave reviews and I’d love to try it out.

Per the marketing blurb, this mask (called the UFO) includes a range of LED light therapy treatments to offer three photo facials, including anti-aging (red LED), brightening (green LED), and anti-acne (blue LED). It delivers in 90 seconds, a 20-minute session. It’s available at Net-a-porter for £104, reduced from £147.

AFRICAN BOTANICS Departures Essentials Set

As soon as I could afford to, I started to use expensive skincare products. I wish someone had told me to save my money and just use sunscreen. No twenty-five year old needs everything from SKII’s skincare range. Therefore, on my twenty-fifth birthday, I bought the entire day and evening range of SKII products plus the facemask. This set me back a month’s salary.

By the second day my face and neck were covered with hives. It was just as well I hadn’t (and still haven’t) hacked Instagram. This was an expensive way of finding out that I’m allergic to SKII products.

My advice to the adventurous skydiving skincare addicts out there, if you are going to diversify the contents of your bathroom cabinet, start with samples. When I try a new skincare brand, I always look for the brand’s starter kit. African Botanics is a South African brand and that in itself is a good enough reason to buy it. However, the hero ingredient is Marula oil and I have never used it.

This is (relatively speaking) a bargain at £147 from £210. Available at net-a-porter

Supporting small beauty businesses

Wolf & Badger has an entire section on skincare products that I would love to try out. I love cultbeauty, but this website is a treasure trove for me, mainly as there is a vast array of expensive, organic but mainly artisanal skincare and beauty products. To me, this means the products are made in small batches and not some large vat in a factory. It also means I am supporting small businesses…I am curious as to the efficacy of such skincare and these are a few products I am planning to try out

Essentials Kit by Elemental Herbology (US$ 39 + extra for shipping)

The shoes….

I love shoes and it is rare for me to keep a pair of shoes outside its shoe bag. I have a soft spot (or more accurately, soft boulder) for slingbacks. Or 95% of my shoes that I wear the most are slingbacks. These are a few that caught my fancy:

Lebanese born, Jennifer Chamandi is the new kid in the high-end footwear scene. I desperately want her to succeed as, without disruption by new entrants, Jimmy Choo has no incentive to improve the design of their shoes. These black grossgrain slingbacks with a crystal embellishment are available on Net-a-porter for £277 from £585.

Aquazurra concurrently make beautiful, elegant and unwearable shoes. I love these PVC shoes. Available at Net-a-porter for £200 from £420.