It feels so frivolous to be thinking about concepts of “luxury” at the moment, with everything happening in the world. Without a doubt, there are always more important things to think about than fancy underwear, but sometimes those little moments of escape from the ordinary, and finding joy in utterly unnecessary things, can feel comforting when our minds need to be focused on a more sobering reality the rest of the time.
Whether you’re working from home for the first time and trying to find ways to make the four walls of your apartment feel less oppressive, or just wanting to distract yourself for a little while and infuse moments of mundanity with something wonderfully extravagant, we wanted to find ways to make everyday moments of your day feel that little bit more special.
From morning til night, we’ll be gathering ways to bring small indulgences to routine things, from brushing your teeth to washing the dishes. Follow along in the coming weeks for more inspiration for the rest of your day, and we wish you all the best of health.
THE MORNING
Brushing Your Teeth
There couldn’t be a much more everyday task than brushing your teeth, but even that can be a glamorous occasion with the delightfully vintage-styled Marvis toothpaste. There’s nothing like fancy packaging to improve any product, and just seeing the sleek 1920s style tube in your cabinet is going to make you feel like a silver screen Hollywood star about to polish her dazzling smile for the cameras.
With unusual flavours such as Amarelli Liquorice, Jasmine Mint and Cinnamon, alongside traditional Aquatic Mint and a gleaming silver Whitening option, just having a task that we don’t usually think much of transformed into something more sensory is a start to the day that feels wonderfully indulgent. There’s even a “Wonders of the World” range with even more unusual options blended with mint, such as “Rambas” (pineapple, peach, mango and mint) “Karakum” (orange, cardamom and mint) or “Royal” (Italian lemon oil, mandarin, rose extract and mint).
Shop all the flavours at independent grooming store Mankind, or enjoy the fun of the Marvis’s own site, which isn’t transactional but does have the pure joy of animations of toy dinosaurs and balloon dogs playing with their toothpaste tubes, which we all need to see.
Making Your Coffee
If you’re not quite human before you’ve had your morning coffee, it can feel like anything more time and hassle than dropping a Nespresso capsule in the machine is too much like hard work. But what if the very process of making that first cup felt like a special ritual to set you up for the day? Or like a satisfyingly visual chemistry experiment, which is no bad way to start the day either.
The Diguo Belgian Balance coffee maker uses the siphon method to create your morning caffeine fix, using a spirit burner to vaporise water, lifting the counterbalance weight, and eventually drawing the perfectly brewed coffee back down with the vacuum formed by the drop in temperature. By the time you've made it, you'll already have achieved something impressive for the day - ready to tackle whatever else you have ahead.
Writing Your To-Do List
There’s just something about writing by hand on beautiful notepaper that transforms the words into something more special. Whether for creating a to-do list you actually want to look at, or making the fanciest shopping list you’ve ever seen, personalised notepaper isn’t just for writing old-fashioned thank-you letters on.
Choose from Papier’s stylish and modern letterhead designs, from palm fronds to prowling leopards, then personalise with your name, initials, or something else entirely. Pair it with a fountain pen filled with some ludicrously decadent ink by Jacques Herbin (complete with tiny flecks of gold!) to ensure even if you’re writing out that you need to pick up more milk, it’s just going to feel that bit less ordinary. Quite besides the fact that just filling your pen with ink from a bottle that looks like that is going to be an experience in itself.
Choosing Your Lingerie
Of course, what better way to start the day as you mean to go on than with picking out the most beautiful underwear as the first thing you put next to your skin. Whether it’s a silk lined bra and lace trimmed thong, a decadent metallic gold set or classic black embroidery, feel the very best version of yourself from the inside out, ready to take on the day ahead. Chemistry-set coffee in hand, of course.