I inadvertently opened up what can only be described as a “beauty time capsule” the other day and was almost knocked sideways by the smell that came out of it. I was looking for some bikini hair removal cream (as you do, once a year if you’re me – it’s wedding anniversary time!) and stumbled upon a large plastic box at the back of the cupboard.
If you’re wondering how you can stumble upon anything in a cupboard (what cupboard is big enough to walk around in") then let me tell you: I have the longest, scariest airing cupboard in the whole of England. I think it must have been part of the bathroom at one point, but someone put a wall across and had it made into a narrow, windowless room to hide the unsightly water tank. It’s almost impossibly thin, like a room that’s had the walls pushed in from either side and it has a tall ceiling, which makes it even weirder. I’m claustrophobic anyway, but venturing into this long tunnel of stacked-up linen sends my panic receptors into overdrive. Anyway, I was walking the five hundred metres to the end of the cupboard, looking for my small toiletries bag that’s filled with things I don’t ever want anyone else to see, when I hit my shin on the edge of a big plastic box. And I suddenly remembered that I had packed all of my essentials and beauty must-haves into it before we moved house. That’s “moved house” the first time, to Bath, not the proper time,...