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🌸 Issue 34 – The Big Easter Issue

March 16, 2026

Dear Member,

Easter provides ample excuse to spend four days, drinking, eating, and being frightfully merry (depending on who you choose to spend it with). We like to commit at least one very long lunch solely to hosting friends – especially those who always bring the good booze. It’s also a time to reflect, refresh, and refine the areas of our lives that have grown stale since our New Year’s resolutions have waned. We are finally being rewarded with signs of life after spending the last few months grinning and bearing the drizzle and dampness that the start of the year tends to invite in. The ski season is coming to a close, and we’re becoming reacquainted with our waxing ladies once again.  In this issue, we are covering everything one might need for a little pick-me-up: style updates, skin and hair refreshments, and our fail-proof hosting tips for those who have been designated as the competent ones in your respective social circles. Grab your wicker baskets and Fabergé eggs and let’s begin.

OUR QUICK TIPS

  •   The Guestlist –  Sometimes you can’t always choose your guests if it is an impromptu event (like an afters), but nine times out of ten, this shouldn’t be the case. Think carefully about the mix of people coming and how they will interact with one another. Can you sit people together with similar interests? Do you have a particularly charismatic guest who can bring a more shy one out of their shell? Have you ensured your chattier guests are spread out evenly to encourage conversation across the table? Avoid having your more confident guests lumped together in a cluster – we like to sit them diagonally from one another so they bring those around them into the fold.

  •   The Backing Track – We genuinely cannot bear being somewhere where there is either a) no music, or b) completely inappropriate music playing in the background. It doesn’t have to be on at all times, and you never want it so loud you can’t hear each other, but it does a fantastic job of setting the mood and letting guests know the sort of night (or day) they’re in for. Curate one specifically for hosting that can be loaded up at a moment’s notice – otherwise, Spotify has a myriad of suitable playlists where someone has already done the hard work for you.

  •   Consider the lighting – Depending on the event you’re hosting, you want lighting that will set the mood. You know at the end of an event when the main lights switch on, and suddenly everyone knows the party’s over? Your lighting choice will signal the same thing to your guests. Candles should always be burning alongside the main lighting (whether from a side lamp or a floor lamp – it should be soft and NEVER overhead). Ensure the candles burning in the dining area are unscented, as scented candles will ruin the dining experience. A few plain tealights or tapered candles in appropriate holders on the table will do just fine. Wine Bottle Lights can always be used in empty Belle Epoque bottles.

  •   The Tablescape – This doesn’t necessarily need to be fussy, but a few things can make a big difference. We’ve already covered lighting and music above, but there are a few other simple things that can help. Fresh flowers are essential. If they are too large and overpower the table once everyone has been seated, take a stem or two from the bouquet and pop them in a miniature vase that can sit on the table and add a little character. A great linen napkin in a fun colour and some detail and texture added to the table will never go amiss (in the case of Easter, there’s plenty to choose from, but we’ll cover that shortly).

  •   Communal Areas – Guests will always want to use the loo, so ensure it’s in an agreeable state before you have people over. Have a candle burning, fresh hand towels and enough loo roll. Close doors to rooms that are off-limits to guests, and leave open the ones you are happy for them to roam around in.

  •   Keep Guests Fed and Watered – Guests are like babies, puppies, or other semi-helpless creatures that rely on you. It sounds so straightforward, but ensuring your guests are offered drinks, kept topped up throughout the night and have access to water (leave a nice jug on the table) is vital. I cannot tell you how often we have been sitting in polite, British, dehydrated silence, waiting for a host to offer us something to drink. Have nuts or crisps or crackers in the cupboard at all times so that you have something small to offer as a nibble, should there be a gap between the guest’s arrival and the moment they eat an actual substantial meal.

TAMSIN’S ROAST CHICKEN RECIPE

A foolproof chicken recipe that Tamsin uses for any big hosting dinners that will carry you through Easter hosting and beyond.

You will need the following;

A Whole Chicken – The best quality you can afford (we like The Ginger Pig)
Poultry Rub – The beloved Fortnum’s poultry rub is our go-to (the mix is a blend of dried fennel seeds, lemon peel, black pepper, garlic, thyme and coriander seeds); However, we also recommend this as a substitute. Do not underestimate the power of a good chicken rub!
A Lemon
Maldon Sea Salt (or any flaky salt)
Lemon Thyme
A Whole Garlic
Good Quality Butter

Method

The day before serving, unwrap your chicken (unfold the wings!) and tie its legs above itself. Thoroughly massage every bit of your chicken’s skin with your flaky sea salt. Lightly smash your whole garlic clove, slice your lemon in half and then put them in the chicken’s crevice with the lemon thyme. Lightly cover your chicken with foil and put it back in the fridge overnight. This step is essential as the salt will dry out the chicken skin making it extra crispy and tasty. On the day of roasting, remove your chicken from the fridge and massage your chicken rub all over the skin with a tablespoon of olive oil or butter (this quantity might differ depending on the size of your chicken). Let your chicken come to room temperature before putting it in the oven. I start with my oven at 180C, and I leave the chicken for an hour before opening the oven and basting the chicken in its own juices. I only do this once. Again, your timings will differ depending on the size of your chicken, but in the last 15 minutes, I turn my oven up to 200C to give the skin some extra crispiness. Remember to save the remaining chicken juices for your gravy!

Suggested sides using seasonal vegetables; 

 Crispy Leek and Kale Gratin

Honey Cinnamon Glazed Carrots

Perfectly Crispy Roast Potatoes 

TABLESCAPE IDEAS

How you lay your table says a lot about you. Firstly, make sure you actually know how to lay a table please (cutlery the right way round and glasses in the correct positions) before you begin to spruce it up like your guest loo. Now, it doesn’t need to be fussy, but it should never be boring – much like a Christmas tree, you have to really commit. Tacky can be fun when leaned into with a wink and a nod, eccentricity is brilliant and a wonderful conversational piece, and classic is, well, classic, which is completely fine as long as you stand by it. And whilst we don’t want to be explicitly telling you what to do with your tables (that is none of our business), at the very least we can give you some suggestions as to what to put on them.

Fortnum & Mason Chocolate Bunny
Fortnum & Mason Praline Egg
Embroidered Linen Napkins
Yellow Linen Blend Striped Tablecloth
Lucy Ruffle Glass Vase
Lilypad Canape Plate
Faux Grass Table Runner
Floral Serving Bowl
Rabbit & Carrot Tumbler
Egg Salt & Pepper Shakers

Style

Ok, while we understand the impulse to enter our JFK Jr or CBK eras, we also do know that they were singular icons of their time, and some of the nuance and magic isn’t able to be translated these 30 years later. However, we can be inspired by the minimalism of CBK and the sporty nod of JFK Jr. Actually, Allison Bornstein did a great newsletter about adding some JFK Jr nods to your outfits. So with that in mind, these are the things we are interested in playing around with, namely, The Rollneck 1988 from J. Crew, which has been used in the series as something Carolyn would have worn back in the 90s. Get yours here.

The show of the season in terms of changing the way we dress came from Michael Ryder’s Celine. The preppy nods, the subtle silhouette changes and ways to layer have filled us with inspiration on how to dress now and into next season. One of the most impactful changes we can make is opting for a retro leather jazz shoe (Celine obviously has their version, but Bloch and other brands have options too) which will help reframe your day to day uniform / style. Other inspiration of note – embrace some primary tones, and invest in a slouchy beige car coat / trench.

A new silhouette is here, and it’s reflecting that of the 1920s, with a modern take on the drop waist. Seen most prominently at Chanel and Miu Miu, both brands highlight new ways to style and wear this silhouette, from eveningwear to day to day office wear. We gasped as we saw 1990 and 2000s model Gemma Ward saunter down the Miu Miu catwalk in a peachy pink drop waist mini dress. One of our favourite moments from this season.

While we are entering the tricky “is it spring, is it still winter period?”, may we recommend some of our lovely club merch?

Lately, we have been loving wearing both our Cotton Members Knit and the Personal Best Sweatshirt. Try styling the members’ knit with a thin tissue rollneck or a crisp white shirt for a double collar take on the knit. Tamsin even wore hers recently while skiing, so anything goes with the member knit.

Also, for those of you who missed the release of our new and improved Barton Tote bag, we have a spring edition of the tote with a brighter blue accent to the plaid wool. Also did you know wool is naturally water-resistant? Perfect for any upcoming spring showers.

While we are on the subject of spring, our buttery-soft Club Standard T-shirts are a great place to start with any new outfit ideas. Start with them as a base and go from there. Maybe you layer over a striped shirt and add a little neckerchief? The contract collar and cuffs add a little something extra to your everyday tee, and did we mention how soft and comfortable these T-shirts are? We would also recommend wearing them to the gym or for a quick tennis match.

THE NINA PARK EFFECT

Alongside the concealer search, the Nina Park / Sarah Pigeon at the Actors Awards lip is a current hyperfixation, and we have been trying different lip combos to achieve the look.

Makeup artist Emily Cheng used Rhode products to create the look on the actress known best for her role in Love Story, playing CBK.

The subtly contoured, smudgy-edged lip was created using a Rhode peptide lip shaper in twist, and finished with a new colourway of the peptide lip treatment in sweet pea. 

Some other combos we have been trialling to get the look:

 

THE QUEST FOR THE PERFECT CONCEALER AND THE PERFECT HEAD OF HAIR

Hollie, our Head of Content, is taking over here to share some of her recent beauty dilemmas and research in case some of these might apply to other members (I’m sure she can’t be the only one affected by a glossier re-formulation amongst members…)

A bit like finding the perfect pair of jeans, I have been on the hunt for the platonic ideal of concealer. Something that melts into skin, provides coverage and just makes one look well and rested. We have high standards, so only the best will do.

As a devoted OG Glossier Stretch concealer user, I have personally been afflicted by the formula change to the product and am on the hunt for a replacement.

The marketing around the Milk Makeup Hydro Grip concealer has worked on me (thanks to the partnership with Katie Jane Hughes, the makeup artist and product developer, who, in fact, created the OG Glossier Stretch concealer…).

Meanwhile, Tamsin recommends the Hourglass Vanish Airbrush Concealer for a great balance between coverage and luminosity, and a warmer, peachier shade definitely helps to correct the blue undertones of dark circles. MAC’s Studio Radiance 24hr Luminous Lift Concealer is proving to be effective in covering under-eye darkness and any redness around the nose without looking cakey.

Recently, makeup artist Pati Dubroff shared that she uses Suqqu foundation and skin tint products on all of her clients (namely Margot Robbie), and we must say we are intrigued.

Other ones to try and consider on this quest include the Merit Minimalist Stick, which does seem like it would fit the bill. Meanwhile, the Laura Mercier Tinted Blur Balm also looks promising for a more matte look.

A few months ago, something hit me. A need for shiny hair. For years, I had never cared for shiny hair: volume yes, texture yes, healthy yes, but never shine. Then the journey began. I will be honest here and share that one specific clip sparked this journey, and it was a video clip of Alison Roman and Drew Barrymore on The Drew Barrymore Show, and my word did these women have gorgeous, glossy, shiny, wavy and healthy-looking hair.

I thought when I commenced this journey, that perhaps it was a case of you can have two out of three, but that three out of three in my personal holy trinity was impossible.

My holy trinity being:

Volume
Texture
Shine

I should preface this by sharing that I have what I refer to as “baby hair” – aka fine, flat and straight, that gets mussed up easily, is generally healthy, but lacks any depth, shape or volume. I do not use any heat, air dry my hair and tend to try and get volume and shape through plaits, etc.

I have since been informed that these three things are possible, but hard to come by. So began the process of trying to achieve this.

I began with some light research and found I was doing a number of basic things wrong where shine is concerned. Firstly, I was often skipping the conditioner (I still do sometimes), not using a hair towel, and brushing my hair with a tangle teaser when dry.

Now, I have invested in a wide-tooth comb, a hair towel and added more shine-boosting products like conditioners and the Hershesons Almost Everything cream, which is a multi-use styling cream / leave-in product.

I did also get some very helpful tips from the one and only Tamsin, who recommended:

Dry shampoo-wise, I’ve also swapped from my usual aerosol and moved to a powder formula, inspired by Crown Affair founder, Dianna Cohen’s Instagrams about airdrying her hair and styling it. While Crown Affair isn’t available in the UK yet, I have been enjoying using the Klorane non-aerosol dry shampoo £11, the Aveda Shampowder Dry Shampoo, £26 and Violette FR Frange Puff, £38.

I am, however, completely incapable of ridding myself of a dry texturising spray, and have been bereft since Redken discontinued my beloved WindBlown spray. I do like the Sam McKnight and Living Proof versions, despite their somewhat mattifying effect…

 

The Rhubarb Society Cinema

Final reminder: our next in-person event, a screening of The First Wives Club at The EVERYMAN Whiteley, is on the 31st of March. We heard your feedback about being unable to book single seats, and the IT team at Everyman has now rectified this.

We only have a handful of tickets left, so get your tickets now, before they go!