All posts tagged: comfortable

Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: well, hello dolly shoes! The heels that are actually comfortable | Fashion

Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: well, hello dolly shoes! The heels that are actually comfortable | Fashion

Published by Sam Flores

It seems wild to me now that I used to wear heels – and I mean high heels – every day. To work, and then out afterwards, 12, 15 hours straight. But at the time it felt entirely normal. The discomfort was one of those daily traumas you become desensitised to, the same way that rush-hour commuters don’t think twice about spending a train ride nose-deep in a stranger’s armpit. Blisters, heel tips bitten off by gratings, the odd sprained ankle, and constant taxi rides I could ill afford were all part of everyday life. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. The stiletto’s long reign of terror began losing its hold in the streetwear-obsessed 2010s, and then along came lockdown and the comfort-first revolution. This has been the decade of the loafer and the party flat. My collection of needle-thin, 4-inch-plus Manolos, Louboutins and Choos now live in a display cabinet, the gorgeous but obsolete relics of an ancien régime. But reports of the death of the heel …

The bamboo mattress I rely on for cool, comfortable sleep in a heatwave

The bamboo mattress I rely on for cool, comfortable sleep in a heatwave

Published by Sam Flores

The Panda London brand has built its reputation around bamboo-based sleep essentials – a natural material that is extremely soft, antibacterial and hypoallergenic. Bamboo is highly breathable, so you’ll keep cool in the summer and warm in the winter. The same technology that’s used in Panda London’s towels and bed linens is also used in the brand’s mattresses. So, when I opened up my new mattress last summer, I could barely wait for it to expand before jumping on top of it – knowing I’d have a fantastic night’s sleep. The hybrid mattress pro leans into a layered and performance driven design, combining pressure-relieving foam with a responsive spring base. Up to 1,500 pocket springs work independently to support your body, while multiple foam layers add additional cushioning. I tend to favour a softer mattress, while my partner prefers something firmer, and this strikes a sweet spot for both of us. It avoids that claustrophobic sinking sensation some memory foam mattresses have, and instead, you feel gently supported, almost like you’re resting on top rather than …

The best camping chairs in the UK: 12 genuinely comfortable outdoor chairs, tested | Camping holidays

The best camping chairs in the UK: 12 genuinely comfortable outdoor chairs, tested | Camping holidays

Published by Sam Flores

Ready to carry on camping this summer? I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that a good collapsible camping chair can change your life. If you’ve never used one before, you’ll be astonished at how comfy a folding chair is, letting you sit off the cold ground when you’re cooking, eating or just chilling out around the fire, and making every evening at camp a social occasion. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. There’s a folding camping chair out there to suit everyone, including wild campers who only carry the essentials, glampers and campervan fans who like a bit of luxury. I’ve tested 15 of the best folding camping chairs, from tiny portable stools that collapse to the size of a baguette to cushioned monster chairs that wouldn’t look out of place in your sitting room, at prices to suit all budgets and starting from just £15. Good-quality chairs will not only improve your average camping weekend but also should last …

I’m not comfortable telling my kids they don’t have to share. Here’s why

I’m not comfortable telling my kids they don’t have to share. Here’s why

Published by Sam Flores

As a child, I remember gawking at a classmate’s Crayola collection during art class. I had perfectly serviceable Pentel crayons, but having previously seen the glossy, bright Crayola boxes only in American TV shows, I yearned to try them. I also thought my Colleen twin-head colour pencils were cool until I saw a 60-piece Faber-Castell colour pencil set for the first time. “Can I borrow your colour pencil?” was usually met with a generous “yes” – albeit sometimes with certain conditions, such as time limits of a few minutes for each use, or having to close my eyes while using the borrowed item. (The indisputable logic of eight-year-olds.) Looking back, we were learning to set our own boundaries among ourselves. We shared our resources with each other, but with our own rules, limitations and options. The difference was that those rules were set by us. When a parent steps in and speaks for a child who is assumed to be too young to voice their own “terms” of sharing, the dynamic inevitably changes. Often, I’ve …

Sony Inzone H6 Air Review: Comfortable Headphones, Great Sound

Sony Inzone H6 Air Review: Comfortable Headphones, Great Sound

Published by skeptic

While something like the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro might be more tactical if you’re a ranked Rainbow Six Siege grinder, I think the average gamer will appreciate the balance on the Sony pair. I’ve been playing a lot of Marathon lately, and the spatial implementation here feels more natural, in a way that’s distinctly immersive. The creaking of abandoned New Cascadian infrastructure and the irregular stomping of UESC robots is almost shockingly real, giving the already rich sound design room to breathe and sweeping me off to Tau Ceti. Even still, at least once, I was the first person on my squad to hear another team of runners sneaking onto the Hauler while looting, so I don’t feel like I’m missing anything important. Photograph: Brad Bourque They’re also absolutely wonderful for listening to music. The sound is richly detailed, and the open-back design feels a lot more reminiscent of higher-end audiophile headphones I’ve used. They excel at anything groovy and bass-forward, bringing my favorite Steely Dan tracks to life, even when layered under the busy …

Becoming Comfortable With Discomfort | Psychology Today

Becoming Comfortable With Discomfort | Psychology Today

Published by Jenni Sidey

Kurt Vonnegut once said, “Stay in New York too long, you get too hard. Stay in Los Angeles too long, you get too soft.” I live in Los Angeles, which means I have, over time, developed a highly refined relationship to comfort. If you asked me what matters most to me, I would not say comfort. I would say growth, or truth, or connection. Something with a little more spine. And yet, if you tracked my behavior over the course of a week, you might reasonably conclude that my guiding principle is: Avoid unnecessary discomfort at all costs. Lately, I’ve been trying to interrupt that. The Problem With Comfort Comfort is persuasive. It doesn’t present itself as avoidance. It presents itself as discernment: “This isn’t the right moment.” “I should wait until I’m better at this.” “There’s no need to rush.” Meanwhile, the things that actually matter tend to sit just outside the comfort zone, tapping politely at the glass: The email you don’t send. The idea you don’t voice. The project you don’t begin …

Best Cooling Blankets: Stay Comfortable on Hot Nights

Best Cooling Blankets: Stay Comfortable on Hot Nights

Published by Sam Flores

As a nation, there’s nothing we love more than discussing the weather, but usually, it’s about how cold or rainy it is. Because it’s an acute kind of torture trying to sleep when temperatures linger in the mid to high-20s in the wee, early hours. You know the score: sweaty hair sticking to the back of your neck, trying to stop your limbs touching, and venturing one, or two, hopeful legs out of the covers to catch any passing whisper of a breeze. How to sleep in hot weather Farah Arshad, Head of Design at DUSK, offers some stay-cool tips: Invest in the right fabrics: use cotton pyjamas and invest in 100 per cent cotton bed linen. Egyptian cotton bed linen is lightweight and breathable, helping to keep you cool throughout the night.  Cold as ice: put a tray of ice in front of your fan. As it melts, the breeze will pick up the moisture and give off an icy cool mist.  Keep it cool: the ideal room temperature to sleep is 16 -18°C. …

This is how we do it: ‘The fact he’s comfortable enough with his sexuality to be intimate with other men is so hot to me’ | Life and style

This is how we do it: ‘The fact he’s comfortable enough with his sexuality to be intimate with other men is so hot to me’ | Life and style

Published by Sam Flores

Sandra, 48 double quotation markI never thought, when I was a pregnant Catholic teenager, that I’d have this lifestyle, but my God, it’s fun After my first marriage ended 15 years ago, I felt as if I had a ton of catching up to do when it came to sexual experiences. I’d become a wife and mother in my late teens, and my first husband had been quite conservative, in bed and out. With three children at home, I only really had the bandwidth for casual encounters, so I began responding to Craigslist ads for no-strings-attached sex – until I spotted a more romantic post by Miguel during one late-night trawl, and impulsively hit “reply”. The first time I slept with him a fortnight later was a revelation; he was just so eager to learn what turned me on, and before long we’d become a couple. When, a few months in, Miguel mentioned that he and his first wife used to swing, I was intrigued. With male partners, I’m quite submissive, but I’d always wondered …

The best mattress toppers for a more comfortable night’s sleep, tested | Sleep

The best mattress toppers for a more comfortable night’s sleep, tested | Sleep

Published by Sam Flores

A mattress topper is like a slice of cheese in a burger: not strictly necessary, but potentially transformative, especially if your bed has all the cosiness of stale bread. Strap a comfy topper on to a hard mattress, and it could transform the quality of your sleep at significantly less cost than a new mattress. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. That’s the promise, anyway. In my neverending quest for a decent night’s kip, I slept on nine bestselling toppers – not all at once, Princess and the Pea style, but for a few nights, each on top of a firm mattress. I was surprised to find so many topper types available, from thick slabs of memory foam to airy cloudbanks of hollowfibre, with one even containing springs. Most of my test toppers went to charity straight after testing, but one improved my sleep so much that I hung on to it for weeks like a teenager refusing to acknowledge that the …

These Wallabee Lookalikes from ECCO Are So Comfortable, the Unc Accusations Don’t Bother Me

These Wallabee Lookalikes from ECCO Are So Comfortable, the Unc Accusations Don’t Bother Me

Published by Jenni Sidey

Have you ever copped something and just stood there in disbelief at how good it is? I had a full-on Wee-Bey-from-The Wire moment when I slipped my feet into a supple, buttery pair of borderline-orthopedic shoes from ECCO.Kollektive, a sub-line of the Danish label ECCO. I picked up these Clarks Wallabee-adjacent shoes, and they have been in my weekly rotation for nearly a year now. They were so good, I doubled back for the loafer version. My future 60-year-old self is already grateful. Ecco.Kollektive Joke Loafer Ecco.Kollektive Joke Lace Shoe Founded in 1963 in Bredebro, Denmark, ECCO has built its reputation on producing some of the softest leather in the game. But it wasn’t until 2022 that the brand launched ECCO.Kollektive (formerly At.Kollektive), a platform that teams up with designers like Peter Do, Kiko Kostadinov, Bianca Saunders, and New York design duo Eckhaus Latta to reinterpret pieces from the archive. This promptly sent me down a rabbit hole exploring the broader Grandpa-core movement happening in footwear. The Joke silhouette is simple and unfussy—the antithesis of …