Author: Chris Mads

  • The digital wobble and return of the experts

    The start of the year was not a good time for online media outlets – but their woes could herald worse news for those who looked to emulate them. In January and February, Buzzfeed and Vice both announced staff layoffs across their digital media teams. This, in itself, would come as no surprise to members…

  • Monkey Forest, Ubud, Bali

    Nestled at the southern end of Ubud’s main drag is one of the most amazing places it has been my pleasure to ever set foot. The Monkey Forest is part Indiana Jones set, part Jumanji and part fairytale utopia. Here, the monkeys are the stars as they wander freely through a forest which is very…

  • Take care of your face with B. Men

    I am not a beauty blogger. Not even slightly. But this one is worth sharing for the few of you who might read it. I’ve been wearing moisturiser for years, not because I’m particularly ahead of the curve, I had eczema as a kid and have been using a variety of effective (but decidedly un-sexy)…

  • Free From Festival, London

    Vegan, gluten free and dairy free food is pretty much everywhere now. There was a time when S, who is vegan, found going out to eat pretty much impossible, unless she wanted bread and salad. Today, though, restaurants around the capital are starting to get on board – and the foodie community is doing the…

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    The best coffee in the world: Black Eye Coffee, Ubud

    The top spot on my Search For The Best Cup of Coffee list has, for quite a long time, been held by Burgundy & Black in Dorking. It is not for lack of searching, they just make a really good cup of coffee. But their crown has finally been taken – and I had to…

  • Introducing The Rake Values

    Fashion is expensive. It is a well-known, thought little-discussed truth of the stylish classes that looking good, on the whole, takes money. There are stories of those who have pulled off a brilliant find hand have managed to come out looking like they have just rolled out of the front row at LFWM for the…

  • Game Of Thrones: The person who should sit on the Iron Throne

    “When you play the Game of Thrones you win or you die.” Cersei Lannister’s words to Ned Stark are a pretty much perfect summary of the whole series. For almost a decade we have been watching the Starks, Lannisters, Targaryens and others battle to sit on the Iron Throne. Oh, before we go on…spoilers. Obviously.…

  • Vans x Harry Potter are the shoes you need this summer

    Accio trainers! I’m not going to deny, or apologise for, being a Harry Potter fan. The boy wizard, his friends and their adventures were the seminal fiction of my youth. I loved the books, I enjoyed the films and I do spend a fair amount of time trawling EMP’s Harry Potter collection. If you haven’t…

  • Game of Thrones fans, we need to talk about Daenerys

    Game of Thrones was on last night. It was the penultimate episode ever. Before I go on, obviously, spoilers. Don’t come at me for writing about something which happened on TV last night, you’ve been warned and I’ve made my thoughts on spoilers very clear already. So, this morning I woke up having not seen…

  • Around the world in 80 cocktails with Mr Fogg’s

    Immersive bar experiences are everywhere in London today. It is almost impossible to scroll through Facebook or Instagram without seeing a photo of cocktails in an outlandish vessel or staff dressed to the nines as anything from 1920’s high society to Game of Thrones-esque lords and ladies. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good…