Mollie's Feel-Good Feed: The Last Dance, upbeat tunes and at-home workouts
Your weekly dose of what to watch, listen and work out to
Your weekly dose of what to watch, listen and work out to
Welcome to Mollie’s Feel-Good Feed, a place where each week Mollie King shares her round-up of the things bringing her joy in these strange and uncertain times. Check back each week for uplifting music, self care tips and, hopefully, a smile being put on your face.
With the sun shining this week, I’ve been making sure to focus on the positives around me in these tricky times. I hope your week has given you some reasons to smile, too, and that these recommendations below give you some enjoyment over the next few days and weeks!
Singles
I have to start off with a band I've loved for quite some time now, Sea Girls. They’re four friends from London who were tipped last year as 'ones to watch'. If you’re into The 1975 and Foals, I would definitely say it’s worth checking them out.
Their latest single, Do You Really Wanna Know, has such an upbeat feel to it and is perfect for a sunny day. Get that BBQ on and turn these boys up!
Pop fans unite for this next one – an upbeat anthem from Swedish duo NOTD, alongside Norwegian singer Astrid S, I Don’t Know Why. I loved Astrid’s voice on this straight away when I first heard it; it’s super poppy and really makes you want to sing along.
TV shows
Is it just me, or do you feel like we’re inundated with brilliant TV shows at the moment? There’s so much to watch – almost too much – that it’s easy to miss things. But the obvious choice for me this week is The Last Dance.
As much as this sounds like it’s the sequel to Save The Last Dance, it’s less dancing, more dunking. It is in fact a Netflix series following the iconic career of Michael Jordan. At first glance I didn't see the appeal as I don’t follow basketball, but straight away it’s apparent that it’s about so much more than that.
The ups and downs of one of the all-time greats, the business side of the Chicago Bulls brand, most importantly it leaves you feeling inspired and motivated. I haven’t yet finished it, but am very much looking forward to sitting down to watch another episode this evening!
I’ve been obsessed with this next series for quite some time now, so it only feels right to share it with you this week. Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. Hosted by comedian Jerry Seinfeld, it’s a series of bite-sized episodes that’ll have you clicking ‘Next Episode’ time after time to see who he’ll share his next journey with.
In each episode, Seinfeld picks up a different guest – mostly comedians, hence the title, but also some A-listers – sat in the passenger seat of a (usually vintage) car, ordering their morning coffee. Sarah Jessica Parker, Ricky Gervais, Amy Schumer… the list of great guests continues.
The beauty of this show is in how laid-back Jerry and his guests are; you feel they must be friends already because of the instant chemistry. It’s like you’re in the car with two best friends who are just catching up! Put this on when you can’t decide what to watch and I guarantee you’ll be flying through the episodes.
Self care
This week for the first time ever I used the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Masks. I’ve never tried an evening mask before – I always thought of them as more of a morning treatment – but I thought these were brilliant. I felt like my skin was instantly more hydrated around that area. A real treat!
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Masks, £38 for 4 pairs, Fabled
Once a week in the morning during lockdown, I've also been trying out the Dr Organic Manuka Honey Face Mask. I’ll be honest, I was first drawn to this because I love the smell of honey, but it’s actually a really effective, deep cleansing mask. I always find it hard to see instant results from anything that claims to be ‘deep cleansing’, but I have to say, the next day I feel my skin looks a lot more smooth and almost calmer with this one.
Dr Organic Manuka Honey Face Mask, £7.99, Holland & Barrett
Fitness
As you might now know from previous columns or my Instagram, I love spinning at home. I have a Peloton bike and just can’t get enough of it. I love that the instructors always make you feel good for finding the time to do a class, and the endorphin rush I get afterwards is just wonderful.
This week however, I've been trying to alternate spinning with doing circuits at home. Firstly, I have to say how in awe I am of people who are already doing this with no trainer pushing them on. It’s been testing. A lot of the time half of my brain is saying: ‘you’ve done half the circuit, Mollie, that’ll do’, while the other side, the good side, says ‘you've started something, finish it!’. It’s a constant battle in my head, and that’s not even the exercise!
This is a full body workout… Russian twists, burpees, bear crawls, frog jumps, and that’s just to get to the fridge afterwards for a glass of water. It’s been intense, but I like to think I’m one step closer to J-Lo’s six pack, and we all know that’ll be worth it!
Thanks so much for reading Mollie’s Feel-Good Feed – check back on Marie Claire every Friday for more of my feel-good recommendations. Take care and stay safe!
