FROW News #135: Sephora at M&S Is Coming, Zendaya Reworks the Mary Jane & Rebecca Yarros Returns to Basgiath 👀✨
October marks Black History Month, and this week’s listening offers a connection to the Black creativity that continues to shape our cultural lives. Victoria Monét explores love on her new album, while Meshell Ndegeocello brings some familiar songs into unexpected company. There are voices you’ll recognise, with a few pairings that might make you listen differently.
Elsewhere, Zendaya has a sporty take on the Mary Jane, while our nail colour inspiration is coming from the chocolate aisle, which feels entirely reasonable for autumn. M&S has given us another reason to pay attention, although this one requires a little patience. There’s also a return to a certain dragon-filled world and a writing job with considerably more secrets than anyone signed up for. A few things for the wishlist, a few for your next evening in. Let’s get into it. ⬇️
Zendaya Gives the Mary Jane a Sporty Makeover 👟
The Mary Jane has been spending plenty of time in our wardrobes lately. Zendaya and On’s latest collection gives it a different footing, combining the familiar shape with a knitted upper, speed laces and cushioning.
There are three versions of the Cloudnova Moon Mary Jane (£160), pairing Ivory with either Clove or Black, while Dew comes teamed with Antler. Alongside it, Zendaya and Law Roach have brought a custom python print to a bodysuit (£140), a long-sleeved top (£75), and a water-repellent half-zip anorak (£230). Zendaya describes the print as a modern camouflage, giving the everyday wardrobe a slightly wilder streak.
There are quieter pieces too. Oversized sweatshirts (£160) and sweatpants (£130) have ruching and bungee cords that let you adjust their shape, bringing something different to familiar basics. The collection is available now at On.
After Hours With Olivia Attwood and River Island ✨
A beaded tassel jacket with jeans, an oversized bow top with stirrup leggings. Olivia Attwood’s fourth collection with River Island gives the going-out wardrobe a few combinations worth borrowing. There’s room to dress for dinner, drinks or a dance floor without reaching for the same outfit each time, with faux fur, lace and satin bringing plenty of texture.
The dresses have their moment too, including a leopard-print slip (£46), while a red satin mini skirt (£29) and lace tuxedo playsuit (£89) offer their own ways into the evening. It has the confidence you’d associate with Olivia, but how far you take it is up to you. A tasselled jacket can do plenty of the work when the rest of your outfit is familiar territory. The collection comes in sizes 6-22 online and at selected stores.
Primark’s Post-Surgery Bras Now Cost Less 💗
Specialist underwear can become another expense at a time when there is already plenty to manage. Primark is now covering the VAT on its post-surgery bras, so customers no longer need to claim it back themselves. Its front-fastening support bra, previously £10, now costs £8. Developed with women who have experienced breast cancer, the specialist range includes wireless styles with prosthesis pockets, a lightweight foam breast form (£6) and cotton breast pockets (£6 for two) that clip into bras women already own.
The range is available throughout the year in selected stores. For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, there’s also a collection of everyday underwear, nightwear and loungewear, including jersey boyfriend pyjamas (£13). Primark is donating £300,000 to Breast Cancer Now’s Someone Like Me service, which connects people affected by breast cancer with trained volunteers who have had a similar experience.
A Slip-On Speedcat, Courtesy of Daniëlle Cathari 🍷
PUMA’s slim Speedcat gets a different finish in Daniëlle Cathari’s new collaboration. The burgundy leather version loses its laces, with embroidered spider eyes adding an unexpected detail to the familiar shoe.
The Dutch designer has also reworked the Suede in Sea Glass Blue, twisting its recognisable side stripe above a gum sole. Both keep their low profile, but the leather, suede and altered details give each its own character. The burgundy Speedcat Slip-On is £90 at END, bringing a richer colour into the mix as our wardrobes turn towards autumn.
Meet the New Balance 983 👟
New Balance has added another number to the trainer conversation. The 983 draws on early-2000s running shoes, with rounded overlays, reflective details and wave-like moulding around the sole.
Its oval ABZORB SBS cushioning pods help give the shoe that sculptural shape, while a dual-density midsole provides cushioning underneath. There’s a familiar running-shoe influence, but the curves make this a distinctive addition to the lineup. The 983 is available now for £160 at newbalance.co.uk.
Sephora at M&S Is Coming Next Spring 💄
M&S is having quite a moment. Following its London Fashion Week debut and revamped Oxford Street flagship, it’s giving its beauty shelves a Sephora chapter. From spring 2027, Sephora at M&S will bring a curated selection of makeup, skincare, fragrance, haircare and bodycare to selected stores and M&S.com, including selected Sephora exclusives.
Sephora beauty advisers will be on hand in-store, with a broader selection online available for home delivery and Click & Collect. The brands and participating locations are still to be confirmed, so we’ll have to wait before planning that detour from the fitting rooms to the fragrance counter.
Three Steps to Bonne Glow ✨
Bronzer, blush, highlighter. Somehow, one always works its way to the bottom of your makeup bag just when you need it. Laura Mercier’s Bonne Glow Cream Face Palette (£52) puts all three together, making them easier to find when you’re getting ready or touching up while you’re out, with fewer separate compacts to pack when you’re going away.
The creamy balm textures blend onto skin before settling into a powder finish, with squalane and vitamin E included in the formula. There are four colour combinations: Bisou for very light to light skin, Amour for light to medium, Jolie for medium to medium-deep, and Chérie for deep to rich-deep. Each brings together coordinating shades, so there’s less guesswork involved in matching your bronzer, blush and glow.
Saie’s Glow Is Getting Some UK Shelf Space ✨
Until now, getting Saie in the UK has meant having to order online. From 6th October, the brand will be available in Sephora stores, marking its first in-store partnership in the UK. Glowy Super Gel and Dew Blush are moving from the saved-post wishlist to something we can actually swatch.
They’ll be joined by Dew Bronze, SuperSuede Baked Blush and CitySet Setting Spray, with the range available in all 18 Sephora UK stores, including Birmingham’s Bullring, and online. For anyone still debating which Dew Blush shade to order, the decision is about to involve a little less guesswork.
A Matte SPF for Skin Prone to Shine ☀️
Finding an SPF that feels comfortable on oily skin can involve a fair amount of trial and error. Ultra Violette’s new Unblock Screen SPF50 has been designed with oily, acne-prone and reactive skin in mind.
The whipped formula is intended to settle into a soft-matte, pore-blurring finish, with ingredients aimed at controlling excess oil while maintaining hydration. It is fragrance-free and has a subtle tint to help minimise a white cast. For those whose SPF search keeps coming back to texture and shine, those are useful details to know before trying another bottle. Unblock Screen is £38 for 50ml.
Chocolate Browns and Candy Colours From OPI 🍫💅
OPI has teamed up with M&M’s for Sweeten Your Mani, and the chocolate shades are particularly well timed for autumn. Choco-lotta Cheer is a milk-chocolate shimmer, while Peanut Butter Me Up brings a deeper brown into the collection. Elsewhere, Melt in Your Mani is scarlet red and Feeling Mmmerry adds a semi-sheer gold shimmer.
The collaboration spans nail varnish, Infinite Shine and RapiDry, with GelColor options for salon appointments. The nail varnish shades are £11.99 at OPI, giving us a choice between keeping things tonal with the browns and borrowing a brighter colour from the sweet packet.
H beauty Is Making a Weekend of It 💄🎪
A beauty browse can easily turn into an afternoon out. H beauty Carnival is giving us a few more reasons to linger, with masterclasses, treatments and games alongside the shopping. Following Glasgow's opening weekend, the festivities head to Edinburgh on 10th-11th October, Chester on 17th-18th October, Gateshead on 24th-25th October and Lakeside on 31st October-1st November.
You can join in with a free Carnival ticket, or choose the £15 Luxe option for extras including priority entry and a tote bag. You’ll need to join MyBeauty and book a time slot, while masterclass places are first come, first served. If there’s a session you’ve got your eye on, leave a little room in the day for it.
There’s also 10% off selected beauty purchases, plus a bag of five deluxe samples when you spend £70. Whether you’re going to pick up a few tips or finally investigate something on your beauty wishlist, tickets are available here.
Which Hada Labo Serum Suits Your Skin? 💧
Hydration might be the starting point, but what else would you like your serum to do? Hada Labo’s four new Booster Serums combine five forms of hyaluronic acid with ingredients chosen for different skin concerns, so you can give dryness, uneven tone or blemishes a little more attention without adding several bottles to your routine.
Nourishing pairs ceramides with azulene for comfort and barrier support, while Brightening combines tranexamic acid and a vitamin C derivative to address uneven-looking tone. For blemish-prone skin, Balancing brings together niacinamide and soothing allantoin. Revitalising focuses on firmness, with peptides and the antioxidant PQQ. Each is £20.99 for 30ml at Superdrug. Choose according to what your skin needs alongside that drink of hydration.
Rich Moisture Without the Sticky Finish 🧴
A rich body cream can feel lovely until you need to put your clothes on. SOS Body has been developed with that familiar wait in mind, aiming to nourish skin without leaving a heavy, sticky finish.
The formula combines coffee seed, edelweiss, sage and grapeseed to help hydrate, smooth and support the skin barrier. The appeal is being able to give dry skin some attention without standing around waiting to get dressed afterwards. It comes in 15ml (£4.50), 100ml (£14) and 500ml (£35) sizes.
prept go Puts a Skin Refresh in Your Bag 💦
The commute, a workout, a flight. Some days ask rather a lot of our skin before we get back to the bathroom shelf. New facial mist prept go (£19.95 for 100ml) is designed for those in-between moments, using hypochlorous acid to cleanse and refresh.
Developed with aesthetic doctor Dr Kam Lally, the formula is produced from purified water and salt through electrolysis. It has no added fragrance or alcohol and is intended for normal, sensitive and reactive skin. Available through prept and selected clinics, it offers a simple mist format for a refresh when you’re on the move.
Lovely Gets a Rouge Addition 🌹
Some fragrances take us straight back to the dressing table we had years ago. Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely, first released in 2005, belongs to that era. Now Lovely Rouge is giving the fragrance family a warmer direction.
Jasmine meets pink pepper and saffron, while praline adds sweetness to a heart of sandalwood and amber. Oakmoss, benzoin and cedarwood round out the amber-floral scent, taking that familiar nostalgia somewhere a little richer for autumn. If Lovely once had a place on your dressing table, this could be an interesting reunion. Lovely Rouge Eau de Parfum launches on 7th October at £24.99, with the familiar bottle shape recast in red.
The Wait Is Over, Rebecca Yarros Takes Us Back to Basgiath 📚🐉
Rebecca Yarros announced Threshing Day back in July, leaving Empyrean readers with a few months to wonder what awaited them back at Basgiath. The wait is over. This new companion collection explores the dragon-bonding experiences of 13 cadets, giving familiar characters their own share of the spotlight.
Before anyone clears their entire weekend, this isn’t book four. It’s another way into the world readers have been gripped by, with 16 colour illustrations by Joe Requeza in the deluxe hardback (£22) and silver page edges on the first edition. Threshing Day is best read after Onyx Storm to avoid spoilers, so anyone still catching up with Violet has a little more reading to do first.
On Victoria Monét’s Frequency 🎶
Victoria Monét follows Jaguar II with Frequency of Love, a 22-track album that gives its central subject plenty of company. Bruno Mars joins her on “That’s Why I Love You”, while “See You in My Dreams” pairs her with SZA. With just over an hour of music, this is one to settle into rather than squeeze between errands.
Lucky Daye features on “Maybe” and Chlöe on “Lose Myself”, but the collaborations also reach closer to home. “You Mean the World to Me” brings together Leon Thomas and Monét’s daughter Hazel, adding a family connection to an album exploring love.
Familiar Songs, Different Chemistry With Meshell Ndegeocello 🎶
Some duets are so familiar that hearing another pair of voices sing them takes a moment. Meshell Ndegeocello’s new album Synonym gives us several of those moments, pairing her with Cynthia Erivo on “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” and Chaka Khan on “Islands in the Stream”. Cat Power joins her for “Don’t You Want Me”, taking the song into another musical partnership entirely.
Across 15 tracks, the singer, bassist and producer draws from soul, pop, country and alternative music, with Lianne La Havas, Brandi Carlile, ANOHNI and WILLOW also joining her. The songs may be familiar, but these pairings give us a different way back into them.
From Page to Screen, Verity Has Secrets to Keep 🎬
A writing job in a bestselling author’s house sounds like a fairly promising opportunity. In Verity, it becomes something considerably more unsettling. Dakota Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer hired to write on behalf of author Verity Crawford, played by Anne Hathaway.
After moving into the remote Crawford estate, Lowen discovers what appear to be Verity’s autobiographical notes, containing disturbing confessions about her husband Jeremy, played by Josh Hartnett. What she reads leaves her questioning how much is true and whom she can trust. Adapted from Colleen Hoover’s novel, the psychological thriller is now in cinemas, bringing the book’s uneasy relationship between fiction and reality to the screen.
That’s us for this week. We’ll be back next week with more.
Want FROW News straight to your inbox every week? If someone forwarded this to you, welcome. You can sign up here. 💌
