Fairlady HOT Guide to Menopause #1

AT some point in my life, one of the things I wrote about was travel, so I travelled a lot – sometimes four or five times a year, mostly overseas. I loved it, but if the trip was particularly curated I felt as though I hadn’t really experienced the country properly. I just didn’t have time to do the kinds of things I would have done if I weren’t writing a story about it. On these trips I was usually part of a group of journalists, which was so much fun – if they weren’t already friends when we left, they definitely were by the time we came back. (All that stuff about the bonding effects of shared experience is true.) But because we were always hanging out with each…

1 PLAY BRAIN GAMES! A particular type of brain-training game may help protect against Alzheimer’s for at least 20 years, a large long-term study has found. Published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions, the research found that of the 3000 participants aged 65 and older, those who did up to 23 hours of a specific type of cognitive training called speed training over a three-year period had a 25% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. Cognitive speed training is all about quickly identifying objects on a screen and making even quicker decisions about them – the benefits greatly exceeded those of memory training or problem-solving. The initial time commitment was up to 10 sessions of training twice a week for…

JACKIE BURGER Fashion icon, former FAIRLADY fashion editor and editor of Elle ‘My move from the city to the Karoo reshaped how I dress. I’ve learnt to follow colour, texture and light; to balance masculine tailoring with feminine softness, vintage with essentials. My wardrobe is small and considered, a reflection of place and passage.’ THANDI MZAMO Fashion and beauty content creator ‘My style is confident and feminine, and I enjoy curating outfits that feel elevated yet effortless. I love simplicity and clean silhouettes, but I’m not afraid of colour – especially statement shades. My fashion choices are guided by what feels authentic to me in the moment.’ NICOLE PANARETOS Owner of Artisanal Lifestyle ’My wardrobe philosophy embraces clothes and accessories that suit my lifestyle. I appreciate dresses that are beautifully…

Testosterone. The male hormone, right? We all know that we’ve got oestrogen and they’ve got testosterone, and that’s how it’s always been. Except it isn’t. Women naturally produce testosterone in our ovaries, adrenal glands and brains – in about 1/10th to ½0th the quantity that men do, sure, but it still plays a significant role in many areas of our lives. The problem is, at some point, our production line slows to the extent that we simply no longer produce enough to give us the benefits we were used to. Our testosterone levels are highest in our late teens and into our 20s, but from then on they just quietly decline. As we know, oestrogen drops off a cliff in perimenopause and menopause, but testosterone just… peters out – not…

1 BO PETERSEN (71) ACTRESS, WRITER, THEATRE DIRECTOR, DIALOGUE COACH HER PHILOSOPHY: In the words of Shakespeare, via her father: ‘This above all: to thine own self be true.’ Q Do you feel more or less yourself now than you did at 20? A Oh my goodness… at 20 I was so unconscious, fast asleep! I have done hard and difficult work since then. I still feel odd, but more comfortable and at peace with my oddness. Q Has the idea of what constitutes success changed for you? A I truly have never spent time wanting to be successful or worrying about it. I think it’s an unnecessary burden we put on ourselves, and a waste of time, energy and focus. What is more important to me is…

Easily one of the most accomplished actors of our generation, Jodie Foster knows the ins and outs of the game called Hollywood. She has gone from child actor – her first acting role was at just 3 years old – to ingénue to Oscar darling and now director, mentor, icon. With a lifetime’s understanding of what fame really costs and how little it gives in return, she remains a rarity: a movie star who never seemed seduced by the idea of being one. At 63, Jodie is in the middle of what can only be described as a renaissance. After years of carefully chosen roles and stretches of near-disappearance, she’s back. ‘I feel freer now,’ she says. ‘For so long, I was obsessed with being taken seriously, with carrying the…