helena frith powell

ON the whole, my English friends have a relationship with their underwear that is a little like the one they have with their dishwasher. It’s useful, not very pretty and lasts for decades. I remember one pal once joking that of course her underwear was …

A tall, slim woman in her thirties wafts across the room – all thick glossy hair, blemish-free skin, clear eyes, full lips and an air of confidence normally reserved for French women from the bon quartier of Paris. Or at least this is how I believe I l …

By Helena Frith Powell   While shopping with my 22-year-old daughter this August, I recalled how much I love dungarees. My daughter tried on a dark blue linen pair. They looked fabulous. She suggested that ‘we’ buy them and share them. ‘I’m t …

By Helena Frith Powell When our son was born, I tried to get several ridiculous names past my husband: Raphael, Salvador, Angelo, even Gabriel. But not at any moment in my postpartum confusion did it occur to me to suggest Lucifer. I admit it has a cer …

As Kirsty Bertarelli – newly crowned Britain’s most eligible divorcee – surveys the £400 million settlement that marks the end of her 21-year-long marriage to Swiss businessman and pharmaceuticals heir Ernesto Bertarelli, one could be forgiven for wond …

By Helena Frith Powell Rather than arguing about who is going to empty the dishwasher, in our home we have endless fights about filling it. I stand alone (unless Rishi happens to pop in for lunch) in the ‘everything has its place’ corner. In the opposi …

At dinner time we serve two kinds of wine: undergraduate wine and graduate wine. The latter is superior and only given to those who have a degree. Sometimes, on special occasions, those in the process of completing a degree are allowed some, but it is …

After a year of working from home there are those who will now be keen to swap an unpleasant commute for an amble down the stairs or a desk opposite the accounts department to one overlooking their geraniums forever. And some generous bosses might even …

Despite French criticism, the series has drawn a huge audience, thanks in no small part to its heritage. If you’re getting déjà vu — pretty young woman working in media teetering round a major city in ever more extravagant outfits — it’s no coincidence …

NO By Helena Frith Powell How would you feel if you had to sign a ‘no romance’ clause when you started a new job? Astonishingly, this is now common practice in the U.S. Meanwhile, BlackRock, one of the world’s largest asset-management firms which has a …

YES By Jenni Murray   My old man isn’t likely to be among the first in line at the new John Lewis make-up counter for men, but would I find him less attractive if he were? Certainly not. Why shouldn’t he pop a smidgen of Touche Eclat over his …

DAILY MAIL 7 AUGUST 2019 – When my husband and I moved to France in 2000 with our one-year-old daughter, Olivia, I learned an awful lot about the cultural differences between our two countries from my new mum friends. Not only, it appears, do French wo …

I used to be mad about Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream. It seemed to me like a little miracle in a tube that helped with everything from dry lips to children’s grazed knees. My first summer sizzler is a slight variation on the cream; The Lip Protect …

‘They can replace hands and lungs, they can fit pacemakers, but they can’t do a damn thing about hot flushes,’ laments the lead character in the new French hit film Aurore, or I Got Life! to give it its English title. My first reaction on hearing this …

The key ingredient is parmesan. Think of an amount and double it. At least. The first time I cooked Pasta alla Nonna, or grandmother’s pasta, I was 12 years old and had never tasted parmesan. That may sound ridiculous, especially as I’m half Italian, b …

I don’t have much in common with Kim Kardashian. For example when I ask the question ‘does my bum look big in this?’ I prefer the answer to be no. But Kim and I do have one thing in common, a favourite eye cream. Made by a company called Stem Cell Beau …

By the time it got to Saturday evening, none of us could remember exactly when we’d last seen him, we only knew he was missing. We’d rolled in at 2am that morning after an evening of wine and music with an octogenarian friend of ours (these 80 somethin …

I first went to Paris when I was 14 years old. I was travelling with my father who introduced me to a “friend” of his, a dancer at the Lido called Sophie. Something she told me has remained with me ever since. “All you need to be a French woman,” she s …

During my last visit to France I visited my beautician. I have known Chantal, who works in a salon in Montpellier, for 15 years and I always pop in for a facial and to talk about the latest skincare products. This year, she had some unusual advice for …

Not even Scarlett Johanssen could do it. Hang on to a French husband that is. Two and a half years after she married Romain Dauriac the father of her daughter Rose, the actress is filing for divorce. She doesn’t give a reason, but in an interview a few …

Emmanuel Macron’s wife is 24 years his senior. Do the French care about the age gap?   There’s a sudden spring in every older Frenchwoman’s step. Being over 60 was never an obstacle to being attractive. In France there is no age limit to wearing m …

I am reading The Leopard at the moment, Don Fabrizio reminds me so much of my father, he’s almost a literary incarnation of him. It is just over three years ago since my father died. I wrote some of this at the time, and have added to it. We miss you b …

Revolutionary beauty therapy promises to bring out the best in your bosom By Helena Frith Powell For The Daily Mail Apparently, we Brits are blessed with the most impressive breasts in Europe. The average size in the UK is between 36C and 34E, and it i …

A survey in France has found that relationships between older women and younger men are on the rise. French couples explain the benefits of an age   During my last visit to France I visited my beautician. I have known Chantal for 15 years. She wor …

Author Helena Frith Powell shares her top 10 tips to ageing well – and her list of things to avoid… Mix a face oil with a nourishing face mask for extra effect Top top tips for avoiding wrinkles 1: Embrace face oils As our skin ages it gets drier. Face …

Helena Frith-Powell was initially very intimidated by the elegant Frenchwomen she met when she first moved to France in 2000. Here she asks three French women what they really think about Brits We have always felt threatened by our French counterparts, …

I read with dismay that Germany is about to introduce single-sex carriages on the underground due to the amount of sex attacks on women by migrants. What kind of message does this send? It sends a message that we are willing to accept this outrageous b …

Kristin Scott Thomas slammed British women in Marie France this week, calling them ‘drunk, vulgar, lacking in style and orange’ due to fake tan. Helena Frith Powell said she too was ‘tres British’ when moved to France but has changed…  By Helena Frit …

There are several stages of parenting, and you tend to share them with your girlfriends. The excitement of the first pregnancy scan, the birth, followed by the toddler stage, comparing first steps and first words, the funny things they say, the adorabl …

Today is my father’s birthday. Or at least it would have been, but he died in January 2014. I didn’t really know him until I was a teenager. My mother and he split up when I was two. She and I moved to Sweden then England and we had no contact with him …

Can an affair actually save a marriage? Helena Frith Powell argues for the continental approach to fidelity   I have a vivid memory of my grandfather sitting at the kitchen table, being consoled by my grandmother. “What’s wrong?” I asked my father …

Has anyone else found that the more choice we have on TV the less there is to watch? Last night I scrolled through the channels. At the last episode it really was too late for me to get into The Great British Bake Off. I love The Simpsons but just wasn …

Never mind what everyone wore to the Oscars. This is clearly THE jacket to be seen in this week. There I was innocently knocking up a soup last night when my daughter sent me a text with a picture of a jacket from some trendy website with a picture of …

Should you go straight into a job and demand maternity leave? No, argues Helena Frith Powell If Labour wins the election the shadow works and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves says she would like to join the new cabinet before she goes on maternity leav …

I am back at Viva Mayr for the first time since 2008. I landed late last night and have woken up to a snow-covered landscape. The staff all wear white, thus matching the surroundings. In fact some of the clients are in white too, but you can tell they …

As Miss Knightley laments the fact that she misses out on roles because she is too pretty, one writer says she should be grateful   There are certain events in my life that I know never would have happened if I’d been born ugly. Real life-changing …

  It was the week before I was due to give birth to our first child that I got the call (Helena Frith Powell writes). “My date has pulled out of the party,” wailed my best friend. “Please, please lend me your husband.” The party in question was so …

The other night I had a drink with a friend of mine who had just had lunch with her parents. She took a sip of her wine and sighed. “For everything they’ve ever taught me, I may as well be an orphan,” she said. My friend had what I would describe as a …

It’ll infuriate feminists but HELENA FRITH POWELL – who once lived for her career – says she’s stumbled on a basic human truth At first, Helena was too scared to admit she was a stay-at-home mother, now she sees it as a ‘liberation’ Two years ago I sud …

It’s the moment all women dread. Four writers reveal when it hit them By JILLY JOHNSON and KATE GARRAWAY and CLAUDIA CONNELL FOR MAILONLINE and HELENA FRITH POWELL Actress Sharon Stone struck a chord with women everywhere recently when she revealed the …

François Hollande’s love life has highlighted French attitudes to extra-marital affairs. But what is it really like to be the ‘other’ women in France? In my next life, I want to be a French mistress. I know quite a few of them. They don’t have the same …

In a few isolated towns in Abu Dhabi’s remote western region, women weavers are reviving a craft that was once central to Bedouin culture. Helena Frith Powell meets them and explains how, with the help of the Khalifa Fund, they are honing traditional s …

This is not usually a forum for serious topics, but I want to highlight Vicki’s story. She is a friend of a friend, who is in the process of escaping from her husband and emotional abuser. They have three small children, twins aged four and a toddler b …

Is it purely coincidence that when 50 Shades of Grey topped the bestseller lists all over the world, leather was suddenly back in fashion? Even M&S has now come up with a pervy underwear range. I sometimes wonder if there is a conspiracy by some al …

I have just read in Muscat Daily the amazing story of Haifaa al Mansour, Saudi Arabia’s first female film director. Her film, Wadjda, is the first Saudi film ever to be up for an Oscar. It is the story of a young girl’s desire to own a bicycle, a commo …

A friend of mine told me recently that moving to the Middle East saved her marriage. “There is no doubt,” she said, “that if we’d stayed in England we would have been divorced by now.” My friend is a working mother. Her husband is useless around the ho …

Perish the thought of stripping off and showing builder’s bums. Gallic men don’t let style slip even in the heat   While the heatwave rages in England, bringing out more moobs and orange six-packs than anyone should have to deal with in a lifetime …

I have decided to try my hand at an internet bestseller. It worked for 50 Shades so why not? This is not going to be badly-written porn though, rather more in the Enid Blyton vein of writing. Let me know what you think…. Chapter One “What is the naug …

“Would you be angry if I covered a lacrosse pitch with loo paper?”This slightly leading beginning to an email was sent to Rupert yesterday, and alerted us to the fact that Bea had been up to mischief at school. The girls have settled in enormously well …

Helena Frith Powell’s new novel, The Ex-Factor, is about first love   There’s something so powerful about first love. As Bob Dylan put it so beautifully: ‘The future for me is already a thing of the past – you were my first love and you will be my …

I wrote this article in 2007 for the Sunday Times. Denise died earlier this month and I am posting it with much sadness but happy memories of meeting her. When Irene Némirovsky was sent to Auschwitz she left behind a hidden literary sensation – and a l …

I once met Mrs Thatcher at the British embassy in Paris. The year was 1989 and I was staying with my friend Iona, the daughter of the then ambassador. He is a lovely man called Sir Ewen Fergusson, who was and remains my idea of a perfect ambassador, ta …

It all started with an email entitled ‘worried’ from my mother. No one had heard anything from my father for two days. “He’s not answering the door, or the phone,” she wrote. “The lady who lives below him hasn’t heard anything at all. And he’s locked t …

When an online novel, Desperate In Dubai, hit the internet last year, it immediately attracted thousands of dedicated readers, all even more desperate than its characters to know what happens next. Helena Frith Powell talks to its anonymous author abou …

Cherie Blair, the wife of Middle East envoy and former British premier Tony, is a power in her own right. A high-flying lawyer, she is now dedicating more time to her foundation, which helps women in the region achieve their potential. Helena Frith Pow …

Brash and gaudy? Mussolini’s Margate is being revived RIMINI will always be a special place for me because it is where I first saw my father. My parents divorced when I was a baby and I had no contact with him until I was a teenager. When I was 12 my m …

Should you forgive an affair? Yes, argues Helena Frith Powell Ronan Keating’s wife Yvonne says she finding it difficult to forgive him for having an affair. Well here’s a thought, maybe it’s just not about her.  There are children involved here and may …

Before moving to the UAE we lived in France. I didn’t make many friends, French women are notoriously difficult to make friends with, but those friends I did have spent most of the summer talking about just one thing: la rentrée. La rentrée is the Fren …

She is one half of Egypt’s cinematic power couple, but Mona Zaki tries to shy away from the spotlight. Helena Frith Powell sits down for a rare interview with the national film star. For a woman who has become famous this year for being beaten by her h …

Reports of the First Lady Valerie Trierweiler’s former affairs are scurrilous even by Gallic standards Two lovers, allegedly, and a husband waiting at home: the multi-tasking Valerie Trierweiler Photo: AFP/Getty Images By Helena Frith Powell 8:03PM BST …

Nawal El Saadawi has returned to Cairo where intends to stay until she dies. Not that she feels particularly at home there. “Home is not about where I am. I would not call Cairo home. I feel at home wherever I meet people I feel at home with,” she tell …

Inès de la Fressange, the former French supermodel, shares her literary choices with Helena Frith Powell   Inès de la Fressange was the original French supermodel. Born in the Var region of France in 1957, Inès Marie Lætitia Églantine Isabelle de …

Whether by choice or necessity, more women are reversing roles with their husbands to become the main breadwinner for the household. Helena Frith Powell examines how the changed job landscape in the UAE has affected family dynamics.   Ask practica …

I have been writing a column for Good Housekeeping magazine here since December last year. Here is the first one. This will be our fourth Christmas in Abu Dhabi, and I’m determined to get it right. Last year we were almost there, but I fear the pink tr …

OK I promise I won’t go on about the AMAZING Champions League victory on Saturday, I realise most of my readers are not obsessive Chelsea fans. But today is George Best’s birthday, so it would be rude not to mention football at all. Even those of you w …

I have always wondered what it would be like not to work. I have literally not stopped since university. I never had maternity leave (I was making calls from my hospital bed) and although I worked from home for a long time in France, I had at least thr …

There is a famous saying that women of a certain age discover either God or gardening. I would like to add a third discovery, every bit as all-encompassing and obsessive: Tennis. I have loved tennis since I was a child. I was never much good at it, the …

I have the perfect answer to getting through an eight-hour flight in economy. Watch seven hours of Downton Abbey. I have been desperate to see it ever since all my friends in England first mentioned it and raved about it endlessly and lost the will to …

Thirty-eight years ago, Randa Habib landed an interview with King Hussein of Jordan, a meeting that would change the course of her life. The veteran AFP news bureau chief talks to Helena Frith Powell about her life and her book on Jordan’s royal family …

I have just got back from Italy where I was visiting my father, who is ill in hospital. He will be 87 in December, but it was still a shock to see him so weak and, well OLD, for the first time ever. I wrote him a letter on the way back to the airport b …

The number of female applicants to the Abu Dhabi police has doubled after a recruitment drive started in October. Helena Frith Powell gets rare access to see the latest cadets at their training school. Emirati women are perhaps not renowned for their l …

Ever wondered what fashionistas do? Yes, me too. I spent a day as one earlier this week and have to say, it’s all rather exhausting. First of all you have to spend hours deciding what to wear. Then you get to the event and think ‘shit, I’m over/under-d …

As his Dubai shop prepares to celebrate 10 years of business later this month, the designer Paul Smith talks to Helena Frith Powell about how he started in fashion, the Arab Spring, what makes a snappy dresser and why he almost refused a knighthood …

The most wonderful memory of my trip to Italy this summer is from a party that my mother had. She billed it “an evening of poetry and magic” and it was held at a friend’s house next to a river in Umbria. The magic was the atmosphere, as well as a charm …

From a media mogul to a jet pilot, M profiles 10 diverse, career-minded women from the UAE and across the region who have raised eyebrows excelling in their fields, challenging inequalities as they chart the course for a generation of educated and ambi …

We are on holiday. I don’t know why we don’t spend more time on holiday, it is quite wonderful. As soon as we got to our friends Norrie and Mary’s the children did what they long to do in Abu Dhabi bu can’t, ran through a lush green field. It was one o …

This morning as I was battling on the exercise bike, I watched a brilliant programme on the French channel Arte about the feminst group ‘Ni Putes, Ni Soumises’ (not whores, nor submissives). Obviously as it was all in French I hardly understood any of …

Five years ago, Dianne Reed barely survived a militant attack on her compound in Saudi Arabia in which 22 others died. Helena Frith Powell meets the American who moved back to the Middle East to prove that peace can win over violence What would you say …

Helena Frith Powell meets the young female Emirati artists who have a keen sense of commitment to their nation and their history.   Take six young women, all beautiful and clever, but with two things in common that may be even more crucial in shap …

Fifty years on, Lady Elizabeth Anson’s party planning business remains an A-list choice, and no wonder. As Helena Frith Powell learns, the down-to-earth aristocrat, who is in the UAE to organize the Rolls-Royce Ball, is organised, animated and full of …

Hello this is Bea and Leo, today on Saturday 18 of December 2010 we are going to tell you what we got mummy for her B-day! Me (Bea) & Leo & Olivia have created a magazine called Powell BTW I came up with the name! and it was lovely well we think it is …

Float through any social event with M’s fast facts. This week Helena Frith Powell tells us more about George Eliot, the English feminist author who died on December 22, 1880 WHO IS HE? Er, I think you mean, who is she? George Eliot is the pen name of t …

Last night we all watched the documentary film The September Issue which is about American Vogue and its legendary editor Anna Wintour. The film centers on the biggest issue of the year, the September issue, and follows the fashion shoots, Anna’s meeti …

Last time we moved, and I mean really moved, as opposed to leaving Sainte Cecile with a car full of belongings, I was eight months’ pregnant. Rupert had already gone on ahead to France to “prepare” the new house and I was left with Olivia to pack up ou …

The life and times of the French fashion designer and founder of one of the world’s top fashion houses THE BASICS The French fashion designer and founder of one of the world’s top fashion houses, Christian Dior, was born in 1905 in Granville, a seaside …

The expat ladies who lunch are feeling the credit crunch. With ‘hubbies’ losing their jobs, these women face losing their privileged lifestyles. Helena Frith Powell goes looking in the old haunts for the last of this endangered species.   Never mi …

The French designer Agnès b has one film company, two art galleries, over 200 shops and 2,000 employees. But, she tellsHelena Frith Powell, her international triumphs are merely a means to more compassionate ends. Agnès b is wearing green. I am surpris …

We decided to let the ferals loose on KidZania for a day at Dubai Mall while we browsed around the bookshop and had a long lunch ‘One of the things about travelling with kids,” said my husband, “is that once in a while you’ve just got to get rid of the …

Much has happened. The girls went off to Italy to stay with my mother. Then they went to Croatia with my aunt. What happened between then and their week-early return yesterday is a little hazy. But according to my aunt they refused to speak to anyone a …

During the car journey back home from Oman we asked the children what they had done that morning. “We woke up,” said Bea, referring to herself and her friend Polly, “we went for a bike ride up to breakfast and then we had breakfast. We had cut up banan …

Charming personal embroideries by rural Pakistani women that now adorn chic handbags and purses will be on display at Al Bastakiya Art Fair in Dubai. Helena Frith Powell reports. The embroidery is flawless and the image charming. It is of a little girl …

Ria Haffar is an interior designer turned yoga teacher. She is half-Lebanese and half-Czech and has lived in Abu Dhabi for 14 years with her daughter Iona. 1. Live life without expectations. This is the most important thing I have learnt. If you expect …

One of the results of making friends with my aunt again is that I am back in the will. I hasten to add that I am only back in the will because she tried to leave her money to my children, bypassing me, but was told they would have to pay inheritance ta …

Princess Michael of Kent has several jobs, including author and gallery representative. Helena Frith Powell meets her in Abu Dhabi to talk art, family and trial by tabloid. Princess Michael of Kent has an eye for art. “I studied art history,” she says …

We are in Rome, which I have decided is my favourite city. “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Rupert told the children as we landed. “It took two days.” “That long?” said Leo. He’s obviously got too used to Abu Dhabi. The day before yesterday the unimaginab …

Some things children say you never forget for some reason. Like when Hugo my stepson was about three and in a very solemn tone of voice declared that he was tired because “it’s been a long day”. Or Julia my stepdaughter would wake us up and say “it’s m …

Thirty years ago, women in the UAE would have hardly left their homes. Times have changed. Helena Frith Powell meets some of the women making the most of both their careers and family life in a careful balance between opportunity and tradition. The thi …

Imprisoned, exiled and accused of blasphemy, Nawal el Saadawi’s fighting words have for decades polarised opinion in her Egyptian homeland. Helena Frith Powell talks to the writer about a lifetime spent pressing for equality and pushing the traditional …

I just had to show you all this…….we went shopping yesterday and Leo fell in love with his first ever suit. It is from Marks & Spencer and I think he looks quite divine, but then I normally do think that. Leo and Marks & Spencer, an irresis …

When I was in Cairo, apart from the incredible Nawal El Saadawi, I met and interviewed one of the country’s most famous film stars; Mona Zaki. She was lovely. We met at her mother’s house where she fed me Ramadan sweets and tea and we chatted to her yo …

We have an office assistant on the magazine called Fadwa. She is great. Lebanese but raised in Abu Dhabi. She always has an opinion or something to tell us all. This morning she arrived with a quote of the day which is as follows: If you marry a monkey …

In a rare interview, Dolce and Gabbana speak to Helena Frith Powell about their pursuits of perfection and the ‘real women’ they design for   Fashion duo Dolce and Gabbana, possibly the most famous ever, has been making stars look like stars for o …

It is astonishing to think that in the year 2009 a woman can receive 40 lashes from a whip-wielding police officer for any offence. It is even more astounding when you realise her “crime” was to wear a pair of trousers. This is what may happen to the S …

I have given up drinking. Not in the way I normally give up, for a few hours every New Year, but this will be my ninth alcohol-free evening. It all started when Rupert was told by a personal trainer that he had to stop for a couple of weeks. “I’ll do i …

One of Ali’s daughters is getting married on Sunday. There are huge preparations going on. Yesterday the girls had their hands and arms hennaed (see below pic of Olivia, Bea and Salama, Bea only had one arm done because it hurt too much). This evening …

Yesterday was a busy day. In between checking my amazon rating, I interviewed Christine Ockrent, who is Belgian but one of those women you always think of as French because she made her career there. She was, among other notable things, France’s first …

It’s an issue all parents face – but rarely talk about. Now, one mother dares to ask that important question… After giving birth, a woman thinks of many things; chocolate, baby names, how soon she can go home, how soon she can sit down without the he …

It has been a great week. I went to see the cellist Mathew Barley perform Bach’s cello suites at the British School here. It was truly amazing, as he said, there isn’t a note out of place. We could practically touch him we were so close. I have slept t …

My in-laws arrived for a week’s visit yesterday. Yesterday I spent the evening with my father-in-law trying to get his hearing aid fixed. He is an example of how to go through life; happy and charming. We went to the Oxford Medical Centre first. “Do yo …

While the clothes of Paris Fashion Week are the topic on every fashionista’s lips,, Helena Frith Powell explains how to get in touch with your inner Frenchwoman. There is an expression used to describe French women when they really are perfect: French …

My father came for Christmas. He is 84 and wrote a novel last year which won a major literary prize in Italy in September. He is an incredible character. Despite the fact that we have never lived together (my parents split up when I was two) he has an …

For me this Christmas really began with Leo and his ballet performance at Abu Dhabi Mall to the tune of ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas’. Now we are almost there. It is Christmas Eve and I am sitting by a roaring fire with our Credit Crunch Christmas Tr …

Paul, a friend and veteran of the Leap Of Faith, explains: ‘It’s just like bungee-jumping or paragliding. Have you ever tried those?’ Now you mention it, I haven’t. And I have never had any desire to do so. But as soon as I heard we were going to the A …

Three months after moving from France to Abu Dhabi, our expat is still living in a hotel and desperate to find an affordable family home. Helena Frith Powell November 16 2008, 12:00am, The Sunday Times When the gods want to punish you, they answer your …

Mark Twain, the American writer, was rarely at a loss for words. But the sight of a belly dancer named Little Egypt in full flow at the World’s Fair in 1893 did not just render him speechless, it led to a suspected heart attack. Thankfully for both of …

A couple of nights ago I sat next to a young man at a drinks party who had escaped from Iran aged 14 in the back of a van. This was in 1987. So while I was going to dinner parties at university and making vital decisions like what to wear, he was riski …

What do you thing your average Abu Dhabian does of a weekend? A spot of swimming in the warm sea? A trip to the desert? Some camel racing perhaps? No, we go to Carrefour. For reasons too tedious to explain, I have been to two Carrefours today and you w …

This morning a woman was shot on her way to work in Kabul by a fundamentalist who sped past her on a motorbike. Her crime? It could have been as mundane as being female and having a job. As it turned out she was a western aid worker whom they accused o …

I have just finished a book called Burned Alive by a woman called Souad. She was a teenager when her brother-in-law poured petrol over her head and set fire to her. Her crime was serious in “honour” killing terms among Palestinians; she was pregnant. B …

During the rugby world cup last year I had an idea for a book called ‘How to seduce Jonny Wilkinson and other routes to happiness’. It was a book looking at what makes women happy, how we can be happier and so on. Obviously I have no idea how to seduce …

My friend Amanda sent me an email with an attachment describing three guinea pigs looking for a home. “Very cute four week old guinea pigs looking for a home,” it reads. “We like to stroll around, squeak all the time for food and we love to cuddle. All …

Today I made a most remarkable discovery. To understand just how remarkable we need to go back in time more than thirty years to when I was a little girl and playing with my some conically-shaped weights that belonged to my grandfather. I can’t remembe …

Women start to worry about losing their looks at the age of 28, according to a survey which polled the views of 4,000 women. So is this true, or does 28 sound too young – or too old? We asked several women writers, aged from 31 to 73, to reveal the mom …

I am in Austria at the Viva Mayr clinic and online again after several days. I am here for my new book deal; I am writing a diet book based on the Viva Mayr philosophy, which is all about chewing a lot and not eating too late. Well, there is more to it …

Stockholm seemed a fitting place to see the film version of Mamma Mia! Julia and I saw the musical a few years ago in London and loved it. As it was raining yesterday I took the four children off in search of a cinema. We eventually found one and settl …

A shocking new Ad campaign in the usually pro-thin country has promted calls for a law to combat the eating disorder Alongside the catwalk shows, the gossip and the glamorous parties, Paris fashion week was dominated by a billboard this year. It wasn’t …

It’s that time of year again, Wimbledon time, which means I get to put pictures of Marat Safin on my blog, oh joy! Last night he played an incredible match – we were all literally on the edge of our seats. Except Bea who declared the whole thing “borin …

A shocking new Ad campaign in the usually pro-thin country has prompted calls for a law to combat the eating disorder   Alongside the catwalk shows, the gossip and the glamorous parties, Paris fashion week was dominated by a billboard this year. I …

When I was growing up there was only one supermodel who counted; Ines de la Fressange. She was Karl Lagerfeld’s muse, the face and body of Chanel, as good as it gets. On my desk as I write I am looking longingly at an invitation to a reception next wee …

When I went up to Paris for my style talk last week (which incidentally went very well except for the fact that I forgot the cardinal rule of hanging out with French women – never overdress – and consequently looked like a Christmas tree compared with …

Yes, it’s official, I am a style guru. Not only did a member of the Tatler Magazine staff try to steal my red fake croc handbag at my book launch, but I am now being PAID to talk about trends and what motivates women to stay thin, pretty, fashionable e …

They say your wedding day is the most important day of your life. Preparation often starts a year or more before the big day with dress fittings, gym memberships and debates about whether or not to risk falling up the aisle in your the seven-inch stile …

In To Hell in High Heels I say that if the book becomes a best-seller I will retire to the Clinique La Prairie in Switzerland. I have changed my mind. I will come to Renew Retreats instead. We are on day four and all is going swimmingly. The ladies are …

For Helena Frith Powell, having a third child was a luxury she could afford only by moving to France. She and her husband left their native Sussex, in England, to live in a converted farmhouse in the Languedoc region, in south west France. France is fa …

Which was worse – facing the needle, or her husband afterwards? Helena Frith Powell grits her teeth and goes for the face freeze   Wednesday, midday “You’re not going to get any Botox done, are you?” my husband, Rupert, asks as I leave the house t …

Looking eternally young is every woman’s Holy Grail — and we spend millions in pursuit of it. So can anything truly banish those wrinkles? The author of a new book sought out experts around the world to find the answer…   Ageing is something of …

Yes more evidence, if any more evidence was needed, that women get what Sugar in the film Some Like it Hot calls “the fuzzy end of the lollipop”. Rupert was reading a blog today on The Guardian website by a thirty-seven-year-old man who was complaining …

So the international conspiracy to keep me awake goes on. The perpetrators will stop at nothing. Now they have a gang of highly-trained mice that at 5.30am every morning scuttle back and forth across the roof. It sounds like there are 50 of them racing …

I have just had my first meeting in French. It was a lunch in an Italian restaurant in St Germain with the French publisher of Two Lipsticks and a Lover and the hottest publicist in Paris, hired by the publisher to promote the book. I was of course ter …

A teenage bride who came to Leeds for an arranged marriage has been beaten to death during a “prolonged and vicious attack” by her young husband over a three-week period, all with the collaboration of his relations who apparently took an instant dislik …

As Hillary Clinton gets bitter in a televised TV debate with Barack Obama, the singer Amy Winehouse is frolicking on a beach in the Caribbean with her ex-boyfriend. Who do you think does more to further the cause of women? Most would probably say Hilla …

“Are you a goer?” I overheard a man asking at a party the other evening. The man posing the question was my husband. The person he was addressing was my friend and business partner Mary. I agree that with her tight red dress and hair curly as kale she …

“‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In the hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.” This little ditty from the American write …

I am pleased to annouce that I am incredibly posh. The reason I know this is that none of my friends have central heating. It is a well known fact that the posher you are, the colder your home is. In fact one of the friends I stayed with in London duri …

Back in the 1990s, when I was an energetic young journalist covering Russia and eastern Europe, there emerged the phenomenon of the ‘Biznessman’ or ‘Biznesswoman’. These characters, generally male, would huddle in hotel foyers wearing leather jackets a …

My mother has recently started thinking about ageing. She tells me she would rather be dead than old. It’s a fair point. Having just written a book about ageing I know there aren’t many upsides. One is that the hair on your legs grows at a much slower …

Stefania Prestigiacomo, minister for Equal opportunities in the Italian government, has come up with ten commandments for female happiness: * Consider motherhood a value – it is the greatest experience for women * Follow your childhood dream * Keep fal …

We have just come back from Venice where we were invited to the launch of a joint venture between the estate agents Savills and a local company called Views on Venice. We stayed in a penthouse apartment overlooking the Grand Canal. The weather was amaz …

I have always been fascinated by Nana Mouskouri. She is the singer with the strange name and the big black glasses. I can’t name of any of her songs, but I picked up her book, called simply Memoirs, with a feeling of anticipation. Now I might finally g …

The school holidays have started. They have coincided with my husband being away (funny that) and a kidney infection. A better woman than me would have remained calm, collected and zen. I have never been grumpier. “What’s work?” Olivia asked me yesterd …

As divorce looks imminent for the Sarkozys, Helena Frith Powell explains why few Frenchwomen condemn her French president Nicolas Sarkozy is finding that Jimmy Goldsmith’s famous dictum – that when you marry your mistress you create a job vacancy – wor …

“Keep it light-hearted,” the producer tells me. “We’ve got a big feature on breast cancer so this item needs to be funny.” The subject of my discussion on Woman’s Hour today is a new book written by a Dutch woman called Dutch women don’t get depressed. …

Bea is ill. She has a “baddie tummy” and I mean really bad. Poor little love has been writhing around in agony, her temperature soaring. But the most astounding effect of her illness has been on those around her. Her best friend and soul-mate Manon spe …

Here follows a conversation between my husband and my son as they lay in bed this morning chatting: “You’ve got very big arms and you’re very strong. Are you scared of anything?” “Mummy.” “Mummy’s not scary. She’s not a witch.” “What about her cloak an …

I have always admired Aung San Suu Kyi. She is not only one of the world’s most elegant and beautiful women, but also one of the most selfless and determined. Here is a woman who could have lived as a free woman with her husband and sons. Instead she c …

We got back yesterday evening from a perfect press trip. I did write and tell you all about it but the blog seems to have vanished. I can only assume the tourist board of the Var, keen to avoid yet more visitors to the magical islands of Porquerolles a …

So the police in Portugal are now making the contents of Kate McCann’s diary public. In it she says she is struggling to cope with three young children and that her husband leaves most of the housework to her. They are citing this as a possible motive …

I have always prided myself on the fact that Rupert and I have never had an argument in front of the children. I think after almost 10 years of marriage this is incredibly good going. But, I’m sorry to report, parental truth number six is that you will …

“Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds; and until we know what has been or will be the peculiar combination of outward with inward facts, which constitute a man’s critical actions, it will be better not to think ourselves wise about …

Forget the twinkle in his eye, his smile or even the size of his wallet – the way a woman determines if a man is good relationship material is in the first kiss. As the Mail reported yesterday, scientists this week claimed that women have learned to us …

Here is one of my favourite poems by Dorothy Parker: By the time you swear you’re his, Shivering and sighing, And he vows his passion is Infinite, undying Lady, make a note of this: One of you is lying. The reason this came to mind today was not that I …

My husband thinks my favourite haunt is a second-hand designer clothes shop in Covent Garden. It is a marvellous place, where you can pick up secondhand designer kit for next to nothing, along with shoes, handbags and other accessories. What he doesn’t …

My stepchildren have now been here for four weeks. They are charming, sweet and I love them to bits. But they are also fairly useless around the house. It is only after four weeks that they have finally worked out one end of the dishwasher from the oth …

My arrival home has been dominated by cricket. My stepson Hugo has been watching the test match and Leo has become very interested. “One day you’ll play cricket for England,” Rupert said to him this morning. “Yes, now,” said Leo. “You can’t play cricke …

It is three months ago since Madeleine was abducted as she slept beside her twin brother and sister in the McCann’s holiday apartment in Portugal. Gerry, her father, has just been to the US to publicise her disappearance. He is said to be keen to go ba …

I am happily installed in the Hotel Alla Noce in Limone, a town on Lake Garda. I am here to finish my next book and have chosen this place due to a gene they have that means they live longer. Apparently ten per cent of the population is between 100 and …

Yesterday Banaz Mahmod’s father and uncle were jailed for life for her “honour” killing. It emerged that not only was the poor girl garrotted and buried in a suitcase, but that she was subjected to a two-hours of rape and torture beforehand. Her uncle …

When I was in London last I met Heathcliff’s wife. You may remember Heathcliff. He was the first love of my life and we were recently put in touch through a mutual friend. I have yet to see him again after more than 20 years but I have met the mother o …

A beautiful young girl is raped, strangled with a bootlace and buried in a suitcase in a garden. This is not the act of some random psycho; the persecution and murder of this young woman was arranged and carried out by her own family. Twenty-year-old B …

When we were in Paris last week Rupert and I met a nice couple of child psychologists who told us that our children are made up of 50% us and 50% our parents. We were amazed by this fact, having always thought that our children were a product of us alo …

A story in today’s Daily Mail made we want to throw up. Zakia Zaki, a 35-year-old Afghan journalist, was shot dead as she slept with her 20-month-old baby at her home north of Kabul. In the same room was her three-year-old toddler. Her four other child …

Today is Mother’s Day in France. All over the country responsible children will be taking their mothers and grandmothers out to lunch. It is the worst day of the year to try to get a table in your favourite restuarant. They are booked up weeks in advan …

You have to wonder where our priorities have gone when two babies are left to die in over-heated cars by their “stressed” mothers in one week. We have all done stupid things. I once forgot I had three children shortly after Leo was born and almost left …

An article in the Daily Mail today tells us that men are now too scared to flatter women or to flirt with them. Apparently in our PC times a compliment is all too easily seen as an insult. So a ‘you look nice today’ can be miscontrued as either ‘I want …

“You are superman,” said Leo as Rupert kissed him goodnight last night. “What’s mummy?” “She’s a princess.” It is true that aged three your world is quite simple. Mummy and daddy are perfect, superheroes really do exist and everyone loves you. I rememb …

Tomorrow we have been invited to lunch at a friend’s house and among the other guests is the editor of Vogue. My question is this; what does one wear to lunch with the editor of Vogue? The whole thing is too terrifying for words. Do I try to go fashion …

They say that women of a certain age discover either God or gardening. What a choice. Why not fast cars or even faster men? Diamonds or sexy underwear? Lying around reading Elle eating chocolates all day and/or telephone sex with Colin Firth? For me I …

I have finally worked out what it is that women don’t like about men. This revelation can be indirectly attributed to Leonardo who was found by a German at 11pm in the lobby of the hotel. “Please take better care of your children at this time,” read a …

We are in Zermatt on a skiing holiday with the children organised by a company called Powder Byrne. The concept is brilliant. They take your children away to places with lots of other children and people like a very nice man called Ed who like looking …

The children have become very interested in who is related to whom and how it all works. Bea and Manon have been told that although they look and act like twins, they actually aren’t. “Yes we are,” Bea told me this morning. “We have the same pink leota …

It was one of those calls I’ll never forget. We were just finishing off lunch when my mobile phone rang. It was a UK mobile number. I wonder who this could be, I thought. But actually deep down I already knew. “Hi Helena, its Heathcliff.” We chatted fo …

Last night we were watching the BBC adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. Colin Firth (Darcy) was in the bath. In marched a servant to pour hot water on him. “Why can’t he have a bath on his own?” demanded Bea. “Look, he’s all grown-up enough. I don’t need …

Although some things in life are entirely predictable (like Air France losing my bag which did happen as I said it would) children are at times brilliantly unpredictable. As I stood waiting for my luggage which I already knew wouldn’t arrive Olivia bar …

I am trying my best to fit in to LA life. I have rented a red convertible mustang, bought some gawdy gold shoes and even went to a Pilates class last night. My big hair and Smart-Lipo recovery corset also help. But still things are not quite right. The …

The week after Britney Spears ended up with no hair, I ended up with twice as much. At Rodolfo Valentin’s salon in New York I have been treated to his famous “hair infusions.” They are an advanced form of hair extensions that don’t damage your hair but …

How often have you been to a hairdresser’s and had access to your emails? Well, New York is ideal if you’re an e-mail addict (see below blog). Here I am writing this blog from the comfort of my seat in the exclusive Rodolfo Valentin salon on Madison Av …

The other night when Rupert was away and the two smaller children were in bed, Olivia (aged seven) and I had what people rather nauseatingly call “quality” time together. We sat in a rose-oil scented bath, both wearing shower caps, and discussed life’s …

I am planning my trip to the US next week for my book on how not to age. Part of my aim is to interview interesting women of a certain age and discover their anti-ageing secrets. One of these women is the writer Nora Ephron (see below blog things every …

I know now why surgeons wear green. It’s to match their faces. I have just got back from “scrubbing in” as they call it in Grey’s Anatomy. I am at the La Prairie Clinic just outside Montreux researching my next book and having a perfect time. This plac …

This is a new series, and I’m sorry if I’m boring those of you without children but one day you may have them or you will at least know someone who does have them and so you can warn them. If you don’t I’m sure the same applies to pets. The other day i …

This evening we were having a late dinner alone (the children had already eaten) when Olivia came rushing into the kitchen. “Please come downstairs and watch the film with us, it’s scary, there’s an evil man on the roof.” The film she was talking about …

We’ve had a lovely weekend. Yesterday wandering around IKEA (a rather strange Swedish habit) and Montpellier. Montpellier is a fantastic city; it always seems to be sunny and there is lots to do. The only glitch was trying to visit the newly re-vamped …

Yesterday I spent the day in Toulouse with Denise Epstein, the daughter of Irene Nemirovsky (see ‘We’ve never had it so good’ blog below). Ever since I heard about Irene being carted off Auschwitz in front of her two daughters and read her brilliant bo …

Olivia is at home ill and watching Grey’s Anatomy. There is a girl in the episode she’s watching who suffers from spontaneous orgasms (sounds better than flu). Olivia has just asked me what’s wrong with her. “She keeps having sort of, well, fits,” I te …

Two days ago Olivia said to me; “Mummy, you’re never ill.” Well, now I am. I feel like death. My head hurts, my throat hurts, in fact my whole body hurts. I am constantly coughing and sneezing. My husband has had the same thing and now two of the three …

I have just been to collect the children at school and see that something called a Mammobile is parked in the main square. This is, I assume, a travelling mammogram that will test women for breast cancer. Personally I would rather be run over by it tha …

I am reading Suite Francaise at the moment, as good a book as I have ever read. It is about France during the second-world war, written by Irene Nemirovsky, a Russian-Jew who lived in France and was carted off to Auschwitz in front of her two daughters …

Here is a question for all you Francophiles: Can you name the person voted France’s most popular photographer in two separate polls? Henri Cartier Bresson, perhaps? Jacques Henri Lartigue? Robert Capa? Wrong, wrong, wrong. The answer is David Hamilton, …

This week’s big news, apart from Big Bother, is the fact that a high-flying City worker is expecting her eighth baby. “Supermum” cried the headlines as everyone marvelled at this woman’s capacity to breed and earn more money in a month than most of us …

I am meant to be working but instead am watching Marat Safin in the Australian Open. I am praying he will win. I have long been a fan of Safin’s. This is not surprising as he is tall, well-built, good-looking and Russian (what’s not to like?), although …

Looking at my dire amazon rating today, I decided that making enough money to buy a penthouse in Rome from my books may not be that realistic. So I wrote to my aunt in Rome asking her to forgive me and telling her how marvellous she is. (See ‘Publish a …

My husband is away at the moment. Most women might take this as an ideal opportunity to don matching underwear and go out in search of excitement. Not moi. For me it’s an ideal opportunity to stay at home, wear my old pyjamas and go to bed early with a …

With a Swedish mother, Italian father, English husband and a home in France, Helena Frith Powell wonders which traditions to follow for her family Christmas   I have been recently reunited with my father, and my parents are coming to our house in …

Napoleon was wrong. It is the French who are a nation of shopkeepers, not the English. Here in France there are specific shops for every item; here one doesn’t live in Tescoland. You would as soon buy your beef from the supermarket as your lingerie. Th …

Has France fallen in love with a new mistress? It very much looks like that from and not just because the readers of France’s FHM have voted Ségolène Royal the sixth sexiest woman in the world. Ségolène Royal looks likely not only to be the first femal …

The most popular look with the French women in the village I live in is an easy one to copy. Take an old pair of slippers, preferably weather-beaten and worn as you have spent years walking to the bakery in them, a totally shapeless grey dress and a di …

A report published last week by the Institute for Public Policy Research states that Britain is suffering from a baby gap of 92,000 babies a year as women put off having children because of the rising cost of childcare. Six years ago my husband and I w …

There has been much discussion about the best formation – some favour a 2-2-3, others think we should operate with a lone striker. There has also been much debate about the tactics – do we begin slowly or set a blistering pace that the others can’t mat …

  Helena Frith Powell never knew her eccentric Italian father, Benedetto Benedetti, when she was growing up.Her mother left him – and Italy – for a man who was to become Helena’s stepfather when she was just three years old. But when Helena was 14 …

At first Helena Frith Powell was stunned by her estranged father’s open attitude to sex, then she learnt to appreciate it “Testicles,” replied my father. “Oh yes, and I suppose there are breasts for pudding?” “If you wish, my dear, I know a very good l …

Helena Frith Powell didn’’t know her Italian father until she was 14. When she found him he initiated her into whole new Latin attitude to life   As soon as we leave Italy, my memory of Rome and my real father fades. I start to believe my father i …

Helena Frith Powell persuades French women to reveal the key to dimple-free skin I am on a beach in Corsica looking at a French woman’s bottom. It is pert, round and deliciously tanned. At the risk of being arrested, I move a little closer. This is an …

She’s 52, a mother of four, and possibly the next president of France. Helena Frith Powell analyses the allure of Ségolène Royal In France, being over 50 is no excuse not to be sexy and Ségolène Royal – tipped by some to be the first female president o …

The Websters already have two under the age of five and would like another. They cannot afford this, either. They already pay £1,500 a month in childcare and when Claire goes back to work part-time, this will increase by £500. In a couple of years’ tim …

French women eclipse all as the epitome of female perfection, but they work so hard at it they’’re no fun. For that you need British girls, says Helena Frith Powell   But it is not only French-women’s famed chic that sets them apart from the rest …

These women believe they have found a way… Helena Frith Powell We were sitting in a restaurant on the Mediterranean last summer enjoying a glass of chilled rosé when I put the question. “How about another child?” I asked. “I’d rather have another bot …