And so it goes...
yet another Substack!
On what and why (do we need to say how?), soup for breakfast, returning from the jungle, red velvet ballet flats, appreciating old things, and murderous women, amongst other things.
Hello again.
In December of 2022 (ancient history), I sent out my final public newsletter on sashamei.net. It continues to live on in full glory there. After a long vacation returning to my roots (Malaysia, the motherland!), like many, I found Instagram limiting how I wanted to share with my community. I simply cannot imagine sharing just outfit photos for the rest of my life. That, and I found my website interface non-conducive to the newsletter format I desired. But mostly, I wanted to send love letters to my most dear community. An extension of my brain.
‘Meja’ (pronounced “may - ja”) is a word that I learned last year. It is a Malay word meaning ‘table.’ As I began exploring the realm of community gatherings and dinner parties, it became an outlet that allowed me to merge all of my interests: fashion and beauty (what do you wear to an event, how do you express yourself?), cooking (that goes without explanation), design (how will the event look?), and people (truly, the greatest part of my work). While the combination of these components could vary, it seemed that the table as a structure and concept served as a constant across all equations.
A table is a gathering place, a surface to eat, display, share, nourish. I’m far too private for YouTube, I can’t stand the sound of my own voice for podcasting, and I love to write. And I believe that the people who understand me best love to read. I want this newsletter to be just like that in the metaphysical sense - here, I gather my thoughts for you.
Welcome to Meja. I hope you enjoy.
1. On beauty
I promised my next newsletter would address my favourite makeup products. BUT the list grew insurmountably, and neglected categories such as fragrance, hair, etc. etc. And while I thought I could simply round up all of my favourites from the past year, it quickly became clear that different products seemed to be on rotation at different times.
I am a beauty junkie. I fear commitment. So let me propose instead an antidote: a roundup of what’s on rotation at this very moment of my life.
Currently:
Costa Brazil Aroma In Oil perfume: I just returned home from the jungle, and I’m craving the feeling of warm weather. This smell is intoxicating and warm and smells like an expensive villa. I want to bathe in this scent all the time. While I wear it mostly in the summer, I’m bringing it back in rotation (along with Karst, from Aesop) to pretend that I’m still on vacation.
Share the Base LB cream: This is the perfect minimal coverage that - shocker! - does not oxidize into an artificially orange hue. I wore only this while on vacation. Though it works well in the winter too, I find that my face needs to be extra hydrated and moisturized prior to application.
Merit bronzer: even my sister, who truly wears nothing other than concealer on her face and knows zilch about makeup, was impressed by this product. She dishes very few, carefully calculated compliments, so I can confirm she is worth trusting.
Hermès Hermesistible lip oil: this is the only lip oil that lasts longer than two hours. I rotate between a few colours depending on the season and my skin tone - I find that Rose Kola is best in the winter when my skin is light; both Rouge Amarelle and Poupre Camarine become neutrals for me when I’m tanned.
Victoria Beckham Beauty Mascara: a frequent flyer’s saviour - the last thing I need is to pack a multitude of cleansers when I travel in order to remove mascara. This is a tube mascara, meaning it washes off easily with water.
Crown Affair dry shampoo: Is this the year that I finally rid myself of unnecessary, headache-inducing aerosols? While a few canonized top shelf products unfortunately still come in no other format, I’ve replaced my bottle of Batiste (sorry) with this. It comes with a beautiful brush to evenly distribute product, and is travel friendly.
2. What I’m eyeing and buying
One of the first things I did this month was sort through every single item in my wardrobe. A painstakingly slow process that took about two days left me feeling far lighter and relieved. I rediscovered old favourites, felt excited about bringing them back into rotation. I said tearful goodbyes to threadbare old faithfuls, and good riddance to impulse purchases that sat idly for years. I have a better idea of what I own, paving the way for my style to evolve further this year.
The entire process made me excited to get dressed again, and that snowballed into other aspects of my life. I cleared out my kitchen, my storage, my bathroom, my toxic relationships! To hell with it all! Hitting reset felt good. Starting anew felt elating.
Here are some things that I’ve added (and am considering adding) to my collection as I now have space in my little home:
these Paloma Wool brown trousers are going to be the most versatile piece in my closet and suitcase as I gear up for fashion month. I will say that they stretch a bit, so size down for a more form-fitting silhouette. They’re also much longer than me (I live for the day that I see a fit model shorter than 5’10”), but I like pairing them with a short heel.
I bought this burl wood-style Sophie Buhai headband and wear it nearly every day. It’s my antidote to day three hair that doesn’t make me feel sloppy. Never did I think I would feel the difference between an expensive hairband and the drugstore version, but this doesn’t give me a headache in the slightest.
I am eyeing these incredible red velvet ballet flats from Le Monde Beryl and am so tempted to order them in every single colour (must. refrain!). For those not willing to commit to such a price point (especially after duties), I recommend these from 100% Silk Shop. Slightly unrelated, but these incredible striped flats from 100% Silk Shop are now on sale, if you happen to be planning ahead for your European summer stints.
I decided I needed a going out top that’s appropriate for colder weather, and I purchased this insanely popular piece from Orseund Iris in dark navy. Though I continue to grapple with buying into another Instagram trend, this top is truly such a special and flattering piece.
Winter running is an adjustment, one that I’ve come to slowly embrace and love. I just purchased this running vest, now on sale at Lululemon. I recommend sizing up - it runs small.
3. On listening
2022 made me lazy with my music choices, and I blame that entirely on podcasts. But why only appreciate music when it’s new? I’ve made a playlist of my favourite songs lately, I hope you enjoy.
4. On food
I am hardly one to advocate from New Year’s resolutions.
But I digress. Malaysian food is arguably some of the best in the world (truly, it is a Malaysian paradigm to be eating a meal, only to be discussing the next one for the entire duration), yet I couldn’t help but feel excited to come home to my own kitchen. Cooking for myself - the act of chopping, stewing, frying, plating - is an act of love and self care. I’m a big fan lately of making simple, assemble-as-you-graze dishes like this one, though with my own twist:
assemble 1/2 an avocado on a plate
pile as many anchovies as you want - I usually plate about 10 in the centre of the plate
top with olive oil, a generous squeeze of lemon juice, herbs, and freshly cracked pepper
serve with crispy toasted sourdough and use it to soak up all the oils
I’ve also been making a lot of soup and stocks, but my favourite so far has to be this vegetable and bean broth I’ve been toying around with. What started out as a stock became a nourishing soup after I tried one of the cooked carrots from the mix - it had soaked up all of the flavours from the ingredients and was simply too delicious to throw away. I don’t even bother to strain this recipe for stock anymore. Although - I did try mixing chicken and rice once, and completely ruined the flavour. My advice is to eat it plain, enjoy it for breakfast. If you must add anything, might I suggest stelline or any form of pastina? Don’t have fennel? Herbs? No stress - this recipe is so forgiving, you can work with what you have and use what’s left in the fridge.
Simple vegetable and bean soup
Ingredients:
1 entire head of garlic, with the bottom cut off to expose the cloves
1 large onion (or leek or 4 shallots), halved
1 fennel bulb, halved
1/2 bunch of celery (I use about 6-7 stalks), cut up
Either 2 large and chunky carrots or 5 small/medium ones. Scrub and leave them unpeeled
1 can butter beans, drained and rinsed (I know this is cheating, but I don’t have the time or patience for dried beans all the time, so I’m here for hacks)
1 parmesan rind
2 bay leaves
fresh herbs: I like a combination of thyme, rosemary, and oregano, though parsley is also quite lovely here
salt to taste
With the pot empty, pan try the halved onion, garlic, and fennel face down on medium high heat until slightly charred, about 1-2 minutes depending on heat level. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot and fill about 2/3 of the way with water. Bring the mix to a boil uncovered, then simmer with the lid on for about 3 hours, until desired flavour is reached. Continue to fill the pot and add a little salt as the water reduces throughout the cooking process.
5. On reading
One of the most annoying social interactions I’ve ever had was with an individual who worked tirelessly throughout a conversation to receive validation by showing off the towering stack of books they’d read in a year. I’m not sure how to accurately validate something I’ve already seen countless times, but I thoroughly respect the ability to make such a large quantity of quality reading time.
On that note, here are the 100+ books I’ve read.
I’m totally kidding.
I just finished reading Out by Kirino, which, if you are a fan of Margaret Atwood, you will love. One of the most disturbing and jarring books I’ve read this year, Out follows four Japanese women, bound only by their work on the nightshift at a factory, as they work to cover up the murder of one woman’s abusive husband. Top notes: psychological thriller. Underlying notes: nauseating desperation and an illuminating perspective of social structures and gender roles. I devoured over 500 pages in just under a week.