All about football kits
If you love football kits—jerseys and shirts—Kit Magazine can be your one-stop destination for fascinating stories about the world of football fashion. Football kits, whether it’s club or international football, have global resonance. It’s no surprise then that Kit Magazine features stories written by football shirt collectors from around the world, apart from illustrations by artists and graphic designers. So far, the magazine has come out with three volumes. Each has 11 articles, written by the “kitster” community for the “kitster” community. The latest volume features interviews with the founders of the world’s largest collection of football shirts—Matthew Dale and Doug Bierton from Classic Football Shirts. There’s also a feature on former Dutch footballer and Ballon d’Or winner Marco van Basten—a look at his career through the kits he wore. The magazine is available in both print and digital formats. For details, visit https://www.kitmag.co.uk — Nitin Sreedhar
For dewy skin
Foundations, concealers and skin correctors tend to leave me baffled. They require knowledge, practice and make-up tools for the best results; all three aren’t conducive to my five-minute make-up routine. So, last year, I picked up a tinted moisturiser with some trepidation. While it looked great under the Instagram-friendly lights of Nykaa’s Luxe store, I wasn’t so confident the glow would survive the humidity or rain in Mumbai. Or that it would conceal tired and sensitive skin. I was proved wrong on all counts. I am happy to report that it makes my skin look naturally dewy—never cake-y— during muggy summers and monsoon weddings. It’s weight-less and long-lasting, and a perfect match for my oily skin. It even conceals the fatigue and dull skin resulting from poor lifestyle choices, like too much screen time and too little water. Now the Smashbox Halo Healthy Glow all-in-one tinted moisturiser has become as essential as kajal for me. — Jahnabee Borah
A tribute to Laxman
It’s over before you de-board a three-hour flight. RK Laxman: Back With A Punch (124 pages, ₹299) is a pithy monograph on arguably India’s most popular cartoonist. Part of Niyogi Books’ Pioneers Of Modern India series, it is one of the three published so far—the other two are on Communist leader Charu Mazumdar and theatre artist Heisnam Sabitri. The monograph on Laxman is written, fittingly, by E.P. Unny, the chief political cartoonist at The Indian Express, known for his subversive single-panel cartoon Business As Usual. Unny’s skill with the written word delights—here an atmospheric vignette to evoke the chaotic Indian streetscape that inspired Laxman; there an insightful, well-articulated observation that places Laxman’s oeuvre not only within the sociopolitical context but also among his artistic gurus and peers. Some glaring repetitions aside, this is at once a handbook on the history of cartoon journalism in independent India and a homage to one of its greats. — Vangmayi Parakala
Hear it for The Boys
I just love Antony Starr in The Boys. His megalomaniacal, sadistic Superman-from-hell Homelander is the beating heart of the best superhero show on TV. Hell, I would go so far as to say it’s the best superhero thing, better than the Marvel movies and TV shows, and certainly better than the DC ones. And even in the booming market of TV shows and movies that seek to deconstruct the superhero mythos, The Boys remains the benchmark. In case you don’t know about it, imagine an America in thrall to a corporatised group of superheroes called the Seven, controlled by a Disney-like global corporate entity (if Disney was also an unethical pharma giant). Now imagine the superheroes to be the twisted, perverse, cruel, troubled versions of your favourite DC-Marvel stars. Then imagine a ragtag gang of non-superheroic misfits called The Boys, who, for a variety of reasons, have vowed to bring down the superheroes. Halfway through season 3, it’s better than ever! — Bibek Bhattacharya
Also read: Lounge Loves: From Nike Pegasus 39 to a butter knife
