Hi BellaStylistas! It’s Isoken and every month, I’ll be sharing a short letter spotlighting our monthly theme from my personal perspective and giving you an idea of some of the amazing content we have planned. For August, our theme is #Escape.

Editor-At-Large Isoken Ogiemwonyi introduces the BellaNaija Style’s #Escape theme for August.

Welcome to August! I hope your weekend was full of good times and sunshine. Mine was full of family, friends, and full on summer vibes. I took a little break at the end of July to refresh and recalibrate, and it was definitely worth it. I disconnected from a lot of the (inevitable) information overload that comes with digital publishing, and had the opportunity to really be present with my friends and family. Obviously, it was awesome.

It also really made me think on how fleeting ‘summer’ can feel, 90 odd days for most of us to ‘escape’ to far flung locales or just time off from school for the kids. It certainly takes different forms for different people. And with the added insta-gloss, it can be a time of some serious FOMO, but summer is not infinite. It goes by in a flash and it’s important to enjoy those days as much as possible. Whether it’s a mini staycation at your favourite hotel, or just ensuring you dedicate your evenings after work to connecting with people you love. Try actively living as opposed to just existing. Take a beat. Have some fun. Watch a movie. Dance on a rooftop. Attend a festival. It’s what holidays are for!

In this issue we speak to many of your faves and soon to be new faves on their tips and tricks for incredible travel beauty and what to pack on vacation; We speak to top stylists and fashion industry insiders on their top destination recommendations, what to eat, where to go. We’ll also expand on our new series around Editors’ Style and

And finally, don’t forget to explore our regular features like Best Dressed of the Week, Ankara Styles We Love, Best Beauty Instagrams of the Week, Workwear Looks our Editors Love, fan favourite BellaStylista, Style Your Curves and Friday Fab Finds.