Widely regarded as the "gold standard" of skincare, retinol has "almost magical properties", said GQ. "Unlike a lot of the inexact science pushed by 'age-defying' products, it actually works."

But retinol's holy grail status now faces a challenge, in the form of new EU legislation imposing a cap on the percentage of pure retinol allowed in over-the-counter facial skincare products.

What is retinol?
A derivative of vitamin A, retinol "improves skin texture, collagen production and cell turnover", said The Independent. It reduces the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and pigmentation, and is also prescribed to treat acne.

However, it can cause irritation such as redness, dryness and peeling – known as "retinol purging". Rarer side effects include eczema flare-ups, skin discolouration and swelling.

Why limit retinol concentration?
The new legislation will limit retinol concentration to 0.3% for facial skincare products and 0.05% for body lotions. The aim is to "protect consumers from the theoretical risk of overdosing on vitamin A", skincare expert Dr Sam Bunting told Stylist. Too much vitamin A can cause liver damage, and "very high levels might harm the unborn foetus in pregnant women".

And rather than being water soluble like many other vitamins, it is fat soluble, so "your body can't get rid of it in the same way it can vitamins B and C", said Elle.

The vast majority of vitamin A is consumed through diet, but the EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety argued that cosmetics add to overall exposure. The legislation came into force at the end of 2023, but brands have been given three years to reformulate products.

Will retinol products still be effective?
Consumers are "still likely to get noticeable benefits from retinol 0.3%", Bunting told the magazine. The cap won't apply to prescription creams either, so people who need a heftier dose of vitamin A, such as acne sufferers, will still be able to access it.

This legislation is broadly "a good thing", said Chloe Burcham, beauty editor at Women's Health. Retinol is "not for everyone", especially children and teenagers who have emerged as a rapidly growing market for skincare.

Normally characterised by "white tents fluttering" in the breeze and the "swish of turning pages", this summer's book festivals have become "embroiled in a furious political dogfight", said Susie Goldsbrough in The Times.

The Hay, Edinburgh and Borders literary festivals cut ties with asset management firm Baillie Gifford after climate and anti-Israel activist group Fossil Free Books questioned the "ethics" of the sponsorship arrangements.

Baillie Gifford has now cancelled all of its remaining sponsorship deals with literary festivals, leaving the future of the events in doubt.

'Rash and silly'
The Hay Festival has been at the "forefront of the climate change discussion", said Dylan Jones in the London Evening Standard. If the activists want to "pick on someone", why choose festivals that offer a "rigorous interrogation of cultural, political and environmental injustice"?

When the country's largest literary festival parts ways with its main sponsor, it's likely to spell "disaster", said Sam Leith in The Spectator, so this seems a "rash and silly move". Baillie Gifford is "not perfect", but then, who is?

The loss of Baillie Gifford's money will be "catastrophic" for British book festivals, said Goldsbrough, and there is a "dawning sense" that other companies "won't exactly be queueing up to take its place".

'Healthier future'
People act as if Fossil Free Books is "trying to kill book festivals, instead of working to imagine a healthier future for them", said author Max Porter.

Speaking to The Observer, Porter said the activists had been "calm, informed and courteous" in the face of "bad-faith arguments", and were trying to protect "vital communal spaces as writers and readers" by distancing them from "financial complicity in genocide or unsustainable fossil fuel investments".

Baillie Gifford doesn't sponsor events out of "unalloyed altruism", said Carlos Alba in The Herald, but rather to convey the image that it is not a "faceless, capitalist behemoth, devoid of a cultural and intellectual hinterland".

So "in return for that, it should come as no surprise when organisations like Fossil Free Books want to kick the tires and look under the bonnet".

Gloucestershire: Manor Farm, Cheltenham
Stunning 331-acre rural estate in prime Cotswold countryside. 6-bed farmhouse, 2 semi-detached stone cottages, 3/4-bed detached bungalow, barn, outbuildings, paddock, agricultural land and woodland. £7.5m; Knight Frank

East Sussex: Henley Down Farm, Catsfield
Charming detached Grade II period house set in gardens of about 0.8 of an acre. There is planning permission for an annexe. Main bed with dressing room, 4 further beds, 2 baths, kitchen/breakfast room, 3 receps, study, double garage, natural pond, outbuilding. £900,000; Batcheller Monkhouse

Lincolnshire: Washdyke Farm, Fulbeck
This beautiful Grade II farmhouse dates back to 1837 and is set in 2.77 acres in a sought-after village. 4 beds (2 en suite), family bath, kitchen, 3 receps, garden, outbuildings. £925,000; Savills

The climate crisis has gone woke: Can King Charles save us?
Alan Rusbridger in The Independent
Global warming has "somehow" been "drawn into the so-called culture wars" here in the UK, says Alan Rusbridger. So while the Netherlands' King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima recently hosted a gathering of journalists to discuss the climate crisis, King Charles's advisers "would surely caution him against getting involved in anything so woke". But our monarch "could ignore his advisers and step in to get people talking" about what is "probably the most urgent issue of our times".

VAR: Right Decision
The Times leading article
Wolverhampton Wanderers have "lost their battle" to scrap video assistant referee (VAR) technology in the Premier League, says The Times, but "they have done football fans a service" by making a "cogent argument" that VAR "reviews are too numerous, slow, inconsistent and opaque". With spectators "often left mystified", the solution is to "give the officials microphones" and broadcast their deliberations, because "when a situation needs cleaning up, sunlight is the best disinfectant".

It's time for Joe Biden to put his money where his mouth is and stand up to Vladimir Putin
Colonel Richard Kemp in the Daily Express
Joe Biden may "talk the talk" about standing up to "present-day despots" like Vladimir Putin, but the US president is "certainly not walking the walk", says Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of the British Forces in Afghanistan. Ukraine is "in dire straits" and Nato's support has not been "anything like sufficient". The D-Day anniversary should "remind us why it is so important" that "Europe-wide war never happens again". And "cold-shouldering Putin at Normandy is not enough".