a girlboss never stays down for long

nor should she

QUICK HITS

• The FDA reversed its ban on Juul e-cigarettes

• Why counterfeit Ozempic is a global-growth industry

• Baby Reindeer’s real-life Martha sues Netflix for $170 million

• New York passes bill to make the restaurant reservation black market illegal

• AI giants Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI will face a federal antitrust investigation

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• Olaplex might be planning to enter the skincare space, even though they were just sued by customers who claimed their products cause hair damage and loss, and their net sales plummeted 50% in the US last year. So I guess they’re thinking skincare is the answer? To echo one wise individual, “No one is putting that on their face.” 

• If there's one thing the Rhode team knows how to do, it’s a great product tease. Over the weekend, they posted stories of some of your fave influencers trying on (and apparently loving) their blush sticks. I have one big issue and one small issue with what I saw. The small issue is that the blush sticks don't look particularly pigmented; but this is only a small issue because lighting is weird and I could easily be wrong. The big issue is that I hate the packaging. Like, really hate it. Why go for such a weird beige-brown? Why not stick to their usual gray?! At first I thought it was just for the the tester product, but then Matilda Djerf posted a photo dump with a few of the blush sticks very conspicuously placed in her bag, so now I’m not sure what to think. The reason this is a big issue is that Hailey is my favourite white woman on the internet, and I loathe to speak ill of her taste. On the bright side, it looks like they're gearing up to launch new phone case covers and pimple patches. I’d be very surprised if demand for the phone cases last much longer, but if Rhode does start doing pimple patches, Starface better be shaking.

  

  

• Update: they went with the beige-brown packaging.

• The incubator behind Beis and Pattern Beauty launched their first fragrance brand. It’s called Noyz, and for some reason, everyone in the teaser post comments thought it had something to do with Zayn Malik. Can someone please explain the connection? The line is created by perfumer Jérôme Epinette, who has also formulated Sol de Janeiro and Byredo fragrances. I call this type of branding “urban youth” and “not like other girls.” It's most often used when brands are trying to resonate with ‘young people’ in general, and no one in particular. From the lower price points, I’d say I’m right.

• Disney is apparently eyeing Austin Butler and Dua Lipa for a live-action Hercules movie. I didn't even know this was in the works, but I can get behind it. Does anyone know if Dua Lipa can act? The one movie she was in was a massive flop, but I know it's not her fault. 

• Former Sports Illustrated publisher, The Arena Group, is suing Sports Illustrated’s owner and new publisher for $200 million. The reason is stupid, and I won’t go into it, but it’s funny that Sports Illustrated is worth far less than the $200 million being sued for. It’s quite literally not worth the trouble.

• Whoever thought an anonymous messaging app for high schoolers was a great idea, clearly forgot that the average high schooler is without a conscience. And also maybe never used ASKfm.

• A girlboss never stays down forever, nor should she. Audrey Gelman, of The Wing girlboss fame, is expanding The Six Bells universe with a new hotel. I say ‘universe’ because that’s what she’s creating here. “When Gelman launched the Six Bells, she imagined a backstory for the store, led by pseudo-historical characters in a fictional English village she dubbed Barrow’s Green, replete with a church, post office, and manor house.” This does something for me. I think it’s so quirky and cool! Creating fictional lore around a brand is pretty genius if executed well. Another brand that’s great at this is Vacation, which we talked about last week. With The Six Bells Hotel, Gelman wants to explore the space between luxury hospitality and theme hospitality, which from The Wing we know she’s great at. She also misses The Wing and is incredibly proud of it. Glad she can say that now.

  

• I need brands to chill with the over the top influencer gifting. It’s so embarrassing, not to talk of being bad for the environment. And I know some of these influencers aren’t even recycling properly! 

• By now you’d have seen that On finally announced their partnership with Zendaya. Lauren Sherman said this would happen, I told you Lauren Sherman said this would happen, and now it’s happened. If anyone expects me, a three stripes loyalist, to be at all happy about whatever Zendaya and On are doing here, they’d be wrong. 

• I want you guys to know that I don't believe in the ‘glow down.’ Once in a while, some publication will put out a piece declaring that everyone is going ‘natural’ again. Women are ‘glowing down’; reversing all the work they’ve done. Remember how Kylie Jenner took out her lip fillers for like two seconds and a million think pieces followed? If people are getting work ‘undone,’ it's only because whatever they had done is no longer trending (like BBLs) or they realized the supposed glow up is actually making them look whack. Publications these days are too comfortable with saying “people are doing x” when it's like five influencers!

• The people at Graza know it's Poppi > Olipop. But the spam is really throwing me off, guys.

  getgraza

  

  A post shared by @getgraza

• In the last year, Sofia Richie has had partnerships, collaborations, or ambassadorships with 19 brands. Whatever, who cares. But I’ve been pretty curious to see how she approaches motherhood, brand wise. On one hand I could see her tastelessly trademarking the hell out of baby Eloise like Kim has with North, but then again I don’t like the Grainges are the type of family to let that fly. This weekend’s Eloise themed celebration might have given us some clues. While the baby herself was safely out of sight (as she should be), we did get several glimpses of a party which was almost certainly sponsored by Dior. You know I love a working mom, but some continuity would have been nice. Does Chanel not do infant sponsorships? Anyway, Sofia has been saying for a while now that she wants to launch her own brand, and I hope she ends up doing something in the baby space; for which the only requirements seem to be young, hot, and mother. 

  

• Remember when I said this? Bon Appetite agrees with me.

  “Have you guys noticed that everyone is obsessed with ‘hosting’ these days? With throwing a good party? A fun event? I’m seeing so many normal people- not brands, not influencers- hosting these really cool events for their friends and communities, and I have to say that I’m a fan.”

• If you thought Jacquemus was going to Chanel for about five minutes yesterday—congrats, you are VERY online. I’m obviously talking about myself. For those of you with normal screen time, yesterday Jacquemus posted on his Instagram page that today he would be presenting his “LAST” collection. But then a few minutes later, he updated the supposed typo to “LATEST” collection. Between the both of us, I think it was a PR stunt, but I’m not mad. Just relieved.

• Over a quarter of men under 30 say they have no close friends. Teenage boys now spend two hours less a week socializing than girls, and about seven hours more per week than their female peers on screens. “For every right-wing tough guy urging his crying son to “man up,” there’s a voice from the left telling him that to express his concerns is to take airtime away from a woman or someone more marginalized. The two are not morally equivalent, but to boys, the impact can often feel similar.” This is not only so sad for them; it’s also very bad for the rest of us. No good ever came from boys spending too much time in their own company.

• Florida just became the first US state to let pregnant women receive C-sections outside the hospital. This is a big deal because around 20% of Florida counties are considered maternity deserts, meaning services are limited or nonexistent, and some women would need to travel nearly 50 miles to get to the nearest birthing hospital. But people are concerned that these new facilities—many of them private equity-backed—could put pregnant women at risk and families in debt.

• What have I been saying about aesthetic intellectualism? About the appeal of the smart girl? About reading being HOT! This is why Miu Miu will always be ahead of the pack. While the rest of these brands are giving out coffee and bagels, Miu Miu provides intellectual sustenance  for the girls of summer. I’m always here for the literary agenda. Aestheticized or otherwise! 

• Kaia Gerber obviously read my essay because Library Science is now all about community. In the last week, they hosted two IRL events. First, there was a book curation with Library Fetish for Palm Heights, and then a reading at The Huntington Library rose garden. The former was an ‘educate the wasps’ type of event; the latter was a parasols and harp kind of day. The girl has range.

• Toyota lost over $15 billion in market value last week after being caught falsifying tests. We love a good reckoning.

• Climate change is bad for rich people too. Vail Resorts, which runs dozens of ski resorts in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe, cut its full-year forecast yesterday, citing warmer weather and a dip in the pandemic-era surge in skiing and snowboarding. Revenue also came in below expectations, with shares falling ~6% in after-hours trading. Less frequent snowfall and less predictable weather mean fewer visits from skiers. I know it’ll be the strangest things that get rich people to care about climate change, so I'm just shooting my shot here.

• Shorter newsletter today because I'm at a work conference this week. Forgot to write a book rec but I want to share my great literary taste with you guys anyway. Let me know in the comments what kind of book you’d like to read next and I’ll give you some recommendations :)