28 Comments
Oct 11Liked by Ochuko Akpovbovbo

The way that I wish Andre Leon Tally was still alive because he would have *things* to say about this met gala theme and what’s really painful is that if he was still alive and him and Anna were on good terms and she actually let him curate it it would be such an amazing exhibit.

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author

say a lot of tweets and comments expressing similar thoughts !!

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Oct 11Liked by Ochuko Akpovbovbo

No stanning government figures etcetc, but if I *did*, I'd stan Lina Khan every day of the week.

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author

No but she’s kinda badasss!

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Oct 11Liked by Ochuko Akpovbovbo

"North mentions God about three times in this interview and says that to help people, she spreads the gospel: “Tell them about God, and how problems get solved if they follow his word and his way.” "

...problems also probably get solved because she was born into a filthy rich family but okay kid.

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Well said 🤓💯

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Haha I’m sure she knows that too 😂

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Oct 11Liked by Ochuko Akpovbovbo

I have to say I’m a premier hater of the practice of brands clearing their IG feeds. I think it leads to a really confusing consumer experience. Merit had questions from people asking if they were under new ownership. For anyone new to the brand page (and there are probably many, given that brands do this at buzzy marketing moments) they have no context for the brand beyond the new drop. I think we can leave this behind. Curious about whether there’s some sort of native IG functionality that could be implemented to serve a better purpose here

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I agree. Brands do it all the time now and I think it’s abbot confusing

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Also maybe they’ve archived and will unarchive soon?

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Im sure this is the case usually!

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Oct 11Liked by Ochuko Akpovbovbo

YOU ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD

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author

Emily thank you!!!!!! 😘

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Oct 13Liked by Ochuko Akpovbovbo

Beauty brands using mental health as marketing is just pivoting from when they were using feminism to sell us makeup along with the way the skincare industry used it to sell procedures and plastic surgery. The guise of getting Botox for "yourself" as an act of empowerment while it's just women capitulating to the typical youthful beauty standard as well as separating women from their money was genius and it worked well for a long time. Now it's all about "centering yourself" and "checking in on your feelings". Considering it's next to impossible for many folks to access quality mental healthcare, capitalism was always going to end up selling them a blush as a quick balm to cover their sadness/anxiety.

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WORD! Capitalism has been co opting the word EMPOWERMENT for decades and we fall for it all the time!

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Oct 11Liked by Ochuko Akpovbovbo

"the ultimate posthumous slay"

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author

But it is isn’t it 😂

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Oct 11Liked by Ochuko Akpovbovbo

I went through this exact same rollercoaster reading the North West interview this AM. What a ride.

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I know! It was actually a fun read and unexpected in a few ways

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Oct 15Liked by Ochuko Akpovbovbo

Just finding your Substack and it’s like you’re replying to a lot of my random thoughts I just thought happened in my head and weren’t important. I was so wrong! I love this and the way you write! Have subscribed!

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author

welcome!!!! glad you found me :)

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Oct 11Liked by Ochuko Akpovbovbo

I honestly love Rhode so much! I was so skeptical at the beginning, but now I’m never going back. I would give all their makeup a big thumbs down, though.

Love reading you, big fan from day one

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author

Interesting! Tell me more about why you don’t like their makeup !

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Oct 11·edited Oct 11Liked by Ochuko Akpovbovbo

That's funny! I found "Link in Bio" through your subscribed publication list last week. Not me snooping around people's subscription lists haha but I think it really helps to discover other great writers you might enjoy if you already like a certain writer on Substack.

It's such a shame you don't live in Berlin. I've been hosting the Berlin Substack meetups since January. We meet nearly every month, and there are usually around 30 writers joining. We also have a Telegram group with over 50 writers. Let me know if you ever find yourself in Berlin, and we can grab a coffee. If the dates fit, you can also join one of our meetups. Happy Weekend 🖤

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Omg will do! I wish I was in Berlin too! Would love to joint the telegram though! And Link In Bio is really cool glad you found them. I be snooping too !

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Beauty brands trying to connect their products to mental health is a stretch. I respect the donations to various MH orgs, but let’s be honest here, it’s all marketing and a ploy to attract GenZ. I recently wrote about the beauty industry’s exploitation of mental illness in my post, Bipolar Princess.

Perhaps the worst offender was skincare brand SelfMade and their peddling of “psycho dermatology” and “creams that combat stress.”

Wonder how their regulatory let that slip through the cracks!

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author

omg I remember that brand!

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Literally my favourite substack xx

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