It’s Ashe on the intro and it’s something less…educational this time.
I’m trying to get back into being able to appreciate the world - including the relatively mundane. It is very much not #innerchild work, it’s not necessarily even revolutionary or punk, per se. I think sometimes with the state of the world, trying to accomplish things, doing day-to-day upkeep, it gets more and more difficult to try and just…force yourself to do things simply just because.
It’s always about optimization - work out, eat good, work hard. It’s always about better. But there’s more to life than optimization, and I think that I’m someone who often forgets that.
Ok, now let’s get on with it!
🗞️News recap:
Mac Miller’s new posthumous album “Balloonerism"
RIP director David Lynch
Lewis Hamilton stuns in new pictures highlighting his start at Ferrari.
Banking on the US-TikTok ban, Instagram wastes zero time updating the grid to vertical and unveils new video editing app ‘Edits’
Seems like everyone is reading this opinion piece in the Guardian.
Highlight of Milan Fashion Week: Prada FW25 menswear collection
We know you know about the rest going on so… let’s move on to lighter things.
🧂Trends:
Bonnets
What do you get when you mix a balaclava with a headscarf? Bonnets are the headgear of choice this season. You’ll either look chic—or like a gigantic baby.
Itty Bitty
The beauty trend defining 2025? Everything small. From so-called “yoga boobs” to saying goodbye to Kardashian-y bottoms, skipping lip fillers, and embracing thinner lips. Last year, there was already talk of skinny eyebrows.
As our friend beauty researcher at KU Leuven puts it:
“There will always be a demand for smaller bodies since they are [currently] the hardest to obtain, as they require hard work, discipline, and restraint. Regarding thin lips—beauty will always be a tool for distinction. As soon as something becomes too popular, too mainstream, or too accessible, a new style will emerge.”
Glasses
Has everyone’s eyesight worsened or are we just trading therapists for books? [Dazed's piece on bibliotherapy.] Seems like everyone suddenly needs glasses. Case in point: Andrew Garfield’s glasses moment at the Golden Globes broke the internet.
Particularly dupe-igniting are these Miu Miu frames.
Breathe and repeat after me - 👏NO. 👏BUY. 👏2025.
IYKYK Culture
It seems being ‘chronically offline’ will be the new luxury (bad news for some of us). So if you know… you’ll know. Showcasing proximity to influence via the ability to gather community without a reliance on algorithms, searches, and especially generative AI will be the pattern. Privacy will be the new branding buzzword (even Apple claims it’s one of their core values).
With the degradation of the internet (incl. ‘dead internet theory’, for example), people feel the internet and the tech industry have sucked us dry for long enough.
To quote Cory Doctorow,
“Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die. I call this enshittification, and it is a seemingly inevitable consequence arising from the combination of the ease of changing how a platform allocates value, combined with the nature of a "two-sided market", where a platform sits between buyers and sellers, hold each hostage to the other, raking off an ever-larger share of the value that passes between them.”
Cacao ceremonies
Many yoga studios are now offering cacao ceremonies. Essentially what it entails is that you sit with a group, sip ceremonial-grade cacao (fancy hot chocolate?), and do meditation, breath work, or other mindful practices led by a facilitator. It’s said to boost your mood, heal emotions, relieve stress, spark creativity and so on.
There’s even dedicated ceremonial cacao bars and cafes popping up, like this one in Riga. While this one in Amsterdam combines it with microdosing 🍄.
Cycle Syncing Meals
Move over iron supplements, raspberry leaf tea, and - well, ok they’re staying but syncing menstrual cycles with meals (and cravings) that work best with where you’re at.
Practices similar to this have been picking up as people are increasingly skeptical of the advice (or rather, non-advice) from the more medical pros. Sometimes it all starts with being a bit more aware of what your body might benefit from.
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That’s all see you next week!
we have a podcast situation tooooo now??? letsgooo