the weekly | 3.11.26
oh! it feels brilliant outside, good luck timmy tim, and a crossword puzzle!!
It’s always a bit difficult to lock in for computer time during the 72 hours of fools’ spring. But, here I am: recovering from a two day bender of spicy margaritas and hugo spritzes. Welcome back to the weekly: a collection of musings, reviews, and recommendations in pop culture, fashion, and beauty curated by me (@gabbywhiten), for you.
This post contains affiliate links — all opinions are 100% my own and I run a tight ship. Don’t forget to like this post if you enjoy my brain dump masquerading as a newsletter :)
Let’s get to the good stuff →
💾 saved on social
“what do you do and what do you make?” (via the Intelligencer)
LitGirl’s new capability: ”pap shot” book forensics.
🛒 add to cart
new in: well people skinforia serum foundation | $30
How are we using the substack app these days? The data tells me 88% of y’all are actually not using it to read the weekly. Personally, scrolling my Notes feed is the exact nostalgic dopamine hit of scrolling Twitter and Tumblr in 2012. Now, you can save that passive aggressive potential hit note as a draft [to post later, maybe].
You can also align text in the editor. A big deal for me!
I opened my TikTok for the first time in a few weeks and the first video that popped up was a Trump fan edit. Dante couldn’t fathom what we would endure. My 5+ minute long makeup tutorials live there for now; but I’m constantly looking for an off ramp from Oracle’s new baby.
The new-ish creator affiliate platform, shopmy, earned a recent valuation of $1.5 billion and new strategic investment from Sofia Richie and Aimee Song. Sheeeeesh. They hosted their first “shopmy sessions” last night with a focus on The Business of Being a Creator, From Taxes To Building Wealth. The conversation found itself continuously returning to the growing sentiment that successful creators adopt an entrepreneurial spirit where one could leverage authority in a vertical to build something bigger than the individual themself. Buzzwords that are in: human connection, equity deals, in person community. Buzzwords that are out: synergy. Questions to ask before you start a brand: Does the world need this product?
It’s no secret shopmy is one of my most used websites for content stuff. 10/10 would recommend: sign up as a creator or a shopper!
📖 world news
Kristi Noem, you’re fired. (via NY Times)
People applauding Anthropic for saying no to the Pentagon feels a bit like that one Community “I can excuse racism” meme.
🎧 tuned in
Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally is background music for a B-roll montage on an HBO original (positive).
The Oscars are finally live on ABC and Hulu this Sunday at 7pm EST. Thank God.
BRAIN ATTACK! Maggie Gyllenhaal took that studio money and played in their faces real bad. The Bride!(2026) is that premium, tender corn right off the cob. Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale quite honestly tried their best, but I’m not sure stripping the autonomy from your main female lead via spiritual possession by a raving Mary Shelley is a solid foundation for any “feminist” reimagination. I had a good time though, I can’t lie!
The Oscars campaigning and smear tactics are coming to an end. We all cheer! This year, Timothée has found himself in the hot seat while the opera and ballet enthusiasts of the world are wondering how the heck they got in it. He has done terrible PR for “being seen trying in public” which I view as a cringe, but necessary good for the average individual.
In a conversation with Matthew McConaughey, Timothée takes an unprovoked shot (his words not mine) at opera and ballet. The men were discussing decreasing attention spans as a catalyst for the erosion of key expository elements of storytelling in visual media. Chalamet’s point, perhaps, was that he’s not particularly sentimental about perceived standards of telling stories, but rather that people are still invested enough to see the stories he is telling (citing Barbenheimer as a recent cultural example of sustained audience engagement).
The whole thing is a bit goofy because it’s coming from an elite perspective where there is a ready and abundant and affordable access to art (aka a delusional dreamland for many folks). Does it really hold that people don’t care about opera and ballet? If that holds, at what point do we say that’s a critique of the audience and not the art forms? Is it beneficial or rather “good” to tailor art to maximize ticket sales and viral potential? In my opinion, that’s the more interesting conversation being had there. But, Chalamet commits to a tactless and tacky delivery that was bound to rub people the wrong way. Sad!
I also think its curious that theater has been altogether excluded from this conversation following a season of “flameouts” according to the New York Times. Anyway, if you’re local to the NYC metro area, there are deals on ballets and operas and movies (#AMCAList).
🧖🏾♀️ beauty buzz
21+ Days of Deals at Ulta is live from Mar 6 - Mar 26 | Tangle Teezer (on sale today!), IT Cosmetics x Ulta Brushes (on sale today!), Milk Makeup Hydrogrip Tint (on sale 3/15!)
i’m gonna do a lip combo challenge (3x3x3).
everything i’m loving for the bob is in the mini mag
📝 pop quiz
my favorite controversies always fall out of the genre: “two dumb bitches telling each other exactlyyyyy” (ft. Matthew McConaughey & Timothée Chalamet)
Zendaya defrosting for her year long press tour marathon and FROW guests (Chase Infiniti and Alyssa Liu) exhibit the ease of a matching set at Louis Vuitton FW26
The trending style beat right now is in such a severe binary. On one hand, we have heightened CBK hypnosis. C.O. Bigelow is really dialing it in on the acrylic hair accessories. Headbands have been trending for multiple seasons; no need to get an attitude. I too spent a good 30+ minutes in Pico when I was in Copenhagen. Spice up those tresses, girls! Be worried when men start sporting backwards flat caps.
On the other hand, we have color and whimsy and more early signs of peplum. Chanel’s use of makeup in their Fall ready-to-wear show is so interesting to me. Vibrantly constructed looks paired with extremely muted makeup on a majority of the models until the very end where Blazy’s more whimsical pieces are paired with a bit of flair on the eyelids. My mom is always covering my handbag blind spots. I had no idea that Coach was doing a woven kisslock shoulder bag (à la miu miu’s crochet bag).
For the next month or so, I’ll be challenging myself to a lip combo challenge. Mathematically (tbt to the Fundamental Counting Principle), I can get more than a month’s worth of lip combos using only 3 lip liners, 3 lip bases, and 3 lip glosses. Hopefully, this will be a productive exercise for my “using what you have” muscle.
🗽hyperlocal beat
March is for the NYC Black Women- Owned Bookstore Crawl.
There’s yoga @ Maha Rose Brooklyn tomorrow(3/12)!
Yasmine is hosting an 831 Stories Event @ McNally Jackson on April 9th!
That’s all I have for you this week! stay hot ❤️🔥
xx, Gabby
Love the bob!
Just applied to shopmy! Sounds cool! Thank you!