If you’ve been holding on to a wintry photo dump, you’ve got 48 hours to post before the first, official day of spring 🌸 🌷 🌱. I wonder what the city’s tulip budget is this year? Welcome back to the weekly: a collection of musings, reviews, and recommendations in beauty, fashion, and pop culture curated by me (@gabbywhiten), for you. This post contains affiliate links. Like this post if finding a new edition of the newsletter in your inbox makes you smile. A bit of a shorter situation today, let’s do it →
📺 what i’m watching: project hail mary, ready or not 2
💄 LCOTW: a variation of the 3x3x3
🧠 a hyperfixation: little secrets chocolate wafers
🍫 weekend treat: a “spring-y” piece for my closet!
📙 reader’s corner: kin x tayari jones
💾 saved on social
Vogue Business begs the question: ”Is the Girlboss making a comeback?” No, but the founder is the hottest new archetype of influence. Season 4 of Industry demolished the appeal of being an “industry ingenue”. Harper and Sweetpea, get behind me! For all the influencer shade, it’s made the picture of true wealth more transparent. People want the ease, comfort, and free time. No one actually wants to waste away behind the desk for a corporate entity especially when there’s no tangible, longterm personal benefit. Perfect timing for Emma Grede, lucky girl! I’m sure her new book Start With Yourself will be to 2030 what Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean in was to 2016 — bookmarking for when it debuts on the NYT Bestsellers List. If anything, we’re entering the era of the Momboss.
The final chapter of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune Trilogy hits theaters December 18, 2026. Watch the trailer.
Wunmi Mosaku Claims Her Legacy for GLAMOUR UK. Her face card is really insane.
“How did you get this gig?” -Kris Jenner to Jake Shane on the Vanity Fair Red Carpet. You know…. pour one out for Jake today! He was indeed a mess on that live. I’ll patiently wait until the “get influencers off the red carpet” press tour dies down. We’ve had embarrassing showings from both reporters and creators alike. Let’s all learn some humility! Mark Guiducci, Global Editorial Director of Vanity Fair, communicated exactly why social media stars aren’t going anywhere [on that live]. Vanity Fair is invested in “making sense of society and the powers that propel it”. Giuducci views Quenlin, Brittany, and Jake as a few of the “new cast of characters” in that story. The question is: who’s got the juice to get the job done (Mary Beth Barone) and who doesn’t?
📖 world news
Markwayne Mulllin is Trump’s pick for DHS Secretary. The Senate will be grilling him this week.
#SayNoToBadLandlords !! Zohran Mamdani and The Mayor’s Office revealed a multimillion dollar ruling against Seth Miller and other property owners of a Bronx apartment complex. This ruling requires retroactive payment to settle penalties as stipulated in the New York City’s Nuisance Abatement Law. It also requires that the negligence is addressed within the next few weeks/months. Chop chop!
🧖🏾♀️ beauty buzz
The Lipstick Lesbians launched their brand, leaked labs. The first “leak” is a dud; that’s kind of the point… maybe? Alexis Androulakis and Dr. Christina Basias Androulakis have built a large following on TikTok while demystifying the science and formulation of beauty. Their new brand, leaked labs, is kind of makeup brand meets think tank meets consultancy group. This business strategy requires a steep level of discernment. The Amplify Flexi Powder is a pan-free pigment disc. In it’s current iteration, I think it’s a bit too kitschy —especially when paired with their very on the nose “futuristic factory lab” brand identity. The stickier question: is it exploitative to charge your audience for services that other brands pay for? I don’t know, but if they wanted to engineer a PR storm… they sure got one!
Yikes! The Women DIY-ing Their Weight Loss Drugs from The Cut.
Headband technology has advanced in ways I never thought it could. I’ve been wearing my hair straight and it was always getting in my face. I bought this headband from scünci; as someone with a massive skull — it’s perfect.
When I said colorful eyeshadow was making a comeback, the ‘80s millennials were in my mentions calling me young and dumb. Now, Dior and Chanel are both running influencer campaigns for their blue eyeshadow quads. Who’s young and dumb now? Matte makeup is also back if that’s your cup of tea. Rare Beauty is launching the True to Myself Natural Matte Longwear Foundation in April.
📝 pop quiz
That’s Oscar Winner Michael B. Jordan and Oscar Winner Jessie Buckley to you! Conan O’Brien hosted the 98th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday and the results went pretty much as expected (except Frankenstein’s wins… I’ve moved on). The ceremony turned into a true showdown between Ryan Coogler’s SINNERS (Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Actor) and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Editing, Achievement in Casting, Best Actor in a Supporting Role).
Rose Byrne wore a winner’s dress on the Oscars red carpet. The elegant number from Jonathan Andersen’s couture debut for Dior was perfect for the occasion [and paired perfectly with a classic red lip]. Charithra Chandran was another favorite from the night — that green Miss Sohee was spectacular on her.
Autumn Durald Arkapaw wins Best Cinematography at the Oscars for her work on Sinners. Arkapaw is the first woman to win in this category in the history of The Academy Awards. Sinners took home 4 Oscars after breaking the record for total number of Oscar nominations for a motion picture. Ryan Coogler got involved with that.
Nespresso taps Dua Lipa as their new ambassador. The brand cites her music career and reflective discussion with the Service95 book club as a draw for the brand. What’s your favorite pod, Dua?
All that hooting and hollering about the Pantone Color of the Year — it rocks on the carpet. Cloud Dancer was not a favorite pick from the Notes gallery of thought when it was announced in 2025. Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning, Mia Goth, Bella Hadid, Sarah Pidgeon, Sarah Paulson, Timothée Chalamet, Suki Waterhouse, Simone Ashley, Iris Law, Li Jun Li, Da’vine Joy Randolph, and Olandria all stunned in various tones of white, cream, and silver. Zendaya is also giving us a tour of wedding dresses for The Drama press [we’re never seeing her real one].
simone ashley (in tamara ralph), eva victor (in loewe), mia goth (in dior), bella hadid (in custom prada), and da’vine joy randolph (in custom karla gil)
🗽hyperlocal beat
PROOF returns to Broadway on March 31 with Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle. Fresh off filming Season 5 of The Bear, Ayo will be making her Broadway debut in PROOF. This one’s for the STEM girlies. Samira Wiley and Jin Ha also star.
🚨 The salsa at Los Tacos No. 1 is spicy 🚨 pretends to be shocked A case lodged by a German tourist against NYC staple Los Tacos No.1 was dropped by the judge. I have nothing witty to add here; I just thought this was a little ridiculous.
That’s all I have for you this week! stay hot ❤️🔥
xx, Gabby
As a millennial, I feel I must apologize for the millennials who clearly have their heads in the sand in regards to colored eyeshadow. I've been rocking a robin's egg blue shadow for a while now and I'm currently on the hunt for the perfect, bright pink gel liner (any recommendations welcomed!) Terrific newsletter, as always. Thank you for keeping me on top of all the trends in beauty, celebs, and GLP1's 🙃
This is my most favorite newsletter. You always pull things I wouldn't see otherwise, as someone interested in fashion and beauty, but not super plugged in. That Wunmi Mosaku Glamour interview was so lovely and made me look up who her makeup artist is because whoa.
I also had not seen Charithra Chandran's dress anywhere and it's amazing (how do they decide who goes in all the round ups? I feel like people are always missing?)