Sweetgreen's lemon juice is seed oil-free
So is their basil and raw carrots.
Good morning. This is my face from yesterday after I got a facial with Stalle Studios. I think if I could go back in time, I would become an esthetician. What a fun industry to be a part of right now. Anyway, it was a really wonderful experience and I got about a dozen women DMing me either asking me about the experience or saying that Stalle is the only place they’d get a facial. One person said, “She treats my skin like it’s her personal thesis project.” I’ve seen so many facialists grow through Instagram.
Happy almost Friday.
An email I got yesterday:
I really want to know more about your view on "shitty fashion reporting" and what have been good examples.. This is something I think about a lot (for obvious reasons).
What I look for with fashion reporting and criticism is a throughline to the world I live in. I really like the writer to tell me why the subject (style, trend, designer, story) matters. I read about fashion not because I spend money on clothes or I have an encyclopedic knowledge of fashion history, but because how women are spending money on clothes says something about women. I don’t care if writing is heady, I just want it to be cohesive and hopefully exist in a publication that allows people in.
I like how Rachel wrote about sexiness earlier this year. She connected nipples showing and sheer fabrics with the tightness American women feel within the current political landscape (an in life post-COVID sweats). That makes sense to me, my mom, and a sorority girl buying fast fashion in Alabama.
When Lindsay wrote Black in Fashion in 2018, I was obsessed with watching how she pieced together the photography, interviews, and social plan. She front-loaded the story with numbers and stats which I find effective to grab readers for all types of writing.
It goes without saying that Véronique’s Milennial Pink essay was magnifique because it put language to something the entire city was witnessing. (I also thought she synthesized “old money” style well).
Will Welch’s interview with Kanye in 2020 was so intimate. His attention to detail made the reader feel like they were right there in Wyoming. Designers are twisted and real, and I liked how Welch captured that.
I’ve said this before, but I really liked Sleeveless.
I don’t like SEO optimization (I know this has to exist). I don’t like recaps that writers just bang out to make advertisers or their bosses happy (I know these have to exist). I don’t like when editors don’t let writers say what they mean, because it’s too risky or controversial. I also think we are in a humor drought.
As always, if you have any questions that you have for me that you want me to answer in the email, you know where to find me (emilyesundberg@gmail.com or my DM’s).
And now for the news:
Kendall Jenner went Bartstool mode. She visited the campuses of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan to promote her tequila to college students. Honestly…. this is fun. I like to see all the college bars reacting to her, and it instantly made the 818 Instagram page cooler.
Did you all know that Apartment Therapy launched a new account just featuring dorms? Smart.
I think we’re all about to get a lot more familiar with Formula Fig in 2024. Their service-meets-retail business model is shaking up the skincare hospitality industry, and it feels incredibly gender-neutral (which I think is also going to be big next year for aesthetics!). After opening its first studio in the United States in West Hollywood in April, its second location is set to bow in Culver City on Nov. 3. The company, which started in Vancouver, Canada in 2019, operates five facial studios in Vancouver and Toronto. It looks like they offer injectables, facials, lymphatic drainage, and vitamin injections. The only investor I could find was Harbinger Ventures (whose portfolio includes other wellness and CPG brands). The company told Beauty Independent that it raised about $575k to open its first two locations from friends and family members, but declined to comment further on funding. Formula Fig said they’re registering high double-digit sales increases year-over-year. CEO Jessica Walsh argues that what differentiates Formula Fig from its competitors like Glowbar and Heyday is that its services are more technology-drive. She says, “I very much believe in the value side of it and in technology and convenience. Give me what you can in 30 minutes to make a massive difference.” They also said they never want customers to age out of their services. 😵💫😵💫😵💫