Vol. 1 Things I Bought, Read & Thought About

in no particular order

Hi! If you’re here it means you’re someone who, at some point in the recent past, has asked me for a recommendation about fashion or beauty or work. This Substack is my lazy attempt to corral those recs and discussions into one place. There’s no real agenda or strategy just FYI. OK, here we go.

Bougie self-care products. After being stalked on Instagram for months, I finally cracked and ordered a few candles and body oil from Flamingo Estate. I still haven’t really figured out what “the Estate” is… seems to be a fancy house in the hills somewhere around Los Angeles. The website describes it as “a pleasure-obsessed home of sun-worship, folk mythologies, and psychedelic remedies grown only by farmers we know and trust.” K. Anyway, their marketing is beautiful and I have high hopes for my tomato-scented candle… will keep you posted.

These silk shorts. I use The Pomodoro Technique to help me crank through tasks I’m not particularly excited about quickly. (I’m a big believer in the “done is better than perfect” theory, especially when you’re trying to get something off the ground.) If you’re unfamiliar, The Pomodoro Technique combines 25 minutes of focused work followed by a mandatory 5-min break. It’s great except that during my 5-min break I often shop and since time is limited, my purchases can sometimes skew kinda random. Anyway, these weirdo shorts arrived and I LOVE THEM. They will be great with a pocket tee and blazer or a striped button down shirt during the upcoming warmer months.

Vitamins you eat. This is another IG purchase, obviously. I’m not sure GEM Vitamins actually qualify as vitamins since they are more like extremely small nutrition bars, but again, excellent marketing! They are definitely an acquired taste (kind of citrusy?) but I have grown to like them and eat one first thing each day to counteract everything else I eat later in the day. As far as IG purchases go, I’m declaring this one a winner.

News living rent-free in my brain: I limit my news intake for my mental health, but because I am a Royal Watcher and consider Kate Middleton to be one of the most fascinating people alive, I’ve been obsessed with #whereiskate. If you know, pls tell me!

More news living rent-free in my brain: The class-action lawsuit filed against Hermes over its (well known) practice of gate-keeping its Birkin bags. The lawsuit claims that Hermes requires clients to purchase a bunch of things they don't necessarily want to qualify them for the right to buy the Birkin violates anti-trust laws. I don’t know if this practice violates those laws or not, but I do know that its existence is what makes a Birkin, a Birkin. Take that away and it’s just another boxy bag with an annoying closure system. (Sorry if you like it!)

The 1-Page Marketing Plan by Alan Dibb: I’m actually on my second pass through this book. Like many marketing books, some of the information is pretty basic, but unlike many marketing books, it doesn’t just say the same thing 100 different ways. Each chapter has a distinct focus and I’ve found it helpful as I think about how to acquire customers for Stylematch.co now that I almost have operations worked out.

Geidi Primes (Nightmare Edition) by Grimes: I’m like 15 years late to the Grimes fan club, but I’m fine with that. She just released a new album which I’ve had on repeat at work all week.

Last but not least: I had a few inquiries about this J.Crew Laminated Linen skirt, pictured on Grace Ghanem above. It has been sold out but is currently available in sizes 2, 4, 6 & 8. Fits TTS.

That’s a wrap on everything in my brain right now!! Off to map out a welcome series for Stylematch.co — if you have any recs about best practices there, please ping me!

PS: If you know anyone who might enjoy this newsletter, please pass along!