Before we jump into today’s topic, let’s first catch up on everything that’s been happening in the marketing world...

Hot on Social Media🔥

• 💄 Fenty Beauty just dropped the replacement for its OG Pro Filt’r foundation, and honestly, I’m curious. The new Fluid Flex Natural Matte Foundation comes in 50 shades and was developed using seven years of customer feedback, so I like that they’re actually taking what people wanted into account. The formula is also meant to move with your skin while staying matte, which feels like the direction foundations are going now, less cakey, more skin-like. After discontinuing such a cult product, Fenty definitely has a lot to live up to with this one.

• 🎀 JENNIE and adidas are teasing their next collab, and I already know this one is going to be everywhere. The teaser leans into the whole balletcore-meets-sportswear moment with stirrup socks, micro shorts, and classic track jackets. I feel like JENNIE is one of those celebrities who can make even the most basic pieces feel instantly cool, and this collection is definitely giving that off-duty dancer aesthetic.

• 🤍 K2O by Sprinter is now officially Drink K2O, with the brand expanding further into beauty-focused hydration and recovery. They recently sent me some of the products to try, and I’ve actually been enjoying them, especially since I’ve started working out more and paying attention to hydration. They’ve also just launched their K2O x HydroJug in Strawberry Pink Shimmer, which is now available on the site. Not mad at the timing either… my gym bag definitely needed a little upgrade.

• 🧩China’s latest “pindou” trend is basically turning fuse beads into the new cool-girl hobby, and luxury brands are getting involved. Loewe, Delvaux, 3CE and others are turning their products into bead patterns and hands-on workshops, and I actually find the shift really interesting. In a world of AI-generated everything and endless scrolling, people seem to be craving activities that take time and actually leave you with something you made yourself. It also shows how brands are moving from “buy this” to “come make this with us” and honestly, that feels like a much more interesting way to build community.

• 🎨 To celebrate the launch of the brand in Europe, REFY just opened a pop-up kiosk along the Seine in Paris and brought in artist Jess Rose Bird to create free portraits for its community, with REFY products worked into the artwork. I actually love this because it feels so much more personal than a typical beauty pop-up. People get a little keepsake, the brand becomes part of the experience, and of course, everyone leaves with something worth posting.

• 💄 Patrick Ta Beauty might have one of the best beauty campaigns of 2026 with its new Artistry Sticks and Defining You campaign. I love that they’re putting the MUA community at the centre, following seven artists and the little experiences that shaped their approach to beauty. It also makes the product story feel much more personal, these are techniques Patrick Ta has used throughout his career, turned into something consumers can actually use. And the PR mailers celebrating self-love and individuality? Very cute, very on-brand.

• 🌸 Gap Beauty is bringing back its cult ’90s fragrances, and, this feels like exactly the kind of nostalgia Gen Z loves right now. The relaunch includes five scents, including four revamped classics and a new Harmony fragrance, all designed to be worn solo or layered depending on your mood.

• 👠 KHY is entering footwear for the first time with Italian brand Gia Borghini, and honestly, the whole collection feels very Kylie. Three minimalist silhouettes in black leather, chrome and chocolate pony hair, with just enough Y2K energy to make them feel current.

• ☕ Chanel just turned Singapore’s New Bahru into a full-on Parisian café to launch its new Coco Mademoiselle Crush Absolu fragrance. From pink interiors and a scent discovery bar to complimentary drinks, beauty consultations and even a cheeky phone booth, every detail ties back to the fragrance. I love how luxury brands are making fragrance launches feel less like shopping and more like stepping inside the world of the scent.

• 🎬 Marc Jacobs just turned its Fall campaign into a full-on micro-drama with Rowan Blanchard and Jemima Kirke. The Swap follows the two after they accidentally exchange their Scene Bags, turning a simple bag mix-up into a whole New York mystery (well there’s an actual story here that makes you want to see what happens next).

The Real Talk 👀

If you've spent any time scrolling through TikTok, walking through Sephora, or even grocery shopping lately, you've probably noticed that products that used to look almost identical are suddenly trying very hard to look different.

And I don’t think this is just a packaging trend.

I think we’re watching something much bigger happen across consumer brands: categories are becoming so crowded that the brands winning aren’t necessarily inventing new products. They’re finding new ways to make familiar products interesting again.

Enter: category breakers. 💥

A category breaker is a brand that enters an industry that’s already full of competitors but finds its own little corner to play in. It doesn’t necessarily have the budget to outspend the biggest brands, the technology to completely reinvent the product, or the resources to create an entirely new category. Instead, it takes one familiar thing and breaks one of the unwritten rules around it.

The packaging changes. The tone of voice changes. The audience changes. The ritual changes. Suddenly, something consumers have been ignoring for years feels new again!

And honestly, I think this is becoming one of the most interesting strategies in CPG right now.

We’re often told that innovation means creating something that has never existed before. But if I were starting a consumer brand today, I wouldn’t necessarily ask myself, “What’s never been done before?”

I’d ask, “What category has everyone stopped paying attention to?” 💯

Because there are so many products that consumers already buy every single week, but very few people are genuinely excited about them. Olive oil. Sunscreen. Canned fish. Water. Acne patches. These aren’t new needs. They’re incredibly established categories with huge incumbents and predictable marketing playbooks.

And that’s exactly what makes them interesting.

You don’t necessarily have to convince someone they need your product. They already know they need it. Your job is to give them a reason to care about your version of it.

That’s what brands like Vacation, Graza, Fishwife, Liquid Death and Starface have understood incredibly well. They didn’t invent completely new products. They created new worlds around products consumers already knew.

And once you start looking for it, you see category breaking everywhere.

🧴 Vacation turned sunscreen into entertainment.

Sunscreen might be one of the best examples because the category had become almost entirely functional. For years, the conversation was basically SPF, protection, ingredients and dermatological credibility. The packaging was usually clinical, the language was serious and the product itself was something you remembered to put on because you should.

Then Vacation came along and decided sunscreen didn’t have to feel like sunscreen.

Instead of positioning itself around clinical protection alone, the brand built an entire universe around leisure. Its “Leisure-Enhancing Sunscreen” language, nostalgic packaging, playful copy and products like its Classic Whip SPF 30 made sunscreen feel less like a chore and more like part of the vacation itself. The brand even describes its signature scent as a nostalgic mix of coconut, banana, pool water, pool toys and swimsuit fabric.

The interesting part is that this wasn’t just playfulness for the sake of being playful. Vacation found a cultural opening inside the category. Its audience skewed young and social, which meant that making sunscreen visually distinctive gave the product something most traditional sunscreen brands didn’t have: shareability.

And the strategy clearly created a world that could stretch far beyond one sunscreen product. Today, Vacation sells everything from sunscreen mousse and gel to fragrance and body products, while continuing to build around that same nostalgic idea of leisure.

The product didn’t need to become unrecognisable.

The category did.

👀 Graza made olive oil feel like a lifestyle product.

Then there’s Graza, which might be one of my favourite examples because olive oil is about as “boring” as a category can get.

Olive oil has been sitting in people’s kitchens forever. It’s something we buy because we need it, not because we’re particularly excited to discover a new brand. For decades, the category was dominated by dark glass bottles, traditional Mediterranean imagery and packaging that looked like it was trying very hard to communicate authenticity.

Graza took one look at that and basically said: what if olive oil looked completely different ⁉️

Its bright squeeze bottles instantly stood out, but the smarter move was that the brand didn’t stop at packaging. Graza launched around two clear hero products: one designed for cooking and another for finishing. Suddenly, olive oil wasn’t just a generic pantry staple. There was a more intuitive way to understand the product and how you were supposed to use it. Highsnobiety’s recent Status Economy report specifically highlights Graza’s two-product approach as part of what made the brand feel like it knew the category while still making it culturally relevant.

And that’s the sweet spot for a category breaker. You don’t want to look like an outsider who doesn’t understand the category. You want to understand the category better than everyone else and then deliberately break the rules.

The squeeze bottle became the visual shorthand for the brand. Eventually, the idea became so recognisable that legacy players started experimenting with similar formats too.

That’s when you know you’ve done something interesting. You haven’t just entered the category.

You’ve changed what the category is allowed to look like.

🩹 Even bandages are getting a personality.

I recently came across Benjie, a new bandage brand that is doing something surprisingly simple: making bandages fun. Instead of treating them like a purely functional product that exists to cover a wound and disappear, Benjie uses playful doodles, colourful designs and character-led packaging to turn something incredibly ordinary into something you might actually want to show off.

And I think this is exactly what category breaking looks like when you strip it down to its simplest form. Benjie didn’t need to invent a completely new type of bandage. The need already existed, the product already existed and the category was already established. What changed was the way the product was presented. A bandage suddenly becomes a tiny form of self-expression rather than something you hide under your sleeve.

It’s the same reason Starface worked so well. Once you stop treating the product as something that needs to disappear and start treating it as something people can interact with, decorate, collect or share, the entire category starts to feel different.

And honestly, that’s what I love about category breakers. Sometimes the innovation is hiding in plain sight. You just have to look at the most boring product on the shelf and ask, “Why does this have to be boring?”

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The world around the product is becoming as important as the product itself.

Put Vacation, Graza, Fishwife, Liquid Death and Starface next to each other and they look completely unrelated.

Sunscreen. Olive oil. Canned fish. Water. Acne patches.

But underneath, they’re doing the exact same thing.

➡️ They’re taking products that already exist and building a much bigger world around them.

That’s especially important now because the way consumers discover products has changed. A product doesn’t have to live quietly on a supermarket shelf anymore. It can become part of someone’s feed, their kitchen aesthetic, their bathroom shelf, their dinner party or even their identity.

Think about what that actually means?? Your olive oil can say something about your taste. The protein bar sitting on your desk can say something about your lifestyle. The canned fish in your kitchen can say something about the brands you know. The soda in your fridge can say something about your wellness habits. The products we buy are increasingly becoming little signals of who we are.

And that creates an enormous opportunity for consumer brands.

📌 We’re moving from consumer goods to cultural goods.

I think this is the bigger shift happening underneath all of this.

For a long time, CPG was about function. You bought toothpaste because you needed toothpaste. You bought olive oil because you needed olive oil. You bought water because you were thirsty.

Now, many of these products are becoming cultural goods.

Highsnobiety has even started using the term “Fast Moving Cultural Goods” to describe this new generation of everyday products that carry the cultural weight of traditional status symbols.

And honestly, it makes sense.

A designer handbag can tell you what someone values. But so can their fridge.

The difference is that these products are much more accessible. You don’t need thousands of euros to participate in the culture. You might just need the “right” olive oil, a cool tin of sardines or a protein bar that everyone on TikTok is talking about.

That’s why I don’t think the future of CPG is necessarily about creating products that have never existed before.

It’s about making ordinary products culturally meaningful.

📌 So... what can brands learn from category breakers?

I think the biggest lesson is that innovation doesn’t always mean inventing something new.

Sometimes it means noticing that everyone in your category is doing the same thing and asking whether they actually need to.

If every sunscreen brand is talking about clinical protection, maybe you can talk about leisure. And sometimes, that’s enough.

Because once consumers notice the rule being broken, they start noticing the brand. Once they notice the brand, they become curious about the world around it. And if that world is strong enough, people don’t just come for the product anymore.

They come for the feeling of being part of something. That’s why I don’t think brands should be afraid of entering crowded categories.

I think they should be afraid of entering them and looking exactly like everyone else.

And maybe the next big brand won’t invent a new category at all.

Maybe it’ll just break the one that’s already there.

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗

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- Avani

Before we jump into today’s topic, let’s first catch up on everything that’s been happening in the marketing world...

Hot on Social Media🔥

• ✨ Zendaya is officially Prada Beauty's newest global ambassador, fronting the campaign for Paradoxe Sweet Chemistry. Well, Prada, they partnered with someone who genuinely wore the fragrance long before becoming its ambassador. Consumers are becoming much better at spotting forced partnerships, so campaigns that feel authentic naturally resonate more. It also doesn't hurt that Zendaya is having a huge cultural moment right now (after The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day), making the timing feel spot on.

• 🥤 Poppi just turned the Love Island finale into a giant social media playground, taking over JOIA's rooftop in London with creator hosting, branded installations and plenty of Instagram-worthy moments.

• Kylie Jenner is expanding her fragrance line with three new scents called Mood Stones, featuring Cashmere Muse, Blush Wood and Velvet Brew. Instead of launching another "signature scent," Kylie built the collection around different moods and personalities, saying she wanted it to reflect the idea that people are multifaceted.

• 💄 Louis Vuitton is expanding La Beauté with its very first lip liner, the LV Crayon, designed by Dame Pat McGrath.

• Westman Atelier has finally entered the liquid foundation category with its new Suprême Bio-Complex Foundation, combining skincare ingredients like peptides with exosome delivery technology.

• DIBS Beauty is taking on the concealer category with its new dual-ended Edit Stick, pairing a concealer and brightener into one product. Multifunctional beauty feels like the natural next step for shoppers who are looking to simplify their routines without sacrificing results.

• Louis Vuitton just won a trademark lawsuit against Chinese tea chain Molly Tea, after a court ruled that the brand's flower logo too closely resembled the iconic LV Monogram Flower. What's fascinating is that while Louis Vuitton won legally, public opinion in China has been much more divided. Many consumers argue that the floral motif has roots in traditional Chinese art, turning what started as a trademark dispute into a much broader conversation about intellectual property, cultural heritage and global luxury brands operating in local markets.

• 👟 Nike and Hyperice have unveiled the Air Zoom Hyperslide, a recovery slide combining Nike's Air Zoom cushioning with Hyperice's heat and vibration technology for an on-the-go foot massage. A few years ago, recovery products were mostly reserved for professional athletes. Today, they're being designed as lifestyle products for everyone. It's another reminder that wellness is no longer a niche category, it's becoming embedded into fashion, technology and everyday consumer products, which is exactly what I want to talk about today.

The Real Talk 👀

I’ve been working in the beauty sector for some time now. There was a time when every celebrity was launching a beauty brand, and everyone was just obsessed with the latest launch.

Rihanna gave us Fenty Beauty. Selena Gomez launched Rare Beauty. Hailey Bieber introduced Rhode. Kylie Jenner built Kylie Cosmetics. Ariana Grande had r.e.m. beauty. Lady Gaga entered the space with Haus Labs.

And they weren’t alone. Founders, influencers, creators, and even fashion houses all wanted a piece of beauty. For a while, it made perfect sense.

Beauty had everything brands could ask for. High margins. Repeat purchases. Emotional storytelling. Endless opportunities for content creation. Products that naturally fit into morning routines, “Get Ready With Me” videos, and Instagram flat lays.

But somewhere over the past few years, something started to change.

Not because people suddenly stopped caring about beauty. If anything, consumers have never been more interested in skincare, fragrance and self-care. The difference is that beauty has become one of the most crowded industries in the world. Today, there’s a product for almost every skin type, concern, ingredient, aesthetic and price point imaginable. Launching another moisturiser or lip oil simply doesn’t feel as disruptive as it once did.

So where is all that consumer excitement moving instead? Towards wellness!

📌 Consumers aren’t looking for more products, rather better routines.

The biggest consumer opportunities today aren’t necessarily coming from entirely new categories. They’re coming from old habits that are being reimagined through the lens of health and wellness.

People still drink coffee every morning. They still snack in the afternoon. They still go out with friends on weekends. Those behaviours haven’t changed. What has changed is what consumers expect from them.

Instead of simply wanting a soda, people want a prebiotic soda that supports gut health. Instead of another energy drink loaded with sugar, they’re looking for one that promises cleaner energy, better focus or hydration. Even snacking is becoming more functional, with protein bars, collagen-infused treats and hormone-support snacks turning everyday habits into opportunities for wellness.

That’s why I don’t think the biggest brands of the next decade will necessarily invent completely new behaviours. They’ll improve the ones consumers already have.

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🧉 Functional drinks are becoming what skincare was ten years ago.

One of the clearest examples of this shift is happening in beverages. Just a few years ago, soda was simply soda and energy drinks were mostly competing on flavour or caffeine. Today, that conversation looks completely different.

Brands like Poppi, Olipop, GORGIE, and Update are selling gut health, sustained energy, focus, and hydration. The product almost becomes secondary to the benefit.

It’s remarkably similar to what happened in skincare, where consumers stopped buying moisturisers and started buying niacinamide, peptides and ceramides. The language of wellness has become the new language of food and drink.

Even celebrities are beginning to follow this shift. Earlier this year, Kylie Jenner introduced K2O by Sprinter, an electrolyte drink designed around hydration and everyday wellness rather than another beauty product. Considering how saturated celebrity beauty has become, it’s a smart move into a category that’s still growing rapidly and has far fewer established players!

I’ve written a dedicated article on the rise of beverages you can read here -

This shift isn’t just happening among startups, either. Some of the biggest luxury brands are beginning to redefine what beauty means.

Take Oh My Cream, for example. The Paris-based beauty retailer recently opened a three-storey flagship that’s far more than a place to buy skincare. Alongside beauty products, visitors can book infrared saunas, contrast therapy, treatments and explore nutrition and activewear. It’s a space built around wellbeing rather than just beauty, reflecting a broader shift in what consumers now expect from the category.

Even Dior is expanding beyond traditional beauty with the launch of Haute Wellness Dior, a lifestyle collection featuring yoga mats, weighted bracelets, resistance bands and silk sleep masks. A few years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine a luxury fashion house investing so heavily in wellness.

📌 The rising trend around women health!

One trend I’m watching closely is the rise of products designed specifically around women’s health. For years, most functional nutrition was built around general wellness, but brands are now developing products that address hormonal cycles, skin health, PMS, hydration and energy needs in much more targeted ways.

Brands like Bish are creating protein bars designed to support hormonal health, while Glow Beauty Fuel combines collagen, hyaluronic acid and vitamin C into drink mixes focused on skin. Funk It Wellness offers seed-based blends and multivitamin bites aimed at easing menstrual cycles, and newer beverage brands like GORGIE, Bloom and Benny are experimenting with lower caffeine levels, green coffee bean extract and ingredients like L-theanine to create smoother, more sustained energy.

What’s fascinating is that this isn’t simply “healthy food.” It’s nutrition becoming personalised. Consumers increasingly expect products to solve specific problems rather than offer generic health benefits, and brands are responding by creating solutions for life stages, hormone changes and everyday wellbeing.

The same shift is happening in alcohol.

For years, drinking culture was built around one simple idea: if you’re socialising, you’re probably drinking alcohol. But younger consumers are slowly rewriting those rules.

Many are drinking less, choosing lower-alcohol alternatives or skipping alcohol altogether, not because they want to stop socialising, but because they want options that fit their lifestyles. Wellness has started influencing nightlife in much the same way it has influenced food and beauty.

That’s created space for brands like Ghia, Kin Euphorics, Athletic Brewing, Lucky Saint and BERO to rethink what a drink can represent.

What’s particularly clever is that these brands understand the product alone isn’t enough. They’re selling the ritual around it. Athletic Brewing has built communities around running events and endurance sports. Lucky Saint regularly partners with Strava to host run clubs, while BERO, Tom Holland’s non-alcoholic beer brand, recently collaborated with Barry’s, turning a beer into something people reach for after a workout rather than after a night out.

The opportunity isn’t simply creating another beverage. It’s recreating the social experience without asking consumers to compromise on their health goals.

I think the biggest takeaway from all of this is: What people are really buying are routines, rituals, identity and convenience.

That’s why categories like functional beverages, healthier snacks, women’s health, pet wellness and even Gen Alpha-focused products feel so exciting right now.

We’ve already seen brands like Hot Girl Pickles transform an overlooked pantry staple into something culturally relevant, while Fishwife turned canned fish into a premium lifestyle brand through design, storytelling and social media. And I think that’s exactly where the biggest opportunities are heading.

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗

If you enjoyed it-

• You can leave a like or comment

• Subscribe (it’s free)

• Share it with someone who might like it ❤️

- Avani

Hot on Social Media🔥

• 🍓 Kylie Jenner's Khy? Nope! This one's from Khy's sister brand, K2O by Sprinter, which just dropped a limited-edition HydroJug in the prettiest strawberry pink shimmer. As I've mentioned in one of my previous pieces, it feels like we're seeing a wave of electrolyte drinks and better-for-you beverage brands entering the market right now. I've actually been trying more of these since I started working out, and I genuinely get the hype. Staying hydrated makes such a difference, and I'd definitely recommend adding electrolytes to your routine if you're exercising regularly.

• 🍦 Gisou turned its latest launch into the sweetest summer activation by bringing Gisou's Glaces to Saint-Tropez. To celebrate its new Honey Infused Hair & Body Mists, the brand served ice cream inspired by the two scents, Honey Dewy and Glazed Cherry.

• 🧈 Summer Fridays is expanding its cult-favorite Butter Balm franchise beyond lips with new Body Butter Balms and matching fragrance mists. I actually think this is a smart move because brands are realizing consumers don’t just want a hero product anymore, they want the entire scent experience. Also... Pistachio Milk? That one already has me intrigued.

• UPDATE just launched its first omnichannel campaign built around one simple question: "How does Kim get it all done?" Instead of leading with ingredients or product claims, they're selling the idea of sustained focus through Kim Kardashian's lifestyle.

• Fenty Skin brought A$AP Rocky back into the brand for its latest Lux Balm and Hydra Vizor launch, and honestly, no one does couple marketing quite like Rihanna and Rocky. Their real-life chemistry makes the campaign feel way more authentic than a typical celebrity ad, and tying it to Rocky’s DON’T BE DUMB era turns a skincare launch into something people actually want to watch.

• Kourtney Kardashian’s Lemme turned its latest skincare supplement launch into a full-on froyo moment with a takeover of viral NYC spot Mimi's Frozen Yogurt.

• Zara Larsson is selling pieces from her own wardrobe on Depop. Her edit is packed with designer pieces, vintage finds, and even upcycled tour merch, making it feel way more personal than a typical collab.

• Victoria Beckham Beauty just brought a slice of the Italian Riviera to New York with a takeover of Caffè Paradiso to celebrate its Portofino '97 fragrance. I love how beauty brands are moving beyond traditional pop-ups and creating experiences that transport you into the world of a scent.

The Real Talk 👀

If I'm being honest, I don't even want to know how much I spend on matcha or lippies every month. And don't even get me started on the number of functional drinks I've picked up just because the "packaging looked cute".

And I know I’m not the only one. Everywhere I look, people are treating themselves to a coffee after a long day, a sweet treat during their lunch break, a new beauty product they definitely don’t need, or another prebiotic soda to try. Social media has even given it a name: the little treat.

But I don’t think everyone’s actually obsessed with matcha. Or lip balms. Or fancy sodas.

I think we’re just obsessed with what they represent. Because the little treat became the new luxury. And honestly, brands have noticed too.

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Today, that version of luxury feels further away for a lot of people. Rising living costs, expensive housing, and economic uncertainty have made those milestones less accessible. But our desire to reward ourselves hasn’t disappeared.

Instead, we’ve simply changed what a reward looks like.

Now it’s grabbing your favourite matcha after work. Buying the new Summer Fridays lip balm because you’ve had a stressful week. Picking up an Olipop or Poppi while grocery shopping because it makes an ordinary afternoon feel a little more exciting. 💛

These purchases are replacing the feeling luxury used to give us.

I think this is the biggest reason the “little treat” trend has become so popular. The product itself isn’t always what people are paying for. A skincare routine isn’t just about moisturising your skin; it’s twenty minutes that belong entirely to you.

That’s why these purchases feel so much bigger than their price tags. Consumers are buying a feeling. It’s a tiny ritual that makes an ordinary day feel just a little more special, and brands have become incredibly good at designing products around those emotional moments rather than just their functional benefits.

📌 The algorithm knows exactly when you need a little treat.

One of the biggest reasons this trend has exploded is social media. Every scroll introduces another seasonal drink, another limited-edition flavour, another “must-have” beauty product.

And somehow they’re always presented as affordable.

"It’s only $7." or "It’s just one lip balm."

Individually, they don’t feel like major purchases. But collectively, they become habits. Even online shopping has evolved into part of the ritual. Late-night scrolling often turns into “add to cart” moments because algorithms know exactly when we’re winding down, emotionally vulnerable or simply looking for a small dopamine boost.

The little treat economy doesn’t just happen in cafés anymore.

It happens on our For You Page.

Why brands love the little treat economy?

From a marketing perspective, little treats are incredibly powerful because they’re built around repeat behaviour.

Someone might buy one designer handbag every few years. But they’ll buy coffee several times a week.

Limited-edition drinks. Mini perfumes. Functional beverages.

Instead of encouraging consumers to make one big purchase, brands are creating products that naturally become part of everyday life.

That’s why we’re seeing more seasonal menus, collectible packaging, exclusive collaborations and limited drops. They’re not simply selling another product rather they’re giving consumers another excuse to enjoy their next little treat.

The real product isn’t always the coffee or the skincare. It’s the feeling that you’ve done something nice for yourself.

📌 So what can brands learn?

I think the biggest opportunity for CPG brands today isn’t creating another product.

It’s creating something consumers instinctively reach for when they want to make their day a little better.

The brands winning today aren’t necessarily offering the most innovative formula or the cheapest price. They’re creating rituals people look forward to, products that fit naturally into daily routines, and experiences that consumers want to share online.

Because in 2026, people aren’t just buying products. They’re buying tiny moments of comfort.

And honestly...

That might be one of the biggest consumer shifts we’re seeing right now.

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗

If you enjoyed it-

• You can leave a like or comment

• Subscribe (it’s free)

• Share it with someone who might like it ❤️

- Avani

Hot on Social Media🔥

• 🍓 Hilary Duff is officially the face (and creative partner) of Bath & Body Works’ new Fruit Fusion collection, and honestly, the timing couldn’t be more perfect. The campaign is rolling out alongside her first world tour in almost two decades, with billboards popping up near concert venues to tap directly into the nostalgia of sold-out shows. I feel like this is such a smart reminder that brands aren't just partnering with celebrities anymore rather they're building campaigns around cultural comebacks. And with 90s/2000s nostalgia still having such a strong grip on consumers, this feels like one of those collaborations that just makes sense.

• ✨ MERIT just launched its first-ever hospitality partnership with The Ritz-Carlton, bringing personalized beauty experiences, guest room amenities, and limited-edition travel kits to select hotels across North America. I actually love this move because it feels so on-brand. Instead of another pop-up or retail activation, they’re becoming part of the travel experience itself.

• Sol de Janeiro just entered the men's fragrance category with its first-ever Cheirosa Cologne Mists, and I think this is a really smart expansion. The two scents, numbered 7 and 10 after iconic football jerseys, take inspiration from Brazilian street football with earthy, woody and warm, spicy notes. What I find interesting is that they're not trying to reinvent the brand—they're simply giving their existing audience another reason to buy. With such a loyal female customer base, this feels less like marketing to men directly and more like tapping into gifting, especially with the holiday season around the corner.

• Erewhon just teamed up with shower filter brand Jolie Skin on a $12 Sacred Water, and honestly, only Erewhon could make a cup of water feel like a cultural moment. Made with jasmine tea, holy basil, and coconut water, it's the kind of unexpected collaboration that gets people talking before they even take a sip. I feel like Erewhon's Tonic Bar has become one of the strongest launchpads in wellness, where products aren't just introduced; they're turned into viral experiences. At this point, it's less about the drink itself and more about the conversation it creates.

• 💖 Rare Beauty has named Off Campus star Ella Bright as its first-ever brand ambassador, leading the brand's new Made You Blush campaign.

• 🩰 Wait, did you guys see BIRKENSTOCK's new collab with Repetto? They're bringing balletcore to Birkenstocks with ribbons, bows, and glossy finishes, and I honestly love how they've made the trend feel wearable instead of overly costume-like. This might be one of the cutest fashion collabs of the summer!!!!

• 👟 Talking about fashion collabs... did you guys see Timberland and Jacquemus are back with another boat shoe? This time it's in a bold Lagoon Blue, and I already know it's about to be all over my feed. I love how they're taking a heritage silhouette and making it feel fresh without losing what made it iconic.

• ghd celebrated its 25th anniversary in the most ghd way possible, with a stunning dinner in a Sicilian quarry to unveil the new ghd Sculpt.

The Real Talk 👀

Remember when owning a Glossier pink pouch felt like a personality trait?

I’m talking about lines wrapping around the millennial pink stores. Mirror selfies with the iconic “You Look Good” sign. Boy Brow in every makeup bag. Balm Dotcom in every pocket. If you were on Instagram in the late 2010s, it was almost impossible to escape Glossier.

Back then, Glossier was selling a lifestyle. Long before “clean girl beauty” became TikTok’s favourite aesthetic, Glossier had already built it. Minimal makeup, dewy skin, effortless beauty, and products that promised your face, but better.

At its peak, it worked incredibly well.

By 2018, Glossier had crossed $100 million in annual revenue and welcomed over one million new customers in a single year. By 2021, the company was valued at $1.8 billion, making it one of the biggest direct-to-consumer beauty success stories.

But today?

The brand has announced it’s closing 9 of its 12 stores, has gone through multiple rounds of layoffs, including around 50 employees earlier this year, and its valuation now sits well below its peak.

So what happened to the brand that practically rewrote the beauty playbook?

Before everyone talked about community... there was Glossier.

If you’ve been reading my newsletters for a while, you probably know one thing I keep coming back to - the power of community. I’ve written about how the strongest brands today don’t just sell products; they create spaces people genuinely want to be part of. Whether it’s Rhode, SKIMS, MERIT or even Glossier back in the day, community has become one of the biggest competitive advantages a brand can have. 💯

But before every beauty brand started talking about “community,” there was Into The Gloss. Emily Weiss spent years interviewing women about their beauty routines. Not celebrities promoting products, but real people sharing what they actually used. Instead of telling consumers what beauty should look like, she invited them into the conversation.

That conversation eventually became Glossier, and that’s what made the brand so different. People weren’t just buying products; they felt like they were helping build the company. The famous pink bubble wrap became instantly recognisable, mirror selfies became free marketing, and every package felt shareable before “shareability” became a marketing strategy.

Today, almost every beauty brand is trying to recreate that feeling. Rhode has mastered scarcity and creator culture. SKIMS built a community around body confidence and inclusivity.

The difference is that Glossier didn’t copy the playbook. It wrote it!

📌 The growth became bigger than the brand.

At its peak, Glossier looked unstoppable. By 2021, the company had reached a valuation of $1.8 billion, but with that kind of investment came enormous pressure to keep growing. The challenge was that beauty companies typically don’t receive the same valuations as technology companies, so somewhere along the way, Glossier started positioning itself as something much bigger than beauty.

The company began describing itself as a tech business with ambitions to build the “Facebook for beauty.” Engineers were hired from Facebook, Amazon and Instagram, and millions were invested into technology and digital products. But the interesting part is that no one ever really knew what that technology was supposed to become. The app never became the breakthrough everyone imagined, and in 2022, Glossier laid off around 80 employees, many of whom were part of the engineering team.

Instead of becoming the next great tech company, Glossier had spent years moving further away from what made people fall in love with the brand in the first place.

📌 The brand started losing what made it different.

At the same time, another challenge was unfolding; the beauty industry had caught up. When Glossier launched in 2014, community-led beauty barely existed. Today, almost every beauty brand understands aesthetics, influencer marketing, and community. Rhode, Rare Beauty, MERIT, Summer Fridays and REFY are all playing the same game.

The playbook Glossier created became the industry standard. Being first gave them an advantage, but it didn’t guarantee they would stay ahead.

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The company kept changing, and so did its identity.

2022 marked a major turning point. Emily Weiss stepped down as CEO, and Glossier brought in its first external leader, Kyle Leahy. One of her biggest decisions was launching the brand at Sephora, a move that would’ve felt impossible just a few years earlier, given that Glossier had built its entire identity around being direct-to-consumer.

Ironically, the strategy worked. Sephora reportedly generated around $100 million in sales within its first six months. But it also marked a shift in how consumers saw the brand. Between multiple leadership changes, several rounds of layoffs, and now the announcement that 9 of its 12 stores will close, Glossier slowly became less about community and more about restructuring.

🩷 So...how is Glossier trying to rebuild?

Interestingly, Glossier isn’t trying to become something completely new anymore, it’s trying to become Glossier again.

We’ve already seen the brand bring back the original Balm Dotcom formula after customers pushed back against the reformulation, proving that sometimes listening to your community is the best product strategy. It’s also doubling down on fragrance, which reportedly generated around $100 million in revenue last year. With high margins, repeat purchases and emotional storytelling, fragrance feels like a category that naturally fits Glossier’s DNA.

At the same time, the brand is bringing back the experiences people loved through activations like its recent New York Balm Dotcom pop-up, while focusing more on hero products like Boy Brow, Cloud Paint and Balm Dotcom instead of constantly chasing new launches. Rather than trying to be a tech company or an endless product machine, Glossier seems to be simplifying and leaning back into what made people fall in love with it in the first place.

📌 What can brands learn from Glossier?

I don’t think Glossier failed because its products stopped being good. Boy Brow is still iconic, Cloud Paint still has loyal fans, and people still carry Balm Dotcom around.

The bigger issue was that the brand slowly drifted away from what made it special. It chased bigger valuations, tried becoming a tech company, and lost some of the clarity that made consumers feel connected to it.

For marketers, I think there are a few big takeaways:

• Community isn’t just a marketing strategy—it’s part of your product.

• Growth should strengthen your identity, not replace it.

• Being first doesn’t guarantee staying first.

• Sometimes your biggest opportunity isn’t launching something new—it’s doubling down on what people already love.

So...can Glossier make a comeback?

Maybe.

The recent focus on fragrance, nostalgic product revivals, experiential pop-ups and simplifying the business all point towards one thing: Glossier isn’t trying to reinvent itself anymore.

It’s trying to remember why people fell in love with it in the first place.

And honestly, that might be exactly what the brand needed all along.

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗

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- Avani

Happy Thursday, everyone.
Hope you’re having an awesome week! 💛

Before starting today’s topic, first, let’s talk about…

Hot on Social Media🔥

• 🎬 Anne Hathaway is set to star in a new project called Yesteryear, and the concept feels way too timely. It follows a tradwife influencer whose whole brand is built around romanticising “pioneer life” aesthetics until she gets sent back to 1855 and has to actually live it. I personally love when films take internet culture and push it to the extreme because suddenly the soft-focus cottagecore fantasy doesn’t look so cute without WiFi, plumbing, or basic rights. It feels like such a sharp way to comment on how nostalgia gets sold online, especially when people glamorise eras they definitely wouldn’t survive in. Also, Anne Hathaway in this role? She’s going to eat.

• 💛 NYX Professional Makeup just entered the body care category with its new Fat Oil Body Collection. The range includes body oils, lotions, mists, and shimmers in multiple scents, basically taking their viral Fat Oil energy beyond just lips. I feel like beauty brands are all trying to become full lifestyle brands now, and this feels like NYX saying they want a bigger space on your shelf.

• GAP and Victoria Beckham announcing a multi-season partnership is a smart move. The first spring drop reimagines GAP classics through Victoria’s lens, with 38 pieces focused on elevated wardrobe staples and refined basics. I like how GAP is getting into new partnerships, first with Summer Fridays and now this, because it makes the brand feel way more culturally relevant again

• 👀 Liked this read by Byrdie on the rise of the “Nepo Friend” because they might have cracked the better deal. All the perks of celebrity proximity access, trips, brand invites, and Coachella wristbands without the pressure or scrutiny that comes with being the actual nepo baby. I feel like being the stylish, well-connected best friend has quietly become its own career path, and this year’s Coachella really proved it.

• 🫶🏻 Kendall Jenner and Jacob Elordi dating rumors are back, and this pairing is def very low-key but very on brand. Reports say they’ve been privately spending time together and “getting to know each other” over the last couple of months, even though they’ve apparently known each other since 2022. I kind of love that Kendall said she stopped actively dating after turning 29, because somehow that makes this feel even more casual and unbothered. Quiet soft-launch energy.

• 🐕‍🦺 Biche officially entering the pet beauty space feels like such a sign of where luxury is heading right now. With fragrance-infused grooming products like a cleanser and coat oil, it’s less about basic pet care and more about lifestyle positioning. I personally think the premiumisation of pet beauty was inevitable! People want their pets to fit into the same elevated aesthetic as everything else in their lives. It’s giving beauty shelf, but for your dog.

  

• Korean brand Ably has launched its first in-house beauty brand, BYBLY, and it feels very Gen Z-coded already. Built using insights from 400 million daily user data points, the brand is clearly leaning into what consumers actually want instead of guessing. The debut lineup includes Moon Cushion, Cushion Refill Shot, and a 3.3 Mascara set, very much that effortless, everyday beauty lane. I feel like more platforms are realising they don’t just want to sell beauty, they want to own it too.

The Real Talk 👀

With everything shifting in consumer behavior recently, I keep coming back to one idea… Gen Z doesn’t buy products the way most brands think they do. And yet, I still see companies building like it’s 2018, obsessing over better features, better pricing, and marginal product improvements as if that alone is enough. From what I’ve seen, it’s not.

So I wanted to break down how the modern consumer actually buys, and where I think most brands are getting this wrong❗️

📌 The Era of Product Parity

We’ve clearly entered an era of product parity. Almost everything is good now. I can go on any site and expect solid formulas, clean UX, fast shipping, and decent branding. What used to be a differentiator is now just the baseline. And when everything performs similarly, I don’t think people choose based on function anymore; they choose based on meaning. The question has shifted from “is this a good product?” to “is this me?”

That shift is really what defines how Gen Z buys.

From what I’ve observed, they’re not just buying products; they’re buying into worlds, identities, and a sense of belonging. The product itself feels more like an entry point than the core value.

• Who do I become if I use this?
• What does this signal about me?
• Do I feel aligned with the people around this brand?

That’s the filter now. And it explains why brands that feel right win, even when the product itself is similar.

Meaning Beats Features

In a hyper-competitive market, I think meaning is starting to beat features. Features are easy to replicate. You can copy ingredients, pricing, and even design fairly quickly. What’s much harder to copy is:

• Cultural relevance
• Emotional connection
• Identity alignment

That’s why I see emotional differentiation becoming the only real moat. The brands that win are not always the most advanced, they’re the ones people feel the strongest connection to.

A Brand Is Now a Universe

This also changes how I think about what a brand actually is. The old model was simple: product, website, ads. That used to be enough. Now, I see a brand more like a universe. Every touchpoint has to feel connected.

→ Visual identity, tone of voice, content, creators, community, website & packaging. 💯

When it works, it doesn’t feel like separate pieces. It feels like one cohesive world that you step into.

Why Rhode Worked?

That’s a big part of why Rhode scaled so fast in my opinion. A lot of people point to celebrity, but I don’t think that’s the real reason. Most celebrity brands don’t break through. What Rhode did well was build a very specific world. Clean, minimal, effortless “it-girl” beauty. Everything reinforces that.

• The visuals feel consistent
• The product design fits the identity
• The creators match the brand

So when someone buys Rhode, they’re not just buying skincare. They’re buying into an aesthetic, a lifestyle, and a version of themselves. The product becomes a signal, not just a solution.

Why 818 Tequila Is Playing a Different Game?

Another brand I think fits this shift is 818. At a glance, it looks like another celebrity alcohol brand. But the way I see it, they didn’t just launch a tequila… they built a cultural system around it.

They entered a saturated category and didn’t try to win on product alone. Instead, they positioned for a new type of consumer:

• Culture-first
• Digitally native
• Experience-driven

From the beginning, it feels like a lifestyle brand, not just a spirits brand.

The Coachella Moment! 🎡

This really clicked for me with how they show up around Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Most alcohol brands go there to:

• Sample
• Sponsor
• Logo-stamp moments

818 does something different. They build their own space.

The 818 Outpost isn’t just an activation; it’s a curated environment where the product is present, but not the focus. It feels lived, not advertised. It’s not “we’re part of the festival.” It’s “this is where the culture happens around it.” And that’s the difference.

Funnels Are Now Loops!

I also think the way people move toward a purchase has fundamentally changed. Funnels are no longer linear. It’s not just awareness → consideration → conversion anymore. What I see instead is more of a loop.

• Someone discovers the brand through content
• Follows passively for a while
• Sees creators using it
• Visits the site, then leaves
• Comes back later

Every touchpoint pulls them a bit deeper. Conversion feels like the outcome of repeated exposure to something that feels aligned, not a single moment.

📌 How I Think Brands Should Be Built Now

Because of all this, the playbook has to change. The way I think about building brands today is very different from a few years ago.

1. Identity Before Product

I think the first question should always be: who does the customer become when they choose you? Not just what problem you solve. The strongest brands are selling a transformation, not just a function.

2. World-Building Over Campaigns

Instead of asking what to post next, I think it’s more important to define what your universe looks and feels like. Then everything you do should reinforce that consistently across platforms.

3. Emotional Differentiation

Features will always get matched, but feeling is much harder to replicate. I try to think in terms of what the brand should make people feel every time they interact with it.

• Confidence
• Status
• Calm
• Belonging

4. Cohesive Touchpoints

This is where I see a lot of brands fall apart. Ads, socials, website, packaging, creators… if they don’t tell the same story, the brand feels fragmented. When they do align, the brand feels much stronger.

5. Community Over Audience

I don’t think the goal is just attention anymore. An audience watches, but a community participates. The strongest brands make people feel like they are part of something bigger than just a transaction.

Final Thought

I don’t think Gen Z is harder to sell to. They just operate on a different framework. They’re not looking for better products, they’re looking for better alignment. And the brands that understand that are the ones that don’t just sell more… they build something people actually want to be part of.

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗

If you enjoyed it-

• You can leave a like or comment

• Subscribe (it’s free)

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- Avani

Hot on Social Media🔥

• Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila has entered the beauty category through a limited-edition body care collaboration with Salt & Stone. I personally feel like brands are really blurring the lines between taste and scent now—like turning what you drink into something you wear. The amber + agave vibe sounds luxe, and launching around Coachella is obviously very strategic.

• REFY just dropped its new Skin Base. A skincare-makeup hybrid with that lightweight, second-skin finish (plus points for hyaluronic acid + that Korean gel texture moment). Tbh, I’ve been waiting for a new launch from REFY for a long time now, and this one looks like it’s about to get money out of my pocket. I like that they actually listened to their community instead of overcomplicating things. What do we think?

• Sephora is now launching its app inside ChatGPT. You can just type something like “find me a foundation for dry skin” and get curated picks based on your own Beauty Insider profile (if you link it). Just like an AI personal beauty advisor.

• 🍵 Ulta Beauty bringing in Clöud Café as its first-ever coffee + matcha partner feels like a pretty big signal. I feel like this just proves ingestible beauty isn’t a niche anymore, but it’s becoming part of the main beauty routine. Also interesting how this ties into the whole K-wellness wave—especially with Olive Young entering the U.S. soon. Ulta is def. trying to get ahead of that curve and position itself as the place for discovery + education.

• High-vamp ballet flats are everywhere right now! From Brigitte Bardot making them iconic back in the day to cool-girl revivals by Kate Moss. I’ve been seeing them on everyone from Kendall Jenner to Gigi Hadid, plus the higher vamp just makes them look sleeker, more structured, and lowkey more expensive. Also feels very Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy coded—minimal, polished, effortless.

  

• Glossier has dropped its new frag “You Soie”. I like the idea of a scent that evolves on everyone (bergamot + rice milk + jasmine), and the whole sun-to-dusk, salty-skin vibe is very aesthetic. But also… how many versions of the same “skin scent” can we have before it starts feeling repetitive? Still, I know Glossier fans are gonna eat this up.

• 🧘‍♀️ Hotels, but make it longevity hubs: this shift is actually kinda wild. What used to be spas and massages is now turning into full-on health ecosystemst including diagnostics, supplements, and personalized wellness programs built into your stay. I’m seeing more hotels position themselves as places for transformation, not just relaxation. If people are already spending $$$ on travel, why not tie it to preventive care and long-term health?

• The potential tie-up between The Estée Lauder Companies and Puig is giving the industry a full-on reset. Nothing’s confirmed yet, but even the idea of this merger is enough to shake the market like, we’re talking a ~$20B powerhouse combining skincare dominance with serious fragrance muscle. I get why brands are chasing size and resilience right now, but bigger doesn’t always mean better in beauty. Curious to see where this goes, but I’m cautiously watching this one.

The Real Talk 👀

For years, beauty was the default category for every celebrity and creator who wanted to launch a brand. We’ve seen Rihanna launching Fenty Beauty, Selena with her Rare Beauty, Lady Gaga with Haus Labs, and countless influencer-led lines.

Beauty brands were def the cultural playground of the 2010s. But something big is shifting… And right now, drinks are taking that throne.🍹

But why everyone’s launching a beverage brand?

Well, the beverage world is exploding!!
And we’ve seen this wave before… Beauty became the celebrity category because you didn’t need factories, complicated supply chains, or massive distribution: just hype, aesthetic content, and an audience. And influencers turned that into a gold mine.

Today, that same energy is moving into beverages from alcohol to wellness drinks, functional drinks, ready-to-drink cocktails, non‑alcoholic sparkling teas and more. And unlike traditional soda brands or old spirits companies, these new beverage brands are built for social media culture from day one❗️

📌 From Alcohol to Functional Drinks — It’s all happening!

The beverage landscape has never looked like this before:

• Alcohol Is Being Rewritten

For decades, big conglomerates dominated the alcohol world. But now, younger consumers don’t relate to that. Infact, about 3 in 5 Gen Z very rarely drink alcohol! (I honestly am one of those 3). Zs want purpose, identity, lifestyle, and beverages that fit how they live, and not what old ads told them to drink.

Utilising the opportunity, creators started jumping on the trend. Creator‑led drinks are everywhere including -

- SipMargs — a creator-led ready‑to‑drink cocktail brand designed for social moments.
– 818 Tequila by Kendall Jenner (lifestyle positioning through influencer culture).
- Ashley’s Nami Matcha for the matcha obsessed girlies.

• Gen Z is drinking differently

We know how this generation is completely different from the previous one, and they are reshaping how millennials think about drinks:

The “sober‑curious” movement is real and people want drinks that support health, wellness, energy, relaxation, or focus. This isn’t just mild interest. The non‑alcoholic drinks market is huge — over $1.2 trillion in 2023 and projected to nearly double by 2030.

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But why does this feel very familiar to the beauty boom?

• Cultural product category

Beauty used to define culture, like the skincare routines, beauty influencers, and collection drops every few months and now, drinks are becoming that cultural product — something you identify with!

I’d say drinks are being marketed in the same way beauty was as IDENTITY.

• The functional wave

Functional beverages, including drinks that claim benefits like energy, calm, focus, gut health, etc., are gaining massive traction. The functional beverage market was already valued at $175+ billion in 2022 and is expected to surpass $339+ billion by 2030. And legacy brands like PepsiCo are even launching prebiotic sodas to compete with niche wellness drinks.

We recently even saw Kim Kardashian enter this space with UPDATE, a beverage startup focused on energy without the crash. Instead of traditional caffeine, it uses a caffeine alternative which is honestly very on-brand with where consumer preferences are heading❗️

And the fact that it already secured a nationwide distribution deal with Walmart shows how big this category is getting.

• Social first product design

Just like beauty brands leaned into social content and shareable packaging, drinks now:

- Use bold, fun flavor names
- Position themselves for lifestyle content
- Lean into TikTok and Instagram aesthetics

📌 The opportunity and the competition

The beverage shelf is now one of the most innovative CPG spaces. From protein drinks to adaptogenic waters to performance beverages, everything is getting reinvented.

Which comes up to one thing -

- More founders launching drinks
- More celebrities and influencers entering the space
- More crowded shelves and higher customer expectations

To stand out today, brands need to do more than make a drink — they need:

• Build a cultural identity

We know how brands love selling lifestyles, and Gen Z is heavily influenced by whatever’s trending on social media at the moment.
It’s all about what drinking says about you.

• Own a clear functional territory

Energy? Calm? Focus? Gut health? Social rituals?
Customers want a reason to choose your drink over 10 others.

• Design for shareability

Packaging, names, storytelling… everything needs a place in the social feed. Just like beauty brands used visual storytelling, drinks need visual desirability!

So… Are drinks the new beauty? Perhaps.

The cultural momentum we saw in beauty is replicating in beverages, but drinks are meeting wellness, lifestyle, identity, and social culture all at once.

And honestly, this is only the beginning.

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗

If you enjoyed it-

• You can leave a like or comment

• Subscribe (it’s free)

• Share it with someone who might like it ❤️

- Avani

Welcome back to my newsletter, where I share the latest marketing buzz, epic brand collabs, juicy Gen Z tea, & more.

Let’s jump straight into what’s new!

• “Wellnessmaxing” has officially turned self-care into a competitive sport where we try to stack as many productive health habits as possible into one hour. It started as a way to save time, but now it feels like we’re just turning relaxation into another stressful chore on the to-do list. Honestly, I’m over this constant need to optimize everything!

• 💄 Kindergartners are now trading coloring books for Makeup Kits as the “Sephora tween” phenomenon trickles down to an even younger cohort. With Gen Alpha reportedly commanding nearly $3,500 in annual spending power, a new wave of brands is specifically cashing in on their desire to mimic the elaborate skincare rituals of their moms and sisters. I find this shift genuinely wild; while it’s cute to see kids playing dress-up, there is something slightly dystopian about five-year-olds putting any pigments on their faces.

• 🎙️ Benny Blanco just dropped the first episode of his new podcast, Friends Keep Secrets, and the internet is already losing it. While the trailer was actually pretty funny, the episode itself is getting roasted for some chaotic moments, like visibly dirty feet and literal on-camera farts. I’m a bit torn; it’s definitely a weird vibe, but it’s so on-brand for his “no filter” energy that it almost works.

• Move over, bold contours cause ‘Ballet Blush’ is officially taking over my feed as the Y2K-inspired trend of the season. This 2026 revival is all about those signature frosty pink finishes, bringing a soft, romanticized energy to our daily routines that feels a lot more intentional than the original cool girl vibe.

• 👀 Moving to eyes, ‘Sleepy Eyes’ are the talk of the town after NYFW. While this has been trending on TikTok for a while, it’s still been quite niche until now, offering a look that is effortless yet grabs all the attention. I find it so satisfying that hot girls being exhausted is finally being embraced as beautiful; it’s like a cool 90s girl who is tired but still looks beautiful.

• Perfume bottles have always been the ultimate objet d’art, doubling as a home for your signature scent and a curated piece of decor to be admired. From the tall, golden curves of J’Adore to Byredo’s signature stout silhouette, these bottles often become just as iconic and sentimental as the fragrance itself. Now, we’re seeing those artistic designs migrate from the vanity to the skin with the rise of the perfume bottle tattoo, a chic, permanent way to pay homage to a favorite memory or someone you hold dear. I like this shift toward wearable nostalgia, like it’s a sharp, unconventional way to turn a beautiful glass bottle into a personal piece of art. (If you dare to!)

• London Fashion Week officially swapped plunging necklines for ‘High Halters,' proving that 2026 is all about a cleaner, more composed silhouette. These cuts focus on sharp shoulder lines and a long, elegant neck, trading heavy reveals for a vibe that feels modern and restrained.

  

• 💙 Primally Pure launched its new Blue Tansy Body Butter featuring Nara Smith and built the rollout as a cinematic, sensory short-form series instead of a traditional influencer ad. Rather than positioning Nara as a face-for-hire, the campaign leaned into shared ethos: Minimal, ancestral, ingredient-forward skincare, Ritual-driven living and the beauty of doing less.

• 🫧 NYC’s first sauna festival, “Culture of Bathe-ing,” is transforming Domino Park into a massive 17-sauna village that blends thermal rituals with immersive art. It’s a bold move from Therme Group to introduce the U.S. to “social bathing,” signaling a 2026 shift where wellness is more about shared cultural connection than solo optimization.

• Kim Kardashian has officially joined the energy drink brand Update as a co-founder, just in time for its massive nationwide relaunch at Walmart on March 1, 2026. She has since helped pivot the brand away from a "masculine tech-bro" aesthetic toward a more minimal, "Skims-inspired" look. The big differentiator for Update is that it’s caffeine-free; instead, it uses paraxanthine, which is what your body naturally breaks caffeine down into, promising the focus without the typical jitters or crash.

• ✨ Well, Disney announced that Hannah Montana is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a special on Disney+ that drops on March 24, 2026. As part of the event, Miley Cyrus will sit down with Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper for an “intimate look” at the character’s lasting impact and to revisit the show’s best bits. The special will be filmed in front of a live studio audience and features recreated sets alongside never-before-seen archival footage.

• 📚 Something is finally shifting, and the ‘Beige Era’ is officially over. We're seeing the return of the ‘Interesting Woman’, where intellect isn't just a trait, it's becoming visibly trendy again. For us, the "It Girl" was never just about a viral outfit, but she’s the one who actually has something to say at dinner, the one who read the book first, and the one who knows the deep history of the art she consumes.

• 👜 Loewe has officially entered its next chapter by subtly refining its legendary Anagram mark. While the logo isn’t a total departure, the brand has sharpened and simplified the design to make it cleaner and more digital-friendly, signaling a new creative era under directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. The updated logo was rolled out quietly, appearing across the Spring 2026 campaign visuals and on new product drops like the “Amazona 180” bag.

• Adidas Originals has officially introduced Kendall Jenner as the new face of the franchise for 2026. This partnership is a major full-circle moment, as Kendall previously served as an ambassador for the brand back in 2017. The new rollout leans heavily into her signature off-duty, minimalist aesthetic, aligning seamlessly with the heritage silhouettes and streetwear credibility of Adidas Originals.

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗
- Avani

Welcome back to my newsletter, where I share the latest marketing buzz, epic brand collabs, juicy Gen Z tea, & more.

Let’s jump straight into what’s new!

• 🧘🏽‍♀️ Gen Z and millennials are done with just watching life through a screen, and apparently, IRL experiences are officially back on the menu. They’re chasing connection over perfection, showing up to sauna raves, rooftop dance parties, beach bonfires, and even forest bathing groups, all sparked by word-of-mouth rather than curated events. Eventbrite says 79% are seeking these authentic, unpolished moments, and honestly, I love how much energy and spontaneity they’re bringing to real-life hangouts.

• 💛 While scrolling, I came across this post and found it quite interesting. It says - your life should start after 5pm. If all you’re living for is Friday night, Monday through Thursday inevitably feel like survival mode. The trick isn’t just to optimise your evenings — it’s to give your week some texture. Move, explore culture, hang out with people who make a random Wednesday feel like a Saturday. Even small plans like a Tuesday coffee, a Thursday dinner, a midweek class can turn the week from a single grey blob of “work, eat, sleep” into little chapters you actually look forward to. Suddenly, life feels bigger than your inbox, and the workweek doesn’t feel so heavy.

• Pokémon’s Super Bowl ad is giving me all the nostalgia vibes. Lady Gaga, Trevor Noah, Jisoo, Young Miko, and more all share their favorite Pokémon in a fun, playful way before revealing them.

• 🪔 South Asian menswear brands are finally getting the recognition they deserve, and it feels long overdue. Instead of chasing minimalist luxury, they’re offering something richer: visible craftsmanship, intricate textiles, cultural storytelling, all fused with sharp, contemporary design. What makes it even more powerful is that this new wave isn’t waiting for Western validation. The younger South Asian creative community is redefining what “South Asian” looks and feels like on their own terms, global, modern, rooted, and unapologetic.

• 🧬 Biological age is quietly becoming the next big health flex, and it’s kind of wild. Instead of just counting birthdays, we’re moving toward measuring how fast our cells are actually aging. The longevity space is booming with tests claiming to reveal your “real” age, but most of it still feels like longevity theater for now. Still, once the science catches up, anti-aging won’t just be marketing; it’ll be measurable. And I can already see it: people tracking their biological age the way they track steps and sleep scores, turning vitality into the ultimate status symbol.

• After maximalist makeup, maximalist jewelry is officially back. My feed is full of bold statement pieces, YSL’s oversized earrings, chunky necklaces, and sunglasses completing every outfit. The trend is clear: people are leaning into jewelry that’s loud, dramatic, and unapologetically extra. Even top-selling luxury pieces show that subtlety is out, and bigger, bolder, more eye-catching designs are the new must-haves.

• While some are leaning into the bold, bright maximalist makeup trends full of vibrant colors, horny yearning is quietly rising as the hottest beauty trend. Unlike the dark-romance trope in novels or fanfiction, which often centers around taboo relationships and morally gray characters, this trend isn’t about shock value or heavy drama. Instead, it’s all about heightening emotion and capturing that intense, almost feverish feeling. As for me, I’m still all in for the bright, maximalist looks with bold pops of color. Nothing beats that burst of energy!

• Estée Lauder is allegedly suing Walmart over counterfeit products. A 110-page document accusing Walmart of selling ‘identical’ products to ELC’s owned brands Clinique, Tom Ford and Le Labo has reportedly been filed by the beauty giant with the US Court for the Central District of California.

• A few beauty launches have me genuinely excited this month 👀 I’m especially looking forward to the Byoma Peel-Off Mask because I’ve always liked the brand (it’s affordable and actually works well on my skin), so my expectations are high. I’m also curious about Glow Recipe’s PDRN+ Repair + Soothe Toner Pads since anything calming and barrier-supporting instantly gets my attention.🩷

• Ballet flats are making a major comeback this summer, and it’s clear they’re here to stay. I remember how everyone was so obsessed with them in the 2000s, and now this understated shoe silhouette is back in full force, making its way from the runways to high-street brands and indie labels. Honestly, I was so over the whole shoes and heels thing. I’ve been waiting for something different and finally we have this.

• Talking about the ballet flats trend, it feels like the silhouette is quietly crossing gender lines. Harry Styles was spotted this week arriving at LAX wearing Miu Miu’s Élan ballet flats with the same Dior jeans he wore while presenting Album of the Year, and it’s another sign that ballet flats are slowly being normalized in menswear too. Personally, I kind of love how fashion keeps blurring these boundaries!!

• Perfume clubs popping up everywhere from Lisbon to New York to Helsinki might actually be one of the softest responses to urban loneliness I’ve seen in a while. Instead of another loud networking event or surface-level catch-up over overpriced coffee, these are intimate spaces where strangers pass around blotters, talk about memory, emotion, even politics, all through scent. I love that fragrance, something so personal and invisible, is becoming a social bridge. It feels less transactional, more intentional. In a world where we’re craving real connection, maybe bonding over vetiver and patchouli makes more sense than small talk ever did.

• Blair Waldorf is officially making her comeback, and I honestly can’t stop thinking about it. I loved a few of the original Gossip Girl seasons—Blair’s scheming, her iconic headbands, and the way she owned every social room were everything. Now, over 20 years later, Cecily von Ziegesar is returning with a standalone sequel titled Blair. She’s older, maybe wiser, but just as ambitious, and I’m so excited to see what new power moves and drama she’s bringing. Well some things never go out of style, and Blair is definitely one of them.

• 💇🏻‍♀️ Cardi B is officially entering the haircare world with her new brand, Grow-Good Beauty, set to launch this spring. This is her first owned beauty brand, created in partnership with Revolve Group, and it will cover multiple categories in apparel and beauty. I’m really curious to see what she brings to the haircare industry. Cardi is known for bold, fun, and confident choices, so I expect products that are creative, inclusive, and totally unapologetic.

• 🥉Norwegian Olympian Sturla Holm Laegreid shocked everyone this week not with his bronze medal in the 20k biathlon, but by confessing on live TV that he cheated on his girlfriend three months ago. Honestly, I don’t know what he was thinking sharing that right after a race; the reaction online has been… pretty clear: this was a messy move.

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗
- Avani

Welcome back to my newsletter, where I share the latest marketing buzz, epic brand collabs, juicy Gen Z tea, & more.

What’s new lately? Spent my weekend hopping into a café, iced coffee in hand, and later settled in to work on Substack (which honestly felt like the perfect weekend). Equal parts productive and comforting, the kind of balance I’ve been trying to maintain 😮‍💨

Now let’s dive into it!

• Gen Alpha doesn’t take beauty too seriously, and that mindset is already shaping the industry. For them, beauty is less about perfection and more about play: experimenting, having fun, and turning everyday routines into something joyful. They’re growing up in a beauty landscape that actually matches their energy (more accessible, more expressive, and way less intimidating). Brands like Sincerely Yours, Daise, and Yes Day get it: bold, collectible packaging, fun textures, and products that feel good and look cute on a shelf or a feed. There’s no room for boring branding here. Gen Alpha wants beauty that smells amazing, feels real, and fits seamlessly into their world, and I kind of love how refreshing that is.

• Talk about a last-minute serve. I’m so impressed with what Harry did. Just as the 2026 Grammys were wrapping up, Harry Styles popped up on stage to present Album of the Year to Bad Bunny for Debí Tirar Más Fotos and that alone felt like a moment. He skipped the red carpet, skipped performing his new single “Aperture,” but still made sure we remembered why he’s Harry Styles. Styled by Harry Lambert, he wore a custom Dior look by Jonathan Anderson, straight out of the designer’s Autumn/Winter 2026 menswear universe. Quiet entrance, strong fashion statement. No overexplaining, no theatrics; just classic Harry doing the most with the least screen time.

• 📚Apparently, being smart is officially sexy again, and we’re officially entering the era of the literary IT-GIRL. From celebrity book clubs to TikToks on “becoming disgustingly educated,” intellect has suddenly become the ultimate aesthetic. Dua Lipa and Kaia Gerber are hosting book clubs, Charli XCX and Troye Sivan are launching Substacks, and Emma Chamberlain is casually bringing philosophy into her podcast. Reading, once considered solitary or even boring, is now cool; selfies with books, café reading sessions, and curated media diets designed to replace doomscrolling are all part of the trend.

  

• Valentino turned us into couture peeping Toms. The house’s first couture show since Garavanis passing had guests spying on the Specula Mundi collection through peepholes in a 360° wall, offering a glimpse into Michele’s cinematic new era at Valentino.

• Effort is back. Between grainy photo dumps, bold makeup, and the quiet disappearance of the “clean girl” era, it feels like we’re collectively craving effort again. Minimalism had its moment, but now glam is louder, outfits are bolder, and even fragrance feels more experimental. After years of pretending not to care, it’s refreshing to see people actually trying, like putting thought into how they look, show up, and express themselves. Effort is back, and this time it feels less forced and more joyful.

• ✨ Against a sea of soft neutrals and washed-out tones, jewel colours quietly stole the spotlight at Grammys. Think peridot greens, amethyst purples, and other gemstone shades that instantly elevated eveningwear. Some looks leaned into metallic finishes to heighten that precious, light-catching effect, while others proved that a single, deeply saturated hue is more than enough to make a statement.

• Fashion is deep in its nostalgia era, and this time it’s pulling from the archives with intention. Studs, silhouettes, and once-forgotten signatures are back under the spotlight, and the internet is catching everything. With Y2K codes circling again, Valentino’s Rockstuds made a very deliberate return at Haute Couture SS26 on Dakota Johnson,punctuated by a subtle Devil Wears Prada 2 wink. Less throwback for throwback’s sake, more proof that the right fashion memory never really expires.

• Under-eye blush is back, and honestly, we’re not talking about it enough. K-beauty has quietly been flipping the script on how we approach makeup: soft, diffused color, skin-first formulas, and celebrating features we’d normally try to hide. We’re keeping full face beat and the clean-girl minimalism aside. Seoul’s cool girls are putting a gentle plume of blush right under their eyes, like a cute animated character blushing. It’s subtle, soft, and surprisingly transformative.

• 🏀 Every major sporting event comes with its own side stories, and this time, Kendall Jenner fully understood the assignment. Ahead of the Super Bowl, she leaned straight into the long-running “Kardashian curse” rumor instead of denying it, turning it into self-aware entertainment. In a Fanatics Sportsbook ad, Kendall pokes fun at the idea that her past relationships somehow derailed athletes’ careers, scribbled-out exes, burning jerseys, private jets, and all. It’s exaggerated, ironic and a perfect tongue-in-cheek campaign!

• Talking about the Jenner, Lemme is teaming up with Kylie Cosmetics for a limited-edition collab. The Skin Glaze Gummies ($30) and debuting exclusively at Ulta, come in pomegranate, strawberry, and tarte cherry flavors. Pair them with Kylie’s new Pomegranate Lip Butter, and it’s a snackable beauty routine. Between Kylie’s powerhouse reach and Lemme’s status as Ulta’s #1 wellness brand, this collab feels like a great strategy. I’m waiting for a Skims and Lemme collab now.

• Sydney Sweeney’s debut Seductress collection for SYRN sold out faster than anyone expected, and fs the marketing stunt explains why. She draped dozens of bras over the Hollywood Sign, blending Old Hollywood glamour with a cheeky, modern edge, and the internet went wild. With restocks and an expanded range on the horizon, it’s clear Sweeney is staking her claim as a serious force in the celebrity-led fashion world.

• ASAP Rocky just clocked in as Vogue’s newest intern, and no one’s doing fashion humor like this right now. Starring in skits with Anna Wintour & Doja Cat Between coffee runs & elevator shade, he’s flexing his self-designed PAVE NITEO skull rings. The role follows his NAACP Vanguard Award for cultural &creative impact.

• Apparently, Apple’s about to shake up personal tech again with the Apple AI Pin, and I think, it’s wild. An AirTag-sized wearable, clipped to your shirt or bag, that sees, hears, and talks without a screen so basically a voice-first, hands-free Siri. It’s designed to work alongside your iPhone, Apple Watch, and Mac, giving info, reminders, or visual follow-ups without ever pulling your phone out.

• Fashion is deep in its nostalgia era, and this time it’s pulling from the archives with intention. Studs, silhouettes, and once-forgotten signatures are back under the spotlight, and the internet is catching everything. With Y2K codes circling again, Valentino’s Rockstuds made a very deliberate return at Haute Couture SS26 on Dakota Johnson — punctuated by a subtle Devil Wears Prada 2 wink. Less throwback for throwback’s sake, more proof that the right fashion memory never really expires.

• Patrick Ta Beauty hosted the launch of Patrick Ta x Sephora Middle East, marking the brand’s official expansion into the region. The celebrity makeup artist’s label is now rolling out across 34 doors in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar, a move that feels especially big considering the Middle East is already one of Patrick Ta’s strongest DTC markets.

• Adidas and Bad Bunny just dropped Bad Bunny’s first-ever signature sneaker, and it feels like a full-circle moment. After years of teasing collabs, the BadBo 1.0 finally lands as Benito’s first solo design with the Three Stripes, blending sportswear and streetwear into one clean, confident silhouette. It’s personal, rooted in Puerto Rico, and unmistakably Bad Bunny.

• Beauty brands are taking experiential marketing to a whole new level, and Benefit Cosmetics just said hold my brow gel. They hosted creators at their BENEhouse, celebrating pores the Porefessional way and it was a masterclass. A real-life game show quiz room, paint-your-face workshops, yoga days, wellness + matcha moments, oversized product installs, a full facial day, and an aesthetic house packed with photo ops at every turn.

• 🎾 Lululemon knew a basic pop-up wouldn’t cut it anymore. So instead of pushing product, they turned the Beverly Hills Tennis Club into an actual place people wanted to hang out. Tennis was just the excuse, the real focus was community, style, and being seen. With Hannah Berner and Akiniko hosting, it felt more like a social scene than a brand activation. On-court outfits, off-court fits, content everywhere. No hard selling, just vibes. And that’s exactly why it worked.

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗
- Avani

Welcome back to my newsletter, where I share the latest marketing buzz, epic brand collabs, juicy Gen Z tea, & more.

Let’s dive into it directly!

• 🚬 Lately, it feels like beauty brands are flirting a little too hard with cigarette aesthetics again. From lipstick tubes that look like slim cigarettes to lighters popping up in holiday drops (purely for candles, apparently), smoking symbolism is everywhere. It’s clearly tapping into nostalgia, rebellion, and that Lana Del Rey-coded coolness TikTok can’t get enough of. Still, watching cigarettes get rebranded as chic accessories is… interesting, to say the least. Trendy? Yes. It’s not just the products; the aesthetic of smoking itself is also on the rise. Smoking-related searches have spiked on Pinterest.

• 🎧 We finally have our first real glimpse into Harry Styles’s new era, and it starts with Aperture. The song feels like a soft dive into new love, hopeful, a little fragile, and I’ve already had it on repeat. What starts as a threat turns into a dance, and honestly, it feels like a metaphor for intimacy itself. If this is how the era begins, I’m emotionally buckled in.

• Bangs are getting a lot bolder in 2026, and honestly, it feels right. After a year of playing it safe with quiet, minimalist everything, there’s a clear shift toward louder, more confident beauty choices. Curly fringes and curtain bangs are still around, but they’ve levelled up, fuller, bouncier, and shaped to actually make a statement. Add microbangs, wispy cool-girl cuts, and even dramatic bowl-style bangs into the mix, and suddenly I’m questioning my current haircut. This year’s hair energy is unapologetic, and I’m very tempted to join in.

  

• Earlier this week at Prada’s Fall/Winter 2026 menswear show in Milan, dirty shirts walked the runway and no, it wasn’t an accident. Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons leaned fully into imperfection, with stained cuffs, marked collars, wrinkles, and shirts that looked like they’d lived a life before hitting the runway. It felt very second-hand-market-coded, like finding a forgotten garment that’s aged in all the wrong (right?) ways. The colorful cufflinks highlighted the flaws. Prada is clearly telling us that polish is overrated, and, I kind of get it.

• 👜 Jacquemus just announced its very first brand ambassador in over 15 years, and the choice feels quietly perfect. Instead of going with the usual fashion favorites, Simon Porte Jacquemus chose his grandmother, Liline an unexpected but deeply personal muse. He’s always been open about how much the women in his family have shaped his world, from his late mother Valérie to now this moment. It feels less like a branding move and more like a love letter and honestly, that’s what makes it so powerful.

• 💄Rhode just sent its influencer community samples of its upcoming launches, the Plumping Lip Mask and Sculpting Face Mask, and asked them to be part of a testing panel. Honestly, this feels like where things are headed. Influencers hold real power now, and involving them early doesn’t just build better products, it turns them into insiders. Of course they’re going to post about it! When you help shape a launch, you’re already emotionally invested.

• Gen Zers are skipping booze these days (62% of under-35s say they drink, down from 72% twenty years ago)🍺, and Toronto’s about to get a nightlife option that doesn’t involve alcohol, just loud music, or cramped dance floors. NRG Haus is opening in Liberty Village this February, and it’s all about wellness and sober socializing. Saunas, cold plunges, guided meditation visuals, and a mocktail bar all in one, basically a place to actually feel good while hanging out. I’m low-key obsessed with the idea of a night out where you leave refreshed instead of hungover.

• 👠 Jimmy Choo’s lace pumps are going viral, and I genuinely can’t escape them (not that I want to). That gold-tipped toe is so sexy, and with lace clearly making its comeback (remember last year’s lace dresses?), it was only a matter of time before it showed up in heels too. I’m seeing them everywhere, and honestly, they feel like the kind of shoe that defines a whole year.

• Remember when adidas dropped those Asia-exclusive jackets and everyone in Europe was begging for access? Well, plot twist. After months of serious hype across Asia, the Adidas Originals Tang Jacket has finally landed in France. The Chinese-inspired track top, once locked to the Asian market, is now available in three locations in Paris. Proof that if we complain long enough, fashion eventually listens.

• Wellness retreats are quickly becoming the new five-star vacations, and, it totally makes sense. Regular holidays don’t really fix anything anymore, so 2026 feels all about returning to the basics (rest, rituals, and real results). ‘Glow-cations’ are on the rise, with people traveling specifically for skincare and aesthetic treatments, and Seoul is clearly leading the charge.

• 👀 Well, who would’ve thought, but leggings are officially making a comeback. From runways to ultra-glam It girls, they’re quietly taking over again. As fashion leans into a more classic, form-fitting vibe with nods to the past, slim leggings are suddenly everywhere. At Celine’s SS26 show, black leggings were paired with a boxy blazer and blue button-up, while Coperni went for a belted oversized blazer. I’m not excited about this honestly, as I’m a fan of oversized pants, but let’s see where it goes!

• The runways have spoken and Cool Blue is the neutral color trend to know in 2026.🧊❄️I keep noticing a quieter shade slipping into the conversation: cool blue. That icy, almost-glacial tone showed up across Spring 2026 collections, and it feels like a calm counterpoint to all the noise. Simone Rocha went delicate and dreamy with chiffon and florals, Victoria Beckham kept it polished with lace-trimmed elegance, and Tibi styled it in a way that felt effortlessly wearable. It’s subtle, serene, and honestly, kind of refreshing.

• 🎬 Oscar nominations are out, and Sinners just broke records with 16 nods. The 1930s-set horror fantasia rooted in Black culture is dominating alongside One Battle After Another (14 nods), a raw, primal take on authoritarianism and resistance. Both snagged nominations across the board, including picture, director, actors, cinematography, and screenplay, basically everything. Warner Bros. produced them, which makes the whole thing even juicier, considering Netflix and Paramount Skydance are apparently in a bidding war to buy the studio.

• A “Youth Retirement Home” in Malaysia is officially my dream. 🧘🏽‍♀️📚 Designed for burned-out Gen Z adults, it’s a month-long escape from nonstop hustle culture, and it costs $430. Founded by a 25-year-old (so relatable), guests get to live with no jobs, no goals, and zero pressure. Sleeping in, home-cooked meals, soaking up nature, and just resting. Not surprisingly, it’s already fully booked!

• Summer Fridays is officially going all in on lips this year, expanding the category with the new Flushed Lip Stain and SoftLine Lip Liner. After the success of the Lip Butter Balm, this move makes total sense. I’ve tried their Lip Butter and the Jet Lag Hydration Mist, and I’ll be honest, they didn’t totally wow me (I think there are better options at the same price point). That said, the Flushed Lip Stain has me curious, and I’d actually love to give it a try. Consider me cautiously excited.

• Talking about maximalism, I’m seeing this nail trend everywhere on my feed, and I already know it’s the first thing I’m trying once my next paycheck hits. 💅🏼

• Netflix is clearly doubling down on video podcasts. The platform just added Jake Shane’s Therapuss and 48 Hours to its growing slate, along with shows like Stassi with Tay and Small Town Murder, bringing the total to 50 podcasts. Most of the video versions will live exclusively on Netflix with a few exceptions and honestly, it feels like the streamer is making a very intentional play to own how we watch (not just listen to) podcasts.

• Alix Earle just launched her own media company, and honestly, this feels like a full-circle moment. Once one of the biggest names under Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network, the two were basically the ultimate media duo. But fans clocked the shift when Alix renamed her podcast account to Hot Mess Media and now the bigger picture is clear. She’s moved her studio to California, built her own platform, and is officially positioning herself as a direct competitor to Unwell.

• With perfumes having a serious moment right now and big brands doubling down on fragrance, this launch feels perfectly timed. Dua Lipa and YSL Beauty just unveiled Libre Berry Crush, the latest addition to the Libre perfume family. The campaign stars Dua in a sensorial, fruit-forward world that matches the fragrance’s fresh, juicy energy.

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗
- Avani

What’s new lately? I’ve somehow become increasingly obsessed with perfumes and body oils, to the point where my daily routine now feels less like self-care and more like a ritual. I recently got my hands on the Officine Universelle Buly body oil (after spending a full hour in the queue, naturally), and trust me it was absolutely worth it. If you notice me casually romanticising fragrances and glowing skin a little more than usual, just know I’m exactly where I’m meant to be. 😌 Though, for the sake of financial responsibility, someone might want to tell me if this obsession has an endpoint.

Now, let’s dive into the newsletter…

🔥 What’s Trending?

• First, I wanna talk about this piece I recently read - The Anti-AI Aesthetic Taking Over Social Media. I already posted it a few days back, how MESSY is the new CLEAN GIRL Trend, and it’s already getting more and more attention on social media!

• Unless you’ve been completely offline, you already know Harry has officially announced his fourth album, Kiss All the Time. Disco Occasionally.💋 🪩 Releasing on 06-03, and after a three-year wait, it finally feels real. I’m counting down already and fully prepared for it to dominate charts and break the records. I’m pretty sure we’ll get a track dedicated to Liam, and that’s gonna break my heart fs! And I can’t wait for him to announce a tour so that I can spend all my savings with no regrets!

• Condé Nast Traveler just released an article - The Biggest Travel Trends of 2026, and one trend I’m excited about is Grocery Shop Tourism. I mean, we all know traveling to dine at famous restaurants is fun, but there’s something so fun about discovering a city through its local grocery stores. It’s like a tiny, everyday window into how people live and eat, from quirky regional crisps and exotic fruits to soft drink brands you didn’t know existed, even unique sweets you can sneak home as souvenirs. I can’t stop imagining wandering the 7-Elevens in Japan or Thailand! 🏔️

• Apparently, wealthy New Yorkers are taking theme parties to a whole new level. 🪩 Case in point: Marcella Hymowitz threw her billionaire husband a full-on 1983-style prom for his 60th birthday with vintage outfits, DeLoreans, famous musicians, the works. And honestly, I’m here for it. This is part of a bigger trend: adults craving immersive, dress-up experiences instead of the usual dinner-and-drinks vibes. Luxury planners, bespoke designers, and social media are all fueling this ‘one-upmanship,’ with costumes and décor costing thousands. Even regular suburbanites are hopping on board, proving that we all secretly love going a little extra and escaping everyday life (if only for a night). Basically: adults, rich or not, are obsessed with living their best themed lives.

• Since 2026 is clearly the new 2016, it was only a matter of time before maximalist beauty made its full comeback. We started seeing hints of it toward the end of 2025 on Zara Larsson, Tyla, and now practically everyone else! And suddenly bold eye looks, disco blush, and unapologetically extra makeup are everywhere. My feed has officially abandoned minimalism, and honestly? I’m not mad about it.

• I took out some time this weekend to watch 🎬 People We Meet on Vacation & I really enjoyed it. Condensing an 8 hour book into 120 minutes is no small feat, so of course some bits got left out, but I never once got bored. Good acting plus soundtrack. Emily and Tom were perfectly cast. They had great chemistry and really sold the ‘a bit much but never enough’ vibe. I wasn’t expecting a shot-for-shot recreation of the book, so all in all definitely worth it.

• So Pinterest 2026 Palette just dropped, and luxury minimalism is totally out. Apparently, whispering is officially over! It’s loud, it’s bold, it’s colour everywhere. Shades are Wasabi, Jade, Plum Noir, Persimmon, and Cool Blue, 🎨 and I can’t stop imagining all the ways this is going to pop up on my feed. Pinterest looked at billions of searches, saves, and visual cues from 600 million users worldwide to figure this out, and honestly, I’m here for it. My eye makeup, my walls, my mood boards, they’re all about to get louder, and I’m fully ready to ride this wave.

  

• Trump announces 10% tariffs on European countries supporting Greenland iincluding Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland, starting Feb. 1. The tariff will increase to 25% on June 1, and the payments will be due until Trump’s proposed purchase of Greenland is complete.

• Watched the Euphoria S3 trailer, and not quite impressed. It didn’t really capture the same energy or vibe we all fell in love with, more like a spin-off than the main thing. Like, they’re leaning hard into the drug and crime thriller side of things this season. I might still binge it when it drops and, of course, share my hot takes in April. Stay tuned for my inevitable emotional chaos breakdown.

• RHODE is teasing something fun! A full-on brand experience in Montana this winter, running February 4–8. I love seeing brands lean into immersive, location-based moments like this, all about creating a vibe, a community, and a lifestyle people actually want to be part of. Montana in February sounds dramatic, cozy, and absolutely Rhode!

• Zara’s AI try on feature is taking over my feed rn. It creates a digital avatar of you to try on their clothes.

• Dieux just launched the Skin Mercy Recovery Cream priced at $34, and as an eczema girlie, I’m low-key excited to try it. I’ve been experimenting with all sorts of products over the years, and it’s honestly nice to see more brands finally paying attention to eczema-friendly skincare. Fingers crossed this one becomes a new holy grail my skin (and sanity) would appreciate it.

• Natasha Denona and Patrick Ta just dropped 2 new shades of blush, and honestly, the shades are so close it’s making me wonder if this is the new trend palette we didn’t know we needed. Natasha’s Hy-Blush Cloudy Cream Cheek Duo comes in at $42, while Patrick Ta’s Double-Take Crème & Powder Blush Duo is $40. Basically, a few dollars apart, but same “, I think I just bought the same shade twice” energy.

• Khloud Foods just launched truffle-flavored protein popcorn, and somehow made a functional snack feel very main-character. With old-Hollywood–inspired visuals, it’s clearly less about “high protein” and more about aspiration, turning something as practical as protein popcorn into a lifestyle moment.

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗
- Avani

Welcome back to my newsletter, where I share the latest marketing buzz, epic brand collabs, juicy Gen Z tea, & more.
And hey, I’m switching things up this time… I’m dropping a few trending products at the end, so make sure you stick around till you get there!

So let’s dive into it directly!

• Meshki recently threw an intimate dinner for their friends, creators, and community to celebrate their new collection, The Nile By Night, and honestly, the whole vibe was aesthetic goals. The space was super sculptural and artsy, with little immersive moments that showed off the craftsmanship behind each piece. Think dramatic shadows, flowing silhouettes, and tablescapes that looked like they were pulled straight out of a luxury editorial. The whole night echoed the movement and texture of the Nile, one of those ‘wish I were there’ events for sure.

• Hérmes dropped $200 band-aids!! The type of leather used as well as the color of the product, is a surprise upon ordering. 3 band-aids come in each order. (Someone literally asked in the comments if it works on the broken hearts)

• AI-led shopping is totally changing the beauty game in China, and honestly, I kinda get it! Gen Z and Gen Alpha are starting to trust AI more than influencers. Platforms like Doubao let you ask a question and bam, instant product recs. No endless scrolling, no influencer hype, no confusing reviews. As someone who loves beauty and marketing, I think it’s super interesting because brands now have to play the AI game instead of just relying on creators. And honestly, if it’s happening in China, the rest of the world isn’t far behind.

• Summer Fridays x Gap collection drops are already the talk of the town. Kinda a big deal for a beauty brand that’s usually all about skincare vibes. The collection has 20 pieces and sits in that sweet spot price-wise ($28–$98). Expect cozy fleece sets, soft knits, cute matching PJs, and a few accessories. The colors are totally on-brand too: pink sugar, vanilla, cherry, and that iconic Jet Lag Mask blue everyone knows.

• Baby Doll Blush is the soft glow trend of the moment. Layers of pink for a fresh, lifted finish. Start with a baby pink liquid blush high on the cheeks, blending softly toward the under-eye. Add a pink color corrector under the eyes, then press a pink-toned setting powder to lock in brightness. Finish with a powder pink blush on the high cheeks for that instant lift.

  

  @sherreemorrisYou need to be applying moreeeeeee🩷 #babydoll #babydollblush

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• Khloud is marking its first new flavor drop by partnering with 818 for a nostalgic holiday twist. A Very Cinnamon Special brings Khloé and Kendall together to shake up some festive cheer with a warm, cinnamon-driven collab that taps perfectly into holiday cravings.

• Klein Dytham shapes aluminium into “silky drape of fabric” for Cartier Ginza facade. A building that feels fluid, soft, and sophisticated, dissolving rigid floor lines and creating depth without shouting for attention. Completely LOVED IT!

• Justin Bieber’s Skylrk quietly dropped some cool denim and 3D printed shoes in Tokyo. JB made the smartest streetwear decisions we’ve seen this year by choosing Tokyo for the first physical store. Bieber went where credibility actually matters. Tokyo is the global CAPITAL OF STREETWEAR, and earning validation there instantly elevates a brand everywhere else. He launched with a 5-day pop-up, designed for urgency. And in Japan, where line culture thrives, the 2 km SKYLRK queue wasn’t luck. It was engineered.

• Last week, Adidas opened a Hybrid Hotel in East London, offering athletes a pro-level recovery space, fully kitted out with red-light therapy, a sound lounge, a full range of supplements and nutrition, and a testing suite where athletes could try out upcoming Hybridinnovations.

• Instagram is now using AI-generated SEO summaries on posts, and it’s a major shift in how content will surface online. A new report from 404 Media shows that Instagram is quietly adding AI-written descriptions to posts to boost Google Search rankings.

• Women’s health resorts are becoming the next big wave in wellness, finally focusing on real issues like postpartum depression, hormone changes, fertility, and menopause. Now, places like Canyon Ranch’s new women-focused Austin resort, along with leaders like SHA Wellness, Ananda, and Kamalaya, are offering programs truly tailored to women’s bodies and life stages, turning wellness from a luxury into something women genuinely deserve.

• Disney is investing $1 billion in OpenAI in a new three-year deal that will allow iconic Disney and Marvel characters to be generated inside ChatGPT and Sora. This means users will be able to create officially licensed videos and stories featuring their favorite characters.

• First it was BOTTEGA X JENCA, and now we’ve MIU MIU X UNO.

What are IT girls eyeing?

• Adidas Samba WTR ‘Brown Gold’

• Songmont The Luna Hobo

• Officine Universelle Buly Eau Triple Cèdre Liban

• 437 (It’s everywhere on my fyp)

• Merit Flush Balm

It's been a while since I posted something, but I thought I'd start again…

So, welcome back to my newsletter, where I share the latest marketing buzz, epic brand collabs, juicy Gen Z tea, business news & more.

Let’s dive into it directly!

• 💄 One of my favorites, REFY, just launched its new lipstick, and I’m in love with the campaign. While every brand out there is busy chasing Gen Z trends and TikTok virality, REFY took a completely different route

  ! Their latest campaign, “Iconic never gets old, it gets redefined,” feels like a breath of fresh air. Instead of pushing another viral product, they built a story that celebrates authenticity, confidence, and beauty at every age. What really stood out to me is how they included mature women. At a time when almost every beauty brand is focused on Gen Z, REFY shifted the spotlight and embraced women who often get left out of the narrative. It’s smart, refreshing, and honestly so needed in the beauty space.

• On the other hand, the product I’m actually annoyed with is SKIM’s latest launch. Kim Kardashian launches SKIMS thong underwear with faux pubic hair in different colors and textures & honestly, the internet is divided. “The Ultimate Bush” retails for $32, and if that’s a move to get the traffic, then Kim is killing it again!

• 👀 Moving from Kim to Kylie. Kylie Cosmetics revives ‘King Kylie’ era with return of original lip kits and glosses. For its 10th anniversary, the brand is relaunching some of its most iconic products from the vault with The King Kylie Collection. I actually love how Kylie leaned into nostalgia instead of chasing the next big trend. The whole campaign feels like a full-circle moment, def. the kind that makes longtime fans remember the beauty craze she started.

• 📱A new wave of social media apps is emerging, offering a refreshing alternative to the doomscrolling culture. These platforms prioritize niche communities and shared interests over broad reach. For instance, Lore, founded by Zehra Naqvi, caters to fandoms, while apps like Beli, Fizz, Co-Star, and Partiful focus on specific communities and activities. This shift reflects a broader trend where users seek deeper connections rather than endless scrolling. As Zehra Naqvi aptly puts it, “Niche spaces give people permission to be specific and to show up as their whole selves without being lost in the algorithm.”

• 🔬The Ordinary is calling out skincare pseudoscience in a way that actually makes me stop and think. Their new campaign, The Periodic Fable, turns the periodic table into a lineup of buzzwords like “magic,” “fat freezing,” and “medical grade” to highlight just how much marketing jargon has taken over the beauty world. The campaign is wild in the best way (a dystopian-style film where hypnotized students mimic viral skincare trends until one breaks free). I love how the brand mixes satire with education, showing that not every science-sounding claim is legit, and transparency matters. Honestly, this is exactly the kind of marketing I appreciate. It’s smart, creative, and doesn’t just try to sell a product.

  

• Walmart is now bringing ChatGPT to your shopping cart. Yes, you read that right. Walmart’s new partnership with OpenAI lets customers and Sam’s Club members browse and buy products directly through ChatGPT using Instant Checkout. The idea is simple but feels futuristic: plan meals, restock essentials, or discover new products all through a chat interface. I love how this isn’t just a gimmick but a real step toward making shopping much more convenient. I want more and more brands to do this!!

• 🛍️ The resale market is seriously taking over fashion, and honestly, I love it. According to BCG, it’s on track to hit $360 billion by 2030, growing three times faster than new fashion. By the end of the decade, 1 in 3 fashion items will be pre-owned, and Gen Z is leading the way with up to 32% of their wardrobes being secondhand. What’s driving it? Lower prices, rare finds, tons of variety, and sustainability.

• ⛺️ Did TALA just make hiking the new hot girl activity? Their latest brand trip, Camp TALA, looked straight out of a cozy autumn movie. Set in the English countryside, it had everything from plaid fits to campfires and influencers who actually fit the brand instead of just posing for it. The whole vibe felt nostalgic, playful, and totally effortless.

• 📸 Okay, but can we talk about the HOLO camera? NYC-based Manual just dropped the ultimate nostalgia gadget, a fully transparent digital point-and-shoot that looks straight out of the early 2000s. It’s giving pure Y2K energy & we know how suddenly everyone is again obsessed with Y2K. And honestly, I’ve been waiting for a camera like this to come back. Something fun, cute, and affordable that makes capturing random moments actually feel exciting again, cause I’m a lil bored of Instax now…

• Finally, people are talking about boys and mental health online, and it’s about time. Teen boys are dealing with so much content around fitness, money, dating, and how they look, and it’s actually affecting their self-esteem and making some feel really lonely. What’s interesting is that Gen Z boys are looking up to content creators for advice, but not all of them are giving good guidance. I feel like this is such a space for brands to step in—share real advice, create safe spaces, and push messages about growth over perfection. Boys today don’t want the old macho vibes; they want nuance, honesty, and to feel okay with who they are. TikTok, YouTube, gaming worlds, these are where they hang out, and if brands show up authentically, it could actually make a difference.

• 🎧 Spotify and Netflix are teaming up, and this could be a game-changer. They announced that Spotify Studios and The Ringer will be coming to Netflix, with video podcasts available in the US starting 2026. It’s a smart move, podcasts are booming, and bringing them to a platform like Netflix opens up a whole new way to experience them. Watching podcasts like shows instead of just listening feels like a next-level shift in how we consume content.

• Porsche just redefined what community marketing looks like. They literally turned their showrooms into Pilates studios for a wellness event with goody bags, matcha, snacks, flower bouquet stations, photo moments, and even test drives. It’s luxury meets lifestyle in the most effortless way. I love how they’re making the brand feel more human and less horsepower-only. If this is Porsche’s idea of community, count me in.
  

• Fashion is already preparing for Gen Beta! Yep, the generation that’s literally just being born. I saw i-D’s latest issue with a Beta baby in Carhartt WIP, and it’s both wild and genius. These kids are going to grow up with AI as second nature, so of course, the industry’s already thinking about them. If Gen Alpha blurred the line between digital and physical fashion, Gen Beta might just erase it completely. I love how fashion never waits, but it’s already planning wardrobes for babies!!

  ---

  Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗
  - Avani

  Marketing with Avani 💌 is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Welcome back to my fortnightly newsletter, where I share the latest marketing buzz, epic brand collabs, juicy Gen Z tea, & more.

Let’s dive into it directly!

• 💗 Gardening gloves in the PR box? Glossier Inc. brought the world in a bottle to life for their latest Glossier You Fleur scent launch & it has been an ode to flowers. Flowers given out on the streets, flower arrangement class (glossier alley experience) & flowers in every corner (the wonder of you exhibit). The brand turned their new launch, Fleur scent, into an experience that would leave flower petals behind. That’s perfect marketing for a perfume!! If you get what the scent is about even through the screen, that's a job well done!

• 👀 Did Rhode soft launch eye patches, face mist, face mask & towel with their new Instagram post? No doubt Rhode girlies are going crazy now! Rhode just posted Rhode care (spring edition) & gave a sneak peek of their new products. Personally, I’m excited for the face mist & mask & can’t wait to try them out. Don’t get the hype around the towel though, it looks like a regular one!

• 👩🏻‍💻 Typing loudly, wearing AirPods: ‘taskmasking’ is how gen Z pretends to work at the office! With companies forcing employees back in, many are faking busyness, speed-walking with laptops, loudly typing nonsense, or chatting about work at the water cooler (just to look productive). After starting their careers remotely, they’re now stuck performing for bosses who value presence over actual output. Honestly, it’s exhausting. With AI handling more tasks and surveillance tech keeping an eye on employees, this whole charade raises a bigger question: Does being in an office really make work better or just look busier?

• Celine has launched its pilates collection & it’s honestly too much! Should we call it a smart move? They launched everything from weights (priced at $2600), water bottles ($540), mats & whatnot. If you want to own the whole Celine Pilates set, you’ve to pay more than $10,000 for that. And yes the whole collection is already sold out!

• Members of Gen Alpha, the largest age group globally by population, have garnered the industry's notice thanks to their diehard obsession with beauty at an especially early age. According to an Ulta Beauty report published in June 2024 titled "Generation Joy," Gen Alpha begins trying skincare, makeup and fragrance at age eight - half the age of their millennial and Gen X counterparts.

• 💄 Kim Cattrall stars in Charlotte Tilbury’s new pillow talk campaign! I mean, this is the woman behind "I love you, but I love me more" aka one of the most iconic lines in TV history. The collection includes a limited-edition heart-shaped face palette (with setting powder + blush) and four brand-new Pillow Talk Love Effect lipsticks. With Sex and the City having a full-blown revival on TikTok, this was the perfect move to boost its presence on social media. Honestly, they couldn’t have picked a better face for Charlotte Tilbury Beauty!

• 🎳 Say hello to the latest trend—GAMIFICATION! To showcase the exclusive Le Petit Turismo bag, Jacquemus teamed up with Neiman Marcus for a dreamy bowling alley pop-up in Dallas. Think pastel pink and yellow aesthetics, custom Jacquemus bowling balls, and the perfect blend of luxury and fun. Oh, and you can bowl while you shop! Now that’s how you create an unforgettable brand experience.

• 🗞️ We have some good news - print magazine culture is back with i-D magazine returning to newsstands!! Gen Z is driving a print magazine revival, fueled by nostalgia and a desire for tangible, collectible media. With print seen as an extension of self-expression, Zs are embracing magazines as keepsakes, not just content. Are we going back to 00’s?

• 🤩 Selena is finally on Substack (yes yes, I mean Rare Beauty). The brand just launched Rare Beauty Secrets, where they’ll be sharing behind-the-scenes content, exclusive updates, & much more with their readers. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Fenty Beauty, Rhode, and Kylie Cosmetics follow suit soon!

• Talking about Rare Beauty, I loved their recent Miami pop-up. Full spring vibes & aesthetics. One of the few pop-ups I felt like attending so badly.

• ☀️ Talk about Y2K fashion & Bella Hadid is back with Miss Sixty for summer 2025! The brand dropped a bomb campaign for the launch of the new collection that features a wide range of nostalgic staples, from flared jeans and buckle belts to fitted silhouettes and denim heels!

• 🧴One of the smartest ways to launch a sunscreen? Neutrogena just pulled off one of the smartest launches ever. They got John Cena as the face of their new campaign! Playing off his iconic "You can't see me" catchphrase, they’re highlighting how their SPF goes on totally invisible. Genius move because who better to sell an unseen sunscreen than the king of invisibility himself? 😉

• Instagram adds a double-speed playback option for Reels. We know how the world is dealing with the short attention span problem & now people even want to watch reels at 2X speed!

• Who knew nostalgia could slay this hard? Dr. Martens and Bratz just dropped a limited-edition collab, bringing back all the Y2K vibes! Think velvet-laced boots, glittery soles, and a star-studded bag—because why not? Bold, playful, and packed with nostalgia, this collection is proof that 2025 is the year of throwback marketing!

  

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗

If you enjoyed it-

• You can leave a like or comment

• Subscribe (it’s free)

• Share it with someone who might like it ❤️

- Avani

Hot on Social Media🔥

A section where I talk about the Social Media Gossip! Let’s start.

• 🍒 What a way to engage your fans: Glossier, Inc.'s collectible passport has just dropped. No doubt, Glossier stores are iconic! I like the London one because it honestly feels like a Beauty Museum. Now, they’re making store visits even more exciting with a Glossier passport, letting you collect stickers and Polaroids from locations across the US and UK. It takes me back to my teenage years when I loved collecting booklets like these (such a fun concept)! I wanna be a part of Glossier’s creative team so baddd! I have creative FOMO now. What do we think?

• 💸 Shein Confirms Plans To Pursue IPO!! Executive Chairman Donald Tang flew to London to secure investors after facing political and regulatory pushback in the US and Canada. Now, they’re eyeing a UK listing, with Tang emphasizing Shein’s commitment to being a “British local company.” Can you imagine this? 😭

• 🚀 Well, Elon is with something new now! X Offers Trip To Mars in March Madness Competition. A wild March Madness "Bracket Challenge" in partnership with Uber Eats, and the grand prize is out of this world (literally)! If you manage to get a perfect bracket, you'll win a trip to Mars on one of Elon Musk’s yet-to-be-built rockets. Talk about aiming high!

• 🤎 Rhode dropped a teaser of their latest pocket bronzer in a GRWM video of Hailey! No doubt everyone looks so excited in the comments & it will be soon available.

• Topicals just revealed their newly reformulated, completely scent-free Faded Brightening and Clearing Serum with a video campaign.

• 👎🏻 Instagram is testing a private dislike or ‘downvote’ button that allows users to signal they don’t feel good about a particular comment. These votes won’t be shown publicly and there will be no dislike count visible, but it will perhaps lead to negative or controversial comments being pushed down in favor of more ‘friendly’ alternatives.

• 👀 It’s Sabrina’s world, and Redken just made it even better! Ahead of her London shows at the O2, Redken took their iconic partnership from URL to IRL with the ultimate fan experience. Think complimentary styling by Redken Pros, a photo booth for memories, free samples, & much more. And if that wasn’t enough, they also kicked off their first-ever Insider’s event at Stā Studios, welcoming 80 hairdressers into a fully Redken-fied space made for epic social media moments. Fun, community-driven, and totally unmissable—this is how you do brand experiences! 💯

• 🧺 Last weekend, Prada turned Covent Garden into a dreamy spring escape with a picnic-themed pop-up! Wrapped in the brand’s signature pistachio hues, the event showcased their must-have fragrances and makeup, bringing a fresh, elegant vibe to the city. Visitors got to experience the iconic Paradoxe Eau de Parfum & the sell-out Astral Pink Optimizing Lip Care while enjoying complimentary ice cream, samples, and fun prize giveaways. A perfect blend of luxury and seasonal charm!

• L’Oréal set up a “Worth It Café” in London to celebrate International Women's Day. “Worth It” isn’t just a tagline, it’s a whole empowerment vibe. Think free coffee & croissants, a book corner featuring female authors, a cozy lounge for meaningful connections, photo moments, and even a cinema. This is how you bring a community together. 💯

• YouTube has expanded access to audio replies, which allows Creators to respond to comments under videos with voice notes. These voice replies can be up to 30 seconds long!

• 💗 Molly-Mae knows her power goes beyond the brand—it’s her! To celebrate International Women’s Day, she set up the cutest coffee truck in Manchester & showed up at the Maebe pop-up herself, serving drinks, snapping pics, and making the whole experience feel personal. It was all about community, connection, & real-life magic. This is how you do it—authentic, engaging, and absolutely iconic!

The Real Talk 👀

A few days back, people predicted that 2025 would be the year Nara Smith teams up with a food brand, &…
Nara Smith & Erewhon dropped the "Wellness From Scratch" smoothie.🥤

We’ll come to it in a while, but this is not the first time Nara Smith has done it with brands!

Nara Smith usually posts TikToks of herself making food from scratch — from waffles to bubblegum to grilled cheese. Remember her collab with Marc Jacobs? She made a handbag! A "delicious, red Marc Jacobs tote bag," as Smith called it in her usual chill vibe. The brand teamed up with the model and content creator to "make" a mini tote, shown off in Smith’s typical video style.

@marcjacobsThe Tote Bag, made from scratch by @Nara Smith

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The video has been viewed 13.7 million times (at the time of publishing) and generated $966,000 in media impact value (MIV) on TikTok, and $285,000 on Instagram, according to Launchmetrics, in the first 48 hours of publishing. (Source: Vogue)

You see, that’s the reason brands want her❗️Nara has become the face of culinary creativity on TikTok & has worked with many beauty brands like MAC Cosmetics, Laniege, Summer Fridays, Marc Jacobs, Prada, YSL & more.

But how does she do that so smoothly? Let’s understand

• She employs "perpetual aspiration", a strategy of presenting an image that is highly desirable but ultimately unattainable, keeping the audience in a constant state of wanting more. It’s similar to how the Kardashians built their empire! Nara Smith shows a lifestyle to her viewers that makes them desire it, even though it’s not achievable. Her content offers a visually appealing and aspirational escape from everyday life that the audience wants. You see, marketing works well when you make customers want something completely different from their current state.

• Smith taps into the "empty billboard" vibe (first pointed out by TikToker Bee Better Company). These "empty billboard" influencers, who stay neutral on issues, avoid sharing opinions & don’t engage much with comments, are becoming more popular, according to Ted Raad, founder and CEO of Trend Management.

• Thirdly she uses "subliminal marketing" where she shows her life, makes you a part of it, tells you about lifestyle, motherhood etc. & then inserts a product in between or in the end so it doesn’t look exactly like a promotion! Now that’s how you sell a product 🙌🏼

Smith’s cooking-from-scratch content is a relatable experience of motherhood or homemaking.

📌 Now let’s talk about her collab with Erewhon. Why was it always bound to work so well?

• Nara has totally made a name for herself as the culinary queen on TikTok. From scratch-made meals to viral mukbangs, her content is basically begging for a food brand partnership.

• Erewhon? They’ve mastered influencer-driven marketing. With successful launches like Hailey Bieber’s "Skin Glaze" smoothie and Sofia Richie’s influence, they know how to turn cultural figures into major brand moments. From Kendall Jenner to Sofia Richie Grange, each collaboration generates organic buzz through influencer promotion.
  Leading to increased foot traffic and social media engagement.

This collab with Nara Smith is just the next natural step for them! It taps into an audience that’s all about authenticity.
Nara’s content is rooted in real, wholesome food, and Erewhon is known for its premium, high-quality ingredients. It just makes sense and doesn’t feel forced at all 💯

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗

If you enjoyed it-

• You can leave a like or comment

• Subscribe (it’s free)

• Share it with someone who might like it ❤️

- Avani

Btw before moving ahead I just wanted to show you guys how beautiful the sunset is when I’m writing this.

So, welcome back to my fortnightly newsletter where I share the latest marketing buzz, epic brand collabs, juicy Gen Z tea, & more.

Let’s dive into it directly!

• 💄 Louis Vuitton makes its debut in the beauty industry with La Beauté Louis Vuitton, its first-ever makeup line dropping this fall. And guess who’s leading it? Dame Pat McGrath!
  Well, last week I talked about Jacquemus entering the beauty industry & now LV. Idk how many more beauty brands do we need!?
  The debut collection will include 55 lipsticks, 10 lip balms, & 8 eye palettes. While this marks LV’s first official makeup line, the brand has long had a connection to beauty, from its iconic vanity cases to the makeup-friendly handbags of the ’20s.

• Talking about beauty & skincare, Summer Fridays revealed their new "Jet Lag Eye Patches". I’m definitely going to try it! I already love their lip products, and I’m super excited for this one. The brand always comes up with fun campaigns, so I was expecting that, but the product looks awesome! They brought Steph Suganami into their latest TikTok video for the new product, and I’m already falling for the aesthetics and luxury! I’m sure Rhode and Refy will bring some competition soon enough 😉

• 💗 REFY is taking a fresh approach to beauty education by simplifying masterclasses, making them more accessible and easy to follow. I love how each brand is doing something exclusive to get the best for their customers! Like REFY using IRL experience rn & people are actually loving it.

• GloRilla shines in Savage x Fenty's spring campaign. After the success of the Valentine’s Day campaign, Rihanna joined forces with GloRilla! We know how Rihanna just adores GloRilla! No doubt she stuns in the new Sunray collection, which the brand describes as a celebration of “natural beauty and bodaciousness.” This is just the beginning for GloRilla and Fenty—she’s now the first-ever joint partner for Fenty Skin, Hair, Beauty, and Savage X Fenty. “Rihanna has always been an icon and inspiration, and being chosen to represent her vision is an honor,” ~ GloRilla 💬

• ❗️LinkedIn opens new ‘Experience Center’ in London. Who would’ve thought LinkedIn would be doing this anytime soon? But yeah, I get it. Brands are realizing that IRL experiences are exactly what the audience wants. LinkedIn describes it as “an innovative space that will bring together customers, social impact organizations, and industry experts across hiring, B2B sales and marketing.”

• 📷 While UGC fueled the rise of relatable brand content, there’s a new type of influencer content resonating with Gen Zs: Employees. Through behind-the-scenes insights, product knowledge, workplace experiences, and more, EGC is earning audiences’ trust. Now, EGC is trickling up the corporate ladder, and reaching new levels of impact. Recently, Loewe’s creative director Jonathan Anderson played a game of favorites on the brand’s TikTok; Marc Jacobs clickety-clacked his oversized nails; and the founder of Jacquemus posted POV videos of store openings worldwide. I mean look at the number of views!!
  Brands are understanding what Zs are looking for & if they utilize it in the best way possible, it’s a win! 🙌🏼

• FILA x Hailey Bieber. Well, Gen Z's new go-to uniform just dropped.

  FILA has partnered with Hailey Bieber and it's serving off-duty model meets 90s' nostalgia. This girl is just doing good with everything! Whether with her beauty brand or just a collab. She’s setting the trend! Dropping March 6, Hailey is bringing her effortlessly cool style to FILA. Think classic logo pullovers, and sleek tennis skirts, straight out of a Pinterest mood board. And it's giving the perfect model off-duty look. Chic, effortless & so aesthetic! Hailey is truly giving us a cool girl on the go.

• 🍝 Give the marketing team of Sisters And Seekers a raise. The team hit the sensory marketing jackpot with a collection made out of Pasta! In just 24 hrs, their content was seen by over 3 million people! Now that’s how you make people stop scrolling. I’m totally in love with this. Super creative & looks good.

  

  @sistersandseekerswe’ve got good taste #sistersandseekers #sistersandseekersknit #sistersandseekershoodie

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• British fashion house PrettyLittleThing has undergone a new rebrand. On Feb 27, the fashion brand stirred up rumors by wiping its social media clean, removing all content, and switching to a burgundy profile picture. The only thing left? A cryptic bio reading, “Legacy In Progress – 03.03.2025.” Adding to the mystery, the brand also renamed its Instagram community chat to “All The Girls Are Here,” hinting at something big coming on the teased date. The brand, later on, unveiled its new identity with an elevated logo design, sophisticated color palette, refined typography, and reimagined website experience.

  Marketing with Avani 💌 is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

  

• 👀 Halle Berry kisses Adrien Brody on the Oscars red carpet, joking, “I had to pay him back”, 22 years after their iconic Academy Award moment. “That was one hell of a night for him, and for me as well. To be a part of his moment… tonight I had to pay him back,” Berry told Variety. “I’ve seen him out at parties, but this is the first time since that night that I’ve seen him on the red carpet somewhere. He’s nominated this year. He deserved that.”

• 👙 Skims marks its latest swimwear drop with a 60-foot Kim Kardashian balloon takeover in Times Square. The whole NYC is drooling over this! The giant floating Kim is rocking pieces from the new collection, including the triangle top and cheeky tanga bottoms in a shade called tide, all set on a sleek blue deck stamped with the brand’s logo. No doubt it’s a bold move, perfect to grab attention & only Kim can do this! Shot in the Bahamas by Playboy photographer Ana Dias, the campaign definitely brings the heat, with Kardashian herself saying it’s all about feeling confident and amazing. Skims keeps leveling up, and with their new NikeSkims collab launching soon, it looks like they’re coming for the entire activewear scene too.

• 🍔 When I say we brands should learn marketing from McD, this is what I mean! McDonald's reveals celebrity breakfast orders after Oscars. McD released an ad, spotlighting the go-to breakfast orders of Hollywood stars including Keke Palmer, Julia Fox, Michael B. Jordan, Jackie Chan, & Idina Menzel. The breakfast campaign includes special deals and offers at U.S. restaurants through the end of this year.

• Primark is tapping into Pinterest’s search data from 12 million users to launch three trend-inspired homeware ranges—Cosy Cottage, Minamaluxe, & Dainty Décor—rolling out in 100 stores this March. Primark is quite popular for its fun collabs like with Simpsons & Hello Kitty previously! To make shopping even easier, they’re bringing the collab to life with over 70 store window displays and offering Click & Collect via Pinterest for a seamless shopping experience. Shoppers can also use Pinterest Collages to style their space before buying, pulling together mood boards with pieces from the collection. Now that’s a smart strategy!

• Our childhood app (at least mine :P) Skype is being retired. Nothing to say here other than this made me more sad than I thought it would. You'll have until 5th May to export data or migrate to Microsoft.

• 🍎 Disney has reportedly canceled plans for a UK premiere of its Snow White remake over concerns about an “anti-woke” backlash. The film has sparked controversy over its casting, creative changes, and comments from lead actress Rachel Zegler, with critics on both sides debating whether Disney has drifted too far from the original story.

• 📌 Talking about apps, Instagram is planning to launch a new app for reels anytime soon! A standalone Reels app would be a more direct TikTok rival, launching with a full-screen, scrollable feed of short videos. With Reels now extended to 3 minutes, there’s enough content variety to potentially make a separate app worthwhile. Honestly, I’ve already left Instagram but idk how many more apps do we need!

• 💗 Benefit Cosmetics teamed up with Emilie Kiser & Avery Woods to curate their favorite picks and co-design two exclusive charms. Shoppers who spend $60 on Benefit at Ulta this March can snag one!

• 🩸 Persil x Arsenal Women campaign tackles period stain taboos. With 78% of British girls aged 15-17 quitting sports during their periods (Unilever, 2025), Persil is teaming up with Arsenal Women for a new campaign, Every Stain Should Be Part of the Game, to break the stigma around menstruation and period leaks in women’s sports.

• ☕️ Prada expands its catering offering to Singapore. Another example of how brands are changing their marketing tactics! Inspired by the Prada Caffè at Harrods in London & their first store in Milan, this new spot is all about giving you a cool experience that's as much about the vibe and visuals as it is about the food.

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗

If you enjoyed it-

• You can leave a like or comment

• Subscribe (it’s free)

• Share it with someone who might like it ❤️

- Avani

So, welcome back to my fortnightly newsletter where I share the latest marketing buzz, epic brand collabs, juicy Gen Z tea, & more.

Let’s dive into it directly 💗

• The New Yorker teams up with J.Crew for a special 100th anniversary collab capsule. For this new collab, J.Crew wanted to capture The New Yorker's signature wit and sophistication through a mix of stylish clothing and accessories. The earthy, neutral color palette is on point, & I love the rugby shirts with the subtle logos. Not only this, but their whole campaign is so aesthetic!!

• Glossier's beloved "Futuredew" now comes in a solid version. Originally a limited-edition holiday drop, the solid version gained so much hype that its comeback was inevitable. If you loved the original oil-serum hybrid that sold out for weeks in 2019, this is a no-brainer.
  The brand is also launching another fragrance ‘Fleur’ next month 🌸

• Well, Kim Kardashian is back with another collab & this time it’s with Nike to deliver a collection blending sports science with body-contouring innovation. Now get over Kanye x Adidas. The line promises “industry-leading innovation” across apparel, footwear, & accessories. NikeSKIMS will debut its first collection in the US & a global expansion will follow in 2026.

• 🧀 Benny Blanco gifted Selena Gomez a bathtub filled with queso on V Day & it’s facing backlash now! Gomez was impressed but def. people weren’t. I mean I understand that’s a different kind of love!?
  Someone wrote under the post - “Well, you can take the girl out of Texas but you can't take Texas out of her”.

• 💯 Halle Berry is on a mission to change the way we talk about menopause with Respin Health, a platform designed to provide modern, AI-driven, and community-backed support. I think it’s about time someone tackled the stigma head-on, especially when so many women are misdiagnosed and left without real solutions. I’ve seen women in my own family struggle with menopause, & it’s frustrating how little support & awareness exists. Inspired by her own experience, Berry partnered with top experts to create a holistic, personalized approach to mid-life health.

• 👀 Frankies Bikinis & Bella Hadid also dropped a new collab & it’s totally rodeo-ready! I think from rugged suedes and vintage denim to swimwear that works both on the beach and in the stables, the pieces are super cool & practical. Plus, the rodeo-style details and floral embroidery with Bella’s name make it all feel even more personal. I’m really excited to see the drops, starting March 4, & I’m definitely keeping an eye on this one! Loved the shoot as well!

• Kylie Cosmetics launched their powder foundation, which looks similar to Fenty Beauty’s. Honestly, I’m not surprised cause this is not the first time she’s done this! She previously launched a perfume that was basically a copy of Glossier’s, and she also put out a lip product eerily similar to Summer Fridays’ best-selling Lip Butter! Is it a smart strategy or just building a business out of stolen ideas?
  Also, Kylie Cosmetics is gearing up to launch the second iteration of the “Cosmic” Eau de Parfum in a fresher, floral version, “Cosmic 2.0”.

  Marketing with Avani 💌 is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

• Now if we’re talking about the Jenners, Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila & ready-to-wear label Leset just dropped a cozy collab, perfect for big nights in. No doubt she definitely knows her audience! The limited-edition collection launches on Feb 27, and honestly, I love this campaign. It’s one of those rare ones that actually feels personal, like something I’d want to be part of.
  “We know that our Gen Z and millennia consumers are embracing more intentional ways to socialize and drink, and that’s exactly what inspired our ‘Big Night In’ campaign,” ~ Kendall Jenner.

  

• 🍣 Yves Saint Laurent opens Sushi Restaurant at flagship store. I’ve already published a blog on this- how brands are opening new cafes & restaurants everywhere to attract more audience! I would say it’s a great move cause if you know Sushi Park, you know it’s not your average sushi spot, it’s a cult-favorite among Hollywood elites, known for its no-frills, top-tier omakase experience!

• 🔥 Meghan Markle has rebranded her lifestyle company from "American Riviera Orchard" to As Ever. It is shaping up to be a personal and stylish extension of Meghan’s passions, covering everything from cooking and gardening to crafting. If you followed The Tig, her old blog, you might notice some familiar vibes (authentic storytelling, aspirational yet down-to-earth content, and a focus on intentional living). With a new aesthetic and logo, As Ever is dropping right in sync with her upcoming Netflix series, With Love, Meghan.

• Rihanna’s FENTY x PUMA collab is back with fresh styles, including the new Avantis, Jelly Slides, and Pocket Bags. I get that! The Jelly Slides (Cat Cleat Jelly) aren’t doing it for me, but the Avantis do look pretty cool! The collection will drop on March 13.

• 🥱 Btw did you guys see IKEA’s new campaign? They texted people “u up?” in the middle of the night & those who responded between 10pm & 5am to the brand’s DM with a little late-night banter were rewarded with a free mattress.

  

• Reports say that “Functional beverages” like beauty waters and protein sodas are everywhere right now, and honestly, I get the hype. We all know the craze of Olipop, Poppi & Ghia among people these days. With people moving away from sugary sports drinks and looking for alternatives to boost skin, hair, and even sleep, these beauty waters and protein sodas feel like the next big thing. It’s also clear that the rise of GLP-1 drugs is shifting the wellness industry in a major way. While some of these claims still raise eyebrows, upcoming regulatory changes in the U.S. might finally give consumers more confidence in what they’re actually drinking.

• Apple has just unveiled the iPhone 16e, a compelling addition to their lineup that brings high-end features to a more accessible price point. Priced at $599, the iPhone 16e is powered by the advanced A18 chip and Apple's first in-house C1 modem. I think it’s a pretty amazing deal for someone who was looking for a cheaper model! Pre-orders begin on February 21, with availability starting February 28.

• Mia Khalifa is back on the runway, making a statement at Di Petsa’s London Fashion Week show. The FW25 show, “Reflections of Desire,” felt like a moving piece of art, blending performance and fashion effortlessly. Even menswear got a fresh, feminine twist. I always love how Di Petsa makes fashion feel intimate and poetic—this collection was no exception❗️

• 👀 Some social media updates - Instagram continues to test a downvote button. Adam Mosseri claims that the company won't show a dislike count and no one will know you disliked a comment. Eventually, dislikes WILL count towards ranking comments and moving them comments lower down.

• Were you aware of this? Meta is allegedly offering TikTok creators THOUSANDS per month to post exclusively on Instagram. Leaked Instagram documents suggest that TikTok creators are being lured to post on Instagram with deals ranging from $2,500 to $50,000 per month — the content just has to be exclusive to Instagram for three months❗️

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗

If you enjoyed it-

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- Avani

And alsooo it’s that time of the year!

And Ik for some of you, it’s the big day - flowers, chocolates, fancy dinner, pulling out all the stops - but for me, it’s more about the fun brand campaigns & also my girlies❗️
This piece is gonna a bit different than my regular posts. For this newsletter, I decided to collab with my favorite Fashion & Brand Substack Girlies🥂

Let’s start with…

Hot on Social Media 🔥

A section where I talk about the Social Media Gossip!

• A Parisian Collab - Jacquemus x L’oréal is a game-changing beauty collab for sure. Jacquemus is stepping into beauty, and L'Oréal is making it happen! The iconic fashion brand, known for its effortlessly chic aesthetic, has just announced a partnership with L'Oréal Groupe. Well, I think it’s a pretty clever move since L'Oréal is the brand behind YSL, Prada Beauty & Lancôme❗️

  

• Selena told us how to celebrate Galentine’s Day with this event & I’m completely in love with it! Here’s the scoop on all the fun: Sweet treats, exclusive sneak peeks of new products, beauty blush photobooths, & endless gifts 💗 Selena knows how to bring the community together & what else is needed to win our hearts❓

• Heinz is giving fans the chance to customize their ketchup and mayo bottles with adorable pet names like Pookie, Lovebug, and Boo.

  Here’s how it works: Pick your favorite Heinz sauce, add a personal touch with a custom name, and gift it to your Valentine 😉

• Elon wants OpenAI. Because, Politics, Crypto, Tesla, SpaceX, & X obvs are not enough. He reportedly threw down a $97B offer, saying OpenAI has “lost its way”. Anyway, Sam Altman snubbed him and the saga continues❗️

• 👀 Duo the Duolingo owl was pronounced dead? I’m sure it’s a PR stunt but I love how Duolingo always comes up with something super entertaining! Let’s see where it goes…

  

• Came across this marketing for Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy. This is so clever. Completely loved it. Who would have thought the classic underground saying: Mind The Gap be used to promote a movie that is about the age gap❓

• Poppi totally missed the vibe, splashing cash on fancy vending machine PR for influencers while a lot of people are barely covering their bills. Meanwhile, Olipop had the perfect chance to come out on top.
  But instead, they went full mean-girl mode, turning what could’ve been a win into a major side-eye from customers. 🤷🏻‍♀️

• Netflix isn’t just after your screen time! It wants a spot on your plate too.

  This week, the streamer launched Netflix Bites at the MGM Grand in Vegas, a pop-up restaurant serving dishes inspired by its shows. What’s on the menu? The Squid Game-themed Dalgona Rum Buzz and Bridgerton’s Regency Tea, with new items dropping as fresh shows and movies hit the platform.

• Hailee Steinfeld launches canned cocktail brand Angel Margarita.🍹The 28-year-old actress, singer, and producer is launching a canned cocktail brand, with co-founders Jordi Zindel and Rodrigo Hernandez. ⁠

• Kylie Cosmetics launched its new lip butter (which I suspect to be a copy of Summer Fridays). The brand collaborated with See’s Candies for the launch & hosted a pop-up as well.

• Summer Fridays just kicked off their Endless Summer Beach Club pop-up at Bondi Beach, Sydney 🌊. They’re all about connecting with their community IRL. Serving up free ice cream, exclusive merch, complimentary samples, & more. Sounds like the perfect summer vibe.
  I love it when brands focus on experiential marketing 💗

  

The Real Talk 👀

Since it’s Valentine’s Day, I thought of giving a shoutout to my favorite Substack fashion girlies…

I asked them about their favorite products and thought I’d share their answers with you all. Well, I’m a huge fan of lip products, so I asked them:

• Fav lip care product (lipstick/gloss/oil) 💄

• Go-to perfume

• One skincare product they can't skip 👀

• A pair of sneakers they’re currently loving 👟

Let’s get started!

- Posts about Media, Books & Lifestyle 💗

• “My go-to lip product is Fenty Beauty's Gloss Bomb in the shade 'Glass Slipper'. It's a clear gloss, a little on the expensive side, but it's the most flattering gloss I've ever tried, and I've had mine for more than a year.”

• “Burberry Goddess is my signature scent right now; all the base notes are vanilla, but it's quite spicy, too. It's a sweet scent that's never overpowering, and it's perfect for every season.”

• “The Ordinary's Soothing & Barrier Support Serum has changed my skin. It's the only serum I use now because it does everything you could need, and it protects your skin from any harsh products.”

• “I love the Reebok Club C 85 because of their vintage look and how truly comfortable they are. It's a classic white sneaker that goes with every outfit.”

- Weekly blogs about books, life, food & more 👀

• “I don't like to use lip oil or gloss, so my go-to is Labello (the regular moisturizer, in the dark blue packaging). When I want to add some color, I also use Labello cherry.”

• “I always alternate between two: Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue and Caudalie Eau des Vignes. Lately, however, I've been going for Caudalie more, it has an incredibly fresh scent!”

• “My moisturizer from L'Oréal: revitalift laser spf 25”

• “I'm a huge fan of the low-top Chuck Taylor All-Star Canvas. They are, without a doubt, my favorite sneakers. However, I also love the Golden Goose. But since the prices are prohibitive for what I can afford, I often wear some from a Spanish brand, Corina, which are very similar to the Golden Goose.”

- Posts about Fashion & Lifestyle 💌

• “Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment in Watermelon Slice. This is probably my favorite product from Rhode and Scent. It leaves my lips feeling hydrated with a nice glossy finish.”

• “I like to mix and match fragrances, but here are my top three go-to’s-
  DIME’s I Love Your Smell Baby (A perfect everyday scent.),
  Dior’s Hypnotic Poison (Perfect sweet gourmand fragrance I gravitate toward. I’m not usually a gourmand girl—overly sweet scents give me headaches—but this one is the exception.),
  Sorce’s Match Made in Heaven (I love keeping it in my bag to have on hand whenever I need it.)”

• “La Roche-Posay Double Repair Face Moisturizer. Best moisturizer for the winter! My skin is facing a major dry spell and this helps so much to revive my skin.”

• “Nike Blazer Mid '77 LX 'Lucky Charms in White (I thrifted these two years ago, and when I went home for the holidays, I rediscovered them in my closet—of course, I had to bring them back to the city. Now, I try to wear them as often as possible.)
  Guizio x Puma Sneakers (This was my first big purchase since moving to the city. I attended Guizio’s pop-up with Puma to celebrate their new sneaker, and they’ve become the perfect work shoe for me—just a great pair to throw on that goes with anything.)
  New Balance 530 in White/Burgundy Ash (These are my go-to shoes that I wear nearly every day—whether I'm running errands, heading to the airport, or just out and about. They're incredibly light and comfy, making them perfect for everyday wear.)

- Weekly blogs. Media, Cultural Insights, Lifestyle Tips & more 💯

• “One of the products I have been using for years is the CeraVe foaming cleanser. One of the best cleansing products I have ever tried, it leaves the skin super clean and hydrated, especially for those like me who suffer from dry skin in the colder months. Super affordable and I highly recommend.”

• “A perfume that I am loving is the Nuit Blanche by LPDO. A very sweet perfume, an intense caramel fragrance that turns into a light powdered sugar scent, really recommended!!!”

I really appreciate these people for putting in the effort for my newsletter❗️
Also, let me know what’s your fav products or sneakers. Would love to check them out.👀

Leave a comment

Also thanks again to all for being a part of my journey & helping me it 1k.

Thank you for reading, see you soon.💗

If you enjoyed it-

• You can leave a like or comment

• Subscribe (it’s free)

• Share it with someone who might like it ❤️

- Avani

Hot on Social Media🔥

A section where I talk about the Social Media Gossip! Let’s start.

• Glow Recipe showed every skincare brand how to transition into makeup. The brand just launched the skincare blushes, & their strategy was so smart! They did the Apple style conference, where they invited the press, influencers & their best customers❗️They announced the new product & gave a PR package to everyone there. Ofc. everyone was gonna post that on their socials & which would give Glow Recipe millions of views & promotions. 🙌🏽

  

• Balmain Beauty Drops Red Hot Fragrance 👀 I mean, the perfect time to launch a perfume. Since Valentine’s Day is almost here, I loved the brand’s move. It’s “Rouge” & is packaged in a stunning red bottle❤️ Retails for $230 USD.

• The Next-Gen Event Planning App for 2025 by Apple.📱 Apple introduced Apple Invites, a brand-new iOS app for creating personalized event invitations. It allows users to design custom invites for any event, manage RSVPs, and even integrate shared photo albums or Apple Music playlists.

  

• Starbucks is celebrating Valentine’s Day with new and returning limited-time drinks. They’ve introduced the Blackberry Sage Refresher, which combines blackberries with sage, and the Blackberry Sage Lemonade Refresher and Midnight Drink.🥤

• Vacation has launched its new "Classic Whip Glow SPF 50," a lightweight, dessert-inspired sunscreen that offers both sun protection and a radiant glow. Honestly, the packaging is everything. And it’s getting everyone’s attention. I really loved their magazine-style posts on Instagram & how they actually kept the upcoming magazine trend in mind.

  

• Starface has just teased the exciting expansion (& return) of their beloved Hello Kitty partnership, which will include a new lineup of compacts and patches, bringing fresh additions to their skincare collection. And I think these are super cute.💗 Alongside these, they’re also launching a brand-new flavor of their popular lip balm, "Apple Star Balm."

The Real Talk 👀

For a very long time, I’ve wanted to talk about the rising trend of influencer brands. Well, you see what’s going on? Anyone who gets famous comes up with a new brand sooner or later❗️
This trend is quite common in the US (Brands like Unwell by Alex Cooper) & Europe (like OddMuse by Aimee Smale or Gisou by Negin Mirsalehi).

But recently, the internet’s been calling out influencer brands, even though this business model’s been thriving for years and has seen a lot of success.

So, the problem with influencer fashion brands is that they try to position themselves differently from fast fashion, but they have the same principles.
If we look into it, they have a lot of similarities & questionable actions that often go unnoticed just because they’re backed by a well-known face with millions of followers.

Influencer Brand Controversies❗️

📌 What got my attention was the recent controversy with two influencer brands.-

• “Maebe” by Molly Mae
  When she launched her brand last year in September, there was quite a lot of controversy about the quality of her products, the price & the overall transparency. People started posting on TikTok how the products started ripping off just after a single wear.
  After this, Molly did an interview with Vogue addressing the backlashes. (read it here). She responded to people calling her brand a fast fashion brand & how she’s not worn fast fashion for a really long time.

  

  But while promoting the brand, they tagged other fast fashion brands on their posts & even collaborated with PrettyLittleThings, which again is known for its fast fashion.

• “Djerf Avenue” by Matilda Djerf
  So recently, there was a Swedish documentary released on Matilda Djerf on how she has a toxic work culture at her place. How she doesn't treat her employees nicely & also bullies them. Not only this but about Fatfobia, & even about not letting the employees use toilets. She later posted on this & mentioned that she’ll look into it.
  Since it came out about Matilda’s behavior, people also talked about how the products she sells are not of good quality, even though they’re more expensive than the fast fashion brands.

And these are just two brands I talked about. There are many others similar to these that are being called out.

What’s the Actual Problem❓

Let me try to explain to you about the actual problem.
Since these brands are launched by famous influencers with an already huge following, they’re popular from the start. And by popular, I mean having a cult following.

These influencers have a very big privilege over anyone starting from scratch. They can literally launch anything & it would become famous in some time.

They don’t even need to put in much effort to market their products. Just posting pictures in them on social media is enough.
And yeah, that’s the point of influencer marketing, but we need to understand how crazy the audience is about it. They don’t even realize what’s really going on behind the scenes. This is because people are so much into Parasocial Relationships.
So the question is, can you literally sell anything at an overpriced rate❓

The time Maebe launched its products, they were sold out within just 24 mins of launching❗️

They show their audience a lifestyle that people want to live, and I think most buy their products to experience that lifestyle or to be like the influencer, rather than to actually support them.

These brands are pushing products like crazy, creating this non-stop cycle of "buy now, or you’ll lose it." The amazing use of FOMO marketing. And let's be real, these products are often marketed to people who already have more than enough. I mean, we don’t even need them & still end up buying!

Would you call it brainwashing❓

Where are Influencer Brands headed❓

Okay, so the question is, what is the future of these brands?

I don’t think they’re going anywhere. The moment an influencer sees a profit in selling a product or launching a brand, they’re gonna jump on it (ofc.).

📌 There’s no one to stop them from doing it or tell them ‘We don’t need this’.

I’m not upset about anything, but the overconsumption it is promoting!! I believe after a point, the influencers are just taking advantage of the followers & I’m not ok with it❗️

Let me know what you think about it.

Leave a comment

Thank you for reading, see you soon.💗

If you enjoyed it-

• You can leave a like or comment

• Subscribe (it’s free)

• Share it with someone who might like it ❤️

- Avani

Well in this newsletter I’ve a lot to share. Some new product launches, the latest Valentine's Day campaigns & much more. So let’s dive into it directly.

(Also, this article is full of lip products and new launches... honestly, I’m tired just thinking about writing them all out 😅💄)

• 💋 Brands are trying to be super exclusive this Valentine’s Day. And I’m saying this cause Charlotte Tilbury just dropped the best “IT GIRL” collab of the year for this V’Day❗️They collaborated with the viral custom embroidery shop Abbode. How does it work?
  You take a piece of paper & put your Charlotte Tilbury lipstick mark on that. And Abbode will embroider it onto whatever item you want like a tank top or shorts? 💄 A perfect gift for your bf? Cause we’re all tired of the usual boring gifts!!

  

• Give the marketing team at MAC a raise for being creative and bold with ‘the best I’ve ever looked’ campaign! The latest campaign is all about naked bodies and makeup. The new slogan, "I only wear MAC", shows how to rock nude lips without actually going bare. It’s a bit trashy, but in the best way, with a mix of humor and glamour that’s definitely grabbing attention on Instagram. (A stunning range of 19 shades).

• Who’s talking about it❓Instagram and Facebook have censored posts from multiple abortion pill providers like Aid Access, Women Help Women, and Just the Pill—blocking, blurring, or removing their content. Some accounts were suspended, while others were made harder to find in searches and recommendations.💊

• 🍺 We’ve to talk about how Coors Light wants every woman to drink their beer with this creative campaign. It’s doing this by mixing beer with a viral skincare trend. Coors Light came up with its own version of an ice roller. Just grab a beer can and pop it into the tool. Honestly, I think it’s super creative and different! With more beer brands targeting women in 2025, this is a genius move to attract a female audience❗️

  

• 🔖 An amazing article by ELLE. A must-read - Can Influencers Predict the Next Big Thing in Books?

• 🍓 Happy Ending by Ghia x Alice Mushrooms. Well, we know how Ghia is the talk of the town, and it recently dropped a new collab: a mix of Ghia’s crunchy hazelnut spread and Alice’s happy ending blend. (100% of profits donated to families impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires.)

• Chanel is bringing the 2010 red matte lipstick trend back! The Chanel fashion show was hosted on 28th Jan in Paris. While everyone’s been all about the 2000s looks, Gabrielle Chanel took it up a notch by bringing back 2010s makeup (especially that matte lipstick vibe.) 🔥

• 💄Ariana’s brand r.e.m. beauty launched their ‘Dreamglow’ collection with Glossy Balms & Blush Sticks. I love r.e.m. beauty, and I’ve been using its lipsticks for some time now. And finally, they’ve launched the Dreamglow Collection!
  The collection was inspired by Ariana Grande’s Wicked character Glinda, & includes the “Essential Drip” Glossy Balm & “Eclipse” Blush & Lip Stick. Well, can’t wait to try them!

• Ouai has launched its first-ever skincare product. The ‘Detox Face Cleanser’. I can already see the skincare industry getting oversaturated with every brand releasing its products! Where do you see this going in the next three years❓

• 👀 Now let’s talk about Rhode. Tate McRae Shines in Rhode’s Latest “Peptide Lip Shape” Campaign. Hailey always has to come up with a new idea, and I love it. The campaign stars Tate McRae, Yoon Bae, Anyier Anei, and Mahi Kabra. It’s available in 11 shades like Lift, Press, and Flex, you can line, overline, or fill in your lips for a full look. ($24) Let me know if you’re gonna try it❗️

  

• 🗓️ TikTok Launches 2025 Marketing Calendar. Marketers it’s for you! TikTok has rolled out its 2025 marketing calendar, created to help marketing teams make the most of seasonal opportunities.

• 💗 Since Valentine’s Day is around the corner, how could Skims not launch a campaign? Blackpink’s Rosé Stuns in Skims’ ‘Romantic and Cute’ Valentine’s Collection. Rosé was named Saint Laurent’s global ambassador in 2020 & Kim knew exactly how to make the most of it.
  Skims’ 2025 Valentine’s Day collection is all about heart-printed loungewear.

  Marketing with Avani 💌 is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

• 🧴Btw I so want to talk about how The Ordinary is shaking things up with its new platform, TheTruthShouldBeOrdinary.com. They’re calling out the beauty industry’s habit of keeping skincare info locked away and are making scientific research (like myths about animal testing, parabens, and sunscreen) available for everyone to see. The brand’s all about transparency, even inviting chemists to share their work on the site. Finally, a brand that’s doing it differently!

  

• Bala teamed up with Pucci for a limited-edition collab that mixes fitness and fashion with bold Italian vibes, bringing us these upgraded fitness accessories.

• 🫱🏻‍🫲🏼 Louis Vuitton and F1 announce a tailored partnership under the LVMH deal. For the 2025 season-opening Australian Grand Prix, kicking off a bigger partnership between F1 and LVMH that runs through 2034. Louis Vuitton is now officially an F1 partner too, making things even more luxe in the racing world!
  Well, what if I told you that LVMH is going big on sports? LVMH is using sports to be the two words that everyone wants to be: ✨culturally relevant✨ First Paris Olympics then F1. Let’s see how it goes.

• 👀 Gen Z is making malls cool again—and redefining how they shop, socialize, and share. For years, everyone thought online shopping had killed them off, but with places like Miami’s Brickell City Centre and New Jersey’s American Dream booming, it’s clear they’re having a major comeback. Why? Because in a world ruled by screens, malls give Gen Z the best of both worlds. (Real-life hangouts + Instagram-worthy spots where shopping turns into content gold.)

• Rare Beauty "Soft Pinch Contour". Yes, we know Selena Gomez is all about keeping beauty fun and inclusive with her first-ever creator-led campaign, focusing on realness and authenticity. To drop the new Soft Pinch Contour in seven stunning shades, Rare Beauty teamed up with six amazing creators (plus Selena). The whole campaign is super inspiring, bold, and all about embracing who you are 💯

• Brands are living their girly aesthetic moment, jumping on trends like messy sinks, shopping carts, and airport trays. 2025 is all about cute vibes, personal style, and standing out.

  

Thanks for reading, see you soon 💗

If you enjoyed it-

• You can leave a like or comment

• Subscribe (it’s free)

• Share it with someone who might like it ❤️

- Avani