We’re back with another episode of The Review of Mess: a podcast collaboration between The Review of Beauty (by me, Jessica DeFino) and I <3 Mess (a fashion newsletter from Emily Kirkpatrick).
Today we’re talking about: Fetish porn as a PR strategy, the “sploogification” of skincare [3:07], Emily’s journalistic debacle with The Face and the aesthetics of fascism [5:33], the sadness of the morning shed [20:20], the emergence of the “self-shelfie” [28:40], Jools Debron and the ballroom origins of “demure” [30:35], Dolly Parton Beauty [40:44], a deep-dive into the Blake Lively Blake-lash [48:30], a cosmetic chemist’s take on swapping conditioner for hair masks [1:14:30], Jessica’s personal experience with Blake Brown Beauty (Lively’s new haircare line) [1:15:09], a niche debate about Substack and the figure of the Literary It Girl [1:20:05], Tom Cruise’s new PR strategy [1:41:56], and why Auntie Anne’s and Hellman’s Mayo both launched perfumes [1:49:12]. Plus more!
Media we mentioned: Addison Rae - Diet Pepsi (Official Video) [YouTube], “Leave TikTok’s ‘Morning Shed’ Trend Alone” [Glamour], “Very Demure, Very Mindful: Who Owns An Internet Buzzword?” [Dazed], “'Very demure, very mindful' trademark issue is 'handled,' TikTok influencer says” [NPR], DollyBeauty.com, “Blake Lively's 'It Ends With Us' promotion called 'disrespectful' by some survivors of domestic abuse” [NBC News], “The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job” [YouTube], “Half-Blaked” [Puck], “The Machine In The Garden” [Feed Me]
About the podcast: The Review of Mess is a podcast by Jessica DeFino and Emily Kirkpatrick that takes a critical look at the dregs of pop culture. Jessica is the writer behind The Review of Beauty, which has been called the newsletter “the beauty industry fears,” and Emily is the creator of I <3 Mess, a weekly roundup of the best of the worst celebrity fashion. Together, they dissect the biggest and dumbest celebrity happenings every month and give their unfiltered opinion on everything going on in the world of fashion and beauty.
About the theme music: The Review of Mess theme song is “Hot Mess” by Carly Lind. Find more about Carly here and listen to her music here.
Blake Lively Is Not Very Demure