Alpha Rizz and Zoomer Nonchalance
"just an edgy or sassy reputation"
Olympian Quincy Wilson can’t believe he has to go back to high school after winning his first gold medal; Myha’la, star of HBO’s Industry, has arrived; Addison Rae makes her major label debut with single “Diet Pepsi”; and fans speculate that a new Lorde album is on its way.
Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Fenty Beauty.
Earlier this summer, the industry publication Business of Fashion reported that everyone is in love with blush again, pointing out that unit sales increased 58 percent. Even more impressive, blush sales reached $462 million in the past 12 months in the US prestige makeup market, a 36 percent increase over the previous year.
Young women in particular are embracing blush — so much that some have begun to wonder whether they’re using a little too much. “Blush blindness,” a phrase that means you’re unaware you’ve used blush excessively, has taken off on social media this summer, with TikTokers sharing photos of moments they’ve gone overboard with blush. (The trend is an evolution of the recent “eyebrow blindness” meme.) Searches for “blush blindness” spiked in June, according to Google data, and on TikTok, there are more than 72M posts using the phrase.
But a curious thing has happened in the last few weeks. As is the case with most trends, we’re now experiencing a backlash to the blush blindness movement, with young women unapologetically applying heavy washes of color (blush boldness?). No-makeup makeup has been replaced by a new ethos: More is more.
Always one step ahead of the zeitgeist, Fenty Cheeks Suede Powder Blush, a new launch from Rihanna’s beauty brand, plays into the idea that there’s no such thing as too much blush. An antithesis to blush blindness, the high-pigment formula, a mix between cream and pressed powder, comes in colors like Drama Cla$$ (shimmering soft violet), Summertime Wine (rich berry), and Daiquiri Dip (coral red). There are shade options for every skin tone, and because it’s waterproof, it’ll last through sweat and humidity. (I tested out Wattabrat, a baby pink, last week in a heatwave and a thunderstorm, and the stuff did not budge. Brat, indeed.)
Thank you Fenty! 🫶
HOW GEN Z IS SHAKING UP MILLENNIAL WEDDING CONVENTIONS, vogue
Millennials led the transformation of wedding days into #weddingcontent on social media, while Gen Z brides are opting for a more uncurated and nonchalant vibe. “For millennial brides, the big flex was to have this pulled-from-Pinterest aesthetic,” says Kristen Gregor, a wedding photographer based on the East Coast. “With Gen Z, their big flex is to show off the amazing time that they had, and how effortless they looked doing it.”
DITCHING WEDDING STATIONERY FOR INFORMAL TEXT INVITATIONS, nyt
Who needs pricey and time-consuming paper invitations when group chats exist? Etsy reports a huge jump in searches for digital invitations in recent years, while Canva says it has had nearly 80 million uses of its wedding and save-the-date templates globally in the last year, with consistent growth since a 2021 post-pandemic spike.
CONSULTING HAS A GEN Z PROBLEM, businessinsider
Once a dream job for new grads, consulting — with its 80-hour weeks, constant travel, and high stress — is no longer as appealing to young workers, many of whom value work-life balance above everything else. "In the consulting world, you have security. The brand is good, but your job is meaningless,” says Ezra Gershanok, a Gen Zer who left a job at McKinsey to run a startup.
ZOOMERS THINK TESLAS AREN'T "COOL" ANYMORE, SURVEY FINDS, futurism
According to the Morgan Stanley 6th Annual Intern Survey, the Tesla is losing its “cool factor” among Gen Z. The Elon Musk-led company was the most desirable brand for only 11 percent of Morgan Stanley interns, compared to 14 percent last year, and 19 percent in 2022. Interns are now showing a preference for traditional automakers like Mercedes and BMW.
TIKTOK’S LATEST GROWTH HACK: BUYING NEW USERS WITH DISCOUNTS, theinformation
TikTok is incentivizing people to invite their friends to the app by offering steep discounts on goods, like hair styling tools marked down to just a penny. In 2023, Instagram overtook TikTok in app downloads and things aren’t looking better this year — TikTok’s number of global monthly active users 18 and older increased an average of just 2% during the first half of this year compared to a year ago.
WHAT TWEENS GET FROM SEPHORA AND WHAT THEY GET FROM US, newyorker
Whereas millennials “were ineptly smothering our faces in drugstore eye shadow,” today’s tweens — who spend much of their time on the very same social-media networks as adults — “are mimicking the camera-tuned luxury aesthetic of semi-professionals whose makeup tutorials they’ve seen on their phones,” writes Jia Tolentino.
PARENTS AND GEN ALPHA KIDS ARE HAVING UNINTELLIGIBLE CONVOS BECAUSE OF ‘BRAINROT’ LANGUAGE, nbcnews
When older people try to use Gen Alpha slang, “It’s kind of embarrassing,” says Beryl, 11, who goes on to explain that she understands the very online reputation her generation has: “Gen Alpha is described as obsessed with skin care, makeup, skibidi and rizzler…Not a bad reputation, just an edgy or sassy reputation.”
One last thought:
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