From the Group Chat: #MomTok Drama, Mini Mullets, and "How to Die Alone"

EDITOR’S NOTE

Happy Sunday. This week has felt especially anxiety-inducing. Sure, it could’ve been the debate. But there are other possible culprits: my caffeine consumption (I blame these copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cold Brews), the fact that everything is expensive (case in point: just see how much every minute in Costco apparently costs), and “sunxiety.” Though, nothing puts me more on edge than the people getting freckle tattoos and microchip…manicures. To calm my nerves, I’ll investigate these Bennifer reunion photos and read up on the latest home decorating trend: “divorced mom core.” Yes, really.

— Taylor Trudon / Writer, Culture & Lifestyle / Brooklyn, NY

EDITOR’S NOTE

Happy Sunday. This week has felt especially anxiety-inducing. Sure, it could’ve been the debate. But there are other possible culprits: my caffeine consumption (I blame these copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cold Brews), the fact that everything is expensive (case in point: just see how much every minute in Costco apparently costs), and “sunxiety.” (PS: You don’t have to deal with your anxiety alone. Sign up for our Skimm Well newsletter for the latest on health and wellness.) Though, nothing puts me more on edge than the people getting freckle tattoos and microchip…manicures. To calm my nerves, I’ll investigate these Bennifer reunion photos and read up on the latest home decorating trend: “divorced mom core.” Yes, really.

— Taylor Trudon / Writer, Culture & Lifestyle / Brooklyn, NY

👀 You’re probably familiar with glass skin. Now, meet glass hair — which is just as stiff and shiny as it sounds.

📱 Who needs And Just Like That when you can watch “the Carrie Bradshaws of TikTok”? 

💸 We regret to inform you that the price of a really good hair day is now apparently $400. And we thought that was just New York…

😎 First, the influencers started adding charms to purses and phones. Now, they’ve moved on to even tinier charms for sunglasses and shoelaces.

✂️ Despite our attempts to ignore it, we admit: The mini mullet’s moment is here. Thanks, Harry Styles.

You didn’t need a PhD in Bravo-ology to know The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives would inevitably take over your group chat. For those who haven’t yet binged all eight episodes: The Hulu series is about a group of Mormon momfluencers — who, thanks in part to their “Utah curls,” look eerily identical. It follows them as they navigate life after one of the stars and self-proclaimed #MomTok creator Taylor Frankie Paul exposed a “soft-swinging” sex scandal. Naturally, you’d think Paul and the accusations would’ve been the show’s main drama. Not so. In just one season, Secret Lives viewers have heard the women open up about ketamine therapy, learned about a controversial vibrator brand deal, witnessed an extremely dramatic trip to Chippendales, and watched the women get Botox injections with a side of laughing gas. It also introduced fans to the sugary Swig soda shop and the Mormon wives’ eyebrow-raising husbands, who have a lot to say but less to do (many of the wives are the breadwinners).

But, above all, it’s given the nation one of the most polarizing reality TV villains since Christine Quinn: Whitney Leavitt, the group’s vying ringleader, who declares #MomTok in need of a serious rebrand. That “holier than thou” attitude doesn’t sit well with the women, particularly since Leavitt has her own past to contend with (including briefly fleeing Utah with her husband and filming a controversial TikTok while her baby was in the hospital) and an increasingly IDGAF attitude (see: her Fruity Pebbles prank). Once her fellow MomTokers have had it with her, Leavitt exits the group…at least, temporarily. TBD if we’ll see Leavitt in season 2, or if there will even be a season 2. Though, given the show’s popularity, the odds are in our favor. Mormon wives, we raise our 44-ounce styrofoam cups to you.

Sure, How to Die Alone sounds dark — but Hulu’s new series, which premiered Friday, is far from a downer. Created by and starring Natasha Rothwell (of The White Lotus and Insecure fame), the dramedy follows Mel, a broke, jaded 30-something JFK airport worker, who’s afraid of flying (ironic, we know) and has never been in love. But everything changes after a near-death experience — involving, of all things, an armoire and crab Rangoon — inspires Mel to take charge of her life and finally conquer her fears, which extend beyond sitting on an airplane. Filled with heartfelt humor, vulnerability, and, of course, some turbulence, How to Die Alone finally gives Rothwell — who calls the project a love letter to the “unhealed version of myself in my twenties” — the main character role she deserves.

Millennials and Gen Z may be divided on many trends (cough, low-rise jeans and, uh, dirty sneakers), but if there’s one thing — or rather, person — who can unite us all, it’s Britney Spears. Case in point: The 2024 MTV Video Music Awards. While Spears didn’t attend Wednesday’s ceremony, she may as well have, given all the Britney-coded looks and moments. That includes: Tate McRae’s see-through black lace mini dress, which was nearly identical to the Dolce & Gabbana one Spears wore for the 2001 ceremony; host Megan Thee Stallion replicating Spears’s legendary “I’m a Slave 4 U” look (a snake was involved); and Addison Rae’s perplexing bra and tutu, an attempted homage to Spears’s infamous performance with Madonna and Christina Aguilera. Plus, Sabrina Carpenter referenced Spears multiple times during her medley of hits (she sat on a bedazzled swing like the one in the “Lucky” video, sampled “Oops!…I Did It Again,” and had an army of fawning astronauts onstage), which the Princess of Pop herself responded to in an Instagram video. Gimme more.

Thank you, @georgiejxmes, for launching the investigation we never knew we needed: Are weddings featured in Vogue cursed? The fascinating deep dive includes the weddings of Kate Bosworth and Michael Polish, Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger, and so many others.

Tower 28 Beauty SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray with Hypochlorous Acid

Last year, one of our editors had an outbreak of mysterious, itchy red bumps on her cheeks and chin. She visited her dermatologist, who told her the last thing she ever wanted to hear: It was a fungal rash. Her derm’s rec? A prescription topical, plus a trip to Sephora to pick up this $28 facial spray. Besides water and sodium chloride, it contains just one other ingredient: antibacterial and anti-inflammatory hypochlorous acid. The miracle ingredient doesn’t just work on fungal infections — it also soothes sunburns, bug bites, chafing, eczema, acne, and run-of-the-mill dryness. Nice how they basically fit an entire skincare first aid kit in one bottle.

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Unleash your competitive side with today’s games and puzzles. Choose from an anagram word search, digital jigsaw puzzle, or crossword (with a twist). Better yet: Try them all.