192 - What I'm Reading: Week of April 18th.
The jello beauty girls, Daye's diagnostic tampon, SZA’s NOT Beauty, Skylar’s scented SPF, scent-based friendships, Sephora sales slowing, a universal allergy cure, Google decodes dolphins & more...
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🍓 Trend: Wobbly Wellness — Jello for Your Skin & Gut?
Homemade jello is having a moment—but not the Jell-O cups from your childhood. A wave of mostly women creators are posting dreamy, pastel-hued jelly cubes on TikTok and Instagram, touting them as beauty and wellness boosters. These DIY treats are being positioned as daily treats for skin hydration, collagen support, and gut repair. The idea of ‘skin food’ is not new, it has been big in Asia for a long time with jelly collagen snacks, what is different here is more around the positioning of pretty jello. Allure just wrote a piece about it, and it definitely resonated, given all the ‘skinfood’ content I am being served…although I have never heard any creator refer to herself as a ‘gelatin girly’. Creators use either gelatin or agar…and the first time I heard a creator use agar, I did a double take and immediately thought 🧫 “you are eating the media for petri dishes?!”…it is much more common in food in Asia…and I was humbled.
One creator is @clairesawa if all over my fyp whose jello prep videos blend ASMR, aesthetics, and wellness storytelling. Think: rosewater-infused cubes, butterfly pea flower blends, or matcha gelée layered with coconut milk.
Below are the ‘benefits’ most commonly cited:
🧪 Gut & Skin Health: Gelatin vs. Agar
While gelatin does contain amino acids linked to collagen production, dermatologists note that your body breaks down these proteins and redistributes them—not necessarily to your skin. I am curious if a stateside brand will come out with a more health-benefit positioned form of jello desserts. **Side note - If you are looking for healthier jello alternatives Sophia Cheng launched Oddball last week…and I am a fan, and it is made with agar 😉.**
🗞 NEWS & PRODUCTS
The FDA is phasing out animal testing for certain drugs in favor of AI and lab-grown human models—setting a powerful precedent that could reshape safety testing in personal care next [Happi].
The FDA just released results from its latest round of testing talc-based cosmetics—like powders and eye shadows—for asbestos, and none of the 50 products tested in 2023 showed contamination. As part of a broader push under the new MoCRA law, the FDA is also moving toward standardized, mandatory testing methods…but I do wonder how heavily this will be enforced given the deep cuts to the FDA.
Just for fun:
🇸🇪 🫎 If you are looking for a zen zone out experience (which I fully understand) - here is a link to the 20-day livestream of the Moose migration in Sweden.
🍬 Vandal Gummy Bears is offering mismatched flavor/color combos…this feels like my Ph.D…all over again…
Oh no…I thought this was a new body wash brand (nope, it is nutrients for your plants - how premium)….Bleume [Instagram].
Diagramr — a diagram finder.
Visual Capitalist: Ranked — Duolingo’s Most Popular Languages in Every Country in 2024.
🐬 Ars Technica: Google created a new AI model for talking to dolphins. DolphinGemma will get its first test run this summer.
👩🎤 Celebrity Brands:
Not Beauty - a new curated beauty brand from SZA starting with lip products [Vogue; Instagram].
🧴 Skin / Personal Care:
Pash, a skincare brand co-founded by Harry Jowsey (best known for being a fuck boy on Netflix dating shows), launching with a ‘barrier protection cream’. The product’s tag line is ‘skin protection’ and the story is around keeping ‘skin safe’. This is not a SPF. The name comes from “Pash…Aussie slang for that electric moment just before a kiss” [Instagram].
Ouráe Beauty — SPF skin tint body glow - launching soon [Instagram].
Cellvy — a line of thoughtfully formulated skincare, what stands out to me is they call out on their Instagram that they are “FDA MoCRA Registered”…which I have not seen anyone do yet [Instagram]. ***If you’re working with a real manufacturer, “FDA MoCRA Registered” is a given. If you’re DIY-ing in your kitchen, it’s a red flag—and now, potentially a legal liability.***
Skylar, known for their clean fragrances, launched a scented sunscreen. This is a pretty interesting idea, I just wonder how strong the scent is, and how a scent that is less of the traditional SPF fragrance (which is still a scent) translates to the sun space [Instagram].
🇰🇷 The Whoo — a Korean skincare brand based on rituals from LG H&H [Instagram].
Poth — ‘high quality skincare’ it is very simple - vegan, fragrance free formulas it is not really clear who it is for, and not inexpensive [Instagram].
Tau Tau Skin - another tallow based skincare brand [Instagram].
🥛 How 2018 of you (Dove launched Plant Milk Body Wash and Cleansing Bars)…if you haven’t checked…we are back to cow……oatmilk kind of lost its shine.
Oatly’s market performance…
👃 Fragrance:
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