For a beauty editor, I am shockingly tame when it comes to my skincare routine. Don’t get me wrong, I use all the exosomes, growth factors, and peptides. I get the fancy facials and try every woo-woo wellness treatment I can get my hands on. But I have not had any Botox or filler, nor have I had any heavy-duty lasers or resurfacing treatments. While I do have good skin genes (thanks, Mindy) and a fuller face that often gets me mistaken for a high school student, I am starting to see some age-related changes.

I don’t have deep-set wrinkles or intense jowling, but I’m seeing my under-eyes look a little more sunken, my nasolabial folds a bit less plumped up, and my lips starting to form the subtlest lines. Mind you, I recognize I’m being incredibly nitpicky, and I understand that I am still a '90s baby, but I’m just making an observation! Or three!

Regardless, my collagen levels have started to decline, so I’m making a few small tweaks to my routine—starting with Dr. Diamond’s Metacine Lip Lift. Available today, the topical lip serum has been extensively studied for its ability to improve hydration, smooth the appearance of perioral lines, and improve definition and fullness.

To see if it lives up to the hype—and read my full, honest review—keep scrolling.

How Is Dr. Diamond’s Metacine LipLift Different Than a Lip Plumper?

If you’re even remotely familiar with the brand, then you’ve heard about its cult-like following, which boast celeb fans including Kim Kardashian, Kate Hudson, and Chrissy Teigen. A major reason all these Big Names are on board is that the products genuinely work. Money has been invested in clinical trials. Development focuses on actual innovation—not just smart marketing.

This particular product is powered by a proprietary peptide called Hyaluron Peptide‐6 BioFill, which is essentially a chain of six peptides (little messengers that tell your skin to work better, faster, stronger), hyaluronic acid, and lipids. While this peptide compound is the main star, there are also a few other extracts—including undaria pinnatifida extract and zanthoxylum bungeanum fruit extract—that are responsible for smoothing cracked texture, enhancing natural lip color (kind of like a pH gloss), and improving fullness.

The key differentiator between this product and a gloss or plumper is that this is a genuine treatment. It’s meant to deliver long-term results and should be viewed as skincare for the lips, that, over time, will have compounding results. By the four-week mark, you should start to notice that your lips are fuller and more contoured.

Is Dr. Diamond’s Metacine LipLift Worth It?

This is an investment—it’s $120 for a little tube. But the second I started thinking about this as luxury skincare specifically targeting my lips—as opposed to a Rhode-like gloss—is when I came around to it. Because even though I do love this texture, which is more like a super thin lip serum than a gloss, and the finish, which turns my lips a slightly pinker version of themselves, the real benefits start to show with continued use.

The most immediate benefit I noticed was hydration. My lips are constantly chapped and cracked, but this product did such a phenomenal job at creating lasting moisture. I don’t have to reapply it 20 times a day to experience the benefits either—one swipe in the morning lasts me well through lunch. In that vein, it also leaves behind a juicier, plumper appearance.

But it’s the long-term benefits that make restocking worthwhile. Over the course of 12ish weeks, lips become plumped up and the border between your lips and the skin are more defined—permanently. The idea is similar to Restylane—it prompts the production of your body’s natural collagen—but there’s no need for an injection. While I’m not at the full three-month mark (yet!), I’ve already started to notice that my lip lines are bit more diffused—especially when I have a fresh layer of the product on–and that they generally appear fuller.

As for the packaging? It's "otherworldly," according to Beauty Director Hannah Baxter. And just in case you still need help girl math-ing the price tag, just remember: $120 is cheaper than a syringe of filler.

Shop Other Dr. Diamond’s Metacine Products I Love

Why Trust Marie Claire

For more than 30 years, Marie Claire has been an internationally recognized destination for news, fashion and beauty trends, investigative packages, and more. When it comes to the products Marie Claire recommends, we take your faith in us seriously. Every product that we feature comes personally recommended by a Marie Claire writer or editor, or by an expert we’ve spoken to firsthand.

There are very few beauty products I’m loyal to. It’s an occupational hazard: I test an absurd amount of foundation, eyeshadow, concealer, bronzer, and so on and so forth for work, so even the products I really love usually get replaced by something new. YSL’s Loveshine Lip Oil Stick in #44 Nude Lavallière is the exception. I’ve worn the same pinky-nude shade nearly every day for more than two years, and despite the frankly ridiculous amount of makeup I’ve tried in that time, nothing has managed to knock it out of my bag.

So when I found out #44 was one of six shades in YSL Beauty’s new Make Me Blush Cream Blush, I was immediately intrigued. YSL had already brought Nude Lavallière into its Make Me Blush powder lineup, but I’m much more of a cream blush person, so this was the iteration I was most curious about. And while #44 was obviously the first shade I reached for, the launch goes well beyond my personal favorite.

I wanted to see what the $46 formula was actually like once it hit skin. Did it blend as easily as I wanted it to? Would that glossy-looking finish turn greasy by midday? And, more importantly, was the formula good enough that I’d want to keep reaching for it even without my #44 bias? After wearing it, layering it, and trying multiple shades, I have thoughts.

How Many YSL Make Me Blush Shades Are Available?

If you’re already familiar with YSL’s Make Me Blush powder, you’ll notice there are fewer cream shades to choose from. The powder currently comes in 15 colors, while the Make Me Blush Cream launches with six. Three are familiar: #23 Hot Mauve, #37 Peachy Nude, and, of course, #44 Nude Lavallière all have powder counterparts. The other half of the lineup is new to the range.

There’s enough variation that the six don’t feel like slightly different versions of the same pink, either. #86 Raspberry Glaze is a richer berry with more punch, while #65 Strawberry Seduction has the most depth of the bunch and would be my pick for deeper skin tones. #90 Toffee Temptation is the outlier: on my light-to-medium skin tone, the mid-tone brown works more like a bronzer than a blush. Nude Lavallière is obviously still the color I reach for first, but I like that YSL didn’t just recreate six shades from the powder range in cream.

What Is the YSL Make Me Blush Application and Finish Like?

I was genuinely impressed by how pigmented this is. The first time I used it, I picked up what I thought was a completely normal amount and immediately went, oh wow, that is a lot of blush. Honestly, I loved that. So many cream formulas lately are incredibly sheer, and sometimes I don’t want to keep going back into the pan just to get the color to show up. With this one, a little actually goes a long way. I use a stippling brush, tap in lightly, and I’m pretty much set.

The best part is that the payoff doesn’t make the finish look heavy. Once I blend it out, the color still looks fresh and natural on my skin, with a little glow but nothing slick or overly glossy. It melts into my base really nicely, too, so you get that stronger pigment without losing the softness I want from a cream blush. The only adjustment I had to make was realizing I needed way less product than I’m used to using.

What Are the YSL Make Me Blush Ingredients?

The formula leans heavily on silicones and emollients, which makes sense once you feel how smooth and creamy it is on the skin. YSL also added rosehip fruit extract sourced from its community gardens in Morocco, which the brand uses here as a skin-conditioning ingredient. I wouldn’t buy a blush based on skincare claims alone, but I do like that the formula feels comfortable and never overly dry on my cheeks. It also doesn’t list any added fragrance, which is always a plus for me with face makeup.

Is the YSL Make Me Blush Worth It?

I came into this launch excited about #44, but the formula is what ultimately sold me on the blush as a whole. It has the kind of pigment I’ve been missing from a lot of cream blushes lately, yet it still blends down into something that looks soft and natural on my skin. I also love that I don’t have to layer and layer to get there—a tiny amount really does the job.

At $46, it’s definitely a luxury blush, and I do wish the cream range were closer in size to the powder lineup. I’ll absolutely dab into some of the other shades depending on the look I’m going for, but Nude Lavallière will probably always be somewhere in the mix. I'm a creature of habit; what can I say?

Other YSL Beauty Products I Love

Why Trust Marie Claire

For more than 30 years, Marie Claire has been an internationally recognized destination for news, fashion, and beauty trends, investigative packages, and more. When it comes to the products Marie Claire recommends, we take your faith in us seriously. Every product that we feature comes personally recommended by a Marie Claire writer or editor, or by an expert we’ve spoken to firsthand.

In Marie Claire's Meet Cute, we have a chance encounter with pop culture's latest man crush.

As I write this, Owen Thiele is getting dressed for Taylor Swift’s wedding.

The actor and podcast host admits he is “delighted and terrified” at the prospect of attending the Event of the Century™, which is the appropriate emotional combo meal for a rising star like Thiele. (“You pronounce it thee-uhl,” he says kindly when we first meet in a low-key but perfect Greek place called Kyma in Manhattan.)

Born in Texas and raised in Hollywood, Mr. Thee-uhl has the kind, firefly-bright eyes of a favorite English teacher and the wit of a Jane Austen heroine. He can speak with easy fluency about underrated pop albums, overrated restaurants, and the joy of randomly seeing your cousin at Erewhon. On TikTok and Instagram, he makes jokes about being a “diversity hire” while running circles around other online comedians. A current bit includes getting salsa lessons from Maluma; another video shows him hyping up his “outfit of the day” without knowing where any of his clothes actually come from. Whether online or on television, Thiele somehow manages to exude the vibe of someone you really want to hang out with. Celebrities like Hailey Bieber and Sabrina Carpenter and, of course, Swift herself already do. For the rest of us, there is plenty of Thiele on-screen lately.

Currently, Thiele stars as Anton, the compassionately cool goof in Adults, FX’s deadpan take on Gen Z living that’s about to release its second season. The 29-year-old Scorpio has had laugh-out-loud turns in the TV shows Hacks and Overcompensating, and wildly fun indie films like Theater Camp and Idiotka. He also hosts "In Your Dreams," a podcast on Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network that draws a rotating cast of internet-famous and Hollywood-adjacent guests. It’s broadcast from a bed surrounded by Y2K fan collages—Hannah Montana! Lizzie McGuire! Camp Rock!—and includes occasional interruptions from Jared Ellner, the celebrity stylist who is also Thiele’s longtime partner.

Through Ellner, Thiele has learned “how to chill out a little bit” and how private and public dynamics don’t need to be reconciled. “Everyone who sees us together thinks I’m the talker,” he says as we settle into a lunchtime booth. “But what you’d never know is that when it’s just us, he is the talker! I’m pretty quiet, I swear.” Ellner has also guided Thiele on how to dress for a pop mogul’s wedding (he wore a crisp black Saint Laurent tuxedo with a satin cummerbund to the Swift-Kelce nuptials) and that “the fashion world is way scarier than Hollywood.”

Thiele has something of a home court advantage when it comes to stardom: He was raised by prolific music producers; his grandfather is responsible for the 1967 hit “What a Wonderful World.” (“My middle name, Louis, is actually for Louis Armstrong, who sung the song.”) One of Thiele’s second cousins is the storied comedian Bob Balaban; another is, somehow, Jodie Foster’s child. (“We don’t really get into it,” Thiele says cheerily.) From the ages of 6 through 17, Thiele attended Crossroads, the L.A. nepo-hub that has educated all manner of elite, from the outstanding (Kate Hudson, Maude Apatow, Maya Rudolph) to the frightening (Spencer Pratt). “Am I a nepo baby, too?” Thiele asks as we devour the watermelon salad we swore we weren’t hungry enough to eat. “I mean, people call me one and maybe it’s true. But it’s also more complicated than that.”

Here’s what Thiele means by “complicated:” Adopted at birth by a white Jewish family, Thiele grew up affluent and “obsessed” with his parents. (“I think I would have literally jumped off the tallest building if I had to share my parents’ affection with anyone!” he exclaims.) Their house was also “the party house” for holidays, birthdays, and rollicking backyard barbecues, where “a revolving door of people were constantly coming in…I truly had the most wonderful childhood.”

Thiele credits his parents’ thriving social life with early training in both friendship and social graces. He also notes that they surrounded him early with “Black role models” like the punk musician Justin Warfield, and “queer role models” like his aunt Sid. Still, it’s not easy being the only Black kid at Rosh Hashanah in Beverly Hills. “Now I can laugh about it,” says Thiele, “but as a kid, I was going to a white woman in Beverly Hills and asking her for a blowout! That’s not exactly hardship, but it’s strange.”

When I ask if Thiele follows conversations about transracial adoption on social media, including adoptees who have spoken critically about separation from their families of origin, Thiele shakes his head. “I can’t speak for anyone else’s experience, but I have chills thinking about my parents, in the best way.” He speaks of a recent encounter with his mom’s best friend. “She told me, ‘Owen, I don't know if I believe in God, but once when I look at you and your parents, I believe someone's up there.’ And literally, I feel the same way. It was so meant to be, so that's the beautiful part.”

He takes a breath. “The not beautiful part is that as a kid, I was asking for a side-part in my dreadlocks and nobody was saying, ‘Hey, maybe there’s something else we can do.’” The actor says that as he got older, “I realized the full extent of being a Black man in America. I thought, ‘Oh god, I have to take this seriously…I’m not a tiny little white girl walking around my neighborhood.’ When people would look at me funny when I was walking in Beverly Hills, I realized, ‘Wait, they think I’m, like, plotting a burglary!’ Which was just so dark and sad and scary.” He admits he is “still processing this wakeup call” and the way his racial and queer identities intersect with the Hollywood world that shaped him.

Partly to suss all this out, and partly because fish-out-of-water narratives are the protein on the sitcom food pyramid, Thiele is currently developing an autobiographical Prime Video scripted series, Off Color, with Broad City co-creator Ilana Glazer. “I met her when I was still really young, like 24,” says Thiele. “I was so ready to jump into the comedy scene and she was ready to accept me.”

Before they can dig into the new material, however, Thiele has a heap of current work on his plate that would make any actor—much less “a certified NYU dropout like me!” as he gleefully exclaims—swell with pride and cower in stress. Currently, it’s trying to “promote the fuck” out of Adults, which comes back for season 2 on August 27. “In Hollywood, there’s this saying that you never know if a project is going to work until it’s done. But I swear, with Adults, you could see it on the page. [Series creators] Ben Kronegold and Rebecca Shaw are such good writers…and then once we were cast, they integrated parts of us into the show. I knew from the first day on set that it would be amazing.”

But building the Adults audience took some time, and after season 1’s debut, Thiele says he waited over six months to be called back to the Toronto set. “It was very anxiety-inducing and very emotional for us, because we wanted to be back so badly! We love each other! And I found myself questioning my instincts for the first time. I was like, ‘This show is so funny. If it didn’t hit, does that mean my sense of what’s good is just off?’”

It was not. Season 2 of Adults filmed from December 2025 to May 2026, and Thiele reports that the FX network “gave us complete creative freedom” to make the comedy they wanted to see in the world. Meanwhile, both The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter noted Thiele’s performance for its warmth and—in Gen Z parlance—yearning. In fact, one of the new season’s funniest plots focuses on Thiele’s Anton, a hyper-popular but secretly lonely city kid who can make friends with anyone, coaching a grieving boomer parent (played by Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Susie Essman) through basic Facebook etiquette. An oft-referenced season 1 storyline saw Anton become besties with a new neighbor who turns out to be a serial killer.

“This would absolutely happen to me!” Thiele admits in a fit of laughter. “But I think Anton befriends everyone because he’s really terrified of being alone, but totally unable to be vulnerable with other people. And I would do it because I’m kind of the opposite. I’m so open that I want everyone to be just as open with me!...I’m constantly trying to get other people to explain what makes them tick.” This is an easy sentence to fact check. At least four times in the span of our interview, Thiele interrupts himself to ask me what I think, how I feel, or if either of us should “just fuck it and get bangs” (no) or “just fuck it and get french fries” (yes).

That easy familiarity is also pushing Thiele’s second current project, the "In Your Dreams" podcast, into cult hit territory, as evidenced by increasingly A-list guests like Lizzo and Suki Waterhouse. He says when Alex Cooper of "Call Her Daddy" fame first approached him about doing a show, he was worried he wouldn’t have enough material. “I just rambled into the camera, and Alex was like, ‘No, Owen, put that out. Exactly that.’ I was worried it was gonna rot people’s brains because it’s just me telling stories and getting other people to tell stories. But in this age of AI, being human is the opposite of what’s gonna rot our brains. Being human is kind of the solution to that…And the big part of being human is being interested. Computers can’t be excited to hear from you.”

But Thiele cannot worry about future computer overlords because he is filming season 2 of Overcompensating, a college comedy set in 2010 about a queer athlete (Benito Skinner) coming out of the closet. Thiele plays George, an “elder” (read: upperclass) gay hot kid who tries, often disastrously, to coax Skinner onto the Yellow Brick Road. “I based the whole character on Raven Symoné in That’s So Raven,” Thiele says with a grin. “The coolest queer mentor ever on TV!” After Overcompensating, it’s on to Peaked, a comedy from Thiele’s Theater Camp co-star Molly Gordon about badly behaved grown-ups at a high school reunion.

And of course, there is the T. Swift wedding. Thiele and Ellner were invited “the old-fashioned way,” he says—meaning, “she said ‘you’re coming to my wedding’ when she cooked us a beautiful meal” of flaky white fish and rice pilaf. “She's an unbelievable chef,” Thiele insists, “to the point where Jared looked at her and said, ‘Are you hiding a chef in a closet?’ She was like, ‘No, I cooked it.’ She’s kind of one of those girls that’s good at everything, you know? Like those girls from high school?...She’s even funny, genuinely funny. And I work in comedy, so I don’t think anyone is funny. I think she can do literally everything.”

That includes talent spotting. Swift cast Thiele in two of his first-ever roles—as a pool party bestie in the 2019 music video for “You Need to Calm Down,” then again as a fellow office bro in “The Man”—before he began blowing up. “I met her at an agency party, and she’d seen Eighty Sixed, which was a web comedy I did—the only thing I’d really done!” Swift got his number and texted him about the videos, which led Thiele to believe he was getting scammed. “Yeah, right, Taylor Swift is texting me. But she was.” Thiele says he found out when the video hit YouTube because of her fans. “The tags. The mentions. My phone died.”

I ask Thiele if he would like the level of success that leads people, one day soon, to track his own friendships with the zeal of a parasocial executive secretary. “Oh gosh, no,” Thiele says, and his eyes say he really means it. “I think of fame as Lindsay Lohan; always getting chased and having to be so intentional about finding your peace.” He mentions that last year, Hailey Bieber came on "In Your Dreams," “and two days later, there are still paparazzi outside of my house looking for her. She handles it all with such grace. I…would not.”

I ask Thiele what he means. “Well, first of all,” he says conspiratorially, “I would ask the paparazzi’s names. Then I would make them sit down with me and explain how they became a paparazzo. If it was affecting their mental health. Why they wanted to take pictures of famous people, you know? They wouldn’t get anything done. I would just keep them talking.”

Packing for a press trip with Max Mara comes with its own set of challenges. The fashion house has a very distinct aura, one in which effortless and polished must exist side by side. So, naturally, I spent hours packing and unpacking my suitcase, cycling through monochrome suiting and searching for precisely the right shade of camel before jetting off to Rome, the home base for Max Mara, in late April.

The reason for the trip—which I’ve had to keep hush-hush until today—was the unveiling of Max Mara Le Parfum Eau de Parfum, a scent that translates the brand’s signature second-skin sophistication into fragrance. It’s warm and woody with a floral twist courtesy of a tuberose note that smells lighter and more airy han its heady, intense stereotype. “My intention was to create a perfume for women. Just like the iconic Max Mara coat, we started with something masculine and turned it into something gorgeous and feminine,” says perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin.

His creation, a collaboration with fellow perfumer Marie Salamagne, places symbolism at its core. The bottle—with a cinched waist and belt—is an obvious nod to the coat that inspired it. The warm, woody, floral skin scent is a cloak of comfort, reminiscent of the brand’s iconic cashmere trench. And the base notes themselves, which include sandalwood and cedarwood, are stitched together like an impenetrable fabric. The result is a fragrance that feels intertwined with the brand’s DNA—elevated and sexy, but incredibly refined. And it’s shockingly made me a tuberose convert.

For my full review and to shop the just-launched fragrance, keep reading.

What Does the Max Mara Le Parfum Smell Like?

Le Parfum is comforting, soft, and sexy. Or, in the words of brand ambassador Florence Pugh, “it actually smells like cashmere.” It’s one of those unique and comforting scents that 99.9 percent of people will gravitate towards. By looking at the ingredient list alone, though, I wouldn’t have guessed it. The top note is tuberose, which, for the unfamiliar, is traditionally a very visceral scent with a strong sillage and identifiable floral-meets-menthol intensity. The noses, however, were intent on rebranding tuberose. They extracted the creamiest-smelling portion of the flower and paired it with benzoin, an even creamier resin and a citrus to cut the bitterness. Ironically, it’s this combo that gives the scent that “cashmere” like vibe.

The base of the fragrance is composed of vanilla and amber notes, which suit my gourmand preferences, and it has a woodier composition, drawing on both sandalwood and cedarwood. The result is a scent that smells both intimately familiar and bizarrely unique. Regardless, it will have you coming back for a second, third, and fourth whiff.

Is Max Mara Le Parfum Eau de Parfum Worth It?

I am not lying when I say that a woman quite literally chased me out of a restaurant in the Hamptons to ask what perfume I was wearing. I couldn’t tell her at the time (sorry), but now that the embargo has lifted, I can confirm that said “incredible” smell is Max Mara’s Le Parfum. I’d also like to point out that this has not been a one-off experience. I get stopped at least once a day by a stranger on the street when I’m wearing this. And when my friends and family come over to raid my perfume collection? This is consistently the bottle they try to steal. Don’t worry: I stand my ground. This is one fragrance I refuse to part with.

Why Trust Marie Claire

For more than 30 years, Marie Claire has been an internationally recognized destination for news, fashion and beauty trends, investigative packages, and more. When it comes to the products Marie Claire recommends, we take your faith in us seriously. Every product that we feature comes personally recommended by a Marie Claire writer or editor, or by an expert we’ve spoken to firsthand.

Meet the Expert

The hardest parts of postpartum life are not always visible from the outside. Sometimes the clearest record is buried in a text thread, a journal, or a search history.

It can look like a Notes app entry titled “Panic diary.” A string of blood-pressure readings taken again and again in the same day; a text to a friend that says, simply, “I don’t feel safe today.” Or a list titled “Positive things I am doing for the baby,” where a new mother has reminded herself, “I smile at him as much as I can. I tell him I love him. I keep him warm and safe.”

When Marie Claire asked women to go back through their phones, we wanted to see the signals of postpartum distress that are rarely talked about but often hiding in plain sight. Looking back, many women found they had left a digital trail of what they were going through. And while some knew they were struggling, others didn’t recognize it until months or years later. Their phones had been keeping the record anyway, remembering what the body eventually learns to forget.

Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial has turned postpartum mental illness into a national fixation. Some of that attention has been illuminating, but much of it has also been reductive, conspiratorial, or frightening in ways that risk making women less likely to ask for help. As forensic psychiatrist Dr. Susan Hatters Friedman recently warned, “If the message is only about risk, we worry about women who are experiencing symptoms not seeking treatment because of stigma.”

The women in this piece are not Lindsay Clancy, and postpartum depression and anxiety are not postpartum psychosis. Still, the stigma around postpartum mental health takes many forms. Last week, the death of Hayden Panettiere brought fresh attention to a story she had only recently told publicly: that speaking openly about her postpartum depression in 2015 cost her a longtime Neutrogena endorsement deal.

By opening their phones to Marie Claire, these women offered an intimate look at an experience that is common among new mothers, but rarely seen this closely. What follows are the records they chose to share.

For some of these women, the first evidence in their phones was just a question, a strange feeling, or a message sent to someone else in an attempt to make sense of an experience they couldn’t yet name.

Sarah, 32, of Gloucester, Massachusetts, says her postpartum depression was strongest three to five months after the birth of her first child, before she fully recognized what was happening. During that period, she turned to ChatGPT.

In messages translated from Portuguese, Marina Barretta, of São Paulo, reached out to her doctor as she tried to understand why she felt so low even as her daughter was thriving.

Dannia, 41, of Washington, D.C., was caught off guard by waves of sadness after the birth of her first child, especially at night.

Carolyn, 37, of the Chicago suburbs, gave birth to her first child in April 2020, weeks into the pandemic. One week postpartum, she wrote in Notes what she says she didn’t know how to tell anyone else.

For others, the record was in what they counted.

Olivia March Howell of Long Island gave birth to her second son in June 2016. She now believes she was experiencing undiagnosed postpartum anxiety; a feeding-and-diaper log in her Notes begins two days after his birth.

Jamie T., 37, of Fairfax County, Virginia, experienced postpartum anxiety after both children. After postpartum hypertension with her second, she tracked her blood pressure in Notes; when panic attacks later led her to start Zoloft, she tracked that too.

During her first postpartum period, a therapist asked her to make a list in her Notes app titled “Positive things I am doing for the baby.”

Elizabeth, 34, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was recovering from severe preeclampsia and placenta accreta after an emergency C-section while her premature son spent two weeks in the NICU. In a text to friends, she recorded the competing instructions she was trying to follow.

Elsewhere, the distress was unmistakable.

Katie Hanrahan, 36, of Dayton, Ohio, documented what she was experiencing in texts after the birth of her first child.

Laura, 35, of Vancouver, Canada, had screened normally for postpartum depression at six weeks. Around four months postpartum, her symptoms began; one of the Notes from that period was titled “Panic diary.”

Two months later, she texted her best friend:

Ruba Ahmad, 33, of Dallas, was 30 and living in Boston when her first son was born in December 2022. She later wrote this private reflection for a friend who was struggling and had asked to hear her story.

The same phones that held panic and countdowns also held the first good day.

Katie, 33, tracked anxiety, insomnia, and medication in Notes for months after the birth of her second child. Eventually, her entries began to look different.

Priscilla Brandão, 35, of Rio de Janeiro, kept a diary through roughly the first 12 weeks after the birth of her daughter, Luana. In entries translated from Portuguese, she documented painful breastfeeding, colic, sleep deprivation, and eventually the feeling of becoming herself again.

Morgane Sézalory built Sézane at such a relentless pace that, for years, the founder had little time to step back and take stock of what it had become. Twenty years ago, the self-taught entrepreneur set off a fast-moving chain of events when she began selling vintage finds online. After developing a following, Sézalory launched the Paris-based brand, with clothing inspired by her favorite pre-loved pieces, in 2013. Over the last decade, she has grown the name from one of France’s earliest digitally native fashion brands into a global business known for romantic blouses, covetable knitwear, and a "je ne sais quoi" version of Parisian style that women worldwide wanted to buy into.

None of it, according to Sézalory, happened as part of some grand master plan. “When I started, I didn't know I would one day run a company like Sézane…I never dreamed about creating a brand which would be international,” she tells Marie Claire. “I put so much energy and heart and passion [into it] without any strategic plan. So everything happened very spontaneously.”

Now, Sézalory is ready to be more intentional about turning that lightning-in-a-bottle success into a “forever brand.” The result arrives this fall as a “new chapter” for Sézane: refreshed visuals including a new logo, a redesigned digital experience, new store concepts, more assertive ready-to-wear, a greater emphasis on handbags, and a vintage project that will take Sézalory back to where she started.

While an overhaul might sound counterintuitive, given the success of the brand that has since opened 20-plus storefronts in Europe and the U.S, Sézalory is clear that this is not a complete 180. “The idea is not to change everything,” she says. “I wanted to edit what Sézane was.” The question for her became: “What do we want to keep? What do we want to let go? And what do we want to add?”

That process kicked off two years ago, when Sézalory took a step back from the company. While looking after a sick family member, she had space to see Sézane differently for the first time. “I realized that now I was able to create the brand of my dream,” she says. “It’s not that I didn’t do what I wanted before. It is just that maybe I never had time, or I never had the same resources that I have today.”

What followed was an inventory check. Sézalory approached the brand with the curatorial eye that marked the beginning of her career, deciding what deserved to be there after more than a decade of new collections, bestsellers, brand collaborations, and category expansions. “As a brand, when the years pass, sometimes you keep too many layers,” she says. “You don’t take enough time, or you don’t have the courage to edit and make it more lean.”

For Sézalory, that accumulation had started to feel less like growth and more like a constraint. “A lot of the pieces we are not keeping are pieces from 10 years ago or eight years ago,” she says. “Year after year, sometimes you don’t question why you keep them. And the fact that you keep them doesn’t leave room for the new ones that you would love more.”

That doesn’t mean Sézane is abandoning the signature aesthetic that first set it apart and put it on the map. The white shirts, sweaters, and trench coats remain. “Some of them, we kept them as they were because they are perfect already,” Sézalory says. “And some of them we realized we want to make a new version which looks more like us today.” The shift is most apparent in the materials, proportions, and silhouettes: fabrics are weightier, with higher-end wool and leather; volumes are more pronounced, from balloon sleeves to exaggerated shoulders and billowing capes; and shapes feel sharper and more architectural. “It is still Sézane,” she says, “but it’s Sézane with more maturity, more confidence.”

The distinction matters to Sézalory because, in many ways, the brand’s evolution mirrors her own—she always considered herself as much a Sézane customer as its founder. She was in her early twenties when she started selling vintage; now in her early forties with three daughters, she describes the last two decades as an “education” during which she “was still building foundations” of the business. Now the groundwork is laid, she's ready to focus on the interior. “It was like, school was over for me. I had learned about everything, and I was ready to become a professional and a more mature version of myself and of the brand.”

That maturity is most evident in the restraint of the Fall 2026 collection, whose first drop arrived on August 23. For it, the clothes trade some of the boho romance associated with Sézane for dramatically high collars, sculptural shoulders, oversized outerwear and knits, and rich textures. The palette is pared-back too, revolving around chocolate brown, olive, taupe, navy, ecru, and rust rather than the florals and brighter prints longtime customers might expect.

Recalibrating a brand with exceptionally loyal customers—who have spent years developing their own ideas about what makes something distinctly Sézane—carries an obvious risk. In the days leading up to the launch, some of its fans were already voicing their unease online. On Reddit, shoppers lamented the lack of prints and color. Meanwhile, others worried that the oversized, heavier use of leather, and higher-priced accessories signaled that Sézane was moving away from the femininity and accessibility that attracted them in the first place. On the other end, fans welcomed the prospect of smaller, more refined collections, higher-quality materials, and a “shop less but better” approach to newness.

When I spoke to Sézalory in July, she seemed prepared for the possibility that not everyone would immediately be on board. “I’m not afraid of losing the Sézane customer,” she said, adding that she believes the new direction will ultimately amount to “a better version of Sézane” that its shoppers will come to embrace.

More personally, later this year, this new era marks a return to her first “love”: vintage. Sézalory credits years of curating secondhand clothes with providing her an education in design before she had any formal training: “[It] taught me everything about the history of fashion, but also fabrics, shapes, and style.” This fall, she’ll reunite with that passion through one-of-a-kind vintage fashion, accessories, and objects edits, assembled by Sézalory and members of the brand’s creative circle. The drops will align with Sézane’s Call of the 21st initiative when, on the 21st of every month, 100 percent of net sales from one "solidarity" product and 10 percent of the day’s revenue are donated to its social impact fund DEMAIN.

More than nostalgia, the project reflects the larger philosophy behind Sézalory’s reset. “I wanted to bring back this idea that the way we make Sézane is to create pieces which will last…be there in 25 years or 50 years,” she says. “I love long-lasting choices and not choices that we won't like just two seasons after [they launch].”

For Sézalory, longevity also depends on preserving the position Sézane has long occupied between mass-market fashion and luxury. The company is investing in higher-quality materials and moving slightly upmarket on some pieces, but she is adamant that it's not abandoning the accessibility that helped build the brand in the first place. “It doesn’t have to be unaffordable to be desirable,” she says. “I think it’s very important for me to keep being this brand.”

After two decades of building Sézane by adding to it, Sézalory is betting that making it last will require knowing what to leave out.

I have some hot takes as a beauty editor. I’m anti-beef tallow skincare. I have a strong distaste for floral fragrances. And dare I say short nails are chicer than long ones. But without fail, I get the most visceral reactions when I reveal that I don’t brush my hair. Like, ever. You see, I have very fine hair, and brushing it has historically been the quickest path to breakage. Don’t get me wrong, breakage finds other ways to show up. There’s daily life and styling. Hot tool usage. Color treatments. But cutting out a brush felt like the easiest way to avoid it.

But a few months ago, the team at Tangle Teezer let me in on a secret. Their first new innovation in 10 years—The Complete Carebrush—causes less breakage than any other brush on the market and will actually improve my hair health, smooth my hair cuticle, and stimulate my scalp to promote growth. Now I’m a pretty hard sell, but after seeing the technology up close and studying some of the brands' wild before-and-afters (so much shine! So few tangles!), I decided to put it to the test for a full three months. And 90-ish days in, I’m actually shocked to say that I have less breakage than before and my hair feels stronger and looks shinier.

I know, I can’t believe it either.

To get the full breakdown on the new brush and see it in action, keep reading.

How Is the Complete Carebrush Different From the Detangling Brush?

Most people associate Tangle Teezer with the classic Detangling Brush, which comes in just about every color and collab—from The Devil Wears Prada 2 to Barbie—that you could possibly imagine. While you might not be able to tell the difference between the OG and the newest innovation at a cursory glance, I promise you there’s a big one. “The Complete Carebrush has a new and unique layout as well as design of the teeth,” says Heather Page, the brand’s Global Innovation Director. “The design of the bristles allows hair to flow through the brush like a river, with the teeth acting like the banks, guiding hair smoothly through the brush rather than allowing it to meet a sharp surface head-on.”

Now, during that process is where the magic happens. The brush is designed to stimulate the scalp—in fact, you can double it as a scalp massager—so it stimulates blood flow to the follicles, which in turn can promote hair growth. It also seals the hair cuticle as it runs down the shaft, so hair looks shinier and smoother.

How Do I Use the Complete Carebrush?

There’s really no wrong way to use this brush. I personally do one pass right when I get out of the shower to help work my leave-in conditioner through my hair and then again to brush through my curling-iron waves, which is something I never in a million years thought I would do. Rather than my hair looking puffy, my ends scraggly, or removing any semblance of volume, I actually find that brushing my fine, dry hair gives it a polished look without disrupting the lift I worked so hard to achieve at my roots.

Is the Complete Carebrush Worth It?

For $23, this is pretty much a no-brainer purchase. But the affordable price tag aside, this is actually a really solid investment in hair health. I was so worried that I would lose volume and experience more breakage by regularly brushing my hair. Going from no brushing at all to a twice-a-day routine is a bit of a shock to the system. In practice, I actually experienced quite the opposite.

By gently working through knots before using a hot tool and smoothing down my hair cuticle, I’m actually finding less breakage and more shine. While I can’t say that this brush alone is causing my hair to grow (it’s a mix of products, hormones, haircuts, and TLC), my hair is actually getting longer for the first time in a long while. The little baby hairs around my hairline are actually making progress, and it at least appears that I have fewer split ends. Call me a convert—I’m Team Complete Carebrush now.

Shop Tangle Teezer Products I Love

Why Trust Marie Claire

For more than 30 years, Marie Claire has been an internationally recognized destination for news, fashion and beauty trends, investigative packages, and more. When it comes to the products Marie Claire recommends, we take your faith in us seriously. Every product that we feature comes personally recommended by a Marie Claire writer or editor, or by an expert we’ve spoken to firsthand.

Meet the Expert

I’ve reached the point in August where I’m simultaneously trying to squeeze every last drop out of summer and getting low-key embarrassingly excited about fall. I still want bright colors and anything that looks good next to a tan, but I’m also suddenly eyeing black polish and every shade that could reasonably be described as pumpkin spice. My favorite nail looks this week reflect that exact state of mind.

On one end of the spectrum, there are butterfly motifs, tiny stars, and a colorful striped French that still feel right at home in August. Then there’s the other camp: glossy black, zebra print, molten orange chrome that practically screams pumpkin spice, and deeper shades creeping onto toes before we're quite ready to commit to them on our fingers. Somewhere in the middle, mixed-metal chrome and a polka dot deep red French make a very convincing argument for ignoring seasons altogether.

That’s probably why I like this week’s lineup so much. It feels like permission to follow whatever mood you’re in that day—hold onto summer with a tiny star manicure, flirt with fall via a burnt orange chrome, or skip the seasonal debate entirely and go for something that just looks really good. Here are the best nail looks of the week.

Metal Mixer

I’ve never subscribed to the idea that you have to be a gold or silver person. This manicure takes that same approach, splitting the hands between molten gold and mirror-like silver chrome. Consider the metals officially mixed.

Butterfly Effect

The first of not one, but two butterfly-inspired manicures that made my saves this week. This version goes moodier, translating the intricate pattern of a wing into smokey blue-gray nail art via blooming gel.

Red Hot Dots

A red French tip already has my attention, but the tiny silver studs are what sold me. They play into the polka dot trend, only much shinier.

Stripe Right

Summer isn't over yet, and these striped nails clearly got the memo. Bands of pink, mint, yellow, brown, and white turn a classic French into something much more fun, with a few tiny crystals thrown in for good measure.

Split Decision

This is exactly where my brain is in late August: pale, barely-there polish on the fingers; nearly black polish on the toes. You can have one foot in fall without completely abandoning summer.

Pumpkin Spice

Fine, I’m ready for pumpkin spice—at least on my nails. The burnt-orange shade is fall enough to scratch the itch, while the high-shine chrome finish keeps it from feeling too autumnal too soon.

Flutter By

Where the first butterfly manicure is dark and detailed, this one pulls from the hazy greens, golds, and amber tones of actual wings for something softer and almost translucent-looking.

Gone Wild

Animal print is basically a neutral in my book. Glossy black nails keep this manicure feeling sleek, while two sheer accent nails covered in fine zebra stripes add just enough zhuzh to be interesting.

Star Light

Sometimes the tiniest detail does all the work. A sheer pink base and a scattering of miniature metallic stars feel like one last little ode to summer.

Why Trust Marie Claire

For more than 30 years, Marie Claire has been an internationally recognized destination for news, fashion and beauty trends, investigative packages, and more. When it comes to the products Marie Claire recommends, we take your faith in us seriously. Every product that we feature comes personally recommended by a Marie Claire writer or editor, or by an expert we’ve spoken to firsthand.

Friendships don’t always get their due in discussions about the most important human relationships we can form, but they’re definitely up there. And that just might be why friends-to-lovers romances are so compelling: They start with an already intimate relationship that blossoms into even more over time, creating connections practically too powerful to be torn asunder.

The trope has been around for centuries, from Shakespeare’s 17th-century stories of comrades-turned-lovers in plays like Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night to Jane Austen writing about the evolution of Emma Woodhouse and George Knightley’s relationship in Emma circa 1815. And who could forget Louisa May Alcott’s description of Laurie’s less-than-successful attempt to take his friendship with Jo March to another level in Little Women?

Since then, fortunately for the friends-to-lovers lovers among us, bookshelves have remained packed with plenty more slow-burn love stories between once-platonic pals. Here are 10 of the very best of the genre—each of which may or may not have you looking at your own besties in a new light. (And when you’re ready to make your way through yet another swoonworthy romance trope, check out our lists of the best enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating, and forbidden romance books.)

The Best Friends-to-Lovers Books

Classic Friends-to-Lovers Books

Fake Relationship Friends-to-Lovers Books

Forced Proximity Friends-to-Lovers Books

Love Triangle Friends-to-Lovers Books

Secret Pining Friends-to-Lovers Books

Second Chance Friends-to-Lovers Books

Today, you can’t go more than a few blocks before spotting a pair of cotton drawstring pants out in the wild. In 2019, Leset’s Lili Chemla was struggling to prove to retailers that a gap was waiting to be filled.

“The idea was creating clothes that were comfortable enough to wear at home and nice to wear out,” Chemla tells Marie Claire. At the time, she says, fashion offered ready-to-wear on one end and pajamas and loungewear on the other, with little in the space between. When she took the concept to department stores, buyers weren’t quite sure what to make of it. “They were like, ‘We can't put you on the ready-to-wear floor. We can't put you on the lingerie floor. Where do we put you? We need a floor in between,’” she remembers.

Seven years later, Leset has no shortage of places to go. Net-a-Porter was one of the brand’s earliest supporters; today, it is also sold at Nordstrom, Shopbop, Bloomingdale’s, and more, as well as its own stores in New York’s West Village and L.A.’s Palisades Village. Its signature styles, from the Margo T-shirt to the Kyoto Carpenter Pant, have wound up on everyone from Jennifer Lawrence and Katie Holmes to Kaia Gerber and Emma Stone.

You could credit the pandemic for blurring the line between clothes worn at home and everywhere else, or "quiet luxury" for fashion’s renewed obsession with deceptively simple wardrobe staples. But that would be overlooking the foresight of Chemla, who had already bet on the shift before either entered the zeitgeist.

Leset was born out of how she wanted to get dressed: “I didn't feel as though there was a brand that accomplished that for me at all.” The proposition was simple: fashion that felt good enough to spend all day in without looking like house clothes. Yet by taking something so basic as a good white T-shirt or a satin slip skirt seriously, Leset has ended up giving women exactly what they increasingly want. “I'm constantly just observing women, and how they're dressing, and how they're wanting to dress,” Chemla says. “And more and more women are wanting to dress in a way that makes them feel comfortable and allows them to move throughout their days with ease.”

If that sounds obvious in 2026, that's precisely the point. Consider fashion’s current fixation on easy cotton pants. Leset has been making them since the beginning. “This idea of pull-on pants that feels overly trendy right now is just our norm,” Chemla says. The brand doesn't make traditional pants with rigid waistbands, buttons, or zippers, Chemla explains; elastic and drawstrings have always been fundamental to its vocabulary. Even the Kyoto Carpenter Pant, which could easily be mistaken for Leset responding to the current appetite for barrel-leg, utilitarian trousers, has been in the collection for years. “It's maybe something that seems newer on the market, but it's been a staple for us for so long now,” Chemla says.

Chemla would rather make a piece that survives a trend cycle than one engineered to capitalize on it. “It's less about creating pieces of the now and more about creating pieces that women are going to want to buy and still want to see in their wardrobe 10 to 20 years from now,” she says. “So we focus really on those timeless pieces as opposed to the pieces that come and go.”

That philosophy has earned Leset perhaps the most convincing endorsement possible: Women with virtually unlimited access to fashion keep coming back to it. Lawrence has repeatedly worn the brand’s Margo tee and Yoko line. Gerber has made the Kyoto Carpenter and Arielle Pocket pants part of her off-duty wardrobe. Hailey Bieber, Dakota Johnson, Holmes, and others have all been photographed in Leset pieces—and, importantly, often more than once. Chemla says the A-list following wasn't orchestrated. “The celebrity adoption has happened so organically for us,” she says. “We have celebrities stopping into our store all the time to shop and just pick up and replenish their wardrobes.”

Early on, the first celebrity sighting felt monumental. Chemla remembers discovering Kylie Jenner had worn a Leset set and studying the photos with her team to make sure they weren't mistaken. “We just kept zooming into it, and we were 100 percent certain it was ours, but we almost just couldn't believe it,” she says. Celebrity sightings are considerably less surprising these days. “It's become such a natural part of the business,” Chemla says. “Obviously, we're so grateful for that because that has an incredible impact, but it hasn't necessarily been the focus of the brand.”

Perhaps that lack of focus on celebrity is exactly why Leset has become so ubiquitous among them. The brand’s clothes don’t require a styling team to make sense of them. They're what famous women wear in the decidedly un-famous parts of their lives: grabbing coffee, getting on planes, or running errands (though there have been plenty of Leset red carpet appearances, too).

Meanwhile, the rest of fashion has increasingly entered the category retailers once couldn't figure out how to merchandise, with a new “Leset pant” dupe popping up on my feed every month. Chemla isn't particularly concerned about competitors. “For us, it's really about just staying in our lane with our blinders on and not looking at what other people are doing and how they're doing it,” she says. Her analogy is: “It's like driving on a highway, and we're just on cruise control in the HOV lane, and people are coming in and out.”

Staying in that lane has occasionally meant leaving money on the table. In Leset's early years, Chemla says wholesale partners approached the brand about exclusive colors and altered versions of its products—even asking whether Leset could add conventional closures to its pants. “It was hard,” she says. “Seeing those dollar signs in front of us and having to just say no in that moment, knowing that it would benefit the longevity and the long-term business overall was so important to where the business is now.”

That “restraint,” she says, became one of Leset's most important growth strategies. “We've never wanted to do something that doesn't feel like Leset just to do it because it might bring in a big sale in the moment.” Instead, decisions are considered in terms of how they might affect the company's identity five or 10 years down the line. Ironically, growth has given Chemla more freedom to be particular. When Leset launched, approximately 80 percent of its business was wholesale and 20 percent direct-to-consumer. Today, Chemla says, between 60 and 70 percent comes directly from its customers. “Making that flip was always the goal because it gave us more freedom to dictate what we were able to produce and not produce as a small business,” she says.

There were pieces Chemla wanted to make from the beginning that never reached shoppers in the early years. Leset's first collection, for instance, included a full-length, double-faced red cashmere coat. Buyers weren't willing to take a chance on the higher price point, and Leset was too small to fund the inventory itself, so it never made it. Now, the brand can make those decisions on its own. “Being able to produce those styles that wholesalers weren't necessarily backing before has been one of the most exciting parts for me in the past two or three years,” Chemla says. “It's given us freedom in terms of our voice.”

That freedom is showing up in higher-priced fabrics and outerwear—the new fall collection features a $2,000 camel hair car coat—and an expanding universe of accessories. Leset has introduced socks, shoes, and hats, with each category intended to build toward a complete wardrobe. “You'll always see us expanding into categories that just feel like natural wardrobe essentials,” Chemla says. “We really do want women to be able to get dressed in Leset head to toe.”

For all the brand has expanded, Chemla's barometer for what belongs in that closet remains personal. “Instinct is a big one for me and just my gut feeling,” she says. When Leset has made something she doesn't fully believe in—or wouldn't put in her own wardrobe—she says it has generally proved to be a mistake. So she continually returns to the same questions she asked at launch: Who is the Leset woman? What is she doing? How is she living? And what does she actually want to wear while doing it?

Seven years ago, department stores couldn't figure out where Leset's clothes belonged. Today, women wear elastic-waist trousers to work, under-$100 T-shirts with four-figure handbags, and clothes built for comfort just about everywhere. “I think that that gray space is now the norm,” Chemla says. “Which is very exciting—that we've built it into something that is widely accepted, wanted, and appreciated.”

Leset once needed retailers to create a floor in between. Instead, the rest of fashion moved there.

Over the past year or so, my sleep schedule has become pretty atrocious. It’s never falling asleep that’s my issue—give me some YouTube thunderstorm sleep sounds, and I’m knocked out in five minutes. Staying asleep is where things are touch-and-go. I’ve been waking up multiple times to pee, sometimes because my skin is akin to an inferno, and occasionally because I’m just generally restless. I know it’s less than ideal (sleep is important!), so I went to see Jill Villa, a physician’s associate and the founder of Goldhaus Wellness (if you’re in NYC you must go see her) for a consultation.

We went over my bloodwork first and foremost—and then talked about ways to tackle my sleep concerns. “Sleep is when your body does its best work. It’s repairing cells, balancing hormones, strengthening your immune system, and literally cleaning out your brain,” says Villa. “You can’t out-supplement, out-green juice, or out-HIIT a bad night’s sleep.” I personally wasn’t interested in melatonin or sedatives, so to help me clock eight hours, Villa recommended a magnesium supplement.

But choosing the right one—and the right dosage—is where I really needed her guidance. There’s magnesium glycinate and magnesium citrate, along with a few other variations—and they work slightly differently. To learn which one is best for sleep, plus everything else you need to know about taking magnesium, keep reading. Villa, along with nutritionist Rachel Brief and board-certified sleep medicine physician Saema Tahir, MD, are explaining everything there is to know about magnesium glycinate vs citrate, ahead.

Can Magnesium Help Me Fall and Stay Asleep?

Magnesium can absolutely help with sound sleep. It’s not a sedative, so it won’t force you to bed, but it can help “support relaxation and make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep,” says Villa. Think of it like a little nudge that tells your body it’s time to wind down and relax. It works differently for everyone, but I find that within about 30 minutes of taking it, my eyes feel heavier and my whole system experiences a wash of calm.

There’s not enough research in the magnesium department to say with certainty how it affects sleep cycles but there’s proof in practice. "I’ve found anecdotally that it can be incredibly helpful for the majority of patients, particularly when stress or difficulty winding down is contributing to poor sleep,” says Brief.

What’s the Difference Between Magnesium Glycinate vs Citrate for Sleep?

“One is for winding down, and one is for moving things along,” says Villa. Magnesium glycinate is typically recommended for sleep and relaxation, whereas citrate is often used to help relieve constipation. "Both are well-absorbed forms of magnesium, just bound to different partners. Magnesium citrate is attached to citric acid. It's inexpensive, easy to find, and absorbs well, but it pulls water into the bowel, so it has a stronger laxative effect," says Dr. Tahir. "Magnesium glycinate is attached to an amino acid called glycine. It's also well absorbed but tends to be gentler on the stomach, which is why it's the popular pick for sleep and everyday use."

Are There Other Benefits to Taking Magnesium Glycinate vs Citrate?

While most people associate magnesium with better sleep or digestion, there are actually so many more benefits to taking it. “Magnesium is essential for hundreds of processes in the body, including muscle and nerve function, blood pressure, blood sugar, and bone health,” says Dr. Tahir. “Its clearest benefit is correcting a true deficiency, which is more common in older adults, people with certain health conditions, and those taking long-term acid-reducing medications. It's also commonly used for muscle cramps, though the evidence there is mixed.”

The added benefits of the two are more nuanced: citrate is more likely to loosen stool, while glycinate is better for muscle relief and relaxation.

How Much Magnesium Should I Take?

Villa’s motto is “start low, go slow,” telling patients to begin between 100 to 200 mg of magnesium (glycinate or citrate) at night and then adjust based on how your body responds. “Look for the words 'elemental magnesium' on the label, since that's the number that actually counts,” says Tahir. “For general reference, adult women need roughly 310 to 320 milligrams a day from all sources combined, including food.” Just remember: the goal isn’t to work yourself up to the highest dose possible. More doesn’t always mean better.

Are There Any Side Effects to Taking Magnesium?

The most common side effect is an upset stomach, especially when taking magnesium citrate. Otherwise, it’s fairly well tolerated, but as always, talk with your healthcare provider before adding anything new to your routine. “People with significant kidney impairment need to be especially cautious because the kidneys are responsible for clearing excess magnesium. Magnesium can also interfere with the absorption of certain medications, including some antibiotics and thyroid medications,” adds Brief.

How Much Sleep Do I Really Need?

It depends—but most adults need seven to nine hours. “There is research suggesting women tend to sleep a bit longer on average, while also experiencing more sleep disruption,” says Brief. “A woman’s sleep needs and quality can change throughout her life with hormonal shifts, including the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause. I also look beyond the number—if someone is getting eight hours but consistently waking up exhausted, that’s worth paying attention to.”

Shop Magnesium Glycinate and Citrate

Why Trust Marie Claire

For more than 30 years, Marie Claire has been an internationally recognized destination for news, fashion and beauty trends, investigative packages, and more. When it comes to the products Marie Claire recommends, we take your faith in us seriously. Every product that we feature comes personally recommended by a Marie Claire writer or editor, or by an expert we’ve spoken to firsthand.

Meet the Experts

Looking hot has no age limit. There is also no one singular product or treatment that can elevate your hotness factor. In fact, hot girls know that 90 percent of being, well, a hot girl, is mindset; that enviable mentality and confidence that you carry with you from day to night. But for that remaining 10 percent? Well, that's the stuff we need to know, because who doesn't want to hone their hot factor with a few buzzy additions to her beauty routine? It's why I had to chat with Cyklar founder, OG creator, and certified hot girl Claudia Sulewski.

Even if you're not chronically online, or completely and utterly obsessed with her body care brand like the rest of the Marie Claire team, you might have spotted Sulewski on the most recent Forbes 30 Under 30 list, or flashing a rather sizable diamond on her ring finger (she's currently engaged to musician and producer FINNEAS) in a few shots on Instagram. A stranger to the spotlight she is not, and to my delight, she is equally well-versed in the beauty space. I mean, how could she not be when she's been creating YouTube beauty tutorials for the last 17 years, and launched an award-winning line of body care and fragrance products that now sit on the shelves at Sephora?

"I remember having a very extensive nail polish collection," she tells me over Zoom. "By the time I was 10 years old, I was painting my nails every single color. And I started making YouTube videos at 13." The founder adds that by that point, she had fully infiltrated her mother's makeup collection. "I'd steal my mom's makeup and create these makeup tutorials and eye tutorials and post them online. I was so serious at 13... but now I view beauty as an enhancement or an extension of myself. I feel like we're in this fun phase of just embracing our natural beauty and doing these little tips and tricks that make you just feel a little bit hotter, but still you."

It comes as no surprise, then, that with well over a decade spent immersed in beauty, both personally and professionally, Sulewski has amassed more than a few secrets to look and feel smoking hot. Keep scrolling for more.

What are the moments in your life when you feel the hottest, naturally?

It really is so simple. When I'm tan, not from the sun, but when I've self-tanned. When my skin is breathing and hydrated—it's not covered in a ton of makeup. And when my hair is done, I really think when you walk out the door and you've done something to your hair to just make it look a little bit more presentable, you don't need to touch your face. That's my philosophy.

When do you feel like you need a bit of a hotness boost?

If I was out the night before and had some alcohol and need to de-puff essentially, or when I don't get eight hours of sleep. I mean, sleep is so important. If you had a late night or if you have to wake up super early, a few more steps [get] tacked onto my skincare routine when I've lost my sleep.

What in-office treatments help you feel like the hottest version of yourself?

I've finally started seeing an esthetician on a schedule. I really don't do too many [beauty] things out of the house, but [I'm] seeing an esthetician at least once a month right now. We do a lot of peels, a lot of spot treatment lasering, which I didn't know was a thing. I though you kind of have to just get lasers across your whole face, but she'll just zap certain areas for dark spots, which makes it a way shorter downtime. Also dermaplaning I started doing for the first time this year, and it lets your makeup and everything on your face just sit so much better. So I'm doing all of those things when my esthetician feels that we need them. I go to Lisa Karadjian.

Also nails, that's a huge one. If I have a good set of Builder Gel nails, I'm walking differently. I am talking differently. I'm feeling so hot and so confident. Depending on what I'm getting ready for, if it is a big life moment or a red carpet, [I see] Jenny Jenny's or Nails by Zola, they're so good. Or I just go to the nail salon that's five minutes away from my house. But I love just having a natural, long almond nail. It just does so much.

But that's kind of it. I've joked in the past that my Notes app is just a graveyard of recommendations for my friends like, here's the lymphatic drainage person that you need to go to. Here's where you need to start going to for this. It's overwhelming to know what you should be doing and outsourcing.

What does your at-home hot girl routine consist of, from products to practices?

Obviously having my own body care brand, the lineup is extensive. So I really, really enjoy luxuriating in my body care routine. I'd love to call out the Cyklar Self-Tanning Milky Essence. It's just such an easy self-tanner that we developed that allows you to just maintain your tan in between spray tans, or if you got a little bit of sun. It's just really easy, so that's always a confidence hot boost for me personally. I'm sauna-ing a lot. Strength training. My answer to almost everything these days is strength training. Longevity! It makes you feel so good, so sexy. It gives you energy. I love to elevate my legs at nighttime. I'm always thinking about circulation, blood flow. I have the vibrating plate. So certainly all of those things, we're embracing all of them.

For skin, I love at-home devices. Shark Beauty, the CryoGlow mask is so good. I've found that as a hard shell mask, it sits on my face lighter than any other one. And also the cooling underneath for your eyes is so nice for the morning time. I'll often habit stack with that mask. This morning upstairs, I had the mask on in the dark and I was doing calisthenics with my arms and just getting a little workout in, a little six-minute arm circuit. We're doing a lot of habit stacking.

Also, I really believe in a high quality peptide serum. There's a Medik8 one, Advanced Peptides MP. I've been using it all year. Obviously sunscreen every day. The Shark Beauty DePuffi. On those nights where I didn't get a lot of sleep or I was out the night before and want to chisel, contour my face, that cooling setting feels so good to use in the morning.

I try to stay as low maintenance with my hair as possible. I love a heatless curl if I know I don't have a bunch of time in the morning and just want to run out and have some sort of texture going on with my hair. If I'm styling it, Shark FlexStyle Air Styling & Drying System. They have these auto-wrap curlers that hold your curl for so, so long and have it look blown out for the next four days. And it also just helps with heat damage.

Right now I've been loving Chanel Gardenia and actually mixing that with [Cyklar] Sex Musk, which is one of our perfume oils. I mean, I like to layer that with anything. I love a very light white floral, and for the summertime it makes me feel very feminine and ethereal.

What’s a mantra or words of wisdom you swear by to feel confident, hot, and in-charge?

I would say that just reminding myself that confidence really is built on the promises you keep for yourself. More often than not, the days where I am feeling so confident about myself and feeling like that hot bitch is crossing off my to-do list. Giving myself a plan of what I need to do and what I'm going to do and getting it done and getting it done earlier than I thought I would. I really think so much of it comes down to that, just walking the walk and doing what you're telling yourself you're going to do. And obviously you can have beauty routines and products and treatments in the mix of that, but it's really just feeling like you respect your relationship with yourself. You can rely on yourself, you're consistent. Those daily habits, it's cliché to say that, but it's so true. That's what matters the most.

Do you think that purposefulness in the way that you attack your day is the secret to radiating hotness at any age?

A million percent. Because you trust yourself more. Obviously you can alter yourself and try to fix all these things on the outside, but in terms of how you walk into a conversation with someone, how you walk into a room, I think all of that stems from the inside and the work that you do with yourself, whatever it is, whatever makes you feel good. You know what I mean?

If reading makes you feel smart and empowered, keep reading, keep picking up that book. Or if it's being super communicative and in tune with your emotions, meditating, journaling. I'm oftentimes when I'm wearing the LED mask, I'll journal. These little things just help give you this self-identity. I think it's so important to feel connected to your unique self, if that makes sense.

Sometimes buying the same foundation that everyone else is buying is not going to do that. It's not going to fill that gap. I mean, we're getting cheesy, but it's just true. That's what it is.

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For more than 30 years, Marie Claire has been an internationally recognized destination for news, fashion, and beauty trends, investigative packages, and more. When it comes to the products Marie Claire recommends, we take your faith in us seriously. Every product that we feature comes personally recommended by a Marie Claire writer or editor, or by an expert we’ve spoken to firsthand.

As Marie Claire’s resident Sensitive Skin Beauty Editor, it only felt appropriate to be the designated tester for Tower 28’s newest launch: Swipe Serum Foundation. Here's the thing about Tower 28: the entire brand is dedicated to making formulas that are suitable for easily irritated or acne-prone skin. As someone who is either dealing with a rosacea flare, perioral dermatitis, or eczema at any given point in time, my ears immediately perked up when I got wind of this drop.

Foundations are a tricky category. There are a grand total of three formulas I can use without sending my skin into a spiral (Chanel Sublimage L’Essence D’Tiente, Westman Atelier Supreme Bio Complex Foundation, and Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Filter for inquiring minds), so the chance to add another to my repertoire is incredibly exciting. “This product is the embodiment of why I started Tower 28. It’s the confidence you need and the coverage you want, whether you have eczema like me or acne like my teenage daughter,” says founder and CEO Amy Liu. Basically, it’s supposed to be the key to making skin look better without worrying about making it worse in the process. Sensitive skin girls get it.

That in mind, I set out to risk my good skin streak for the sake of being a makeup guinea pig. My honest review on this new launch—along with before-and-after photos—ahead.

What Makes Tower28’s Swipe Serum Foundation Different?

Tower28 is always going to do the legwork. Not only is this formula derm-approved, non-comedogenic, and made with triple-filtered water, but it also got a 94 percent stamp of approval in a clinical study. These participants—all of whom had sensitive skin—said it didn’t break them out after one week of wear. The key lies in the formulation.

Obviously, it’s made without the risky ingredients like oils and shea butter, but it’s just as important to note what’s in this foundation. The hero ingredient, porulaca extract, is respected as an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial ingredient, which makes it uniquely suited for eczema-prone and acne-prone skin types. There’s also fermented oat, which helps restore and strengthen the skin barrier, as well as lactobacillus ferment, which soothes the skin and protects against environmental stressors.

As for the coverage? This foundation delivers a natural finish and is truly buildable. One pump applied with the hands is more of a skin tint situation, but if you put two pumps on a brush, it will show up much more like a traditional medium-coverage foundation.

How Do I Apply Tower28’s Swipe Serum Foundation?

Like most serum foundations, I find the texture to be on the wetter side. That comes with pros and cons. On the one hand, it sinks into the skin so naturally and never looks like I’m wearing caked-on makeup, but it can also veer into greasy territory really quickly. I find that applying it with my fingers amps up the wet look (which is great if you’re going for a glass skin vibe), but I personally enjoy the finish that comes along with a beauty blender. It’s still glowy, but with a little powder, it tones it down just enough that I don’t feel overly shiny. If you’re looking for fuller coverage, try applying the foundation with the brand new brush that launched in tandem with the foundation.

How Does Tower28’s Swipe Serum Foundation Wear Throughout the Day?

The foundation promises 16-hour wear, and while I never plan on keeping it on that long, I can confirm it stays looking fresh-ish for up to 12. It didn’t separate at all and really meshed with my existing skincare, looking like an extension of my actual skin texture.

Because it’s deeply hydrating and has a serum base, I found that I needed to powder a bit throughout the day to minimize excess shine (I also run a bit oily in the summer, though) and noticed that the product lifted around my nose by mid-day—probably from brushing my hand across the bridge.

Is Tower28’s Swipe Serum Foundation Worth It?

In a beauty landscape where luxury foundations are running $70+, a $36 serum foundation feels pretty well priced. And to be totally honest, it feels and looks on par with my luxury options. But the real test when it comes to this product was whether or not it would send me and one of my many skin conditions into a flare. Now that I’ve been wearing this for a week, I can confidently say that my skin is cooperating. I have no perioral dermatitis. My eczema is stable. And save for the one cyst pimple on my chin (it’s that time of the month), I haven’t been experiencing any extra breakouts.

Because I only rotate between three foundations, I’m overjoyed to have another formula and finish to play with. It feels lighter and more natural than my other go-tos, which makes it perfect for seeing me through the end of summer and into fall.

Shop More Tower28 Products I Love

Why Trust Marie Claire

For more than 30 years, Marie Claire has been an internationally recognized destination for news, fashion and beauty trends, investigative packages, and more. When it comes to the products Marie Claire recommends, we take your faith in us seriously. Every product that we feature comes personally recommended by a Marie Claire writer or editor, or by an expert we’ve spoken to firsthand.

In 2021, when many of us were just starting to remember what a work bag looked like, Cuyana set out to reinvent the category. As return-to-office plans began to take shape and hybrid schedules blurred the definition of a commute, the brand introduced the System Tote. Five years later, the leather carryall has become one of Cuyana’s best-selling bags and a celebrity favorite, spotted on the likes of Katie Holmes and Emily Blunt. This month, the label marked the tote's half-decade anniversary with a limited-edition collection that reimagines the silhouette in five new ways.

From the outside, the original System Tote is deliberately simple: a softly structured silhouette in double-faced Italian pebbled leather, with rounded corners and little visible hardware. Its defining feature is hidden inside. A series of discreet snaps allows its wearer to add and remove Cuyana’s organizational pieces—including laptop sleeves, cases, and pouches—as well as smaller bags, turning the tote into a modular, yes, system.

“The pandemic reshaped the way women lived and worked. We had to rethink what a work bag could be altogether,” says Shilpa Shah, who co-founded Cuyana with Karla Gallardo in 2011. Rather than designing something that belonged exclusively to the office—or, conversely, to off-duty life—the pair saw an opportunity for a bag that could move between both. A shopper could carry a laptop and the day’s essentials to work in a single tote, then shed some of that cargo for lunch or happy hour drinks, with smaller pieces designed to function on their own.

“When we designed the System Tote, it was really a point of inflection in the world and in women's lives. We realized that [our customer] needed something that was a more versatile piece to serve her everyday needs, and the traditional work bag wasn't enough anymore,” echoes JoEllen Dutcher, Cuyana's head of product. “The rhythm of her days changed. Some days, she's working from home; some days, she's working from a coffee shop; some days, she's commuting. Her days became very dynamic, and we knew that we needed to create a bag that would evolve and change to serve her needs.”

That adaptability was central to the design process. “Every single detail in this bag was considered,” Dutcher says. The challenge was building ample organization into the interior without making the exterior look overly technical or bulky. The team borrowed the snaps from a gold-dot detail used in Cuyana’s apparel, before engineering them to remain hidden from exterior view. They then selected the leather: supple enough to feel relaxed for everyday wear but structured enough to hold a laptop and workday must-haves without collapsing. “We had to figure out how to create a bag with all of this internal organization and capacity and abilities, but keep the outside perfectly beautiful and clean and very classic,” she adds.

The concept resonated instantly. “It was a hit immediately out of the gate,” Dutcher says. “We sold out of several of the colors within the first couple of months. The response was really, really strong from the get-go.”

The goal wasn’t simply to sell a bag with more pockets but to bring a sense of order to their customer. “I equate it to this idea: When you walk into your closet, and it's a mess, it's the worst feeling. But then when you walk in, and everything's organized, there's no better feeling than that,” Dutcher says. “We want that to be the feeling when she opens her bag. We want her to be like, ‘Oh, everything's perfect, organized. I feel good. I can conquer my day.’”

Today, that philosophy extends well beyond the original tote. The System family has expanded into Mini, Small, East West, and zippered variations; Cuyana has also incorporated the same snap system into other bags (see the Mila Satchel). “The System Tote gave us confidence to expand beyond our elevated everyday tote bags [and] into more of an enhanced design and functionality point of view,” Dutcher says.

For Dutcher, the bag’s appeal comes from pairing function with a design that doesn’t advertise its utility too loudly. “This piece has beauty, longevity, timeless design,” she says. “I think that really resonates with [our customer].” That balance has only become more relevant as the boundaries between work and personal have further blurred. Women may still need a bag that can carry a laptop, notebook, and anything else a 9-to-5 demands, but they don’t necessarily want something that looks like it belongs exclusively at a desk. “I think people are now looking for work bags that don't necessarily look like work bags,” Dutcher says.

That may also explain why Cuyana has been embraced by celebrities, too. Earlier this year, Martha Stewart singled out the Mila as a “game changer” for traveling. In June, Holmes carried a dark-chestnut 13-inch System Tote around New York with an oversized blue button-down, wide-leg jeans, and heeled flip-flops—a decidedly off-the-clock outfit. Blunt has likewise taken the Mini System Tote beyond the office, carrying a black croc-embossed version with a turtleneck, relaxed trousers, and sneakers before a TV appearance in Los Angeles.

To Dutcher, those sightings reflect a broader change in what women expect from the category. “The work bag is something that used to be all about point A to point B. Now, women are looking for bags that are more lifestyle bags,” she says. “You can take that bag with you to cocktails, to a movie, out, to wherever after you're in between the office, and you don't feel like you're trucking around your work bag. You want something that fits your style and your life.”

Shah sees that versatility as central to its staying power. “The System Tote is beautiful, but it's also genuinely functional,” she says. “The modular system lets it adapt to whatever a woman is carrying in a given season of her life, whether that's a laptop and her essentials or a change of shoes for dinner. A great work bag should feel like it's working with you, and I think that's why women keep reaching for it.”

For the System Tote’s fifth birthday, Cuyana launched Flower, Fringe, Suede, Belted, and Croc interpretations that introduce new textures and details while keeping the original architecture intact. “The anniversary gives us a chance to reflect on everything that has made the System so enduring while also taking a new step from a design perspective,” says Shah. For longtime customers who already own the original, the new versions offered a reason to revisit it. “We wanted to give her the opportunity to participate in the birthday, too,” Dutcher says.

The way women work has continued to change since 2021. The fact that Cuyana’s answer to that upheaval has stuck around may be the strongest endorsement of the original style. “For it to still be one of our bestsellers and to still be finding new people to discover it and fall in love with, it is a testament to the design,” Dutcher says. “It's a bag that stands the test of time.”

When you're looking to get lost in a book, sometimes you need your reading material to match your mood. With Marie Claire's series "Buy the Book," we do the heavy lifting for you. We're offering curated, highly specific recommendations for whatever you're looking for—whether you're in your feels or hooked on a subgenre trending on #BookTok.

In this author-curated rendition, Malavika Kannan—activist, Quarter Life Crisis Substack writer, and author of YA novels All the Yellow Suns and The Bookweaver's Daughter—shares what coming-of-age stories inspired her adult debut, Unprecedented Times.

Not every writer is hailed as a voice of their generation, but Malavika Kannan has been since her teens. The 25-year-old established herself as a teenage activist, building a following while organizing movements like March for Our Lives and the Women’s March, and has written viral essays on Gen Z media and politics. So when it came to writing her first adult novel, she knew she wanted it to be “a good Gen Z novel.”

“My favorite musician Nina Simone once said it's an artist's duty to ‘reflect the times,’” Kannan tells Marie Claire. “I set out to write a novel with plot—but also a novel of ideas, theorizing about community, kinship, and identity.”

The result is Unprecedented Times, which examines the impact of “the pandemic, climate change, and other forms of systemic 21st-century violence on young Americans.” It’s a timeless coming-of-age story—yet one that will feel all too familiar to those whose campus experiences were put on pause by COVID-19. The highly anticipated novel, out August 18, follows Stanford freshman Rishi as she retreats to a farming collective across the country when her classes turn virtual in 2020.

“I like the coming-of-age genre because, in real time, you can see women making choices for their lives (and facing the consequences for them),” says Kannan, who’s published two YA hits. “My main theme as a writer is the question of agency in women's lives: What personal and political factors shape the choices we make?”

She explains that contemporary fiction by female authors—largely published during the first Trump presidency—informed her adult debut. They were her “gateway drug” in falling back in love with reading during the pandemic, and wound up on her bibliography once Unprecedented Times first took form as her Stanford honors thesis. “It made me see my work as part of a tradition, like I was picking up the call in a long game of telephone, adding in my own political and formal innovations.”

Below, Kannan shares the books that inspired her new release, from collegiate bestsellers to certified classics.

While I love a barely-there, clean girl manicure (and have perfected the DIY mani for at-home polish application and cuticle care) there’s something about the end of summer that calls to me for a more maximalist approach. Metallic nails, in my opinion, are the ideal way to toast to Leo season and enjoy the last bit of vacation energy before the back-to-school vibes of the fall. And it’s not just the classic gold and silver polishes, although I do love those options as well. In 2026 you can find pretty much every color available in a metallic, shimmery finish. I’m partial to earthy shades but a vampy red or mauve polish is also at the top of my list these days.

So, if you’re also itching for something a little more exciting to try with your nails this season, but aren’t quite ready to go full nail art, here are my five favorite metallic nail colors to embrace for August—because Leo season is still here for another week!

Gorgeous, Gorgeous Green

Don’t overlook green nail polish, my friends. The unexpected shade is basically a stand-alone accessory for your best summer outfits.

Marvelously Mauve

This soft purple shade has had such a resurgence over the last year, and I’m equally excited to wear it in a metallic option for summer.

Radiant Ruby

Red nails are a classic forever and ever, but when I want a bit of spice, I’ll reach for a metallic polish, specifically in a rich ruby shade. If drama is your goal this Leo season, I highly suggest you give this style a try.

Serving Silver

You can’t talk about metallic polishes without throwing some love to silver nails. The slinky shade is hotter than ever in 2026, and one of my favorites for either a French tip or full color.

Pretty In Pink

If you’re new to the metallics game, I highly suggest going for a delicate, shimmery pink option. It elongates your fingers and gives that clean, effortless manicure just a bit of edge.

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Not everyone in Hollywood makes awards history—let alone twice. Director Salli Richardson-Whitfield, however, became the first Black woman to receive an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series in 2024, and this year, she became the first Black woman to receive two nominations in the category. At the forthcoming awards ceremony, the director/executive producer is being recognized for her efforts helming episodes of the acclaimed, Mark Ruffalo-led crime series Task and the cult-loved period drama The Gilded Age.

While Richardson-Whitfield has worked on many hits—from Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty to Dear White People to Altered Carbon—she originally got her start as an actress. Thanks to encouragement from supporters and collaborators like Ava DuVernay (whose first feature, I Will Follow, Richardson-Whitfield starred in), she was inspired to get behind the camera and eventually transition her career. Now, the filmmaker, who has a creative partnership with HBO, is frequently hailed for breaking the glass ceiling in TV.

Still, even as the number of female TV creators is higher than ever, they only make up 32 percent of directors in the field. So, in anticipation of the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 14, Richardson-Whitfield shared an essay with Marie Claire about her journey toward becoming a director—and the value in trusting yourself.

The first audience I ever directed for was my family, gathered on the living room couch. I couldn't have been more than 8-years-old. My dolls were lined up, each with a role to play. I'd spent the afternoon writing another version of Cinderella, carefully stapling the pages into tiny handmade books that I proudly handed out before the performance began.

Then I took my place behind the story. I thought I was just playing. I wasn't trying to be Cinderella. I wanted to tell the story. I just didn't know that one day, I would spend my life doing exactly that.

People often ask me how I became successful. They want to know whether I always dreamed of directing television, whether I had a master plan, or whether I somehow knew that one day I would make history. The truth is much simpler: I learned to trust something inside myself.

Growing up in Hyde Park on Chicago's South Side, I often felt as though I didn't quite belong. My parents sacrificed so I could attend an exceptional private school filled with brilliant students who would go on to become doctors, lawyers, and scientists. I lived in the neighborhood, but in its least desirable building. My father was white, and my mother was Black, at a time when that still made our family seem different. I struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia while trying to keep up in an environment where academic excellence appeared effortless for everyone else.

From the outside, I looked confident. I was athletic, outgoing, and, by most standards, beautiful. Inside, I constantly wondered whether I was enough. Not smart enough. Not accomplished enough. Not worthy enough. There were plenty of voices reinforcing those insecurities—the voices of comparison, expectation, fear, and sometimes my own self-doubt.

Thankfully, there was always something else inside me: A sense that I should keep going. That there was a purpose for me even when I couldn't see what it was.

My parents weren't perfect, but they gave me two gifts that shaped my life: an unwavering work ethic and a strong sense of right and wrong. Those gifts became my compass. I made mistakes, as we all do, but somehow I never wandered too far from the path. Something inside me kept pulling me forward.

Acting became my first path because it was what I loved and what I knew I could do. It led me from Chicago to California, despite all the reasons I should be practical, have a backup plan, or accept that the odds were impossible. Logic said to stay where it was safe. Something inside me said, Go. So I went.

Years later, while starring on Eureka, I was given the opportunity to direct an episode. Looking back, I realize it wasn't merely the beginning of my directing career. It was the moment I recognized the life I had unknowingly been preparing for all along.

A couple of hours into my first day on set, the producing director walked over to me. I was still absorbing the responsibility of leading an entire crew while quietly wondering whether I truly belonged there. He smiled and said, "You've got this."

Then he left. Just like that. I remember standing there, almost stunned. He trusted me enough to leave the set in my hands.

In that moment, I had a choice. I could listen to all the reasons I wasn't ready, or I could trust the instinct that simply said, Tell the story. So I did. I didn't panic. I didn't second-guess myself. I simply told the story the way I believed it needed to be told.

That day changed everything. Not only because someone else believed in me, but because, for the first time in my professional life, I believed in myself.

As an actress, I was good. I had a career I loved, but I was never fearless. I believe great actors must be willing to look foolish in pursuit of something truthful, and I was often too focused on getting it right.

As a director, something entirely different happened. I trusted my instincts. I trusted my vision. I trusted myself. Directing felt less like learning a new job and more like remembering something I had always known. For the first time, I wasn't searching for confidence. I had found it. That confidence didn't make me complacent. It made me work even harder.

Actors are sometimes given the opportunity to direct because they're already on a television show. I wanted everyone around me to understand that this wasn't a vanity project or simply another credit I intended to collect. I wanted to earn that chair. I prepared relentlessly. I asked every question I could think of. I studied every detail because I never wanted anyone to believe I had been handed an opportunity I wasn't prepared to honor.

Years later, when I decided to transition from acting to directing full-time, those same people remembered. On paper, my résumé wasn't always the strongest. I hadn't gone to film school, and I hadn't followed the traditional path. There were people with more experience, more credits, and certainly more formal education. But the people who had watched me work knew something a résumé couldn't tell them. They knew my dedication. They knew how hard I worked. And they trusted that whatever opportunity they gave me, I would show up prepared to earn it. Those relationships eventually opened doors to directing jobs I might never have gotten on paper alone.

For much of my life, I carried an insecurity about my education. I often walked into rooms assuming everyone else knew more than I did. (Sometimes they did.) But somewhere along the way, I stopped believing that meant I had less to offer. Education matters—I wish I had gone to college. But I've learned that knowing what you don't know can be its own kind of wisdom. It makes you ask questions. It makes you listen. It makes you prepare. And when hard work, passion, talent, and purpose come together, they can take you places no résumé could have predicted.

Maybe that's why, when people ask how I got here, I still struggle to give them a simple answer. I didn't have a master plan. I followed what felt true. When acting interested me and I discovered I had talent for it, I followed it. When that path led from Chicago to California, I went. When directing awakened something in me that acting never had, I was willing to leave behind a career in which I was already successful and begin again.

That may be the most important decision I made. Because there is a particular kind of courage required to walk away from something you're good at—not because you've failed, but because somewhere inside you, you know there is something else you're meant to do. My life didn't become what I imagined as a little girl. It became bigger.

We spend so much of our lives looking ahead, trying to figure out where we're supposed to go. We make plans. We compare ourselves to other people. We listen to all the reasons something is impractical or impossible. And sometimes those voices become so loud that we stop trusting what we already know. I've learned that sometimes the clearest map is found by looking back.

When I look back now, I see that little girl sitting on the living room floor, lining up her dolls, handing out her homemade Cinderella books, and creating a world for her family to enjoy. She thought she was just playing. She wasn't. She wasn't dreaming about becoming a director. She didn't even know that was something she could dream about. But something in her already knew she was a storyteller.

It took the grown woman a few decades to trust what the little girl seemed to know instinctively. Maybe that's what the quiet voice has been all along. Not an instruction to become someone new. A reminder to trust who I already was.

There’s nothing more autumnal than leaves changing color—nature’s palette shifts from vibrant green to golden yellows, burnt oranges, and rusty reds; it literally defines the season. Like the leaves, I, too, like to change color as the calendar approaches September. For the past few years, I’ve held a steady hair appointment right at the start of fall to dye my hair to match the vibe of the season. Most recently, I’ve gone from honey-brown highlights to a moody auburn and from muddy brown to a rich, chocolatey shade. This year, however, I feel slightly uninspired. Are we doomed to keep repeating the same five hair colors for fall, or could an understated gem emerge this season?

The answer is yes and no. While staple fall shades like chestnut and auburn are making a return, our approach to fall 2026 hair color trends is different. “It's less about chasing a new fall shade and more about bringing warmth and depth back into color that's already there,” says Kadi Lee, celebrity colorist and founder of Highbrow Hippie. This fall, the goal is color that looks intricate and expensive but is actually designed with ease in mind.

In years past, high-contrast shades like expensive brunette and cherry cola dominated social feeds, but “this season people are looking for something softer and more wearable than a dramatic color transformation,” says hairstylist Daniela Bastidas. Instead of the cool tones that typically arrive with fall, Lee says we’re keeping summer’s warm, golden undertones and infusing them into more autumnal colors. The result? Dreamy shades like toffee brown, golden chestnut, and honey bronze.

Ahead, discover the 10 fall hair colors pros predict will be everywhere this season.

Candlelit Brunette

There’s arguably no experience more romantic than a candlelit dinner. The way the soft, luminous flame gives every feature a subtle glow is the exact effect this shade of brown aims to achieve. Instead of the deep, old-money brunette that leans almost black, this fall, “we're thinking of caramel tones and amber tones baked into a brunette,” says Madison Reed lead colorist Shvonne Perkins. “So they just reflect the light around them.”

For light to medium brunettes, the look can be achieved by simply adding a bit of warmth through subtle caramel, amber, and amaretto tones, resulting in a color that reads natural yet glamorous. A shade like this thrives on shine and smoothness, so use a glossy hair oil like the Olaplex No. 7 Bonding Oil to add a light sheen to your strands, and keep a Crown Affair brush handy for hair that falls like a ribbon.

Golden Hour Bronde

Summer sunsets and the selfie-inducing light they bring will be very missed, but we’re bringing that same golden glow into fall with this sunny shade. According to Leslie Shores, a color specialist at Eric Marshall Salon in Nashville, TN, this pretty hue mixes caramel and amber tones for a beautiful blend of colors that warm up the face and add a lit-from-within glow.

Shores adds that amber undertones in general will be the most asked for addition to every shade this fall. “It adds exotic warmth, depth, and dimension to the hair that feels like a golden hour,” says Shores.

To keep this color vibrant, she suggests using a color-safe shampoo and conditioner like the Davines MINU Illuminating Shampoo For Colored Hair and the Color Wow Color Security Conditioner.

Honey Bronze

For blondes who want to play in the danger zone, Lee says this bronzy shade veers close into the brunette lane, but still holds the warmth and light that blondes love. “This shade pulls everything into like deep warm territory while still keeping that lit from within quality and glow,” says Lee.

Those with darker brown hair should keep in mind that it will take a lot of time and effort to achieve this shade. Hairstylist April Pattara recently spent 13 hours turning content creator Alice T.’s dark brown hair into a honey bronze shade. While this doesn’t make the shade inherently high maintenance, it’s an easier transformation for those with naturally lighter hair.

Deep Espresso/Cocoa Brunette

Slightly more laid back than the old money brunette trend from a few years ago, “deep espresso” is a dimensional brunette that Lee says reads as “a natural extension of summer into fall.” Lee notes that clients are leaning towards brown shades that look really “baked in” rather than ribbons of highlights.

The warm undertones are more subtle, and there’s an emphasis on shine over depth. Shores says the easiest way to maintain the shine this shade needs to thrive is a gloss—I rely on the IGK Color Depositing Mask in Brown Bella to spruce up my natural dark brown color.

Toffee Brown

This is your Girl Next Door brunette. The soft brown hue with slight golden undertones has the easy-going appeal of a ‘90s rom-com heroine—the kind of warm brown that looks at home on Jennifer Garner or Keri Russell. The warmth in this shade is diffused throughout the hair rather than sitting right on top. For those who got lighter highlights for summer, Lee says this toffee hue takes the brightness from that season, and deepens just enough to avoid a flat-looking brown.

Content creator Alissa Ashley, who wore this shade last fall, reaches for the Sky Organics Castor Oil to condition her hair for hydrated strands and, in turn, more vibrant color.

Honey Latte Blonde

Remember when Zendaya went on the press tour for Challengers and we all fawned over her for like a month? (Sorry, Tom Holland). I think a bit part of why her look at the time was a 10 out of 10 was her honey glazed blonde hair. On the surface, it just looks like a dimensional blonde, but take a closer look, and you’ll see “golden, caramel and soft amber undertones woven throughout,” says Bastidas.

While this may seem like a more summery shade, Bastidas says it works well for fall because “It gives you that seasonal shift through warmth, depth and dimension while still feeling luminous.”

This color really relies on shine to create the ‘glazed’ effect, which is done by maintaining the health and condition of the hair—”this is just as important as the color itself,” says Bastidas. “I love pairing the Hair Generation Alpha Scrub to care for the scalp with Hair Generation Hair Boomer as a nourishing pre-wash treatment to help maintain that smooth, healthy, glossy finish.”

Deep Golden Copper

Sadie Sink is giving everyone green eyes over her red hair. While Sink’s hair perfectly encapsulates the deep golden copper tone colorists are predicting for fall, it’s important to note that this is her natural hair color (some people are just blessed like that).

Lee does note that for those with darker skin tones, this particular shade may not be the most flattering. “I had that color accidentally at one point, and let me tell you, it was not very cute,” says Lee. Instead, the colorist suggests a reddish chestnut as an alternative that complements deep to dark skin tones.

If you weren’t lucky enough to be born with naturally golden copper hair, Madison Reed Permanent Hair Color in the shade Genova Red can help you fake it. Between salon visits, add depth and shine to the shade with Kristin Ess Signature Hair Gloss in Copper Penny.

Chestnut Red

This dark blend of brown and red is a quintessential fall shade. Stars like Keke Palmer and Ayo Edibri have worn the style recently, proving that “it's so flattering against olive and deeper skin tones,” says Lee. I can also attest to the allure of this shade as someone who got it two Octobers ago—it was my most complimented color. This rich shade has a way of adding subtle warmth to darker skin tones, drawing out softer features while adding an air of mystery and a subtle edge.

For naturally dark brunettes, this tone can actually be achieved by skipping the dye and adding a red-tinted gloss like HighBrow Hippie Instant Silk Vitality Mask. A moisture-rich mask like the HighBrow Hippie Instant Silk Vitality Mask can also help boost the vibrancy of the shade.

Gray Blending

Since this fall's all about enhancing your natural hair color, it’s only right that gray blending will be trending. Thurston says many of her clients are “really wanting to embrace their gray because they are sick of doing root touch-ups or they just want to have a lower maintenance routine and not have to deal with going to the hairstylist as often,” she says. Gray blending allows roots to grow naturally and cascade into a blend of silver and white color with different undertones, from warm browns to golden blondes.

Thurston explains that the technique involves “a combination of highlights, lowlights, and toning all over to bring the whole look together.” Emily Noorwood, a colorist in Houston, Texas has clients flocking to her salon for grayblending. To achieve your ideal blend of grays, Noorwood recommends asking your stylist for “very soft babylights or a teasy-light, balayage technique to create brightness that mimics and blends with the natural gray.”

Champagne Blonde

For blondes who had all the fun over the summer and want to switch up their color for fall without losing vibrancy, Lee suggests a champagne blonde. “It lets them tone down [the color] without flattening it out or losing the dimension they built up over summer,” says Lee.

Lee adds that this luxurious shade uses lowlights to “add movement so it's never just one flat darker tone.” Use a purple shampoo to keep brassiness at bay and a deeply nourishing repair mask to strengthen your strands.

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Mid-August is a limbo time for beauty trends, especially nails. I’m not quite ready to abandon the baby blues and brighter shades I’ve been wearing all summer, but suddenly, brown polish and anything metallic are looking very appealing. My brain may be ready for fall, but the 90-degree weather decidedly is not. Thankfully, this week’s best manicures make a pretty convincing case for having it both ways.

This is usually the point in the season when I start to want my nails to feel a little richer, without jumping straight into the deep, moody shades I’ll be wearing on repeat by October. Rather than making a hard switch, the best looks right now are borrowing from both sides. Aquamarine is hanging on at the tips, cobalt blue is making its fall debut, and chocolate brown is finding its way into otherwise summery nail art. Metallic details are starting to look especially good again, too, particularly when they’re paired with softer shades that keep them from feeling too cold-weather-y.

And then, of course, there are the deep burgundies for anyone already emotionally done with the heat. Personally, I’m somewhere in the middle. I still want a pedicure that makes sense with sandals, but I also wouldn’t mind if it hinted at the suede boots sitting patiently for their time to shine in the back of my closet. Consider the looks ahead a very chic compromise: summer isn’t over, but your nails are allowed to start dressing for fall.

Last Splash

Aquamarine has basically been the color of summer 2026, so consider this French manicure its final send-off. Keeping the blue to a slim tip lets you hold onto the shade a little longer.

Disco After Dark

Party nails don’t have a season, but the deeper pink underneath these disco paillettes definitely shifts the mood. It’s still playful and bright, just with enough richness to carry it into fall.

Blue Period

Cobalt is coming for fall. Hailey Bieber stepped out in a rich blue manicure just last week, and considering her track record with nail trends, everyone pays attention. This French version is an easy way into the shade before going fully dark.

Best of Both

If I had to sum up the perfect August manicure in one photo, it would be this. Baby blue and chocolate brown look incredibly chic together for a summer-to-fall set, while the stripes and polka dots keep the whole thing fun.

Silver Lining

The metallic nail trend is only picking up steam for fall, but there’s nothing heavy about this take. Tiny silver polka dots and stars sit against a creamy butter yellow that’s soft enough to read almost like a neutral.

Mixed Signals

Can’t choose between summer nail art and fall polish? Don’t. This set works in chocolate brown and molten silver, with tiny gems and sheer details, pulling from both seasons without committing too hard to either.

First Pour

For anyone ready to skip the transition period altogether, rich plum burgundy is waiting. Keeping the nails short and clean makes such a deep shade feel polished rather than overly dramatic this early in the season.

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For more than 30 years, Marie Claire has been an internationally recognized destination for news, fashion and beauty trends, investigative packages, and more. When it comes to the products Marie Claire recommends, we take your faith in us seriously. Every product that we feature comes personally recommended by a Marie Claire writer or editor, or by an expert we’ve spoken to firsthand.

This essay contains spoilers about Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. Half an hour into Jane Schoenbrun’s viscous new film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, I saw my own psyche on screen. While rising filmmaker Kris Williams (Hannah Einbinder) sits across from Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson), the final girl from the ‘80s slasher B-movie she hopes to reboot, she unpacks her tendency to intellectualize art that evokes deep feeling within her. Billy implies that Kris’ rumination is a means of avoiding said feeling—something I’ve been known to do, too, and I think a fair share of people my age would agree.

Kris and Billy’s exchange over fried chicken and dipping sauces isn’t just an astute table topic; it becomes essential to understanding Schoenbrun’s film—and offers more nuance to Gen Z's oft-discussed attitude toward sex and intimacy than any pundit to date. Like Schoenbrun’s previous works (I Saw the TV Glow and We’re All Going to the World’s Fair), Teenage Sex and Death hides a human story under metatextual commentary on genre media. I went in as blind as possible, only knowing that the film was a send-up of franchises like Sleepaway Camp, and followed Kris as she attempted to recruit Billy for her remake of a property deemed “zombie IP” due to its failed sequels and transphobic roots. Teenage Sex and Death’s true plot reveals itself to be a journey of reawakening, as both women grapple with how the in-universe killer, Little Death (Jack Haven), shaped their early views on sex. As reality and fiction dissolve in hilarious ways involving “flesh and fluids,” Kris goes from repressed prude to the star of her secret fantasy.

In one scene, while Kris and Billy lay on a fireside bed of gummy candies, Kris admits, “Sex seems so easy for so many people, but I’ve never been able to get there unless I’m really far away in my head.” That line gave voice to a part of me that I’ve never had the language for. Sex, like dating, was something that felt at a distance while I was growing up, even though I came of age amid peak hookup culture. Like many queer teenage outsiders, any curiosity I felt was eclipsed by a subconscious fear of what would happen if I stepped outside societal norms. That survival-mode mindset continued into my 20s, living through career insecurity, major depressive disorder co-mingled with undiagnosed ADHD, the first Trump presidency, and the COVID-19 epidemic. It wasn’t until 31 that a deep craving for intimacy came rushing to the surface, with enough force that it was physically painful. As I now set out to explore my sexuality, I realize that even if my first adolescence had gone the typical route, I’d never been set up for success. The only high school sex-ed I’d retained was a female guest speaker who described every time she had sex as giving away a piece of herself, until she was empty.

Kris is heavily coded as Gen Z, from her cynical-idealist views on modern Hollywood to the casting of the actress behind Hacks’ woke young writer Ava Daniels. (Like me, Einbinder actually falls on the millennial side of the cusp). Though I typically hold on to my millennial bona fides with an iron grip, I’ve always related to Gen Z as the so-called “sexless generation.” The practice of telling younger generations that they’re doing sex wrong without actually talking to them about their choices is nothing new. As Carter Sherman reported in her book The Second Coming, the falling stats around Gen Z’s sexual activity can be linked to trepidation and insecurity, but also to a growing discernment towards the sex they want and deserve. The sensationalized moral-panic takes on “puriteens” refuse to acknowledge that today’s teens and 20-somethings are responding to a surplus of information about a rapidly-changing world (the fall of Roe, the rise in abstinence-only sex-ed, the COVID-19 lockdowns, the internet, etc.).

While Kris amplifies my and a number of my peers’ complicated feelings about sex, Billy shows their possible evolution. Part of the film is dedicated to scenes from the original Camp Miasma, with Amanda Fix playing Billy as the final girl. In a pivotal scene that mystified a young Kris, Billy loses her virginity to another camp counselor. She’s clearly uncomfortable and starts to dissociate, just as Little Death enters the cabin and adds the teens to their body count. Schoenbrun themself has described the scene as “a sexual assault,” and a “litmus test” for the gentle coercion that’s become a staple of dating culture. Their film ties together Billy’s harrowing first sexual experience and Kris’ struggles with dissociation to not only give voice to a generation’s reluctance—but also to show them a path forward.

Teenage Sex and Death ends by dropping Kris into her own remake. Braless in a baby tee and underwear, she flees Little Death across the campgrounds and finds refuge in Billy’s cabin. As the women have sex, Billy encourages Kris to split her consciousness and see through both her own and Little Death’s eyes as the slasher rams his spear into their cores. On my first watch, I left the theater wondering if the third act was Kris’ dream, her vivid imagination staging taboo roleplay as her and Billy’s corporeal forms were still by the fire. On the second watch, I let go of my constant need to break down stories into intellectual patterns and concepts. I quieted my brain and let my soul feel it.

Kris and Billy's journey through sexual trauma and repression towards ecstasy made me contend with something I've never admitted: I’m not sure if I’ve ever had an orgasm. I’ve tried. I have watched the Beducated videos and listened to the Dipsea tutorials and read fanfiction and purchased LELO’s finest, but something in me gets overwhelmed before I can approach anything close to a “little death.” Only when I’m in a fantasy, imagining a body like mine—stomach a little smaller, tits a little perkier—moving with all self-consciousness evaporated, do I get close. In a sense, if I really think through these fantasies, they would probably all have a throughline—my version of Kris’ third-act Miasma. Maybe if I’m lucky enough to find a Billy, someone safe to explore my deepest self without shame, I can find a similar bliss.

This euphoric, blood-soaked epiphany of a movie has left me with a Catch-22. It’s the kind of film that makes me excited to go out and live life, but I know those same vicarious feelings aren’t always easy to come by. It takes a certain amount of optimism, openness, and faith in human connection to be truly vulnerable. All it takes is a few minutes of watching the news, scrolling through a toxic social feed, or even watching a popular dating show to be reminded of the infinite ways that the search for connection can lead to pain. These are the types of thorny societal dilemmas that movies were made to explore; with Teenage Sex and Death, Schoenbrun has presented their answer to a sexual anxiety affecting an entire demographic. And, for me at least, they’ve given hope that we’ll find people willing to help us out of our brains and into the fleshy, messy world.

If you made it here, I can assume a few things are true. Number one: you’re in the market for some skin-firming and/or tightening product to add to your beauty routine. Number two: you’ve also realized that there are about 1,000 different serums, moisturizers, and toners that all seem to claim the same ability to snatch your skin. But treating skin laxity—which can increase with age, menopause, or weight loss—involves a bit of nuance. Broad-spectrum SPF, retinol, and vitamin C are foundational to help protect and renew your skin, but there’s a crop of buzzy ingredients that can really take firming to the next level. “We’re moving beyond simply treating the visible signs of aging and starting to look at how skin functions and communicates at the cellular level,” says esthetician Angela Caglia. “That’s where regenerative skincare becomes so exciting.”

Peptides, growth factors, and exosomes have been dominating the regenerative skincare discourse this past year, and for good reason. They’ve all been shown to support renewal and collagen. And yet, it’s important not to group them altogether. “They are all quite different technologies,” says cosmetic chemist Krupa Koestline.

There’s no right or wrong way to add these ingredients to your skincare routine—they’re all powerhouses in their own right. But understanding how they work, what they’re best at (Firming! Plumping! Collagen Boosting!) and the differences in the research and data behind them might influence your choice. To get the full breakdown on what ingredients to look for if you’re chasing firmer skin, keep reading. Krupa, Caglia, along with board-certified dermatologist Elizabeth Houshmand, MD, share their unfiltered thoughts on which ingredients are best for firmer skin, ahead.

What Are Peptides?

“Peptides are short chains of amino acids, and there are many different types used in skincare,” says Koestline. “[They] are targeting signaling molecules, and their activity depends on the specific peptide being used." She notes that it's important not to talk about peptides as though they are one ingredient because their function varies so widely. There are three primary types: signal peptides (for collagen production), carrier peptides (for repair and regeneration), and neurotransmitter-modulating peptides (to minimize fine lines and wrinkles). I’ve done a very thorough breakdown right here, if you really want to get into it.

The benefits of peptides really range from boosting hydration and skin barrier strength to reducing the appearance of wrinkles and firming skin. The latter benefit is most heavily associated with neurotransmitter-modulating peptides, including oligopeptides, soy-derived peptides, and decarboxylated carnosine HCl.

What Are Growth Factors?

Growth factors are naturally occuring in the body, but like collagen, decrease with age. That reduction can cause more signs of skin aging, like fine lines, wrinkles, or poor skin texture. Most of the research focuses on wound healing, demonstrating that it has real benefits for collagen production. “Growth factors are signaling proteins involved in cellular communication, repair, and regeneration. In skincare, they're used to support skin renewal and improve visible signs of aging,” explains Dr. Houshmand. Think of them like a carrier pigeon. Once the growth factor makes its way into the skin, it finds the specific receptor and delivers a message: produce more collagen.

While they have huge potential, growth factors are not the easiest ingredients to develop, which often increases the price point. “The formulation challenge is that EGF [epidermal growth factor] is a relatively large and delicate protein. Proteins can be difficult to deliver through an intact skin barrier, and their activity can also be affected by formulation conditions and stability,” says Koestline. “So with EGF, I care quite a bit about how the ingredient is made, stabilized, formulated, and delivered rather than simply seeing EGF on an ingredient story.”

What Are Exosomes?

As Caglia explains, if a growth factor is a message, an exosome is a messenger with multiple pieces of mail. “Exosomes carry different types of biological material, including proteins, lipids, and genetic material such as mRNA and microRNA,” says Koestline. “From a skincare perspective, the interest in exosomes comes from their potential role in cellular communication, tissue repair, inflammation, and regeneration.”

It’s very exciting technology, but exosomes have not been heavily studied to date, and there is little to no regulation. “They’re the category I approach with the most caution,” says Dr. Houshmand. The source matters. “You’ll see technologies associated with human cells, plants, platelets, and other biological sources. The way they’re cultured, collected, purified, characterized, stabilized, and ultimately formulated can also vary tremendously,” says Caglia. Ultimately, these variations impact their efficacy. It’s a bit of an unwieldy space, so if you’re going to use an exosome skincare product, make sure it’s through a brand you trust.

Peptides vs Growth Factors vs Exosomes: Which Is Best for Firmer Skin?

This is where things can get a little confusing. Peptides, epidermal growth factors, and exosomes all claim to do similar things—and using a high-quality product that includes any of them will likely reveal firmer skin. The way they function, though, is different. Peptides are concern-driven and ideal for daily maintenance, while growth factors and exosomes target the way that your skin functions on structural level. How fast does it turn over? How much collagen is it consistently producing?

That said, Dr. Houshmand and Koestline recommend choosing a peptide-rich product if firming is your primary concern. “That is less because exosomes or EGF are not interesting, and more because we have more established topical evidence for certain peptides and have a better understanding of how to formulate and deliver them,” says Koestline. They’re also readily available at a range of price points and well tolerated across different skin types.

Dr. Houshmand points to growth factors as the second most compelling category—there are a handful of well-formulated products with clinical data that contribute toward the growing body of evidence supporting EGF's effectiveness at treating signs of skin aging. Exosomes on the other hand, have incredible promise in skin firming, however, the lack of research and standardization causes concern. Does that mean they're not worthwhile if you're after firmer skin? Not necessarily. But if you're looking for receipts, there aren't as many.

Can I Combine Peptides, Growth Factors, and Exosomes In My Skincare Routine?

Less is more when it comes to regenerative skincare. The basis of your routine, especially if firming is a concern, is to wear sunscreen, use a vitamin C serum, a great moisturizer, and a retinoid at night. From there, consider using one of these ingredients as an addition to your routine, rather than a core necessity. “I don't recommend layering multiple expensive regenerative serums simply to have every trending ingredient on your shelf. A consistent routine with thoughtfully formulated products is more important,” says Dr. Houshmand.

Is Skincare Enough to Firm My Skin?

To be completely honest, skincare’s ability to firm skin depends heavily on how much laxity you’re dealing with. “Skincare can improve skin quality and the appearance of firmness, but it cannot truly lift significantly lax tissue,” says Dr. Houshmand. “More advanced laxity may require a staged approach incorporating treatments such as biostimulators, fillers, neuromodulators, or energy-based devices.” No skincare product, no matter how advanced or innovative, can reverse significant laxity. You can, however, expect better skin quality, increased hydration, and a boost in collagen, all of which will give you more youthful, healthy-looking skin.

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I am not someone who changes her hair color on a whim. I dyed it once, very subtly, in college, then let the color completely grow out, which means I’ve spent the better part of the last six years with my natural, deep chocolate brown hair. I like being a brunette, and I had absolutely no interest in going blonde, black, or red. But after seeing "espresso brunette" everywhere this summer, I started to wonder if there was a way to make my hair feel a little more fun without going overboard.

That was exactly what I told Pamella Gonzalez, colorist at BENJAMIN Salon in New York, when I sat down in her chair. I wanted something flirty and fresh that would brighten up my face but still have enough depth to feel like my hair. Her answer was a barely-there veil of dimensional brown highlights without reading as obviously lightened—or requiring bleach, for that matter. In other words, I still looked like a brunette, just a slightly more expensive-looking one.

It also happens to be perfect timing for this color. Right now, the subtle brightness keeps my dark hair from feeling too heavy after a full summer of sun, but I can already see it working just as well during the transition to fall thanks to the deeper base. And because I am clearly not interested in becoming someone who books a color appointment every six weeks, the grow-out might be my favorite part. There’s no harsh line at the root, so I get the fun of changing my hair without committing to a pricey and time-consuming color appointment every few weeks. Here's your guide to achieving, and maintaining, espresso brunette hair.

What Is Espresso Brunette Hair Color?

Espresso brunette is essentially a way to give deep brown hair more dimension without taking it dramatically lighter. You’re still firmly in brunette territory, but there are slightly lighter ribbons woven through the hair to create movement.

For my hair specifically, Gonzalez was able to create that dimension without bleach. Instead, she used hair color to lift pieces of my natural brown just slightly—a technique that works particularly well on virgin hair like mine. “This look was achieved by highlighting the hair using hair color to lift the natural brown ever so slightly, creating a natural glow,” she tells me. “This is an elevated, low-maintenance look that is great for people who identify with having dark hair but want more dimension and texture to it.”

There’s another perk to skipping bleach: Gonzalez says using color instead helps preserve the hair’s health and integrity while preventing the highlights from getting progressively lighter over time. The end result isn’t a dramatic brunette-to-bronde transformation. Mine still looks deep and chocolatey overall; there are just little flashes of lighter brown running through it now, which is exactly why the change feels so wearable.

What Should I Ask for at the Salon to Achieve the Color?

If you want a result similar to mine, the key phrase to bring to your colorist is "a soft brown dimensional highlight using hair color,” says Gonzalez. From there, your colorist can tailor how much brightness is added and where it’s placed based on your natural shade and how noticeable you want the change to be.

There is one catch, though: this exact technique only works if the hair being lifted hasn’t already been colored. “Color cannot lift color,” Gonzalez explains. “If you have previous color on your hair, talk to your stylist about different avenues you can take to achieve this look.” That doesn’t mean espresso brunette is off the table. If you have existing color, ask your stylist for the same soft, dimensional brunette effect and let them determine the best way to get there based on what’s already on your hair—you may need a different lightening technique rather than color alone. Because mine had completely grown out from the one time I dyed it in college, Gonzalez was working with a fully natural base and could use color alone to create those softer brown pieces.

I’d also bring reference photos rather than relying on the name espresso brunette alone. Hair color trends can mean slightly different things depending on who you ask, and my goal was never to walk out with a dramatic transformation.

My Espresso Brunette Hair Transformation

How Do I Maintain Espresso Brunette Hair Color?

One of the biggest selling points of espresso brunette is that the upkeep is pretty minimal, but what you use at home still matters. “The best way to maintain your color is surprisingly simple: invest in a really great shampoo and conditioner,” says BENJAMIN Salon colorist Allison Varmette. Because hair is especially vulnerable when wet, she considers your wash routine an extension of the color appointment—not an afterthought.

That doesn’t mean every product in your routine needs to come with a luxury price tag, either. Varmette prefers a mix of luxury, mid-range, and affordable formulas, prioritizing products that help keep color-treated hair hydrated and prevent the shade from fading prematurely.

The Best Products for Espresso Brunette Hair

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If you’re trying to fade dark spots, chances are azelaic acid and niacinamide have both made their way onto your radar—or, more than likely, your FYP. I know they have for me. As someone who deals with breakouts and the angry marks they leave behind, I’ve reached for both ingredients at different points with the same pursuit in mind: clearer, more even-looking skin.

“Both can help with dark spots, but they take slightly different routes to get there,” says board-certified dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD. That’s also what makes choosing between them a little confusing. They overlap just enough to seem interchangeable, even though they don’t actually work in quite the same way.

That distinction matters because “dark spots” is a pretty broad category. The marks left behind after a breakout aren’t necessarily treated the same way as melasma or years of sun damage, and choosing an ingredient based solely on "brightening" claims can only get you so far. Azelaic acid and niacinamide target pigment through different mechanisms, come with slightly different benefits, and, most importantly, have different efficacies depending on what’s behind the discoloration in the first place.

So, which deserves a place in your routine? Ahead, board-certified dermatologists break down azelaic acid versus niacinamide for dark spots, including how each works, which types of discoloration they can help address, and whether you actually need to choose between them at all.

What’s the Difference Between Azelaic Acid and Niacinamide?

For a quick science lesson, everybody's skin contains melanocytes, which are tiny cells that create melanin—the pigment that gives your hair, eyes, and skin their color. When external triggers, such as sun exposure, skin inflammation from injuries or acne, or hormonal shifts, occur, excess melanin can be produced, resulting in increased pigmentation. This leads to dark spots, a catch-all term for different types of skin discoloration. Azelaic acid and niacinamide are two skin-brightening ingredients that target these dark spots, but they do so in different ways.

Dr. Gohara compares pigment production to a factory: Azelaic acid helps to slow down the production line, while niacinamide essentially disrupts the shipping process, so less pigment is transferred to the surrounding skin cells. I find that distinction much more helpful than simply thinking of both as “brightening ingredients.” They can address the same concern, but they’re doing different jobs—which is exactly why one may be a better fit depending on what’s causing your discoloration.

• Azelaic acid

Azelaic acid helps tackle discoloration earlier in the pigment-production process by inhibiting tyrosinase, an enzyme involved in melanin production. It also helps calm inflammation and keep pores clear, which is a particularly useful combination when breakouts are responsible for the marks you’re trying to fade in the first place. And unlike niacinamide, azelaic acid is also available in prescription-strength formulas, though you’ll find lower concentrations in plenty of over-the-counter skincare products.

• Niacinamide

Niacinamide, also known as vitamin B3, works a little differently: It still helps prevent dark spots from forming, but it does so a little later in the process. Once melanin is produced by melanocytes, it’s packaged into tiny structures called melanosomes and transferred to nearby skin cells. That's where niacinamide swoops in: it helps interrupt that transfer, so less pigment makes its way into the surrounding skin cells and contributes to visible discoloration. It also supports the skin barrier and helps calm inflammation, which is why it tends to pop up in everything from dedicated dark spot serums to moisturizers meant for sensitive skin.

Which Is Better for Dark Spots?

Azelaic acid gets my vote in a few key scenarios. Dr. Gohara tends to favor it for post-acne marks because, as she puts it, “you get a nice two-for-one: it addresses both the breakout and the pigment it can leave behind.” It also has good evidence behind it for melasma.

Niacinamide, meanwhile, is the gentler brightener. Board-certified dermatologist Sejal Shah, MD, says it works well for most skin types, including sensitive skin, and can help with uneven tone while supporting the skin barrier. I’d especially look to it if your routine already has a lot going on and you don’t want to pile on another potentially irritating active.

True sun spots are a slightly different story. Neither ingredient is necessarily the star there, according to Dr. Gohara. For more established sun spots, or solar lentigines, ingredients like retinoids or hydroquinone have a more established track record, while in-office treatments like lasers and IPL can target individual spots more directly.

The gist: Azelaic acid tends to make more sense for discoloration tied to inflammation, like post-acne marks, while it can also be used as part of a treatment plan for melasma. Niacinamide, meanwhile, is a good option for more general uneven tone and can be particularly appealing if you want a gentler ingredient that also supports the skin barrier. Sunscreen matters regardless of which camp your discoloration falls into. Trying to fade pigment without daily SPF defeats the purpose.

Can I Use Azelaic Acid and Niacinamide Together?

Good news if you were already mentally rearranging your skincare routine: You don’t necessarily have to pick one. Since azelaic acid and niacinamide approach discoloration differently, they can complement each other nicely.

“I typically recommend applying niacinamide first to support the skin barrier, followed by azelaic acid,” says Dr. Shah. She also points out that there isn’t strong evidence that the order of application meaningfully affects their compatibility or efficacy, so this isn’t a layering rule you need to obsess over. Azelaic acid can go first, too, and there are formulas that combine both.

What I’d pay closer attention to is tolerance. If your routine is already packed with exfoliants or other actives, adding two more treatments at once may not be the smartest experiment. There’s no prize for fitting the most ingredients onto your face before bed, and it can actually backfire resulting in angry, pissed off skin.

How Long Do Azelaic Acid and Niacinamide Take to Work?

“Pigment is a marathon, not a sprint,” says Dr. Gohara, which is unfortunately very accurate if you’ve ever spent weeks inspecting the same post-breakout mark in the mirror like myself. With consistent use, improvement from either ingredient may start to show up in about 4 to 8 weeks, though more meaningful changes often take 8 to 12 weeks or longer. Azelaic acid may have a slight advantage when acne and inflammation are driving the discoloration, because it targets several aspects of the problem at once.

And I know you’ve heard this a million times, but daily sunscreen is part of the deal. Dr. Gohara notes that trying to fade dark spots without protecting your skin from UV exposure is essentially working against yourself.

Are There Any Negatives to Azelaic Acid or Niacinamide?

Gentle doesn’t mean completely irritation-proof. Azelaic acid is more likely of the two to cause some initial stinging, burning, itching, dryness, or redness, particularly when you first introduce it. Niacinamide tends to be easier on skin, though high concentrations can still trigger redness or irritation.

“More is not always better in skincare,” says Dr. Gohara. “I would rather see someone consistently use a well-tolerated formula than chase the highest percentage on the label.”

But percentage chasing isn’t the only way a dark-spot routine can go sideways. Dr. Shah frequently sees people layer too many exfoliants and actives, use their products inconsistently, or skip sunscreen altogether. Another mistake is treating every patch of discoloration the same without first figuring out what caused it. Even an expensive in-office treatment can only do so much if you’re not protecting your results with a consistent at-home routine and daily SPF.

The Best Dermatologist-Recommended Azelaic Acid and Niacinamide Products

Once you’ve decided which ingredient makes sense for you, formulation becomes the next part of the equation. Dr. Shah recommends looking for effective concentrations alongside complementary ingredients such as ceramides, hyaluronic acid, antioxidants, and other brightening ingredients that can support the skin barrier as you work on discoloration.

Azelaic Acid

Niacinamide

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