Welcome, Thank You & Beware
gift guide sneak peeks & shopping reminders
Hi all,
Thank you all for your incredibly kind words about last week’s essay. Even though I put so much of my life online, it’s always a little scary to stray away from my usual content and be so earnest. You may have noticed the dedication to my grandpa at the bottom. When I say his greatest joy was watching his family thrive, I mean it sincerely. I can’t say my grandpa really understood what I do for a living, but that didn’t make him any less proud of me. He passed away peacefully over the weekend at the age of 95. He was surrounded by family and so, so much love.
I started writing that essay a few days before I learned we’d be saying goodbye soon and published it the night before he passed. I had started off writing a more traditional “about me” post, but there’s a part of me that feels like he was the force that drove me to go deeper into my feelings and passion. Like he wanted confirmation that I was happy and feeling positive about the direction my life had taken.
I’ll be with my family tonight and tomorrow celebrating his life and cherishing his memory, which is why I hadn’t prepared a regular newsletter this week.
But what a week to not have a regularly scheduled newsletter! Yesterday,
gave me not one, but two, shoutouts in everyone’s favorite daily business newsletter, Feed Me. I want to say hello to everyone who came here on Emily’s rec and a huge thank you to Emily—it is an honor to be trusted with both your skin and your life.
For anyone new, I’m going to Japan on my honeymoon for most of November, so things will look a little different on Hotline Skin. You can expect some guest posts, gift guides, dispatches from Japanese drugstores and more. I’m also going to be sending out a really fun anonymous survey that you should pleaseeeeee fill out, so be on the lookout for that!
In other Feed Me news that I promise was not planned, today Emily featured an interview with Dianna Cohen from Crown Affair about their new holiday gift sets. Believe it or not, I was planning on discussing Crown Affair’s gift sets in my next newsletter. Also for the record, I’m not at all jealous that Emily just texted her??? Anyway, here’s what I was going to say:
If you’ve followed me for a bit, you’ve almost definitely heard me yell (positive) about The Towel and The Dry Shampoo. But allow me a moment to positively yell about The Ritual Conditioner, which I used for the first time just last week. I loved it a lot more than I was expecting, naively thinking how different can it be from every other conditioner? I shouldn’t have been surprised though, as the brand’s strength is making better versions of products everyone uses. Versions that are that much better they are worth switching for. The conditioner makes your hair feel like you used a mask and is the closest I’ve come to finding a replacement for the discontinued Raincry conditioner. Other favorites include The Leave-In Conditioner and The Finishing Gel, which is a hair gel you can brush! out!
I have used The Towel since it launched and I cannot emphasize enough how good it is. Don’t ask me if it’s better than [insert inferior hair towel] because the answer is yes, yes it is. It is superior in shape, size and material. It’s large enough for my very long hair and has a tapered shape and large elastic band that makes it so easy to wrap and comfortably wear. The waffle-knit microfiber is soft, gentle, absorbent and doesn’t get gross. It is one of my most-gifted items and an easy hit, as long as the person washes their hair and dries it in a towel.
The second best product from Crown Affair is The Dry Shampoo. This is also something I’ve used and talked about since launch. It is so good that even before they fixed the packaging and it created a powdery mess in your sink every time you used it, it was still worth it!!! I can get away with not washing my hair for so much longer than I should be able to. You apply it with a super soft brush and it never leaves a white residue or a cakey feeling. It’s magic powder that improves the experience of using dry shampoo.
The brand sent me 2 of their holiday gift sets last week and I was so psyched because it is very rare that a gift set contains only the specific products I love from a brand. Every year I publish gift guides and every year I try to get more specific and curated than the last. These immediately made the list. I am sent so much junk throughout the year, which sounds fun, but is honestly overwhelming. I don’t want to give people junk they won’t use nor do I want anyone else to. I want to gift the things I love and want to share, not some limited-edition product I’ve never tried before or holiday-themed branded merch they won’t use. The Healthy Hair Set has The Towel and Leave-In Conditioner and The Hair Refresh Set contains The Dry Shampoo, a mini Leave-In Conditioner (!!) and their fan-favorite silk scrunchies because if you’re going to include something branded, better make it something actually useful. (This set has the leave-in plus the gel!)
After reading Emily’s interview, it feels notable that these gift sets stuck out to me as different. I already felt like the brand nailed it, but now I’m extra appreciative of how well they understand their customer and what makes a great gift set.
Sephora announced the dates for their annual fall/winter sale, which means it’s time for my annual reminder that 10% off is (generally) not a good deal and 15% off rarely is. Google the products you want to see where else they are sold. Then Google those other retailers + sale to find out about their past sales. That being said, 10-15% off can go a long way with gift and value sets, which Sephora has plenty of, but again, be mindful of junk. (Also, my Crown Affair code is JOLIE15 so there ya go if you want to buy one of these sets, but aren’t Rouge.)
Sephora Collection wise, grab these brushes. They’re excellent and will sell out. Also remember that Sephora’s extended return policy is veryyyyy generous, so if you’re feeling super savvy, you can always return things if you find a better deal down the line.
Speaking of better sales elsewhere, Credo’s 20% off sale starts tomorrow, but you can get early access right now with code JOLIE20. There is a decent amount of overlap with Sephora, so be sure to check your wishlists. My top recommendation at Credo is this mascara, which I wore for my wedding and turned my makeup artist on to. It’s the only mascara I’ve re-purchased in the past 1.5 years.
Office Hours Reminder
Join us for Office Hours on Sunday! This exclusive weekly opportunity is available to paying subscribers.
Every Sunday at 5pm EST, I’ll begin a new thread for the week in Substack Chat, where you can ask me anything. Every Monday from 5-6pm EST, I’ll be in that chat live, answering questions for the hour. That way, if you can’t make it, you can submit any time after 5pm Sunday and still get an answer. If you can make it live, join in! You can ask questions in real time and (hopefully) interact with others in class ;)
Have a great week! Hug your loved ones extra tight and tell them you’re proud of them.
xx,
Jolie