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Mess World
Look culture’s mental-health toll
They warn about appearance anxiety, dysmorphia, disordered eating, and potential tragic outcomes for look-maxers.
We’re back with a new episode of Mess World, a podcast collaboration between FLESH WORLD (by me, Jessica DeFino) and I <3 Mess (a fashion newsletter from Emily Kirkpatrick).
Today we’re talking about: Carrot-and-saddle-leather perfume to make you smell like a horse [2:07], protest fashion and shibari details on the AVN red carpet [8:11], investigating faux post-Botox photos of Florence Pugh [29:00], Deuxmoi’s affinity for AI slop [34:14], Deepak Chopra in the Epstein files & the fate of his (creepy!) beauty collab with Augustinus Bader [51:26], the cult of Clavicular [59:10], Brooklyn Beckham’s tattoo cover-up [1:35:44], and pilates and rosacea on Love Is Blind [1:38:48]. Plus more!
Media we mentioned: “The Most Bizarre Covers of John F. Kennedy Jr.’s George Magazine” [Vanity Fair], “The AI Platform Reimagining The Future Of Wellness” [British Vogue], “Handsome at Any Cost” [New York Times], “CLAVICULAR Talks Female Psychology, Drug Habit, Infamy” [The Adam Friedland Show], “Inside the PSL Scale: The Looksmaxxer Rating System That All the Teenagers Are Referencing” [GQ], “Fashion’s Alt-Right Flirtation” [I <3 Mess], “People Are ‘Harmonizing’ Their Faces. Why?” [FLESH WORLD]
Also: We’re on YouTube now, for those who prefer to watch their podcasts!
About the podcast: Mess World is a podcast by Jessica DeFino and Emily Kirkpatrick that takes a critical look at the dregs of pop culture. Jessica is the writer behind FLESH WORLD, which has been called the newsletter “the beauty industry fears,” and Emily is the creator of I <3 Mess, a weekly roundup of the best of the worst celebrity fashion. Together, they dissect the biggest and dumbest celebrity happenings every month and give their unfiltered opinion on everything going on in the world of fashion and beauty.
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About the theme music: The Mess World theme song is “Hot Mess” by Carly Lind. Find more about Carly here and listen to her music here.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jessicadefino.substack.com/subscribe
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