Story/ @bri.ng.schwartz

Photos / @juliacomita

Album Art Design / @stephiejae

Stylist / @andyomo

Hair / @adamesbrandon

Album Mastering and Producer / @jhevere

 

Morgin DuPont is anything but unlucky this Friday the 13th, as she basks in the release of Alchemy, her second EP. A departure from Pearls, DuPont embraces her ever-evolving identity. With lyrics more personal than ever, and a soundscape that is both vocal and rap forward, she staples herself as an inspiration for the New York girls who dare to be different, unapologetically.

 

Congratulations on the release of Alchemy. How long has this project been in the making, and what can you share about the development process of creating this EP? 

This project was born out of another project that I was originally working on. Originally, I was going for a more sad, emo, alternative route. But then life kind of inspired me to do a bit more dance, because I feel like that’s what the world needs right now. So it wasn’t necessarily planned, but I guess together with the project I was initially working on, I would say it’s probably 4 or 5 years in the making. 

“Reach Out” was the first single released from the EP. It’s such an anthem for us yearners. Have you had any memorable fan responses to the song so far?

I had one particular person who contacted me and mentioned that the song was super relatable, and that they’ve been struggling with being in a toxic relationship. They were searching for that gratifying feeling, that validation from the people who we love who aren’t necessarily the best for us.

I think people are going to love ‘I’m the doll’. Fans already love the snippets I have shared. I’m most excited for people to hear “Party from Home”, which is another track on the album. I just feel like it’s so relatable for those who sometimes feel a bit introverted and a bit tired of the nightlife and party scene. It’s almost contradictory in its sound, because it’s a very uptight, fast club type of record, but the whole premise of the song and the lyrics is talking about staying home.

Your message is incredibly raw and vulnerable. Has sharing about your experience in this way always come naturally to you? Or is that a confidence that’s been built over time?

I would say both. I’ve always been very authentic, and I’ve always been a person who follows the beat of my own drum. With that being said, following the beat of my own drum in front of an audience? Is that new to me? Yes. But I guess it is a little different when there are opinions that are shared when you put your life out there publicly. I am gonna be who I am, and I’m gonna always be unapologetic about it. But I guess it is a little new in a way, because it’s in front of people. I’m also an oversharer. I’m a person who kind of thinks everybody’s a friend in my head, so I kind of just spill all the beans and don’t leave much for the imagination. 

What advice do you have for other songwriters looking to tap more into the more personal parts of themselves in their work?

Walk towards your fear of putting your heart out there. Let the world have a piece of your heart. I think that’s where the best music lies, it makes a big difference. It hits different when it comes from a real place, when it comes from real-life experiences, and yeah, people can feel that.

What have been some of your biggest lessons learned so far in your own career?
Don’t wait for others to make things happen. I’m an independent artist, so I’ve definitely gotten a lot of no’s. At times working with other people, whether it’s producers or artists, people can be unreliable or they could have their own agendas that differ from yours.

I always like to work with people who do it for the love. We all want to make money, and a transactional relationship isn’t necessarily negative when it comes to the music business. It is a business, and everybody should be paid for their gifts and their talent. I’ve just learned to discern and enroll with the people who will do it for the art.

How do you think your identity as a native New Yorker informs your own artistic voice and point of view?

I’m a straight shooter, you know? Being a Puerto Rican tranny from New York, I have dealt with a lot of things in my life. Even my aesthetic, or how I present myself, is all an expression of rebellion. I don’t dress for somebody; I dress for me. I don’t create for people. I create for myself first. I follow the beat on my own drum and I think that’s very New York.

What advice would you say for other young trans creatives looking to push forward throughout the noise of the industry?

Embrace your uniqueness and your voice. Sometimes trans people experience gender dysphoria, and we can have a weird relationship with the sound of our voice. I want to inspire trans artists to embrace their voices, whether it’s masculine, whether it’s feminine, whether it’s everything in between, because it’s what makes you different. Do not let people put you in a box. Just be an artist.

Alchemy is being released on Friday the 13th. Do you have a relationship with superstition?

I’m not the type who’s gonna go frantic about splitting a pole, or knock on wood. I don’t necessarily believe I feel like I’m definitely more powerful than that. However, I do believe in synchronicity, numbers, and the power in numerology and astrology. I believe in a higher source, a power – the power of my pussy! When I released “Reach Out”, it was on 11/11. Little things like that do make me feel like I am aligning with something bigger. It’s not just any day, it’s Friday the 13th! 

I feel lucky to have basked in Morgin DuPont’s words of inspiration during our conversation, and to have a new soundtrack to my Spring. As New Yorkers begin to defrost and gather, I’ll remind myself to stay true to who I am, relating especially to songs like “Party From Home” as a self proclaimed extroverted introvert. Her brave and rebellious voice is a needed one in our current music landscape. As our Trans, LGBTQ and Latinx siblings and loved ones continue to face the unspeakable, Alchemy is a reminder of what it looks like to speak truth to power. 

 

CONNECT WITH MORGIN DuPONT:
INSTA / YOUTUBE

 

The post MORGIN DUPONTS PUSHES HER LUCK THIS FRIDAY THE 13TH WITH ALCHEMY EP RELEASE appeared first on LADYGUNN.

 

Romanian Liviu Alexa spent twenty-seven years as a journalist investigating corruption, organized crime, and the rot hiding in plain sight across deep-actors. He built the country’s most-read Substack, Strict Secret, exposed politicians and power brokers, and made enemies in all the right places. 

Then, at forty-six, he picked up a brush and started painting what words could no longer contain.

His first solo exhibition, “We Are The Apocalypse,” opened at the Cluj Art Museum in February 2026 and immediately became something nobody anticipated: a phenomenon. 

The museum reported record-breaking ticket sales for thousands paying visitors, far exceeding most solo exhibitions held there in recent years. Paintings sold for up to 55,000 euros, prices unheard of for a debut exhibition by a self-taught artist in Romania. 

Critics scrambled to explain how someone with no formal training could command figures that established artists spend decades chasing. The explanation might be simpler than they want to admit: Alexa has spent his entire adult life learning to see what others refuse to look at, and now he’s making that vision impossible to ignore.

The work itself is overwhelming in the best sense. Massive neo-expressionist canvases saturated with what Alexa calls “rotten golds, nicotine yellows, and bruise purples” – a palette that feels both sacred and decayed, like Byzantine icons left to weather in an industrial wasteland. 

 

His subjects draw from religious iconography, but stripped of comfort and reassembled for the digital age. Madonnas bleed emoji tears. Saints wear Formula 1 headsets and stare into screens instead of heaven. The Last Supper happens over Zoom, disciples frozen in their little rectangles, connection lost. Angels slouch in tracksuits, scrolling their phones with the bored indifference of teenagers waiting for something that will never come.

Nothing is mocked, exactly. The irreverence isn’t adolescent provocation – it’s something sadder and more honest. Alexa isn’t attacking the sacred; he’s documenting what we’ve already done to it. The profanation happened without him, through the slow erosion of meaning in a world where every symbol becomes content and every mystery gets flattened into a meme. His paintings don’t desecrate. They witness.

The canvases are large because the apocalypse is large. They’re dense because chaos is dense. They’re colored with an almost obscene vibrancy because the world we’ve built is colored with obscene vibrancy – screens glowing, feeds refreshing, notifications pinging, everything loud and bright and empty. Alexa paints in the visual language of overstimulation because that’s the only language left that anyone understands. “Subtlety is a luxury for eras that have time. We don’t have time. We’re already in the fire, wondering why it’s getting warm”, says the artist.

The title of the exhibition – “We Are The Apocalypse” – isn’t metaphor or hyperbole. It’s diagnosis. 

“We keep waiting for the end to arrive from somewhere outside: a comet, a war, an alien invasion, some external force that will finally bring the reckoning. But that  apocalypse isn’t coming. It’s already here. We’re making it, day by day, through everything we choose to ignore, tolerate, consume, post, destroy. The end of the world doesn’t look like fire from the sky. It looks like us, staring at our phones, watching it all burn in real time and hitting the heart button”, Liviu Alexa insists.

Alexa has no formal art education and makes no apologies for it. “I didn’t study painting at university,” he says. “But I studied people. For twenty-seven years, through files, through sources, through documents. I’ve seen evil in all its forms – not the cinematic kind, but the banal kind, the kind that wears suits and signs papers and goes home to dinner with its family. At some point, what I was seeing no longer fit into words. Not because I couldn’t find them – I’m actually quite talented at writing – but because some things, when you articulate them too clearly, become bearable. And I didn’t want them to be bearable. That’s why I say: I paint what I cannot write. A painting doesn’t judge. It places a vision before you, the author’s vision, and leaves you alone with it.”

This relationship between journalism and art isn’t coincidental – it’s causal. The same instinct that drove Alexa to expose hidden truths now drives him to expose hidden feelings, the ones we bury under irony and distraction and endless scrolling. His investigative background shows in the work’s relentless honesty, its refusal to look away or soften what it sees. These aren’t paintings that flatter the viewer or offer easy comfort. They’re paintings that implicate. You don’t stand in front of an Alexa canvas feeling good about yourself. You stand there feeling seen, and not in the Instagram sense of the word.

The technical execution matches the conceptual ambition. Alexa works in thick impasto, aggressive brushwork that leaves the surface scarred and textured, paint piled on paint until the canvas itself becomes a battlefield. There’s nothing polished or refined about the application – it’s urgent, almost violent, as if the images had to be forced out before they escaped. The result has a physical presence that photographs can’t capture. You need to stand in front of these paintings to feel their weight, to see how the light catches the ridges and valleys of paint, to understand that they’re not just images but objects, things that exist in space and demand space.

His influences are visible but not derivative: the emotional intensity of German Expressionism, the religious confrontation of Francis Bacon, the saturated chaos of Neo-Expressionists like Basquiat and Schnabel. 

But Alexa isn’t imitating any of them. He’s processing the same human darkness through a different lens – the lens of someone who spent decades in the trenches of investigative journalism, who knows exactly how the powerful abuse the powerless, who has seen the documents and followed the money and watched the guilty walk free. That knowledge saturates every canvas. You’re not looking at art made by someone who imagines evil. You’re looking at art made by someone who has catalogued it.

And then, less than two months after his debut, Alexa did something that shocked the Romanian art world even more than his emergence: he announced a second solo exhibition. 

“FILCAI” opens in April 2026 at Kulterra Gallery in Bucharest, and it represents a radical conceptual departure. Where “We Are The Apocalypse” dealt with religious iconography and digital decay, “FILCAI” reimagines a traditional Transylvanian card game as a vehicle for pure contemporary art.

The concept is audacious. Filcai is a card game played in Transylvania villages and commuter trains, a working-class pastime with roots in Habsburg-era resistance. Its original deck, designed around 1835 by Hungarian painter József Schneider, featured characters from Friedrich Schiller’s Wilhelm Tell – a coded act of defiance against imperial rule. 

As Salvador Dali did with the Tarot cards almost 50 years ago, Alexa is redesigning all twenty cards as large-scale paintings, replacing the original figures with a menagerie of decrepit heroes, forgotten gods, and reimagined Romanian folklore characters. 

The Ogre, once a princess-stealing monster, now works as a garbage collector, picking up discarded hearts that people throw away on Facebook. Cleopatra delivers for Glovo. Icarus has upgraded his wings. 

The Flyer, a Romanian mythological seducer, has grown old and turned gay since he can no longer conquer women. Pinocchio, after therapy with a personal development coach, has decided to build Gepetto himself – and, even more, to construct the mother he never had.

This is contemporary art at its most conceptual and its most rooted. 

Alexa is taking something deeply local – a card game known perhaps only in the depths of Transylvania – and transforming it into a universal statement about mythology, class, and the survival of meaning in a disposable world. He describes it as a bridge between highbrow art and life with blisters on your feet, an homage to those who commute back and forth just to put bread on the table. The ambition is staggering: to make an obscure regional card game into an international artistic voice.

Two solo exhibitions in four months. Record-breaking sales. Critical attention from a scene that didn’t know he existed a year ago. Alexa isn’t building a career in the conventional sense – he’s erupting into visibility with a force that suggests decades of pressure finally finding release. Whether the art world can keep up with his pace remains to be seen. What’s certain is that he’s not waiting for permission, not following any established path, not doing what debut artists are supposed to do. He’s making his own rules, and so far, they’re working.

 

The post LIVIU ALEXA: THE MAN WHO PAINTS WHAT HE CANNOT WRITE appeared first on LADYGUNN.

Nailed it.

Michelle Rial is the author and illustrator of the forthcoming picture book Charts for Babies. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Oprah Daily, WIRED, and more.… Read more

The post Preschool Dreams appeared first on Cup of Jo.

There is a girl named Susan who loves skating very much.

Susan is a pro in skating on the ice at the age of thirteen.

Her parents enjoy watching her skate.

All her friends encourage Susan and support her too.

This sport is a fun activity and thrilling to watch!

Happy Friday; how has your week been?

I would say ours was ordinary, but in the best way. With every year older I get the more I cherish the ordinary.

Yesterday afternoon felt heavy because while I was waiting for an appointment I read Julie’s post about Pepper and could not stop the tears from rolling down my face. Her post made me feel so many emotions, but most of all my heart simply aches so deeply for her family. Julie is truly the kindest person and reading about her heart breaking broke mine.

I’m not the best at transitioning from sorrow back to my normal chit chat, but I did keep a note on my phone this week of things I wanted to share with you today, so here we go.

Signs of Spring

We had a tease of 70+ degree sunshine this past week and it was wonderful. We got ice cream with friends, swam in a friend’s (heated) pool for the first time this year (K, not me), planted some blueberry bushes and fruit trees, had the windows open, and my seed start kit proved to treat me well, as some little seedlings are beginning to stretch towards the sun. I have visions of zucchini bouncing through my mind!

I’ve also been motivated to do some spring cleaning/organizing. I tackled K’s room yesterday and after two hours and two full trash bags, it’s livable again. She was over the moon with gratitude, especially for her stuffed animal holder, which I appreciate, but we definitely will be implementing some strategies to help her keep it in decent condition. Next up is our master closet that also needs some reorganization and strategies itself.

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Tween Shorts Favorites

Speaking of warmer weather, K has outgrown her warm weather clothes so I ordered a slew of skorts and shorts for her to try. Historically it’s been tough to find a good fit for her, but hooray for a growth spurt because we found these solid keepers, with this denim skort (with built in athletic shorts!) being the #1 fav.

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College Admissions Tiktok

I somehow ended up on the side of Tiktok that discusses colleges, their acceptance stats, and what they look for in applicants. I believe the algorithm took me there because of all the research I’ve been doing trying to map out what high school will look like for H. I don’t know what she will want to do when she graduates, but I feel a lot of responsibility to ensure she has options and that I am in no way a limiting factor.

I owe you a whole post on our next educational move, as we hope to have most of the plan fine tuned in the next month or so. I’m not sure there’s much more I could learn about honors vs AP vs dual enrollment vs IB, but if you have tips to share, I’m all ears.

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Sourdough Discard Buns

A friend of mine was telling me about an easy sourdough discard burger bun recipe that she likes to keep in her freezer. I immediately asked her to send me the recipe and on a day where I had 500 things to do, I decided, what the heck? Why not make it 501?? And I made the buns.

They turned out great! They smelled amazing and were all kinds of soft and fluffy. K ate one with dinner and gave it two thumbs up, but I sliced the remaining seven in half and stuck them in the freezer for easy access on our next burger night. Sure beats the heck out of my just tossing my discard (which I’ve been guilty of… when I actually discard…).

Side note: I am still not over how cool it is that all our eggs come from our yard. Will I ever be? I don’t know but right now it still feel like a dream!

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Candle Wax Trick

I used to be an electric candle girl, and while I think there is still a place for them in high up or hard to reach places, I’ve been on a real candle kick. In Switzerland real candles were everywhere- on the restaurant tables, in the hotel, in stores. I loved the cozy ambiance and immediately implemented it in my home. There is only one problem- with so many of my candle holders, wax melts and gets pooled up and stuck at the bottom or drips all over the holder.

Well, you might already know this trick, but it’s been a game changer for me! Simple take the candle holder and pop it in the fridge. I leave it overnight and the next day, the wax easily pops off/out. You’re left with what looks like a brand new candle holder!

If your candle holder has a lot of little crevices, like my Christmas mouse one I love, do the same process then wipe it down with a hot wet rag to get off any remaining residue. Works like a charm!

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Wishing you a happy weekend!; thanks for stopping by <3

I’ve always thought that white jeans looked SO cute – on other people.

Year after year, I would try on a pair in the spring and feel so frustrated since they looked AWFUL on me. I couldn’t figure it out! They made me look MUCH heavier than I actually was, showed every imperfection, or just looked frumpy. They all looked terrible, even the ones from brands that I typically loved. So, I made it my mission to find the very best white jeans and ordered fifteen pairs to try on and compare.

I’m petite at 5’1″, and curvier than most petite frames since I have muscular quads and glutes from running and lifting. So whether you’re searching for the best white jeans for petites, the best white skinny jeans, white ankle jeans, or a great straight leg, I’ve done the legwork for you. Here’s the full ranked list, plus what didn’t make the cut and why.

After Testing 15 Pairs, Here Are My Winners

I went into this expecting Madewell to sweep — and while they still make some of my favorite jeans of all time, this round of testing surprised me. (Granted, many of my favorite Madewell styles are discontinued…more on that below.) The winners came from multiple brands, different price points, and a range of styles. What they all have in common: they’re flattering, comfortable, and actually come in a white that works for a petite, curvy frame. Here’s everything I tried, ranked from best to the ones I’m sending back.

The Best White Jeans: My Top Picks

1.  Levi’s Ribcage Straight Ankle Women’s Jeans

These won best overall — best fit, best price, and the perfect off-white color. The ultra-high rise is genuinely waist-defining in a way most jeans just can’t touch, and the straight ankle cut hits at exactly the right spot for a petite frame. They’re slim through the hip and thigh without feeling tight or stiff, and the color is that ideal not-quite-white that photographs beautifully without looking clinical.

An added bonus: they’re available on Amazon, making them a great pick if you want amazon white jeans with fast shipping and easy returns. The price compared to everything else I tried isn’t even a competition. If I hadn’t been so heartbroken over the Madewell Perfect Vintage Straight being discontinued, I might have found my forever white jean sooner — but honestly, the Ribcage comes remarkably close.

2.  Mother Denim: The Rambler Zip Ankle – Color: Fairest Of Them All

Out of all the Mother styles I tried, these were instantly my favorite — more comfortable right from the start, and flattering from every angle. The slightly higher waist and bright white wash made a real difference compared to the other Mother pairs, and they’re the kind of jean that just works. I tried a size 26 non-petite, which left a little extra fabric in a couple of spots. I’d recommend checking petite sizing availability if that’s an option for you. Yes, they’re the priciest pair in the bunch. They earned it.

3.  Madewell: The Short Perfect Vintage Wide-Leg Crop Jean

This is one of the best white jeans for petites I’ve found, and a huge part of that is the ‘short’ sizing option. A 25 short fits like a glove in a wide-leg crop, which is genuinely rare. High waisted with great pocket placement, and the cropped length is perfect for spring. My only hesitation is the raw hem, but if that doesn’t bother you, these are a strong top-three pick. If you love Madewell denim in general, here are all my other favorite Madewell styles.

4.  Aligne High Rise Straight Leg Jeans in Ecru

A new-to-me brand and I am genuinely impressed. I rarely keep things from brands I haven’t tried before, but these made the cut immediately. They’re perfectly loose without looking too big, and the back fit is just right. Think similar vibe to the wide leg Pistola (see Honorable Mentions), but more polished and elevated, brighter color, no wide stitching at the hem, just a much cleaner look overall. These are the pair I reach for when I want a wide leg that feels refined rather than casual. I wear a size 26.

5.  Sidefeel Barrel Jean in White (Amazon)

I bought these Amazon white jeans last year and wore them all spring and summer. They are airy, lightweight, flattering, and incredibly affordable. Since they’re exclusively on Amazon, they’re an easy grab without a big commitment, which is exactly the right way to buy into a trend. This is what I’d call an intro barrel jean: not an extreme horseshoe shape, just enough of that relaxed rounded silhouette to feel current without going overboard. Great color, great pocket placement, and really comfortable. I typically wear a size 2 but sized up to a 4, so keep that in mind when ordering.

*Note: Madewell The Perfect Vintage Straight Jean – My All-Time Favorite (Discontinued)

Five years in and I’m still not over this one. The Madewell Perfect Vintage Straight (pictured below) have a slightly stiffer denim with just enough stretch, the color that skims the leg without looking stark — there’s nothing else quite like it. If you can find your size on ThredUp or Poshmark grab it without hesitation. The Levi’s Ribcage above is the closest in-stock alternative I’ve found.

Honorable Mentions

6. Pistola Lana High Rise Wide Leg Jeans

I already owned these before this round of testing, which tells you everything. A relaxed, slightly casual wide-leg with a warmer white wash and midweight stretchy denim that’s incredibly comfortable all day. The high rise and zip fly keep things polished, and they style easily with white sneakers for a casual-cool look. Since I’m petite, I had mine hemmed…worth it. I liked the Aligne High Rise Straight Leg slightly more just because it’s slightly more polished looking. A great wide-leg option if you want something comfortable and effortless.

7. Agolde Harper Crop Jean (Comfort Stretch) in White Wash

These were insanely flattering on the booty…seriously. The catch: even sizing up, they ran a little snug on my muscular quads. If you’re slimmer through the thighs, these white ankle jeans will look absolutely gorgeous on you. Don’t count them out just because they didn’t work for my specific build.

8. Levi’s 721 High Rise Skinny – Best White Skinny Jeans

The search for the best white skinny jeans continues. My longtime favorite Madewell style is discontinued and I haven’t found a forever replacement yet, but the Levi’s 721 High Rise Skinny is my current top candidate.

The high rise is genuinely flattering, the fit is slim without feeling painted on, and the price point is hard to argue with. I’ll update this once I’ve had more time in them, but if you’re looking for ladies white slim fit jeans in the meantime, these are a solid place to start. If you’re having trouble replacing your skinny jeans, or don’t know what other styles to try, here are lots of non-skinny styles I love.

9. Madewell The Petite Longline Straight Jean

A lot to love here — comfortable, well-priced, high waisted with a zipper fly, and snug without being too tight. I just wasn’t in love with the pocket size and placement (a little big, not the most flattering), and the color skews a bit creamy rather than a true white. Still a solid pick if those things don’t bother you.

How to Style White Jeans

White jeans are just as versatile as dark jeans — they work with sweaters, blouses, patterned tanks, a chambray, or even a white tank for a full monochrome look (more classic wardrobe staples here). I lean toward flowy or loose blouses over fitted tops, but they also dress up beautifully. Think a nice blouse and heels for something like a baby shower outfit. If you’re into light blue denim too, here’s how I style that. And if you want to see all 15 pairs on a real body, watch the full try-on video below.

What Didn’t Make the List

Here’s the short version — watch the full try-on video above for the complete breakdown on every pair.

10. Mother PETITES The Lil Kick It – Totally Innocent

The waist sat lower than I prefer and the fit through the thighs was too snug. At $228, they needed to be perfect and they weren’t.

11. Mother Petites – The Lil Hustler Ankle Fray

Fit too tightly in all the wrong places for a white jean — gorgeous on a slimmer, straighter petite build, but not for my frame.

12. Agolde 90’s Pinch Waist Crop in Marshmallow

100% rigid cotton with zero stretch — beautiful denim quality, but I need at least a little give through the thigh.

13. Levi’s 501 Cropped Women’s Jeans

14. Levi’s 501 ’90s Ankle Women’s Jeans

15. Pistola Cassie Super High Rise Straight Jean – Paper White

Final Thoughts on Finding the Best White Jeans

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from trying on 15 pairs of white jeans, it’s that fit is everything — the wash, the rise, the cut through the thigh all matter way more than the brand name on the tag. This round surprised me, and I hope it surprises you too.

If you’re petite, curvy, or have muscular legs like I do, start with the Levi’s Ribcage — they won best overall for a reason. Watch the full try-on video to see every pair on a real body, and if you need more denim inspo, here’s my full guide to the non-skinny jeans I love.

What’s your favorite brand of white jeans? And am I the only one who seriously struggled to find a good pair?!?

Shop the Post

The post I found the BEST white jeans ever (after trying on 15 pairs!) appeared first on TeriLyn Adams.

Timely nuggets of information and ideas we want to share with you.

Can you remember a color you’re shown 10 seconds later? This is a fun, quick game with 5 colors that you are asked to match with a color graph.  It’s addictive.

 

Free iPhone storage cleaner

Clever Cleaner is a free iPhone app. It has no ads, no subscriptions, no paywalled features. It scans your photo library for duplicates and similar shots, identifies large videos hogging space, and rounds up forgotten screenshots. A “Smart Cleanup” button lets AI select which duplicates to trash, or you can swipe through photos manually. Its “Similars” and “Heavies” features are very popular. “Similars” are groups of photos that are visually similar, not just exact duplicates and “Heavies” are large, space-taking videos. All processing happens on-device, so your photos never leave your phone. It rates a 4.8 out of 5 on the app store.

Project CETI’s Listen to Whales website is an immersion into the echoing codas and clicks of sperm whales, which have always been a mystery.  You can now listen in on sperm whale family life and history. The project uses AI to listen to, decode, and translate sperm whale communication. See and hear the whales with their own clans, dialects, and stories. It is moving and motivating to keep trying to protect our oceans.

Gen Z Abbreviations

If you communicate with members of the Gen Z generation (born between 1997 and 2012), you will want to be up to date on the digital acronyms they use. These acronyms are almost always in lower case letters as using upper case would require more taps on their devices.

omw – ‘On my way’.

hmu – ‘Hit me up’.  This is generally a request for more information.

ngl – ‘Not gonna lie’.  This can either start or end a sentence and indicates that you realize what you’re saying is a bit strange or different from what your conversation partner is saying.

Sus – ‘Suspicious’.

wym – ‘What you mean’. This is a shortcut for asking ‘what do you mean?’

smh – ‘Shaking my head’.  Expressing exasperation in sympathy for the friend venting about something.

stg – ‘Swear to God’. This expresses seriousness about a statement.

nvm – ‘Never mind’.  This means ‘let’s move on’. A redirect of a conversation.

 

 

 

 

The post The Friday Bulletin.   March 13, 2026 appeared first on Sharp Eye.

“I’m ready to shed my winter clothes,” wrote a CoJ reader named Hilleary. “What are the spring trends?” I know some people don’t care about trends — life is short, wear whatever you’d like!… Read more

The post 7 Spring Fashion Trends — Thoughts? appeared first on Cup of Jo.

Use TERILYN20 for 20% off Colleen Rothschild

I used Colleen Rothschild skincare for the first time about eleven years ago. I had just turned 30 and was working in Corporate America, fighting some serious adult breakouts. I was so embarrassed by my skin that I even called in sick to work a few times. However, someone from Colleen Rothschild reached out to me via my blog. I had never heard of the brand, but they offered to send me some products to try, and I happily accepted. I was willing to try anything.

When the products arrived, it was a night-and-day experience compared to the other products I’d used. They felt different, smelled different, and applied differently. I finally understood what high-quality skincare was all about.

After I used the Colleen Rothschild Cleansing Balm for a week, my skin started to clear up. And that is what truly began my skincare journey.

Colleen Rothschild Skincare Review

While I’ve been using Colleen Rothschild products for 11+ years, I don’t love all of them. Their moisturizers don’t cut it for me, but some of their products are absolute must-haves in my routine. (I’ll list my favorites below and what to skip.) I also wish that they had a more non-toxic focus like my other favorite skincare brands, but I do trust the founder’s formulations, given her extensive background in the beauty industry, and that she is also a breast cancer survivor.

If you’re wondering whether or not Colleen Rothschild is worth the money, I would say definitely. The results have been almost immediate across the board for the products I love most, which I’ll dive into below.

I genuinely consider Colleen Rothschild luxury skincare. I recommend starting with the Discovery Collection to try their best-sellers in smaller sizes before committing to full size. Colleen Rothschild is pricier than drugstore brands but comparable to, and often less expensive than, other high-end lines.

Use code TERILYN20 for 20% off site-wide.

Skincare

The Radiant Cleansing Balm, Illuminating Tinted Eye Cream, and Dual Enzyme Polish Mask are my top 3 favorites I always recommend starting with, followed by the rest of their skincare.

Radiant Cleansing Balm

Starting with the O.G. The Radiant Cleansing Balm. This is the first product I used from Colleen Rothschild that made me fall in love with the brand.

I also LOVE how thick and hydrating this balm is. It’s made with a blend of loofah seed and moringa oil, which helps renew the outer layer of skin while also restoring the balance. The smell is amazing too – like the best day spa. I look forward to using this at night.

I’ve tried every popular cleansing balm out there (including Elemis, that everyone is obsessed with, and non-toxic brands), and I still go back to this one. It’s more hydrating, smells better, and never stings my eyes. The formula is the creamiest of all and is simply more enjoyable to use.

I have a full review of the cleansing balm here.

Illuminating Tinted Eye Cream

I’m pretty picky when it comes to eye creams. However, this Illuminating Tinted Eye Cream is one of the best I’ve ever tried for covering dark circles. Not only does it address dryness, puffiness, fine lines, and wrinkles, but the light peach tint also helps brighten your under-eyes and mask blue-toned shadows. I use this only in the morning since I don’t want to waste the product at night. I think of this as “fake awake” eye cream. This sells out constantly, so I always recommend that you add it to your cart if it’s in stock while shopping.

Dual Enzyme Polish

This Dual Enzyme Polish face mask is one of my must-have products in my skincare routine. It’s gentle but I’m always blown away by how clear and bright my skin looks after just 10 minutes! It’s like I had a facial at home. This mask uses a blend of fruit enzymes and AHA to exfoliate and also contains comfrey and argan oil to rebalance the skin.

I use this once a week or so – I keep it in the shower so it’s super convenient. I just put it on while I wash, shave, etc. and then remove at the end of the shower. You apply it all over your skin in a thin layer, leave it on for 5-10 minutes, and then gently wash it off, massaging your skin with the beads.

Hyaluronic Acid Serum

The HA serum is another great product from Colleen Rothschild. It’s designed to hydrate tired and dehydrated skin. Compared to other HA serums I’ve tried, the texture of this specific serum is really nice because it’s lightweight and layers well underneath other serums.

Gentle & Clear Line

If you’re looking for a skincare line that’s effective AND gentle, the Gentle & Clear Collection from Colleen Rothschild is a winner, especially for those with sensitive, blemish-prone skin. My husband uses this line because he has sensitive and oily skin and his skin looks the best it has in decades.

Face Oil N°9

I’ve truly never used a more luxurious face oil than this N°9 Face Oil (and I’ve tried LOTS of face oils over the years!). The texture is unbelievable… like a blend of velvet and silk. Plus, it smells lovely. It’s incredibly hydrating and includes ingredients that protect from oxidative stress (which contributes to wrinkles and dark spots). It’s not greasy, but instead absorbs quickly, leaving your skin silky and smooth.

The best way to apply this is after your night cream to help lock in the moisture. I use this after my night cream, and it’s helped my super dry skin SO much.

Intense Hydrating Mask

This Hydrating Mask is the first overnight face mask I ever used, and I STILL remember what it felt like the first time I used it! Throughout the first weeks of postpartum after having Charles, I would apply this to my face every time I got up in the middle of the night to nurse. It smells heavenly, feels light, but hydrates SO well. (It’s one of my postpartum must haves!) I actually like applying this before long flights to help keep my skin hydrated.

Glycolic Acid Peel Pads with Blue Agave

I use the Glycolic Acid Peel Pads once a week. If you’ve never used a peel skincare product, they often have a tingling effect. However, these Glycolic Acid Peel Pads are formulated for sensitive skin, so they don’t tingle the way typical peel pads do.

These peel pads use a 10% blend of glycolic and lactic acids, which help target fine lines and wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, and dark spots. My skin feels SO refreshed after using these. I use these 1-2x a week, but not on the same night as the dual enzyme polish.

Age Renewal Super Serum

I like layering serums and skincare, but if you want a one-product-does-it-all, the Age Renewal Super Serum is what you want. It fights the six signs of aging: texture, dehydration, elasticity, fine lines, radiance, and tone. It’s gentle and effective, and I often take this when traveling to save space.

Retinol Supreme Night Oil

The Retinol Supreme Night Oil is the best of two worlds. It has the powerful regenerative and anti-aging benefits from retinol, but it also contains vitamin C, which works with retinol to brighten and even your skin tone while promoting cell turnover. Since it’s an oil, it’s much less aggressive on sensitive skin than other retinols and retin-A can be, so it’s a great option for new retinol users. I noticed results after using this just one time – my skin was brighter and smoother!

While almost everything from Colleen Rothschild is safe for pregnancy, this is not. I stopped using this both times I got pregnant. I recommend switching to a pregnancy safe “retinol”.

Retinol Supreme Eye Serum

The Retinol Supreme Eye Serum goes hand in hand with Retinol Supreme Night Oil. It has the same blend of retinol and vitamin c, which is a powerhouse duo. While the vitamin C in the Retinol Night Oil evens skin tone, the main benefit of the vitamin C in the eye serum is antioxidant support. The serum is very gentle since the skin around your eye is delicate. It’s best to follow this with an eye cream.

Again, if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, I recommend using Oliveda’s eye elixir for the time being.

Hair Care

You can see the rest of my hair care routine broken down in this blog post.

Renew & Replenish Clarifying Duo

The Renew & Replenish Clarifying Duo is WONDERFUL. The shampoo has a great lather and is infused with scalp-rebalancing probiotics, strengthening peptides, and refreshing botanicals like eucalyptus and rosemary that gently remove build-up. The conditioner is super hydrating and smooths my hair. It’s great for all hair styles and textures, and it smells amazing (I’m sensitive to scents, so if I like it, it’s good).

Quench and Shine Restore Shampoo and Conditioner

I’ve also used the Quench and Shine Restore Shampoo and Conditioner in the past and was very happy with it. I found that it leaves my (thick) hair super smooth and shiny.

Quench & Shine Restorative Mask

I mentioned this above as one of my top three favorites. This hair mask is one of my go-to’s (such a go-to in fact, that I’ve been using it instead of my regular conditioner lately). The scent is amazing and the container lasts SO long.

Products I’d Skip

Smooth & Shine Hair Serum

Really didn’t do much for me. My hair is pretty thick, but I didn’t notice much improvement.

Complete Eye Cream

As I mentioned above, I prefer the OneSkin Eye Cream or the Illuminating Tinted Eye Cream for extra brightening.

Who is Colleen Rothschild?

Colleen Rothschild, the founder of Colleen Rothschild Beauty, has been in the beauty industry for over 30 years. At the beginning of her career, she worked on the manufacturing side of beauty where she spent time behind the scenes in a lab. Through that experience, she learned about ingredients and methods that provide real results (and the ones that didn’t).

Colleen started her first retail-based beauty business with her husband Stan, which they eventually sold to a competitor. Colleen Rothschild is their newest venture and is still a relatively small business, which I didn’t realize until I met her in Dallas two years ago. I love that aspect since I know each of their employees truly cares about getting great products out into the market (and as I’ve gotten to work with their team over the last few years, it has only made me love them more. They are LOVELY). Additionally, Colleen is a breast-cancer survivor so she understands the importance of safe formulations and they even have a better designed to help with breast self-exams.

Are Colleen Rothschild Products Clean?

Colleen Rothschild products are made with a blend of natural ingredients and advanced scientific ingredients. They do not use parabens, SLS/SLES sulfates, triclosan, formaldehyde, PABA, toulene, or benzene in any of their products. They are not certified gluten free or vegan.

Another great thing about Colleen Rothschild is that most of their products are safe for pregnancy or breastfeeding!  Of course, you’d want to discontinue the use of the retinol products while pregnant or breastfeeding, but the rest should be just fine to keep using. As always, consult with your doctor since everyone’s health is different.

Is Colleen Rothschild Cruelty-Free?

Colleen Rothschild products are never tested on animals, which follows their cruelty-free philosophy.

Colleen Rothschild Before and After

It’s hard to find a great before and after photo to show the results of my favorite Colleen Rothschild products since I have used so many high quality skincare brands for over a decade. But the picture below is when I VERY first started using Colleen Rothschild and finally ditched Cerave and other popular skincare products full of nasty ingredients.

And here’s what my skin looks like today, eight years later. If that doesn’t convince you that the quality of your skincare matters, I don’t know what will.

Where to Buy Colleen Rothschild

The best place to buy is directly from Colleen Rothschild since you can use my TERILYN20 discount code on your order. However, if you need your products ASAP, Amazon also carries Colleen Rothschild.

Happy shopping!

Use code TERILYN20 for 20% off site-wide!

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The post Colleen Rothschild Skincare Review (my top 3 favorite products) appeared first on TeriLyn Adams.

 

In the art world, attention usually focuses on artists, curators, collectors, or institutions. Yet many of the decisions that determine how a work is preserved, interpreted, and ultimately remembered happen behind the scenes, guided by professionals who work with discretion but considerable influence. Inès Trafford belongs to a new generation reshaping this landscape, working at the intersection of archives, law, and art history to help artists maintain control over how their work enters the historical record.

An independent consultant specializing in art and archives, Trafford has built a practice centered on the long-term preservation of artistic work. Instead of focusing only on exhibitions or market visibility, she works on the underlying structures that determine how artists’ careers are documented, organized, and protected over time. Her approach brings together legal awareness, academic research, and curatorial strategy.

She gained experience working in commercial galleries and art organizations before turning her focus to the challenges artists face when trying to preserve their work after exhibitions and sales have ended. Her consulting work has included collaborations with artists, scholars, and institutions, including projects connected to art historian Jack Flam and archival initiatives involving major cultural organizations.

Contemporary art generates an enormous amount of material, including correspondence, documentation, research files, archives, and unpublished works. Without careful organization, much of it risks being lost or overlooked in the historical record.

A significant part of Trafford’s work involves helping artists structure their archives so future research, exhibitions, and museum collaborations can develop on solid foundations. In practice, this may include creating catalogues, coordinating with museums and research institutions, or designing systems that allow an artist’s body of work to be preserved and studied for decades to come.

The way an archive is organized can directly shape how historians, curators, and institutions interpret an artist’s career in the future.

Alongside this work, Trafford also contributes to cultural memory from an editorial perspective. She currently serves as Tributes Editor at The Brooklyn Rail, a respected international publication on art and culture, where she develops tribute essays dedicated to influential figures in contemporary art, helping document their careers and impact on recent cultural history.

She also co-founded Cuadra Projects, an independent curatorial platform that commissions and presents site-specific exhibitions exploring the relationship between art, architecture, and history. There, she plays a central role in shaping the curatorial vision, project development, and international collaborations behind each exhibition.

The platform’s debut project, The Paper Room, was presented during Milan Design Week and brought together an original collection of furniture, lighting, and works on paper created by designers Joséphine Bourdariat and Luana Meneux.

Inès Trafford represents a quiet yet significant shift within the art world. She helps artists structure and protect their work while their careers are still evolving, ensuring that the art produced today can be properly understood, preserved, and studied in the future.

CONNECT WITH INÈS TRAFFORD 

INSTAGRAM.

 

The post THE ARCHIVIST OF NOW: INÈS TRAFFORD IS PROTECTING ART HISTORY BEFORE IT’S HISTORY appeared first on LADYGUNN.