Hi! Welcome to the first ever Cute, Kind Of Weekly Newsletter
A little preview of what to expect from me weekly (eventually)
If you are receiving this email, that means you are reading the first ever Cute, Kind Of Weekly Newsletter! I wanted to do a little preview of what you will receive every week from me in your inbox. I will make some planned adjustments here and there but overall, this is what I am feeling.
I hope you enjoy it! - Laila
When will it be published? I am aiming for Friday because I love Fridays, but since this is new, I might do Saturday. Also, since I am new-new and have a job, I will start out publishing the newsletter every two weeks to make sure I am not burning myself out too fast. So expect that for February and even March.
How frequently will you send me emails? As of now, about 3x per week. One roundup newsletter (like this one you are reading) and two posts.
Right now, I will publish the weekly newsletter every other week, but once I have a schedule down, I’ll start publishing the newsletter weekly. Eventually, You will only get one newsletter — the weekly newsletter — in your inbox every week.
In the future, I will not send you the individual stories I published on my Substack throughout that week. Individual stories will be linked and mentioned in the weekly newsletter, so you really can’t miss it.
Is the weekly newsletter just a roundup of the stories you have published? No. In each newsletter, I will link and add a little blurb of each story I published that week. I will also include other things — such as products I am using, mini-recommendations, what I have been watching, what I have been reading, and more.
As a free subscriber, what will I get? You will get full access to the newsletter.
As of right now, I will have most of my stories available for free, except for more personal ones. Later on, you should be able to access about a few stories for free.
With that being said, I’ll make sure to mention free posts in the newsletter.
Why is the newsletter email clipped in my inbox? I just write a lot lolol so make sure to also open in the browser.
If you prefer the newsletter to be shorter for your inbox, please let me know! I will shorten it :)
I’ll put any news or updates right after the introduction, if i have any.
Cute, Kind Of has merch!!
Yes, you read correctly!
If you listened to my last podcast episode, I go into a story about how some random guy I talked to in a Chicago coffee shop inspired me to design and sell merchandise for Cute, Kind Of.
If you would like to support me this way, you can find all the merchandise on the Cute, Kind Of Etsy Shop.
I am dropping a Valentine’s Day limited edition embroidered crew-neck shortly!
In this section, I will be listing and linking the stories I wrote that week. Right now, I am uploading my old posts from Medium. By the time you are reading this, I should have about three up.
☆ Unnecessary Pairings: Japanese Skincare + Studio Ghibli Films (Free) — This story concept was inspired by (or copied?) from Into The Gloss. It is basically pairing every single Studio Ghibli movie I have seen with a Japanese skincare product I love. If you are a fan of either, you will enjoy.
☆ 90s Supermodel Makeup, Yasmeen Ghauri (Free) — I did a mini-deepdive on one of the greatest supermodels of the 90s, who also went into retirement and disappeared mysteriously (she’s back now though). I talk about her background, discovery, and go in-depth talking about how to get that 90s supermodel makeup look. (Also, I link one of my first ever youtube makeup videos hehe)
☆ How Olivia Rodrigo perfected the Gen Z vampy makeup look — I actually published this post months ago on Substack and then I clicked the wrong button then POOF! — it disappeared, but this post is getting republished (for the third time) for Nosferatu fans. I have not seen the movie, and I am pretty sure the vibes aren’t similar but we can use our imaginations.
The story is a beauty breakdown on Olivia’s makeup from her vampire music video. I give you a guide on how to do the makeup along with product recommendations.
I wanted to have a section in the newsletter for beauty products, or just beauty news. I might talk about products I am currently testing, products I just bought, beauty news I hear, undeveloped beauty criticisms, maybe a mini-review. Also, I like sharing the products I am interested in and am looking into to see if any readers have thoughts.
I am currently 75% of the way done with my Belif Aqua Bomb Moisturizer, and I am obsessed with it. I am actually kind of sad that I am almost out since I like it so much, and it costs $38 USD.
I bought this during the Ulta Savings Event, and I wish I knew what I know now and bought two. I actually purchased it because my friend’s older sister recommended it to me and told me that it changed her skin. Ever since she said that to me, it has been in the back of my mind.
A little background on the product: it claims to boost skin hydration level by 231.4%. It is meant for dry, dull skin. I have oily skin and I love it.
I generally prefer gel-textured moisturizers anyways and this has been great in the winter without being heavy. Super light and refreshing. Expect a full-review eventually.
I have been using it alongside my Innisfree Brightening Pore Sleeping Mask. When I started using this, I immediately noticed how it helped clarify my skin.
They were a really good match, but I noticed as the season got drier, my skin started getting duller as well. So these were a great match in the summer till early winter, but now I am experimenting with other products to get that brightness and clarity back.
Here, in this section, I will post a weekly mood board. It is going to change weekly in terms of whether if it is beauty, fashion, or just a mixture of random things.
This the original mood board I designed when I was planning the newsletter. It is supposed to be a dreamy, fun, and almost whimsical. Earlier that year, I learned how to use sticker PNGs from Pinterest on collages, and I have never looked back!
When I designed this, I was wanting my newsletter to be very much “girl dreaming in her bedroom” vibes. She wants to go home asap to hang out in her room where she can do her makeup, skincare, journal, draw, listen to music, and just dream! Literally me to a T!
I initially wanted the newsletter to focus on fun, girly-things, and just becoming happier, but I feel like that might be a delusional ask right now. However, a dreaming girl always has hope and optimism, right?
It’s also very pink, which is one of my sub colors of the Cute, Kind Of color palette. However, my palette leans more baby/sky blue and star yellow (idk made that color name up!).
It is actually really funny because this mood board has low-key no mention or visual reference for my actual beauty writing lol.
This section is just for me to share what I have been reading, watching, and doing. I also might share blurbs of the news because, as you know, I went to journalism school and have a newsroom background.
One of my goals this year is to watch more TV and movies, so I have been implementing a movie night once a week. Also, anytime I have the urge to watch YouTube, I turn on a show (I have been desperately failing at this lol).
I am fortunately not addicted to my phone, which is a blessing, BUT I am to my computer and love YouTube. Soooo I am trying to do less YouTube and more TV and movies.
I am trying to move like Greta Gerwig and watch a movie at either 10 a.m. or 4 p.m., OR be like Bong Joon-ho and wake up at 5:00 a.m. and watch a movie. Like watching a movie with a cup of coffee is such a move omg.
My current watchlist:
The Apartment (1960), on Tubi
The Iron Claw (2023), on HBO Max
Angel’s Egg (1985), desperately tying to find this movie, but I just read it will be re-released in theaters this year for its 40th anniversary and will be released on home video
I hope you enjoyed my first ever newsletter!
I am currently reading the Artist Way by Julia Cameron (I am currently writing a post about it) and it talks about focusing on quantity when starting out on a creative endeavor, which is funny because you are always told quality over quantity.
But the whole idea is in order to be good, you need to be bad first. All of this to say, sorry if the newsletter has typos and such, but I am very open to your thoughts on the newsletter.
With that being said, till we meet again ❤
Love,
Laila
I want to know everything about you to make the best newsletter ever! (or maybe top 10?) If you have a moment please take the new reader survey: