Friday Q&A + Links

We're talking to the peerless beauty writer/editor Val Monroe, and over in the links, we're learning to swear in sign language, among other things

Marcia Ciriello

 I knew of Val for years before I ever actually met her—she’s worked at publications like Ms, Self, and Entertainment Weekly, among others, and for 16 years, was the beauty director of O, The Oprah Magazine. I always admired her work. Now she writes the always on-point Substack newsletter How Not to F*ck Up Your Face. She’s also one of the few people who have guested on Everything is Fine more than once.

You will not find a beauty editor with less of a bullshit attitude toward her topic—not many products or treatments clear the bar for Val, so you know that whatever she’s recommending actually does something. And I love this line from her bio: “[Val] hopes to help women shift their perspective so that the face they see in the mirror, especially if it’s an aging one, is a face they love.” I was so excited to chat with her here.