Hot, Happy, Healthy #004
Game-Changing Podcasts for a Mindful Morning 🎧, Molly Mae’s Relationship Healing Journey 💔, Detox Your Life Starting with Your Apple Watch 🌿, and a Soulful Manifestation Playlist to Start Your Day Right 🎶.
Hi Honeys,
Welcome to this week’s Hot and Healing—your ultimate weekly dose of wellness, curated for the modern wellness girls balancing healing and hustling. Expect everything hot in the world of wellness - trends, tools and insights - as well as my favorite podcast picks, social clips and articles of the week to help you heal, faster.
🎧 Prefer to listen? 🎧 The podcast version of this newsletter goes live every Sunday on Healing Honeys the Podcast. Missed last week’s episode? STREAM HERE where I dug into the Golden Globes, Demi Moore, whether Kylie & Timothée are in a situationship, the LA Wildfires, Liver Health and more.
So, what’s HOT this week?
⋆˙⟡ Goodbye, Tik Tok - Hello, Red Note?
With the impending TikTok ban (confirmed by the Supreme Court's ruling today), Rednote, often referred to as "China's answer to Instagram," is seeing a surge in U.S. creators joining the platform. This influx has sparked a fun cultural exchange, with Chinese users warmly welcoming these "TikTok refugees" by requesting a "cat tax," where newcomers share pictures of their cats as an introduction (and with my 4 adopted street cats now this is a trend I can DEFINITELY take part in).
But the reality of a new social media platform is something Ijust don’t think I can handle. I groaned when Threads launched, cowered when Lemon8 appeared, and now RedNote feels like just another thing to add to the endless list. With life as busy as it is, I’m already struggling to text my friends back (if you can relate - here’s why).
⋆˙⟡ Alo: Sweet Pink
This week, Alo dropped their new Sweet Pink range which is SO cute. I'm in love. 💕
⋆˙⟡ Mark Zuckerberg and “More Masculine Energy” in the Workplace
Hot off the press: Mark Zuckerberg has ignited controversy by calling for more “masculine energy” in corporate culture. In a world already dominated by men—where the gender pay gap persists and research from the Diana Report revealing that businesses with all-male founding teams are over FOUR times more likely to secure venture capital funding than those with at least ONE woman—this statement feels tone-deaf at best. Couple this with the alarming rise in female autoimmune disorders, which I believe are partly fueled by chronic, toxic stress from operating in male-centric work environments and a society designed around the male biological clock, it’s clear: the last thing we need is more “masculine energy” on our collective healing journey. Sorry, Zuckerberg.
⋆˙⟡ Podcast Evolution // My Golden Girls of the Week
Talking of VCs and being a woman in business, Maggie Sellers of Hot Smart Rich fame is part of my hot drop this week, launching her new podcast, aptly named Hot Smart Rich. Maggie is such a force, and I love everything she stands for because YES, we can all be Hot, Smart & Rich - even when the workplace or our subconscious mind doesn't think we can. Listen here!
Another trend I’m watching quietly that I think is going to get hotter is how podcasts are evolving into new spaces.
Jemma Sbeg (of Psychology of Your 20s) just launched her second podcast, Mantra, a series of mindful moments under the new studio OPENMIND and this studio (founded by ex Spotify exec Max Cutler) is also pioneering experiential formats with new podcasts around soundscapes, guided relaxation, and more. Check out Mantra here and re-visit the moment on Psychology of Your 20s when I joined Jemma on her podcast to discuss casual dating, hook up culture & why it can be so traumatizing here.
I'm leaning into this evolution too - my first-ever Expansion Event dropped on Healing Honeys this week — a new take on meditation - where I take you to the future version of you in just 10 minutes. Stream here also available on YouTube. Try it here!
Who's HEALING this week
(or needs to be)?
⋆˙⟡ America Slips Out of the Top 20 Happiest Countries (+ the ban of Red No. 3)
For the first time ever, America has fallen out of the top 20 happiest countries, grappling with the weight of economic, technological, and political turmoil. Is the American dream.. no longer dreaming? Or is this another sign that collective healing is becoming more important than ever?
In a more positive (but unbelievably overdue step forward), Red No. 3 has finally been banned from food by the FDA this week, 35 years after being deemed too dangerous to include in cosmetics. This is a long-overdue step forward because something made with a petroleum-based dye, linked to cancer in animal studies, and banned in cosmetics should not have been allowed to remain in candy, gum, and processed foods marketed to kids.
Dyes aren’t harmless—they’re synthetic chemicals that disrupt our biology and offer no nutritional benefit at all. Remember, everything we eat hurts or heals us.
⋆˙⟡ Molly Mae: Behind It All
If you’re UK-based, you’ve likely followed Molly-Mae’s healing journey since her surprising split from Tommy Fury last year. This week, Tommy revealed that his struggles with alcohol and its impact on their relationship were at the heart of their breakup. I’m curious to see how much of Molly’s personal growth and healing journey her new documentary, Behind It All, launching today, Friday 17 January, delves into. Sending her love on her healing journey because it is hard enough healing in private, let alone with the world watching. Stream on Prime Video here.
⋆˙⟡ PFAs in Apple Watches?
This Reel caught my eye this week. Just when it feels like the list of toxins to avoid is endless, here’s one you might not have considered: your Apple Watch strap. Many straps contain PFAs—synthetic "forever chemicals" linked to health concerns like hormone disruption and even cancer. One thing we often forget is that our skin is an organ that absorbs what we put on it in so many forms. If you’re on a healing journey, working to reduce your toxic load or restore hormonal balance, consider swapping out the standard Apple Watch strap for a fabric, metal, or leather alternative. Supporting your body with small, intentional changes can create the space it needs to heal and thrive.
Social Media Isn’t Free Therapy
(but these clips might be) 📱
Imposter Syndrome
This TikTok hit me the hardest this week when this queen said: “I’ve never felt proud of an achievement, only relieved.” and it got me questioning - how do you feel when you hit your goals?
Do you allow yourself to celebrate and truly, stop, pause and enjoy the moment of achievement? Or do you start again, onto the next goal straight away? Do you ever stop to slow down?
The comments in the TikTok are raw, real, vulnerable and powerful, knowing that you're not alone if you feel any of these ways:
“Every time I accomplish something I’m like oh no, I’ve tricked them into thinking I deserve this”
“My achievements never feel like achievements, just the bare minimum”
“I cant celebrate my achievements because in my mind it is my obligation to achieve them”
“I don’t feel anything but a wave of relief, and then onto the next”
“I experience relief for two seconds that it was finally done but then realize I have so much more to do so I just become numb and it’s always what’s next and upstaging myself”
“Every time I succeed I feel like I cheated, or I didn’t deserve this like I barely made it”
Coming in February/March - an episode on Imposter Syndrome and how to heal.
Until next week,
Louise x
