Let’s go, 2026! So far, we’ve been head’s down back to work like everyone else, without much to report except the below. And for anyone new here, this is The Skinny, where we serve up curated, need-to-know lifestyle news designed to entertain and save you time (everyone’s most valuable resource). Enjoy your Sunday!

What we’re covering: 

• From frozen food to skin/hair care, travel, accessories, alcohol and more, The Skinny guide to what is IN and OUT for 2026

• ‘Slop’ is the 2025 word of the year, and we’ll explain how to identify and (attempt to) avoid it

• Pantry raid: the continued appeal of the sardine

• Plus, strategic imbibing and 'boilerfakers,' how hydration affects stress, grandma wants her brooch back, a new smart toilet, RIP Bob Weir & Vans x Valentino

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What’s next

IN and OUT for 2026 (according to us)

The Skinny: Who doesn’t love an IN and OUT list for the New Year, to debate and discuss? Our The Skinny take, below.

IN: Fitness-focused vacations

OUT: Going where everyone else is going, just because 

As the appeal of a sit-and-do-nothing vacation wanes, the fitness-focused vacation is what’s on travelers’ minds this year—whether as a way to learn a new sport or hobby or fine-tune your existing passion. (Oh and BTW, it does still appear that playing tennis is a key to longevity. For inspiration, take a virtual trip to this Chamonix tennis camp that went viral due to its “unreal” looking views.) We’ll also take this opp to plus our friend Andy’s bike tour outfit, DuVine Cycling + Adventure Co. (Andy: available and ready to add our signature charm and disruption to any and all upcoming excursions). 

Where not to travel? Anywhere “everyone else” is headed, including these spots (but Nat Geo recommends suitable dupes, which we love).

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OUT: Dirty, dusty and overpriced handbag charms.

IN: Shoe charms! Pins and brooches! 

Time to rummage around your jewelry stash for grandma’s brooches: how to wear them comme il faut, and inspiration from Miu Miu.  

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OUT: Quick overconsumption of alcohol 

IN: Strategic indulgence to make your morning/afternoon/night out last longer 

Keep your mid- to low-level buzz going strong for longer (and without pain the next morning) via zebra-striping—in which you alt alcoholic drinks with NA—or with tactics such as the “boilerfaker” (shot + NA beer).

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OUT: Overly complicated and expensive skin care routines. 

IN: Body care, including skin care for your body. 

Nicole’s been deep into skincare this past year with a contract role at SkinCeuticals, and here is her advice for an effective, minimalist routine. 1) Cleanser; 2) Antioxidant Serum (with SkinCeuticals’ CE Ferulic being the [literal] gold standard); 3) Moisturizer; 4) SPF. 

Aside, we are all about Body Care for 2026! Both for its ability to have you emerge from winter looking toned and glowing, but also from a position of self-care. Read on, as we have links for body lotion vs. oil (or…both?), and all the best body care meets skin care. Because why should your face get all the attention? Sidebar: viral scrub brand Tree Hut, (also Nicole’s client from years ago), has rebranded and we’re not sure what to make of it. 

Add to cart: a curated selection of body care luxuries that you can shop from Nordstrom. 

(Note: some of these links are affiliates—which means, at no cost to you, that we will be partially compensated if you shop through them. We are not getting paid to write this newsletter, so this serves as a small cash flow to keep the newsletter running:)

OUT: Insisting on everything fresh, which inevitably leads to waste

IN: High-end frozen and “instant” food 

We’ve preached the virtues of frozen food before (with some of it being healthier than fresh), so we are already 100% down with this year’s prediction that shoppers will see more quality frozen and instant items on shelves. Frozen-wise, see No. 5 on Whole’s Foods’ trend report, and we haven’t noticed any of those items yet but now we’re going to look for them (Carmelized Scallion Noodles, Harissa Cheese Phyllo Bites, Cacio e Pepe Pizza…). As for upgraded “instant” meals, think just-add-water items like “desk drawer ramen” to magic oats or sides  like or pineapple fried rice—all ready in seconds. 

For example: Cometeer*, not Sanka. Evergreen waffles*, not Eggo. Sprouted Power Bowls, not Cup o’ Noodles. (*The Skinny tried, tested, and LOVED)

Touch grass

How to identify and avoid, ‘slop’

The Skinny: The 2025 word of the year, “slop,” epitomizes why readers love The Skinny: with unique content, written from pen to paper/laptop by Nicole and Jill each week, we are the opposite of “slop.” We are also the opposite of tech writers but, on a most basic level, what you need to know is that AI slop has penetrated everything from dumb/hilarious cat videos to your cherished Pinterest boards. According to this report by Wired, the infiltration of AI slop has, for some, turned the  once-happy Pinterest platform into something “depressing.” 

This is a good long(ish) read that we’d recommend (focused on Pinterest), and we particularly enjoyed the lede detailing a busy mom who, in her haste, bought ingredients for an AI recipe from this fake blogger named “Sousan.” A lesson learned, but also one we’ve discussed, even before the AI infiltration: do not, and we repeat, do not, make recipes from random bloggers with SEO-generated, rambling intros, or TikTokkers who are not chefs. You will most likely be burned (as have we). Trust The Skinny (we have personally made the recipes we link to), feeds of friends, or sites like NYT Cooking, Good Housekeeping, Epicurious and others that actually test recipes in a real kitchen. 

Ready to test your AI video knowledge? Here’s a four-video test gauging your skills on idenfiying ID slop, and, from PC Mag, how not to Fall for AI Deepfakes by Checking for These 7 Telltale Signs. 

And for those who really need a boost getting outside, naturally there are some apps that can help—like this one, which forces you to actually touch grass before unlocking your phone’s most distracting apps.

Pantry raid

For the love of tinned fish

The Skinny: The allure of the sardine in fashion, culture and food appears to be as long-lasting as the shelf life of those tins that might be hiding in your panrty. Time to dust them off!

This is not a new topic to us, as we’ve covered it in our Postcard from Portugal, as well as directing readers to Facebook “Sardine Citizens” forum. But whether you’re just putting your tinned fish on a Triscuit with some pickled shallots or something more elaborate, embracing the tin is an easy way to crush your Vitamin D/Omega-3 goals and feel like you’re part of an eclectic food cult.

Two to try: Sardines with Crushed Baby Potatoes from Alison Roman, and a super simple pasta mash-up that we’ve made recently: spaghetti with sardines, EVOO, fresh pepper, capers, lemon and parm.

Last licks

This week’s newsfeed

• Men’s denim hot pants are flying in tribute today for the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, who passed at age 78. As iconic as his music was his personal style, detailed here in an interview with Weir and his daughters. 

• Most-clicked report: last week was all about hydration and Nicole’s favorite new water bottle, the communicative HidrateSpark PRO 2. Drink more, stress less! Because being dehydrated does appear to increase stress, according to this “Sipping Away Stress” story that explains how dehydration affects cortisol levels.

• We have low to highbrown tastes from “Vans to Valentino,” so naturally we love this collab that beautifully combines the two. This link says available Jan. 15, but looks like you can score a couple colorways now at Nordstrom. 

• Sunday is a great day for meal prep and here’s how to make your own stash of quick heat-and-eat breakfast BECs (like these wraps or sandwich-style versions).  

• On Nicole’s NYC quiet luxury drinking establishment list: this library bar and now, this backgammon cafe.  

• Toilet tech: Behold, a smart “home throne” that analyzes your health via your excrement. Throne, from the co-founder of Whoop, uses computer vision to study your poop.

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