Entertaining news that's perfect for the most relaxing day of the week.
Happy Sunday. This is The Skinny, a free newsletter that provides an entertaining take on this week's lifestyle news. We designed this to save you time, which is everyone's most valuable resource, and you can breeze through this in about three minutes. The goal: stop scrolling and live a better, more informed life.
What we're covering today:
Is your YETI worth the hype? Jill's 24-hour Hawaii porch test crowned a new king of cups.
Fair Isle is back, and the $80 cashmere version comes in sizes for the whole family photo.
Wear two perfumes at once: the fall layering trick, plus the scents most likely to earn you a compliment.
Plus: Miu Miu’s messy mani, copycat Hamburger Helper, water bottle bling, a rare Hawaii bar with its toes in the sand (and our favorite beachfront dives)
DUPE IT OR BUY IT
King of Cups: Did a Cheaper Cup Dethrone YETI?
The contenders: Built, YETI, the free Mauna Kea bottle and RTIC. Photo: Jill Alfond
The Skinny: Jill left four cups on her porch at the Mauna Kea for 24 hours, Hawaii morning, afternoon and night: same ice, same water, lids on. How the ones you can buy finished:
1st: the $23 RTIC Road Trip, the coldest of the bunch.
2nd: the $50 YETI Rambler.
3rd: the $17 Built.
The TikTok crowd agrees: the RTIC is all over #walmartfinds so move over, Stanley. (Pro tip: the coldest cups had the tightest lids. And the free bottle from the hotel? It hung on to its ice too. Jill is tracking down who makes it like it's her paying job.)
So how much water do you actually need? Less than your 40-ouncer suggests. The WSJ says you're probably hydrated enough: women need about 2.7 liters of fluids a day and men about 3.7, and about 20% of that comes from food. Translation: about 3½ refills of a 20 oz cup for women and 5 for men, and yes, your coffee and sparkling water count. The goal is light yellow, not clear. The coldest cup still wins, because it's the one you keep reaching for.
Jill's new go-to: the RTIC Road Trip, ceramic lined so your drink never tastes like metal. Photo: Jill Alfond
Shop it: RTIC Road Trip, $22.98
Bit of Texas lore: The internet swears RTIC was started by ex-YETI guys waiting out a non-compete, or by a scorned ex-wife. Nope: Houston twins who went from moving boxes to coolers. YETI sued, RTIC settled in 2017, redesigned and kept going. Our theory: the rumors are the best marketing RTIC never paid for.
Where we buy the real thing: In June, Jill and her daughter Pixie went snapper fishing in Destin, froze the catch, packed it in a brand-new YETI Panga 50 and checked it Monday morning. Then came a 36-hour flight delay. By the time they got home late Tuesday night, nobody wanted to be the one to unzip it. Jill held her breath and pulled. Still frozen. Believe us. The MVP isn't even a cooler: it's a waterproof duffel, and YETI's first product with no insulation. Also on Jill's buy list: her 12 oz YETI Rambler, "the most perfect size coffee cup ever."
Reply and tell us: where do you dupe, and where do you splurge?
KNIT PICKS
Dust Off the Fair Isle, Pop the Collar
Nicole will take this coffee-colored Fair Isle with a cream midi skirt and suede boots.
The Skinny: Fair Isle is a real island in Shetland, about 100 miles off Scotland's northeast coast, and its patterned knits have been in style for more than a century. Coco Chanel was photographed in a Fair Isle-patterned cardigan in 1910. This fall Grazia says it's moving "from vacation photos to weekday uniforms," and we called the return of old preppy back in January 2025. For winter attire you can't get much preppier than the Fair Isle which, ideally, you'll wear on top of a turtleneck, a polo, and a collared shirt if that is even possible (which it 100% was, and preferred, in the '80s preppy heyday).
How we knew it was real: Quince texted Jill. When Quince drops a cashmere Fair Isle Christmas sweater, the trend is official. Pick your price:
$45: Target's Universal Thread Fair Isle henley shawl sweater in brown or dark gray.
$100: L.L. Bean's Classic Ragg Wool Fair Isle crewneck, the preppy original.
$148: J.Crew's Fair Isle shrunken crewneck in vintage wool, cropped to wear over a collared shirt.
$199: Chunky Fair Isle Sweater from Boden (via Nicole’s Sunday evening “light catalog reading”).
$298: Favorite Daughter’s The Chalet Fair Isle (modeled by Nicole, above).
$320: Finisterre's Shetland Fairisle in 100% Shetland wool, black cherry and ecru, as close to the real island as it gets.
Christmas bonus: the Quince that started it all, $80 in 100% Grade A cashmere, red and ivory, with a matching men's ($80) and kids' ($59.90) for the family photo. Shop early: on Sunday morning, women's was down to XS and S.
Final styling tips: 1) a modern take is pairing a Fair Isle with a plaid button-down collar peeking out, loafers. 2) a must-read: InStyle’s rules and inspo for under-sweater layering. 3) If you’re busty, opt for cardigan styles, open necklines and those where the colorwork/busy pattern is higher than the bust, not right on it.
MAKES SCENTS TO ME
Wear Two Perfumes at Once & the Fragrances that Get the Most Compliments
Nicole's fragrance shelf, ready for layering.
The Skinny: Now that your sweater layers are sorted, let’s advance to a more sensorial and ephemeral layering: fragrance. Smell is wired to memory and mood, which is why the right pair can feel like your signature.
Our anyone-can-do-this guide starts with a cheat sheet: the fragrance wheel. Perfume expert Michael Edwards created this by sorting scents into 4 families: floral, oriental (sometimes called amber), woody and fresh, with related scents sitting side by side. Neighbors on the wheel are the safest place to start.
Second, remember this rule: start light, finish heavy. Put the lighter scent (citrus, green or aquatic) on first, then a heavier one (woody, musky or amber) on top, and don't layer more than three.
Next, test your new knowledge with easy starter pairs: vanilla with florals, citrus with woods, amber with musk.
On Nicole's shelf: Space NK Laughter (unearthed from the medicine cabinet), Tom Ford Café Rose (not yet unboxed), Jo Malone Nectarine Blossom & Honey, Hermès Un Jardin sur le Toit, Loewe 001 Man and Carolina Herrera Good Girl Blush (procured straight from Givaudan). Recent fragrance layering combos she's tried are: Good Girl Blush + Jo Malone Nectarine Blossom & Honey, which earned a compliment, and Un Jardin sur le Toit + Loewe 001 Man, which did not.
Shop our virtual scent boutiques (on sale, see below):
First, the fragrances most likely to earn you a compliment, picked from trusted scent writers' tested lists, and all 15% off through 11/11 at Nordstrom. Grab your own compliments whether you're going budget (Phlur's Vanilla Skin or Cherry Stem for $27); bougie (cult-icon Baccarat Rouge 540 for $607, down from $715) or somewhere in between (Bal D'Afrique from Byredo for $199, down from $235).
Jill's switch: For years, Jill was a Jo Malone Red Roses girl: 7 roses, crushed violet leaves and a hint of lemon. Then she met Tocca Florence, bergamot, pear and gardenia, basically an Italian garden in a bottle. Behold: the most complimented scent she has ever worn, by a mile. (Sorry, roses.)
Finally, top-sellers from Nordstrom for women, unisex and men (almost all on sale).
LAST LICKS
This Week's Quick Reads
Most-clicked last week: Real Simple's food combinations to avoid and why; runner-up: Harvard Health's scoop on protein powder.
The next time you DIY your nails and think they look kind of maybe passable, only to realize the ugly truth in the daylight, don't sweat it: at Miu Miu's Spring 2027 show in Paris, nail artist Mei Kawajiri let cherry red polish spill past the nail, on purpose. Get the messy nail look: Manucurist Red Cherry, the shade she used.
Recipe inbox: We are not above making actual boxed Hamburger Helper (thank you to “Lefty,” the Helping Hand!) if drunk and/or on a proper couch rot, but cooking goals = Emeril's homemade Hamburger Helper. We found this recipe (IG how-to video, here) via The Backlabel, a newsletter that sends 3 standout recipes a week from celebrity chefs, new cookbooks and award-winning restaurants.
Winter beach escape planning: Our office this week: the Mauna Kea's Hau Tree, a rare Big Island beach bar grandfathered right onto the sand under Hawaii's 1970 shoreline rules. When the hotel renovated, it wasn't allowed to touch a thing. The house specialty is the Fredrico, a cult Jack Daniel's drink a guest conjured up here in 1988. He and his wife still own the secret recipe, and the hotel buys the Freddy mix from them. More old-school beach bars we love: Flora-Bama (Perdido Key, Fla.), the Beachcomber (Wellfleet, Mass.), the Montauket (Montauk, N.Y.) and Paradise Cove (Malibu, where Jim Rockford parked his trailer).
Cup bling: Reusable water bottles are now a $10.5 billion business worldwide, and YETI alone sold $1.09 billion worth of drinkware last year. And apparently everything needs a charm now, including your Hunter rainboots and your water bottles: searches for water bottle charms are up 8,600% over five years. Clip a charm on your RTIC and nobody walks off with your cup.
Our office this week: a Fredrico at the Hau Tree. Photo: Jill Alfond
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