The "Youth Hormone" Supplement

what you don't know can cost you

Welcome readers, old and new!

Please hit the ❤️ button to celebrate the connection between your healthy gut and your healthy complexion.

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I wonder how many of you have the same low-grade anxiety that’s vibrating through the halls at HNTFUYF headquarters. I try to focus on beauty-related material—All the Rage, for example, a hefty book about the history of beauty culture written by the granddaughter of Vanessa Bell—but I’m too distracted by the news.

I have “Get out the vote” postcards to finish, which helps mitigate (slightly) feelings of powerlessness. And, because months ago I finished binge-watching The West Wing for the umpteenth time (soothing in the way only a happily-ever-after fairy tale can be), I downloaded the book What’s Next: A Backstage Pass to the West Wing about the history of the show. Focused not only on the personalities of the cast, but also their various real-life philanthropic devotions, it helps me feel… I was going to say calmer, but in fact, I think only less disturbed by the possibility of unpleasantness coming our way. Am I being  hyperbolic? I don’t think so.

Readers, do you have a wubby? A go-to way to reduce anxiety? (A survey indicated 35% of Brits sleep with a teddy bear; that was before Brexit.) Please share yours in the comments! And of course, share this site with your voting friends.

Our Squirrelita? From “A Squirrel’s Guide to Fashion” in LIFE.

My most delightful distraction, my granddaughter, M, recently showed me on FaceTime that she’d saved a box to make a little house for our imaginary friend Squirrelita (a little squirrel born in Madrid and currently living with her family in a Tokyo tree). Before I could comment on the potential real estate, M placed the box on her head: “It’s also a good hat, right, Grammie?”

“A beautiful hat, Baby! I’ve never seen a better-looking hat!”

Speaking of a bait-and-switch, a reader wants to know whether a supplement with a tantalizing promise is worth the money.

HNTFUYF is a payola-free zone. I get no cut from sales when I mention a product. I share this so you know my recommendations are offered without obligation. The beauty response in this post sits quivering with excitement behind a paywall, waiting for you to discover it. For full access to all posts and the extensive archives, please become a paid subscriber at the currently discounted rate of $40/year. Can’t afford a subscription? Write to me at valeriemonroe@substack.com and I’ll give you a comp (no questions asked). 🙏