Weekend Mode: Grape Expectations

Dickens, but make it pretty

Jan 16, 2026

Hello, Gorgeous!

Do you ever get into this weird place where you can only look at —or wear— one color for an extended period of time? For the latter part of this week, I’ve been in a full purple revolution. To that end, here are some grape products to try out this weekend:

La Roche-Posay Mela B3 Dark Spot Serum

I figured that winter is a great time to try to tackle some of that residual sun damage. I was right. I tried this product on a whim and dare I say that I’m delighted about how it seems to be working? There’s nothing dramatic to note, just an overall sense of…I don’t know, a brighter overall look and smoothness with a slight fading of dark spots and sun damage. I use it twice a day at this point (when I remember to!) and it’s super gentle even on my very sensitive skin. Two things I could do without: The smell bothers me. I can’t tell you why, but it’s almost slightly cloyingly sweet. Also, the texture is a little oddly goopy. But those are very minor things. This one really seems to deliver results ($45, exclusivebeautyclub.com).

Starface Hydro-Star Recovery Patches

Remember when you were (much) (much) younger and nothing was quite as exciting as a gold star you could plop onto your forehead? Starface has built a cutesy empire on the premise. Stars you stick on your face that minimize spots or in this case, purple stars to soothe and protect irritated skin if you just couldn’t leave that zit alone ($13, revolve.com).

Calpak Luka Mini Duffel

Have you seen Calpak all over your social media feeds? I did. And I was curious enough to try out a few key bags to see if they live up to the hype. I bought three. And they all do. I’ll be doing a more in-depth review in the coming weeks, but meanwhile if you need a new weekend bag, I can’t rave enough about their Luka Mini Duffel (I also have a full-size Luka, but this one is too cute and practical to boot). It’s designed so well and with a ton of pockets for all your extras. It also has a comfortable, not too short pair of straps if you plan on wearing it as a tote. There’s also a trolley pass-through if you want to slide it on top of your roll-a-board. I love this bag. Mine is in silver, but I wish I’d have opted for the orchid (Usually $98, select colors on sale for $64, calpaktravel.com).

Dazzle Dry Romanticize Collection

Before I travel, I almost always get a gel manicure. And when I’m back I try to use Dazzle Dry for a few weeks until my nails are in better shape. It’s a gentle way of keeping my nails looking great without too much nail trauma.

The new Dazzle Dry collection dropped last week, and it’s gorgeous.

My faves in the new collection are:

Beauty Sleep: A holographic dark fuchsia — and also my favorite thing to do.
Fresh Start: A milky lavender gray, it’s semi-sheer but it’s giving that ‘90s grey nail polish trend.
My Serenity: I’m wearing this one now. It’s a full coverage teal/blue/green full coverage cream and is ridiculously flattering to my pale winters skin.
Let’s Glow: And because I’m falling down that purpley rabbit hole hard, this is a light purple taupe with a subtle green shimmer that’s sheer enough to use as a top layer.

You can find the entire collection on Amazon for $22 a bottle. If you’re unfamiliar with Dazzle Dry, you need to use their base and top coat for best (extremely long-lasting) results.

Tree Hut Violet Victory Shea Sugar Scrub

Tree Hut recently underwent a massive rebranding with groovy rounded lettering making up the new logo. The products are still the same, though. Every new collection features incredible scents, fun names and fragrances. Right now I’m loving this dreamy scrub that looks as pretty as it smells while tackling dry patches ($10, Ulta).

I suspect I’ll be onto a new color by next weekend. How about you; any color obsessions right now? Let’s meet in the comments to discuss!

Rachel, Your beauty concierge 💋

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