Brynn Valentine


Brynn Valentine is a London-based writer and trends forecaster with a background in Social Anthropology from The University of Oxford. Her previous work has been featured in Aeon, Plinth, and Dazed Media, offering insights into both cultural trends and semiotics. 

She also writes regularly on Substack, where her newsletter ‘@GoodValentine’ dives into cultural criticism and social ethnography. 






Neurocosmetics: Can beauty products recreate the feeling of being in love?


A new cream has launched which mimics the effects of infatuation – and other beauty brands are capitalising on our need for human connection

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Dazed Digital




Awkward at the Reading Night


These readings may seem like any other event in London’s cultural calendar. But they are fuelled by nostalgia: a communal and (at times) awkward attempt by my generation to reconstruct older forms of social and intellectual connection — forms many have never actually experienced, but desire nonetheless.

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Plinth




Why don’t we have any sympathy for beauty addicts?


The pressure to look perfect is stronger than ever, with many feeling like cosmetic work is their only option. But when that work is deemed ‘unsuccessful’, the online response can be cruel.

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Dazed Digital




The Ways Sugar Babies Navigate Two Roles: Lover and Employee


Sugaring does this for us. It sheds light on corners of the world where romance and commerce explicitly blur together, reminding us that themes such as love, labour, authenticity and compensation have always been, and continue to be, intricately interwoven – a far more slippery and arresting truth than we have previously been comfortable with.

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Psyche Mag



What is the cost of a meta-cringe?


Both online and in-person, London’s post-adolescents become subjected to and active participants in meta-cringe. That is, the communal confirmation that something is ‘blown-out,’ or ‘bait.’ Then, despite looking down on such social practices, aesthetic and locations, going on to participate in it anyway for the mere reason that it is the lifestyle within their proximity.

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Substack


The Para-Social Relationship to Our Past Self


We cannot endlessly hate ourselves for failing to be someone we have never been. However, we can harbor self-criticism for not measuring up to our past selves, for losing our footing on the path to self-improvement.

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Cult Mag



Objects of Affection


We continue to overlook the fact that material items have the power to shape our experiences, access, and sense of self for the better. However, this phenomenon of great transformation doesn’t occur through grand purges. It happens through repetitive dedication—returning to an item again and again until it is worn down into something else entirely. 

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Truemag