We didn't create Hot Tea because the internet needed another magazine or another blog. God knows we have enough content. Honestly, it started with us talking about all the things we wished existed in one place. The kind of stuff we'd send each other all day anyway: something we wanted to buy, an article that made us think, a very unnecessary opinion about someone's relationship, a new brand we found, or a random “wait... does everyone feel like this or is it just me?”

And at some point we were like... why don't we just make it?

We've wanted to work in fashion for as long as we can remember, which is funny because for most of that time we had absolutely no idea what “working in fashion” actually meant. We just knew we wanted in. Maybe we'd work at a magazine. Maybe we'd be stylists. Maybe we would start a brand.

And okay, maybe watching Sex and the City growing up didn't exactly help. We wanted Carrie's job, Samantha's confidence, Charlotte's ability to still believe in men after everything and, every now and then, Miranda's common sense.

Mostly, we just loved that their lives were about everything at once. Work, men, friends, clothes, sex, bad decisions, starting over... you know, the usual. It felt messy and fun and somehow made growing up look exciting.

(So, maybe we took notes)

Turns out, our conversations aren't that different. We've changed careers, moved countries, fallen in love, fallen out of it, bought things we absolutely couldn't justify and sent approximately 700 “am I crazy or...?” screenshots to our friends. Our group chats can go from “would you wear this?” to “do you think he likes me?” in about four minutes.

And somewhere between all of that, we started wondering why the things we were reading didn't really feel like the conversations we were actually having.

Because we love TikTok. We love Instagram. We could lose an embarrassing amount of time on Pinterest. And no, we're not about to tell you to delete everything, put your phone down and go touch some grass. Please. We'll probably be back on TikTok five minutes after writing this. But we're consuming SO much all the time. Someone's telling us what to buy, where to go, what's in, what's out, what every cool girl apparently owns now. I guess I just miss reading things that felt a little less “you need this” and a little more “wait, I've been thinking about this too.”

That's basically how Hot Tea happened. We wanted somewhere for the conversations we'd be having anyway. Fashion and beauty, obviously. The tiny brand we found and physically cannot gatekeep. But also relationships, friendships, careers, moving countries, changing your mind and all the random thoughts that start with “okay wait... can we talk about this?”

Sometimes we're questioning whether we actually want a relationship or we're just bored. Sometimes we're wondering why making friends as an adult is so weird. Sometimes we need to discuss a dress immediately. Real life doesn't stick to one topic, so why should we?

We wanted the kind of magazine we'd actually send to each other with “READ THIS, this is literally what I was trying to say.” The kind you open because you saw a dress you liked and somehow end up three articles deep thinking, okay wow, didn't need to be called out like that.

And we want you in it too. Tell us what you're obsessed with, what you can't stop thinking about, what you completely disagree with us on. Because honestly, it's way more fun when everyone has something to say.

Anyway... welcome to HotTea.

We have a lot to talk about.