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Coffee Break: Square Stud Earrings

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square stud earrings with a labyrinthine/maze pattern

I like these unusual square stud earrings, both for the “rough-hewn swirls” as well as the unusually large size (.5″ square).

Nordstrom notes that these are 24k-gold or silver plate (depending on which color you get).

The earrings are $28, and have 18 really great reviews so far. Reviewers love how lightweight the earrings are “yet substantial to look at.”

Sales of note for 3/15/25:

  • Nordstrom – Spring sale, up to 50% off
  • Ann Taylor – 40% off everything + free shipping
  • Banana Republic Factory – 40% off everything + extra 20% off
  • Eloquii – 50% off select styles + extra 50% off sale
  • J.Crew – Extra 30% off women's styles + spring break styles on sale
  • J.Crew Factory – 40% off everything + extra 20% off 3 styles + 50% off clearance
  • M.M.LaFleur – Friends and family sale, 20% off with code; use code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
  • Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
  • Talbots – 40% off 1 item + 30% off everything else (includes markdowns, already 25% off)

78 Comments

  1. Thanks for posting these – they’re very much my mom’s style and I hadn’t bought a Mother’s Day gift yet!

  2. The weekend comments made me paranoid so at brunch yesterday I made my daughter, my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law smell my hair. I had last washed it on Tuesday evening. My mil thought it smelled fine and really didn’t understand why I was making her smell my hair, my sil thought it smelled like the beach, and my daughter identified the shampoo, which has coconut in it, and is not the shampoo I used when she lived at home. I think I can continue to skip a few days of shampooing.

    1. I would say you’re the exception, not the rule. Most people’s 5-day hair is freaking gross. If it doesn’t look gross, it definitely smells gross.

        1. You probably don’t know a lot of people with “ethnic” curly hair then. You seem to be assuming everyone is white.

        2. Okay, but how would you know? The people with perfectly fine five-day hair out there aren’t going to stand out to you. I have no dog in this fight; my hair type looks best to me when I wash it every day, but I find these pile ons so weird.

          1. Right – there are a ton of (white) women here assuming what would work & wouldn’t work for them applies to everyone.

          2. I think that if you aren’t white and don’t wash hair daily, you just live your life and it’s not new for you and it is also fine. These threads seem to be about white women trying to make a case for going longer between washes as if it is a great discovery and a life hack. For some of us, we wash daily for a good reason. Daily shampoo was not a fix for me, an oily girl with very oily fine hair.

        3. How do you know? It’s not like most people are telling you when they washed their hair last.

          1. Of the people who announce it, obviously. Or the people with clearly greasy, smelly hair. That doesn’t scream “washed yesterday.”

          2. I guess? My sweat smells whether I sweat it five days ago or five minutes ago. Even if I showered that morning, I might be a sweaty, greasy mess if I had to be out in the heat.

            Meanwhile my friend can get her hair done at the salon and it looks (and smells) fresh and new a week later. I think people just imagine they can tell things they can’t really tell. Maybe the person with smelly hair washed their hair that morning or maybe it had been three weeks.

    2. The people who love us don’t want to hurt our feelings. I can believe that your personal hair truly didn’t smell, but in general, it’s very hard to get people to tell you to your face that you smell or that your hair looks dirty.

      I can also understand that there are some women out there with extreme skin sensitivity who truly cannot wash their hair every day, but that isn’t everyone and I really don’t get the resistance to frequent washing. It’s a little annoying, yes, but it’s not THAT hard.

      1. This is family dependent. My loved ones would have no problem being honest about smelly hair. Or me shaving (or not) my legs, or if they hated my outfit. Everything is fair game when advice is sought.

      2. Yeah this is 100% family dependent because if I asked my mom/sister/whoever for a “hey, tell me for real, is my natural deodorant cutting it/my washing machine mildewy/my hair need washing?”, and later found out they were lying to spare my feelings, I’d be pretty cranky about /that/.

    3. I think it’s so weird how insistent people are about this. I personally have the world’s oiliest hair and can barely go 24 hours between washes, so it definitely never gets a chance to smell, but different people have different hair and different body chemistry. Some people should wash their hair more, others are fine. If you really can get away without washing, more power to you!

      2. I think the anti-hair-washing trend, especially among wealthy white women, is an offshoot of the “optimization”/”hack your life” movement. Someone spread the misguided idea that washing your hair is bad for it, and all the “girlbosses” picked up on it and got into the competitive sport of seeing how long they could last without washing their hair.

        1. This. I find it so weird how there was this big trend of trying to “train” your hair to go longer without a wash–like bad hygiene was some sort of feat.

          If your hair is straight and you don’t spend much time outside, hang around stinky food, exercise, sleep on non-fresh bedsheets, and use a bunch of dry shampoo to try to absorb the ick, then, sure, you may fall into those who have hacked life. But there sure are a lot of other folks out there in elevators, office meetings, store lines, and on transit that smell in a way that says quite otherwise. It’s sort of like the smell of stinky kids. It’s not BO, but it’s not pleasant. Those of us who are a little taller than you smell it all too often. Just awful.

        2. Right – I don’t think anyone is disparaging women of color or anyone who truly has a medical reason to not wash frequently. This whole conversation is a commentary on the competitive “let’s see how long I can go with dirty hair” game that rich white women with access to gorgeous showers are playing.

        3. Yeah, this is like my mentor at a prior law firm who humble-bragged that she was so busy she hadn’t been to the dentist in 7 years because she had kids. Not taking care of yourself isn’t impressive, it’s moderately disturbing and makes me question your judgment.

    4. What’s weird to me is how sometimes women post these long, involved protocols of how to deal with X day hair, and I’m like, Surely it is easier and healthier to just WASH your hair, instead of caking on dry shampoo? Certainly there are people who don’t need to wash every day, but if your X day hair routine takes longer than a quick shower and shampoo, maybe rethink things?

      1. I tried dry shampoo and skipping days when I was on maternity leave. It was a lot of work and I hated how gritty my hair felt. It also looked horrible and smelled (oily hair smell + product smell). It was easier and quicker to just wash my hair and it looked and smelled better, too. Even at 50, my skin and hair are probably in the 99th percentile for oiliness.

      3. OP here. The only product I use on my hair is shampoo. I’ve never used dry shampoo or really anything else. I’m handicapped and lifting my arms above my head for long periods of time is difficult. I wash my hair about every 5 to 6 days and rinse it about every 2 to 3 days.

    5. I have chronic sinus issues and I can smell the smell of oily scalp (and hair and pillows and couch pillows that get slept on and never washed) tragically many places I go these days. I get it if you are a through-hiker on the AT. But I have an office job and live in a major city.

      1. I went on a five-night rafting trip and people there washed their hair in cold water buckets (not daily, but at least once). When there’s a will, there’s a way.

          3. Maybe you could move to the moon or something so human beings stop bothering you with their bodies.

      2. So I’m wrong to wash my hair and wrong to not wash it. Sorry for existing.

        It’s not like they could smell it when I entered the room, I invited them to smell my hair.

    7. I wash my hair every day but I don’t even know what “dirty” hair itself smells like.

      1. The smell will vary depending on why the hair is dirty. But the dirty hair that comes to mind is basically fat gone off, the oils of the body will be very … concentrated and distinctive if it’s off, and it gets more concentrated by time. The fats of the scalp can become stale and give off a distinct rancid smell. Have you ever had a plaster cast or a bandage kept for days? That smell from beneath the cast, that is the same rancid body smell.

        I’m of the smelly ones, but I can absolutely see that people with lower scalp fat will smell less.

    8. I’m not militant about it, but I wash my hair maybe 5 times a month. It’s fine. If I work out a lot or spend time in an odor intense environment—camp fire or kitchen, I wash more regularly. Everyone’s hair is different and even specific hair is different depending on activities, food eaten, or time of year. In no universe will I wash my hair every day. It’s like my least favorite activity and I swear I need time to recover after doing it.

      1. Yeah my hair is super dry and it would be a straw-like mess if I washed it every day. It’s also curly, and you don’t wash curly hair every day. Wet it yes, but not wash.

        I did wash it every day when I was younger and my scalp was oily, but those days are well behind me. I’m currently an every 2-4 day washer, probably most often every 3 days. If I work out to the point of being sweaty, usually in the kitchen, then I wash it.

    9. Hair or scalp? I have long hair and the actual strands will smell fine, but my scalp smells pretty quickly.

    1. I have blinds dot com blackout cellular shades and they are great. You have to measure correctly so that the shade covers the max possible of your window to avoid light peeking through the sides.

        1. My mother had thick drapes over thick shades in her house to save money on AC. Once our neighbors assumed we were traveling because they couldn’t see a drop of light from our house.

      2. I also have these and they work great. There is the small gap on the sides like all blinds/shades, but I have curtains hanging on either side of the window that block those gaps.

      4. We have these from blinds.com too. To the person who said they don’t have “white” – I’m not sure what you mean. Ours are as close to white as you can get. Maybe they’re like slate or a blue white, but they’re definitely white. They also offered these wraparound things to make the room completely dark, but we didn’t think those were necessary (we have a lot of trees that filter the light).

  4. Something I’ve been wondering about: People here post about reapplying sunscreen during the day, I assume they mean on their face. How do you do that if you wear makeup on your face? Do you just apply the sunscreen and assume it will just mix in with your makeup? Or do you have to reapply the makeup, too?

    I understand if one is at the beach and not wearing makeup, but I can’t figure out how this works in every day life.

    1. When I worked in the office I didn’t regularly reapply. But now I work from home and do reapply because I take walks as breaks. I focus on my chest/neck and the backs of my hands first, which obviously don’t have makeup on them.

      Then I take a normal facial amount of my sunscreen (Asian), rub it between my palms, then just press it onto my facial skin. I also get my ears and the back of my neck if my hair is up. I do have BB cream and blush on my face and just apply right over it with the pressing motion. It’s fine.

      It would be a disaster if I were using a zinc or titanium white-cast type sunscreen, but I’m not. I’m using the Japanese Biore UV at the moment, which is more like a thin lotion, so it makes it much easier to really. I use the three finger lengths method for figuring out the right amount (1/4 tsp) for my face.

    2. Over makeup, I reapply with a spray sunscreen made for the face. Some people use powder sunscreens. If I’m going to be outdoors, like hiking or skiing or at an amusement park, I don’t wear foundation because it would get all sweaty anyway, and I reapply cream sunscreen frequently.

    3. I rarely need to do this (I WFH), but in a pinch I will spray sunscreen on my face while closing my eyes tightly. Normally I don’t spray directly on my face.

    4. I have a stick sunscreen that I use if I’m applying post-makeup. I don’t love it so I’m in the market for a new one, but a stick is a good option for this situation!

    5. This is honestly a large part of why I’ve never worn makeup! Sunscreen seemed more important and I could never figure out how to combine the two in a way that looked good and didn’t mess up the sun protection. You have to be very careful about combining makeup with physical sun protection with chemical sunscreens. It can render them much less effective.

      1. I don’t even bother believing the SPF claims on any form of makeup. I put a chemical sunscreen on and let it dry down a bit before I put on any sort of face makeup.

        Here’s Lab Muffin talking about SPF in makeup:

        https://youtu.be/_vHOnrE-urE?si=kHhi4Bj7dXVWv-0w

        She also has great videos on applying both sunscreen and makeup, as well as touching up sunscreen over makeup.

        1. I agree you should use something that’s sold as sunscreen not makeup with SPF, but that’s not the only issue. A lot of makeup has zinc oxide that destabilizes the most common UV filter in chemical sunscreens sold in the US. I’m not sure if that’s the only problematic compound or if there are others, but it seems really complicated to figure out how to safely combine makeup with SPF. And because sun damage can show up years later, you can think you’re ok and not know that there’s a problem until it’s way too late.

    6. There are sunscreen powders that go on like regular powder. Or you can use a setting spray that has sunscreen in it.

  5. Anyone have suggestions for a London short stay apartment? Looking at doing a last minute trip in June for 5-7 days for 4 of us. Need kitchen for food prep but okay with one bedroom and sofa bed. Doesn’t have to be 2 bedroom.

    Prefer Kensington (ish) area but open to Fulham or other areas.

    3. They look to me like 90s computer graphics. Like these in hot pink would have been at the corner of a Fashion Designer game. Other designs would have been in teal and purple.

      1. Exactly that!
        Speaking of 90’s computer graphics, I found hats with the Encarta95 and KidPix logos embroidered on them. They’re from Polychrome Goods.

    1. Lots of different prints available for this one:

      https://www.amazon.com/Ekouaer-Womens-Swimsuit-Beachwear-Coverups/dp/B0CBNZL3XS/ref=sr_1_23?crid=2OX2FG3K57HVF&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.yY1QXOVPl369kmMDkr40enjlkes6hQZ4vRuc53edcvg4NsoASdURKAvh6zghW93wjzWmVF5CE7SFkVD5fCQz4S893_QbS1uUO-nhaXH80CZg-wJRmBFNxDcIM0h7_VSszTCY5bfSOwVWU5WCADw8F0-3PIX3JNFEZVxurwYeghUzHBZBjsA4LTp7LNGxPI2J5oX8Re8bd1BorGpWO8a6D01aaN1RqAdexQ2p3DFAGmSk-iuetxqSGo-u7CQ2LML7UR9HAnkyxSTysAh_eZmrTFlhSKq25gbxWnSq6egx0N8.SNfdMkFNf2tRf5BQEZBe7I4lx9r5uno8wIuVplG2bKE&dib_tag=se&keywords=beach%2Bcover%2Bup%2Bprint&qid=1715028614&sprefix=beach%2Bcover%2Bup%2Bprint%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-23&th=1

      1. I have three of these and bought them for my friends. They hold up well in the wash and look cute on everyone from short, round me to my tallest, willowiest friend. There’s probably about twenty different patterns if you search.

    3. Rue La La and Gilt tend to have Roller Rabbit last season stuff that’s similar to that (and really my favorite for the beach because it’s so soft) really marked down. I’d look there. J Crew and JCF often have good Colton beach stuff too.

    5. Shoppremiumoutlets.com has a bunch of prior season swimwear; I just ordered a coverup for under $ 50 from a good brand.

  8. Thread jack: Can anyone recommend some places to look for business card holders? Thanks!

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