The Wellness Report: UTI Pills, Snow White Bombs, & Lipstick Economics
- jennysmithmattfeldt
- Apr 9
- 4 min read
By JENNY SMITH MATTFELDT Published April 09, 2025
Welcome to The Wellness Report—the news to know from girl world, all in one place. From beauty trends and box office numbers to wellness headlines and economic outlooks, we’re rounding up everything you need to know this week, let’s get into it.
Say Hello to Blujepa
For the first time in 30 years, a new antibiotic has been approved to treat UTIs. Called Blujepa, it's now available for women and girls ages 12 and up dealing with uncomplicated UTIs—aka the most common kind, usually caused by E. coli.
Why does this matter? UTIs have become so frequent that women are becoming increasingly resistant to the usual go-to antibiotics, making it harder to treat recurring infections. So the approval of Blujepa is a big win, especially for the UTI girls who might be running low on options.
WNBA Players Talks of Strike
The WNBA is heating up off the court, too. In multiple recent interviews players including Angel Reese have been hinting they may be going on strike if they don’t start seeing more of the money they help bring in. The current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) can be opted out of after this season and it looks like the players are ready to do just that. The CBA is the official contract between the players and the league (aka the team owners) it lays out all the agreements for how much the players get paid, length of the season, types of travel, health and safety rules, revenue sharing, trades and free agency.
Why now? The league’s TV/media rights deals are also up for renegotiation, and early estimates say the next contracts could be worth 2 to 4 times more than the current ones. That means way more money on the table—and players want a bigger cut.
At the same time, the WNBA is reportedly still running a $50 million deficit every year. But with massive buzz around rookies like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, viewership, ticket sales, and League Pass subscriptions have skyrocketed, some numbers are up more than 150%. The NBA is still covering the league’s losses for now with an optimistic view on the leagues future. Basically, we’re watching the league try to level up in real time. Whether it leads to a strike or a fresh start, you're going to want to keep an eye on them.
Popeyes Was Thinking of the Girls
Popeyes just launched a Pickle-Themed Menu and let’s be honest—they made this for the girls.
We’re talking:
• Pickle Glaze Chicken Sandwich
• Pickle Glaze Bone-In Wings
• Pickle Glaze Boneless Wings
• Fried Pickles
• Pickle. Lemonade.
It’s giving salty, it’s giving summer, it’s giving girl dinner with a drive-thru. No word yet on how it actually tastes, but you we might have to risk it to try that lemonade.
Snow White's Not-So-Fairytale Box Office
Disney's live-action Snow White remake has had a rough go, both on and off the screen. Despite a massive production budget of $270 million—plus $140 million in promotional costs—the film has only managed to rake in $143.1 million worldwide. That’s a potential loss of around $115 million.
Their leading lady, Rachel Zegler, faced significant backlash during the film's promotion. Her brutal critiques of the original 1937 classic, along with outspoken political views on the Israel-Palestine conflict, rubbed a lot of people the wrong way and reportedly led to tensions with Disney insiders. There also seemed to be some behind-the-scenes tensions, as Zegler was vocal about supporting Palestine while her co-star, Gal Gadot, is from Israel and previously served in the Israeli Defense Forces.
The film had already created controversy before its release for replacing the iconic seven dwarfs with “seven magical creatures.” After they received horrible feedback the studio pivoted again, swapping them for seven CGI dwarves. On Marc Maron's WTF podcast, Peter Dinklage voiced his frustration that they didn't cast real actors with dwarfism:
"I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, but you're still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It makes no sense to me. You're progressive in one way, and you're still making that f*ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together—what the f are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? I guess I'm not loud enough."
In light of Snow White’s underwhelming performance, Disney has reportedly put other live-action remakes, like Tangled, on hold. It seems like as cultures pendulum started to swing away from left 'wokeness' Disney wasn't able to pivot their strategy in time. Looks like not every fairytale gets its happily ever after.
Lipstick Economics
Don’t let anyone tell you beauty and the economy aren’t connected. Historically, certain fashion and beauty trends have been pretty accurate markers for how the economy is doing. One of the most well-known examples is what Estée Lauder’s Leonard Lauder famously dubbed the lipstick effect—the idea that in tough times, women turn to smaller, feel-good luxuries (like a new lipstick) instead of splurging on big-ticket items. According to Forbes, Buxom, a brand known almost entirely for lip products, is projecting 23% growth by the end of 2024.
The trend extends into fashion, too. Enter: The Hemline Index. The theory suggests skirt lengths tend to reflect the economy—shorter in boom times, longer during recessions. While it’s not an exact science, the pattern has been observed since economist George Taylor coined it back in 1926. And sure enough, 2024 is bringing back knee-length and even full-length maxi skirts.
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