The Perks of Being a Millennial

Consider this your excuse to have a Harry Potter movie marathon, turn up "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield, or if you're a baddie, "Boots with the Fur".

The early 2000s are coming back and honestly, I'm here for it.

It was the best time of my life and a huge inspiration for the RÜHL creative direction. It's been so much fun reminiscing on the good old days with Rik while talking through scent profiles, label designs, moods, and vibes. So if you remember my prediction from a few blogs ago when I said skinny scarves were coming back in, what I'm really saying is: RÜHL was ahead of the game!

I am so guilty of this, but I'm sure you also have a friend who is chronically online and always asks, "Did you see that video on social media?"

- Then it sounds like I'm referencing a Friends episode.

"You know the one with..."

And whether you have or have not, my description of vague details, random context, and a complete lack of chronological storytelling generally leaves you even more confused.

Well, I'm going to do that now.

Have you seen that video? The one where the street-style interviewer asks two Gen Z girls which generation was the least fashionable? And without hesitation they both said:

"Millennials. Because they had no style."

1. OUCH.
2. RUDE.
3. The irony is that both girls were wearing FREE CITY baggy sweatpants tucked into UGG boots. Quite literally the uniform of us millennials from 2003 to present.

As I've been deep in the nostalgia trenches on Spotify and Pinterest, sourcing inspiration for RÜHL, and realizing Gen Z may not fully understand the incredible impact we had on fashion and pop culture growing up in the early 2000s, I thought it would be fun to reminisce about a few things from the 2000s that made being a millennial at that time indescribable.

#1 The pre-game was essential.

Before going out, the pre-game was an absolute non-negotiable. Dream Matte Mousse was being passed around and applied regardless of the shade or gender. It was basically the Instagram Valencia filter for our faces. We may have had a little mousse blindness, but honestly we all looked so good. (Oh, youth...back when my metabolism was still on the clock and I could have cocktails(s) without being out of commission for 3-5 business days.)

#2 We spent our free time in tanning beds.

We may have looked so good because any extra 20 minutes in our day was spent in a tanning bed (or if you were real fancy, you'd be standing up with 360° UV bulbs surrounding you). My skin is aging just thinking about the damage I did, but it was a time of YOLO. For the most part, we were chasing a good time with absolutely no future in sight, and nothing delivered immediate results quite like a tanning bed golden glow.

#2.5 The smell.

Gen Z will never know the horrible smell of burning skin after said "fake bake".

#3 Our phones were basically for emergencies.

We had BBM, but we didn't have Google Maps. We had to go online, use MapQuest, and print out directions. And when we went out, there were no Ubers or Lyfts. We literally had to call yellow cabs.

It's even difficult for me to remember how I functioned like this. It sounds like prehistoric times. Somehow we made it work (and made it out alive) because we really, really loved going out.

#4 Speaking of going out, we went out A LOT.

Nightlife was having a major moment then, and every night had a designated hotspot that was always popping off. It was before everyone had a camera in their pocket, so celebrities could actually go out without worrying that every move would end up on social media five minutes later.

It was a great time to be in L.A.

#5 The music was so much better.

This sounds like something my grandpa would say, but I stand by it.

The early 2000s were such an experimental time in music. There was suddenly so much more technology to pull from, and not every pop song sounded exactly the same. It was the era of Britney, and I have to make special reference to Hillary Duff's Metamorphosis, which Rik and I listened to on repeat for what was probably an entire year.

We were also all very emo and alternative was in its prime. The playlists were chaotic, but somehow they made perfect sense. And they were the perfect soundtrack for all of our shenanigans.

#6 The fashion was wild.

The fashion was completely insane, but in such a cool way. There were obviously trends, but everyone really did their own thing, seemingly without access to a full-length mirror. What we lacked in function, we made up for in effort.

And I say this as someone who fully participated.

There is a photo of me somewhere from a night out where I am wearing shorts, cowboy boots, and American Apparel deep-V shirt, a vest, stacked statement necklaces (yes, not just one...multiple), and a newsboy cap.

Nowadays, everyone wears athleisure for any and every occasion. In the 2000s we were not thinking about comfort. Comfort was not part of the equation. I mean, this was the era of wearing jeans under dresses, layering tank tops, layering polos, multiple collars with collars popped (obviously).

And do you remember how uncomfortable it was wearing two stiff polo shirts? Nothing stretched. Nothing breathed. That is pure dedication!

#7 And lastly, I think we were the most iconic because everything we did then is cool now.

Instagram pages are starting to look like our Tumblrs. Laguna Beach and The Hills walked so every reality show could run. And Chateau is still the coolest place to go in Hollywood.

Which brings me right back to RÜHL.

Because what better scent to transport you back to all of it? The late nights, the digital cameras, the music, the chaos, the glamour..."that, for a few fleeting hours, everything felt infinite".

Chateau is basically all of that in a bottle.

And honestly, I haven't even scratched the surface...on the nostalgia of it all or how much I love RÜHL.

- Brett