The Curation by Nour Hassan

Nour Monday Monologue [MM[: Curating Your Life & Finding Your Unique Voice in a Copy-Paste World

• Nour Hassan • Season 11 • Episode 146

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Authentic curation stands as a revolutionary act in a world drowning in sameness. What began as an intentional practice of selecting and editing life's experiences has morphed into a misunderstood buzzword—thrown around by brands without truly grasping its essence. But true curation runs deeper than aesthetic choices; it's about discernment, individuality, and the courage to express genuine opinions.

Growing up with parents who naturally curated everything from home décor to conversational topics, I developed an early appreciation for intentionality. This foundation revealed itself as invaluable in our current digital landscape, where algorithmic recommendations and influencer culture have created a disturbing phenomenon: people becoming indistinguishable clones of one another. 

The future belongs to voices with actual perspectives rather than those chasing viral moments. As social media evolves, audiences will gravitate toward curators who offer thoughtful selection rather than endless content. We're entering an era where personality matters again, where having taste and discernment will differentiate the voices worth following. My vision for curation extends beyond products to curating perspectives, ideas, and ultimately, a way of living that honors individuality.

I added a concise pre-summer essentials curation for you guys at the end!

Stay tuned for more on @thecurationpodcast. 

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Curation, a show for the culturally curious. This is your host, noor Hassan. Each week, I'll guide you through a curated edit of the finest in art, fashion, design, culture, luxury, wellness, tech and more. This is your go-to space for discovering trailblazing ideas, untold stories and meaningful conversations with innovators and creators who are shaping our world. There's no gatekeeping here, so sit back, tune in and let's discover only the best together, together. Hey, my loves. So I feel like it's been a minute since I've picked up the mic and spoken to you guys, and I really see your messages. I see everyone in public when you guys come up to me and ask me for more solo episodes. I understand that they're some of your favorite and I love that so much. I think the reason you guys love them is because they're uncut. So here is kind of a little bit of like a curation focused pre-summer catch-up episode. A lot has been going on. You guys, like I mean, really, if you're following on Instagram, you're going to see that I've dived very, very deep into the world of Pilates. I'm really excited to announce that I finally got my Legree official certification, which I'll do another full episode about the difference between Legree and classical Pilates and why this is relevant and cool and important and all of that. I'm just so proud to be the only trainer in my city right now, cairo, that has a certification in Legree and classical Pilates, math and reformer, so that's super special and I hope to be sharing that with you guys in classes soon. That's a big, big update. I also spent a lot of time in Dubai over the past month. I did a lot of interviews, including really cool interviews during Art Dubai, as well as some really interesting stuff in Saudi as well, but that will all come out very soon is the art of curation and, to be honest with you, I've noticed on social media that a bunch of brands over the past year have come up and sort of started using this word, and some are using it correctly, some are using it absolutely out of context, and I thought it would be interesting to kind of define what being a curator and what curating is to me. A lot of people ask me actually they're like Noor what does the curation mean? It's been a sort of first mover. I've talked about this a lot in the past and I love, love, love kind of diving deep into these things and introducing you guys to, like you know, new ideas and new topics and new concepts and breaking them down. So this episode is called the Art of Curation and I'm going to add a little summer edit at the end. So stay tuned and I hope you guys love it.

Speaker 1:

Curation and why does it matter, guys? Curation is basically intentionally selecting things and editing your life with every aspect of it. So, regarding everything in your life, you are editing and selecting and choosing based on your taste or based on the taste of people you trust. Now, taste is something that I really think is essential, but not everybody has it, and I really think you either have taste or you don't, and taste is something that similar to values I feel like you're raised with. So I grew up and my mom and dad were very naturally curatorial. They have so much taste, alhamdulillah, and they really really like, curated everything, from the food we ate to the like art in the house, to every single aspect of our lives, to what we wore, how we dressed, how we talked, everything, everything. Everything was so intentional, and so this is, I believe, how I ended up being obsessed with this idea of curation and editing.

Speaker 1:

And to filter is super important, because we live in so much noise in the age of social media and, to be honest with you guys, like I'm really tired of it, like if you are not jaded. To be honest with you guys, like I'm really tired of it, like if you are not jaded listening to and hearing the same soundtrack, the same song, the same, like 10 influencers talking about the same product, like I don't even know how you could still find that interesting and I don't think it's sustainable either. So in the age of, like, digital content, content it's not about more content, it's about better content. It's about picking the people who will show you what real taste and aesthetic is. It's about discernment. Discernment is a word that I've always loved so much. It basically means that you look at something and you analyze and you think is this worth my money, is it worth my time, is it worth my effort? And it's the same with people.

Speaker 1:

So the concept of curation is essential, and the reason I renamed my entire platform, which is huge and risky and everything, is because I was 100% aware of the trend that was coming in social media, which I'm going to get to in point number two, which is that the future of social media is in curation, and mark my words. This is exactly how it's going to go Basically. We're all very bored of seeing the same thing a million times and, instead of following influencers, we're going to follow individuals like myself who are tastemakers, people who have an opinion, who have character, who have taste and who are not afraid to tell you I love this, I hate this. I'm not buying the labubu or whatever is going on. I do not and will not be caught in butter yellow at any point because I'm a tan. You know, north African, middle Eastern girl, like why would I wear? Like no, I'm not gonna do that and, to be honest with you, I wouldn't recommend it and, like it depends on you. But the cookie cutter sort of copy paste situation that has been happening over the past three years, I feel really, really broke, like our attention span and our ability to digest ideas on social media. So audiences are going to follow people who know how to edit and that basically, simply, simply means we're going to go back to having a personality, guys, a character, an opinion, and that means that I'm going to follow people who I want to hear an opinion and that means that I'm going to follow people who I want to hear whose opinion I agree with, and also maybe a few who I don't agree with, because I like to mix it up. But I'm not just going to blindly follow every aesthetic grid that I see and try to like copy paste.

Speaker 1:

Like last summer, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I remember so clearly. I remember this is when I decided I'm going to change the name of my platform to the Curation, because this is what I do and this is what we need and this is the future. Like I said, I was standing on the beach in the north coast in Egypt and like I looked around me and I swear, every single girl looked copy paste, like copy paste. The one next to her Same hair clip, same bag, same skirt, same top, same entire outfit, same hairstyle, same makeup, same energy, everything, everything. And I just felt like, oh my God, we're becoming clones. This is not normal, it's not okay, it's not human even. And so the future is niche. Guys, audiences are going to trust the voice that they feel understands what, what true aesthetic is, and someone who's thought about what they're saying, someone who's not trying to go viral. You know what I mean and that is, in my opinion, viral. You know what I mean and that is, in my opinion, the future of social media.

Speaker 1:

And having explained what curation is, I'm going to tell you, for me, my personal as Noor, my definition of being a curator. So I think one of the most important things about the curation podcast is that, even in the episodes and in the guests that I select, I am curating a perspective for you guys. I'm not just curating like objects or makeup or art or design or all of those things. No, I want to curate a way of living for you. Okay, a lifestyle, ideas, energy, people, energy, people, aura, like how can you construct your life in a way where, as Rick Rubin says, you live in a way that sort of truly kind of embodies who you are and is edited and is individual and is unique and is rare and is as beautiful as each and every single one of you is? Because why would we all want to look the same?

Speaker 1:

And I pray that with this shift that's coming and I see all of these like curated by and like the curatorial and the cure, whatever, like I don't even care how copied and and repeated and repeated and common this word has become, because I'm so happy and proud to be again a first mover and bringing a concept that is going to really lock in on what's important, which is that we as people, we thrive, yes, in groups, but also as individuals, and if we all mesh together and become one person, I mean it's enough that we're all like dressing the same, but if also our characters and our ideas and our thoughts or everything is like copy pasted, then how are we gonna, how are we just gonna differentiate ourselves? How are you going to, in the future, meet someone who you think is interesting and fall in love? And no, no, if everyone is the same? So I remember in high school we all had like a girls group or whatever, and every single one of us was so different like it unreal, and I don't think that exists anymore and that makes me so sad. And I really think that building this platform and it's only just the beginning is going to hammer and solidify the idea that individuality wins. It's not about the cookie cutter aesthetic anymore, and if you want to win at the game of social media let's call it that you have to learn this and you have to follow us, and that's pretty much it, guys.

Speaker 1:

I mean those are the three main things I wanted to get across, like what is curation, the fact that it's the future and what curation is from my lens personally. So I thought it would be cool to do a little summer edit for you guys, like a little summer style curation, with a couple of products and things that I'm loving right now, and just add it to the end of this episode to make it a little bit fun and cool and things that know you guys can like, shop and write down and love. So the first thing I'm loving truly is the raffia bags trend, those like ash bags that are like made of like brown woven material, and I think Miu Miu has so many amazing ones. Loewe just came out with their Paula one. It's super cool.

Speaker 1:

And if you want something that's a little bit more casual and cool, obviously St Bart, like MC squared, st Bart has one and it's so good. They have a couple and I think they're very, very practical. They're beachy. You can go out with them. You can seamlessly go from like I don't know beach to like dinner to lunch, to breakfast, whatever, and it's not like an ugly beach, huge duffel. You know what I mean. I like the medium-sized ones. I have one huge bag and I think that's more than enough. I feel like in summer I kind of like to go more on the light side. I don't like to carry too much stuff. So that's my first thing.

Speaker 1:

Second thing you guys know is my super goop sunscreen. This stuff is a literal non-negotiable for me. It's incredible. It's literally so good. It's like never sticky, it's glowy, it's freaking spf that you can wear and like it feels like makeup, but it's not. And they just came out with like a tinted um, I think it's like a tinted base, but I still, I'm still with the sunscreen, the glow screen it's called. It's so good, you guys, and honestly, honestly, yeah, it's expensive, but it's so worth it. Like literally tons of girls have come up to me, um, after my pilates classes, whatever, and asked me like what is that glow? You know what I mean. And it's the super goop sunscreen.

Speaker 1:

Okay, refi brow sculpt it's a product that I love. It's so, I mean just so clean and useful and makes your eyebrows look amazing. The only issue with it is that it is a bit sticky, so it's a game changer for summer and the beach and whatnot, but like to get it off your brows. It's a bit of a hassle, not gonna lie. Okay, something I love for summer prep's not products but it is saunas and cold showers. I prefer cold showers over cold plunges. Cold plunges I would do every once in a while, but cold showers for me work really well, and I do a nice routine where it's like you go in the sauna for 15 minutes, cold shower for two minutes and repeat three times, maybe twice. Cold shower for two minutes and repeat three times, maybe twice. It's just such an energizer and amazing for recovery.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so if you guys haven't checked out meshki for summer dresses, I've been on every single website under the sun and I have yet to find a website or just like a brand that has better summer like wedding guest dresses, beach dresses every single occasion, dresses like Meshki. The only thing about it is that I think they deliver to the US and maybe to Europe. I believe they do deliver to Europe, but honestly, it's the most flattering cuts and silhouettes ever. The material is fantastic. Okay, and so my final thing is obviously going to be lip gloss or lip oil. I am obsessed with the Gizu lip oil, the original one. I also love the Summer Fridays one. I like the Laneige. I've heard it's really good. I've tried it once. I think a good lip oil for summer and a good lip liner are pretty much all you need, really, if you have a brow sculpt and a tinted sunscreen and you are good to go for literally the rest of the summer. And yeah, that's pretty much it. Guys, listen, I'm going to do a nice edit for you, a curated edit for the rest of my summer essentials.

Speaker 1:

But this episode was a bit more of a catch up and I really want to end it by saying that I think the one thing we should aim for this summer is to like embrace who we are, embrace your personal style, try to differentiate yourself, girls like. Try and think of, like okay, so what do I actually love wearing? You know like, what am I into, what's my style, and present yourself as such. Because, to be honest with you, I think summer is one of the best seasons to really bring out that like, cool, quirky, edgy side of you in terms of fashion, in terms of aesthetic, in terms of everything, and that's so freeing. So I would just take full, full advantage of that. And, yeah, I hope you guys have a beautiful end of May and an amazing summer to come, and we'll catch up again soon. Bye, guys. Remember to follow at the curation pod on Instagram, as well as at Noor Hassan, in order to stay updated on all of our content and future interviews.