Innehållsförteckning för Summer 2025 från Cosmopolitan

DEAR READERS, Is romance…dead? It’s a question I’ve also been asking myself lately. Because think about it: The most classic meet-cute might be waiting for you in line at your local coffee shop, but we live in a mobile-order era, so while your eyes are glued to your Instagram feed, it passes you by as you pick up your order. It can’t be natural to scroll, Like, and swipe this much—and it can’t possibly inspire the same intense spur-of-the-moment anecdotes I used to fantasize about when I was younger. (I was named after author Willa Cather, after all! I grew up on Alanis Morissette and Taylor Swift lyrics! But I’m a Cheerleader is still my all-time favorite movie!) After putting together this issue, I can now confirm that romance is…

When Beatrice Laus, best known as beabadoobee, released her third studio album, 2024’s This Is How Tomorrow Moves, she knew she’d unlocked something new within herself. The record, full of self-discovery, is the Filipino British musician’s most vulnerable yet. “For ages, I was so scared of stepping out of my comfort zone,” she says. “This album made me do it.” And it clearly resonated, hitting No. 1 on the UK’s Offcial Albums Chart and the top 10 of the U.S. Billboard album sales chart. Fans ate up tickets to her shows around the world. TikTok dances to her music made their way into virality. (“What the fuck! This song is about disappointing dudes!” she laughs about the famous dance to “Real Man.”) These days, beabadoobee is looking forward to keeping…

This book is similar to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, where you reinvented some genre norms. I like to write fantasy that has a single point of departure, because you essentially start with both feet on the ground in a known place and then move from there. And I think I approach tropes the same way. You’ve made vampires your own. What’s so different about them? My vampires do age, just on the inside instead of the outside. They wither and they decay morally, existentially, romantically until all that’s left is the urge to hunt. “The heart dies last” is part of that. The last piece to go for the vampire is also what was sustaining them emotionally. This excerpt introduces us to Sabine for the first time, and…

“I love this dish—it stands out on a table and is so fun to make with someone special.” STEAMED ARTICHOKES WITH MISO CITRONETTE INGREDIENTS STEAMED ARTICHOKES 2–3 bay leaves1 lime or lemon, sliced thinly2–4 globe artichokesfresh herbs and flaky salt for garnish MISO CITRUS CITRONETTE ¼ cup finely chopped green onion (green and white parts)1 tbsp. miso1 garlic clove, microplaned1 tbsp. Dijon mustard2 tbsp. lemon juice2 tbsp. lime juice1 tbsp. maple syrup1 tbsp. soy sauce (or coconut aminos)⅓ cup olive oil (or herb-infused oil)1 tsp. kosher salt PREPARATION 1. Take a large pot with a tight lid and fit it with a steamer basket and about 3 to 4 inches of water (the amount will depend on the size of your pot and basket). 2. Add the bay leaves and…

What is the most romantic gesture, like, ever? To me, big gestures mean less than someone showing up for you day after day. But! If you’re going to go for it, make sure the person will actually enjoy it. Some people want to be on the receiving end of a public flash mob; others would rather get a book with a personalized inscription. One thing I’ve always found wonderfully romantic is when people go out of their way to be with the one they love—a surprise red-eye flight, an overnight bus trip, a mad dash to see you during a four-hour layover. The most romantic gesture is the one that makes a person feel like a priority, not an option. How big of a red flag is it if you…

My trip to Vegas last spring was supposed to be about throw-back hip-hop and R&B vibes. My siblings, my best friend, and I had traveled to town for the Lovers & Friends Festival. Think Usher, Ciara, Nelly Furtado. But hours after we arrived, the event was canceled due to high winds. So we made alternate plans to see Lil Wayne at a club on the Strip. And in the midst of the chaos, something…well, someone unexpected happened. After my bestie and I split up to find a better vantage point to watch the show, I almost passed this guy who eyed me with lust and limerence. The wash of crimson light in the hallway might’ve been a warning sign if I’d had one less Hennessy and Coke. But we both…

Over the past few decades, countless cover stories have promised a reinvented Pamela Anderson. Our 1998 feature was no exception—and to be fair, the then-31-year-old was emerging from a lot. Her much-discussed divorce from rocker Tommy Lee was pending, as was her lawsuit against the company that stole their equally much-discussed sex tape. She was settling in to raising two kids under 2 while charging into her first post-Baywatch project, the action TV series V.I.P. Perhaps most important was what would turn out to be a lifelong commitment to regaining control of her own image. “I’m producing this show,” she said of V.I.P., “so I get to decide how ditzy [my character] acts. I get to decide when to put on a bathing suit. I get to decide if I…

GUSTAF WESTMAN Founder: Gustaf Westman Aesthetic: Cheeky and colorful homeware Fan Favorite: Chunky Cup and Saucer, $75 (right) Scandinavian style has always been covetable, but Westman’s funky, chunky home goods (which range from puffy planters to futuristic seats) have left design lovers drooling since he opened his Stockholm studio in 2020, shortly after completing his architecture degree. “I was working on some interior projects and designing custom furniture for them, and those pieces really caught people’s attention,” he says. Demand has skyrocketed in the years since, which Westman credits to Instagram and TikTok. “Social media feels like a democratic space where anyone can showcase what they do,” he says. “I wouldn’t have been able to do this without it.” It also helps that some of the platforms’ most famous faces…

A couple of years ago, when I lived in L.A., I met a cute guy named Todd* at a day bar. We hit it off and chatted until the sun set, agreeing to meet up for an official date the very next day. What followed was the most fun I’d had in a while: We got coffee, bonded over our shared wanderlust, and—after he told me about a recent trip to Thailand—exchanged Instagrams. “I had the best time and would love to see you again soon,” Todd said as we hugged good-bye. “Maybe dinner this week?” I couldn’t tame the butterflies in my stomach. But when I got home, I started to wonder how he would react to my Instagram. I posted regularly (at least once a week to nearly…

Despite what you might have been led to—or want to—believe, Amelia Dimoldenberg and actor Andrew Garfield are not dating. At least, not in any official capacity. “We…we, um…we’re friendly,” she says over lunch at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The lore behind their flirtation, which started in 2022, and the inevitable Amelia-Andrew episode of her viral YouTube show, which aired in 2024, could take up this entire magazine. She remains vague about just where their relationship stands now: “It’s been great to speak to him about how well the episode has done.” But that’s the magic formula behind her series: You really do believe they could be dating, in an “I’m giggling and kicking my feet while watching this” kind of way. For the uninitiated, Chicken Shop Date involves…

Robby, 35, writer, actor, comedian, and It Boy; Gabby, 34, TV personality and It Girl Years together: 2 Robby: It’s unbelievable what I’ve pulled here. She’s the biggest fish in the sea. Gabby: After our first date, she pulled over, turned on some music, and was like, “We’re gonna kiss.” Robby: If you like it, we continue. If you don’t, you go home. Why are we wasting any more time? Gabby: She knew I would like it, of course. Lauren, 34, model and TV host; Hayley, 36, filmmaker Years together: 2.5 Lauren: This is Hayley’s first time at BOOM. It’s always fun to be on top of the city for a night of partying. Hayley: We’re here supporting Willa Bennett’s first issue of Cosmo! Lauren: I’m so excited to see…

Doechii still gets scared. Sitting in her Los Angeles bedroom, with a gray hoodie on and her signature beaded cornrows, the 26-year-old is describing one of the last times nerves found her. She’d just been announced as the third woman in history to win the Grammy for Best Rap Album and she had not one bit of a speech prepared. Not because she didn’t believe she would win but because of a divine message she’d received. “Something in my spirit told me, You’ll know what to say when you get up there. Just trust me,” she recalls. “I think my speech was literally downloaded. It’s like my mouth was moving, but it wasn’t me speaking.” Whatever power fed her those words made a proclamation that resonated with millions, that will…

When I could be alone with my revelation, it was a gift. I felt lighter. Being alive took less effort. Decades of discomfort melted away. Being trans felt so perfect—I loved the energy it let me carry into every interaction. I was afraid of what would happen to my life as soon as I told anyone about this private joy. I had become a sponge for the stories of the trans community on Reddit and Instagram, and they didn’t make me feel optimistic. I felt dangerous, maybe a little poisonous. The potential damage my secret might cause only made it harder to carry alone. But to tell anyone was to start the predictable slow-motion tragedy: losing my marriage, being ostracized from family, and making myself a spectacle in my career…

KYLIE JENNER AND TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET LEO + CAPRICORN Sorry to everyone not actively shipping these two, but Kylie and Timmy just might be in it for the long haul. “All of his Capricorn placements fall in his 5th house, which governs romance, sex, and fun,” says astrologer Jake Register. And her Capricorn placements are in her 1st house, ruling everything that makes her who she is. Meaning: “Timothée just ‘gets’ her,” Register says. His Venus in Aquarius means he is able to easily draw out and celebrate all of her Leo traits. “And because they both have their Moons in water signs,” says Register, “they understand each other on a level beyond the superficial.” Plus, the North Node of Fate, which influences the future, “just began its year-and-a-half-long journey through…

The theme of the night was indie sleaze,” Tish says of the rager her best friend and maid of honor, Jazzy De Lisser, surprised her with in October 2022, weeks before Tish married stylist Tom Guinness in an 11th-century castle over Halloween weekend. “Jazzy kept the details minimal but told me to meet her at Chiltern Firehouse,” an iconic Central London hotel. There, Tish, author of How to Be a Goth, found a makeup artist, hairdresser, one-of-a-kind outfit, and plenty of champagne. Post-glam, the women headed to a restaurant called Langan’s: “I walked in thinking we were just having a drink, and then I see all my friends from throughout my life, from school to adulthood,” recalls Tish. Blow-up penises decorated the room and everyone was dressed to theme in…

Beyond the binaries of gay and straight, male and female lies a broad spectrum of identities. (All are real and valid, despite what certain executive orders or conservative talking points would have you believe.) And while people often assume that gender identity and sexual orientation are the same thing, they are, in fact, distinct, explains Shane Diamond, director of communications and advocacy at GLAAD. Gender is your innate sense of self, which may or may not align with your biological sex assigned at birth. Sexual orientation refers to the direction your romantic attraction takes—whether that’s toward people of the same, different, or all genders. Meanwhile, no one is beholden to just one gender or sexual orientation, explains queer therapist Shae Harmon. And some people may choose not to label their…