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How to Choose the Perfect Hair Straighteners

Our Culture Mag & Partners
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How to Choose the Perfect Hair Straighteners

No two hair straighteners are made the same, making it challenging to find the perfect straighteners for your hair. Thousands of straighteners, all claiming to be the best with conflicting reviews, don’t help your case either, leaving you frustrated and unsure where to turn. Luckily for you, we are here to help! Today, we walk you through how to choose the perfect hair straighteners, with every feature you need to consider to narrow your choice.

Consider What You Want from Hair Straighteners

First, consider what you want from the hair straighteners. Do you want straighteners that will only straighten your hair? If so, there are plenty of options to choose from, and you don’t need to worry too much about additional features. However, if you want straighteners you can use to add waves or curl your hair, consider ones with curved edges. These will help you achieve the perfect wave for fast and consistent results.

If you are looking for a one-stop styling tool, it’s worth considering wet-to-dry straighteners too, which allow you to dry and straighten damp hair at once, while adding some volume. You have plenty of options to choose from, so consider carefully what you want from the tool.

Consider Your Hair Type

Next, consider your hair type to determine what you need from the straightener. Each hair type has different needs, and you should consider these to ensure you make the right choice.

Curly Hair

Curly hair needs a straightener that can move over curls without damaging them. You will want one with adjustable heat settings that ensure you aren’t using too much or too little heat to style. Look for straighteners with motion-responsive technology too, which adapts to your styling movements and adjusts the heat as needed.

Wavy Hair

Wavy hair works well with most straighteners, but pay attention to those that are designed for all hair types and textures. Those that offer smoothing technologies or feature ceramic plates can help prevent frizz when straightening.

Straight Hair

Any straightener will work well with straight hair, but you will want to look for those with adjustable heat settings, as you likely won’t need much heat to straighten your hair.

Consider Your Hair Length

You should also consider your hair length to ensure the straightener plates will be long enough to heat your hair. The longer and wider the plates are, the more hair you can straighten at once; large plates are ideal for those with long or thick hair. Most people with long hair will still need to section their hair when styling it, but using longer or wider plates will reduce the number of sections required.

For shorter hair or those looking to style fringes, look for straighteners with a compact design or shorter plates. These will be easier to style through your short hair, and they will also provide greater control, ensuring accuracy when styling.

Consider the Features You Want

Finally, consider the features that you want from the hair straighteners. Consider your hair needs and the styles you want to achieve to ensure the straighteners are suitable for your requirements.

Some of our favourite features to look out for include:

  • An automatic shut-off – which turns your straighteners off after periods of inactivity, so you don’t need to worry about forgetting to turn them off when you leave the house or burning your fingers on the edges
  • Fast heating up time – to allow you to get to work styling your hair in seconds
  • Shine control – which is usually added as a coating to the plates to help you achieve a shiny style every time
  • Frizz control – is worth looking for if you have wavy hair to ensure a smooth style
  • Adjustable heat settings – help you find the perfect temperature for styling your hair without worrying about damaging it
  • An extended cord – allows you to move around freely when straightening your hair, and you don’t need to worry about being too close to plug sockets
  • An extended warranty – provides you with peace of mind, knowing that should anything go wrong, you will be protected. Some brands will allow you to extend the current warranty, too, for a small fee

Find Your Perfect Hair Straighteners Today

Making the considerations we have outlined above will allow you to easily narrow your choice and find the perfect hair straighteners for your hair. When looking for your new straighteners, we recommend checking out GHD. They offer a wide range of straighteners, including wet-to-dry and cordless models for on-the-go styling! Head to GHD to find salon-quality straightening tools today.

How to Give Kind Feedback in Fan Communities

Our Culture Mag & Partners
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How to Give Kind Feedback in Fan Communities

Kind feedback in fan communities helps conversations move forward instead of shutting them down. The real challenge is sharing an honest reaction while still leaving room for the creator or fellow fan to feel respected and heard. When feedback is thoughtful, people stay engaged, ideas evolve, and the community feels worth participating in.

Imagine a comment thread moments after a new trailer, episode, or design reveal drops. Emotions run high, opinions come fast, and tone gets lost easily. One careless line can turn a discussion sour, while a well-framed response can invite better takes from everyone watching. The difference often comes down to intent, timing, and choosing language that responds to the work itself rather than the person behind it.

Why Feedback Can Feel Heavier Than Intended

Online conversations strip away tone, facial cues, and context. A sentence meant as neutral can land as sharp, especially when someone associates their identity with their creative output or fandom role. Some people also experience heightened emotional reactions to criticism, even when it is mild or practical.

Learning about managing Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria challenges can help explain why small wording choices matter so much in fan spaces and why thoughtful delivery often determines whether feedback sparks growth or shutdown.

This awareness does not mean walking on eggshells. It means communicating with intention.

Talk About the Work, Not the Person

Separating the work from the individual is one of the most effective ways to keep feedback constructive. In fandom spaces, identity and output often blur together, which makes personal language risky.

Ways to keep feedback work focused include:

  • Referring to specific scenes, mechanics, lyrics, or design choices
  • Describing impact rather than assigning intent or character
  • Avoiding global judgments about talent, intelligence, or values
  • Acknowledging effort even when pointing out issues
  • Separating personal taste from objective critique by clearly stating what preference is
  • Using neutral, precise language that explains what felt off or confusing

This approach reduces defensiveness without diluting honesty.

Clarify Your Purpose Before Commenting

Kind feedback starts with a pause. Before typing, take a moment to identify the purpose behind the comment. Feedback without a clear aim often reads as noise or frustration.

Useful intent checks include:

  • Deciding if the goal is discussion, improvement, appreciation, or setting a boundary
  • Asking if the comment contributes something new to the conversation
  • Considering the emotional state of the thread during launches, finales, or updates
  • Thinking about how the message might read to someone skimming quickly

Clear purpose leads to clearer language.

Be Specific So Feedback Feels Grounded

Vague criticism leaves room for misinterpretation. Specific feedback shows care and attention, which changes how it is received.

Strong examples of specificity include:

  • Mentioning a particular moment
  • Explaining what worked or did not work and why
  • Sharing how it affected your experience as a fan
  • Offering an optional suggestion instead of a directive
  • Clarifying the context in which the issue showed up

Specificity turns opinion into information.

Pay Attention to Timing

Even the most carefully worded feedback can fall flat when it shows up at the wrong moment, since timing shapes how a message is received just as much as the words themselves. Thoughtful contributors often wait for initial reactions to cool before sharing deeper critiques, choose private messages for sensitive points when that option makes sense, and avoid adding to public pile-ons when someone is already under visible pressure.

Awareness of community norms also matters, especially around spoiler windows, reaction threads, and designated spaces for critique. Taken together, these choices show respect for the people involved and for the shared space everyone is trying to enjoy.

Shape Tone Without Weakening the Message

Tone carries meaning long after the words are read. Small adjustments can keep feedback from sounding final or dismissive.

Ways to soften tone while staying direct include:

  • Opening with what you appreciated or found interesting
  • Using first-person language to describe your experience
  • Asking sincere questions that invite dialogue
  • Closing with curiosity or encouragement rather than judgment
  • Avoiding sarcasm, exaggeration, or humor

Tone invites conversation instead of ending it.

Kind Feedback Strengthens Fandom Culture

Fan communities last when people feel safe to share opinions without fear of humiliation. Kind feedback does not avoid criticism. It delivers it with clarity, respect, and awareness of context. Research on digital communities shows that specificity and tone shape participation more than intensity alone.

When fans and moderators communicate with care, discourse stays sharp, creativity stays welcome, and communities remain places people want to return to.

From Scorsese Sets to Cannes Red Carpets: Costume Designer Yi-Lun Chien’s Journey in Dressing the Screen

Abbie Wilson
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From Scorsese Sets to Cannes Red Carpets: Costume Designer Yi-Lun Chien’s Journey in Dressing the Screen

In the world of cinema, costume design is more than just fabric; they are narrative devices, silent storytellers that define character, era, and emotion. For Yi-Lun Chien, a costume designer in Los Angeles, the journey of dressing the screen is one of grit, historical accuracy, and profound empathy. With a resume that spans from the epic historical sets of Martin Scorsese’s Silence to the glitzy premieres of the Cannes Film Festival, Chien has established herself as a formidable force in the industry, blending rigorous technique with a deep understanding of the human condition.

Lessons from a Master: The “Silence” Film Experience

For many aspiring costume designers, working with a legendary director like Martin Scorsese is a distant dream. For Chien, it was a defining chapter in her twenties. Reflecting on her time as a wardrobe assistant on the 2016 film Silence, Chien recalls an environment that demanded precision and endurance.

“I was eager to gain as much experience as possible while I was in my twenties,” said Chien. “I took on projects as a costumer, assistant costume designer across feature films, TV series, commercials, and photoshoots. And I was fortunate to be part of the costume team for Silence, directed by Martin Scorsese.”

While the film depicts 17th-century Japan, a significant portion was shot in Chien’s hometown of Taiwan. Her role was crucial yet often behind the camera. “I was one of the wardrobe team members primarily responsible for dressing the Japanese supporting actors, sometimes large numbers of background actors depend on the scene we’re shooting,” she explains. “I first learned how to accurately dress actors in period Japanese costumes for different social status and occupation.”

The job went beyond simple dressing; it was an exercise in historical immersion. Chien notes the rigorous requirement to age and distress costumes to ground the film in the harsh reality of the era. “One thing left a strong impression on me was how rigorously these costumes were required to be aged and distressed, which fully grounded the harsh living environment of the 17th-century,” she says. It was a lesson in how texture and wear can convey a story just as effectively as dialogue.

The Reality of the Hollywood Set: Muddy Boots and Pre-Dawn Calls

The allure of Hollywood is all about the image of glamour, but Chien is quick to dispel the myth. Working on a big-budget film set is a test of physical and mental stamina.

“Working in film is definitely not as fancy as you might imagine,” she admits. “The story for Silence was set in the 17th century. Many days felt like working nowhere in the wilderness in the built village sets, stepping in mud during rain scenes and dressing actors at 3 a.m. in order to be ready to shoot when the sun came up.”

However, the grueling hours and harsh conditions are balanced by unique rewards. “What made the experience unforgettable was that the film brought you to places you might never have thought you would be, allowing you to see inspiring nature you had never experienced before,” Chien adds.

The Art of Teamwork and the Path to Design

Chien’s career trajectory is a testament to the power of climbing the ladder through every step. She has served as a costumer on projects ranging from the Golden Horse Award-winning series The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful to Moneyboys, which was nominated for an award at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

These roles were not just jobs; they were education. “Being a costume designer is about much more than just creativity,” Chien observes. “My experience working as a set costumer gave me a complete understanding of how a production operates, how to communicate and coordinate with the team, and how to anticipate problems that might arise on set.”

Her time on The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful was particularly pivotal. While working as a costumer, she observed the lead designer’s process—selecting fabrics, shaping silhouettes, and interfacing with directors. This exposure inspired her to seek formal training, taking fashion extension courses and eventually attending graduate school for costume design. “I think these experiences are important because it all really requires team work, and you also learn how to manage budgets at different levels of production.” she notes.

From New York Streets to Cannes Premieres

Chien’s recent work showcases her versatility as she continues her journey as a costume designer. Her commitment to each project goes far beyond the rack. As a Costume Production Assistant on Lucky Lu, she immersed herself in the city to understand the protagonist’s world. Directed by Lloyd Lee Choi and produced by Significant Productions, the film explores the struggles of immigrants and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, earning nominations for the Caméra d’Or and the Directors’ Fortnight Audience Award.

“Roaming the freezing streets for pickups and returns was tough, but I learned where to find rental houses, where to find reliable seamstresses and, most importantly for me, to feel the speciality vibe of the tough but inspiring city,” she says. “These physical experiences connected me deeply with the story of Lucky Lu, a story that depicts the struggles and hopes of immigrants.”

Chien’s 2024 and 2025 slate is packed with high-profile projects. She served as the Key Costumer for Weekend in Taipei, produced by EuropaCorp. Her design work can be seen in the USC short film Goodbye Stranger, which was long-listed for the 2025 BAFTA Student Awards, and SOMANG, which received recognition at the 2025 L.A. Independent Filmmakers Showcase Film Festival.

She is also a driving force behind the scenes of the booming vertical mini-series market, serving as Costume Designer for titles like In Bed with Your Lies and Infatuated with the CEO on ReelShort, and Love, Lies, and Alibis on Vigloo.

The Label Takes Over

Abbie Wilson
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The Label Takes Over

Curators: Zhuoqi Liu, Yu He

Opening Date: 09 January 2026

The exhibition “The Label Takes Over” originates from curator Zhuoqi Liu’s observation of a recurrent dissonance in contemporary exhibition practices: the disparity between the narrative intrinsic to the artwork and the narrative constructed through its packaging—such as labels, catalog texts, and promotional materials. In the contemporary art market, Zhuoqi Liu argues that the value of artworks has been displaced by artificial narratives, thereby depriving them of their own language.

The installation view of “The Label Takes Over”. The artwork is from: Artist: Anton Strunge Citizen of the Russian Federation (2025)

Drawing on Heidegger’s notion of “Insichstehen” (standing-in-itself), the exhibition posits that an artwork, in its essence, should be by itself—its meaning and value residing within its own presence rather than being derived from external determinants such as the artist’s biography, intended function, or specific context of display.

The installation view of “The Label Takes Over”. The artworks are from: Artist: Minxuan Shao An ordinary day out (2025) （The first left one) Artist: Dorrothyyyer Entre Luces y Pausas (2025) (The second left one)

In contemporary art systems, however, the value of an artwork is frequently mediated and even constituted by paratextual information: the artist’s credentials, institutional recognition, market performance, and curatorial narration. This mediation, the exhibition suggests, may be interpreted as a mechanism of capitalist commodification, wherein the artwork’s autonomy is systematically appropriated by commercial and discursive packaging.

The installation view of “The Label Takes Over”. The artwork is from: Artist: Xiran Zheng The sauce is better than the fish (2024-2025)

In response, curator Yu He created a virtual exhibition space, employing a minimalist approach to construct the exhibition environment in order to remove, as much as possible, supplementary narratives attached to the artworks themselves. Furthermore, through an ironic method, background information about the artists was extensively added to the exhibition labels, which were made equal in size to the artworks.

This inversion of visual hierarchy shows how the commodified value of art—its résumé, awards, and market endorsements-often replaces the work’s intrinsic value, revealing the art market’s dependence on symbolic capital (Bourdieu, 1986). Through its spatial intervention, it prompts a reconsideration of artistic subjectivity within contemporary institutional frameworks. Drawing on Bourdieu’s concept of the field of cultural production, where artistic autonomy is in structural tension with market forces, the exhibition renders this tension spatially, examining how artists negotiate dominant market discourses while preserving the independence and diversity of their practices.

The list of the descriptions of the artworks:

1) Artist: Sihong Liu Nvshu-Zi Zhou (2023-2024)

The work extends the exploration of language and identity into the sphere of gendered
expression and collective memory. Rooted in Jiangyong, Hunan — the only place in the world where a written language created and used solely by women has survived — the work draws inspiration from Nüshu, a script born out of silence yet filled with resilience. By transforming written marks into form, the piece contemplates how women have woven connection and continuity through subtle acts of creation within systems that limited their voice. It asks how expression can persist, evolve, and find new constellations of meaning across time.

2) Artist: Yingdi Wu Totemic Silence (2024)

Totemic Silence questions how sacred symbols from shamanic culture become aesthetic
commodities under modern visual systems. The textile piece, resembling a ritual banner,
reflects the museumification and loss of vitality in indigenous spirituality, turning the sacred
into a decorative label within globalized art discourse.

3) Artist: Minxuan Shao An ordinary day out (2025)

This work uses dislocated and over-replicated visual symbols to expose how hiddenpower
structures shape the body and subjectivity. As a parallel response to theexhibition’s “capital
discipline,” it shifts the lens to gendered discipline, immersingviewers in lavers ofgaze that
echo the discomfort and absurdity ofoversized label.overshadowing artworks.

4) Artist: Dorrothyyyer Entre Luces y Pausas (2025)

Infrasonorous consciousness refracts through algorithmic breath-syntax dissolves into data
luminal recursion; the soul rematerializes as transmissive code, neonizing pain into spectral
cognition, where deferred love and digitized solitude synchronize within the oscillatory
grammar of noise, rearchiving existence as a flickering ontology of intersyntactic delay and
recursive radiance.

5) Artist: Xiran Zheng The sauce is better than the fish (2024-2025)

The creative focus of this group of works is to design information cards，promotional cards
for exhibitions and museums, and to make them into gorgeous and expensive styles of
extraordinary value. The intention is to imply that the only thoughts spent on writing
gorgeous words and over- packaging, instead of paying attention to the most important part of the artwork itself. In order to satirist those over-exaggerated and over packaged art rubbish.

6) Artist: Anton Strunge Citizen of the Russian Federation (2025)

Equality. Diversity. Loud words, but I notice how people look with contempt, when they see
this thing in my hands. Or is it all just in my head? I can’t change it, can’t influence the
processes that lead to that. What can I do? What should I?

Robber Robber Announce New Album, Share New Single ‘The Sound It Made’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Robber Robber Announce New Album, Share New Single ‘The Sound It Made’

Robber Robber have announced a new album and their first for Fire Talk, Two Wheels Move the Soul. The Wild Guess follow-up is out April 3. Following the previously unveiled ‘Talkback’, the thrillingly kinetic new single ‘The Sound It Made’ is accompanied by a Wes Sterrs-directed video. Check it out along with the album cover and tracklist below.

Written and recorded throughout the winter of 2024 and 2025, Wheels Move the Soul was marked by a season of personal upheaval following the demolition, in just a moment’s notice, of Nina Cates and Zack James’ longtime home. Alongside Will Krulak (guitar) and Carney Hemler (bass), they returned to Little Jamaica Studios to track the album with engineer Benny Yurco. “Everywhere else that we had to be, we were very much visitors,” James recalled. “When we were working on the record, it was nice because it felt like this is our space.”

Revisit our Artist Spotlight interview with Robber Robber.

Two Wheels Move the Soul Cover Artwork:

Two Wheels Move the Soul - album artwork 1200x1200

Two Wheels Move the Soul Tracklist:

1. The Sound It Made
2. Avalanche Sound Effect
3. New Year’s Eve
4. Imprint
5. Watch For Infection
6. It’s Perfect Out Here in the Sun
7. Pieces
8. Talkback
9. Enough
10. Again
11. Bullseye

Xevi Solà Explores Staged Leisure in Endless Sun-days

Gerda Krivaite
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Xevi Solà Explores Staged Leisure in Endless Sun-days

Opera Gallery will present Endless Sun-days, a new series of 15 canvases by Spanish artist Xevi Solà, marking his first solo exhibition in New York. Opening February 12, the exhibition draws on art history, cinema and pop culture, with references ranging from Slim Aarons’ modernist-inflected photography to Jacques Deray’s 1969 film La Piscine.

Across the series, Solà explores leisure as carefully staged performance. The swimming pool recurs as a central motif: a space of artificial calm where figures linger in moments of suspension, poised between relaxation and psychological tension. Combining cinematic composition with a psychologically charged atmosphere, Endless Sun-days presents a sunlit world in which unease simmers beneath the surface.

Portrait of Xevi Sola. Photo credit: Enrique Palacio

Anjimile Announces New Album ‘You’re Free to Go’, Shares New Song

Konstantinos Pappis
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Anjimile Announces New Album ‘You’re Free to Go’, Shares New Song

Anjimile has announced a new album called You’re Free to Go. The breezily tender ‘Like You Really Mean It’ leads the follow-up to 2023’s The King, and it comes paired with a video directed by Caity Arthur. Check it out below.

“I wrote this to make my girlfriend want to give me a kiss,” Anjimile said of the new single. “We live about an hour apart, and I was just by myself thinking about her. Thinking about wanting a kiss. What could I do to get a kiss from my sweetheart? Write a song about it! Anyway, it worked.”

You’re Free to Go was made alongside producer Brad Cook (Waxahatchee, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Mavis Staples). The album’s collaborators include Nathan Stocker (Hippo Campus), Matt McCaughan (Bon Iver), and guest vocalist Sam Beam (Iron & Wine). “This record feels very authentic to my life experiences,” the singer-songwriter reflected. “It’s about as close to getting to know me as you could ever get with a record.”

You’re Free to Go Cover Artwork:

You’re Free to Go

You’re Free to Go Tracklist:

1. You’re Free to Go
2. Rust & Wire
3. Waits For Me
4. Like You Really Mean It
5. Turning Away
6. Exquisite Skeleton
7. The Store
8. Ready or Not
9. Point of View
10. Afarin
11. Destroying You
12. Enough

deathcrash Announce New Album ‘Somersaults’, Release New Song

Konstantinos Pappis
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deathcrash Announce New Album ‘Somersaults’, Release New Song

deathcrash have announced a new album: Somersaults is slated for release on February 27 via untitled (recs). The follow-up to 2023’s Less includes the previously released single ‘Triumph’, and the quietly elegant title track, which opens the LP, is out now. Check it out and find the album cover and tracklist below.

“This record comes from a place of growing up, and giving up on adolescent dreams,” the band commented in a press release. “Matt presented to us this beautiful nostalgic song, more or less fully formed, and he’d called it ‘Somersaults’ before the vocals were ever written for it. It became a symbol for the record more or less instantly.”

“Adolescence is feeling like you’re gonna live forever, but also that you want to die right now – and they’re basically the same feeling,” Tiernan Banks added. “Growing up is somewhere much more in the middle.”

“I think this record has joy in it,” Matthew Weinberger shared. “That’s why ‘this life is the best life’ is a big tagline of the record. Some songs are more anxious, some more nostalgic, but they all circle that idea that this is the life we have, and we’re embracing it.”

Revisit our Artist Spotlight interview with deathcrash.

Somersaults Cover Artwork:

Somersaults cover artwork

Somersaults Tracklist:

1. Somersaults
2. NYC
3. CMC
4. Triumph
5. Bella
6. The Thing You Did
7. Wrong to Suffer
8. Stay Forever
9. Love for M
10. Marie’s Last Dance

No One Does Aspen Like Kim K

Vera Adamidou
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No One Does Aspen Like Kim K

There are three types of people in Aspen. Those happy to dress for the cold, those forced by their survival instincts to dress for the cold, and Kim Kardashian. While everyone else packed thermals, often drowned in luxury logos (Colorado gets weird in winter), Kim packed vintage Roberto Cavalli leather, Tom Ford for Gucci accents and Hermès by Jean Paul Gaultier fur shawls. The styling alone outpriced the snowy backdrop.

Honestly, the headlines around that shawl might have been justified. Kim’s Aspen season opener paired a beige Roberto Cavalli corset with plum lace-up Dolce & Gabanna leather trousers, brown croc Yeezy boots, an ultra-long Cavalli fur coat, and yes, the shawl. Long black hair tied it all together, classic Kim K nude makeup kept the palette intact, and that 2000s energy was exactly what Aspen needed to refresh its editorial for the new season.

Kim Kardashian in Aspen, Jan 2026.
@kimkardashian via Instagram

We do appreciate variety, and Kim understood the assignment, to a point. Don’t expect color therapy, it’s Kim K. Brown, black, and white were more than enough. A black leather Tom Ford for Gucci fur coat came with fur-trimmed leather trousers, a fur hat, and Phoebe Philo sunglasses. For contrast, she switched things up with cream suede flared pants, a matching leather shirt and a bright, hard-to-ignore fur coat.

At this point, Aspen has very little to do with skiing. No one is really here for the slopes. They’re here for fuzzy bodysuits, walking from SUVs to lodges with paparazzi behind a camera, and hot chocolate that never actually gets drunk. Years ago, the ultimate status symbol was a long, bulky fur coat with an expensive name splashed across the back. Now, it’s not freezing when everyone knows you absolutely should be. Sexy in the snow is objectively strange. And Aspen has evolved into a stage where winter is no longer endured, it’s performed. But hey, at least when Kim K does it, we get content we actually want to look at.

007 First Light: Minimum and Recommended PC System Requirements Explained

Shubhendu Vatsa
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007 First Light: Minimum and Recommended PC System Requirements Explained

The minimum and recommended PC system requirements for 007 First Light are finally out, and if you’ve been waiting to see what kind of hardware the game actually needs before committing to a pre-order, there’s some reassurance here. As it’s always been with PC gaming, getting decent performance often comes down to working with what you’ve got and it’s no different here. With RAM and GPU prices sitting at eye-watering levels, plenty of players have been wondering just how demanding 007 First Light would be.

Thankfully, the 007 First Light’s PC system requirements look more reasonable than many feared. Below are the full minimum and recommended PC specs you’ll need to run the game.

007-first-light-pc-system-requirements
Image Credit: IO Interactive

007 First Light: Minimum and Recommended PC System Requirements Explained

Based on the official numbers shared by IO Interactive, the minimum system requirements for 007 First Light are fairly reasonable, targeting 30 FPS gameplay at 1080p. Here’s what you’ll need:

007 First Light Minimum System Requirements:

  • Processor: Intel Core i5 9500K / AMD Ryzen 5 3500
  • Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 1660 / AMD RX 5700 / Intel discrete GPU equivalent
  • RAM: 16 GB
  • Video RAM: 8 GB
  • Storage: 80 GB minimum
  • OS: Windows 10/11, 64-bit
  • Resolution: 1080p
  • Frame Rate: 30 FPS

The recommended requirements, however, are where things start to look a bit more demanding. As per the official numbers, you’ll need 12GB of VRAM to hit 1080p at 60 FPS, which may be a sticking point as it immediately rules out a lot of otherwise capable cards, including the RTX 3060 Ti with its 8GB VRAM. Here’s what the recommended specs for 007: First Light look like:

007 First Light Recommended System Requirements:

  • Processor: Intel Core i5 13500 / AMD Ryzen 5 7600
  • Graphics Card: NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti / AMD RX 6700 XT / Intel discrete GPU equivalent
  • RAM: 32 GB
  • Video RAM: 12 GB
  • Storage: 80 GB minimum
  • OS: Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)
  • Resolution: 1080p
  • Frame Rate: 60 FPS

More recently, IO Interactive announced a partnership with NVIDIA, which will allow players with supported hardware to tap into a range of NVIDIA features, including DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation. According to the studio, this will help deliver “a PC experience that matches the level of quality we believe the Bond franchise deserves.”

In an announcement press release, Ulas Karademir, CTO at IO Interactive, said, “Our partnership with NVIDIA on 007 First Light allows us to deliver a PC experience that matches the level of quality we believe the Bond franchise deserves. Performance, responsiveness, and visual fidelity, it all needs to feel effortless for the player, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX technologies including DLSS 4 enables us to deliver exactly that.”

007 First Light launches on May 27, 2026, and will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox ROG Ally X, Xbox ROG Ally, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

For more gaming news and guides, be sure to check out our gaming page!

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