The week that Victoria* in Toronto, she spent $1,000 in a vintage store. Not long after, she signed a six-month lease in a glamorous city she loves and wants to spend more time in, despite not having another job yet. “I’m definitely spending recklessly and not really thinking about the consequences,” she said, adding wryly, “I’m really good at this.
” It’s a lavish example of what’s known as “treat brain”: the practice of making little purchases or expenditures as a way of self-soothing amidst the chaos of modern life. First taking hold on social media during the pandemic, “treat culture” has subcategories: “Sweet treat culture” floods TikTok with videos of $8 croissants and $10 matcha lattes (it’s always matchas) purchased as rewards for, say, going to work on a regular Tuesday. “Little treats” are more likely to be items, like a lip gloss, but could be a matcha, too.
(If there is one main beneficiary of treat culture, it’s purveyors of powdered green tea.) “My problem is that I always think I deserve a little treat,” observed one young woman in a TikTok with 29K likes. “Like today, it was a beautiful day and I went for a walk and I didn’t get a little treat.
And then I was like, I deserve a little treat for that.” Annie* loves buying herself expensive lattes and equally expensive grapes, but is also diligently saving to buy her first home. “I have no other vices,” she said.
“I don’t drink, do nails, lashes, etc. For what .