J.Lo Really Loves Her Bling Cup, So Maybe That’s A Sign We Should All Want One?

I've spent most of this week attempting to avoid an existential crisis. From the looming threat of AI (which did not write this article, I'm happy to tell you) to whether I should see Oppenheimer or Barbie first, it's been a fairly serious few days. But there's something else currently occupying more space in my brain than I would like. I just really want to know: what is going on with J.Lo's water bottle? Oh, sorry, I mean bling cup.

Before you start formulating angry tweets, I'm well aware this is not a new phenomenon. In fact, much like AI, J.Lo's bling cup has been around for some time now. According to some very sophisticated journalistic research on my part (I Googled it) Jennifer Lopez received her first bling cup back in 2017. But it wasn't really until 2020 that this, er, habit of hers started making headlines. Well, to be fair, there was a global pandemic and there wasn't much to do.

The first bling cup was a gift from her manicurist and was created by Teneka Moore, the founder of Taylormade Bling Embellishments. What Moore can do with a glue gun defies belief, quite frankly. The woman will bedazzle just about anything (within reason, please don't get carried away) including a Starbucks cup for an unknown celebrity, who obviously turned out to be J.Lo herself.

How did J.Lo's manicurist possibly conceive such an ingenious idea for a birthday gift? Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Moore said that she was told 'She loves bling and she loves coffee, so this gift will be perfect.' I need new friends. And possibly a new manicurist.

Anyway, J.Lo was so happy with her bling cup that, since that fateful day, she has placed an order with Moore for, well, pretty much every occasion. 'I couldn't have asked for a better blessing. It's been so crazy, said Moore. 'She orders a cup for every event, every promotion that she does. Any movie, anything that she does, she commemorates it with a cup. It's awesome.' I have so many questions. Did she give them out as wedding favours last year? Does Ben Affleck love them, too? Does she give them out to friends? Most importantly: why?

Actually, I can answer at least one of those questions right now (thanks, Google). When J.Lo was engaged to Alex Rodriguez, otherwise known as A.Rod (boo!), she reportedly gave him his very own bling cup. According to Moore, it was an 'all black monochromatic cup' that, just like J.Lo's own collection, was covered in Swarovski crystals by hand. I should add for legal reasons that the fact they broke up soon afterwards is mere coincidence.

Who am I kidding? A.Rod was never fun enough to appreciate the sheer joy (and more than vague weirdness) of J.Lo's devotion to sparkly cups. In fact, it's something she's even joked about in interviews, acknowledging that it's 'kind of crazy and pathetic' that she doesn't know how many she has. She's self aware, guys! Ben is so lucky.

Before you think this doesn't concern you, it's worth noting that some of fashion's most influential houses have sent their own souped-up water bottles down the catwalk in recent years, including Dior and Fendi. Collina Strada's rhinestone-embellished bottle became something of a sensation, too, when Ella Emhoff posed with it on Instagram. If you think that still doesn't concern you, fair enough, but I just wanted to have my own Meryl Streep cerulean speech moment. But I digress.

In 2002, J.Lo released Jenny From The Block, in which she can be seen using a flip phone. She poses on said phone with her finger in her mouth and, as a result, my friend Charlotte and I used to do exactly the same thing because we were 12 and we thought we looked really cool (we didn't, we are just as self-aware as Jennifer, thanks very much). It stands to reason, then, that I may be convinced to buy into this bling cup phenomenon, particularly if I'm going to the gym like J.Lo, for this seems to be one of her favourite places to take her bejewelled water bottle.

If you, too, feel like your 2023 could do with a drinking receptacle that makes you feel like a very famous person, then please enjoy the following selection of water bottles (of which I really think J.Lo would approve).

The only other thing to add for no reason at all is that, along with the weird flip phone thing, we saw J.Lo wearing a baker boy hat so Charlotte and I started wearing baker boy hats. They did not suit us and we shouldn't ever try that again. See? I told you AI didn't write this. Unlike J.Lo and me, it could never be so self-aware.

SHOP: The Best Bling Cups and Luxury Water Bottles