While it might seem like undereye filler exploded into the beauty conversation the moment Katy Perry copped to it, the reality is that it's been an insider Hollywood secret for well over a decade. Tear trough filler, the actual name dermatologists use for the procedure, does what creams or makeup never could: smooths the circles under the eyes by filling in the hollow that becomes deeper as we age.
While it's easy to understand why the filler spot has increased in popularity, it’s also one of the riskier places to inject on the face due to its proximity to the eyes. If it's something you're considering, it's not to be taken lightly and should only be performed by a board-certified medical doctor who specializes in their field — also called core doctors — like dermatology and plastic surgery.
For everything you need to know, from the consultation and aftercare to the risks and pricing, we turned to three of the top injectors in Los Angeles. Click ahead for everything you need to know about tear trough filler, including a video to see exactly how it's done.
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With the recent 10th anniversary of She's the Man, the announcement of an All That reunion special (which she unfortunately won't be joining), and her 30th birthday on April 3, we can't help but continue to be nostalgic for Amanda Bynes.
Her wit, charm, and unique characters were all so quintessentially '90s. She first made her appearance on Nickelodeon as a cast member of All That in 1996 when she was only 10 years old. Less than three years later, she was given her own one-woman series, The Amanda Show.
After that, she seemed to be the ideal maturing child star, standing out amongst the Lindsay Lohans and Paris Hiltons of the world, not just for her clean behavior, but for her commitment to her roots — comedy. She wasn't afraid to get down and dirty to deliver slapstick humor as she does inShe's the Man, nor did she recoil from playing the bitchy Christian antagonist in Easy A. She even tackled an iconic movie musical turned Broadway hit turned movie again, Hairspray, which is no easy feat.
But with peaks come the inevitable valleys. A handful of films, including a couple made-for-TV movies, led to a rut in her acting career. Her personal issues aside, Bynes always was a daring actress who knew how to be silly without being obnoxious.
In her honor, we ranked the best of her major film roles to help celebrate the big 3-0. Here's to you, Amanda!
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Like booster supplements in smoothies and freshly pressed green-drink orders, the use of serums in skin care can at first seem like a superfluous, if not costly indulgence. Sure, these shots of concentrated nutrients might add extra oomph to our complexions, but if we’re already keeping our skin clean and hydrated, can adding a serum to the mix make that much of a difference?
According to Alexander Rivkin, MD, a Los Angeles-based cosmetic surgeon, and New Orleans-based dermatologist Mary Lupo, MD, just like the maca we might add to our juices for better health, serums can deliver a concentrated level of nutrients to the skin that can penetrate better than many moisturizers.
Whereas creams sit on top of the skin to form a protective barrier of hydration, serums are typically made from active ingredients that contain molecules small enough to penetrate the outer layer of the skin and deliver intensive doses of collagen builders, antioxidants, and other anti-aging ingredients deeper in the epidermis. And, as Dr. Lupo points out, because many formulations are water based, serums can also serve as great vehicles to deliver water-soluble ingredients, like vitamin C, beyond the skin’s surface for deeper absorption and to provide a brightening effect.
In fact, serums can be such heavy hitters, Dr. Rivkin doesn’t just see them as an added bonus to a skin-care routine, but as being “very essential.” Which isn’t to say that a serum should replace your moisturizer. Dr. Rivkin notes that after delivering such concentrated active ingredients, a moisturizer is needed to lock in hydration and provide a protective barrier. To really maximize these complexion boosters, he recommends cleansing with warm water (to maximize the products' absorption), applying a serum to a slightly damp face, and following with a moisturizer a few minutes later.
So, now that we know that serums should be an integral part of our skin-care regimen, how do we find our skin-boosting soul mate? Ahead, we asked Dr. Rivkin to identify the best active ingredients for each of the nine most common skin types. Read on to find out which one you should be adding to your daily routine.
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BeautywithMi, hosted by Refinery29's beauty writerMi-Anne Chan, explores the coolest new trends, treatments, products, and subcultures in thebeautyworld. Never miss an episode by subscribing here.
Considering the retail giant's knack for creating new brands under its Sephora Originals umbrella, it doesn't come as a surprise that Sephora Collection features hundreds of products, many of which boast thousands of four or five star reviews on the site. However, I'll be the first to say that over the years I've been distracted by the sheer quantity of new glitters, liquid lipsticks, and flavored flosses that hit Sephora's New page monthly. I've tried just a handful of the brand's own line, so this month — after receiving dozens of comments recommending I try more of the brand's in-house line — I decided to challenge myself to try more.
I devised an entire skin care and makeup routine just using products from the retailer's private beauty arm in the video above . Which ones are worth shelling out for? You'll have to press play to find out.
Sephora Collection 10 Hour Wear Perfection Foundation, $20, available at Sephora; Sephora Collection Bright Future Gel Serum Concealer, $14, available at Sephora; Sephora Collection Pro Flawless Airbrush, $32, available at Sephora; Sephora Collection Beauty Amplifier Set Pressed Setting Powder, $16, available at Sephora; Sephora Collection Colorful Matte Blush So Shy, $7, available at Sephora; Sephora Collection Colorful Powder In Tranquil, $7, available at Sephora; Sephora Collection Golden Hour Liquid Highlighter in Sunlight, $14, available at Sephora; Sephora Collection Eyeshadow Primer, $10, available at Sephora; Sephora Collection Museum Of Ice Cream, $42, available at Sephora; Sephora Collection Mini Color Switch, $18 available at Sephora; Sephora Collection Lashcraft Length and Volume Mascara, $12, available at Sephora; Sephora Collection Cleansing Balm, $12, available at Sephora.
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On an early Sunday morning in January 2007, 18-year-old Ashley Myers was driving home from Washington, D.C. on Interstate 66 when a tanker truck hauling gasoline struck the car directly behind her, causing it to crash into her Volvo station wagon. In a matter of seconds, all three vehicles were consumed by flames.
What remained of Ashley was, in her mother Wynnie Myers's words, not much more than a pair of sneakers. Eleven years later, a week before what would have been Ashley's 30th birthday, Myers got a portion of her daughter's DNA tattooed on her left shoulder as part of an ornate sunflower-and-butterfly tattoo in memory of her. "It brings me a sense of peace and happiness," Myers tells Refinery29. "I can touch her. I can feel her. It’s such a different experience to know that I have her DNA on me."
With help from a new company called Everence, thousands of people have now injected DNA from their loved ones (including children, parents, spouses, and even pets) into their skin via tattoos. The idea for the company — which, yes, sounds like something straight out of a Black Mirror episode— came to co-founder Patrick Duffy in 2013 when he was running a scuba diving therapy program for military veterans. During one dive in Key Largo, Florida, he met a woman who had a tattoo in honor of her late husband, a Navy SEAL killed in combat, on her leg.
"I saw it and thought, Wouldn't it be interesting to turn that tattoo into a reliquary for her husband?" Duffy says. "I came out of the water and couldn't shake the idea."
For the next four years, Duffy worked with scientists and tattoo artists around the country to try and figure out if this could – and should – be done. "I just kept on asking myself the question, How can you really make a tattoo even more personal than it already is? " Duffy says. After numerous patents, Duffy landed on a system that turns the DNA of another human being or pet into a powder-like substance (called "Everence"), which can then be mixed into tattoo ink. As freaky as the concept sounds, it was actually closely monitored by Bruce Klitzman, associate professor of surgery at Duke University, and Edith Mathiowitz, professor of medical science and engineering at Brown University.
The process to get such a tattoo begins a little like 23andMe. First, customers order a $350 Everence kit, which instructs them to collect a sample of the DNA they'd want in their tattoo, and can come from a strand of hair, cremated ashes, or a cheek swab. After sending the hair, cremains, or swabs back to Everence in the original box with a pre-paid shipping label, it's sent to a lab, where the sample undergoes a patented 21-part process in which scientists extract a short strand of DNA, amplify it, purify it, and then micro-encapsulate it in a medical-grade polymer, which protects it from ever being destroyed by the body.
After the powder is individually inspected for quality, it's sent back to the customer within 45 days. When the Everence arrives in the customer's mailbox, it looks like a tiny vial of white powder or sand, but if you were to look at the powder in extreme closeup, you'd see microspheres, which are protecting the DNA.
Customers can then hand that vial over to one of Everence's approved tattoo artists, who then pours it into the ink, stirs for 10 seconds, and begins buzzing away. The Everence is invisible within the design and, thanks to that micro-encapsulating, the DNA doesn't disappear into the body, but instead sits permanently on the surface of the skin with the tattoo. The biggest difference between it and any other tattoo? The removal. Duffy says to remove it completely, you'd have to get a biopsy. In other words, it's very permanent.
Although this entire process sounds eerily futuristic, people have been getting so-called biogenic tattoos, also coined "morbid ink," for years. But unlike those often underground practices, in which people dumped ashes and hair directly into the ink, Everence has taken the extra precautions to ensure the process is safe.
So why would people feel compelled to get these tattoos with DNA in the first place? "About 98% of people who get the tattoo do so for two reasons, either something involving emotional connection or individual expression," Duffy says. And just like regular tattoos, the types of people interested in getting Everence tattoos vary. "Our customers are two-time Oscar-winning directors, lawyers in their early '20s, and grandmothers who have never had a tattoo before," Duffy says. "It’s been a lot of people who have just beaten cancer, and people who have lost someone, or gotten engaged."
By Duffy's calculations, about 55% of people who have ordered Everence have never had a tattoo before. Boyd Renner, who'd eventually become one of the co-founders of Everence, was one of those people. After hearing whispers of Duffy's idea through a mutual friend, Renner reached out to Duffy in the early stages of Everence's development. "To be honest, it didn't resonate with me right away," Renner says. "I had spent 28 years in the Navy and I had never had a tattoo in my entire life. I dismissed it generationally."
But then his wife, who has cystic fibrosis, got poor results back from a lung test. On the long drive home, he started to change his mind about Patrick's idea. "It's then that I decided that I wanted my wife’s DNA in my very first tattoo, not because of the cystic fibrosis, but actually because she's the one person who inspires and motivates me the most," Renner says. "She’s the one that I look up to every day." Renner ended up getting an ornate rose design on his left calf, with the Everence poured into the red ink to create the roses.
For Merriman Mathewson, her Everence tattoo marked the second time she was getting inked. The 46-year-old mother of three, who lives in San Francisco, had been thinking of an excuse to get another tattoo after her first one disappeared under a cesarian scar.
"At first, I thought it was a little bizarre," Mathewson says. "Like, is this safe?" But after discussing it with Duffy, Mathewson decided to move forward with a tattoo that contained multiple DNA strains: specifically those of her four children. "My kids inspire me, and just to be able to carry all of them with me and walk forward with a part of each one of them in my everyday was inspiring."
Much like Myers, Mathewson's Everence tattoo is highly sentimental. She wasn't just using DNA from her three living children, who are aged 10 to 15, but also DNA from Perin, her child who died just after birth 13 years ago as a result of toxoplasmosis, which Mathewson contracted from unwashed salad greens.
Using cheek swabs for the DNA samples from her three children, Mathewson had to collect some of the strawberry-blonde locks the nurses cut from Perin's head at the hospital, and send them away to Everence. "It was some way I could have him with me," Mathewson says. "It’s not like I have a world of memories with him or a world of mementos that I can keep."
This January, with the four Everences in her possession, she went to a tattoo artist in Arizona and got an outline of a trumpet on her ribs as an homage to her hometown of New Orleans, with the Everence powder woven throughout the entirety of the black outline.
Though tattoos have long been sentimental for many people who have gotten them in honor of someone they love, swirling in that DNA takes things to another level.
When Myers saw tattoo artist Virginia Elwood of Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn, New York sprinkle her daughter's Everence into the ink, she was flooded with memories. "It was such a loving experience," Myers says. "There was no pain. There was laughter. They let me talk about her and asked questions about her and they let me share memories of her."
For Elwood, tattooing women like Myers has helped ease her own concerns about the process. "The science and safety, I had no doubt they would make a really safe product," Elwood says. "The reluctance would have come from knowing that tattoos are, in and of themselves, meaningful enough. Do we really need this DNA in there?"
But when you hear stories like Myers's and Mathewson's, there's obviously more emotional value for them knowing that they're literally carrying a part of their loved one on them at all times. As Myers says, "Even though I hold her close to my heart, Everence has allowed me to hold her even closer."
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Ivanka Trump's tweets used to have the veneer of normality, despite the highly not normal premise of her being a senior White House advisor in the first place. At the very least, the words were properly capitalized and the sentences weren't overly peppered with exclamation points.
But lately, the writing style employed by Moderating Force Ivanka seems to have fallen by the wayside in favor of the protocol passed down by her father: devil-may-care capitalization of any Word that seems Important and more exclamation points than should be legal, often topped off by the ALL CAPS. Last month, he even tweeted a promise: "When referring to the USA, I will always capitalize the word Country!"
Ivanka has been following suit: "country" became "Country" in her Thanksgiving tweet. The Economic Agenda is a beautiful thing! (There is, of course, no official Thing called the Economic Agenda.) We'll never know whether there's a Trumpian Style Guide living in a Google doc somewhere (probs not). But we do know that Ivanka is pretty deliberate about her choices, so to us, it's unlikely that she just randomly picked up the habit. Perhaps she's just like her father after all.
Like father...
When referring to the USA, I will always capitalize the word Country!
Migrants at the Southern Border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We only will allow those who come into our Country legally. Other than that our very strong policy is Catch and Detain. No “Releasing” into the U.S...
This #ThanksgivingDay lets recognize the great blessing of living in America, offer gratitude for those serving our communities and Country who cannot be with their families and recommit to uplifting those less fortunate with acts of love and generosity. Happy Thanksgiving! xx
Opportunity Zones, passed in Tax Cuts legislation, will have a transformative effect on distressed urban and rural communities across America. Thank you @SenatorTimScott for your advocacy of this great policy. @WhiteHouseCEA@sparkerhttps://t.co/Z8Os4Xm1ks
Behind this madcap drive to capitalize is a strong desire for your words to Matter in a way that won't make anyone question what you're saying. It's a technique "long exploited by faith healers and self-help gurus," common in "get-rich-quick and quack medicine books desperate to sell readers on the Truth of their claims," Alan Levinovitz, an associate professor of religious studies at James Madison University, wrote in the Washington Post.
"Initial capitals, once used to lend importance to certain words, are now used only ironically," says The Chicago Manual of Style, as Levinovitz noted. Later, it explains: "Words for transcendent ideas in the Platonic sense, especially when used in a religious context, are often capitalized."
Dr. Deborah Tannen, linguistics professor at Georgetown University and author of several books including the recent You're the Only One I Can Tell: Inside the Language of Women's Friendships, explained that in written language, people find ways to emphasize meaning that, in speaking, we can convey with our tone of voice, loudness, or intonation. Capitalization is one of them.
Breaking rules — grammatical or otherwise — seems to serve Trump well, she added. "People who like him seem to value that he doesn't follow rules," she told Refinery29. As for Ivanka, Dr. Tannen said that she either picked up the caps habit because she saw it so many times in her dad's tweets and it began to look right to her, or she likes the feeling it communicates.
It isn't hard to see why the Trumps have adapted the conventions of quackery and self-styled self-help gurus. They have a long history of duping people into buying things that aren't as good as they seem using the mirage of luxury. In politics, their new "Platonic ideals" are Country, Border, Catch and Detain: all designed to drive a fear of outsiders into people's hearts.
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Danielle Corcione, 25, hasn’t started saving for retirement yet.
As a full-time freelance journalist without a fixed income, the notion of putting away money for the future just hasn’t felt accessible. “It’s one of those things that I don’t even bother with because I don’t think it’s even realistic,” Corcione said. “If I wanted to save for retirement I’d probably get a staff job because I don’t know how it would ever be possible as a freelancer.”
Corcione is one of at least 56.7 million freelancers working in the U.S. today. In recent years, the gig economy has mushroomed to represent roughly 35% of Americans — and rising. Today, freelancers face a number of challenges, such as late payments and lack of protections, which have prompted several initiatives and resources, such as the Freelance Isn’t Free act in New York City. Even so, most freelancers are forced to figure things out on their own. Without the standard retirement savings plans available to staff employees, the onus remains upon freelance workers to save for their own retirement — something that not all of them feel able to do.
To shed some light on some retirement strategies for freelancers or workers without a fixed income, Refinery29 chatted with Alison Norris, Certified Financial Planner who leads SoFi’s financial advice strategy and Paco de Leon, founder of The Hell Yeah Group, which helps creatives understand their finances, about how to take tangible steps towards saving for tomorrow — no matter what your work lifestyle looks like.
Read on for some tangible tips on how to take control of your financial future, today.
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Despite the U.S. House of Representatives becoming increasingly diverse, only 13.7% of senior House staffers are people of color, compared with 38% of the country as a whole. Organizations like Staff Up Congress, an initiative from the NALEO Educational Fund and the Joint Center, are seeking to close the gap. In this series, we profile young women participating in Staff Up.
Name: Eliza Ramirez
Age: 28
Originally from: Anaheim, CA
Works as: Senior legislative assistant for Rep. Michael Capuano, MA-7, a Democrat. Since Rep. Capuano is leaving Congress at the end of the year — he was unseated by Ayanna Pressley — Ramirez is trying to figure out her next steps.
Bio: Ramirez is a passionate advocate for women of color on Capitol Hill. She serves as vice chair of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute Alumni Association, is a founder of the Latinas in the House of Representatives Group, and is a former president of the Women’s Congressional Staff Association.
Day 1
8:30 a.m. — Leave my apartment and begin my 15-minute walk to the Longworth House Office Building. During the walk I listen to James Brown, and go through my daily morning-walk routine: Practice my five minutes of gratitude and goals that need to be accomplished that day.
9:15 a.m. — Scroll through unread emails and today’s Politico and Roll Call headlines.
10 a.m. — Meet with a chief of staff from Democratic House Leadership to discuss strategy about how to break into a senior position on Capitol Hill. Meeting was a success, as I secured five new chief of staff contacts. I’ve been preparing for months on how to be a legislative director. I was accepted into the Staff Up Congress Legislative Academy, a professional development initiative from NALEO Educational Fund and the Joint Center that helps junior Hill staff members of color step into more senior roles.
10:30 a.m. — Host a meeting with congressional staffers from the Sudan and South Sudan Caucus to discuss next steps for the 116th Congress. Given Rep. Capuano's leadership with that caucus, I have played a pivotal role in ensuring the countries have humanitarian assistance and that peacekeeping efforts have improved. The relationships I’ve built on and off the Hill in order to advance this effort have ranged from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Leadership, United Nations, and prominent international organizations.
As a legislative assistant, I help Rep. Capuano accomplish his legislative goals by drafting legislation, amendments, talking points for the floor and committee hearings, letters, and more. Concurrently, I convene with stakeholders in both Washington, D.C., and at the district level to understand and address their concerns, and advance common goals.
Policy-making is not objective; it is influenced by the staffers who write it, which is why we will continue to ensure that all communities are represented in the halls of Congress.
11:45 a.m. — Grab coffee with a staff director for a Democratic House committee to discuss potential future opportunities. They ended up introducing me to three staffers on that committee.
12:20 p.m. — I message a mentor of mine to ask for writing samples as I begin prepping for a legislative director interview. I’ve been working on forming new relationships on and off Capitol Hill, both through Staff Up Congress and by reaching out to colleagues.
12:30 p.m. — Lunch (as always) at my desk while cold-emailing 20 Senate and House senior staffers. (By the end of the day, 12 of them were willing to meet with me.) I try to focus on things I can control. In D.C., you have to be bold or else opportunities will slip past you, so reaching out to as many people as possible can only help position you on a better career path.
1:30 p.m. — Meet with the director of the House Diversity Initiative for a mock interview.
4 p.m. — Meet with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) to discuss which Orange County, CA, campaign race I will help out with for a month.
6:30 p.m. — I join a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) dinner and discussion; the topic is on U.S. policy toward South Asia. I was accepted into a one-year CFR fellowship that consists of monthly in-depth dinner discussions with policy experts on various international topics.
Day 2
8:30 a.m. — On a conference call to discuss next year’s agenda for the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute Alumni Association. The Association fosters a culture of leadership, community, and continuing investment in advancing opportunities for the development of future Hispanic leaders. I serve as vice president.
10:45 a.m. — Meet with a Roll Call reporter to discuss the importance of congressional staffers working on campaigns. I emphasize that the stakes are too high for people to just sit on their hands.
3 p.m. — Today is the last workshop offered by the Staff Up Congress Legislative Academy. The program has been instrumental in helping with the steps I need to take in order to advance my political career, such as building relationships early on with Leadership offices, press, and campaign offices.
3:30 p.m. — Head to our afternoon session. Today, we’re hearing from committee staff and chiefs of staff on how to effectively work with House and Senate committees.
3:45 p.m. — The panel begins discussing how to inform a committee about your Congressmember’s priorities and how to work with committee staff to introduce a bill.
4:10 p.m. — An essential role as legislative director is to craft and execute a short- and long-term legislative agenda for the member of Congress, particularly within the member’s committee issues.
4:45 p.m. — Seasoned committee staffers share their perspectives on how their committees operate and best practices on how to work effectively with them; this includes how to staff your boss for a hearing and markup. The panel also addressed how legislative staff can work with committee staff to advance their member's policy priorities if the member is not part of that committee.
5 p.m. — As a legislative director, I’d be responsible for overseeing the progression of bills with which the member is involved as they move from committee to the floor.
5:30 p.m. — It’s been a heartening experience knowing that the group is deeply committed to diversifying Capitol Hill. All of us believe that policy-making is not objective; it is influenced by the staffers who write it, which is why we will continue to ensure that all communities are represented in the halls of Congress. Without diverse staffers who understand the issues facing our nation’s underrepresented populations, we can’t possibly create policies that address Americans' concerns.
6:30 p.m. — After work, I head out to a Congressional candidate fundraiser. Fundraiser events are a strategic way to engage with candidates and other important players in the political circle, especially when looking to advance on the Hill.
7:30 p.m. — Phone bank at the DCCC. This is an excellent way to put your name on people’s radar.
8:45 p.m. — Head home.
9 p.m. — Play with my puppies, Blanquita and Bear. After, I continue reading the book The Art of War and pass out on my bed.
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Here's a conundrum that would give Joseph Heller pause: You can use eye cream to tackle your dark circles and fine lines, or you can use concealer to cover them. But if you use the eye cream, you won't get instant gratification, and if you use the concealer, you won't get long-term results.
Of course, you could, technically, use both. But then that's an entire extra step to reckon with in your routine, and god, what a hassle that would be — especially when beauty brands have devised some very convenient ways to combine the two.
Click-pen illuminating concealers laced with moisturizing ingredients to swipe on skin care and swipe away dark circles in one single brush stroke, pots of pearl-infused cream with an added boost of pigment to color correct as you hydrate: These formulas are the best of both worlds, if one world is having good skin in the future and the other is having good skin five minutes from now. Ahead, seven easy ways to turn that double bind into a win-win...
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About an hour ago, the dude in my life left on recon to Malibu. His mission: Try to drive into the seaside canyon where we’ve lived for three years to see whether our neighborhood is still a neighborhood. Like many others in town, we bailed the morning of Friday, November 9, when flames from the Woolsey Fire began to peek over the ridge from Mulholland Highway. And like many others, we’ve been waiting to see what’s left of our community.
The waiting sucks. It's been a nasty cocktail of regret (why didn’t I grab a bra?), worry, resignation, and dumb hope. But past donating to the LAFD Foundation, it feels like all we can do is wait until roads officially open again and we can start to rebuild. Today, beauty brands are showing us otherwise. In the wake of destruction, makeup and skin care makers have sprung into action. Some, like Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare, are celebrating Giving Tuesday by writing fat checks to the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Relief Fund. Others, like Garnier, are donating hundreds of products to fire victims or are offering to donate the proceeds of their sales to aid California wildfire relief.
It feels good to see the beauty community rally when it matters most. It feels good to be given something proactive to do. And it feels vital to direct attention away from flashy headlines that have focused on the rescued Ferraris and the hiring of private firefighters. The reality is, there are loads of average, working-class folks who live in the cities where the Woodley and Hill fires have hit. What’s more, these headline-grabbing blazes dwarf in comparison to the Camp Fire in Butte County — now the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California History, according to The New York Times. In short, there are a lot of people who are going to need a lot of help. So shop the brands ahead, spread the word, or contribute in another way: it's the least and most we can do.
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Come winter, we've only got one thing on our mind: staying warm. While tights, chunky sweaters, and yes, leggings, deserve a shout-out for helping us stay heated, the real MVP of the latter half of the year is our trusty outerwear. From a fluffy sherpa jacket to the quintessential camel waist-tie, our coats are what keep our spirits up, no matter how cold it is outside. And when you're over it and want to wear the same sweats and tee combo for the third day in a row, your coat has you, and your outfit, covered. Literally.
As our tastes in outerwear varies from cropped and furry to sleek and knee-length, so do our budgets. The cost of a nice coat can run higher than we're comfortable shelling in out in one setting, so we set off to prove you can still get a good coat for less than your holiday flight home. Ahead are 23 picks under $150 that are a far cry from the same black pea coat you've been wearing out for years. Bring it on winter.
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So, you read your horoscope regularly, you know your own sign backward and forward, and you've even dipped a toe into sign compatibility. If you ask us, it's high time you got your birth chart drawn up. This astrological rite of passage can be handled online or one-on-one with an astrologer (for a price), but however you have it calculated, the info should remain the same — exactly where the sun, moon, and planets were placed in the sky at the moment of your birth.
We spoke with astrologer Janelle Belgrave about how to figure out birth charts (or "soul maps," as she calls them), and what makes them so meaningful.
To get started, you need to know a few key details about yourself: your birth date and time, and where you were born. With this info alone, an astrologer (with the help of astrology software, of course) can map out which sign each astral body happened to be in at the moment of your birth. You're probably most familiar with your sun sign, or the sign that the sun happened to be aligned with when you were born; that's the one we identify with — the one we read horoscopes for.
Of course, the signs that the moon and the planets align with have a major impact on who you are, too. A well-made chart can tell you "about you, your family, the life that you were born into, and what your soul is looking to heal and/or achieve in this lifetime," Belgrave said.
While horoscopes, tarot readings, or other forms of divination work best when you have a question in mind, a birth chart is much more thorough (and doesn't require any particular query). Belgrave said to think of it as a snapshot of all the directions your life could take: "Within the natal chart you can see personality, drives, fears, parental relationships, siblings, children, psychological patterns, and more on one sheet of paper."
Like we said, you can absolutely find your natal chart online — Belgrave recommends using this site — but you might be missing out on some interpretive info you can only get from an astrologer IRL.
"Reading about a list of traits or fatalistic predictions out of context can create a great deal of misunderstanding and/or fear that an astrologer can walk you through," Belgrave explained, adding that online charts can even end up contradicting themselves. But, if you don't mind getting into the astrological weeds to get your answers, there's no harm in calculating your chart online.
However you get ahold of your birth chart, it can look a little confusing. So, with Belgrave's help, we're walking you through some of the key symbols that you'll encounter on your chart. Get acquainted ahead.
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Border Patrol officials fired tear gas on hundreds of migrants, including small children, as they tried to enter the U.S. on Sunday. As a result, U.S. officials shut down the San Ysidro Port of Entry between San Diego and Tijuana for several hours.
Rodney Scott, chief patrol agent of the Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector, defended the use of tear gas, saying some of the migrants threw rocks at the agents. "What we saw over and over yesterday was the group, the caravan, would push women and children towards the front and then, basically, 'rocking' our agents," he said on CNN on Monday. "We tried to target the instigators, specifically those assaulting the agents, but once that chemical is released, it does go through the air."
Toddlers were seen running away barefoot from the tear gas as it spread.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen defended border patrol's actions. "DHS will not tolerate this type of lawlessness and will not hesitate to shut down ports of entry for security and public safety reasons," she said in a statement on Sunday.
Meanwhile, President Trump tweeted that Mexico should send the migrants, "many of whom are stone cold criminals," back to their home countries in Central America. "We will close the Border permanently if need be."
Some of the migrants reportedly said that they attempted to cross over after being denied at the port of entry, where they tried to claim asylum. Seeking asylum, as thousands of people are doing after fleeing violence in their home countries, is legal despite Trump's attempts to crack down on it. According to Nicole Narea, senior immigration reporter at legal news outlet Law360, the people at the border "could have grounds to sue under [the Refugee Act of 1980] on the basis that the Trump administration has effectively denied them access to the U.S. asylum system."
Democrats and human rights defenders were outraged over the treatment of the migrants, many of whom are currently being housed in shelters in Tijuana.
"Our government fired tear gas canisters at a group of scared women and children who are already in a desperate situation," Efrén Olivares, racial and economic justice director at the Texas Civil Rights Project, told Refinery29. "We condemn these actions and remember the broader issue at stake. Through a series of policies and barriers, the White House has de facto made it near impossible for migrants to seek asylum, and a judge has temporarily put a stop to those efforts. The desperation felt by the thousands of families waiting at the border will only intensify if the administration continues with its illegal actions to limit the legal right to seek asylum."
Asking to be considered a refugee & applying for status isn’t a crime.
It wasn’t for Jewish families fleeing Germany. It wasn’t for targeted families fleeing Rwanda. It wasn’t for communities fleeing war-torn Syria. And it isn’t for those fleeing violence in Central America. https://t.co/qhv7Rr1itn
To breastfeed or not. To wear a bra or not. To #Freethenipple or not. Conversations, debates and thoughts around breasts are rarely uncontroversial. Should women celebrate the attention and perks that a cleavage-revealing top can deliver, or should they cover up and practice modesty? What about boob jobs, currently the second most common plastic surgery performed in the U.S. Most women think about all of these things at some point in their lives as their breasts develop and change over their lifetimes.
We so often compartmentalize our public coverage of breasts into discrete narratives: breasts as sexual, breasts as nurturing, breasts as the origin of cancer. But, the reality is that women experience the interplay between these narratives (alongside breasts' many other roles and stories) every day. Our breasts can be supremely sexually pleasurable, and they can also be a source of anxiety about "measuring up" to cultural expectations. They can be beautiful; they can be a source of illness and pain. Each woman's breasts — and each woman's story — are uniquely her own.
So, we bring you 25 women and their personal relationships with their breasts: difficult and celebratory, in sickness and in health.
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One aspect of modern civilization that drives us insane is the feeling that the AC is on at full blast, all the time, everywhere, even in the wintertime. In offices, airplanes, movie theaters, and other places we frequent, cold air is never not haunting us, even if there’s a blizzard swirling outside. (If anyone has a science-backed reason for why this is, please get at us in the comments.)
While we wait for researchers to offer a logical explanation, the next best solution we’ve got is to dress in smart layering pieces that are designed to actually retain body heat. That’s where winter essentials from Cuddl Duds — soft fleece wraps, stretchy thermal leggings, turtlenecks that contour to the body, and more — come in. Ahead, we present five street style-ready ways to wear these base layers (available at Macy’s), along with trend-forward pieces that don’t need to be forced into hibernation. Rest assured, warmer days are coming.
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We all have that one person on our Christmas list that knows Sephora aisles better than they understand their medical plans, that can't shop for groceries without donning the no-makeup makeup look, or that prefers watching beauty tutorials over the latest episode of TheHandmaid's Tale. So, when the holiday comes around, it's clear that they should get something beauty-related as a gift. But what do you get the person who keeps track of every Ulta launch and has VIB Rouge status?
First, you want to make sure it's something the beauty fan in your life will actually use. What product does she restock often, like mascara or an application sponge? Second, you'll need to make sure it's not something she already has in her curated collection. Think: brand-new launches and limited-edition holiday sets from buzzy brands.
Still stumped? We've rounded up a few gifts that will make it seem like you know a thing or two about beauty trends — even if you don't know the difference between baking and draping. From K-beauty skin-care sets to influencer-made perfumes, ahead are the best holiday gifts to make a splash with the beauty lovers in your life.
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It's no surprise that, in the definitive list of the best and worst months of the year (yes, there is a definitive list of the best and worst months of the year), most Americans rank January and February in a tie for dead last, with March not far behind. Maybe it's the bitter windchill, the sheer inconvenience of having to shovel snow off your car just to pull out of your driveway, the lack of light past 5 p.m., or the onset of seasonal affective disorder that makes winter such a drag — or, more likely, it's all of the above. Toss dry skin into the mix, and yeah, you've got a frontrunner for worst season of the year.
To be fair, dry skin isn't restricted to winter, as anyone who suffers from it year-round will be more than happy to tell you. But it does tend to worsen when the weather is cold and blustery, and it's also harder to treat when you're fighting against the elements. That's why you need to arm yourself with the best heavy-duty body lotions, balms, oils, and even butters to tackle the problem from head-to-toe before April — America's fifth favorite month — rolls around.
Our top body lotion picks for winter, ahead.
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Welcome to Hype Machine, our hit-list of the top reviewed products across the web — according to a crowd of die-hard shoppers. Call this your 4-star & up only club, with entry granted by our devoted-to-the-goods shop editors.
Peak adulthood is when the term, "body pillow," no longer stands for a fuzzy, fun, and turquoise-colored Limited Too bed accessory — and instead refers to an actual sleep product, specially-engineered to support our aging bods. Yes, we've put the carefree days of stylish sleepovers in novelty bedding behind us for the more serious task at hand: combatting restless slumbers due to back and neck pain. Which is why, for the next edition of Hype Machine, we're tackling the top-rated body pillows according to the most serious sleepers.
Like sleep styles, not all body pillows are created equal — and what works for one snoozer may not work for another. The supportive goods come in a wide range of different sizes, shapes, and materials (from C-shapes covered in soft jersey knit to standard-shapes filled with cushy memory foam). Whether you're in search of back, side, or even pregnancy support while catching your Zs, the ten options ahead have those bases and more accounted for. But don't just take our word for it, because we've included the ratings and hype around each top product to help you make the most informed purchase possible. Scroll on to shop the best body pillows for your sleep style...What they lack in sparkly animal shapes, they more than make up for in optimized slumbers.
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Just like their polished beach waves and streak-free spray tans, a celebrity's eyebrows almost always look perfect. With not one hair out of place, A-listers like Kim Kardashian West, Zendaya, and Lucy Hale have the kind of arches that look too good to be true. Lucky for all of us hoping to copy their flawlessly angled shapes and feathered texture, they're not. In fact, you can credit one woman, and her eponymous salon in Venice, California, for the aforementioned stars' show-stopping eyebrows: Kelley Baker.
After spending years getting Zendaya, Hale, and Ariana Grande's brows in shape (no, they didn't always look like they do now), Baker recently began working with more famous names than ever before, like Khloé, Kylie, Kourtney, and resident Kar-Jenner BFF Jordyn Woods. Now the brow artist is sharing her biggest secrets to getting the A-list look without the risk of botching your brows in the process. Her answers to our top FAQs, ahead.
How can I make my brows look like your celebrity clients'? Reaching peak brow goals doesn't happen overnight — not even for celebrities. A lot of Baker's clients came to her at a time in their lives when their brows were lacking shape or completely over-tweezed. Even the fluffiest brows you see on Instagram went through a major renovation to get to where they are now. Baker says it requires patience, monthly visits to her salon, and tossing the tweezers. "I tell my clients to let me do the work," she explains. "Every brow hair matters, and each time I shape their brows they will get better and better."
I want to start visiting a pro for regular grooming. How often should I book an appointment? Whether you're growing out brows or if you simply need a clean-up, Baker suggests booking an appointment every four to six weeks. "There’s always something for me to fix, so it’s not necessary to let clients skip an appointment for months and be super hairy," she says. Even if your brows are in rehab, make sure to tell your brow groomer exactly what your long-term goals look like. Kristie Streicher, another celeb brow artist and co-owner of Striiike salon, recommends using an old photo of yourself — pre-plucking — to pull realistic inspiration for the final shape and thickness.
The front edge of your brow should begin above your tear duct, the arch should vertically align with the outer edge of your iris, and the tail should end 45° from the outer corner of your eye.
Should I tweeze/trim between appointments? Baker, like most pros, prefers her clients to avoid any at-home grooming in between appointments. "Typically when a client tweezes themselves, they get tweezer happy and do too much," Baker explains. "So it’s best to let the pros do it for you." Also, it's likely you and your artist are working towards a long-term goal, so intervening at home could set you back at your next visit. But we get it, minor touch-ups are sometimes hard to avoid, but try to limit it to the hairs between your brows to get your through — don't mess with the actual shape or length or you might be sorry you did.
What about the brow hairs that live above the eyebrow line — should those stay or go? "I always tweeze and wax the hairs above the brow line. It really brings out your natural shape and makes your brows pop," Baker explains. "If you don’t take the brow hairs out above the brow you won’t get that super-clean, defined look." If you've tweeze too much, fake a fuller arch with a brow pencil or pomade.
I've been growing out my brows for a couple weeks and they look messy. How can I hide the rogue hairs until I see my brow artist? Baker's hidden secret for, well, everything — even concealing stray brow hairs — is a large highlighter pencil. Although Baker makes her own illuminated formula, any formula that's slightly lighter than your skin tone should work. Bonus: It's also the quickest hack to faking thick brows. “Everyone calls it the 'magic stick.' It just opens up everyone’s eyes and makes [brows] look fuller,” Baker says.
How can I tell my brows need trimming? A telltale sign are long, curly hairs sticking up and out in all directions.
Can I trim my brows at home? Baker's biggest brow no-no is self-trimming. Baker says the biggest mistake people always make is they hold their spoolie onto the hairs as they cut. “Don’t hold the brow hair up because when you let go and it falls back into place, you’ll have holes and sparse areas," she explains. But if you can't make your next brow appointment and need to trim at home, make sure to brush the hairs up and then let them go. Trim only the hairs that continue to protrude above the brow line to avoid going too short.
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Is there an easy alternative to brow tinting? Although most of Baker's clients tint their brows, she makes it clear that they aren't doing it in her salon. Due to FDA concerns, it is illegal in California for any licensed professional to have eyebrow or lash tint in their possession or in a salon, and to administer tint on or anywhere near the eyes. Despite the fact that most professionals, including Baker, do not recommend at-home brow tinting, the dye is available for purchase online for pros. If you're looking for a safer and mess-free alternative, Baker suggests sticking to a tinted brow gel with a formula utilizing thickening fibers to get the darker, bolder effect.
Does my face shape affect the shape of my brows? Yes, but it's not the final word. Similar to choosing what kind of bangs you want to get, your ideal brow shape is somewhat based on your natural face shape. Baker says the two have an opposing correlation. For example, round brows should not go on a round face. In this case, a higher arch is more flattering. Baker says the goal is to create whatever flatters their individual features, which really depends on the client's desires. Case in point: Grande personally prefers a short, straight "boy brow," so Baker tends to keep her shape soft with a slight curve, like Audrey Hepburn's.
If you like to play with the shape of your brows, but don't want to permanently change how they look, Baker suggests practicing your makeup skills. You can magically fake the shape using a brow pencil and highlighter to draw your brows in the desired style without creating any drastic, long-term damage.
How do I know I've plucked too much? Other than over-plucking until you look like Drew Barrymore on the cover of the January 1995 issue of Playboy, the biggest grooming faux pas is shortening the brow. Not only should you leave the tail of your brow alone, but also the inside near the nose. Baker says that most people tweeze without knowing what hairs to take out and what to leave in.
So what's the best practice? The front edge of your brow should begin above your tear duct, the arch should vertically align with the outer edge of your iris, and the tail should end 45 degrees from the outer corner of your eye. If you’re going to try attempting to tweeze or shape your brows yourself, Baker recommends watching YouTube videos of your favorite brow artist for practice.
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There was a time in my life where I was young and carefree and did reckless things. I kissed strangers. I stayed out until the sun came up. I disappointed my parents. I lost my keys twice in one weekend. I drank, a lot, without fear of spending the entire next day in bed spooning an empty 32 oz bottle of blue Gatorade. Worst of all, I repeatedly — not once, not twice, but multiple times, day after day, for years on end — stuck my fingers into open jars of moisturizer, put the product on my face, screwed the top right back on, and continued on with my life like nothing ever happened.
It is my personal prerogative that putting a moisturizer in a jar and then putting your fingers in that jar and putting your fingers on your face over and over again is irresponsible and, frankly, disgusting. I wouldn't dream of doing it now, the same way I cringe to think of the friend of a friend of a friend, whose name was either Alex or Alec, whose iPhone charger I accidentally stole in the mad rush to get him out of my shared apartment in the morning five years ago. Now, in my old age (mid-twenties), I am wiser and more cautious, and certainly know much more about skin care than I did then. Am I also more neurotic? Yes, that too. But goddamnit, I am right.
"Generally speaking, traditional jars are the least sanitary of all the different types of skin-care product," says dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, MD. "As you open the top and dip in your fingers, you are exposing the products to microorganisms, which increases the risk for contamination." Contamination! Microorganisms! In your moisturizer. "Using contaminated products can increase your risk of infections as the microorganisms are spread from the cream to your skin."
If you live and die by your frosted-glass jar of crème, you're fine, probably. "To maintain shelf life, these creams contain preservatives that prevent overgrowth of bacteria and other microorganisms," Dr. Zeichner says. But they're not foolproof, and the fact remains that pump dispensers are simply the more sanitary option; twist-off jars are cheaper to manufacture, which makes them more appealing from that standpoint, but the concept of spending money on a nice moisturizer only to put my fingers right back in there boggles my mind.
Still, Dr. Zeichner says, "So long as you are using clean fingers and there is no visible soiling, preservatives within skin-care products should protect them from contamination." Which leads me down a different path: Maybe it's not the packaging that's the problem in my particular situation, but me, at least a little bit. There's always a stray eyelash that gets trapped in the jar, or a tiny piece of lint from my sweater. I have a large dog who sheds, profusely.
For people like me, neurotic people with less-than-spotless lives, many brands make very nice moisturizers that don't require putting your appendages in there: tubes, pumps, even pump jars, like the ones Drunk Elephant makes. I'm not nearly as messy as I used to be — but apparently I'm still nowhere near clean enough to be the kind of person who can put on moisturizer without getting lint in the jar. In the end, I think I'm better for it.
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