Women's underwear is an endless pain in the bum – and waist and ribs and back. Even once you've been measured and fitted properly, bras and knickers still have a habit of digging into our skin and getting where the sun don't shine.
But being hampered by our smalls isn't something we should have to put up with in 2018 – and one hosiery company wants to change it, starting by bringing the issue to light. Through a series of real, unfiltered images uploaded to Instagram this week, British brand Heist sought to hammer home just how annoying our underwear really is.
The images, taken by various photographers, show women's bare bodies indented and imprinted with marks from bras, knickers and tights that clearly haven't been designed for comfort.
One image, captured by photographer Scout Paré-Phillips, shows painful-looking red marks beneath a woman's bare breasts (which are overlaid with emojis because of Instagram's nipple ban). It's a common sight within the confines of our own homes at the end of a long day – hence the need to unhook our bras ASAP – but rarely discussed openly until now.
"We wanted to start a discussion around uncomfortable underwear," Heist said in the caption. "We wanted to share something that reflects that feeling when your bra digs in, when pants leave marks on your sides and tummy. We chose to post this photograph by Scout Paré-Phillips (@scout_pp) from a body of work called ‘Impressions’ as the image accurately shows the side effects of bad underwear."
Another image, also taken by Paré-Phillips, shows a woman's stomach and waist imprinted with red marks from a pair of tights, while another by photographer Elinor Carucci depicts skin indented by a zip.
A triad of black and white photos shot by photographer Justin Bartels, also uploaded by the brand, further make the point that constricting underwear can be an everyday frustration for women – and the string of comments below the images highlight the universality of the problem.
"Please please please manufacture bras that are bone and seam free – that don’t ride up or curl/roll up and have same comfort and security as your awesome hosiery!," wrote one commenter beneath the image of bra marks.
Heist was motivated to bring the topic to light after learning about people's daily frustrations with "products that make them struggle, sweat and squeeze into something just for the sake of looking good," brand spokesperson Jordanne Young told Refinery29.
"From our research and conversations with women, women aren't happy with the state of underwear, but deal with it due to a lack of options that provide for their bodies. Underwear has let women down due to neglecting the scientific and technological focus that it deserves."
"We wanted to start a dialogue about the current state of the underwear industry and its limitations, ahead of the launch of our next product." The company is launching a new campaign on 29th October, ahead of the launch of a range of new products on 15th November. So far, the brand has kept schtum on the specifics.
"Let's just say that it’s taking a look at underwear through a comedic lens. Think Bridget Jones...We have some big names on board," Young said, adding that it's "bodywear that moves with you, not against you.
Heist already manufactures some of the most comfortable tights around, and in 2017 the brand caused a stir when it criticised Transport for London for forcing it to censor a campaign image of a woman's bare back from behind. Let's see what they come up with.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
First, there was Zara’s all-conquering, instantly-sold-out lemon yellow corduroy co-ord; a surprise hit (due to the unusual colour) featuring a double breasted jacket and cropped trousers. Then, a powder pink version with '70s-style brown leather buttons appeared at &OtherStories; and soon alternate versions of the New Suit were proliferating absolutely everywhere else. Several months later, and what looked like it might be a brief summer fashion fling is proving to be a trend with increasingly long legs. Yes, the pastel shades and ankle-baring trousers of late summer have beaten a retreat, but they were soon replaced by a wide selection of new, more wintery styles – on the catwalks, through the mid-range, and all over the high street.
One thing is for sure: the suit trend isn’t going anywhere fast. And frankly I don’t know why anyone would want it to. Who among us doesn’t miss the sheer simplicity (if not the aesthetic) of putting on the same school uniform every day? Even Barack Obama, during his time as POTUS, wore the exact same tuxedo and shoes to every single posh event he attended. While Michelle Obama’s outfits were pored over in great detail (“People take pictures of the shoes I wear, the bracelets, the necklace,” Michelle said last year), no one even noticed that her husband had the same look on repeat: “They didn’t comment that for eight years [Barack] wore the same tux, same shoes,” she said.
This gendered double standard is tiring for everyone (except perhaps the men in suits), so while we should absolutely stop scrutinising women’s red carpet and black tie style so minutely (and judging it so cruelly), there is a useful takeaway from this outing of Barack Obama’s international fashion secret: suits are always stylish, no matter how many times you wear the same one. This isn’t news to many a butch woman (and, indeed, Cate Blanchett), but it does explain why a colourful suit worn simply with trainers and a T-shirt has become go-to office-wear for droves of women working in the creative industries all around the world.
In recent months, suits have taken on an even greater symbolic meaning, one that eclipses their simple efficiency, and is more a modern update to the glass-ceiling busting power suits of the Eighties. For her appearance at Elle magazine's Women in Hollywood event last week, Lady Gaga eschewed the glittering couture gowns she wore throughout the promotional campaign for her Oscar-tipped film debut, A Star Is Born. Instead, she opted for an exaggeratedly oversized grey suit from Marc Jacobs’ Autumn Winter 18 catwalk collection – a parade of wrapped-up, colourful 80s couture style.
"In this suit, I felt like me today," Gaga said of the 180 fashion pivot. "In this suit, I felt the truth of who I am well up in my gut… As a sexual assault survivor by someone in the entertainment industry, as a woman who is still not brave enough to say his name, as a woman who lives with chronic pain, as a woman who was conditioned at a very young age to listen to what men told me to do, I decided today I wanted to take the power back. Today, I wear the pants."
Gaga’s statement-making (in both senses of the phrase) look made waves across the media, and soon gained its first homage: for the launch of Rimmel’s ‘I Will Not Be Deleted’ campaign (raising awareness of appearance-based cyberbullying), Rita Ora wore a bold suit from the same Marc Jacobs collections. While Rita didn’t comment directly on her suit, it had a powerful visual impact as she spoke about the pain cyberbullying has personally caused her. "Earlier in my career I was completely obsessed with the comments and I saw some hurtful horrible things that made me think twice about [whether] I even want to do music,” she said during a BBC News interview.
So, whether you’re queering the fashion codes, seeking a powerful look to match your determined (and perhaps defiant) outlook on life and work, or even if you’re just a fan of the suited-up aesthetic, your time is now. We have searched high and low, and travelled far and wide (around the internet) to find the best suits money can buy – whatever your budget.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
If you're here reading this story, there's a good chance you have plans to get lit tonight. Maybe you RSVP'd yes to too many parties and now are trying to figure out how you're going to make it to all of them? Or perhaps you're going out with some of your wilder friends and are worried you won't be able to keep up with their antics. Or you could be planning an all-night sex romp with your partner. There's just one problem: You're basically a grandma.
Some of us have a really hard time going out at night, because we get tired, bored, or just drunk fast. Sadly, social lives don't always begin at 5 p.m. the way we'd like them to, and sometimes you do have to pull it together and attempt to stay alive after the sun goes down.
If that's you, we're not here to judge. Staying in instead of going out is a luxury, and is honestly pretty responsible of you. Having a consistent bedtime is like rule #1 of sleep hygiene. But if you need some night-owl pointers for those special nights when you decide to go out, ahead are some ways to survive without being that jerk attempting to swallow yawns at the club.
Don't drink any alcohol.
Alcohol is a depressant, meaning it makes your nervous system relax overall, and it also makes you sleepy. If your goal is to make it to the end of a party, then you might want to consider just not drinking at all. You can still have fun at a party while you're sober, and you'll probably remember more of the antics in the morning since you're not getting wasted.
illustrated by Paola Delucca.
Drink lots of water between each drink.
If you choose to drink alcohol at a party, then do your body a favour and drink at least a glass of water between each drink. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it makes you urinate more, which can dehydrate you. To counteract that effect, keep filling yourself up with water so you won't get drunk as quickly.
illustrated by Paola Delucca.
Opt for low-alcohol cocktails.
Luckily for you, low-alcohol or "session" cocktails are all the rage right now. Meant to be sipped over a long period of time, these drinks typically contain low-alcohol by volume (ABV) alcohols, or very small amounts of standard-ABV alcohol. Sipping on a low-alcohol drink will again keep you more alert and sober than your usual cocktails.
illustrated by Paola Delucca.
Eat a big meal.
When you drink on a full stomach, you'll get intoxicated slower, and feel less hungover the next morning. So, be sure to actually eat dinner before going out. Also, if you feel yourself getting sleepy at the dark bar, be the one to suggest everyone gets late-night pizza. Not only will the food help slow the alcohol entering your bloodstream, but the carb-rich snack will give you energy.
illustrated by Paola Delucca.
Order caffeine.
No one is going to know or care that you're drinking a straight-up Diet Coke instead of a rum and Coke, so listen to your body and caffeinate when you need it. Most people can handle 400 mg of caffeine per day, which is equal to four cups of coffee, so keep that in mind if you usually drink caffeine during the day, too.
illustrated by Paola Delucca.
Take a "disco nap."
On a regular day, it would be ill-advised to take a nap so close to your bedtime, because it could impact your ability to fall asleep at night. But on a night when you know you'll be out later than usual, it might be necessary. Take a 20-30 minute nap before going out, aka a "disco nap," so at least you get some shut eye.
illustrated by Paola Delucca.
Redefine what "party" means to you.
Reminder: You don't have to go out to parties if that's not what you find energising and enjoyable. If you find it draining to be around people all the time, then you have every right to have a night to yourself. Know yourself and what you can handle, and if you're someone who struggles with social anxiety, honour your feelings and do whatever you need. Or if it gets to be too much at the party and you have to bail, just make plans with your friends in an environment you prefer.
illustrated by Paola Delucca.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Spoiler alert: this article contains spoilers for The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
You never know what you’re gonna get with a reboot. At least, that’s what I found with Netflix’s latest 90’s revival, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
This is the shadow Satanic version of the 90’s sitcom original - a little more Rosemary’s Baby and a little less canned laughter, and certainly no talking cat which I must admit, as I find myself four episodes in, has been a bit of a hurdle for me. Salem, Sabrina’s familiar and in my opinion – star of the original series – doesn’t talk in the reboot, he just chirrups and hisses. My fond memories of Salem borrowing Sabrina’s computer and impersonating a woman in an online chat room are long gone.
I really feel for Sabrina this time round, though. She has a lot on her plate as a half-witch half-mortal who has grown up in a Satan worshipping coven, alongside her aunts Hilda and Zelda and cousin Ambrose (my new favourite character). He’s a pan-sexual warlock, who has been under house arrest for 75 years.
The series kicks off with Sabrina’s 16th birthday fast approaching. She has to decide if she is going to accept her “dark baptism” and sign her name in the Book of Beasts, binding her to be at the Dark Lord’s mercy, and go to study at the school of dark arts to learn her craft. It’s obviously a huge dilemma however, because this would mean leaving her friends and boyfriend (a reimagined Harvey Kinkle) behind.
When Sabrina points out that the Devil is ill mannered, all I could think was, 'as if he would care'
Don't worry, you’ll be happy to hear that Sabrina doesn’t sign her name in the big bad book and manages to wrangle her way out of doing a deal with the Devil in a very confusing panto style witch trial court case (the coven of Satanic witches who obey the Devil didn't really resonate with me. When Sabrina points out that the Devil is ill-mannered, all I could think was, 'as if he would care!'). She comes out on top at the end of it but something tells me the Dark Master may not be the type of guy who takes no for an answer that easily…
I'll be very honest, as a practising witch I find the whole 'Satanic witch' thing extremely uncomfortable to watch. Modern day witchcraft to me is about good vibes, self-empowerment and girl power. I have been practising for as long as I can remember, my own witchcraft is all about self-care, empowering yourself and spreading cosmic vibes. The stereotypes of witchcraft that we often see in TV and film make me cringe and my defence mechanisms start to go in to overdrive as the clichés of power hungry, evil, hexing, pointy hat wearing, devil worshipping, blood sucking witches roll in - this formula gives witches a bad name.
Photo courtesy of Netflix.
There are few rituals and talk of magic in the early episodes, but I did see the show align with the girl power I recognise in the way Sabrina feels for her friends – look out for the time she sets up WICCA, the Women’s Intersectional Cultural and Creative Association. It must be said that this is something she did in her mortal life at school, though, and is presented almost separately to the part of her life that hovers closely to the dark side.
There are other similarities with witchcraft in the real world. Sabrina’s dark baptism takes place on a blood moon eclipse, which is probably one of the most powerful moons to perform a spell beneath. I don’t worship the Devil, so struggled to connect with these witches, but I do know how to protect myself from negative energy. With that in mind, I must admit that I was a little shocked to find when Aunt Hilda instructed Sabrina to take a bath in salt and rosemary to clear a curse, and she was absolutely right! They are great for cleansing spells, but if the devil is involved, I would definitely have added some lemon, sage and some clear quartz crystals for good measure.
A major reform of wedding laws is to be announced in Monday's budget to help couples cut the cost of getting married.
Chancellor Phillip Hammond is expected to announce plans to allow weddings in England and Wales to take place outdoors for the first time.
The existing regulations on wedding venues – which are now over 180 years old – stipulate that weddings must take place in solid structures which have a permanent roof. Consequently, couples can't get married in England and Wales under a marquee, in their garden or on the beach.
The regulations also state that weddings can't take place in a space where food or drink could be served either before or after the ceremony. This effectively prevents the vast majority of pubs and restaurants from applying to join the 7,500 venues in England and Wales which are currently licensed to host wedding ceremonies.
On Monday, the government is set to announce that it has asked the Law Commission to explore ways of relaxing these rules without damaging the dignity of a typical wedding ceremony.
"While the laws around who can get married have evolved substantially in recent years, the laws on how and where marriages must take place have remained largely unchanged since 1836," a Treasury spokesperson told The Guardian. "This review will help the law keep pace with modern Britain, while helping people keep the cost of living down."
Outdoor weddings are already possible in Scotland, where couples have more freedom when it comes to choosing where they say their vows.
There's no doubt that couples all over the UK could use some extra help when it comes to wedding planning on a budget. A report published in July found that the average cost of a wedding is now a hefty £30,000, which represents a 12% rise year-on-year.
Couples spend an average of £4,500 on venue hire, a figure which could certainly be reduced by offering more choice over where to hold the formal wedding ceremony. The cost of transporting guests from a registry office to the reception venue could also be saved if more reception venues were able to host the formal ceremony.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
If you're planning a holiday, or just want a distraction from the increasingly chilly autumn weather, you're in luck. Airnbb has revealed its most "wish listed" homes by UK travellers over the last year, and they're a pretty eclectic selection.
From a Colombian cabana made of bamboo to an art and book-filled loft in Scotland, the top ten includes some seriously quirky and seriously stunning places to stay. Some are perfect for couples, others lend themselves to friends' holidays, and all of them are making us want to start saving immediately. You have been warned!
This holiday home has a lot in its favour: it's situated around 80 miles from Milan, sleeps six, has an outdoor pool and is surprisingly affordable. But let's be real: that view is what really makes us want to stay here.
Santorini has a reputation as one of the fanciest Greek islands and this holiday property definitely has the 'wow' factor. It was carved into the Caldera cliff more than 250 years, and was originally used as a wine cellar, which explains its beautiful and completely unique architecture.
This lovely villa in south-west France sleeps up to eight people and has a location that will really tempt nature lovers: it's situated on the edge of the Landes forest, only 3km away from the Atlantic Ocean. Just looking at pictures makes us feel calmer, tbh.
This super-cute Kent windmill only sleeps two people, so it's ideal for a romantic getaway or mini-break with your bestie. If you want to venture out while you're there, Canterbury and Folkestone are both less than an hour's drive away.
This idyllic riad – a large traditional house built around a central courtyard – is the perfect base from which to explore the culture, cuisine and shopping of Marrakech. The historic Moroccan city is only a three-and-a-half flour flight from the UK, you know.
This charming cabana (or cabin) is made from bamboo and sleeps two people, so if you're looking for an unusual couple's retreat, it could be perfect. It's situated 11o miles from Colombia's capital city, Bogotá, which is an 11-hour direct flight from the UK.
Situated in south-west Italy, this dreamy semi-detached house has glorious views over the Adriatic Sea. It sleeps up to nine people so it's ideal if you're planning a very civilised kind of friends' holiday.
This beautifully-decorated loft in the Scottish capital definitely has the curiosity factor: guests can sleep in what's described as a "secret bed box" hidden behind floor-to-ceiling shelves. The loft also has more than 100 books to browse, so if the weather lets you down, you can curl up indoors with a good read.
How many people can say they've stayed in a converted cave? This unique holiday studio is pretty compact, but does have a kitchenette and dining area. There's also a balcony with views of pretty Kissamos Bay.
This trullo – a traditional small round stone house with a conical roof – is perfect for folks seeking tranquility: it even has its own hammock for afternoon naps. Foodies will find plenty to enjoy, too, because it's situated in the Apulia region of south-west Italy, renowned for its delicious olive oil.
From £79 per night
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Is there anything Simone Biles can’t do? The superstar gymnast has collected five Olympic medals — four of them are gold — and a staggering 14 medals at the Gymnastics World Championships. Biles has coined two gymnastic moves bear her name: the Biles, a series of marquee tumbling passes on the floor exercise, and a brand-new vault that she debuted at the 2018 World Championship qualifying event. Oh, and did we mention that she also dishes out elite-level clapbacks? Yes, Biles is an actual superhuman — right down to her physical health.
Biles shared on Instagram that she was hospitalised on Friday night for a kidney stone, a mere 24 hours before the 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships kicked off in Doha, Qatar. And not only did she shrug off the kidney stone (whom she’s affectionately named her “Doha pearl”), she flashed her signature megawatt grin in her hospital gown. “This kidney stone has nothing on world championships,” she wrote, making us all feel like wimpy underachievers. When we had a kidney stone, we most certainly were not smiling about it.
She was even released to go to compete at the championships, where, naturally, she dominated the sport (again). ESPN reports that, after the first day of competition, she’d racked up an astonishing all-around score of 60.965, easily giving her the lead over her fellow athletes. As part of Team America, she’s helped steer the USA towards first place, with a 12-point lead over second-place Japan.
Basically, Biles is a powerhouse of historical proportions, and we should all be so stoked that we’re alive to see her compete. Doha pearl or not, she rules this sport with a smile. Here’s hoping for a full recovery — not that she needs it to win.
Halloween is a holiday cherished by many people who love to dress up, eat sweet treats, and/or feel vaguely creeped out by the scary TV shows and movies that come out around this time of year. But it is hard to deny that no one seems to enjoy Halloween more than rich and famous celebrities, who celebrate the holiday with a kind of rigour, zeal, and commitment that is hard for non-famous folks to match.
But now, thanks to Instagram, Twitter, and various photo services, anyone is able to enjoy the spoils of a celebrity Halloween — even without scoring a coveted Casamigos Halloween party invite. So, check out the best celebrity Halloween looks for 2018 here.
Neil Patrick Harris
Costume: Haunted Mansion ghost.
Harry Styles
Costume: Elton John (dressed as a Dodgers player).
One of the joys of language is the way it's constantly evolving. Take the word "queer": once a synonym for "weird" or "unusual", it became a slur aimed at gay people in the late-19th century, before recently being reclaimed by the LGBTQ community as an empowering and flexible way to describe identity.
So, just as Gemma Collins is a massive fan of the dictionary, so are we. And the new "time traveler" tool launched this week by online dictionary Merriam-Webster is honestly a lot of fun. It's really simple to use: you just select your year of birth, then Merriam-Webster tells you which words first appeared in print during that year.
Photo: Merriam-Webster
A search for 1987, for example, reveals that words debuting that year included "boy band", "cringey", "tankini", "deets" and "thirtysomething" – the latter will feel all too real to anyone born in that year, because they've all said goodbye to their twenties pretty recently.
But back in 1983, people were already being introduced to words including "guac", "onesie", "piehole" and "bae"– yes, "bae" has been a thing for 35 years now.
However, it wasn't until 1993 that words including "website", "woo-woo", "PDA", "cybersex" and "heteronormative" first appeared in print.
Oh, and though it's presumably existed since public transport was invented, Merriam Webster's tool confirms that the word "manspreading" didn't appear in print until 2014.
People on Twitter have been sharing the funny, surprising and in some cases slightly depressing words that originated during their year of birth. Check out a selection of their tweets below.
so glad to be born in 1991, the year of "bestie","zoodle" and "cybersex" https://t.co/2Xy4Grfhyz
The bad news: Venus retrograde is still in full throttle this week. The good news: We can get a mini break from it if we lean into the collaborative, easy energy of Mercury and Jupiter, which are currently palling around in Scorpio together.
Meanwhile, Venus and Uranus are still opposing each other. With Uranus messing with Venus' influence on our fashion sense, Halloween might be an unusual night, costume-wise. If kooky isn't your thing, don't stress: We'll all be feeling more balanced and fair-minded toward the end of the week, when Venus moves into Libra.
From Sunday night to Tuesday night, the moon is in Cancer — feel free to pull back from the fray if you need time to heal, but remember there's a difference between feeling sorry for yourself and actively healing. The moon will then move into Leo, just in time to increase your sense of theatricality for Halloween. By the weekend, the moon shifts to practical Virgo, so that you can tackle your to-do list all day Saturday. This is a great day to start something new.
Get R29 Horoscopes direct to your calendar, every week with two simple steps!
2. Make sure you're notified about new horoscopes by switching on event alerts! Apple/iOS: Switch on 'Events' notifications under 'Alerts' in 'Preferences'. Google: 'Add Notification' under 'Event Notifications' in R29 Horoscopes calendar settings. Is there a webcal/iCal feed I can use to subscribe directly?Yes! Here
I subscribed to the calendar on my iPhone but it isn’t showing up on my computer or tablet. How do I fix that? You will need to add an iCloud Calendar subscription. Use the webcal link mentioned above.
Can I subscribe if I use Outlook? Yes. Using the webcal link above, you can add the calendar to Outlook.com or an Outlook desktop client.
Aries March 21 to April 19
There’s no time like the present, Aries! If you’ve been waiting to talk someone’s ear off, Monday is the day to do so. Chatty Mercury and lucky Jupiter are working away at creating a serendipitous opportunity for you, most likely in your career sector. Here's some easy advice for your go-getter sign: Take the money and run with it.
On the night of All Hallow’s Eve, the communication planet will make his way into freewheeling Sagittarius. It’s time to pitch your wildest ideas and see what sticks with those who listen. Plus, with intense Scorpio season fuelling your fire, you’re feeling energised to get to the bottom of any problem.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Taurus April 20 to May 20
On Sunday, you’ve got money on your mind, Taurus. Mercury, your financial planet, has linked up with lucky Jupiter, and this planetary collaboration may yield good cash vibes this week.
If you’re in a relationship, spend time with your partner Monday and don't be scared to throw caution to the wind. Do something daring and watch those sparks fly. If you’re single, get out on the town, school night or not. Speaking of school nights, who cares if Halloween's on a Wednesday this year? Go out and enjoy yourself.
Try to keep your cool at work, since Venus and Uranus are opposing each other, which could lead your health and career sectors to clash. Diffuse any inner conflicts by changing up your work environment (standing desk, anyone?).
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Gemini May 21 to June 20
Are you feeling lucky, Gemini? Mercury and Jupiter are currently conjunct, working together to help you sparkle from their post in Scorpio. When Mercury, ever the speedy conversationalist, teams up with Jupiter, the knowledge seeking giant, your natural talents tend to shine. If you have anything to present during this week, don't sweat it — you’ll positively light up the room!
Midweek, Mercury moves from Scorpio into Sagittarius. Once in this scholarly sign, the communication planet will fan the fires of your curiosity. You’ll feel most fulfilled if you can feed your brain with new facts — and doing so will likely attract more like-minded friends.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Cancer June 21 to July 22
Get ready to feel warmer and fuzzier than usual, Cancer. Mercury and Jupiter have formed a conjunction in Scorpio, coaxing you to come out of your shell and spend time with your partner or your dearest friends. When the mood strikes, you can be an incredible host, dear Crab. And if you host an early Halloween get together this week, it could be a night to remember.
But if you’re too busy whipping your routine into shape to plan a party, use this week to tackle one specific project that’s been hanging over your head. Focusing in one task will make it easier to conquer — especially if you try viewing it from a new angle.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Leo July 23 to August 22
Your week is off to a sweet start, thanks to Mercury and Jupiter working away in Scorpio. If you’ve been putting off any paperwork or logistical tasks, now is the time to tick those chores off your to-do list. Your financial planet and your planet of luck are playing nice at the moment — take advantage of those good vibes.
Rearranging your living space will boost your mood during the Venus retrograde. Be sure to stick to smaller tasks — don't attempt any extreme home makeovers until Venus is direct next month. If you get out of the house on Halloween, you’ll be sure to attract new friends, as Venus scoots into Libra.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Virgo August 23 to September 22
This week you'll learn just how infectious a good mood can be, Virgo. Everyone will be feeling easy and breezy on Monday, thanks to Mercury and Jupiter's conjunction in Scorpio. If you’ve been wanting to go somewhere new, but can’t make the time to travel right now, why not explore a new area in your city? Switch up your routine and broaden your horizons at home — doing so will likely improve your mood even more.
Venus, your career planet, is still retrograde, so don't feel bad if you have a little fun on a school night. Get out of the house on Halloween! Venus enters Libra midweek, ensuring that the costume you don that night will be anything but boring.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Libra September 23 to October 22
We’re still in the midst of Venus retrograde, but that doesn’t mean that love and money (and the joys they tend to bring) are gone from the world, Libra. Early this week, Mercury and Jupiter's easy alignment in Scorpio will bring you news about your finances. If you’ve been putting your ideas to paper and energy to work, the universe could have a little treat in store for you.
You’re a great friend, Libra, but have you ever been accused of being a people-pleaser? Don’t be afraid to speak your mind! Guard your time on Wednesday, when Venus enters Libra, and trust that those who really care won't mind if you tell them "no" just this once.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Scorpio October 23 to November 21
The sun and Jupiter are both in your sign and lighting up your life right now, Scorpio. It’s your time to shine. If you’re in a relationship, spend Monday with your partner and do something to show them how much you appreciate them.
If you’re single or dating, resist those first date jitters and put all your cards on the table. Don't be shy about what you’re looking for in a relationship — if it’s meant to be, they’ll be charmed. If it’s not, you should find comfort (and confidence) in the fact that you put yourself out there. Whoever you choose to spend your time on Monday, they should count their lucky stars that you wanted them.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Sagittarius November 22 to December 21
It’s time to get inspired, Sag! This Monday, Mercury and Jupiter’s alignment in Scorpio will bring fun and creativity back into your work life. Mercury rules your zones of career and love, while Jupiter adds a dose of wisdom and luck to the mix. Under these skies, the more effort you put in, the more you’ll get out of it.
Spend this week working on projects that came out of your own passionate ideas. If you’re in a relationship, take your partner out on an adventure. Single? Chat with people who are willing to embrace spontaneity. With an eager partner in crime, you never know where you could end up.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Capricorn December 22 to January 19
The ongoing Venus retrograde seems to be affecting you more deeply than most signs, Capricorn. Could that be because you’re one of the hardest workers out there? Venus is, after all, your career planet, so may be experiencing some stops and starts at work — which is likely irksome for an ambitious Goat.
Despite the foggy retrograde vibes, Monday could offer an extraordinary treat. A Mercury-Jupiter conjunction in Scorpio gives you a boost of energy. The communication and luck planets are here to lend you the gift of gab and clear mind thats you need to succeed. If you’re looking to make a big purchase or sign something important, use Monday's blessing to seal the deal.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Aquarius January 20 to February 18
Are you ready to turn it up to 11 at work, Aquarius? This week, the sun continues to shine his light on your house of social status. That energy will only be increased by Mercury and Jupiter’s conjunction in Scorpio. Make sure that you’re ready for this week's advantageous energy by picking out your outfits, setting your grooming schedule, or prepping your lunches on Sunday. Do whatever you need to feel poised and ready to knock 'em dead come Monday.
If you’ve got any other important to do’s lined up, try to squeeze them in before Thursday, when Mercury will move into Sagittarius. Make the most of this magic, Water Bearer.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Pisces February 19 to March 20
You’re tougher than most people give you credit for, Pisces. Venus’ retrograde affects each of us differently, and the next few weeks will feel slow when you want them to move fast. Grit your teeth and show the cosmos that they've met their match.
Luckily, Mercury and Jupiter are joining forces to bring you luck in work and love. Spend your days chatting with peers about your deepest desires at your job. Then, spend your nights connecting with your partner or friends. It’s a week to celebrate! On Wednesday, watch out for conflict and hold your ground. You deserve to be loved in the way that you give love. Don’t settle for less.
Illustrated by Abbie Winters.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
In Refinery29'sSweet Digs, we take a look inside the sometimes small, sometimes spacious homes of millennial women. In today's episode, 30-year-old Dani Frazier shows off her two-bedroom Los Angeles apartment which she shares with her boyfriend.
When combining homes with a significant other, certain things can cause drama. It might be shower times, weird tics like leaving tea bags on tables, or — in Dani Frazier's case — a Jimi Hendrix poster.
"The apartment was definitely a collective effort, but in terms of decorating and putting everything together and making a final decision, it's me," Frazier says. The only issue: "We've been playing this game where in the guest room I have hung something on the wall and he has this awful Jimi Hendrix poster, and he keeps taking what I hung up down and putting up his Jimi Hendrix poster. It's become a battle."
Everything else, however, has been going smoothly. The couple even agreed on one key piece in their bedroom, an expensive Anthropologie dresser for $3,600 (£2,700). "It was Fabio's choice," Frazier says. "He saw it and fell in love with it."
Watch Frazier's apartment tour above, and read on for more about her sweet digs.
How would you describe your home style?
"I would like to think that it's warm, but also super mid-century modern. I think that’s really important for me, that it's always a place for people to feel comfortable. So we have floor pillows and blankets and couch pillows — when you walk into our home, I want you to feel like it's your home, too. So I try to bring in like warm elements. We might have a glass coffee table, but I made sure our rug was super fluffy to bring the industrial look down a notch. There's nothing worse than an apartment where you can't be comfortable."
Where do you shop for furniture?
"I'm going to shout out this guy because he's amazing, there is this furniture store called the Hunt and it's in Eagle Rock. He has this giant warehouse where he restores furniture or builds custom furniture. He built our credenza and it's amazing. We always like to go there and just kind of peek at all the different stuff he ha. Then we definitely do West Elm and Anthropologie, because you can just find exactly what you're looking for, but there are a couple thrift stores we like, too. I'll do Salvation Army, even though Fabio's not super into that, and then there's the Rose Bowl Flea Market and the Melrose Trading Post. There's a ton of local artisans and people who make custom furniture. I got this really cool like beverage cart there for like $50 bucks. You have to dig, but you can find pretty much everything you're looking for."
Do you have any decorating tips or advice?
"I try not to put things against the wall. Our couch is floating, and I love the idea of a floating couch. It really opens up your space. We also don't put a ton of stuff on the walls. We have one big artwork when you walk in, but I don't like things to be super cluttered. The best tip, I have which I haven't followed because we haven't put up any curtains yet, but my mom always tells me to hang your curtains up higher than where your actual window starts, because it makes your room feel taller."
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
England's market towns have become property hotspots, according to a new report, with prices an average of 17% (or £41,633) higher than in the rest of their county.
Unsurprisingly, the report by Halifax found that market towns within commuting distance of London – where prices are actually falling – have become especially expensive.
The average property price in the market town of Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, a 35-minute train ride from London Marylebone, is an eye-watering £1,053,975.
Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, a 35-minute train ride from London Paddington, is the second most expensive market town with an average property price of £838,206, the Press Association reports.
It's not difficult to work out why market towns have become super-desirable. They typically offer many of the amenities that city-dwellers are used to, good transport links, and have easy access to the countryside. In short: you get fresh air and Tesco Metro.
Andrew Mason, mortgages product director at Lloyds Bank, said of the report's findings: "With house prices rising by almost £1,000 a month in the most popular market towns over the past five years, the value put on quality of life and curbside appeal is clear. Home buyers continue to be attracted to towns on the commuter belt into London and are prepared to pay extra to live there."
However, Mason also pointed out that market towns further away from London are less out-of-reach for first-time buyers looking to get on the property ladder.
“For home buyers who are looking for market charm, but not necessarily needing to commute to London, the most affordable towns reside in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the North," he said.
Check out the 10 most affordable market towns in England, followed by the 10 least affordable, below.
The 10 most affordable market towns:
1. Ferryhill, North East, £78,3172.
2. Immingham, Yorkshire and Humberside, £115,765
3. Crook, North East, £115,975
4. Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North East, £142,849
5. Stanhope, North East, £146,126
6. Tickhill, East Midlands, £147,761
7. Guisborough, Yorkshire and Humberside, £153,966
8. Marsden, Yorkshire and Humberside, £155,439
9. Boston, East Midlands, £159,403
10. Berwick-upon-Tweed, North East, £165,437
The 10 least affordable market towns:
1. Beaconsfield, South East £1,053,975
2. Henley-on-Thames, South East, £838,206
3. Alresford, South East, £542,614
4. Cranbrook, South East, £492,333
5. Petersfield, South East, £483,222
6. Thame, South East, £477,664
7. Lewes, South East, £460,671
8. Hertford, South East, £449,963
9. Saffron Walden, South East, £441,709
10. Marlborough, South West, £441,296
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
After my first job at MTV working as a music programmer, I can't stop trying to matchmake people with music they might like. So, I wrote a book calledRecord Collecting for Girlsand started interviewing musicians. The Music Concierge is a column where I share music I'm listening to that you might enjoy, with a little context. Follow me on Twitter or Facebook, or leave me a comment below and tell me what you're listening to this week.
Lauren Jauregui "Expectations"
The long awaited debut single from Fifth Harmony's latest solo spinoff is here, and Lauren Jauregui did not disappoint with this slinky, sexy single. Her voice sounds like the low growl of an angry woman, and it soars on the chorus. The whole second verse is a litany of things I've told every man I've dated. I hope this chorus is ironic, though, because who wishes they had no expectations of the person in the same fucking bed?
Moda Spira "Bang"
Moda Spira isn't this artist's real name; rather, it is a Latin phrase that means "the continual act of breathing." That should give you a hint at the beautiful songwriting you're going to hear when you press play. Nashville singer-songwriter Latifah Alattas really blew me away with this sultry track that's part muse-of-David Lynch vibes and part primal wail. Rejection with a side of lounge music? Yes.
Sara Bareilles "Armor"
So you saw Sara Bareilles' name on this song and thought you had an idea of what it would sound like? Me too. We're both wrong. Bareilles sets this one in a minor key and turns in a track that sounds like Fiona Apple or Tori Amos more than her usual brand of sparkly, empowering pop. She tops it off with a scathing rebuke of toxic masculinity and glowing praise of the support systems of women.
Raveena "Temptation"
If you're looking for a little healing — something cooling that feels good and calms the soul — then look no further than Raveena and her "Temptation." The song encourages you to slip into a fantasy, with overtones of that French pop style that Julie Delpy used in Before Sunset filtered through an Indian dreamland of Raveena's home country. Go ahead, wander into the garden.
Ciara "Dose"
It's Friday afternoon as I write this, and my life needs a dose of Ciara. Let's celebrate how she makes every day a damn dance party. And let's celebrate that Ciara makes her directorial debut with this music video. This woman came to slay all day.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Emily Gorcenski is a survivor of white supremacist attacks at the Charlottesville, VA rally and an activist. The opinions expressed here are her own.
This weekend, a man killed at least 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh in an anti-Semitic attack. According to the Anti-Defamation League, it was the deadliest attack on Jewish people in American history. After the suspect was captured and named, his verified profile on the fringe platform Gab was discovered. There, the shooter had a long history of promoting anti-Semitism, neo-Nazism, and suggesting violence against Jewish people.
That attack was the second racially-motivated mass shooting in Appalachia this week; days before, a man shot and killed two Black people in a supermarket after failing to enter a Black church in Kentucky. It was easy to miss that story because it happened during a nationwide manhunt to find the man who was mailing improvised explosive devices to senior and former politicians who have been critical of President Donald Trump.
Feeling staggered by the recent escalation in white supremacist violence is understandable. Less than two weeks ago, the most egregious story was about a gang of white supremacists, the Proud Boys, engaging in a mob beatdown of protesters in Manhattan after being invited to join an event hosted by the Metropolitan Republican Club in New York. Today, that story doesn’t even break the top three most alarming things we’re reading about. In total, over the past two weeks, at least 19 people have been arrested or charged for their alleged participation in white supremacist violence.
If this all seems overwhelming, it is. As a former resident of Charlottesville, VA, and a survivor of the Unite the Right rally last year, I have tracked white supremacists and their organisations closely since then. The escalation of violence of the last two weeks is challenging to keep up with, even for me. A report this spring from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University at San Bernardino says that hate crimes have risen for the fourth straight year and are at a 10-year high.
As a former resident of Charlottesville, VA, and a survivor of the Unite the Right rally last year, I have tracked white supremacists and their organisations closely since then. The escalation of violence of the last two weeks is challenging to keep up with, even for me.
The term “stochastic terrorism” has been used to describe the recent rise of white supremacist violence, meaning mass and social media are used to amplify a sense of urgency in order to exhort sympathetic followers to commit acts of violence while keeping enough distance to maintain deniability. The resulting attacks are effectively seen as random because there are no explicit instructions as to who should commit an attack, or even when. White supremacists have long embraced this approach. In the early 1980s, it was referred to as “leaderless resistance. ”
In 2018, however, this model falls short. Their motives and methods of these attacks are entirely predictable. The unifying threads weaving all of these narratives together are plainly obvious if you know where to look for them: conspiracy theories, rooted in anti-Semitism, which are promulgated on social media and repeated by the president, his administration, and prominent supporters.
At the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, members of the Jewish community gathered on Shabbat. Before targeting them, the shooter shared a conspiracy theory on Gab that Jewish activists from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), an organisation that provides humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees, were behind the migrant caravan making its way through Mexico. He ended that post, “Screw your optics, I’m going in.” His next act was to take 11 lives.
On the fringe social network Gab, users regularly promote a collection of essays written decades ago by a prominent neo-Nazi. The text, the name of which I will not share, exhorts the reader to commit acts of terrorism and violence in order to wrest control of society from what the author believes to be Jewish control.
The nexus of the Jewish cabal conspiracy has long been focused on billionaire philanthropist George Soros. The belief that Soros controls the puppet strings of liberals and the purse strings of the Democratic party has leaked out of neo-Nazism and is now entrenched among mainstream Republicans. Earlier this month, Trump further emboldened right-wing conspiracy theorists by suggesting in a tweet that Soros was secretly funding anti-Brett Kavanaugh protesters. Soros was the first recipient of a mail bomb last week.
It is not shocking that white supremacists are using social networks to spread anti-Semitic and racist conspiracy theories. It is shocking that they are so brazen, so unconcerned about the repercussions for doing so. The lack of governance and moderation on these platforms empowers these actors. Twitter has stated that it has no intention of preventing the president from engaging in online harassment or promoting violence against journalists. After the mail bomb suspect was arrested, journalist Rochelle Richie revealed that she had reported the threatening messages he previously sent her on Twitter. Twitter claimed to have found no violation of their rules originally but after his arrest, the platform admitted to having made a mistake. On Gab, site administrators claim that harassment, conspiracy theories, and anti-Semitic content are all part of the platform’s key feature: almost unrestricted free speech.
Fake news, anti-Semitism, racist memes, and conspiracy theories are commonly shared among white supremacists and Americans on the fringes of the hard right. But in sum and substance, the conspiracy theories we see shared on social media today are not very different than those emails whose subject lines begin with “Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: Re: Fwd:”; nor are they much different from what you will hear during the call-in portions of AM talk radio. Social media has extended their reach. The president can participate directly in this discourse, which now spreads at rates previously unthinkable.
At this point, it should be clear that Trump shares responsibility for the uptick in violence. He declined to support gun control after the shooting in Pittsburgh, instead suggesting the worshipers would have been safer if they were armed. During the killing spree, the attacker shot three trained armed police officers. After Unite the Right in Charlottesville, Trump struggled to denounce white supremacy. The suspected mail bomber lived in a van covered with pro-Trump stickers; his family said that Trump became like “a stand-in father” to him. When Trump tweeted a long-disproven white supremacist conspiracy theory about South African farmers, even the neo-Nazis who disfavour Trump celebrated online.
After the mail bomber was caught, a reporter asked the president if he would tone down his violent rhetoric. Instead, he threatened to “tone it up.” Less than 24 hours later, a man with a history of sharing anti-Semitic hatred online killed 11 people at Shabbat services. Some of the sentiments he posted on social media were anti-Trump, but many supported the conspiracy theories that Trump and his supporters embrace.
These acts of violence are not random. They are the direct result of providing a platform for people to openly promote and engage with hateful ideas with no penalty. Far from being introspective about their complicity in 11 deaths this weekend, Gab’s management openly bragged about the traffic they were seeing after the shooting.
We have been getting 1 million hits an hour all day.
Next month, James Fields, the man who drove his car into the crowd in Charlottesville, will be going on trial for his 10 state charges, which include a first-degree murder charge for the death of Heather Heyer. The evidence against him is vast, and the conspiracy theories shared everywhere, from the extremist sections of Gab to the mainstream conservative parts of Facebook, are false. I know this because I was there, and I saw what happened with my own eyes.
But that doesn’t matter. If Fields is found guilty, white supremacists, and likely Trump, will refuse to tone down their rhetoric. Instead, they will resort to the proven formula and creating still more conspiracy theories. Unless the reaction by both the authorities and the companies responsible for moderating social media platforms changes, the trend of increasing violence won’t abate. Instead, it will be “toned up,” because to a significant group of people, including the president, it is an acceptable form of hate.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Sarah Seltzer is a writer, a Jew, and a mother. The opinions expressed here are her own.
Fear is instilled in American Jewish children early, whether it’s reading novels about the Holocaust in Hebrew school or real, passed-down stories about pogroms, extermination, threats, and war that led so many of our families to flee here. And yet, most of us have lived lives free of violence, or even its threat. This weekend, that changed in a few moments when the deadliest attack on Jews in American history happened in Pittsburgh, at a synagogue where different groups were celebrating a new baby, praying together, and studying. We are mourning the terrifying, anti-Semitic attack. This massacre may signal a turning point for young American Jews. We’ve never seen anything like this on these shores, and yet on some level we have been waiting for it, preparing for a future where our safety is anything but guaranteed.
As kids, American Jews often pretend to hide from the Nazis during our imaginary games. But the truth is, for many of us — especially those who grew up in pluralistic areas where restaurants serve matzah ball soup and menorahs stand next to Christmas trees — a dread of anti-Jewish violence has been part of our psyches without being part of our existence. Of course, anti-Semitism has been ever-present in American society, but it in our era it has more typically looked like social exclusion, ignorance, or casual cruelty rather than physical terror. Indeed, for Jews of colour, queer and trans Jews, or Mizrahi (Arab) Jews, fear was more likely to be stoked by bigots within and without Jewish communities than it was by anti-Semitism.
All of this is a broad generalisation, to be sure. But certainly in recent decades, anti-Jewish violence in America has seemed like a small threat compared to the hate crimes our brothers and sisters of other backgrounds have endured. For this reason, progressive Jews have tended to use our history of persecution as a reason to stand up for others, focusing on immigration, racial and gender justice, and LGBTQ rights in particular. Social justice activism and showing up for others has been our way to honour our slain or exiled ancestors.
This massacre may signal a turning point for young American Jews. We’ve never seen anything like this on these shores, and yet on some level we have been waiting for it, preparing for a future where our safety is anything but guaranteed.
Then the 2016 election came and with it a sense that the landscape was shifting back to hold a direct threat to all Jews. What was it exactly that signalled a change? Was it the Trump family retweeting white nationalists, or the closing Donald Trump campaign ad that used prominent Jews in finance and philanthropy as its big bad bogeymen? Was it the disturbing media trendiness of dapper neo-Nazi Richard Spencer, or the almost unbearable barrage of oven and gas chamber memes aimed at Jewish journalists on social media? In New York City, one of the capitals of the Jewish diaspora, Adam Yauch Park, was defaced with swastikas the week after the election. If this crap was happening so brazenly in Brooklyn, at a park named for a Beastie Boy, many of us guessed that anti-Semitic violence wasn’t far behind. Certainly, by the time marchers chanted “Jews will not replace us” in Charlottesville, Heather Heyer was murdered, and the president declared that there were “very fine people” on “both sides” there was no masking the new reality.
Anti-Semitism is like and unlike other forms of bigotry. With its conspiratorial ideas about Jews “controlling” society, it is a prejudice that requires Jewish people to be ensconced in a society to take hold. That’s why some Jews can have white privilege and still be targeted by neo-Nazis. As Jews For Racial And Economic Justice’s pamphlet on anti-Semitism notes, ”Rather than keeping Jews perpetually at the bottom, anti-Semitism often becomes most intense when Jews are afforded a measure of success.”
2016 was the year the uptick in anti-Semitism began to feel real. It was also the year I had my first child. For me, the entire year brought with it a deep, new understanding of historical Jewish persecution and how it crept up and devoured families that were going to the beach and eating ice cream. Maybe the situation gets worse by the day and you don’t notice it, or you do notice it and say, “This is going to explode” and you hold your breath and put off confronting it until one day you can’t anymore, because the bloodshed is at your door. Because you realise your family is a target based simply on who you are.
That realisation is utterly devastating. Even if what happened in Pittsburgh was inevitable in our current climate, it still feels like a fresh, raw wound. It can be hard to sign on to social media and see my Jewish friends mourning while some non-Jews post cat pictures like nothing has changed. As I was writing this, a friend messaged me to say, “I am honestly scared in a way I've never been before.”
Of course we’re scared. White supremacy killed 11 people in Pittsburgh, and it was stoked by an administration and party that routinely dog-whistles about George Soros (the target of a recent pipe bomb) and “globalists,” which is a code word for Jews. When the president blames the targeted synagogue itself for a lack of security, he’s hanging Jewish Americans out to dry, along with transgender folks, immigrants, Black people, and women.
2016 was the year the uptick in anti-Semitism began to feel real. It was also the year I had my first child.
Here is what gives me the most hope, despite how shaken up I feel: in Pittsburgh, according to the social media accounts of the suspect, Jews were targeted for raising funds to resettle immigrants and refugees. All across my timeline today, I’m seeing Jews my age doubling down in solidarity and vowing to continue the work, raising money for immigrant groups and stating out loud that what we feel right now likely pales in magnitude compared to what so many others, especially immigrants, trans, or Black Americans, feel daily. In New York City, Jews held a vigil while Muslim allies circled them for protection.
These Jewish activists are linking arms with everyone else affected by this Trump-era intensifying of age-old prejudices, and that’s our only way forward. If my son has to live in an America newly menaced by violent anti-Semitism, I mourn for him. But I also want him to look around and feel empathy, kinship, and understanding towards all others who are under attack. Even if our particular pain this week is uniquely Jewish, the feeling of being frightened and in pain these days is far from unique. Knowing that can give us the strength to fight.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Remember the time when you’d print off a photo to bring to the hairdressers? Women in the '90s brought cut-outs of The Rachel; in 2007 they brought Alexa Chung’s shaggy bob. Now, we bring photos we’ve saved from Instagram: buzzcuts, braids and bleached 'dos of the people we follow and admire from afar. So what if you could find out exactly what cut and colour they have and book an appointment with the person who created it simultaneously? Well, thanks to one of beauty’s most innovative and savvy women, Sharmadean Reid, founder of WAH London, now you can.
Beautystack is Reid’s newly launched network and booking app, which gives beauty fanatics not only key details about treatments and looks – from glowing facials to intricate nail art – but also the ability to view the stylist or technician’s schedule before booking in. Users can upload selfies post-treatment and share notes about everything from the lash curl number and hair toner shade used to their skin sensitivity, meaning an end to burning questions about whether the treatment would be suitable for your hair texture or skin type.
While the app is fantastic for those who always find their next beauty look on Instagram, it also puts the beauty professional front and centre. In the digital age, influencers have a huge hand in people’s beauty choices, but Reid wants to give the experts their due credit. Users can tag their favourite salons including stylists, technicians, dermatologists and colourists, and note their experience with them. The app is easy to use and you can simply search key terms like balayage, stiletto nails, and box braids to name a few. The set-up is framed more like a WhatsApp conversation than an arduous form. It's visually pleasing (all pastel hues and image-led grids), and does what Reid does best: combining service with inspiration, making our beauty life categorically better.
We sat down with Reid to discuss her new venture, helping women thrive in business and building a network dedicated to beauty obsessives.
Hey Sharmadean! Congrats on Beautystack – tell me a little bit about it.
It's a visual booking system and social network platform. You have your profile and you upload a photo of your treatment and put the 411 about it, while beauty pros have a profile where they upload all their work and all their images are bookable. You can save it, share it and comment on it, but the key thing is that if you saw my braided hair today and you were like, "I really want braids for Notting Hill Carnival," you could click on my picture and book it with the very person who did them. You’ll know how long it took, how much money it cost – everything – and you'd read my notes, which might say, "The braids are really good on day three, so get it done a few days before the event."
I won't have to guess where someone gets their hair colour done now!
Exactly. One of the really important things is that women take loads and loads of pictures of their treatments, but they don't feel comfortable putting it on Instagram because it ruins the vibe. I’m happy to take all of Instagram's cast-off pictures and put them on Beautystack because this is all about detail.
And what sets the app apart from booking tools like Treatwell?
All the beauty pros will be vetted by us – if you see someone on Beautystack you should feel that you can trust them because it's my taste and my network. If you got a facial somewhere, I would trust my friend or colleague's opinion rather than Google. I just don't think that's how girls shop beauty now. If you click on someone's profile and you think, "She kinda looks like me, she’s got hair like mine," her review has way more weight because the treatment is likely to be similar for us both.
You're always one step ahead in beauty innovation. How did you get from WAH to here?
I started when I was 24 years old, which is really weird because it's going to be 10 years next year! I was using tumblr and all these other cool tools, but there was nothing that I could start my business with that was comparable. All the salon software systems were incredibly old. They tended to have been built by boyfriends of salon owners and then, as a product, couldn't be innovated upon. So in 2009, instead of building a website, I used tumblr because that's what I knew – I didn't want to pay a web developer £10,000 to build a website that I couldn't edit or update. At the same time, one of the most important things at WAH that changed the game was that we photographed every single nail that came through the door. Bear in mind the iPhone only came out a couple of years before, so there wasn't this culture of cataloguing your treatments. Those Blackberry phone photos were so fuzzy and I'd put them in Facebook groups because there was no Instagram.
I think we pioneered a new way of how a beauty salon runs, because we regularly updated our website. Other salon websites would consist of static imagery that would never change. We were uploading pictures every single day and people would come in with those pictures and say, "I want this. How much is it, how long does it take and who did it?" and nine years later it still happens. We’ve never had a system that we’ve been truly happy with. We were all stood around the WAH salon's reception when a bunch of schoolgirls came in with folders and folders of screenshots from our Instagram feed, and I just thought, wouldn't it be cool if you could just book the picture?
It's great that you're putting beauty professionals at the centre of the app, too...
Ultimately I think that beauty pros are the next influencers. If both a blogger and my facialist recommend a moisturiser, I'm going to believe my facialist because she’s an expert. So my goal is to give all of these women not only the money to run their businesses but essentially increase their influence in the beauty world because I've been there, where we are literally the bottom of the pile. My ultimate goal is to just represent the beauty professional community and help power their work.
How has the start-up scene changed since you started out a decade ago?
There’s a community in London that didn't exist when I opened WAH. There was no entrepreneur hub, co-working spaces – there were no coffee shops when I started! The day I opened the salon in Haggerston, we had to go to Shoreditch to get a coffee! I feel like I'm an old millennial who has seen the clear change in the way people shop, the technology people are using and how things are built.
Did you always think you'd end up in the tech space?
I never started WAH to open a chain of nail salons, it was always a place for me and my friends to hang out – all the stuff around it and the nails was just the reason to get them in. I actually think what I'm really good at is helping women make more money and giving women business advice. I genuinely love doing that, so that's why I set up Future Girl Corp. When I was 28, I took a year and a half out and moved back to my hometown of Wolverhampton to think about my future. I was going into my 30s, and my 20s took a detour with WAH; I was going to be a stylist and a creative director but opening the salon took over my life. So in my 30s I wanted to help women make money, because economic participation is the only way to gender equality. We didn't just do nail art with WAH, we actually created this whole micro-economy of girls globally that started businesses based on the fact that we made ours. Beautystack is a way for all these girls who are braiding hair and doing nails on the side to make more money.
The fact that you use your platform to share your knowledge and experience is fantastic – a lot of people pull up the ladder behind them once they've succeeded.
I think I just enjoy seeing progress in any field. If something is different from the last time I saw it, it makes me really excited. I definitely get personal satisfaction from seeing these girls grow. I've had eight girls in a test group for Beautystack since last summer, who shaped everything about the app. The last girl I met now does my lashes and she had one bar in Crystal Palace and she said, "Oh, I opened Lash Land when I was young and the branding wasn't that cool, but I was thinking of doing this thing called Slash Beauty." I told her to make a deck and find a place in Portobello Market – it’s popping round there and there’s no lash bars, and I wanted to be able to get my lashes done when I wanted! Two months later she'd found the location, got a small bank loan, used her savings and opened it. She’s going to double her money and grow as a business, which is the thing that I get real pleasure out of.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
To the sceptical and the uninitiated, I totally understand why you might roll your eyes at the idea of ambient literature. Why on earth would you want to be conscious of yourself and your surroundings when the whole point of reading a book is to lose yourself in someone else’s world, right?
I felt the same way and approached my first interactive reading experience cynically. I expected to be irritated by the constant reference to my location when all I wanted to do was escape it. I made huge assumptions about how strange it would be to feel like I was part of a story that I didn’t know yet. I thought it would be disorienting and wildly impractical but wow, I was wrong.
Ambient literature is a relatively new concept. Simply put, it's a style of book that’s actually meant to be read on your phone. We're not talking about another version of the Kindle app; this takes digital reading to a whole new level. The idea is that it uses information like your location, time and weather to personalise the story and draw you into it, literally. Everything syncs to your surroundings by the power of geotags and mobile data, and you suddenly have a constantly evolving narrative in the palm of your hands. It's the product of a huge two-year project by UWE Bristol, Bath Spa University and the University of Birmingham, and one of the novels to come out of it is crazy good.
Breathe by Kate Pullinger is a story specifically written for your smartphone. Take yourself (and your phone) outside, open the website where the novel lives and you'll be advised to let the book know you're ready to begin. Click to confirm access to your camera and location (trust me, it's worth it and they promise none of the data collected is stored online) and you're in.
First thing to know is that Breathe is a ghost story which, even if spooky isn't your genre of choice, works in the favour of the whole experience. It's about a young woman called Flo and when you jump into the narrative you'll be suitably haunted by how quickly your reality merges with her strange, fictional life.
"Welcome to the world of Flo," the introduction text reads. "She can talk to ghosts. And she knows where you are." It's here you'll find your first clue as to how creepy this whole thing can get. You won't notice it, but your phone will have taken a photo by now. Not of you, just of the surroundings, and it's this image that'll reappear as you make your way through the book, as a continuous reminder that Flo's story is about you, too.
Her narration is frequently interrupted by a secondary dialogue from what we can only assume is a ghost. A ghost who'll tell you that she's on the road you're currently walking down – she'll name your precise location out of nowhere and, yes, it's pretty unsettling. You'll double take at the text, unsure whether you read it correctly. You definitely did, and so you'll spend the rest of the story looking over your shoulder.
As you read on there'll be more references to your surroundings. Flo told me that she recognises my face in the crowd at Old Street (the closest station to R29 HQ). She said she often sits at a café across the road from where I am.
Tilt your screen and you'll spot some hidden text. Tap the screen on certain pages and you'll reveal the photo that your phone took a little while earlier. Swipe too quickly and you'll miss text being typed, deleted and retyped just to up the ante a little bit. Wildly clever and terrifyingly accurate is the only way to describe it. The concept of immersive reading has just been taken to a whole new level and I'm here for it. Never before have I actively enjoyed reading on my phone, but when you're thrown into a story that very much relies on you reading it in the first place, it's hard to resist the intrigue of what will happen next.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
When it comes to tie-dye (and like most other things in fashion), the wearer gives meaning to the trend. For some, the tie-dyed T-shirt is an artefact of '60s counterculture. Others see a broader significance: Almost every civilisation has its own tie-dye variation, from Shibori in Japan and Indonesia, to batik dyeing in Africa, to mudmee in Thailand. For me, tie-dye means nostalgia, and recalls memories of growing up in Indiana and spending my summers tie-dyeing clothing with my best friends at camp.
With every tie-dyed look that walked down the runways this past Fashion Month (at Stella McCartney, Calvin Klein 205W39NYC, Marine Serre, and Proenza Schouler), I felt warm and fuzzy, and wondered how my peers experienced this enduring trend themselves. Everybody's story of tie-dye is as unique as the pattern itself; and, while it might seem more of a summer trend, it has evolved way past rainbow Grateful Dead T-shirts. Just look at ASAI Takeaway's tie-dye 'Hot Wok ' tops, which dominated this year's Notting Hill Carnival.
For autumn, the colours used are more muted, with more sophisticated tones and intricate patterns. Ahead are five tie-dye looks to get you up to date with one of our favourite new season looks.
Proenza Schouler Tie Dye Turtleneck Dress, £1,090, available at Proenza Schouler; Dinosaur Designs earring, Birkenstock Birko-Flor, £60, available at Birkenstock.Photographed by Jess FarranPhotographed by Jess Farran
Tony The Witchy Tiger
Luxury tie-dye feels like an oxymoron, but velvet might just be the greatest canvas tie-dye has ever seen. The designs created by tie-dye are a 2D texture on their own, and combining that with a soft velvet enhances the dimensions. The tie-dye technique on this dress makes you do a double take: Is it tie-dye, or is it animal print?
A dress like this speaks for itself, so pair it with some casual socks and Birkenstocks (another trend of the season) to add some chunkiness to an otherwise sleek look. It may seem overwhelming , but don't hesitate to introduce more colours to your outfit. Start off with colours in the same family as your tie-dye. Our greatest lesson from this trend: that sometimes you can surprise yourself with what you'll wear and how you'll style it.
Photographed by Jess FarranPhotographed by Jess Farran
Sies Marjan Nicole Silk Twisted Rosette Dress, £2,635 , available at Sies Marjan; Riverside Tool And Dye Full Bodysuit, £103.28, available at Etsy; Mansur Gavriel Glitter Slingback, £435, available at Mansur Gavriel; Lizzie Fortunato Rome Hoops, £74.16, available at Lizzie Fortunato.
Sunset Ombre Ombre is colour blocking without your glasses on. And in this dress, the colours cool each other off. They're the epitome of a summer sunset. Nice and cool after a very long hot summer day, all we're missing is a campfire for marshmallow roasting. Layer a tie-dye unitard underneath to mix-and-match tie-dye prints, and throw on some sparky sling backs, because the sun's only just set, and the night is young.
Photographed by Jess FarranPhotographed by Jess Farran
Upstate Palm Dress, £310, available at Upstate; Mozh Mozh pants; Jiwinaia Large Flame Earrings, £74, available at Jiwinaia; UNIF Desire Top, £42.35, available at UNIF.
California Dreamin'
Now that mixing and matching different variations of tie-dye is a part of your styling arsenal, don't go overboard! We toned it down for this look by letting tie-dye serve as just another print. By combining knits, silk, and sheer fabrics, tie-dye takes a back seat and lets the fabric textures do the talking. The result is possibly the ultimate fall outfit. It's comfortable (you can karate kick in it) and includes clothing pieces from summer and winter. But when the temps really start to drop, cue The Mamas & The Papas and dream about Cali.
Photographed by Jess FarranRe/Done Tie Dye Cotton T-Shirt, £126, available at MyTheresa; Raquel Allegra pants; Dyspnea Madonna Slip, £248.13, available at Dyspnea; Dinosaur Designs earring. Photographed by Jess Farran
Top-To-Bottom Tie-Dye
Have we convinced you yet to upcycle your pit- and sauce-stained clothing yet? If not, this look will. Rethink T-shirts, lounge pants, and tie-dye as casual wear. Tie-dye can be more than just one design. We like to refer to it as deception, a phenomenon that occurs when the tie-dye print creates a print within a print. See: this T-shirt where a stripe is dyed into the fabric through tie-dyeing. It's just another way to ease into the trend if you're not quite ready to jump in head first. And for those who aren't ready to permanently tie-dye something, tie-dye your eyelids. No rubber bands needed. All you need to do is blot some of your favourite colours on your lids, blink a few times, and voila!
Young Fabulous and Broke Utopia Tee, £85.72, available at Shopbop; Mansur Gavriel Translucent Trench, £815, available at Mansur Gavriel; Riverside Tool And Dye Painter Pants, £96.83, available at Etsy Photographed by Jess FarranPhotographed by Jess Farran
Keepin' It Casual
These pants are what we imagine to be a happy accident while dyeing or painting, a byproduct of living on the edge and wearing white while doing something crafty. Meanwhile, the holographic look hit the runways in a big way the past few seasons, and offered the same type of mesmerising IRL eye candy as tie-dye. Both create textures and effects that make it hard to look away. When this holographic trench hits the light on a sunny day, it creates so many colours and textures that you're unsure where to focus your gaze. As for the T-shirt: Taking tie-dye back to its roots can be an easy way to dress simply while still injecting some much-needed colour.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Welcome to It’s Lit – a series of discussions about books. Join us every month to find out who’s reading what.
Writer Sophie Mackintosh is one of a very small number of It’s Lit subjects I’ve interviewed who belongs to a book club. "I’m part of a very sporadic science fiction one," she tells me. "We meet in Wetherspoons, eat chips, and get into nerdy arguments," says Sophie. Sounds like my kind of book club.
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Sophie’s debut novel The Water Cure is a disconcerting, feminist dystopia in which the author explores "being a woman in a world that so often hates us". The book has drawn comparisons with Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Emma Cline's The Girls and Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides, which Sophie cites as an early influence.
Currently at work on her second novel, we visited the author at home and found out how she manages to make her "out of hand" book collection work in a small rented flat.
Who taught you to read?
I actually don’t remember a time when I couldn’t read, so I think it must have been my mum or my dad. One of my earliest reading memories is being deeply annoyed in my school classroom at finishing the picture book we were all reading together, and not being able to move on to the next one before everyone else was ready. I mean, I was really on tenterhooks waiting to find out whether Spot the dog would get his ball back, or whatever was going on.
What were your favourite books as a child?
I was obsessed with Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maud Montgomery – the way she described the Canadian countryside was so vivid, and I also love the attention she gave to the complex inner lives of children. I never felt patronised by those books. Also Emily wanted to be a writer and was a little spooky girl with a fringe, and as a narcissistic child I think you really respond to books where you feel seen. I was really into adventure books like Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne, too. Even now I get excited at the idea of travelling down a volcano, though I know realistically there are no dinosaurs there.
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
I loved L.M. Montgomery too. So much so that I wrote her a letter – unfortunately I was too young to understand why I never received a reply from her… a good 40 years after she had died! Did you ever write a favourite author a letter?
I remember writing one to J. K. Rowling – very original – with the slightly ominous address of 'J. K. Rowling, Postman You Know Where She Lives'. I wonder if it ever got to her…
What are you reading right now?
I'm currently reading We That Are Young by Preti Taneja, a retelling of King Lear set in contemporary India. Normally I'm reading several things at a time, but I'm so absorbed by this that I've put aside other books for a while.
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
When and where do you read?
Anywhere and everywhere, except for the bus and in cars, which makes me motion sick. My favourite is to read in the bath or in bed, but the risk in bed is that I’ll fall asleep, so I compromise by lying on my uncomfortable couch, which takes some effort to fall asleep on. This year I’ve travelled a lot for book events, so I’ve read a lot on trains too.
Where do you buy your books? Do you have a favourite bookshop?
I really love Pages of Hackney in Clapton – it's a beautiful shop and they've been so supportive. I’m trying not to buy too many new books, but if I do I try and get them from my local, Phlox books in Leyton, or the Foyles in Stratford Westfield, which is the most convenient for me. I admit that I buy a lot of Kindle books as my book situation is getting out of hand in our small rented flat. My dream is to own somewhere one day where we can actually get some beautiful built-in bookshelves that are big enough to hold everything. I literally have books in drawers at the moment, which is a shame.
Any tips for displaying books in small spaces?
With imagination, anything can be a shelf! I have a big ugly radiator in my living room that I prop a lot of nice-looking books and magazines up on, to make it sort of a giant picture frame.
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins. Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
How do you organise your bookshelves?
The short answer is that I don't – they are a horrible mess. I'm forever waiting for the bit of my life where I'll have ample time to get organised, but this summer hasn't been it. Maybe in 2019.
What do you use as a bookmark?
I’m sorry to say that I’m a page-folder, though I have been known to use a note or a receipt when I'm feeling less wilfully destructive.
Is there a book you’ve read more than once?
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
So many! I read Morvern Callar by Alan Warner and A Sport and a Pastime by James Salter about every year or so, usually when starting a new project. It feels good to revisit and remind yourself of the writing that makes the hair on your neck stand up.
Were there any books in particular that influenced The Water Cure?
The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter definitely had a big influence on me, as well as her fairytales. I also read The Virgin Suicides as a teenager and never forgot it – the dreaminess and choral narration seemed incredibly fresh and exciting to me.
How do you choose what to read next?
I have a giant to-be-read pile at the moment, so it’s often a matter of randomly grabbing the first one when I’m off somewhere. When I seek out books I go off recommendations from friends, reviews, or sometimes pure impulse.
What makes a good holiday read?
For me, something that I don't mind re-reading at least once during the trip, because I try and pack as lightly as possible. Something compelling and interesting. I took Agua Viva by Clarice Lispector on one of my last holidays and it was a good choice, because I got a lot out of it by re-reading.
Are there any magazines you read regularly?
I love The White Review, which really helped me get started as a writer and which I think publishes some of the most exciting fiction, interviews and criticism today. They were the first place to publish me in print, and they put me next to an interview with George Saunders. It remains one of the best things to have ever happened to me.
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
Favourite George Saunders book?
I love Pastoralia – it was a set text for one of my undergraduate modules at university, and it completely blew my mind and made me rethink what the short story could accomplish.
Which three books would you recommend to a stranger?
This would change all the time but at the moment I would recommend Women Talking by Miriam Toews, The Changeling by Joy Williams, and Outline by Rachel Cusk. These books have stuck in my head over the last months and refused to leave.
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
Was there a book that made you want to be a writer? Or one you turn to when you need reminding of why you are?
I re-read Bluets by Maggie Nelson and The White Book by Han Kang whenever I feel down on writing and the world. They are both crystal clear and formally innovative, and remind me of the sheer possibility of words, the importance of purpose, and what it feels like to have your heart cracked open – which is what I'm always trying to achieve.
Sophie’s Reading List
Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maud Montgomery Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne We That Are Young by Preti Taneja Morvern Callar by Alan Warner A Sport and a Pastime by James Salter The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides Agua Viva by Clarice Lispector Pastoralia by George Saunders Women Talking by Miriam Toews The Changeling by Joy Williams Outline by Rachel Cusk Bluets by Maggie Nelson The White Book by Han Kang
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Here's my opinion: Having a bath is the single greatest thing you can do on this planet other than sleep. That's a fact. People who don't like taking baths are wrong. That's also a fact.
The best bath is when it's filled up to the tippity top. Make sure the water is as hot as you can bear it, get yourself a glass of ice cold water and press "play" on your favourite show while your laptop balances precariously on the (closed) toilet seat. Many people like to pair their bath with a glass of wine which personally I find a little dehydrating on account of the hotness of the water, but whatever works for you is golden. Bath time is you time.
But what to put in your bath? Should you buy bubble bath? Or does shower gel work just as well? Is it worth chipping in for premium brands (that travel-sized Molton Brown from the Christmas gift multipack isn't going to last forever) or should you be extra extra and invest in oils and bath salts, candles and more?
Suzanne Duckett, a wellness journalist, has written a book all about bathing that's full of bath recipes. The "recipes" (making a bath sound like a human soup here) work off the idea that a bath can be restorative and claim to help with everything from low mood to aching muscles, trouble sleeping and rough skin. The recipes in Bathe are all made with natural ingredients like salts, essential oils and herbs so, if like me, you're a little sceptical about natural health, then find solace in the fact that at least your bath's going to smell lit.
Click through to find a bath for every ill...
The Skin Softener
To detoxify and soften skin
2 tbsp Epsom salts or sea salt 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil A generous bunch of bruised parsley, rosemary and mint in a tied muslin cloth or cheesecloth to keep the bath clean
Add all the ingredients to warm bathwater and enjoy.
FYI: Have a little bucket with a bath sponge or cloth to ensure easy cleaning afterwards – oil, seaweeds and clay need to be cleaned off straight away to avoid that unappealing tide mark. Use an eco or natural bath cleaner so that you are not soaking in the residue of a chemical cleaning product.
The all-rounder
To help relieve stress, aches and pains and induce sleep
60g Epsom salts 60g Dead Sea salt 120g seaweed powder For an added sensory boost (and to help distract from the pungent sea smell!), add 7–10 drops of one of the following essential oils: juniper berry, lavender, sandalwood or patchouli
Combine the salts and seaweed powder in a container, then stir into a hot bath. Amp up your bath with no more than 10 drops in total of essential oils. Soak for 20 – 30 minutes.
The Reviver
For aching muscles
5 drops of marjoram oil 5 drops of arnica oil 5 drops of juniper oil 2 tbsp milk
Run the water hot. Mix the oils with milk to ensure even distribution. Soak for 20 minutes to allow the oils to penetrate.
Run your bath but don’t step in right away. Splash your body first with water to dampen your skin before rubbing this orangey body scrub head to toe in circular motions. Soak for at least 15 minutes so that the oils have time to take effect.
The Sleep Inducer
For soft and restful shut eye
5 drops of high-altitude lavender oil 3 drops of cedarwood oil 2 tbsp milk
Add the oils to the milk before pouring into a hot bath. Soak for 20 minutes and feel the slumber-inducing effects take place.
Bathe: The Art of Finding Rest, Relaxation and Rejuvenation in a Busy World by Suzanne Duckett is out now on Lagom, £16.99
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
