In 2015, we fell in love with Harnaam Kaur — a 26-year-old body positive activist, living with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. PCOS, as it is often called, happens when women have a hormonal imbalance which can result in excessive facial hair.
Instead of hiding behind weekly wax appointments and messy shaving products Kaur embraced her condition and decided to wear a full beard (she’s even a Guinness Book record-holder). And many women living with PCOS are choosing to do that same.
In an interview with Teen Vogue, Kaur along with two other inspiring young women, came forward to share their stories about body hair.
“I thought the bullying, physical and verbal abuse would stop if I was to remove the facial hair,” said Kaur about when she first began growing facial hair.
“I used various method to get rid of it, bleach, wax, thread, hair removal cream and I event used to shave; all this before I even hit my teenage years. I would be bullied for having facial hair, and then I was bullied for removing it too, ‘Look Harnaam is a man, she is shaving!’ people would shout at me. I hid away from society, became an introvert, I removed my facial hair, I even walked around in baggy clothes to hide the fact that I was a woman, this still wasn’t enough to stop me from getting bullied. I obviously had told teachers about what I was going through, that didn’t help at all.”
Teen Vogue also pointed out that while many men and boys can freely align themselves with the #BeardGang culture, girls and women are still forced to hide any hair deemed socially acceptable. Hair removal is absolutely a “form of gendered social control.”
“I'd definitively want to break the misconception that females with body hair are ‘unclean’, ‘unkept,’ or ‘impure,’” said 17-year-old aspiring author, Kiara Mae Beatrice Sloan.
“I want people to realize that personal hygiene is just that... personal! It all depends on the individual. Someone with little to no body hair could easily have worst hygiene than someone who decides to keep their body hair. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder—and true beauty to me is being able to find beauty in almost anything.”
Shelby Riner, a 22-year-old Cookie decorator, shared a simple wish, that we can all get behind. “I want people to know that women are just as beautiful hairy!” she said. “I want people to focus more about inward beauty than conventional beauty norms.”
Late February it was announced that after 19 seasons REAL dance instructor Cheryl Burke would say goodbye to Dancing With The Stars. And only days ago Abby Lee Miller — the frank, no-nonsense dance instructor from Dance Moms — announced she was quitting the show.
Where oh where will Lifetime find a professional dance instructor with a fiery Paso Doble, a love of the limelight, and marketable character?
Yup. According to Entertainment Tonight, Burke has been recruited to replace Miller for the remainder of the season.
Late Monday evening Miller posted length Instagram post about her decision to leave the show. Based from what she said below, things got murky towards the end when creative differences were left unsettled. “The majority of children that follow me may be fast asleep, however now is the critical time to make the following statement: I WILL NO LONGER TAKE PART IN DANCE MOMS. FOR THE PAST SIX YEARS/ SEVEN SEASONS I HAVE ASKED, BEGGED, AND EVEN DEMANDED CREATIVE CREDIT FOR ALL THE IDEAS, AWARD WINNING ROUTINES, THEMES, AND COSTUMING - TO NO AVAIL! TODAY, I WAS SO PROUD THAT I WENT AGAINST THE PRODUCER'S IDEA (ONCE AGAIN) TO ENTER A COMMAND PERFORMANCE OF ONE OF MY FAVORITE NUMBERS... "WHERE HAVE ALL THE CHILDREN GONE?" ALONG WITH THREE BEAUTIFUL SOLOS!"
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She then continued saying that she felt manipulated and disrespected by the network, and that was when she called it quits. While the series drama will soon be behind her, Miller will soon face another set of problems. After pleading guilty to fraud charges, she’s currently awaiting sentencing.
"I'm good. I try to stay positive and happy ... I know I made some mistakes along the way, but I've pleaded to all those,"she said to Entertainment Tonight. "Maybe I need a few months' vacation."
Vacation? I guess that’s one way of looking at prison time?
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People reports that, during her appearance on Swedish talk show Skavlan last week, the two-time Oscar winner spoke about her defense of the unnamed female costar on 2008's big-screen adaptation of Brideshead Revisited. The British drama, in which Thompson played Lady Marchmain, also starred Hayley Atwell, Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw, Felicity Jones, and Greta Scacchi.
"There was a wonderful actress in a film I did called Brideshead Revisited,” Thompson, currently starring in Beauty and the Beast, shared. “The producer said to her, ‘Will you lose some weight?’ And she was absolutely exquisite!"
Thompson said she was so outraged by the comments that she threatened to quit.
"I said to them, ’If you speak to her about this again, on any level, I will leave this picture. You are never to do that,’” she said.
She added that body-shaming is so common in Hollywood, she's come up with a go-to response for comments about her appearance: “Sorry, do you want me to be an actress or a model?”
“It’s evil what’s happening and what’s going on there, and it’s getting worse," she continued. "The French fashion industry said they would get rid of size zero and then, you know, they didn’t. “The anorexia — there’s so many kids, girls and boys now, and actresses who are very, very thin into their 30s, who simply don’t eat. They don’t eat … Sometimes there are just some subjects that you absolutely have to make noise about because it’s so tedious and it’s gone on and on."
Props to her for making some noise.
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There has been a lot of talk about what celebrities owe their fans. On the one hand, a star owes a great deal of their success to the fans who supported them along the way: Because of fans who purchased movie tickets, waited in line at meet and greets, and followed them on social media, celebrities have gained power and clout in the industry. (And, yes: That often translates to dollars.)
On the other, famous people are still people. They deserve privacy and to feel safe, whether out in public and in their own homes. That's why things can get tricky: Fans aren't always happy when celebrities protect their own privacy and safety by shutting them out.
That's exactly what happened to Chloë Grace Moretz. As reported by TMZ, Moretz called the cops on a young man hoping to bring her a plate of cookies. According to the report, the alleged fan — who was riding a skateboard around the neighborhood — knocked on Moretz's neighbor's door and asked which house belonged to the Kick-Ass star. The neighbor began asking the fan — who appeared to be about 18 — questions. Eventually, the man left without delivering the tray of treats to Moretz. When Moretz heard about the situation, she reported it to the police, but the cops did not catch the fan.
On the surface, this story might seem like no big deal: The fan was young, and he was offering Moretz cookies, not making a threat. Yet the truth is, there's something particularly predatory about a stranger seeking out your address, even if it's for something as seemingly innocuous as giving you a gift. Moretz is not this person's friend. This person did not receive information about where Moretz lived from the actress herself, but sussed it out in order to show up uninvited. Whether the person sees it that way or not, it's very much an invasion of one's privacy and Moretz likely feels a little less safe because of this interaction.
There's no way for a celebrity to differentiate between a fan and someone who wants to harm them, but even if they could, sometimes stars just want to be left alone. Fans are not friends — and they need to respect a star's privacy no matter how much they admire them.
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Thanks to the team at Nike, you're about to get a mega dose of enchanting footwear on your Instagram feed. Teen Vogue reports that Nike's latest sneaker release is the stuff of fairy-tale dreams thanks to a unique iridescent finish slapped atop a classic kick.
Street cred and instant Likes? You've got it.
While a new Nike drop is reason enough to get excited, the latest Nike Air Max 1 iD is just the thing to inject a little bit of magic into your spring wardrobe. The sneakers, which appear to be your run-of-the-mill Air Maxes at first glance, are actually imbued with a special finish that looks pink at certain angles, blue at others, and can even shift to purple. Three hues in one? It's almost too good to be true.
Courtesy of Nike.
And while the high-tech finish may give you pause, take a closer look. Thanks to the recognizable Air Max silhouette, this is a sneaker that you can wear with anything from your go-to culottes to spring dresses and all that athleisure that you've amassed these past few seasons.
Like other Nike new releases, this is sure to sell out quick. While we don't expect Yeezy-level lines and riots (and subsequent reselling), we wouldn't wait on these babies. At $150, they're a step up budget-wise from the Adidas Stan Smiths that you see on everyone. However, even if you do jump on these ASAP, you'll have to wait. Because these are a Nike iD creation, each pair is custom made and takes at least three weeks to get to you.
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I've long wanted to meet myself as a child. First of all, I'd like to tell myself that everything is generally going to be ok. Second point is that college grades don't really matter unless you're planning on going to graduate school. Maybe I'd listen, who knows.
Emma Watson and Dan Stevens had the opportunity to sort of do just that as part of the promotional tour for Beauty & the Beast, when they met child versions of the Beast and Belle.
Things got very adorable, very quickly. The only issue we take is that the childhood Belle doesn't really look like the Watson we knew as a pre-teen superstar. But that's a small issue.
For the record, the stars were more nervous about singing than acting.
This was the most adorable moment.
“That’s very your Belle,” Steven tells Watson he sees child Belle's boots. “It’s a mixture of your beautiful princess dress, but with very cool, practical boots. It’s very on point.”
Point well made. No word yet if the other child was afflicted by a curse liftable only through kidnapping. We'll update if we find out.
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"It is a good rule in life never to apologize," P.G. Wodehouse wrote in his 1914 novel The Man Upstairs. "The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them."
We guess that all the Real Housewives are huge fans of English society comedies about the relationship between a quick-witted butler and his somewhat dimmer employer, because they appear to be living their televised lives by this maxim.
Andy Cohen, Housewives producer, knows exactly how the women of the shows avoid apologizing.
HOUSEWIVES PLAYBOOK: deflect from the hot seat by focusing on Wives who are no longer on show & ain't coming back. A classic! https://t.co/aq9bJaKQ7Z
You never noticed that, I'll bet. Or maybe you did! Who knows, you seem smart.
The apology came after Erika Girardi let Eileen Davidson have it over a meal in Hong Kong.
Then, an apology. Girardi was under stress, she took it out on Davidson, everything is now copacetic. The pair were at lunch with Kyle Richardson, according to E! News.
"I'm sorry I had a meltdown on you at the table. I apologize. It had nothing to do with you," Erika said. "I was stressed out and those words are very sensitive to me, so I had a meltdown."
"I got it," Eileen said. "I get it."
"And I appreciate that," Erika said. "And you know I would never, ever, because you have been so good to me and I appreciate our friendship and I would never say anything like that to you."
Wow, two adults handling their business. Boring. Someone throw a drink.
Watch Girardi discuss her apology below.
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Want to eat like a supermodel? Skip the salad and dive into a burger. Thanks to Cindy Crawford — it doesn't get more super than that — and Umami Burger, you can treat yourself to a high-fashion burger for a good cause.
Crawford is the latest addition to Umami Burger's Artist Series, which lets famous faces create one-of-a-kind burgers. The limited-edition menu additions raise money for charity, so you can do good while you chow down.
Crawford's creation, the Casa Burger, takes inspiration from south-of-the-border flavors, which makes sense when you consider that the model has a sprawling villa in Los Cabos, Mexico. The 11 layers include two jalapeño-studded beef patties with miso-infused mustard, avocado, tomato, butter lettuce, American cheese, Umami house spread, and caramelized onions. That all gets topped with queso fresco and tortilla chips tossed in salsa brava. The sky-high creation isn't the only new addition to the menu. Rande Gerber, Crawford's husband, crafted the special Spicy Margarita to accompany his wife's culinary feat using Casamigos, his own brand of tequila, and peppers.
"Normally you don’t think burger and margarita, but we drink everything with Casamigos, so the fun for us was to work together," Crawford told People. "I do eat burgers a lot, actually. I don't normally eat the bun, I will say that, but you need something to hold it together."
For every burger sold, Wisconsin's American Family Children’s Hospital will receive a $1 donation from Umami. To promote the Casa Burger, Umami Burger created a short mouth-watering Instagram video that incorporates its now-iconic burger logo with Crawford's signature beauty mark.
Crawford's Casa Burger joins some pretty good company. Past Artist Series collaborators include foodie favorite Alton Brown and a few more unexpected stars, like Mindy Kaling, internet sensation Cameron Dallas, and the Black Keys.
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In today’s edition of “horrifying attacks on reproductive rights,” an infuriating new law will go into effect on January 1, 2018. Arkansas' Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson has signed an anti-abortion bill that requires doctors to investigate patients seeking abortions by digging into their medical records to scrutinize past pregnancies.
Of course, House Bill 1434 doesn’t outright state its intent to stonewall a woman from exercising her right to choose. Instead, the bill’s advertised intent is to prohibit “sex discrimination” by abortion (the irony is almost too much to bear). The sponsors of the bill claim it’s meant to prevent gender-selective abortions, in which a woman opts to get an abortion based on the fetus’ biological sex.
Unless doctors and government officials have suddenly become mind-readers and I missed the memo, this is a poorly guised attempt to thwart women seeking abortion services.
The bill requires doctors to ask patients if they know the gender of the fetus. If a woman answers yes, the doctor can’t legally perform an abortion without obtaining the patient’s full medical history. As if this invasion of privacy isn’t bad enough, doctors may take "reasonable time and effort" to obtain the records and examine past pregnancies — so women can be forced to wait indefinitely until they’re able to undergo a legal medical procedure.
If a doctor fails to comply with this new law, he or she will face criminal charges and potentially lose their medical license.
A woman considering an abortion could potentially dodge the law by opting to not learn the gender of her fetus, right? Not so fast — Arkansas has a mandatory ultrasound law.
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Five years after an abusive ex-boyfriend stabbed her 32 times and left her in a park to die, Melissa Dohme Hill has become an outspoken domestic violence activist.
A year after her attack, she attended a luncheon to speak about her experience — but she never expected to meet the love of her life at the event. Firefighter-paramedic Cameron Hill, one of the first responders to arrive at the crime scene, was at the same luncheon and the pair bonded instantly. Although they initially tried to ignore the undeniable sparks between them, the friendship quickly blossomed into a romance and they tied the knot on March 4.
“I would never want to go through the horrific attack again, but with where I am today, I wouldn’t change it,” Melissa told the Huffington Post. “I feel that fate brought Cameron and I together when the timing was right.”
At Cameron’s invitation, Melissa and her mom attended a dinner at the station so she could meet the crew that saved her life on that fateful night. Friendships were formed, and the police officer who was first on the scene became one of Melissa’s best friends — she was even a bridesmaid at the wedding.
Following their reception, which was attended by many of the doctors and first responders who helped Melissa survive the brutal attack, the couple departed in a fire engine.
Melissa found her much-deserved “happily ever after,” and she remains devoted to helping other domestic violence victims find the same peace and happiness.
“[The attack] turned me into the strong woman I am today and also led me to find my purpose,” Melissa said. “I know God saved me that night to be able to speak out for women who are suffering in silence.”
Far too often, domestic violence victims blame themselves for the abuse and are terrified to ask for help. Melissa’s goal is to help battered women and men seek the treatment they need and deserve.
“I promise you there is life and love after abuse, but you must first love yourself completely before you can be loved by someone else,” she told The Huffington Post.
After escaping an abusive partner, many survivors are understandably fearful and reluctant to enter new relationships. Melissa and Cameron’s beautiful story is proof that there’s a happier, healthier life waiting for them on the other side.
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Fans of animation may have noticed that their favorite characters often have only four fingers. Maybe they chalk it up to tradition or didn't give it much thought, but the AV Club explains that there's a very good reason for it that goes back to the old days of animation. Before computers, you see, artists drew cartoons by hand. By sketching characters with only four digits, it saved time — and money. YouTube user ChannelFrederator breaks it all down in a 10-minute long clip that deep dives into your favorite toons.
Of course, not every character got the shortcut treatment. Animators drew human figures, like Disney Princesses, as realistically as possible (minus those huge eyes and tiny waists), so they have the usual five fingers. For more basic figures, like Mickey Mouse, animators worked mainly with circles. Not just for the iconic mouse's main shape, but for his hands and body, too. By drawing just a thumb and three fingers, it kept the circular pattern going. Walt Disney himself said, "Using five fingers would have made Mickey’s hands look like a bunch of bananas." And if Disney himself said it, who are we to question the decision?
Another reason a slew of your favorite characters, like the Genie, Mushu the dragon, and Winnie-the-Pooh don't have five-fingered human hands? They're not human. Making animals and supernatural beings too realistic takes viewers out of fantasyland, even if those animals are wearing pants.
It's not just Disney that does it, either. Other iconic animated characters, such as Homer Simpson and his brood, all the Looney Tunes, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Felix the Cat only have four fingers, too. And now that you know, you'll notice nothing but four-fingered pals every time you flip to a cartoon.
Check out the whole video, below.
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When we're one day bouncing our grandchildren on our knees, looking out over our sprawling mountain estates that have become the last refuge from cannibals that roam the interior of the country after our coastal cities became uninhabitable due to rising sea levels and cocktail prices, we'll have to explain reality television.
"Well," we'll say, "there were some misses. The Apprentice, for example, we never should have put that on the air. Big mess. Yuge. But without Jersey Shore, we never would have had President Polizzi and our second Great Society program. She really turned things around there after the first brush with fame."
Before you laugh off this hypothetical, consider two things. One, Donald Trump is literally president. Two, Snooki is apparently a really good mom. If we sat you down after the first season of the Jersey Shore and told you those two facts, you would have asked us how many Four Lokos we had had to drink.
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Snooki and Jionni's 2½-year-old daughter Giovanna Marie is super adorable. She looks like a gentle gremlin sent here to raise hell and be the First Daughter.
"During this fight, I've seen a lot of changing, in the way you feel about me, and in the way I feel about you. In here, there were two guys killing each other, but I guess that's better than twenty million. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change!"
If Rocky can end the cold war, and Snooki can grow into an amazing parent, we can all accomplish anything. Now get out there and start doing.
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There’s a question I’ve been asking myself since last season of Empire, when, for a fleeting moment, it seemed like Cookie and Lucious were getting back together, right before Lucious crushed those dreams by marrying Anika: do the writers actually want us to root for Cucious (Lookie)?
Of course, what the viewer believes usually holds more weight than what the writers are trying to impose on us, and sometimes it works in the show’s favor when the audience has polarizing views about a TV couple. Through our desire to see that relationship fail, succeed or transform, the writers determine whether or not they've got us hooked, and this gives them so much room to explore the storyline. But what happens if we just don’t care about the leading couple? Or if their relationship represents a harmful cycle that most real life relationships endure?
In episode 11 of season 3, entitled “Play On”, the question of whether or not we’re supposed to genuinely root for Cucious was extremely prominent. Between the flashbacks, Cookie’s mixed feelings and Lucious’ obnoxious belief that he can dip his hands in and out of the Cookie jar whenever he wants (see what I did there?), I realized that Empire really does want us to believe in this problematic couple. I find them both to be interesting characters, no doubt - but do I want to see them back together? Hell no.
“Play On” opens right after Cucious’ violent quarrel last week. Cookie showers, urgently scrubbing blood off her skin, while a cleaning crew polishes the Empire headquarters before anyone can notice what happened that night. Just like Cucious’s relationship, problems are tidied and concealed without ever being addressed.
Cookie confides in her bomb ass sister, actress Vivica A Fox, about her undying love for Lucious. “It’s like he’s got a hold on me,” Cookie says. I feel for her. Who doesn’t have someone that makes them feel that way? But Sista Vivica (her character’s name is Candace) shuts it down: “Just because he’s your first doesn’t mean he will be your last.” True that!
Cookie is dating Angelo, played by chocolate pretty boy Taye Diggs. Angelo reminds Cookie of the kind of man her father wanted her to marry: respectful, career oriented, intelligent, caring. Lucious is the opposite of what her father wanted for Cookie. Through several flashbacks dispersed throughout the season, we learn that they fell in love as teenagers, her father kicked her out when he found out they were dating, Cookie got pregnant and her father died from a heart attack not long after their fall out. There is a great amount of guilt Cookie carries from this disagreement with her father and Lucious’ presence is a constant reminder of the difficult choices she’s made in the name of love. Angelo represents redemption -- but does she love him, or the idea of him?
Let’s take a break from Cookie and Lucious for a moment, as other notable things happened in this episode. Jamal and Tory are officially partnering on music together. When Tory wants to bring some rock 'n roll edge to Jamal’s jazzy, funky new song, he isn’t feeling it at first, but they find a way to make it work. Cookie warns Jamal to clear the recording sessions every night before leaving the studio, and of course he doesn’t listen. Lucious listens to their song and uses Tory’s chords for one of his Inferno tracks -- and honestly, it sounds way better on his song than on Jamal’s collaboration. Jamal has every reason to be salty about the betrayal, but creatively, Tory’s riff works better in Lucious’s interpretation.
Hakeem and Tiana seem to have gotten that old thing back, but with a new edition: his daughter Bella. Speaking of New Edition, I’m looking forward to seeing Bryshere Y. Gray (Hakeem) demonstrate the dance moves he learned while working on that miniseries. Anyway, Hakeem wants Tiana to be apart of Bella’s life, but she is hesitant (with good reason! No one likes baby mama drama). But baby mama Anika may be out of the picture soon, as obsessive detective/Lucious’ half brother Tariq threatened her with dirt he has on her, that he’s willing to use if she doesn’t comply with him on the Gathers case. In one scene, we see her on a bus, crying her eyes out. I have no idea where she’s going.
Grandma Lea, AKA Lucious’ mom, makes some crude remarks about her bodyguard throughout the whole episode, striving to figure out their gender and sexuality. It’s unnecessary, and it isn’t the first time Empire has had these uncomfortable moments. I wonder if the writers do so to ignite conversation on actual problems and biases the LGBTQ community faces all the time, or if they are trying to expose ignorance that is often found in the Black community towards LGBTQ.
Now back to Cucious: Angelo confronts Lucious about his creepy affinity for Cookie -- he even tries to put on his “hood voice” -- but of course, Lucious isn’t phased. I wasn’t either. Lucious has killed people, Angelo. Please, back off, for your own safety.
As Cookie and Angelo walk away from Lucious, Cookie flashes Lucious a devious smile, one that can be read several ways. Maybe it’s a mocking grin, a victorious one, where Cookie’s smize lets Lucious know that she is definitely taken and her new man will fight to keep her. Or maybe deep down inside both Lucious and Cookie know that this is a joke, that Angelo is someone who is passing the time before they continue writing their epic love story. Still, I don’t buy this Cookie and Lucious thing.
It seems like other characters are in on this too. Last week, when Jamal and Cookie reminisced on how devious yet devoted Lucious is when it comes to Cookie, Jamal said, “That’s some twisted kind of love.” He said it playfully, as if twisted love is something to commend, to aspire to, because being in a bad romance means accepting and honoring the bad. Because after all, it’s still love.
Women, Black women in particular, are expected to stick around with the man who they’ve endured the most with, as if suffering is a merit that heightens true love. It feeds into the strong black woman idea: We are so strong that we can take the most from our men, and still stand there valiantly on the other side. But for what? Lucious isn’t a prize.
And this isn’t even about Angelo either. Yes, he seems nice enough for Cookie, but the nice guy trope is also flawed, and tired. It’s such a fine line for Cookie to teeter: Does she choose the nice guy or the really bad one? I opt for her to chose herself: the bad bitch.
A woman in Florida has been performing dangerous butt surgeries without a medical license, and her clients' stories are horrifying.
Shatarka Nuby received 10 butt injections from Oneal Ron Morris from 2007-2011, the first of which cost her $2,000, The Washington Post reports.
In 2011, she wrote a letter to inform Florida's health department of problems she was experiencing as a result of the injections. Her butt had grown black and hard, and she was constantly sick. She said Morris was the same person who had already been arrested in what was known as the "toxic tush" case. She'd allegedly been performing these surgeries on multiple women who called her "Duchess."
In 2012, during the investigation, Nuby died of "massive systemic silicone migration" that caused her to stop breathing. Soon after, Morris was charged with practicing without a license and manslaughter. On Monday, March 17, she was given 10 years in jail followed by five years of probation.
Morris pled no contest, which has the effect of a guilty plea without admitting to wrongdoing, and maintains that she's never injected anybody with an unknown substance.
Others who claimed to have received butt injections from Morris spoke in court about the unwanted side effects they experienced. One said Morris used super glue and cotton balls to seal her patients' buttocks.
"You gave us your word that the products you was using was A-1 products. And come to find out they were not," said another named Kisha Jones. "Maybe in the beginning, but greed really took over, because you was pocketing the money from every victim."
Butt surgery was the fastest-growing type of plastic surgery in 2015, with butt implants increasing by 36% since 2014 and butt lifts going up by 28%. Those who get these procedures on the black market risk silicone infections and other complications resulting from the unknown substances introduced into their bodies.
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Vin Diesel's face is now memorialized in a sandwich — and no, this isn't like that piece of toast resembling Jesus. Vlogger William Osman has created an actual Vin Diesel bust using ham, cheese, bread, and lasers.
Yep, lasers.
In a video that's already accrued over 100,000 views since it was uploaded to YouTube, Osman toasts two pieces of bread, carves ham and cheese using a laser cutter — while wearing goggles, because this is serious business — and arranges the slices in a manner that truly resembles the Fast and Furious actor. He even places an olive on top to give Diesel some headwear.
But that wasn't the hard part. Before Osman even started with the construction, his collaborator John Willner spent eight hours on the computer graphics program Autodesk Maya creating a virtual model of the sculpture and determining how to slice the cold cuts. It took even longer to get the ham onto the laser, and then it took an hour and a half to slice and arrange everything.
The construction was surprisingly cheap, though, using only about $6 worth of ham. And Osman still had a lot left over, which he made into another sandwich and ate. But he hasn't eaten the Vin Diesel one, since it tastes burnt from all the laser cutting.
Osman decided to take on this project in response to a viewer's request to "sculpt a bust of Vin Diesel using laser cut cross sections of laser sliced ham," he told Munchies. "I love viewer suggestions; they let me place all the blame on them when the idea is truly terrible." We're not sure if this is terrible or if it's genius. We're going with genius.
We'll leave you with this fascinating theory of Osman's about why this video and others like it have gone viral: "People like destruction, and food is one of the safer things to cut on a laser. Plus it's analogous to the highly requested 'cut human flesh.'"
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Before we share the results of a new Skin Store survey on the cost of makeup, we have to warn you: If you're a beauty product fiend, these findings may make you panic.
After surveying 3,000 women, the e-tailer found that the average amount for an American woman to spend on makeup throughout her life is $300,000, Buzzfeed reports.
The survey also found that each day, women wear $8 worth of products on their faces on average, Allure reports. And that's not counting the skincare products they use beforehand. While getting ready in the morning, women use an average of 16 products total.
This all depends a lot of where you are, though. New Yorkers and Connecticut residents wear $11 worth of makeup per day, while women in Montana wear just $3.50. Maybe this has to do with the fact that New Yorkers take 21 minutes on average to get ready, compared to a seven-minute national average.
We're a bit skeptical of these numbers, especially since this study was conducted by a beauty e-tailer. We don't know where they sourced the responses from, but if they surveyed their own customers or social media followers, that could help explain why the numbers are so high.
Otherwise, the only possible explanation is that Lady Gaga participated in this survey. Considering that her Super Bowl makeup alone cost $863, she'd significantly drive up the average. Or it could've been Kylie Jenner, who carries around $436.40 worth of products in her bag. Or maybe it's this teenage r who accidentally charged $733 of Sephora makeup to her mom's credit card.
Or, quite possibly, all those little drugstore palettes we've been buying add up more quickly than we realize.
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Times, they are a'changing. Much like health care, immigration, and women's rights, President Donald Trump is putting his Midas touch on just about everything in Washington — and the Oval Office isn't immune. Today, the White House released an official 360-degree tour of the famed room on Facebook and many lovers of liberty (shoutout to you, Olivia Pope) noticed a slew of changes since President Trump took the oath.
Elle Decor reports that like glimmering, gilt property in New York City, Trump has added a lot of gold to the Oval. The most noticeable use of the hue is in the drapes, which were reddish and squared-off during Obama's tenure and are now gold with more traditional swags. In fact, the interiors magazine points out that many of Trump's changes skew traditional. Where Obama hung a modern painting that featured blue brushstrokes and abstract imagery, Trump put a historic portrait. Snoozy? It may be for some people, but it does fit in with the general feel of a room as formal as this.
Behind that famous desk, Obama kept personal family photos on the credenza. It's pretty empty now, but there's still plenty of time for Trump to personalize that particular space. And while there are plenty of flagpoles scattered around the perimeter of the room, Elle Decor notes that Trump added even more. He's also replaced many of Obama's accent pieces with more ornate finds, including side tables and chairs done up in, you guessed it, gold upholstery.
Trump did keep a few things. Of course, the Oval Office desk isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but Trump didn't do anything to the grandfather clock next to that "secret" door. The folding side table by the sofa is also intact, but the sofa itself did get replaced. While Obama kept things more casual with a velvety caramel-colored couch, Trump replaced it with a gold brocade sofa.
There's plenty of time for Trump to add to the room we've all grown so accustomed to seeing, but there's no telling what. Maybe a putting green? We know that first lady Melania Trump is adding a glam room to the White House, so it seems nothing's too far-fetched.
Check out all the changes for yourself.
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Lana del Rey is one of those artists that you think will be a flash in the pan but then it turns out she has ridiculous staying power. Her "Video Games" was cute, sure, but it seemed like she would go the way of Fountains of Wayne. That is to say, write a good song that people remember fondly when it's played at parties, make a bit of money, and move on to a long and happy life.
But she's stuck around either on the strength of her sad flower girl persona or the songwriting or her legitimately good voice. We're buying what she's selling. Her new single "Love" is a legitimate banger, with the fake gunshots and all. It will either make you cry, or walk around all day listening to it, like I did today.
In that vein, her new album teaser is also very, very good. It's called Lust for Life and she narrates the trailer from the middle of the H in the Hollywood sign. It's part Ed Wood, part Sin City, and part veiled reference to The Weeknd. (We hope that collab happens.)
Watch, as Lana gets surprisingly political and moves her image just slightly in the right way. She's the mistress of the tiny tweak.
Here it is.
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I love Clarke. I know that she’s flawed, that she’s made some rough decisions on this show, that there are other characters who are more complex (maybe even more compelling), but boy, oh boy, do I love her. I wish we would’ve gotten to sit with her decision a little longer this episode. But this show isn’t big on giving people hero moments that last — just decisions that have immediate, usually dark consequences.
Let’s start with her storyline. Our gang at Becca’s lab is testing not-Baylis to see if the Nightblood cure works in a conveniently haunting radiation tester. It’s complete with a little dial to increase the amount of radiation (that vaguely reminded me of the Milgram experiment). It goes well at first — he’d survive in the amount of radiation in the black rain — but when they up the radiation some more, he starts convulsing on the table, getting lesions, and vomiting black blood. So…back to the drawing board.
Abby and Jackson go over the test and realize that an additive they used to prevent clotting caused a chain reaction with the radiation and that if they just remove that, maybe it’ll work. But that means they need another subject.
No one likes the idea of killing someone else. Luna points out that Baylis was still a person and even had the stones of his ancestors. Then Clarke realizes that Baylis wouldn’t have been from that group. The cat is out of the bag: Emori lied to everyone. This guy was just some guy, not Baylis. For her lie, she’s gonna be the next person tested. Murphy and Emori try to break the radiation chamber, but our crew quickly imprisons them.
I think it’s a mistake to look at the next sequence of events as these people deciding how far they’ll go (again). I mean, Clarke killed all of Mount Weather to save her people, so she knows how far she’ll go. Instead, I think it’s a group of people deciding who they want to be in what could very well be the end of their lives. Everything is so hopeless that maybe they’ve moved past the mantra of surviving and finding their humanity later. As death seems inevitable, after failure after failure to try to save everyone, the only thing they can control is what their final actions will be.
Back at Arkadia (and the woods around it), Jasper has already decided. He’s not going to spend the rest of his life regretting what he’s done. “No matter how much you punish yourself it’s not gonna change anything,” he tells Bellamy. He’s been annoying me this whole season, but with ten days left, I guess we should let him have this. He’s maybe also right at this point. Time is basically out, maybe just have fun? They’ve earned it, right? After all the suffering?
The fact that a lot of Skaikru have decided to drink and party instead of suffer makes Clarke’s decision in this episode all the more poignant. It’s not “are we willing to murder people we know to save humankind?” It’s “what’s the one thing I can do to help my people.” Clarke never gives up. She’ll fight until the end. But, there are 10 days left. So maybe the best possible thing she can do now is give her people something to believe in. And if that doesn’t work, she can at least prevent them from feeling the weight of another useless sacrifice.
I cried so much in this sequence. It seems like our crew is going to force Emori into the chamber. They’ve already knocked out Luna (who rejected the idea of killing someone else) to take her bone marrow. But everyone looks destroyed, and Clarke sees that. Abby can’t even inject Emori with the marrow, it’s all too much. They’ve already had to make these kinds of decisions over and over again. They’ve already watched so many people they love die. Murphy tells Clarke, “If she dies, you die.” It’s a threat, but I truly believe it’s how Clarke feels. When her people die, part of her dies. So, Clarke decides where she stands. And she injects herself. “I bare it so they don’t have to.” They’ll test her. I was sobbing, a complete mess.
No one even really thanked her! We don’t get Murphy being like, “I underestimated you.” This was such a big hero moment! They should’ve acknowledged her willingness to sacrifice more. But I guess that’s what makes it a real sacrifice. Of course, it was instantly for nothing, because Abby destroys the radiation chamber. It was more symbolic than actually helpful. Like…most things.
The only reason I was able to cope with this ending was because of the other storyline, which we’ll get to next, and the fact that they played Abby seeing Clarke’s death like some kind of premonition, like she could see the future. You know what? That feeds in very, very nicely to my “it’s a simulation” theory (which I guess the new bunker maybe killed, but whatever, I’m sticking to it, it’s what I decided to stand for). So…onto Jaha.
A Whole Nothing Bunker (A Second Second Dawn)
That’s right, my friends, there was another bunker under their noses this whole time! Incredible!
So that doomsday cult in episode 3 — that everyone else has forgotten about due to the unimaginable horrors that have haunted their every waking moment — Jaha thinks they should revisit it. He believes what they visited might have been a decoy bunker. LOL. This cult sounds like a bunch of jerks. Why build up a big following and then “JK,” a huge number of them in a death bunker? These people!
Still, I’m all in on decoy bunker. I’d be fine if the decoy bunker turned out to be a “decoy decoy bunker” and they go down the rabbit hole of false alarm bunkers for the remaining 5 episodes this season.
Kane, Jaha, and Monty travel to Polis to talk to the Flamekeeper to see if this “real bunker” theory holds any water. They meet Indra ( my heart, I’ve missed you so, Indra) who’s fighting to hold the tower and doesn’t really have time for these theories. I wish she’d just said, “I’m mad at you because where the eff is Octavia? Why didn’t you help her?” But, you know, we all know that's what she was thinking. She agrees to let them talk to her daughter when she realizes that this could be their one final hope for survival. But she also then kills all the Azgeda warriors around the temple so… I guess even with ten days left on Earth some grudges die-hard.
They realize the symbol of the Second Dawn doomsday cult is at the center of Gaia’s tattoo. It’s a sacred symbol of their order and it’s on Becca’s crypt. So they go to the temple, remove some debris from the altar, and discover the symbol and the phrase “salvation lies within” on what looks like…a hatch. At this point I was just rocking back and forth going “wait for it…wait for it.” The medallion doesn’t quite work as a key, because it’s level 11 not level 12, and things are getting tight. But then Monty says, hey, maybe ‘from the ashes we will rise’ should be taken as instruction. And they burn the medallion to reveal the key. Okay, are you saying the only thing that separated level 11 from level 12 in this cult was realizing you needed to burn the medallion? OMG I love this crazy, insane cult so much.
They open the hatch to reveal stairs leading down to a bunker. At this point I was like “hey this reminds me of another great TV moment” and then I was like “Hey…wait!!!” So, you’ll need to excuse me for a second because: (insert a million alarm signs emojis here) Henry Ian Cusick, best known for playing Desmond on Lost, just opened a hatch and found a bunker on TV. The cycle is complete! I’m about to make a million references, so if you want to avoid them, skip past the video. But watch the video, because it’s one of the most iconic moments on TV. Spoilers for Season 2 of Lost, of course, but ya’ll should’ve watched it anyway. Here we go:
Okay, that was already too indulgent. Back to the recap.
Indra tells her troops to start guarding the temple instead. We get to see inside the bunker and it looks really hopeful. I was actually shocked we got to see so much. Then I realized there’s a huge hiatus after this episode! Noooooooooooooooooo!
Let’s assess what we know and don’t know before I leave you. I’d honestly be so happy if there was an entire episode devoted to the timeline of the Second Dawn before A.L.I.E.’s attack and the world post-Becca coming back down. Were the people Becca found part of the cult? Were at least some of them part of it? Or not at all and they’re just all still down there, deeper though? I think it has to be that some of them surfaced. After all, the cult symbol became a sacred symbol. Did the cult make up the Grounder religion with clues just in case? Or did the Grounder religion form around the symbol without anyone knowing what it stood for? Also, where is Becca’s body? Do you think she might be… cryogenically frozen?
All these questions make me so excited for what is going to happen next. I’ve been interested in the Grounder mythology and how the different factions formed for a while. It’ll be great if we can find out more about that. But the biggest question I have also makes me the most nervous: how are these fools going to find a way to blow this bunker up too? May we meet again!
A mermaid silhouette at prom is nothing new. The fit-and-flare shape is a go-to for red carpets and formal events, so it's just as common as a corset-bodice princess gown or a bombshell halter.
But what about an actual mermaid dress? That's the idea that stuck with Miami's Adonis West (the self-proclaimed "King of Prom"), the designer behind a gown that changes color with the swipe of a hand.
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The Huffington Post reports that the couture creation appeared on the designer's Instagram feed. At first, it looks like a super-sexy white dress with a high halter neck, keyhole cutout, and a dramatic flare at the hem. But when the model, West's own sister, Shirdkiya Myrick, moves her hand across the white sequins, the dress transforms. The sequins are reversible, so when they're flipped over, the dress changes from white to gold. It's a bit of fashion magic that's reminiscent of actual fish scales, which sometimes boast a magical iridescent finish that changes color. Ahem, it's gold and white, okay?
To really drive the mermaid silhouette home, West added a very very long train with an elaborate texture and metallic finish. While the train may present a few problems on the dance floor, we're guessing that this dress is more about showing off than getting down.
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While West's amazing creation is sure to turn heads — the silhouette is one thing, but add that transformational detail and epic train and you're basically guaranteed to take the spotlight from the prom queen — you'll have to call the designer himself to get one made. This isn't something you can snag at the mall.
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