Dear Gucci, using a Sikh turban as a fashion accessory is not okay

February 25, 2018, 5:12 am

≫ Next: Airbnb Plus is the boujee upgrade that lets you choose the fanciest homes

≪ Previous: Unspoiled archipelago: 6 reasons why you should visit the Isles Of Scilly

$

0

0

You might’ve seen Gucci’s fall collection at Milan Fashion Week recently.

Instead of the usual luxury, kooky fashion we see on the runway, there was one incongruous item that caught a lot of eyes.

Gucci has used white models to showcase turbans, an item of clothing specific to Sikh religion and culture.

Understandably, it’s caused outcry online.

People felt that Gucci was culturally appropriating the staple, which goes beyond fashion for most Sikhs.

Known as a dastaar, it is the most commonly recognised symbol of the Sikh community (but may be used by other groups).

It’s an article of faith partly to cover long uncut hair and is worn mostly by Sikh boys… Read the full story

---

Airbnb Plus is the boujee upgrade that lets you choose the fanciest homes

February 25, 2018, 5:42 am

≫ Next: Going plastic-free: Travelling abroad requires planning and patience

≪ Previous: Dear Gucci, using a Sikh turban as a fashion accessory is not okay

$

0

0

Let’s face it, the prospect of staying at a stranger’s house abroad seemed crazy before the days of Airbnb.

Unless you knew them or had at least a mutual acquaintance, it wasn’t often, if at all, that you’d plan to stay at a complete stranger’s home, or even live with them for a short time.

You don’t want to be murdered in your sleep.

So when Airbnb debuted 10 years go and verified all its guests and hosts, we could relax knowing that precautions were taken.

Accommodation is also cheaper with the home system than its hotel counterpart (in certain countries).

Now the creators have upgraded the system, allowing for… Read the full story

Going plastic-free: Travelling abroad requires planning and patience

February 25, 2018, 6:48 am

≫ Next: The woman who ‘ad to go to Burger King after the KFC crisis now has a year’s supply of chicken

≪ Previous: Airbnb Plus is the boujee upgrade that lets you choose the fanciest homes

$

0

0

Plastic, plastic, plastic.

It seems like plastic is the new Brexit – we can’t escape from increasingly depressing news about the hard stuff and the damage our consumption of it is doing to our planet.

Which is why I’m trying to give it up for Lent.

When I say that, I mean not buying any new plastic, not using any free plastic utensils or cups and not going out of my way to consume more synthetic stuff.

Last week, I found that actively trying to reduce food waste was probably the best place to start because, if you’re anything like me, your kitchen is probably full of plastic-wrapped foods that have been sitting there for weeks, if not months.

I was incredulous at the amount of food I had allowed to slowly rot still in its plastic prison in the fridge, and just how many carby snacks I’d hoarded in case of emergency.

So I’ve been eating my way through… Read the full story

The woman who ‘ad to go to Burger King after the KFC crisis now has a year’s supply of chicken

February 25, 2018, 7:01 am

≫ Next: Are we confusing anxiety with feeling anxious?

≪ Previous: Going plastic-free: Travelling abroad requires planning and patience

$

0

0

The KFC crisis will go down in history as the time when Britain stopped working…because fried chicken had run out.

People were urged to stop calling 999, offered alternatives to satisfy chicken fixes, and KFC meals were even sold on eBay for a humble price of £25,000

After a shortage of chicken meant several shops had limited menus, if not closed completely, the much-loved restaurant issued a cheeky apology.

But one woman wasn’t happy that she had to change her plans just because KFC had delivery issues.

Appearing on a news segment last week, the unnamed woman perfectly summed up the KFC crisis that has rocked… Read the full story

Are we confusing anxiety with feeling anxious?

February 25, 2018, 8:47 am

≫ Next: Why the 100 calorie snack campaign will do more harm than good

≪ Previous: The woman who ‘ad to go to Burger King after the KFC crisis now has a year’s supply of chicken

$

0

0

Mental health has never been so important or so widely talked about as it is today.

More and more of us seem to be succumbing to debilitating mental conditions.

Recent studies have suggested that that’s largely down to our generation’s obsession with perfectionism and elevated expectations. We’re overly critical of ourselves while at the same time having to deal with ‘excessively high personal standards’.

On top of that, we’ve got technology, loneliness, grim economic prospects and crummy housing options.

Suffice to say, there’s cause to be anxious and depressed.

As such, the Twittersphere is full of conversations about personal struggles with mental health. This is obviously a good thing – no one should have to suffer alone and those of us who grew up without much social media probably wish we had had access to the breadth of information and peer support now available 24/7.

Read the full story

Why the 100 calorie snack campaign will do more harm than good

February 25, 2018, 12:00 pm

≫ Next: What’s the best skincare routine for getting your skin bridal ready?

≪ Previous: Are we confusing anxiety with feeling anxious?

$

0

0

How awesome is the Change4Life campaign? The little characters are cute and each promotion is presented in a fun accessible way to help us to reduce salt and saturated fat intake, to make healthy meals quickly, or to get more exercise.

It’s run in conjunction with the NHS and aimed at the whole family to help everyone improve their health.

After having a restrictive… Read the full story

What’s the best skincare routine for getting your skin bridal ready?

February 26, 2018, 12:00 am

≫ Next: Eat as many hot cross buns as you can before they get mega expensive

≪ Previous: Why the 100 calorie snack campaign will do more harm than good

$

0

0

Most women want to be the best version of themselves on their wedding day, and the prep work can begin months in advance.

For many women – myself included – their skin is their main battleground.

I have acne, and, because of all the medical treatment my skin has to put up with, I’ve never really wanted to do much on the beauty side of things.

10 questions to ask when you’re choosing your wedding florist

But now, partly because of the wedding… Read the full story

Eat as many hot cross buns as you can before they get mega expensive

February 26, 2018, 12:08 am

≫ Next: If you’ve got a cat who lives with you but belongs to someone else, you’re not alone

≪ Previous: What’s the best skincare routine for getting your skin bridal ready?

$

0

0

We’re well into hot cross bun season.

Toasted and slathered in butter or cold, straight from the packet, nothing says spring quite like a strange fruity bap.

But if you were planning on leaving it a little longer before you start having them for breakfast, you might want to reconsider – because the price of hot cross buns is set to soar due to a raisin shortage.

Over in California, farmers are struggling to produce the quantities of dried fruit necessary, with US raising prices having risen by 50% since September.

They’re producing increasingly fewer sultanas, current and raisins – preferring instead to focus on other crops which may yield greater… Read the full story

---

If you’ve got a cat who lives with you but belongs to someone else, you’re not alone

February 26, 2018, 12:35 am

≫ Next: D&G replaces models with drones in their MFW show because everyone’s redundant now

≪ Previous: Eat as many hot cross buns as you can before they get mega expensive

$

0

0

Cats, on the whole, do what they want.

They go where they want, they eat what they want, they sleep where they want.

And that can mean them just deciding to go and live in someone else’s house if they think their grub’s better. It doesn’t matter if you’ve raised them since kittenhood, given them all the love and affection in the world and snookled them every night; cats will cheat on you.

Every cat’s a Seven Dinner Sid if they’ve got access to a catflap…or a vent.

Brena Clifton was just doing her thing at her cat-free home recently when she found someone else’s feline crawling out from a vent in… Read the full story

D&G replaces models with drones in their MFW show because everyone’s redundant now

February 26, 2018, 12:52 am

≫ Next: For god’s sake, stop putting milk in before you put the water in your tea

≪ Previous: If you’ve got a cat who lives with you but belongs to someone else, you’re not alone

$

0

0

Fashion comes and fashion goes but one thing has always remained the same: the models.

Models are important.

They’re supposed to represent the kinds of people (albeit infinitely taller and slimmer) that the designer sees their clobber looking best on. They’re really what most of us take inspiration from – not the clothes. We want to look as chic as Kate. As cool as Gigi. As effortless as Naomi.

But that’s all over now because humans are redundant, even if you do look like an angel.

Dolce & Gabbana decided to turn Milan… Read the full story

For god’s sake, stop putting milk in before you put the water in your tea

February 26, 2018, 1:48 am

≫ Next: Supporting a friend who has borderline personality disorder? First seek to understand

≪ Previous: D&G replaces models with drones in their MFW show because everyone’s redundant now

$

0

0

Some age-old debates will never be settled.

Do you wet your toothbrush before applying toothpaste or after? Are you supposed to put in milk before you put in your cereal?

Will we ever get close to an answer?

There is a wrong answer when it comes to the tea debate though; the milk goes in after the water.

From deepest darkest brown to the milkiest of beige, Brits have very particular preferences when it comes to the beloved brew.

As a nation of tea-drinkers, we also have ways we like to prepare the cuppa. And we’re very very fussy about it.

So if you’ve ever found yourself wondering how the other half drinks… Read the full story

Supporting a friend who has borderline personality disorder? First seek to understand

February 26, 2018, 2:00 am

≫ Next: Why climbing stairs is always a killer, no matter how fit you are

≪ Previous: For god’s sake, stop putting milk in before you put the water in your tea

$

0

0

Helping a friend with mental health issues isn’t always easy.

If you’re doing it, have done it or are even researching how you can in future then shout out to you, because it’s proven that support from friends and family can not only help recovery but can sometimes even be life saving.

Supporting someone with borderline personality disorder (BPD) can be a rocky road. By the illness’ very nature those of us with BPD are not always the easiest people to try and support.

BPD is a psychiatric illness characterised by intense… Read the full story

Why climbing stairs is always a killer, no matter how fit you are

February 26, 2018, 2:05 am

≫ Next: Beauty Banks are helping women to fight hygiene poverty around the country

≪ Previous: Supporting a friend who has borderline personality disorder? First seek to understand

$

0

0

Loads of us work out regularly.

We run to work. We dutifully attend spin classes. We lift, bro.

We’re fit. And yet, give us a flight of stairs to run up and suddenly, we turn into panting puddles.

Climbing stairs is ridiculously hard, no matter how much exercise you do.

The same is true when running for trains and buses. You might have run marathons but nothing compares to that 15-second sprint you put on when you see your bus coming.

A few weeks ago, I went to a Versaclimber class at BXR. A Versaclimber is a vertical machine which simulates climbing, with your arms outstretched, pulling handles up and… Read the full story

Beauty Banks are helping women to fight hygiene poverty around the country

February 26, 2018, 2:41 am

≫ Next: World Book day would be a lot better without costumes

≪ Previous: Why climbing stairs is always a killer, no matter how fit you are

$

0

0

Traditionally, poverty has been associated with the inability to put food on the table.

But it’s so much more than that; as with anything, there are grades of poverty.

Faced with a choice between eating two meals a day or washing your hair with shampoo, the vast majority of us would opt for keeping hunger at bay.

We take relatively small things like having soap, toothpaste and deodorant for granted. They might not be life or death but they’re the things that can make life worth living.

Feeling unclean for days on end can result in people choosing to steer clear of jobs and education for fear of judgement.

Which is why… Read the full story

World Book day would be a lot better without costumes

February 26, 2018, 2:49 am

≫ Next: Giant new 92m floating water park is coming to the UK in May

≪ Previous: Beauty Banks are helping women to fight hygiene poverty around the country

$

0

0

I will admit, I have something of an axe to grind about World Book Day. 

You see, I was quite a weird child. When other people dressed up as Hermione Granger or a member of the Sleepover Club, I insisted that I wanted to be Jane Eyre. Which meant an entire day tripping over the floor length skirt my sleep deprived mother had spent the weekend making, and answering the question ‘who are you meant to be?’

So maybe I’m prejudice against World Book day, but honestly, having seen how much time effort and money these costume days force parents to expend, I honestly think that we’d be better off… Read the full story

---

Giant new 92m floating water park is coming to the UK in May

February 26, 2018, 2:59 am

≫ Next: Social anxiety is tough – but it’s even harder when you’re a 6 foot 2 woman

≪ Previous: World Book day would be a lot better without costumes

$

0

0

There aren’t many water parks in the UK.

Go to Cyprus or Spain…or really anywhere warm, they seem to be readily available – but over here, we’re sorely lacking in inflatable fun.

But that won’t be the case for long because a giant floating water park is coming to Liverpool in May, and it’s going to be sticking around all summer.

The ‘adrenaline-fuelled’ 92m inflatable assault course will be stationed at the Albert Dock and… Read the full story

Social anxiety is tough – but it’s even harder when you’re a 6 foot 2 woman

February 26, 2018, 3:00 am

≫ Next: This eight-year old-girl is cutting her hair off to make a princess wig for a sick child

≪ Previous: Giant new 92m floating water park is coming to the UK in May

$

0

0

When you deal with social anxiety most of the time you just want to blend into the background and be unnoticeable, which is basically impossible when you’re always the tallest girl in the room.

I first started to encounter feelings of social anxiety in secondary school, when I realised I was taller than everybody else in my year group.

18 things people who suffer from social anxiety… Read the full story

This eight-year old-girl is cutting her hair off to make a princess wig for a sick child

February 26, 2018, 3:17 am

≫ Next: Vero is said to be the new Instagram, but what exactly is it?

≪ Previous: Social anxiety is tough – but it’s even harder when you’re a 6 foot 2 woman

$

0

0

Many little girls dream of being a princess, but there are some little girls who dream of making sure that everybody else gets to be a princess.

One of these gems is eight-year-old Ruby Cotter, from Essex.

Ruby has hair that Rapunzel would be proud of – long and healthy, down to her waist – but she wants to cut it all off.

When Ruby found out that some children lose their hair when they get sick, she felt sad. So when she heard that there was a way of turning human hair into wigs for them,… Read the full story

Vero is said to be the new Instagram, but what exactly is it?

February 26, 2018, 3:29 am

≫ Next: Happily married woman reveals what it’s like to be a professional dominatrix

≪ Previous: This eight-year old-girl is cutting her hair off to make a princess wig for a sick child

$

0

0

How many successful social networks can there be? Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat might be the biggest but there are any number of smaller virtual spaces.

Do we have space in our lives for another social media app?

Makers of Vero, the latest new social network, are hoping to tap into the FOMO factor, offering their photo-sharing app for free for the first million.

The new network is pretty much like Instagram but has a few different quirks.

Vero doesn’t have… Read the full story

Happily married woman reveals what it’s like to be a professional dominatrix

February 26, 2018, 3:40 am

≫ Next: This dog waits for the same train every day but no-one ever comes

≪ Previous: Vero is said to be the new Instagram, but what exactly is it?

$

0

0

A happily married woman has lifted the lid on her career as a professional dominatrix – charging clients £200 an hour to fulfil their most bizarre fantasies, including being treated like dogs and even as human ashtrays.

Bliss Theodora, 31, also known as Mistress Bliss, works from either her domestic space in London’s East End, or the dungeons she rents out all over the city.

Building a reputation as Mistress Bliss – one of the capital’s leading dominatrixes – since moving to the UK from Melbourne, the former fetish model and performer charges anything between £200 for one hour or £1500 for an overnight session. She works with… Read the full story