You’ve probably heard of the winter blues – or seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
But for some people, summer is the time of the year that can worsen, or even trigger, feelings of anxiety and depression.
Up to 29% of the UK population suffer from some degree of SAD, according to a 2014 study from The Weather… Read the full story
First dates are mysterious terrain to lots of men, unless you’re James Bond.
Where do you take her on a first date? What can you talk about to ensure that there are no awkward, staring-at-the-menu silences? And most importantly, how can you impress her enough to get a second date?
It can feel like a complete gamble. But don’t panic – here are some stressbusting tips to help you make sure everything goes smoothly.
We know, you want to be romantic and original. You don’t want to take her to a boring bar or restaurant, so you’re thinking of a mid-day picnic… Read the full story
For many of us, the thought of water parks makes us go all gooey-eyed, remembering childhood birthdays spent whizzing down water slides, floating about on donut rings, and bobbing up and down with the help of wave machines.
Ravenous afterwards, if you were lucky your parents might allow you a luminous slushie and a portion of salty chips.
Childhood may unfortunately be behind us but water parks are not just for children.
What’s more, the slides available now are dazzling sensory… Read the full story
I first encountered J K Rowling’s Harry Potter books as a teenager and grew up in the Harry Potter generation.
We were the ones who would wait eagerly each year for the new book to be delivered, who were the same age as the film actors and grew up with them.
I fell in love with the world of magic and the escapism it provided from my… Read the full story
Sometimes you’re just not up for having sex.
Maybe you’re tired, or stressed, or just aren’t feeling particularly sexual. That’s totally fine – it doesn’t mean you’re not attracted to your partner, that you never want to have sex with them, or that something is deeply, horribly wrong.
This only becomes an issue when you feel like you can’t turn down sex out of fear of upsetting your partner. When differing sex drives are a point of contention, and a rejection of sex on one night gets you the silent treatment, resentment can build on both sides.
That can make us ‘push through’ and have sex we weren’t particularly keen… Read the full story
Thomas is a DJ and station manager at Ruben FM, a community radio station in Mukuru slum, Nairobi.
Many of his 700,000 listeners live in corrugated iron shacks; Mukuru is one of the largest slums in the capital and many of its residents live in abject poverty.
Thomas and the Ruben FM team, however, are committed to serving the community over the airwaves.
‘For sure, running a community radio station is not easy,’ says Thomas, who came to Nairobi in 2012 and started his career by volunteering at another community radio station before being made a presenter and later, a manager there.
‘But the guys here have a passion for journalism, and that’s why we’ve been able to achieve a lot in just one year.’
They plan a series of features on issues affecting the slum, including combating violence against women and girls.
‘What makes Ruben FM special and different is content. Most other community radio stations in Kenya are trying to compete… Read the full story
A Malaysian fashion critic has been heavily criticised after suggesting that people weighing over 60kg shouldn’t attend catwalk shows.
Zaihani Mohd Zain apparently made the suggestion in a Facebook post which now seems to be deleted.
Her problem, it seems, is with how people sit in their seats.
‘Your thighs are spilling over onto the chairs on your left and right,’ the Malay Mail reports her to have said.
‘It’s so awkward and uncomfortable for the persons seated next to you!’
One wonders just how big these chairs are if they’re too small for anyone weighing over 9.4st…and why the show organisers don’t just move them further apart if what Zaihani writes is true.
In any… Read the full story
Flower crowns are done. Long live flower boobs.
Festival trends have always been a little out-there. Last year we had glitter everywhere – glitter underbutt, glitter boobs, glitter partings.
This year, we’re ready for something new. Enter flower boobs, which might just be the next big festival trend.
Flower boobs are what they sound like: The art of covering your breasts with flowers and petals.
The look is the creation of Face Florals, a company that sells pressed flowers to decorate every bit of your face and body. They’ve sold daisies to dot around your eyes, petals to place on your lips, and sprigs to dot through… Read the full story
The Tate puts on some of the biggest and best exhibitions in the world.
And their tickets tend to cost a small fortune…but not if you’re under 26.
Because after consulting with people aged between 16 and 25, the gallery has realised that most young people are too broke to pay for exhibitions and museums.
So it’s making art more accessible by offering £5 tickets to this age group under a new scheme called ‘Tate Collective’. The scheme also allows you to bring up to three mates for the same price.
‘We are acting on what 16 to 25-year-olds say they want so that we can make the changes needed for future generations,’… Read the full story
A holiday to Disney World in Florida is like no other – and there is lots you can expect from a break to the ‘most magical place on Earth’.
For starters, everything Mickey Mouse, Cinderella’s Castle, iconic rides and making a lot of happy memories but not forgetting the long queues, expensive prices and exhausting days.
Having just returned from a two week trip to the Magic Kingdom, there were a few things I wished I’d known before I went and a few tips I picked up along the way.
So, if you have a holiday booked or just love a… Read the full story
Amy Cameron, 31, isn’t just running the London Marathon, as impressive as that would be in itself.
Nope, she’s running it while dressed as a poo emoji.
It’s not for the lols. Amy was diagnosed with bowel cancer at just 29 years old, and hopes that by running the marathon dressed as a huge poo, she’ll raise awareness of the illness and get people talking about the symptoms.
Amy developed agonising stomach pains back in 2016, having just returned from watching the Olympics in Brazil. She made eight trips to her GP in unbearable pain before undergoing … Read the full story
Unusually hot weather means that everywhere you look, people are skulking around like boiled lobsters.
Sunburn is never a good look, let alone in April.
But if you find slathering yourself in regular sunscreen too much of a bore, then how about getting your mitts on a tube of SPF 30 Unicorn Snot?
Yep, you can now buy glittery suncream that comes in aqua blue, pink and gold – made with cosmetic-grade glitter.
While being covered head-to-toe in shine might be cool at a festival or whatever, one wonders how it’d go down as a mid-week office look.
Do we really… Read the full story
To preempt the question: No, this mascara will not get you high.
It may make your lashes reach new heights, though.
Vegan makeup brand Milk Makeup is launching a snazzy new mascara called Kush. As the name may give away, it contains cannabis oil, and will be released on 20 April (4/20 blaze it).
The brand claims that CBD-packed cannabis oil gives Kush mascara a super creamy texture, allowing for smoother application on the lashes and easier removal. Typically makeup brands use beeswax for this effect, but as Milk is a vegan company, they had to find another option: Enter cannabis oil.
The oil also works to… Read the full story
On the way to work this morning, the smell of sun cream hung in the air.
It’s a surefire sign that summer has arrived, when everything begins to smell like coconuts and barbecue.
The reality is, though, a lot of people are dragging out last year’s runny old cream in factor 10, and then wondering why their skin breaks out or they’re still getting burnt.
It’s important to get the right sun protection for you, and that doesn’t just mean the level of SPF.
Your face is not only going to get spotty if you use the wrong formula, but also has thinner skin so is more prone to sun damage. You should really be… Read the full story
It might only be mid-April but this week, it’s more like July outside.
Today, temperatures are set to soar to 27’C (I know, right?) and are settling around the low 20s for the rest of the week.
And while that’s awesome news if you plan on doing nothing more strenuous than choosing which beer garden to patronise after work.
But the London Marathon is happening on Sunday…Hackney Half is next month and a whole roster of other running events is on the horizon.
And even if you aren’t training for something specific, the gym and the tube are grim in the heat and when it’s so lush outside,… Read the full story
Remember the childhood excitement of plunging your hand into a lucky dip?
Well, subscription boxes are the grown-up equivalent, delivering a box of surprises to your door once a month.
They’re also the perfect pick-me-up to send to a friend who’s suffering from depression – or to treat yourself, if you’re feeling low.
I checked out eight of the best subscription boxes with a self-care twist – here’s what you need to know about what’s inside and how much they cost:
This time last year, I was preparing to run the London Marathon.
Sweaty-palmed, stomach-churning, the week before the race was one of the most stressful periods of my life.
Would I crap myself in front of thousands of spectators? Would I keel over with cramp at mile 10? Would I, in fact, die?
I’ve always run but before starting my training, I’d never run more than 10K because I was always more bothered by speed rather than endurance. After all, why run when you could just take a bus?
And though I was in relatively decent shape, I had a pretty low view of my body image.
I couldn’t… Read the full story
Up until now, gyms have been pretty bad on the whole environmental concern front.
That’s finally changing; 1Rebel announced back in February that it was banning single-use plastic from all its studios. And now, spinning giant Psycle London is following suit.
Not only is Psycle also getting rid of single-use plastic, but the studio is also removing the plastic kit bags from changing rooms and replacing all the single-use plastic cups, bowls and cutlery from its Energy Kitchen with items made from 100% compostable plastic.
Now, if you want to keep your sweaty kit separate from the other stuff in your bag, you’ll have to either bring your… Read the full story
Mollie Cowin, aged 22, was always self-conscious about her skin.
Her acne began in her early teens and, although she thought she’d grow out of it, it stayed put.
As if her own personal battle with spots wasn’t bad enough, her boyfriend at the time refused to show her off to his friends because he was so embarrassed of her ‘beard of spots’.
Mollie refused to let that stop her, though, and has since started an Instagram to document her experience with spot-clearing drug Roaccutane.
