Attention, vegans: Hotel Chocolat is launching two all-natural vegan ice lollies made with real fruit and dipped in the company’s luxury chocolate.
The vegan lollies come in a zesty orange and lemon flavour dipped in 70% dark chocolate, and also a double chocolate flavour.
There are two other new lollies which aren’t vegan, but are still exciting: A salted caramel brimming with dulce de leche notes and dipped in caramel chocolate as well as strawberry and cream, which is smothered in high-cocoa white chocolate. Yum.
The new ice creams will be available in 10 stores across the country: Birmingham Bullring, Cambridge, Derby, Hitchin, Leeds Trinity, London King’s Cross, London – Regent Street, Milton Keynes, Nottingham and St. Albans.
Each lolly will cost £3.25, and will accompany the brand’s other vegan products, which includes hot chocolates, truffles and turkish delight.
(Picture: Hotel Chocolat)
Of course, Hotel Chocolat isn’t the first brand to release vegan ice creams.
The health food and supplements shop has started selling three own-brand vegan ice creams, in peanut butter, passion fruit and salted caramel flavours.
Each 500ml tub costs £3.99 and is a ‘vegan alternative to brand favourites such as Halo Top’.
Each tub is dairy-free and organic, and features a sealable top rather than a separate lid to reduce waste.
Holland & Barrett ditches cream and milk for coconut and avocado to achieve the same creamy consistency, and the ice creams are also low calorie.
The salted caramel, made using avocado, has 103 calories per 125ml serving, the passionfruit flavour has 108 and finally, the peanut butter ice cream has 130 calories per 125ml serving.
The ice cream has been launched in all of Holland & Barrett’s 715 UK branches, and they’re currently on offer for buy one get one half price.
Runners will be gearing up and tightening their laces to take part in the London Marathon this weekend, with thousands of people taking part.
The application process for it may seem about as arduous than the race itself, given how small the number of people that actually get accepted are.
That tends to just be collateral damage when organising such a huge and in-demand event, but it doesn’t mean that everybody needs to miss out on the joy of completing a course.
There are plenty of other marathons taking place across the UK that are still accepting applications. What are you waiting for?
Rather than a marathon all in one, this weekend set of races allows competitors to split things up.
Those taking part will do 10 miles on both the Saturday and Sunday and a 10K on the Monday. This is lucky for those who sign up as there won’t be much time to train; it’s on the weekend on 4 May.
Registrations are still open, and cost up to £56 for all three runs.
For music and marathon lovers, this one is dream. The event – on May 25 – promises to ‘let the beat go on as you discover Liverpool’s rock/ pop history along your marathon or half marathon journey.’
Vaginas are magical and should be treated with the utmost respect.
As such, there are a few cardinal rules: firstly, don’t steam it, douche it or detox it.
Secondly, don’t put foreign objects inside of it unless they were designed specifically for the vagina. Yes, the usual (fingers, penises and dildos) is fantastic, but for your own sake, leave out the parsley, cocaine and Lush’s aubergine bath bomb.
Unfortunately, human beings are a curious species and there’s a new trend in ‘things-not-to-put-up-there’. Namely, garlic cloves.
It’s not actually a new development, but has resurfaced as of late as a suggested home remedy to yeast infections.
Garlic contains a compound called allicin, which the gynaecologist admits might have antifungal properties, but only when experimented with in a lab.
As we’re sure you know, the constitution of a woman’s vagina is very different to that of a petri dish.
Why you should not put garlic in your vagina. A thread. Garlic contains allicin, in THE LAB it MAY have antifungal (i.e. anti yeast) properties. This is in a lab, not even in mice. Just a dish of cells. Your vagina is not a dish of cells. #vaginaisanogarliczone 1/8
Lots of vaginal garlic aficionados (I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO TWEET THAT IN 2019, BUT HERE WE ARE) recommend inserting a clove. This means they don't understand for allicin to be released the garlic has to be cut or crushed. Sigh. #vaginaisanogarliczone 2/8
Garlic could have bacteria from the soil. Bacteria from the soil can be pathogenic -- bad for the body. That's why we clean wounds. If you actually happen to have an inflamed yeasty vagina that soil bacteria would be more likely to infect #vaginaisanogarliczone 3/8
She goes on to decribe that garlic will carry potentially pathogenic bacteria from being grown in soil, which is bad for the body. And may well cause more harm to an already ‘inflamed yeasty vagina’.
Garlic aficionados, as Dr Gunter calls them, are also at risk of developing biofilms, microorganisms that can cause other bacterial issues.
She wrote: ‘Garlic can cause biofilms on braces, so could garlic contribute to biofilms in the vagina? Biologically plausible.
‘Biofilms are bad. You do not want them to form especially when you have yeast. Effect of garlic good bacteria also unknown #vaginaisanogarliczone.’
So for garlic to work you would have to crush it and stuff it up somehow. There is still the dirt thing. And the cut up garlic on raw tissues thing (OUCH). And the fishing of the garlic out by the gyno thing. #vaginaisanogarliczone 4/8
Garlic can cause biofilms on braces, so could garlic contribute to biofilms in the vagina? Biologically plausible. Biofilms are bad. You do not want them to form especially when you have yeast. Effect of garlic good bacteria also unknown #vaginaisanogarliczone 5/8
As 50-70% of women who self treat for vaginal yeast never actually had a yeast infection you can't say much, except half of them never had yeast to begin with so the irritation they had may have been a temporary thing and resolving wasn't garlic related #vaginaisanogarliczone 6/8
And the placebo effect is strong. If you think vaginal garlic is going to make you feel better, you may very well feel better temporarily. #vaginaisanogarliczone 7/8
A teenage girl has been freed of her phobia of chewing and slurping that troubled her for 14 years.
For her entire life, Danielle, 14, would feel physically sick anytime she heard someone eat or drink around her – to the point that she would refuse to have her meals near anyone else.
After years of leaving the room if anyone drank a cup of coffee and sitting alone in restaurants, Danielle’s mother, Jayne Beaufoy, 43, took her to the GP to see what was wrong.
Doctors told her there was nothing they could do to help her daughter. Jayne, from Coventry, instead took Danielle for some cognitive hypnosis.
After one hour of hypnosis, Danielle is now able to eat and drink around friends and family.
Jayne said: ‘Since she was younger she would always complain about the sound of people eating or drinking.
‘If she was stood in the kitchen and you were drinking a coffee, she would get very distressed and leave the room immediately.
‘Any time we would try to have a family meal at the dining table, she would make an excuse to leave and eat by herself.
‘When it came to family occasions, she would make sure she was sat separately in the restaurant when she would eat, or would just refuse to go.
(Picture: Radvile Photography/Caters News)
‘But luckily since she has had her hypnotherapy, Danielle has been able to go out for family dinners and sit around the table with us.’
Despite Danielle’s phobia having been present since she was a young child, Jayne claims that it was most noticeable from the age of nine.
She said: ‘Danielle would always have issues with other people eating, but it wasn’t until she was nine that I knew she needed help.
‘We had visited a family friend’s house and she had refused to sit at the table, and got very agitated and upset when they tried to encourage her to join them.
‘So when we got home from the trip, I decided to take her to the GP where she had hearing tests – but there was nothing that could be done to help her.
‘I initially thought she was just being an awkward pre-teen and thought she would grow out of it, but she was very stubborn about the fact it wasn’t just a phase.
‘So when I read about hypnotherapy on social media, I knew we had to give it a go – and luckily after one session she gradually started to become less bothered by the sounds.’
(Picture: Radvile Photography/Caters News)
Since having hypnosis in 2018, Danielle has been able to enjoy eating with her family at the dinner table as well as going out to restaurants for celebrations.
After meeting with cognitive behavioural psychotherapist and neurology expert David Kilmurry, Danielle was diagnosed with misophonia – a hatred of sound.
David said: ‘Danielle was very sweet and sensitive – the family had almost completely lost hope.
‘Cognitive behavioural therapy in a light manner is powerful and can help a child question abnormal discomfort and fears.
‘Misophonia having said that is very different – it is real you can hear it and it triggers painful nausea so in this case it’s a major psychiatric breakthrough.
‘It has been life changing for her, socially she can now eat out and hear others it’s been dismantled and I cannot be happier for this lovely kind hard working family.
‘I’m excited for Danielle and honoured to be part of her personal development – a young person needs doors opened and misophonia had closed many of them.’
Dating in this day and age is hard. It’s constant scrolling through dating apps because we’re no longer confident to talk to people in bars, matching and unmatching with people who it turns out aren’t quite your cup of tea, and the constant questioning of ‘are they actually that into me?’
Cue: The fear of commitment.
This comes up a lot. You go on a few dates with someone and think it’s going really well, and they say they want to ‘see where it goes’. You end up dating for weeks and it never really going anywhere.
Or maybe you’ve been seeing someone for a while – but they just don’t want to put a ‘label’ on it.
If this suits you, then great. But if not, maybe it’s time you looked for someone who isn’t such a commitment-phobe.
To stop getting in deep with one of these people, there are a few things you can look out for to tell whether someone is in it for the long-run.
Psychologist Madeleine Mason Roantree, Director of Relationship Psychology Services at The Vida Consultancy, says there are some easy signs to spot.
First up, is if they’re ‘difficult to pin down’, meaning you never seem to know when you are going to meet again – or they tell you the dreaded line of they’re just going ‘with the flow’.
Not wanting to put a label on the relationship, and saying something like ‘we are still getting to know each other’ or ‘it takes a long time for me to open up’ is also a red flag.
(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)
Madeleine adds that another sign is if you want to know how they feel about you, they’ll tell you you are being ‘demanding and unreasonable’. Sound familiar? Ditch them.
Other signs include having a past history of short relationships, sporadic dating and seldom anything serious; complaining that all past partners have been ‘controlling or needy’ and struggling to support you emotionally.
What is obviously a big red warning sign is if they tell you outright that they fear relationships, or that they never intend to get married or settle down.
You should also watch out for dates who aren’t consistent – for instance some days being available, and others being super distant and uninterested.
There may also be some emotional blackmailing involved – like if you decide to walk away, and suddenly they become eager to see you again, as if it’s all about the chase.
And the big, vibrant stop sign on the person you’re dating? If they break it off and ghost you the moment you ask for exclusivity.
Madeleine tells Metro.co.uk: ‘Fear of commitment is thought to stem from childhood, where care, love and support was unavailable in some way.
‘The child learns to become self-sufficient and not to rely on others for help. As a result any display of emotion or ‘need’ is banned, and too painful.
‘Any situation where they need to depend upon or have someone depend upon them creates a claustrophobic feeling of being trapped. The need to get away from the situation becomes an intense urge. Only when there is an emotional distance from son do they feel safe to approach.
‘This is why playing hard to get in dating fails, because it attracts people who can’t commit and the moment “they win you over” and you become emotionally available and attached to them, they bolt.’
Learn these signs and watch out for them – you’ll save yourself a lot of time and heart-ache.
Wedding prep can make you do some pretty wild things.
It’s stressful and expensive. You’ll do what you can to cut corners and hold on to your sanity.
But does that justify this bride’s actions?
A gardener wrote in a wedding shaming Facebook group that she caught a bride stealing flowers out of her garden for her wedding.
We’re not just talking about a couple of roses – the woman says the bride took her lilies, daisies, tulips, peonies, and even a rare type of flower that had taken the gardener three years to track down. Basically, the bride took anything and everything.
The woman, who described gardening as one of her great loves, was pretty upset.
She wrote on Facebook: ‘I walked out into my yard on a Friday morning to find EVERY….SINGLE….ROSE in my garden cut and my potted impatiens and petunias gone, pots and all.
‘Naturally, I was devastated. My roses were butchered. Including my extremely rare Amelia Earhart hybrid tea that took me three years to track down.
‘I filed a police report but there was little they could do. All I could do was prune them back and try to coax them into blooming again.’
The woman found out it was her neighbour who’d stolen her plants thanks to a friend, who mentioned that a woman from a few streets over had tied the knot the weekend her garden was looted.
(Picture: Getty)
The bride didn’t return to the scene of the crime, but she did share photos on social media. In those photos the gardener could spot loads of her flowers.
‘The tip off was the petunias and impatiens in my very distinctive, white-painted flower pots being used as centrepieces,’ she explains.
‘But then the photos of the bridal party…. a bride and two bridesmaid carrying bouquets of pink, white, and yellow fully bloomed hybrid tea roses… including the pale yellow Amelia Earhart roses.’
When the gardening woman investigated more, she found out that the bride had passed her house, seen the garden, and returned under the cover of darkness a few days before the wedding to steal the flowers and their pots. So it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision.
The bride was never charged with theft, just trespassing, and received a $50 fine.
‘That rose cost $300 and had to be shipped from across the country,’ wrote the woman. ‘She butchered the plant so badly, it STILL hasn’t fully recovered.’
‘If she had just knocked on my door and asked, I would have gone out and cut her all the flowers she needed and offered to loan her my flower pots and charged her far less than what a florist would have charged.’
Harsh move, bride.
Comments in the group have been fiercely on the gardener’s side, even asking her to name and shame the bride (although we’re not sure what that would achieve).
Brides to be, we know flowers are pricey, but please don’t yank them out of someone else’s flower pots.
I recall the term ‘asexual’ floating around in my past somewhere, a very distant memory, perhaps stumbled upon in a novel, vaguely mentioned by a secondary character.
Or maybe I read the word on Tumblr at some point. I only really paid it mind mid last year, when I was discussing sexuality late at night with a similarly confused friend.
‘I just don’t want to be with anyone,’ I attempted to explain. ‘I’d be happy if I was never in a relationship again. I’d call it asexuality but I’m pretty sure they’re people who fancy themselves?’
The word, however, swam around in my head like a goldfish in a bowl until the next morning, when I took to trusty Google – and what a glorious opener of doors that was for me, because typing that one word into a search bar would change my life forever.
At the touch of a button, I felt my world open up and my mind expand – you know like when Ego touches Star Lord’s brain in Guardians of the Galaxy 2? It felt like that without the sinister motive.
I discovered that not only was I wrong about asexuality, but I related wholeheartedly. Like me, these people felt little to no sexual attraction.
Asexuality is the lack of, or limited supply of depending where you sit on the spectrum, sexual attraction (Picture: Jon Rowley/Metro.co.uk)
Like me, some of these people felt no romantic attraction. In the space of an hour I’d found a whole plethora of people who understood completely how I felt, and I felt like I’d found a second family.
So what does asexuality actually mean? Well, asexuality is an extensive spectrum of romantic and sexual orientations that I couldn’t possibly explain in one sitting, but I’ll do my best to summarise.
Asexuality is the lack of, or limited supply of depending where you sit on the spectrum, sexual attraction. Sexual attraction, as we know, is what happens when you want sexual relations with someone. And I have never felt it.
But like I said, the spectrum is complex. Asexuality is essentially divided into two orientations: sexual and romantic. Say, perhaps, you identify as straight but you just cannot connect with people sexually. This could mean you’re heteroromantic asexual, or straight-ace for short.
I personally identify as aromantic asexual, which means I neither feel sexual or romantic attraction. Remember at the beginning when I said I’d be happy to never be in a relationship again? Well, this is why.
Of course, you can be aromantic and still have sexual feelings but that’s a whole other kettle of fish.
With the potential for awkward flirting or romantic advances off the table, I find myself more able to relax into conversation with people (Picture: Jon Rowley/Metro.co.uk)
So what I’m trying to illustrate is that some asexuals desire a romantic and even somewhat sexual relationship, but I personally want neither of those things.
And you may be thinking that that sounds incredibly lonely, but in discovering this about myself I’ve never felt less lonely.
With the potential for awkward flirting or romantic advances off the table, I find myself more able to relax into conversation with people. The pressure of putting myself out there is off.
However, as with everything, there are things about my identity that hold me back. For instance I feel like with certain people in my life I can’t talk about this part of myself because I know how they’ll react.
‘Oh, but you just haven’t found the right person yet,’ they’ll say. ‘It’ll change when you’re older.’
I could direct said people to a playlist on my YouTube channel entitled The Ace Episodes, which explores and explains asexuality in depth, but some people are stubborn, set in their ways and convinced they know you better than you know yourself.
I think some people just aren’t convinced that asexuality exists. I’ve heard of people being told they’re using their ‘false sexuality’ as an excuse because they’re ‘too ugly to date.’
That one made me mad. I’d love for people to know that we’re far from false, far from ugly and that we are real and valid.
Sexuality is fluid and I have no idea what my future holds. No one does (Picture: Jon Rowley/Metro.co.uk)
Shows like Emmerdale have been exploring this topic recently and it brings me hope that maybe we will be granted the recognition we deserve.
Some people are accepting, of course. My sister took my label as fact from the get-go, no questions asked. My friend had a lot of questions but she, too, was immediately accepting of my label.
My mum even admitted that she also identified with a lot of the asexuality traits. I feel blessed in that sense, that I can be completely myself around the people who matter most to me.
That’s really all I want out of life – the comfort in knowing I’m allowed to be myself.
So with these two mindsets often warring inside me, my relationship with my label is complicated. My asexuality is like a spirit, repelled and repressed by some people and flourishing in reaction to others. Sometimes my label and I are best friends, content in security. Other times I try to repress her, craving ‘normality’ – whatever that is – and desperate to be understood.
But it boils down to this:
My label both defines me and does not define me. I am ecstatic in the knowledge that I never have to feel the pressure of a relationship again. My sexuality discovery has inspired a video series that may one day help someone like me, and I’ve formed friendships and bonds with like-minded people.
Sexuality is fluid and I have no idea what my future holds. No one does.
But today I present myself to you: asexual, proud, and happy.
Labels is an exclusive series that hears from individuals who have been labelled – whether that be by society, a job title, or a diagnosis. Throughout the project, writers will share how having these words ascribed to them shaped their identity — positively or negatively — and what the label means to them.
Am I a bad friend for being frustrated at my best friend’s mental health? (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)
Welcome to Lean On Me – a weekly agony aunt style column from Metro.co.uk where Kate Leaver answers your friendship woes.
Dear Kate,
Am I a bad friend for being frustrated at my best friend’s mental health?
She has had depression since childhood and I am understanding of this fact. I try to pick her back up when she’s down, I ask her how she is and I listen, I buy her little gifts from time to time.
However, I am getting frustrated as she seems to keep taking things that are not about her (e.g. a relative going into hospital) and making them solely about herself.
She reads a kind gesture from one person to another as something that was done just to annoy her and make her feel left out.
She has a lovely partner, holidays abroad multiple times a year and has plenty of days out but she doesn’t ever want to talk about these things.
I don’t know how much more I can take – I feel fed up and like I don’t want to talk to her. I have my own issues right now without taking on hers too. How do I sensitively address this?
Laura, 31
The reality is that caring for your depressive friend can be hard. It’s an enduring act of love and patience and solidarity. I applaud you for taking it on and I thank you for bringing it up. (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)
Dear Laura,
I don’t think you’re frustrated at your best friend’s mental health. I think you’re frustrated with your best friend. It’s an important distinction to make.
It actually sounds like you’re quite tolerant, patient and loving when it comes to your best friend’s depression.
Looking after a depressive friend can be easier than most people expect – and you’ve nailed it if you listen to her and present her with little gestures of love to remind her you’re there.
So, on to your friend’s behaviour. Depression can make us fixate on the negative things in life and it can certainly make it difficult, if not impossible, to feel the joy of usually delightful experiences.
So it’s possible that your mate doesn’t feel the full happiness and loveliness of her lovely partner, holidays abroad and days out.
Those things are trappings of a full, gorgeous life, but she may not be capable of counting them as sources of joy.
Being depressed is like trying to walk around with your head in a fog. Everything can feel dark, sinister and unfamiliar and you can feel very disconnected.
It’s very easy to get a tiny bit precious about your social interactions – when we’re socially isolated, we tend to get more sensitive and we’re more likely to interpret people’s actions negatively.
Your friend may genuinely feel as though certain things are about her, when they’re not. It’s just one of the many cruel games loneliness can play on us.
So, if that’s the case, you need to try and understand where she’s coming from here.
That said, lovely Laura, depression does not entitle anyone to behave atrociously. A mental illness does not give someone free reign to behave selfishly, angrily or reprehensibly, so your friend is still accountable for the way she behaves.
Looking after a depressive friend can be easier than most people expect – and you’ve nailed it if you listen to her and present her with little gestures of love to remind her you’re there.
I get depressed and I do not consider that permission for me to behave as outlandishly as I wish. If your friend is, for example, utterly ignoring the problems you have, then you must gently remind her that she’s needed.
What I think you need to do here is sit your friend down and have a proper chat. Choose a safe space for both of you, take some snacks, curl up on the sofa and say you need to talk to her.
Do not mention that she has nice holidays and should therefore be a ray of sunshine to be around; that would be an insulting reduction of what she goes through and a willful misunderstanding of how depression works.
Do not say you need her to cheer up, get her act together or any other such platitude. These things are not helpful to a depressed person; they wound us and make us feel small.
Do not try to fix her, either – don’t try to cajole her into seeing that her life is great because it sounds as though she just can’t and you have to get that. Just try to be honest without diminishing her or what she lives through.
Beforehand you might want to write three bullet points so you feel clear about what you want to say and choose and example: an instance in which your friend has taken something personally when she needn’t. Then gently explain that, actually, it has nothing to do with her.
She is not implicated and she needn’t be paranoid about how it affects her. Perhaps that way you can make her feel better and get your delightful friend back.
The reality is that caring for a depressive friend is an enduring act of love and patience and solidarity. I applaud you for taking it on and I thank you for bringing it up.
To a depressed person, friends can be this incredible reminder of the person we want to be. They can be a reason to keep trying to get better and to stick around in general.
Don’t give up on your friend just yet, Laura. She’s living with something heinous and exhausting, and you are good to stand by her through it.
Pay her the courtesy of being open and honest and hopefully soon you’ll be able to talk through your problems together.
If that’s too much for her right now, talk them through with someone else until she’s ready to take on the full responsibilities of a flourishing friendship again.
The reality of life with cancer isn’t something that’s often portrayed in glossy adverts or on TV.
You’re more likely to see pictures of celebs wearing branded T-shirts than the faces and bodies of those living with the illness.
Vicky Saynor, 43, is combatting that with a series of photos called True Cancer Bodies.
Vicky, from Hertfordshire, was frustrated by a campaign from Fashion Against Breast Cancer which centred on the hashtags #Bosombuddies and #TwoIsBetterThanOne as a way to promote solidarity and support.
The campaign was accused of being insensitive and distant from people’s lived experiences of cancer, with the #TwoIsBetterThanOne tag criticised for being insensitive to those who have had one or both breasts removed.
‘I often felt completely un-represented by much of what I saw when it came to the campaigns surrounding cancer,’ said Vicky, who was diagnosed with grade three stage one breast cancer in November 2018.
Vicky Saynor (centre) and Lisa Fry (right), who are both living with breast cancer (Picture: MDWfeatures / The Voyage Photography)
‘The use of glossy celebrities and happy, smiling models just doesn’t reflect the reality of what we, the cancer patients, and our families have to endure.
‘Before my diagnosis last year, I simply thought that cancer awareness campaigns served a purpose to raise money for charities. I never looked at them and felt educated on the cancer they were supposedly supporting.
‘Now that I have cancer, it seems like every other advert I see or hear is one for a cancer charity. I’m now tuned into what they’re saying and how they portray the disease.
Kaz Foncette (33) from London is living with breast cancer which spread to her lymph nodes (Picture: MDWfeatures / The Voyage Photography)
‘I feel that so many of the campaigns miss the mark when it comes to representing the cancer community, or in encouraging early detection.
‘The majority of campaigns are money centric, targeting the ‘healthy’ population to donate money. So, the campaigns are glossy, unoffensive, even playful. But when you’re going through cancer treatment, that’s the last thing you want to see.
‘When I saw this #Bosombuddies campaign, I felt angry and disappointed.
‘I was completely disengaged from it as it didn’t represent me or others I knew. Once again, models, celebrities and Instagram influencers were being used above real cancer stories in order to sell clothes.
Charlie (33) wass diagnosed with Burkitts Lymphoma at the end of last year (Picture: MDWfeatures / Binky Nixon Photography)
‘The wording was offensive – ‘two is better than one’ – how does that make a breast cancer patient feel? It’s utterly ridiculous and cruel.
‘After seeing the campaign, I was energised to tell people the truth and to stop charities getting it so wrong. In order to build awareness of cancer, we need to show the disease and not hide it behind glossy adverts.’
Vicky had started sharing her unfiltered experience of cancer on her Instagram, @gammy_tit, but her frustration with the #BosomBuddies campaign made her want to do more.
Within three days she recruited 38 men and women, all diagnosed with cancer, to gather for a photoshoot – all to show what real people with cancer look like.
(Picture: MDWfeatures / Binky Nixon Photography)
Participants ranged from 26 to 57 years old and represented different types of cancers, fronted by models including Rachel Cooper-Kennedy, Lisa Fry, Laura Hughes, Nichola Hewitt, Emma Fisher, Eleni Welding, Zoe Robertson and Vicky herself who show what a true cancer body looks like.
The photos capture people smiling, posing and baring their scars.
‘If people really saw the pain, the suffering, the scars, stoma bags and hair loss, then they might be more likely to check themselves, and more likely to donate to charities. So, we decided to do a photoshoot of real cancer bodies,’ said Vicky.
‘I spread the message primarily through Instagram and Facebook, on @gammy_tit, and then it snowballed from there.
‘We want campaigns to stop pretending cancer is fun, pink and fluffy. Celebrities should stand with us, not for us.
‘Also, don’t dominate the spectrum with only the trendy cancers, such as breast cancer. We want to make sure charities and corporations include the not-so-sexy cancers, such as bowel, lung, anal and bone.
‘A picture or a story of a real cancer body will be more powerful than a glossy, blonde celebrity playing with her friend’s hair for a breast cancer charity.’
(Picture: MDWfeatures / Binky Nixon Photography)
Emma Richards is currently living with invasive ductal breast cancer (Picture: MDWfeatures / Binky Nixon Photography)
Craig (32) is living with bowel cancer (Picture: MDWfeatures / Binky Nixon Photography)
Zara (36) is battling Hodgkin\’s Lymphoma (Picture: MDWfeatures / Binky Nixon Photography)
Spring is here and it’s time to get outside again! And, seeing as the days are getting longer and warmer, that means we get to spend more time in our gardens.
But don’t worry if your outdoor space has taken a hammering over winter, now is the time to get cracking and make it inviting again. From creating a seating area for alfresco gatherings to growing herbs and fruit, there’s limitless ways to make your outside area work wonders for you.
And if, like us, you’re fed up of buying bagged salad and letting it go to mulch in your fridge – why not grow your own?
It’s a simple pleasure that anyone can quickly get the hang of – and takes food from your garden to the table in a matter of months. It’s also the perfect way to do your bit for the environment by reducing wastage – and with B&Q, there’s so many ways to help make your garden become more eco-friendly (and they’re wallet-friendly, too!)
So, here’s a few simple tips on how you can go ‘greener’ over a weekend…
Get in the zone
The best way to start planning your new ‘greener’ garden is to get into the zone – literally. Divide your space into different areas by splitting the garden up in the way you want to use it. Create one part for socialising and barbecues and perhaps another for growing your own produce.
Now this might sound a little intimidating, but it can be done in any sized space. Whether it’s a balcony where you grow your own tomatoes and basil or a larger space where you sow an array of seasonal vegetables, any plot can be utilised with a little bit of vision.
Once you have organised your areas, protect your outdoor oasis with B&Q’s Neva modular fencing and screening range. Whether it’s for privacy or to simply mark out different zones, Neva’s modular design is simple to use and is made of hard-wearing materials to weather the elements. Even better, the range is specially designed so that it’s easy to assemble while not compromising on style, making it easier to turn your outdoor space into one you love in no time.
B&Q’s Neva modular fencing and screening is stylish and easy to assemble – and will help you zone your outside space
Grow your own
Even if you’ve got a tiny garden, that doesn’t mean you can’t grow your own fruit and veg – you’ve just got to get creative! Introducing the Kitchen garden range from B&Q which will help reduce your wastage and save you some cash by picking your own produce when you need it.
You can use hanging baskets like the Gardman classic black hanging basket, £6 at B&Q for the likes of strawberries and trailing tomato plants to take up less space. You can also use a standard pot or planter to grow edibles, with different shapes recommended depending on what’s on your menu. If the space allows, consider a ladder planter, which is great for herbs and small pots. To help protect your crops from bugs use the handy Large verve grow mesh tunnel, £30 at B&Q.
The Garden kitchen range from B&Q is perfect for dedicating a space to grow your own
Get planting
If you want to nurture a garden that’s a magnet for wildlife, there’s plenty you can do in a space that’s big or small. Fill your beds, borders or plant pots with vibrant beauties such as bizzie lizzies, delphiniums and poppies. You can find a great range available in your local B&Q store.
Fill your beds, borders or plant pots with vibrant beauties such as bizzie lizzies, delphiniums, poppies, dianthus and dahlias and you will find a great range available in your local B&Q store.
If you have the room for a veg patch, plant rows of beetroot, salad leaves and spring onions – all perfect for using in summer salads to accompany your barbecued feasts. If you don’t have much space, plant aromatic herbs such as mint, parsley and coriander – all delicious added to dishes or in marinades for meat or veggie kebabs on the grill.
Bizzie lizzies add instant colour to pots and borders, B&Q has a great range of hardy plants available in store
Busy bees
There’s been a lot of buzz about the declining habitat of bees over the last few years, so ensuring your outside space – no matter the size – is a haven for them is hugely important, especially as they help pollinate over a third of the plants we use as food.
Consider picking a flowering plant for each season as bees don’t hibernate, they just become less busy – so make your garden the place to bee on a sunny day by packing it with the likes of lavender, ceanothus, hebe and even raspberries.
You can plant them in pots, in your borders or on your balcony and B&Q have an amazing guide on what size, materials and tools you need to perfect your pot plants here. Or, how about building your very own bee B&B? The Nature’s haven brown insect house, £13.68 at B&Q provides a cosy snug for bees and other insects like ladybirds. If attracting wildlife to your outside space is important to you, white and paler coloured plants are said to attract nocturnal insects such as moths, which then in turn lure in bats.
Lavender is a great way of pleasing pollinating bees in your outside space
Go natural
As a nation, we’re becoming more conscious about the chemicals that we use around food. Look at the labels on fertilisers and plant food as some can be harmful to animals. B&Q has its own Safe by Nature range, which is made from 100% organic ingredients.
However, there are some creepy-crawlies that you won’t want to put the welcome mat out for; slugs and snails will happily devour your plants and flowers, but be mindful of the pesticides that you’re using as toxic chemicals could have a wider impact and harm wildlife like hedgehogs, butterflies and bees. Try sticking the Verve copper slug & snail tape, £3 at B&Q around your precious plants to naturally keep hungry pests away.
Use B&Q’s Safe By Nature range to help keep pests away with toxic chemicals
Composting
Use your food waste for good by turning it into a compost heap. Collecting your old tea bags, coffee grounds and vegetable peels in an area in your garden will also help encourage wildlife and also works great as a natural fertiliser. If you have a large space you might want to leave this uncovered, or to speed up the process, you can use a compost bin – just make sure you turn it over regularly. For more information on how to compost, click here.
Light it up
Make the most of your garden even if the sun’s gone down by picking the right lights. Illuminate your seating area for those leisurely gatherings outside with solar-powered bulbs, so whether you’re searching for string lights, lanterns or wall fixtures, you can always make choices for your home. An easy and stylish addition that will brighten up any garden are the Blooma aurora multicolour LED stake light 6 pack, £17 at B&Q, which are super simple to install.
Kick back and relax
Now your own wildlife sanctuary is all sorted, it’s time for you to enjoy it too by creating a comfortable seating area where you can kick back and relax and enjoy the fruits of your labour.
Create a calm and inviting oasis for you and your loved ones by picking the ideal seating for your needs. The chic and comfortable Maevea rattan effect coffee set, £527 at B&Q is ideal for catering to larger groups – or if food is on the menu try the Denia 4 seater dining set, £182 at B&Q, which is perfect for cosy alfresco suppers.
No outside feast would be worth its salt without a sizzling barbecue as its focal point. Make the most of your crops by firing up the perfectly sized 200 Rockwell charcoal barbecue, £83 at B&Q – which happily caters for eight people. Can you think of a more satisfying way to celebrate your newly ‘green’ garden than with a sizzlingly delicious evening grill?
Choose something stylish for your seating area like the Denia 4 seater dining set, £182 at B&Q
Do you prefer complete silence on your Uber or Lyft journey? Or are you a chatterbox and want to get to know the rich backstory of your driver (and in turn get that rating up)?
After one Uber driver offered a menu allowing you to choose the kind of ride you wanted, a Lyft driver has followed suit.
Both drivers offered the silent option (probably the most popular), the stand-up, and the therapy ride.
But the Lyft driver, who goes by the name John and drives around Nashville, added in a few extra options.
John’s ride menu included chats about his life in prison and bad decisions, like getting a tattoo of a partner on your butt (what were you thinking, John?), as well as more aggressive options.
Also on the menu are the ‘creepy ride’ where he stares at you and licks his lips and the ‘sado-masochistic ride’ where he insults your family. But he does warn that this ride begins with you being kicked out of the car first.
Whatever option you choose, you won’t be forgetting John’s services if you ride with him.
Types of ride on offer
The Stand-Up Ride
I tell you about things I learned in prison and poor life choices I have made. Don’t put a tattoo of your girlfriend on your butt. It rarely works out well.
The Creepy Ride
I don’t say anything. I just leer at you periodically in the review mirror and lick my lips in an unpleasant, malicious or lascivious manner.
The Therapy Ride
Tell me about all your problems and I will pretend to care.
The Sympathy Ride
I tell you about my problems and you pretend to care.
The Sado-Masochistic Ride
I insult you and your relatives (particularly your mother) and be as rude as I possibly can to you the whole trip. Warning: This ride begins by me throwing you out of the car and making you run to catch up.
The Chill Out Ride
I put on beautiful, quiet, classical music and you arrive at your destination relaxed, refreshed and less likely to complain about the TSA strip search.
The Gluttony Ride
I recommend the best restaurants in town and warn you to stay away from the other over-hyped ones. (I will join you upon request.)
The Jeopardy Ride
I tell you fun facts and trivia about Nashville which will help you win game shows and amaze your friends. Hint: Ask me about “hookers”.
Naturally, people were amused on Reddit where an image of the menu was shared. Many said it was a good business tactic as people may be interested in riding with him more times to try all the options.
Those glutton for punishment might even choose the same ride each time.
Some wished they had these options in all cars.
One person joked: ‘The silent ride. Always. I once rode with a guy for three hours and never learned his name. Best driver I ever had. We still don’t talk sometimes.’
Tough crowd. Meanwhile, we would go for the gluttony ride.
Does anyone else feel clueless when it comes to their personal finances?
It’s not surprising really – we’re not taught about money in school and have to rely on our parents (who may not have been taught about money either) to show us the ropes.
The cultural awkwardness around money doesn’t help, because it keeps us silent.
We’re too embarrassed to admit we need help or that we don’t know what we’re doing, which allows dangerous spending patterns to thrive and debt to feel inescapable.
In How I Save, we want to chip away at the silence around money. Each week we chat to someone about how they’re spending and saving their money, and share some expert advice for how they (and the rest of us) can save better.
I earn approx £44k to £48k a year. I don’t have a savings account.
I’m not saving for anything in particular. I just saved and paid for a trip to Japan for two, and a solo trip to Korea.
The main way I save is… I don’t. I haven’t really learnt about saving before and don’t have anything I’m specifically saving for at the moment.
How Mara Spends:
Monthly expenses:
Rent: n/a
Phone bill: £48
Website fee: £15.71
Loan repayment: £23.25
Audible: £7.99
Classpass: £65
Hiitgirl: £95
121 dance classes: £320
PT: £320
Travel: £150
(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)
A week of spending:
Monday: I spend £13.31 on pancakes and kombucha at a cafe, then £67.98 on CBD oil and CBD balm. Getting around on the Tube for the day comes to £8.50.
I get nuts and a fruit roll, £1.10. My monthly website fee comes out today, so that’s £15.71.
Tuesday: My website down payment goes out today, £200.
I do a shop in Boots for £3.99, then spend £11.05 on veg from the Co-Op. I have to get my nutritional yeast and other health food from a specialist shop – that costs £9.96. Then, finally, I go to Sainsbury’s and buy more vegetables for £7.63.
Wednesday: £5.30 on the Tube, £1.50 on chocolate, £4.38 on an Ombar and lentil chips, £8.40 on kelp noodles and a protein powder sachet, £2.29 on a CBD drink, and £7.50 on a shampoo from Lush.
Thursday: Another £5.30 on the Tube, 99p on crisps, £4.55 at the Post Office, and £3.10 on popped lotus seeds and a matcha vegan milk.
Friday: I donate £15 to a friend’s marathon fund. Beyond that, today is all on subscriptions: £17.50 on dance studio hire, £95 on my monthly Hiitgirl membership, and £7.99 on an Audible membership.
Saturday: I pay a late fee for my HIIT class – £15. Then I buy a train ticket to Bath for £62.90.
More spending on snacks – £4.27 on vegetables, £5.58 on hummus and chocolate, 60p on a Yo-yo fruit snack, and £2.39 on an almond butter slice from Starbucks.
I do a Waitrose shop for ready meals and bread, which comes to £10.78.
Sunday: I pick up vegetables and coconut milk for £7.70, spend £7.20 on more vegetables from Sainsbury’s, then spend £6.18 on granola and chocolate and £2 on tofu.
Total spent this week: £642.63
How Mara could save:
We spoke to the experts over at money tracking app Cleo to find out how Mara could save better… or at all.
Note: the advice featured is specific to one individual and doesn’t constitute financial advice. Especially on a London budget.
Here’s Cleo’s advice:
Dear reader, welcome to a world without rent, mortgages, bills or children. Or… tax? I think I’d probably drop £320 a month on one-to-one professional dance training too. Why not.
Main vice:
The saying ‘your body is a temple’ seems to be even more prominent when you don’t actually have living costs. We’re talking £800 on doing the exercise things. Every month. Please let us know if there’s an apocalypse you’re physically prepping for.
However, all the nutritional yeast and matcha vegan milk you can fit in the fridge (do you need to refrigerate these?) probably add up to less than a bad takeaway habit for your average Londoner. So props to you! You’re ahead here.
The real question here is: do kelp noodles count as groceries or a snack?
What’s going wrong:
Not saving is an unusual saving strategy. Nobody’s denying that. The pressure’s clearly not on for you to save, but moving funds aside is an important way to protect ‘future you’ if ‘current you’ really screws up.
The monthly income of £4,000 is a massive, worrying, tempting red flag. Work really hard to forget any pre-tax number. Without business costs, at £44k- £48k annual income you’ve got a delicious tax bill looming.
You’ve likely got a grand less to work with a month than you think you do.
Saving plan:
Normally we shake this out without bills, but as your utilities read more like a boot camp brochure, I’m counting them in below.
Safe to hide: £1,000 a month
Cleave off a big chunk of your salary. Put it somewhere. Anywhere. Just forget it. Any you don’t need to drop on tax becomes a cushion for freelancing f**k-ups, or business costs.
Safe to save: £500 a month
For fun travel. Not too shabby
Safe to spend: £2,000 a month / £461 a week / £65 a day
This is a little below what you’re spending now and includes gym memberships, food, phone bills, snacks. I can’t comprehend how you can find time to use all your fitness classes each month… which leads me to believe you’re not. Now’s your chance for a purge.
Overview:
If you’re not under pressure to save money, then it’s not easy to find motivation to do so. Come back for round two if you have a juicy saving goal for us and we’ll make it happen.
How I Save is a weekly series about how people spend and save, out every Thursday. If you’d like to anonymously share how you spend and save – and get some expert advice on how to sort out your finances – get in touch by emailing ellen.scott@metro.co.uk.
But if you spend most of your life sitting at your desk, it’s not all bad news. The experts also found that completing just 10,000 steps a day can help to keep bones strong.
So it’s probably time to get up and go for a walk.
The study monitored 214 men and women, aged 62. Each participant wore a monitor for seven consecutive days which measured their physical activity and sedentary time. The number of daily steps was also recorded, and then compared with public health recommendations.
The participants’ hips and spines were also scanned to measure their bone density.
People who completed 150 minutes of light physical activity a week had better bone strength than the more sedentary participants.
‘We know that excessive sedentary time can lower someone’s metabolism which can lead to being overweight and Type 2 diabetes,’ said Dr Karen Hind from Durham University.
‘What we now know is that being inactive is also associated with lower bone strength and an increased risk of osteoporosis.
‘Osteoporosis is a disease that affects older people but by encouraging this age group to keep active, it will help improve their bone health.’
The scientists say that the effects of a sedentary lifestyle on bone density was similar to the effects of smoking, which is also a risk factor for osteoporosis.
‘Currently there are no specific guidelines for this age group to encourage light physical activity or to reduce sedentary time,’ explained Dr Hind.
‘Yet, as people retire they are more likely to increase the time they spend watching television and reduce their daily step count.
‘It would be great to see initiatives that specifically target this group to increase their awareness of the importance of staying active and reducing the amount of time spent sitting still.’
A teenage boy with a life-threatening cancer proposed to his girlfriend after deciding he wanted to spend whatever time he has left with the love of his life.
Brady Hunker, from Pennsylvania was devastated to discover that after a year in remission, his cancer had returned and spread. The prognosis wasn’t hopeful.
The bad news spurred the 17-year-old to pop the question to his girlfriend Mollie, after making the decision to make the most of the rest of his life. Now Brady is fundraising to give Mollie the wedding of her dreams.
‘In a world full of possibilities and opportunity, if I lost my fight, I would only regret not marrying Mollie,’ wrote Brady on his GoFundMe page.
‘We don’t know when that day will come, or if it ever will, but what we do know is that we don’t have a reason to wait.’
Brady was diagnosed with Ewig Sarcocoma when he was just 15, and at times he feared that he would lose his leg because of the tumour.
Since the illness returned, Brady now has numerous cancer spots in his spinal column, right arm, both shoulder blades, both upper legs, right calf, both lungs, pelvis, ribs, and ‘possibly more that were not visible on the scans.’
But for Brady, the shock of his diagnosis has caused a change in perspective and a drive to live his life to the fullest while he still can.
(Picture: GoFundMe)
Posting some cute photos of the proposal on Facebook, Mollie wrote: ‘Brady knelt down next to me and asked me to marry him. Without a second thought, I said “YES!”
‘I couldn’t imagine a better man to spend my life with, and I can’t wait for this exciting and love-filled journey to continue.’
The couple met in high school in 2014 and have been close friends ever since, and despite their young ages, they are certain that they want to spend their lives together.
‘Mollie selflessly helped me on my most difficult days, and was always there to make me smile,’ wrote Brady.
‘I honestly cannot imagine going through this battle without her, and I couldn’t be more thankful for such an incredible girl coming into my life and staying to help me through the toughest battle I could imagine.’
Those people who say they ‘can’t function without coffee’ are about to get a major boost to their days.
Coca-Cola are launching a brand new supercharge cola drink that will blow your socks off and merge two fave drinks of caffeine lovers.
The drink – which is already available in Asia and Australia and coming to 25 new markets by the end of year – is called Coffee Cola, and is what it says on the tin.
Cold-brewed coffee and sweetener is mixed with the classic fizzy drink to create a low-calorie beverage with more caffeine than Coke but less than a traditional black coffee.
There is less sugar than traditional Coke too, so although we may joke about it keeping you up all night, it could be a better option for those wishing to cut down.
(Picture: The Coca-Cola Company)
‘Coke Coffee was designed to reach consumers during specific occasions and channels like the mid-afternoon energy slump at work,’ Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said of the invention.
For Coca-Cola, it seems to be a part of their strategy to dominate the drinks industry, as the multinational purchased Costa Coffee earlier this year, and are also launching a new energy drink in Spain and Hungary.
According to some reports, their new flavours (including a Mango Diet Coke) have seen the company’s results improve in the last quarter.
Whether this combination will see the same thing happen is yet to be seen.
Nike Women’s latest Instagram post has got a lot of attention, not for its sturdy-looking sports bra, but for the model wearing it daring to display her armpit hair.
The athleisure brand used Nigerian-American singer Annahstasia in the new advert with the words ‘big mood’.
However, her underarm was the topic of discussion as she posed with her hand on her head showing off the smallest bit of hair.
And still, that was enough to anger Instagram trolls who branded it ‘disgusting’, some said ‘ew’ and others said that the image was sending us back to ‘cavemen’ times.
The post, which received more than 5,000 comments, sparked fury between those who felt it was unhygienic or gross and those who felt it was completely natural.
Thankfully though, most people decided there was nothing wrong with showing off a bit of fur and the image has so far amassed more than 16,000 likes.
A lot of the comments which were hating on the image seemed to come from women, as was pointed out by other commenters.
One woman wrote: ‘Let me tell you.. disgusting,’ while another said: ‘Need to shave that armpit. Ewww.’
Other hateful comments included: ‘It doesn’t look hygienic’, ‘this is not freedom, this is not a type of “I love my body”, this is bullsh*t, shave that sh*t’, and ‘let’s go back to be cavemen and women. Because it’s natural’.
The picture gave misogynist trolls the chance to denounce feminism too.
One person wrote: ‘No! That’s disgusting. Horrible. It’s not cute.
‘Stop this feminist bullsh*t saying it’s ok. It’s not. It’s wrong. There are some things that women could do but just really f*cking shouldn’t cause it looks rotten and disgusting and this is one of them.
‘I get that it’s natural but it’s not cool. I bet all of you people saying “oh this is natural” “oh this is amazing” “oh I’m a feminist”, wouldn’t dare leave the house with an ounce of hair on you other than your head.’
The hate was balanced out by a flurry of positive messages too. One person’s comment got a lot of likes: ‘Why is there so much hate? This photo is beautiful on so many different levels. Love the bra and the model’s confidence’.
‘I think this beautiful woman deserves more love… the hate is unnecessary,’ wrote another.
‘This doesn’t make anyone disgusting or less of a woman because you are hairy,’ urged another user.
‘I saw many people say to stop trying to make this a “thing”; that’s not the point. The point is having a choice and how it’s not a bad thing if you choose not the shave.’
Nike is not the first sports brand to use models showing off body hair, as Adidas has previously used similar imagery.
If you’re a vegan person going to a wedding, you might not have loads of food choices at the ceremony.
So one woman on a plant-based diet decided to finesse the system and bring her own grub – she even took it to the bridal shower.
But the woman’s ‘giant Tupperware’ full of animal-free goods didn’t go down well with other guests.
One of the other members of the party felt it was ‘rude’ to bring a lunch box to all the events, as the bride squad had planned to eat at five-star places where vegan food was going to be an option.
She wrote on a Facebook shaming group how the vegan woman had also opted out of paying for dinner for the evening as she wanted to bring her own.
The woman also carried the empty containers at the club as she didn’t want to leave them and buy new ones.
Even at the wedding ceremony where there was a vegan option ordered for her, the woman bought her containers of food along.
She took her own food to the rehearsal dinner, ceremony, and bridal shower (Picture: That’s it I\’m Wedding Shaming/Facebook)
‘This chick caused problems the whole weekend,’ wrote the other guest. She didn’t want to pay the same price for food as everyone because she wasn’t going to eat things like pizza, eggs for breakfast etc. I was cool with that.
‘The whole weekend she moped around in the kitchen cooking her vegan food, in prep for whatever our next meal was that she wouldn’t be participating in and food shaming us the whole time.
‘We went to a nice restaurant with plenty of vegan options (we checked the menu for her ahead of time) but she insisted on lugging a huge container of her special food out.
‘This girl sat next to me at a five-star place picking a few bites around from a five-gallon container.
‘Basically, the whole weekend revolved around her being vegan and rude about it and she drove us crazy.’
(Picture: That’s it I\’m Wedding Shaming/Facebook)
The Facebook poster also said on the rehearsal dinner, the vegan woman bought her own food though she lived ten states away.
‘I thought she couldn’t possibly do it again at the wedding knowing a special meal was made and paid for her but again you’ll also see her sitting in front of me at the ceremony with a freaking box of prunes she brought to eat for dinner.’
‘Not shaming her food choices at all. Only shaming the fact that it was a cause of convo the whole weekend.
‘Being vegan super cool. Drawing constant attention to yourself and away from the bride at all her events…not cool.’
Shaymaa Ismaa’eel didn’t mean to become an icon when she stepped in front of anti-Muslim protestors in Washington, D.C.
The Muslim 24-year-old just happened to go viral after she popped a squat in front of the bigots and posed away.
Shaymaa, a behavioural therapist for children with autism, was attending the Islamic Circle of North America convention when she spotted the protesters.
Instead of engaging with them, she decided to stunt in front of them.
And it worked because her picture has been seen all over the world, achieving Shaymaa’s hope to ‘combat hatred with kindness,’ as she told Metro.co.uk
The powerful images have resonated with so many people that some have even said they belong in a museum.
(Pictures:@shaymaadarling/Instagram)
‘I just really wanted them to see my smile and see that we’re going to remain unapologetic,’ she told us.
‘I wanted them to see that we aren’t what they were preaching.
‘It’s very refreshing seeing so many people responding with such positivity. It’s shocking honestly.’
(Pictures:@shaymaadarling/Instagram)
Both on Instagram and Twitter, the images of Shaymaa grinning ear to ear has been liked over 200,000 times.
People said the peaceful reaction to hateful bigots should even go into history books.
We asked Shaymaa whether she thought any of the protestors would go away having reconsidered their sentiments. She said she was hopeful.
‘I don’t think they took much away from it cause they already have their preconceived notions.
‘I hope they could see the beauty in my religion and remember that spreading hate isn’t beneficial to anyone.’
People on Twitter also shared other instances of people posing in front of those that hate them.
On Instagram, Shaymaa captioned the strong pictures with a quote from prophet Muhammed: ‘Kindness is a mark of faith. Those who aren’t kind have no faith’.
The reign of terror that is the unsolicited dick pic might just be coming to an end – or a blurring, at least – on Bumble and other social dating platforms.
In a bold move to protect its users, Bumble is to introduce a feature this summer that will alert unsuspecting users of when they are to receive a dreaded dick pic or lewd images.
The feature, named ‘Private Detector’, will use the latest in AI (artificial intelligence) to detect any form of inappropriate images being sent to users.
With 98% accuracy, the dick pic will be blurred out and the user will be alerted of an inappropriate picture in their inbox.
The user will then have the choice of whether to view the picture or not, block the user or, if they so wish, report the user to the app moderators.
Bumble are to integrate the feature into the app by June 2019, according to co-founders Andrey Andreev and Whitney Wolfe, along with other dating apps founded by Andreev such as Badoo, gay dating app Chappy and Lumen, for 50+ singles.
Caption: Bumble
Dick pics are a continuing feature in many dating apps which cause a lot of discomfort when unsolicited.
But Andreev has said it isn’t just something that effects only straight women, which is why the technology will be spread across the other apps he owns.
He said: ‘The safety of our users is without question the number one priority in everything we do and the development of ‘Private Detector’ is another undeniable example of that commitment.
‘The sharing of lewd images is a global issue of critical importance and it falls upon all of us in the social media and social networking worlds to lead by example and to refuse to tolerate inappropriate behaviour on our platforms.’
The new campaign is called ‘Lovely Does It’ (Picture Oasis)
Oasis has launched a brand new campaign for spring featuring stars of the England Netball team – and it is so joyful.
Following the launch of the high-street retailer’s brand refresh, Oasis announced its partnership with the England Netball team, Vitality Roses for SS19.
The collaboration continues to highlight the new brand tagline, ‘Lovely Does It’.
And it does look lovely. A gorgeous blend of pastels, floaty skirts and the relentlessly popular animal print. Just what we need to liven up our wardrobes for the new season.
Inspired by the women who form the gold-medal winning team, the campaign features three members from the England Netball team.
Ama Agbeze is the England captain, Jade Clarke is England’s most-capped player and Eboni Usoro-Brown is a fully qualified lawyer and three-time Commonwealth Games competitor.
Ama Agbeze is the current captain of the England Roses (Picture: Oasis)
They are the very definition of squad goals. And they are proving without a shadow of a doubt that women can be both sporty and feminine.
The campaign also celebrates the players’ further achievements outside of her netball career, from mentoring schoolchildren and practising law, to winning a scholarship and holding inspirational talks.
Jade Clarke is England’s most capped player (Picture: Oasis)
Following their historic gold medal and being named as BBC Sports Team of the Year, this team of aspirational women are the ultimate embodiment of Oasis’ continuing campaign of women who do so much more than just look lovely.
Brought to life through a series of individual and group shots, the campaign showcases key looks from Oasis’ SS19 collection – and we can’t wait to try them all.
