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Anne Hathaway Made the Best Princess Diaries Joke While Doing the Pillow Challenge


One of the brighter sides of the situation we’re currently in is how people and celebrities alike are leaning into being goofy on social media. Now, Anne Hathaway is getting in on the fun, specifically with the viral the pillow challenge. But she found a way to give it her own special spin.

In case you missed it (and seriously, how could you?), the pillow challenge is quite simple: You take a pillow and belt it around yourself while not wearing any other items of clothing. That’s it. That’s the trend. It’s fashion!

It’s been happening online for a while now, but Hathaway just got in on the action and picked a perfect quote from The Princess Diaries to excuse her slightly delayed timing. “A Queen is never late; everyone else is simply early.” ? #pillowchallenge,” she wrote in the caption of her photo on Instagram. She’s wearing multiple pillows, black combat boots, headphones, and an inexplicable (but welcome) pair of butterfly wings. Simply put, we love it see it.

The responses in the comments section were equally joyful. “With leadership like this- I’M MOVING TO GENOVIA,” actor Ana Villafañe wrote. Jessica Chastain said, “Hahaha I LOVE YOU! ❤️” And we love this fan who brought in another Anne Hathaway classic, The Devil Wears Prada: “Pillow challenge in quarantine during spring? GROUNDBREAKING!”

Anne Hathaway isn’t the only star to take part in the pillow challenge. Tracee Ellis Ross also wondered about being tardy to the party writing, “Am I too late?”

Meanwhile, Halle Berry went full-on glam for her take on the trend in all black everything. “You already KNOW you couldn’t keep me from the #PillowChallenge ?,” she wrote.

They all look amazing, but our vote for best post goes to Her Royal Highness Princess Mia of Genovia. No question.



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Simone Biles Ditches Her Sweatpants In Astonishing ‘Handstand Challenge’


Simone Biles doing a flawless handstand is not news. The 23-year-old is the most decorated U.S. women’s gymnast ever, with at least 30 World/Olympic medals, according to USA Gymnastics. But Simone Biles doing that flawless handstand while removing her sweatpants with her feet is a new level of excellence.

On Saturday, Biles added a layer to the viral quarantine handstand challenge by posting a Twitter video of her completing this physical marvel with the caption “handstand challenge” along with a shrugging emoji. Obviously, a parade of comments flooded in, including one from (surprise) Chrissy Teigen who joked that she normally has to have someone remove her pants for her, and Ryan Reynolds who just replied “no.”

The handstand challenge is one of many social media activities designed to keep us busy during the coronavirus quarantine, and most people—including Spider-Man actor Tom Holland and co-star Jake Gyllenhaal—needed the help of a wall to stay vertical. Instead of removing sweats, they attempted to put on a shirt (aka, amateur hour.)

As CBS Sports points out, it’s hard to pin down what the more impressive part of Biles’ athletic feat is: perfectly holding the unsupported handstand, or having the flexibility to fully get her sweatpants off.

Biles——whose handstand lasted almost a minute—isn’t the only athlete to step up to the challenge. Olympian hurdler and bobsledder Lolo Jones posted a video to Twitter showing her putting on two shirts while doing the handstand—and gulping wine beforehand. Jones also echoed the sentiments of many others in quarantine, saying “First I want to thank [Holland and Gyllenhaal] for having their shirt off because I haven’t seen a man in 25 days.”

Gymnast Katelyn Ohashi nailed the shirt challenge and also removed her pants while in the handstand position last week.

Biles regularly has been posting videos that show her incredible commitment to physical training while quarantined, but it’s not clear if they’re leading up to an appearance at the Olympics, which were postponed to 2021 due to Coronavirus.

“I haven’t decided not to do it, but I haven’t really decided to do it,” [she told the Wall Street Journal] (https://www.wsj.com/articles/simone-biles-will-push-on-to-2021probably-11585738819) earlier this month.





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The Pillow Challenge Is Quarantine's Easiest, Strangest Viral Trend


Life in quarantine is exhausting.

You’ve whipped your coffee within an inch of its life, started and abandoned sourdough, danced like a TikTok teen, turned bananas into bread, crossed into full animated-animal insanity, and tried to start drama with your household objects. There is almost nothing left to do.

Enter: The Pillow Challenge. Your task, should you choose to accept it, as tens of thousands of people on the internet have—strap a pillow around your naked body and try to look hot. That’s it.

People who are bad at dancing, gardening, makeup, crafting, and the zillion other domestic skills that make for good internet content, feast! This is our time. No sewing, no needing, no contouring, just stripping naked and tying yourself to an inanimate object. This “challenge” has no rhyme or reason, except that you are in your house, and so are your pillows.

“A pillow is a rectangular piece of fabric,” the tastemakers of the internet seem to whisper. “A dress is a rectangular piece of fabric. You do the math.”

And you can, easily. #Pillowchallenge and #Quarantinepillowchallenge have, combined, over 100,000 tags on Instagram. If Fraulein Maria can make seven playsuits out of a set of curtains and then escape the nazis, you can make a mini dress out of a pillow and then stay inside.

Kseniya Marvanovaa, an 18-year-old in Western Russia, posted a picture of herself doing the challenge with her 7-year-old sister. “I saw this challenge from popular bloggers and decided—Why not try?” Marvanovaa says. Her sister saw her putting on a pillow and joined in. “She saw how I took photos and began to repeat after me, and even put on high heel shoes,” she says.



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Real Women of Are Sharing Bikini Selfies on Instagram Because of the Jennifer Lopez Challenge


Jennifer Lopez unintentionally started a viral body positivity challenge on Instagram after her latest selfie inspired women of all ages to post bikini photos with the hashtag #JLoChallenge.

Between performing in the 2020 Super Bowl Halftime Show, starring as a seasoned stripper/scammer in Hustlers, continuing to rock that green Versace dress, the 50-year-old mother of two becomes more of an icon by the day.

On February 16, the singer and actor star posted a mirror selfie of herself in a white bikini on Instagram. She captioned the snap “relaxed and recharged,” but little did she know this was the beginning of the latest social media movement. Aside from those toned abs (which, damn), the viral challenge is about more than looking good”—it’s about the power women’s bodies have at all ages and sizes.

J. Lo’s post inspired women across the social media platform to post their own version of her selfie, as well as share why they’ve decided to step outside their comfort zones. Maria Kang, a health and fitness influencer and founder of No Excuses Mom, was one of the first to share a photo of herself in a white bikini alongside an important message to moms.

“Thank you @jlo for inspiring this spontaneous pic in a white bikini this morning,” she captioned her post. “Not a celebrity. Not getting millions to look great in a movie (hello, Hustlers! ? or dating a hot athlete (although my hubby is kinda cute!) BUT, it doesn’t matter… Own your story.”

The 39-year-old continued: “If she can do it, if I can do it, if thousands of working moms who come in all sizes, shapes, and ages can do it—then YOU CAN DO IT!!!⁣” She then encouraged her 77,000 followers to post their own bathroom selfie in a bikini for the #jlochallenge.”

Lopez eventually caught wind of the challenge and applauded all the women who have proudly taken part in it. “Keep growing, keep pushing,” the mother-of-two wrote on her Instagram Story.

Take a look at some of the beautiful women who’ve shared their stories in honor of the #JLOChallenge, below:

The viral #JLoChallenge is a glorious reminder that beauty, health, and confidence are not exclusive to celebrities.



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I Tried the 60-Second Face Wash Challenge, and It Changed My Skin


when taking a slower and more methodical approach to cleansing. (Jegasothy notes preservatives in cleansers also commonly cause irritation, and may have been the culprit.) So to give the 60-second face wash challenge a real try, I made the switch to low-surfactant formulas for a month, opting for concentrations of around 5%. I also made sure to follow Jegasothy’s instructions and spend the full amount of time at the sink. Because, as she puts it, if you don’t use these gentle cleansers longer, you might not be giving them enough time to truly do their job.

With that in mind, I tested out my new crop of cleansers, making sure to give each a full 60 seconds to work their magic, and came up with a newfound obsession for gentle face washes. I loved the Holifrog Shasta AHA Refining Acid Wash, which houses a party pack of exfoliating acids—the combination closely replicates the cleansing action of higher surfactants, but is gentle enough that it doesn’t irritate your skin. When I wanted to switch things up with a solid cleanser, I reached for the Arcona Kiwi Cream Bar, which swaps out sulfates for saponins (plant-derived surfactants that create foaming action). The result is a gentle cleanser that works up a more traditional lather, but doesn’t strip your skin. A solid choice for acne: the Kinship Naked Papaya Gentle Enzyme Face Cleanser. The creamy gel combines papaya enzyme and probiotics to exfoliate and support a healthy microbiome.

Holifrog Shasta AHA Refining Acid Wash

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Arcona Kiwi Cream Bar Facial Cleanser

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Kinship Naked Papaya Gentle Enzyme Face Cleanser

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I also found oil cleansers to be particularly clutch for 60-second washing because you don’t have to spend too much time scanning ingredients labels—most of them naturally contain very low or no surfactants. I had the best luck with Monastery Rose Cleansing Oil, which is free of surfactants, emulsifiers, alcohols, salts, and water. The ritualistic experience is a good bet for dry skin. After massaging it in for a minute, wipe everything off with a damp cloth—no splashing of your face (and countertops) required. Cleansing balms work similarly, and I had no problem eating up 60 seconds with Ranavat Botanics Luminous Ceremony Cream Cleanser, a luxurious cream-balm hybrid. It smells faintly of fresh-cut flowers and feels amazing when you massage it in. Although the hero ingredient is manjistha, an Ayurvedic herb meant to clear blemished skin, the formula still manages to feel intensely moisturizing.

Monastery Rose Cleansing Oil

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Ranavat Botanics Luminous Ceremony Cream Cleanser

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One month after my cleanser overhaul, I was treated to a spectacularly unforeseen outcome: My monthly cystic zit never surfaced. Even better: Another 30 days of slow and gentle cleansing yielded the same result. Jegasothy points to increased surface blood flow and circulation as a key benefit of extended cleansing, while Robinson says that a longer wash with lower-surfactant cleanser is “absolutely” more advantageous. “There’s less stripping,” he explains. I’m chalking up the Great Zit Disappearance of 2019—and my newfound glow—to the new habit. While both experts said they couldn’t pinpoint my skin’s sudden clarity to this specific change, I’m with the internet on this one: The 60-second challenge is gold.

Erika Stalder is a freelance beauty writer in Los Angeles. Follow her on Instagram @erikaxstalder.





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With the Alabama Abortion Ban, Republicans Push to Challenge Roe v. Wade and Strip Women of Their Rights


“If we are arguing personhood,” said Eric Johnston, the president of the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition, “then it does not matter how a child is conceived.” Late last night, Alabama passed a total abortion ban passed in the state after an amendment that would have made an exemption to the law in cases of rape or incest failed. (The ban does have an exemption for cases in which a woman’s life is in danger.) Johnston had helped draft the bill. If it’s signed into law and allowed to take effect, doctors who perform abortions on women at any stage of pregnancy could face 99 years in prison.

In the lead up to the vote, Republican Rep. Terri Collins was even clearer, arguing that “[o]ur bill says that a baby in the womb is a person.” Collins is a cosponsor on the bill, which she hopes will help overturn Roe v. Wade. In Alabama, as in Georgia and Ohio, which both passed extreme abortion bills earlier this month, a clump of cells now has more rights than an adult woman—or, as CBS News pointed out, an sixth grader. Under the Ohio law, for example, a pregnant 11-year-old rape victim would no longer be allowed to have an abortion.

Yes, ICYMI: Republicans want to overturn Roe. They want to take away the right to have a safe abortion. They want to send us right back to America pre-1973. But it’s not just about Roe. Under Donald Trump, a man who’s had a lot of sexual relationships with a lot of women who aren’t his wife, the GOP has declared an open war on women’s reproductive health. It seems we can’t reach the end of a week without a new crisis, some gruesome legislative nightmare explicitly crafted to rein in our rights. It’s 2019, and Republicans have an unquenchable thirst for the Handmaid’s Tale agenda.

Lately, the crusade has taken the form of “heartbeat bills,” which ban abortion before most women even know they’re pregnant at around six weeks. (That’s a little after one late period, although presumably most of the men who wrote these bills are unfamiliar with how menstruation works.) Other efforts have attempted to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides life-saving mammograms and pap smears to millions of people, using a sneaky Title X “Gag Rule.” But inevitably, there’s more to come. The GOP has one goal when it comes to women—strip us of our rights to reproductive health care and the freedom to live the lives we choose.

Since the appointment of Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, state and local Republicans have doubled down on their plan to regulate women’s bodies. And why not? For the first time since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, the makeup of the court is so conservative that it’s entirely possible the decision will soon be struck from the books.

We could scream ourselves hoarse, calling out how highly strange and deeply hypocritical it is that the supposed party of small government wants to squeeze itself inside women’s uteruses. Or we could acknowledge what’s really going on here: It’s not a set of ideological principles that motivates the Republican Party. It’s a desire to control women, to limit our possibilities and our potential, to beat back the gains of feminism and civil rights, and to do all that on a platform of coercion, intimidation, and misinformation. Of course, there are some good actors in the Republican Party (likely Catholics) who truly believe that life begins at conception. I don’t believe that, but at least I understand where those people are coming from. Most anti-choice sentiment isn’t that.





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