Tag: Learned

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I Visited Meghan Markle’s Eyebrows Place and Learned So Many Tips


To say my eyebrows have always been lush would be polite. When I was growing up, they were bushy, and not in the cool Boy Brow kind of way. I have dark, thick hair—and the brows to match. Case in point: Back in middle school a guy once told me, “Your eyebrows are just so masculine,” and I went home and cried. My mother plied me with photos of Brooke Shields and told me how lucky I was. But in all of my favorite magazines all I saw were hyper-tweezed shots of Gwen Stefani, Drew Barrymore, and Nicole Richie, which made me dream of having dainty little crescent moons above my eyes.

But then something amazing happened. In 2011, Cara Delevingne hit the scene, and suddenly eyebrows weren’t something to minimize. Instead, they were on fleek. Celebrities everywhere began growing theirs out to stay au courant, and in fashion the mentality was the bushier, the better. My brows became my secret weapon, not my shame.

And while I have Delevingne to thank for helping me own my look, these days I have a new brow icon. None other than Meghan Markle. The shape! The thickness! Hers are total perfection. So it’ll come as no surprise that when I was visiting London earlier this month, one of the first stops on my itinerary was the famous salon where the Duchess gets her eyebrows done.

However, when I got to Nails & Brows, the black-owned boutique in the ultra-luxe neighborhood of Mayfair, I learned that it’s not the Markle that its customers flock to the salon for, it’s the Audrey. When Sherrille Riley founded the salon in 2014, she unveiled its signature brow treatment, which is inspired by Audrey Hepburn. “The Audrey consists of a straight, archless brow that tapers out toward your temple. The sculpt instantly lifts your face and creates a fresh and youthful appearance,” she tells me. And it’s the style that Meghan Markle always requests when visiting the salon. I was sold.

When my time came, they took me upstairs where I laid back on a plush white leather chair (airy, monochromatic accents is very much the aesthetic of the salon) beside a series of regulars—one who was getting married over the weekend and made sure to stop in before her big day. As the woman chatted about her upcoming nuptials, my stylist set to work measuring the dimensions of my face (I have been getting my brows done since I was 11 and never once has someone taken the time to actually make sure my brows were proportionate to the rest of my face). Using a piece of thread, she measured from my nostril to the bottom corner of my brow, and kindly told me that the length was too long and that I need to “take some hair off the sides.” The trick, she says, is to extend the string from your nostril to the outer edge of your eye—wherever that line hits on your brow is where the tail should end.

Overall it took them 40 minutes of threading, tweezing, filling in, and highlighting to give my brows that magic Meghan Markle/Audrey Hepburn realness—and I’ve never loved them more. So here’s my gift to you, a breakdown of exactly what they did, plus a few tricks for bringing out the best in your brows. Spoiler: It requires a lot of brushing.

Step 1:
Take a brow brush—Riley recommends using the Beauty Edit Mayfair Brow Styler—and thread or tweeze your brows in a straight line, while following their natural shape. Remember: The Audrey is all about bringing your brow up and making it archless.



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Sarah Hart Was ‘Intoxicated’: Everything We’ve Learned So Far About the Hart Family From the Coroner’s Inquest


UPDATE 4/4/19 8:50 PM

The jury returned verdicts in the Hart case on Thursday, ruling that the mothers died by suicide and all six children died by homicide. Each decision was unanimous and the deliberations took just one hour. The manner of death will now be entered by the county onto each one of their official death certificates.

The four options presented to the jury were: natural, suicide, accident, and “at the hands of another, other than by accident,” which the sheriff clarified is homicide.

In some of the final testimony of the day, California Highway Patrol Officer Jake Slates said, “Ultimately, I feel that based on Sarah and Jen’s history, the pattern of alleged abuse, that this was just another case where they ran.”

Slates believes the women had not yet totally decided on the suicide plan while Googling about methods on Saturday or while they were buying groceries at Safeway or toiletries at Dollar Tree on Sunday morning. At some point, Slates says, while driving along the coast in their final day, they decided to commit to the plan. That “if they couldn’t have those kids, then nobody was going to have those kids.”

Mendocino County Sheriff Lt. Shannon Barney echoed Slates’ conclusion on the stand: “It is my belief that both Jennifer and Sarah succumbed to a lot of pressure … to the point they made a conscious decision to end their lives and to take the children with them.”

ORIGINAL STORY:

Last September Glamour reported on the tragic story of the Harts—mothers Jennifer and Sarah Hart and their six adopted children. On social media Jen Hart portrayed the image of a happy, postracial American family, but what was going on inside their Woodland, Washington, home turned out to be something very different.

Jen, Sarah, and their children Markis, 19, Hannah, 16, Devonte, 15, Abigail, 14, Jeremiah, 14, and Sierra, 12 (two sets of black biological siblings) were often referred to as the Hart Tribe. But on March 26, 2018, their car was found at the bottom of a cliff off California’s Highway 1.

In the coroner’s inquest today at the Willitts Justice Center in Willitts, California, investigators have revealed the timeline of what happened in the family’s final hours. Among the new details revealed in testimony today was exactly what was in the system of each family member when the Yukon plummeted off the cliff. Evidence presented showed that many members of the family were most likely heavily sedated, with Sarah, who investigators say was in the passenger seat, having the equivalent of 42 single doses of diphenhydramine, a Benadryl-like drug, in her system.

Jennifer was driving—and was legally drunk—but didn’t show signs of having taken diphenhydramine. Investigators revealed that the family had purchased an Equate-branded version at a Walmart in Washington State shortly after leaving their house on March 23, 2018, before continuing down the Pacific coast. Both liquid and pill versions of the drug were found in the family’s car.

California Highway Patrol Officer Jake Slates, the lead investigator on the case, testified that by his calculations Markis had taken the equivalent of more than 19 doses, Abigail had taken 14 doses, and Jeremiah had taken more than eight single doses. Slates said that Sarah would have likely been “intoxicated” by the amount she had taken, and the kids would “more than likely be unconscious or asleep.”

The body of Devonte, the teen featured in a photo hugging a cop that went viral, is still missing, though he was officially pronounced dead in a California court in March.

Investigators also concluded that no one had been wearing a seat belt and that Jen had accelerated the car before going off the cliff.



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I Tried a No Hot Tools Hairstyle Challenge and Learned a Ton


As soon as I took my helmet off, I looked like I was shot out of a canon. It wasn’t as bad as it could have looked, but then again I also have low expectations. Most importantly, I survived zip-lining across the rainforest and didn’t manage to get eaten by an alligator. I’m winning.

Jessica Radloff

I get back to the resort and realize I need to wash my hair before dinner with the Herbal Essences team. The only problem is that I can’t dry my hair once I shower (darn rules). It’s also too wet for me to put it in a hair tie. So I’m going to have to go to dinner looking like a wet dog and dripping like a faucet. I didn’t think this part through.

This is where things start getting uncomfortable. Our dinner is outside on a veranda, and between the humidity in the air and my now-soaking wet clothes, I feel the opposite of presentable. Everyone thinks it’s kind of cute because they all know I’m doing a ‘challenge,’ but I feel like a fish out a water. Then, as my hair starts to dry, I want nothing more than to douse it with oil. Even with all the moisture in the air, it still feels dry. In fact, it feels so uncomfortable that I’m having trouble enjoying dinner because I can’t stop fidgeting with it.

I Tried a No Hot Tools Hairstyle Challenge and Learned a Ton
Jessica Radloff

A few hours later, it’s almost entirely dry, which wouldn’t be the case if I were back in Los Angeles. It would probably still be wet the next morning, but in this climate, it’s like I’ve gone through a car wash. Surprisingly, it doesn’t look bad—especially my bangs, which I for sure thought would curl under like Kerri Strug’s in the ’96 Olympics. If anything, the look is working for me, and I’m wondering what magic is in that new Herbal Essences Replenish White Charcoal Conditioner (besides, of course, the deep-cleaning charcoal).

Day 3: A Downpour of Epic Proportions

I Tried a No Hot Tools Hairstyle Challenge and Learned a Ton
Jessica Radlof

For weeks I had been scared to death about going to Costa Rica because of the mosquitos so bad “you’ll want to rip your skin off” (yes, a friend actually told me that). What she didn’t tell me was that if you go during the rainy season, they’re almost non-existent. So the good news is that I spent almost a week in the most bio-diverse place on earth and never once got bit. The “bad” news was that when it rained, it rained. Like monsoon-style.

But let’s get to the important part: my hair. It’s the morning after I washed it and did nothing else. It’s got a ton of body and definition, and I’m kind of digging it. The temps are also in the low 80s with modest humidity, so it’s pretty much resort weather at the resort.

After breakfast (where we learned that the brand’s new Bio:Renew formulas are eco-friendly), I sought out the help of hairstylist Bridget Brager to teach me all her heat-free hair secrets. Apparently braids are the answer, and I’m immediately out of comfort zone. But she says the style will keep my hair off my face (my problem from the night before), and then when I take the braids out the next day, it’ll give me the most incredible waves ever. So braids it is.

I Tried a No Hot Tools Hairstyle Challenge and Learned a Ton
Jessica Radloff

I won’t lie, they took some getting used to. But Bridget loosen them up some and pulled out a few wisps, so it didn’t look so severe. I can’t say I’d ever do this back in L.A., but you know what, if you’re not going to try something fun and different on a tropical island, then when else will you?

Day 4: Waves for Days

I Tried a No Hot Tools Hairstyle Challenge and Learned a Ton
Jessica Radloff



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I Learned How to Stop Procrastinating by Letting Experts Analyze My Distraction Diary


I shared the full journal with Carlton University’s Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D., author of Solving the Procrastination Puzzle, and Christine Li, Ph.D., founder of the Procrastination Coach. Both told me that while this level of procrastination isn’t the worst they’ve seen, there are simple skills I could learn to stop the bad behavior all together. And after following their advice, I was able to pay better attention to the tasks at hand, which meant articles written faster and, for the first time ever, inbox zero.

Below, Pychyl and Li share their tried-and-true methods to drown out distractions and get work done—whether or not the polar vortex has iced out your attention span.

Turn off your notifications.

Between the CNN alerts we get on our phones, the Slack messages we receive at all hours on our computers, and the countless new emails that hit our inbox every day, we’re inundated with notifications. While it’s important to be on top of communication, the incessant “pings” can slow your pace at work. “You shouldn’t have notifications active when you’re working on other tasks,” Pychyl says. “We simply don’t have that much willpower and self-control, so we shouldn’t rely on it. We need to set up the environment to work in our favor, not against us.”

For the true radical, Pychyl recommends turning phones off or putting them far away from your workspace. I’m a cell phone junkie, which is why I’ve tried to force myself to test this out. Yesterday I left my phone in my bag for over two hours—embarrassingly, a record—and all I missed were a couple texts from my mom that said things like, “How’s your day, sweetie?” Which is nice, but not urgent.

Don’t toggle between assignments.

How many tabs are open on your computer right now? Between email, that article you wanted to read, a presentation you’re in the middle of preparing, and the Google Doc you’re contributing to, there’s so much going on on your screen, it’s hard to pay attention to just one task at a time. But if you’re catching up on a few messages, and only adding one paragraph at a time to that project—it can feel like you have so much to do, but you aren’t making any progress.

Focus on one task at a time. “Train yourself to focus completely when you are doing your big work, and then save the smaller tasks for another block of time,” says Li. “Commit to working with this type of single-minded focus by writing your plans down in a time block format, where each task gets a particular block of time on your calendar—and don’t switch between assignments for the entirety of that time period.” Li also recommends using a paper planner. “The act of writing tasks down helps us feel more committed to doing them.” I’ve always been loyal to the classic Moleskine, but lately I’ve been eying this one from Ashley Mary.

Practice mindfulness.

No matter how hard a worker you are, you’re bound to hit a slump. Everybody’s attention wanders at some point. What’s most important is that you’re able to bring your focus back to the task at hand. A practice that Pychyl has found helpful for strengthening this skill is mindfulness meditation. “As soon as we sit to meditate, our minds wander. We think about everything and anything else,” he says. “But mindfulness meditation involves acknowledging that our minds have wandered, that we have thoughts and feelings, and then just bringing our attention back to the breath. This practice is a strong foundation for our everyday lives, as we learn that our attention does wane, but that we can bring our attention back to where we want it to be.” You can test it out for a few minutes on a lunch break or before you go to bed.



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There’s a Doc About Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton's ‘Feud’—and We Learned A Lot


Pollard, however, thinks the move has to do with the fact Meghan and Harry are expanding their family. “Now you’re making new babies—new families—to yourself,” she says. “It would probably be healthier to have a bit of space.”

Author and historian Kate Williams adds privacy could have something to do with it, as well: “Harry is obsessed with privacy, and he’s seen what’s happened to William’s children every time they go out to the park inside Kensington Palace. Someone takes a snap of them.”

6. On how honest the British media is. Rumors come out about the royal family almost daily, but should we believe them? “I think that a lot of rumors about Kate and Meghan are manufactured to sell newspapers,” Paul Burrell, Princess Diana’s former butler, says. “An editor in Canary Wharf (a hotel) actually said to me, ‘We’ve never let the truth get in the way of a good story.’ And I think there’s an element of that with Kate and Meghan.”

Malone, who has decades of tabloid experience, offers a different take. She says the Kate-Meghan rumors are likely coming from inside Kensington Palace. “The media, contrary to popular opinion, do not make up stories,” she says. “The fact of the matter is we hear things. We get told things. People will say, ‘You haven’t named [the sources].’ Of course we haven’t because you can’t name some of the people who are saying derogatory things about Meghan. They would be fired.”

Getty Images

7. So who is leaking these stories? “Disgruntled people do the leaking,” Malone says. “People who think stories should be out in the public domain do the leaking. People who get upset that one picture is being portrayed and it’s not the whole picture.”

8. Prince Harry and Prince William’s strained relationship. This is yet another narrative that’s dominated the royal family for quite some time. “I was told that the underlying tensions—the riff—was actually between William and Harry,” Nicholl says. “They were a brilliant team together, but they were also fiercely competitive.”

Nicholl also addresses her Vanity Fair article alleging Prince Harry was upset Prince William didn’t “roll out the red carpet” for Meghan when she first met everyone. “William was quite concerned that the relationship [between Harry and Meghan] had moved so quickly,” she says. “And being close to Harry—probably the only person close enough to say to Harry, ‘This seems to be moving quickly, are you sure?’ I think what was meant as well-intended brotherly advice just riled Harry. Harry is hugely protective of Meghan. He saw [William’s comment] as criticism. He interpreted that as his brother not really being behind this marriage—this union—and I don’t think things have been quite right ever since.”

Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle
Getty Images

9. The queen reads “every newspaper” in the morning. This comes from Burrell (a.k.a Princess Diana’s former butler). “If there’s something which disturbs her, she’ll mention it to her children,” he says.

10. The people who will make Meghan Markle’s life “hell.” Burrell has an opinion on this—though it’s only his opinion. “There are two different elements to Buckingham Palace: the royal family and the royal household. I personally think the royal household is far more difficult than the royal family,” he says. “They’re what Princess Diana called ‘the grey suits.’ They’re the ones that made Princess Diana’s life hell. They’re the ones that are going to make Meghan’s life hell, too.”

11. Meghan will have to curtsy to Kate when William becomes king. According to Burrell, at least. “Whenever there’s a precession, Meghan will be down the line with Harry,” he says.”Kate will always be in front. This is going to be alien to her: going into this world and having to curtsy to everybody, including her sister-in-law in public. Meghan has to understand that’s protocol.”



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5 Things We Learned From Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook Hearing


Over two days Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress for hours, facing questions about how and why the data of an estimated 87 million users was shared with Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm with reported ties to the Trump campaign.

Before a panel of 44 senators asked him about Facebook’s privacy policies, Russian interference, and other security issues, Zuckerberg used his opening remarks to issue an apology. “We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I’m sorry,” he said. “I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”

Throughout the hearing, Zuckerberg reiterated that Facebook understands its responsibility to consumers. Still, he didn’t give specific details around certain aspects of how the company has handled private user information. Here’s what we did learn. We’ll continue to update this post throughout Zuckerberg’s hearing with Congress today.

Zuckerberg admits Facebook didn’t do enough to protect users after finding out about the Cambridge Analytica breach.

Facebook reportedly discovered in 2015 that user data had been sold to Cambridge Analytica. At the hearing, Florida Senator Bill Nelson asked Zuckerberg why the company didn’t do more back then to inform users of a privacy breach.

“When we heard back from Cambridge Analytica that they had told us that they weren’t using the data and deleted it, we considered it a closed case,” Zuckerberg said. “In retrospect, that was clearly a mistake. We shouldn’t have taken their word for it.” Zuckerberg also said the company didn’t inform the Federal Trade Commission about the incident.

The company still isn’t sure exactly how much personal data has been affected by third-party apps.

Iowa senator Chuck Grassley prodded Zuckerberg about how many users have been affected on the platform. “Do you know of any instances where user data was improperly transferred to a third-party in breach of Facebook’s terms?” he asked. “If so, how many times has that happened, and was Facebook only made aware of that transfer by some third party?”

“We believe that we’re going to be investigating many apps, tens of thousands of apps,” Zuckerberg responded. “And if we find any suspicious activity, we’re going to conduct a full audit of those apps to understand how they’re using their data and if they’re doing anything improper. If we find that they’re doing anything improper, we’ll ban them from Facebook and we will tell everyone affected. As for past activity, I don’t have all the examples of apps that we’ve banned here, but if you would like, I can have my team follow up with you after this.”

A paid version of Facebook is something the company has considered but still isn’t a top priority.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said in a recent interview that Facebook has thought about turning to paid models so that users could opt out of sharing their information with advertisers. Zuckerberg confirmed that a paid option is on the table, but suggested that his priority is letting users access Facebook for free.

“I think what Sheryl was saying is in order to not run ads at all, we would need some sort of business model,” he said. “To be clear, we don’t offer an option today for people to pay to not show ads. We think offering people an ad-supported service is the most aligned with our mission of trying to connect everyone in the world, because we want to offer a free service that everyone can afford. That’s the only way we can reach billions of people.”

Facebook may or may not be able to track your Web-browsing activity.

Mississippi senator Roger Wicker asked Zuckerberg about rumors that “Facebook can track users’ Internet browsing activity even after that user has logged off the Facebook platform.” He asked Zuckerberg to confirm whether or not those reports are true, and Zuckerberg seemed to punt the question, saying, “Senator, I want to make sure I get this accurate, so it might be better to have my team follow up.”

When Wicker pushed him again, Zuckerberg’s answer was more revealing: “I know that people use cookies on the Internet and that you can probably correlate activity between sessions. We do that for a number of reasons, including security and including measuring ads to make sure that the ad experiences are the most effective, which of course people can opt out of. But I want to make sure that I’m precise….”

Zuckerberg acknowledges that the Facebook user agreement is problematic.

Many senators focused on Facebook’s lengthy user agreement, and Grassley wondered why Facebook doesn’t disclose all the ways it uses and shares data. Zuckerberg countered that putting together a concise agreement has been a challenge.

“One of the things that—that we’ve struggled with over time is to make something that is as simple as possible so people can understand it, as well as giving them controls in line in the product in the context of when they’re trying to actually use them, taking into account that we don’t expect that most people will want to go through and read a full legal document,” he said.

Senator John Neely Kennedy of Louisiana later told Zuckerberg directly, “Here’s what everybody’s been trying to tell you today, and—and I say this gently. Your user agreement sucks.”





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