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Inside the Secret Sisterhood of Women Who Share a Sperm Donor


It hasn’t been all happy selfies and late-night talks over bottles of wine. We have different parenting styles and didn’t always agree on how much to tell the kids, or what language to use (brother and sister? donor sibling? special friend?), especially given the varied ages of our brood (two to nine, at our first big reunion). There was a long stretch when I couldn’t shake the feeling that Emily, earth mother extraordinaire—seriously, she makes her own almond butter—was kind of passive aggressive and judge-y. When Gabi and I moved from New York to Florida, in part so we could be closer to Emily and Dana’s crew, we saw even less of them than in previous years. What the hell? I felt ignored and unwelcome.

I soon recognized these things for what they were—typical family tiffs, rifts and misunderstandings. When it came to the important stuff, we were there for each other. When I faced a series of agonizing spinal surgeries, the moms chipped in to fly Gabi to spend time with her siblings. And soon after our move, when hurricanes Irma and Dorian threatened Florida, we evacuated to Emily’s home in Atlanta.

Granted, this choice may not be right for everyone. I know not all donor-related parents bond the way we have. Maybe it’s because we’re all women—having dads in the mix might’ve complicated matters. The donor sibs also bear a strong resemblance to each other, which isn’t true for all such families. I found it impossible to feel nothing for these kids who look just like mine—I felt a primal tug, and that feeling seems to have extended to their moms, too. We were also each firmly committed to giving our children the gift of knowing each other. If they didn’t enjoy each other’s company—fine. The children could opt out. But at least they’d have a choice.

So far, they’ve opted in. They’re not all best friends, but they seem to enjoy a sense of solidarity. Gabi hears from her siblings regularly. Two of them attended summer camp together. “Do you really have nine brothers and sisters?” one of the other campers asked. “Yeah,” they said, and shrugged.

I have no idea what the future holds. After spending three-and-a-half hours with my daughter on lockdown in a suburban mall, I’m not sure I want to know. The reports of an “active shooter” turned out to be a false alarm but I left feeling shaky and yet incredibly blessed. Emily’s texts kept me informed and grounded, and the other moms’ check-ins after I got home helped soothe my frayed nerves.

I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who think we’re crazy to pursue this experiment. I like to believe the stars were aligned when each of us chose Donor 527. Biology connects the children, but fate brought us mothers together. The one thing I know for certain is that I couldn’t have hand-picked a better group to call family.



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The #1 Beauty Secret Sailor Brinkley-Cook Learned From Her Mom


Screw, marry, kill: mascara, lipstick, highlighter.

Um, screw highlighter. Because highlighter is important and I love it, but I don’t think I want to marry it. I’ll get down with some highlighter. Marry mascara because I have blond lashes, so putting on some mascara changes the game for me. I love Milk Makeup’s Kush Mascara. It feels natural and doesn’t go on too chunky, which is awesome. I hate when it feels like hairspray on your lashes. Then kill lipstick. I never wear lipstick. I’m a lip gloss gal. There are so many I like, but I love the Glossier one. It doesn’t have much color but it makes your lips look plump.

What’s your favorite emoji?

I love the yellow heart, honestly. It’s soft and not as aggressive as the red heart, but it’s like, “Love you, girl ?” or “Thank you ?.” I think it just works.

I get that. It’s not as romantic…

Yeah. I’m not like, I love you, but I’m like, love ya. It’s that vibe.

It’s amazing that a color can totally change the meaning.

Yellow heart, man.

You said you’re a drugstore girl, so this is going to be fun. You’ve got $20 and free roam of a drugstore. What do you buy?

CeraVe for sure. I love its oil-free moisturizer. It has hyaluronic acid in it, which is awesome. Then I’d say some Neutrogena Makeup Wipes, some Really Red Essie Nail Polish—because why not?—and finally, Aquaphor chapstick. Literally, that’s what’s in my bag right now.

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If you could change one thing about beauty perceptions, what would it be?

I hate that we’re all so judgmental about everyone’s beauty. I know that a part of this [Hollywood] world is about critiques and judging—and, you know, those red carpet shows that are like who wore it better? Did she rock this or did she not? But I know what it’s like to go on a red carpet and put yourself out there. To choose a dress and choose your hair and makeup, and then finally have it all come together and be like, “Oh, I feel great,” only to have people say you looked bad or say that it “didn’t work.” I think that’s annoying and lame. We should cut that out. Because if you’re going out in whatever you look like, you feel good. Most of the time you’re not leaving the house thinking, “Oh, I look terrible. I shouldn’t have worn this.”



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The Crown Season 3 Has So Many Secret Meanings in the Hairstyles


There are so many levels on which you can enjoy the latest season of The Crown. There are the historical elements which can lead you into a internet deep dive about events like the tragedy at Aberfan or Prince Charles’ investiture as the Prince of Wales. Then you’ve got the soap opera elements about the messy, dramatic, dysfunctional drama going on behind the palace walls, what with possible coups, love quadrangles, and royal marriages falling apart. But one of my favorite aspects of the show will forever be the hair, makeup, and styling.

We got to chat with Cate Hall, the show’s hair and makeup designer about what went into the incredible hairstyles of Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, Princess Anne, Camilla Shand, and even Prince Philip and Prince Charles. Currently in production on season four (when we will finally meet Diana), she spilled all of her onset styling secrets and the incredible amount of research and meticulous detail that goes into recreating the looks of some of the most famous people in the world.

“I spent months doing picture and video archive research to build a library of chronological reference books to include our principal royals and also our extensive supporting cast of recognizable faces,” she says. “Using these ‘bibles’ of images, one for each royal and one for each block of episodes, I was able to track how their looks evolved over the 13 years covered in season three and start to make a plan for how we might represent these changes on screen. I wondered if going to the bother of having photo books printed was a waste of time but was so gratified to see the whole team and also the cast checking back in and referencing them throughout the shoot.”

It sounds like a totally fascinating process. “Of course, we pay attention to the finer details, and they inform our wider choices, but where typically we start by giving the actor everything we can that might work, for example teeth or plumpers (an appliance set inside the mouth to change the shape of their face), we nearly always then gradually strip these layers away until we reach a point that is believable and real,” Hall explains. “We actually deliberately avoid too literal a representation of the character, since being too verbatim also rings false. Because we are dealing with human beings not mannequins, we have to make choices that sit and move naturally with the actor. Every choice we make has its base in trying to create a comprehensive story world that the viewer can lose themselves in without anything jarring or sticking out; the less noticeable the hair and makeup, the better.”



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Meghan Markle's Makeup Artist Shares the Secret to Her Perfect Brows


Meghan Markle‘s longtime friend and personal makeup artist, Daniel Martin, has revealed his secret to achieving the perfect brows. During a recent appearance on ITV’s Lorraine, he shared his beauty hacks for getting brows just like the royal’s and even showed viewers the most important do’s and don’ts for maintaining the best shape.

“Eyebrows frame our faces and can enhance our entire make up look,” Martin explained during his tutorial, according to The Daily Mail. The key to looking naturally blessed with good brow game? Treat your eyebrows “as sisters not twins,” he said. In other words, they shouldn’t be perfectly symmetrical.

“As we age we tend to loose our eyebrows a bit,” he continued. “So what we want to do, is we want to enhance her brow and really figure out that structure, really figure out those holes and spots that we lost.”

Martin then suggests using brow gel to brush against the hair growth, as well as applying a slightly lighter shade of powder below the brow to make them appear “fuller.”

Finally, Martin recommends using a little bit of hairspray to keep your brows in place. He said the simplest way is to spray some on a mascara spoolie and then brush them into your eyebrows.

Martin also addressed some common brow mistakes. “So one mistake a lot of people make is over tweezing or over plucking your brows,” he said. “When that happens you want to find something that you can easily go in to apply but you don’t want to re-shape or re-structure your brow.”

Markle’s iconic brows are reportedly inspired by Audrey Hepburn’s arches. The shape consists of a “straight, archless brow that tapers out toward your temple,” according to the salon Nails & Brows, where the Duchess has had her own royal brows sculpted. “The sculpt instantly lifts your face and creates a fresh and youthful appearance.”

So there you have it: In order to achieve the Duchess of Sussex’s perfect brow, we need to focus on fullness, use brow gel and some eyeshadow, add a little hairspray, and make sure not to over pluck.

Martin also famously did Markle’s makeup for her royal wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018—and he later shared every detail of her look with Glamour. He revealed that even though her makeup wasn’t inspired by a specific person (sorry, Audrey), his goal was to make her look “timeless, effortless, and chic” because “she wanted to look like her best self.”



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Bella Hadid Says Victoria's Secret Never Made Her Feel ‘Powerful’


It’s not all that rare to see Bella Hadid, one of the highest paid models of her generation, in lingerie. But at the Vogue Fashion Festival in Paris on Friday, she admitted that she never felt comfortable until walking in Rihanna’s epic Savage x Fenty show this September. “That was the first time on a runway that I felt really sexy. Because when I first did Fenty, I was doing other lingerie shows and I never felt powerful on a runway, like, in my underwear,” she said per WWD.

Hadid, who has walked the runway for Victoria’s Secret three times, shared that she’s struggled with mental health issues for years. “For a while I just didn’t want to talk about it, and I’ve gone through a lot in the past few years with my health,” she said. “I feel guilty for being able to live this incredible life, have the opportunities that I do, but somehow still be depressed. It doesn’t make sense.”

Her point is powerful and important: Mental health issues like depression and anxiety don’t discriminate. Success doesn’t make you immune.

“I would cry every single morning, I would cry during my lunch breaks, I would cry before I slept. I was very emotionally unstable for a while when I was working 14-hour days for four months straight as an 18-year-old,” she said. “I think I just wanted to breathe a little bit. And so it kind of put me in a spiral.”

Last month, in honor of World Mental Health Day, Hadid alluded to struggling with her mental health to her followers on Instagram. “Being kind and protective to yourself and your energy is something I’ve learned to be helpful. When the world feels like it is collapsing around you, you are allowed to ask for help,” she wrote. “You do not have to deal w/ your mental state alone.”

At the panel on Friday, the 23-year-old model shared that she’s in a better place—and that she wants to help destigmatize mental health issues. “I feel like I would be doing a disservice to myself if I didn’t speak about something such as mental health, because that’s pretty much what I’ve been going through for the past five years very intensely,” she said. “Now we’re here and we’re good, but it took a while.”



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Kate Middleton Reportedly Had a Secret Night Out With Moms From George and Charlotte's School


The logistics of Kate Middleton‘s daily life as a royal look pretty different than, well, basically everyone else’s in the world. Most of us do not wake up within the gated walls of a literal palace, and when we want to dash out—to, say, the store or for drinks with friends—we don’t have to travel with a protection officer. But by all accounts, the Duchess of Cambridge tries to keep some normalcy in her life and the lives of her three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.

So if there’s a drinks night out with other parents from St. Thomas’s Battersea, where George and Charlotte go to school, she’s going to be there. The Daily Mail reports that Middleton attended a party with other “school-run mums” at the Hollywood Arms pub in Chelsea last month. The event was apparently a meet and greet for the parents of new students at the school, and it was held in a private room called the Boulevard Bar that holds about 80 people.

The Daily Mail says that the duchess was able to come and ago without fanfare thanks to a special entrance from an alley in the back directly into the pub and only brought one low-key bodyguard with her. There are rumors that the door was installed for Prince Harry back in his going-out days, when the pub was a big place to see and be seen.

Kate Middleton and Prince William dropping Prince George and Princess Charlotte off at school earlier this year.

Aaron Chown – WPA Pool/Getty Images

This isn’t the first time Kate Middleton has slipped out for some decidedly “normal” activities. She was spotted at U.K. supermarket chain store Sainsbury’s shopping for Halloween costumes with George and Charlotte in tow. “You don’t expect to see that when you go shopping,” fellow shopper Kathy Whittaker said. “I couldn’t concentrate on my shopping.” But she added that the royal “seemed so down to earth and beautiful as always.”

Cheers to a relatable duchess.



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