The other night I had a dream. I was playing Rizzo in a stage production of Grease. It all felt so real, and my singing was so excellent, that I woke up and had the urge to play the soundtrack on my phone, singing along to it (very badly) for a few minutes before getting up and heading into the shower. If anyone had heard or seen such a personal moment between myself and Spotify, I would have run for the hills in shame, but luckily I live alone and the freedom to sing loudly and terribly is just one of the glorious reasons why.

I know I am very lucky to be able to live alone in London, a city where property is becoming more and more financially inaccessible to so many. It is a challenge money-wise and I do have to make sacrifices each month, but it’s also one of the best decisions I ever made. Your own space can be a haven, a small corner of a busy city that’s yours and yours alone. Other times it can be more challenging – lonely, isolating and often unsettling. But for me, most of the time, it’s a place to indulge all the weird and wonderful behaviour that no one knows about. My solo living life or 'SSB' ('Secret Single Behaviour', as given to us by SATC) is not particularly chic. It’s not drinking martinis, listening to jazz, writing novels by candlelight and wafting around in a silk dressing gown. Instead, it tends to be scrambled eggs on toast, grisly crime podcasts, lying in bed until noon scrolling through Instagram and eating peanut butter with a spoon.

Here are a few of examples of how living alone has affected everyday situations, for better or worse.

Dating

I’m not hugely into dating at the moment so my flat is currently more of a friendly, monastic living space than a singleton sex pad. However, from what I have experienced, it is always fun to show off your place to someone and not worry about a disgruntled housemate next door. The only downside is that you and you alone are accountable for everything that exists in your space. That Disney DVD, the pile of unwashed dishes, hair in the plughole and Dairylea Dunker in the fridge? It’s all on you, mate. Every. Single. Thing.

Heartbreak

Since moving in four years ago, I’ve had two big heartbreaks and a fair few dating disappointments. Following a recent break-up, I spent the first day alone watching joyful films and danced around my living room to Dusty Springfield. The next day I couldn’t stop crying or get out of bed. For the latter scenario my advice is: however low you feel, don’t be alone. Call someone who can whisper soothing words to you or better, come straight over and stroke your hair.

Hangovers

The worst part of a hangover is that horrible hour (or three) between being asleep and getting up. The bit where you just lie in your bed, dehydrated, your head thumping and morning-after paranoia circling your brain. If you manage the crawl to the kitchen, it’s unlikely you’ll find anything useful such as bread or ibuprofen because, guess what, YOU DIDN’T BUY ANYTHING. Not having a housemate to take pity on you and provide an ice cold drink and Hula Hoops when you’re at your lowest ebb is a sad, sad thing and one of the biggest downsides to living alone. One time a doting friend did send me a Deliveroo, though.

Security

If, like me, you enjoy the occasional serial killer Wikipedia binge or a disturbing podcast, living alone can somewhat heighten the senses and lead to ever so slightly irrational behaviour such as sleeping with the light on or stashing a hammer in your drawer. Regardless of your appetite for true crime, it’s very important to feel safe in your own home and I have an alarm and a memorised escape route. Stay safe, kids.

Socialising

Staying in is one of the most wonderful gifts for us home-aloners. One weekend, I shunned all plans, watched nine hours of a war documentary and slept endlessly. I had three rounds of peanut butter toast for lunch and dinner and wore joggers the entire time. In fact, the first time I actually spoke for two days was to a barista at Pret when hoarsely asking for my Monday morning coffee. Lost weekends like these are one of the most restful and self-indulgent things a solo-habiter can do. Enjoy them, but be careful not to become one of those Mr Heckles types who stashes newspapers and twitches curtains.

Cleanliness

When I had a flatshare, house parties involved complete strangers jumping on my bed or friends throwing up in my sink and/or bath. Living alone (and being above 30), you tend to get ever so slightly more precious about your space and its contents. Dinner parties are fine if people keep red wine away from my carpet. Gatherings above seven people just don’t happen because I choose not to clean up half-empty tinnies on my own and with a hangover. I promise I’m not as mean-spirited as I sound, I just like my flat to look nice. Is that so bad?

Finances

For most of us, living alone is financially difficult and often impossible. Thoughts about daily overdraft fees regularly jolt me awake at 3am and there are certain things I can’t do or buy. However on the whole, I am lucky and I am very aware of that. Living alone means sacrifices, but from choosing to live this way I have become so much more independent and at ease in my own company. I like socialising but I no longer fear being alone, I crave it. A space doesn’t always define us, but if in that space you can do all the things you want, it is, in my opinion, completely worth it. Just remember to get some ibuprofen in.

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Remember the thrill of going back to school? Box-fresh Kickers, squeaky clean belt bag and new hair that says 'Yeah I had a great summer holiday, and yeah I’m strongly feeling myself now'. We guessed at the Kickers and belt bag; in our day it was Dolcis loafers and a velcro satchel with a special mobile phone pocket at the front (#FutureWomenInTech), but new hair was still the most obvious way to announce yourself come September.

One easy way to do this, without committing to a Gwyneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors pixie cut or a Toni & Guy blunt fringe that suited less than 1% of the year group, was to go all out on the hair accessories. Think Cher and Dionne’s headbands and scrunchied high ponies in Clueless; Ashley Banks’ butter-wouldn’t-melt bows in Fresh Prince Of Bel Air; and Britney’s plaited bunches in "…Baby One More Time".

Nineties throwbacks were all over the catwalks at London Fashion Week this season, and while designers took inspiration more from '90s rave culture than schoolkids, the message was the same: have fun with your style. The era of minimalism and looking perfectly chic, like you could get a Brexit deal that anyone is happy with, is quickly being usurped by no-deal sparkly dresses, pastels, neons, cowboy boots, animal print, scrunchies and hair clips.

Click through for six back to school styles, created (and explained step by step) by hairstylist Ranelle Chapman, photographed by Lauren Maccabee, and modelled by our junior art editor, Meg O’Donnell.

All accessories by Claire's

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The words "eco home" may conjure up images of the kind of wooden and glass structure seen on Grand Designs, but living in a sustainable-friendly house needn't involve a million pound budget or the help of Kevin McCloud. While installing solar panels and overhauling your insulation are only options if you own your home (and you have a fair amount of spare cash in your back pocket), renting doesn’t mean you can’t make fundamental changes to reduce your environmental impact.

From changing to green energy to switching up your cleaning regime or investing in secondhand furniture, these are the steps you can take now to do your bit for the planet.

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There's only one beauty-related question friends ask me time and time again. It's not "How do I use acids?" or "How can I get rid of my hormonal acne?" but "Do you really get what you pay for when it comes to luxury skincare?"

With affordable brands like The Ordinary and The INKEY List changing the game, it's now easier than ever to build an effective skincare regime with ingredients that really work. While the likes of retinol and vitamin C once came with hefty price tags, these companies have made them a hell of a lot more accessible, which means you don't have to pay over the odds to achieve your best skin. Yet even though my skincare arsenal is filled to bursting with these cheap yet brilliantly effective products (I'll tell anyone about The Ordinary's Granactive Retinoid 2% In Emulsion, £8), I'm not opposed to the odd luxury buy. There's something about the sleek packaging that sways me, not to mention the swanky department store shopping experience, as well as promises of potent ingredients and clinical grade formulas tested by scientists and skin experts behind the scenes.

So when I read about Silk Therapeutics, a luxury skincare brand exclusive to Harrods, which harnesses pure liquid silk as the main ingredient, I was intrigued. I mean, actual silk sounds pretty lavish, right? And there are some big claims. According to experts behind the brand – Dr Greg Altman, PhD and CEO of Silk Inc. and Dr Rebecca Lacouture, Silk Inc. president and COO – silk is a protein material, similar to collagen, which is essential for keeping skin bouncy and firm, as it provides it with structure and support.

"We create pure liquid silk using cruelty-free cocoons from the B. mori silkworm," Silk Therapeutics told R29. "We source natural, non-GMO silk cocoons from Japan, and at our facility in Boston, liquify the pure silk protein (a.k.a. fibroin) for use in our skincare." Dr Altman also claims that liquid silk has the ability to "bond" with other proteins and molecules in the skin (without the use of other enzymes, chemicals or plasticisers), firming it up, increasing hydration levels and helping to deliver ingredients like vitamin C (notoriously difficult to get into the dermis, as it's unstable) without the need for harsh fillers. Promising to say the least.

Even though there are heaps of stories about the brand's launch in the UK, it seems very few have tried it. That could be down to the price point. Products start from £65 for a cleanser and the rest exceed the £100 mark, but in a stroke of luck, vice president of the brand, Jennifer Halliday, introduced me to the line when she was in London, so I could give my verdict on whether liquid silk is really worth your hard-earned cash. Here's how I got on for two weeks.

Silk Therapeutics Renewing Peel, £130, available at Harrods

I have acne-prone skin, so an AHA peel is a staple in my skincare routine. I've been using The Ordinary's AHA 30% + BHA 2%, £6.30, and always notice an instant difference, so swapping it out for something that's £123.70 steeper? Ouch. It combines glycolic and lactic acid to slough away dull skin cells and sebum, and of course, liquid silk to increase hydration levels. On opening the lid, the texture threw me. The only way I can describe it is as something between Vaseline and caviar, but there's a little tool to help you apply. It dried into a clear film and it was difficult to move my face until it was time to wash off, but my skin was actually glowing. I now use this once or twice a week depending on whether I feel like my skin needs extra exfoliation, and most probably will do until it runs out. The hydration element isn't there for me, though, and my face does feel a little tight afterwards, so I'd recommend following with moisturiser or serum.

Silk Therapeutics C Advance, £140, available at Harrods

Beauty editors and dermatologists alike extol the virtues of vitamin C for brightening dull skin, minimising hyperpigmentation and providing protection against environmental aggressors such as pollution, but in all honesty I've never got on with it. After one extremely potent product left me virtually screaming in discomfort, I relegated the ingredient to the back of my bathroom cabinet, enlisting gentle acids instead, but this was a super kind yet effective product to help ease me back in. My olive skin can sometimes look washed out and spots leave me with staining, but a slathering (one to two drops) each morning for two weeks helped uncover fresher and therefore brighter skin – below, my acne 'scars' are significantly less angry.

My skin gets clogged really easily, so I stopped using moisturiser alongside it, just SPF, but I'm pretty sure that thanks to the liquid silk, my skin felt hydrated and plump enough to give it a miss. I did wonder whether the dropper packaging would decrease the potency of the vitamin C, but was assured by the brand that star ingredient liquid silk has the ability to stabilise the ingredient, hence the fast, glowy results in around a week. I'm sold on this, but if the price puts you off, R29's fashion and beauty writer Georgia Murray recommends Kiehl's Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate, £49.50, while experts rate Medik8's C-Tetra, £28.80.

Silk Therapeutics Hydra-Rich Advanced Moisturising Cream, £140, available at Harrods

Thanks to the emollients, usually used to treat dry skin and conditions like atopic eczema and dermatitis, this was far too rich for my skin type. There are only 12 ingredients, including liquid silk, vitamin E and jojoba oil, but I'm putting the latter down to a few whiteheads and little bumps under my skin, so I swapped it out for Medik8's Balance Moisturiser, £45, in the morning, because I know it agrees with my oily complexion, and used retinol at night. I gave the pot of cream to my colleague Rose, who said: "It feels amazing. You literally need a microgram of product and my face feels like I've had a face mask on. I have only been using it a few days but I do feel like I’m already losing my pillow face faster in the mornings."

Silk Therapeutics Eye Revive, £120, available at Harrods

My eyelids have a tendency to flare up with atopic eczema, probably because of all the different products I try, which leaves me with lots of faint lines and an uncomfortable taut feeling. No one but me can really see the lines, mind, but I know they're there and they annoy me. The texture of this eye cream is very light so I was sceptical, but on super close inspection my wrinkles seemed much less obvious after using it religiously, morning and evening. In all honesty, though, it doesn't differ much from CeraVe's Eye Repair Cream, £10.99, or Clinique's All About Eyes, £27.50 – both a snip of the price.

Silk Therapeutics Refresh Cleanser, £65, available at Harrods

The packaging doesn't say £65 and it smells like a bar of traditional soap, but this cleanser does what it says on the tin. It's creamy and gentle, so I used it in the morning and switched to Boots' Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash, £4.19, in the evening. I wake up with oily skin but this left it feeling squeaky clean. Combined with liquid silk, the four fatty acids (essential for maintaining the skin's barrier) meant my skin wasn't tight and uncomfortable, which is often the case with most cleansers, and the patches of eczema on my eyelids weren't exacerbated. I'll use this to the last drop, but the price does put me off repurchasing.

Overall, I'd say that liquid silk has a similar effect to hyaluronic acid on the plumping and hydrating front, but it has the clever added factor of working as a buffer ingredient to deliver difficult ingredients like vitamin C into skin more effectively, as well as being obviously luxurious. Of course, whether you want to shell out on liquid silk skincare is entirely up to you, but for all the skintellectuals out there, it's definitely one to try – budget permitting.

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The biggest news that Richard Quinn – the young British designer known for floral prints and all-over bodysuits – has to share this year is that the Queen attended his London Fashion Week show (sitting next to American Vogue ’s Anna Wintour, and on her own royal cushion) in February. However, the drama of that moment was almost eclipsed (in fashion industry Instagram circles at least) when the designer found himself at the centre of an online copycat furore. Instigated by the now widely known fashion account @DietPrada, the post drew supposed comparisons between Richard’s work and that of Demna Gvasalia’s Balenciaga.

Everyone chimed in, from industry insiders to fashion fans; everybody had an opinion. Especially, of course, Diet Prada. Launched in 2014 and run by designer Tony Liu and design consultant Lindsey Schuyler, the social media account – whose Instagram bio reads "ppl knocking each other off lol" – acts as a new kind of fashion police, "calling out" copycats and sharing straight-up, unfiltered opinions. The sort of opinions you might think, and say to your friends in private, but not necessarily commit to print, online or otherwise. (Perhaps even more so if you’re part of the fashion press, which is widely known to have advertiser relations to uphold.)

A post shared by Diet Prada ™ (@diet_prada) on Feb 21, 2018 at 1:47am PST

But long before Diet Prada was policing fashion’s deep waters, there was Joan Rivers’ acerbic red-carpet commentary, and her Fashion Police TV show. (The Diet Prada duo say they’ve been told it’s as though they’re continuing Joan’s work – the comic died in 2014.) And before Rivers there was Richard Blackwell, better known as Mr Blackwell, who was responsible for the satirical, tongue-in-cheek annual worst-dressed list, which made its debut in 1960 and was released the first Tuesday of January every year.

Before that came American fashion and PR guru Eleanor Lambert’s International Best Dressed List, which launched in 1940 and would go on to be known as the Vanity Fair Best Dressed list once the publication became its keeper, in 2002. Somewhere in between all of this, there have been countless other self-appointed arbiters of style, from self-help gurus Trinny and Susannah’s What Not To Wear franchise back in the '00s to the more recent rise of bloggers such as Tavi Gevinson. The history of the fashion police and its call-out culture – from good to bad – goes way back. And it covers both personal style and design talent.

"I think of 'fashion police' as implying a hypercritical approach. It’s criticism, it’s sneery, it’s scolding," says Brenda Polan, a fashion journalist and author who was formerly the fashion editor and women’s page editor at the Guardian. "There is a value judgement in there about current-ness. Are you up with the latest idea?" The earliest reference Brenda can personally recall is in novels. It’s true – just think of a Jane Austen title and it’s likely there’s a snide remark about a two-decades-old outfit worn by one of the more comical or dowdy characters; something and someone to be made fun of.

And that’s exactly what Mr Blackwell managed to build a second career upon. A former actor, he was a fashion designer before he unleashed his first style critique on Hollywood’s leading ladies. Of Barbra Streisand, he once said: "She looks like a masculine Bride of Frankenstein." As well as: "What can I say? Yentl’s gone mental" – a reference to the title of a film she starred in. Meanwhile, he described Lindsay Lohan as going "from adorable to deplorable" and said of Björk: "She dances in the dark – and dresses there, too."

Mr Blackwell’s premise was not to be entirely mean, but to say the things he thought we thought, and it was directed as much (if not more) at the designers as it was the women he called out. As noted in his obituary in The New York Times, Mr Blackwell reportedly told the Los Angeles Times in 1968 that designers were forgetting that their job "is to dress and enhance women" and concluded: "Maybe I should have named the 10 worst designers instead of blaming the women who wear their clothes." A position that is more in line with Diet Prada’s current MO.

(A fun fact: There’s also an account called Diet Ignorant, which sets out to call out the accusations of Diet Prada when it appears to be clutching at straws. According to the Guardian, it’s rumoured to be the work of Stefano Gabbana, so frequent are the run-ins between the designer and Diet Prada.)

"I’m young and only know the basics in fashion history, so [Diet Prada] gives a little background and context to relatively exact copies of key historical pieces, or that’s how it comes across," says illustrator Megan St Clair Morgan, 22. Deborah Lyons, a London-based designer, agrees that it’s important to have people calling out knockoffs, especially when you’re a small business and at the mercy of bigger brands. "We have a responsibility if we have pretensions to be proper journalists," Brenda explains. "You have to call out designers who do clothes that are ugly or make women look ridiculous. You should police fashion in that you should be able to criticise trends in fashion, the clothes and the producers of the clothes."

But who gets to elect themselves as fashion’s so-called voice of reason? The 'criticism' of fashion has become increasingly democratic, and nothing has propelled that change more than the internet, where hot takes can be chucked out as readily as knowledgeable opinions can be carefully curated. "It has a lot to do with the format," Deborah says, noting Instagram’s one-line quest for attention; it’s one-tile titillation. Historically, Mr Blackwell would gather press and TV cameras outside his mansion (how fabulous and old-school fashion) for the grand reveal of the worst-dressed list. But with time, it became an email instead.

Meanwhile, Joan Rivers was widely credited with revolutionising red-carpet commentary. In the '90s, she presented pre-awards TV show segments for the Golden Globes and the Oscars, and made the red carpet a space for public opinion and fashion judgement, broadcast direct to your living room. "What are you wearing?" became something of a catchphrase. "I just remember how funny she was," Deborah says. "Our industry has less humour now than it did."

That seems to be a difference between the fashion police and the fashion press – the former is geared more towards entertainment. "[With] Joan Rivers and her daughter [Melissa], it was witty but you felt guilty laughing about it," Brenda says. It's not right but we’re all guilty of what-does-she-think-she-looks-like moments. Now, with a tap of a 'like' or 'publish' button, we can so easily make that judgement public. And even, in the case of Diet Prada, a viable profession.

Where we previously relied on more old-school methods, the all-enveloping digital and social media revolutions we’re experiencing have facilitated the rise of the self-appointed fashion police. As such, more independent voices have come to the fore. "I think we’re in a moment where having an opinion, and being confrontational and open on issues you’re experiencing, is seen as a good thing," says Megan, "and [that situation] allows things like [Diet Prada] to grow."

"[It’s] part of the fun of fashion," Deborah says. "To be stupid and ridiculous, to make mistakes and to push boundaries." A part that is, perhaps inevitably, met with ever-regenerating editions of the fashion police. For this is fashion, after all, and the next feather-ruffling iteration is always, always just around the corner.

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If makeup is a statement, skincare is all about the narrative. Okay, the theory needs work but there’s something in it, right? Because skincare is way more than just the products we use. It’s a form of self-care, a ritualistic act and a time for headspace.

Whether it’s positive, frustrating or a bit of a rollercoaster, the relationship we have with our skin – the thing that’s been with us through everything (literally and figuratively) – is unique to each of us.

So to celebrate these diverse skin stories, we spoke to two influencers (or 'skinfluencers', if you will) about the journey they’ve been on to feel comfortable in their skin, and the part a skincare routine has played in it.

Roxie Nafousi has been on a genuinely inspiring journey with her skin. She went from removing her makeup with hand soap (yep, really) and subsequently experiencing breakouts, to finally developing an impeccable skincare routine and transforming her mindset through both yoga and self-discovery. For Roxie, the catalyst for change was heartbreak. She talks us through the journey in this video, in which we hear the love letter she wrote to her skin, as well as her meditative morning rituals.

For Emma Hoareau of Lolita Says So, her story began after she moved to London, something which changed her life considerably. Now, after battling the effects of city-living, acne scars and flare-ups, her glowing complexion is testament to a solid skincare regime and a whole lot of self-care. Find out more in this video, where she shares her feelings about her skin through a personal love letter and takes us through her nighttime routine.

Shout out to our skin – it’s got us this far, and it will take us so much further.

Click here to discover why Liz Earle’s Cleanse & Polish is the number 1 cleanser in the UK.

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Laxatives have their uses for people with digestive issues but evidence suggests they're being widely misused by those with eating disorders. Now, the government is taking steps to tackle the problem.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency yesterday announced a review into sales of laxatives, following concerns that they are being abused for weight control. Symptoms of misuse include diarrhoea, dehydration and imbalances that can lead to heart problems and kidney failure.

More than half of sufferers have misused laxatives at some point, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and currently, anyone can buy unlimited quantities of the drugs over the counter from pharmacies and supermarkets without a subscription. A review will look into introducing a minimum age on purchasers and possibly a ban on over-the-counter sales.

The eating disorder charity Beat, along with several health professionals, welcomed the review. Beat spokesperson, Rebecca Field, said "laxatives pose severe health risks for people with eating disorders" and should be regulated in the same way as painkillers, "to prevent people overusing them and harming their own health".

Beat wants to see a minimum age of 16 for purchasing laxatives, an upper limit on the amount that can be purchased, and for them to be sold at pharmacies only, not in general retail stores. Research by the charity in 2014 found that nearly 100% of eating disorder sufferers who had abused laxatives had bought them over the counter.

"It is vital that people are aware of the dangers of abusing laxatives and there should be more education on their effects," Field continued. "Doctors and pharmacists should also be made aware that overuse of laxatives is one of the signs of an eating disorder, so that they are able to intervene and ensure sufferers get treatment."

Marg Oaten MBE, from SEED Eating Disorder Support Service, would also welcome restrictions on the number of laxatives being bought at any one time, but believes people may simply go to several different shops or turn to the internet. Oaten is also calling for warning labels and information leaflets to be added to drug packets to increase awareness of the dangers of misuse.

"We know of people taking in excess of 100 per day, which poses a medical risk as their body fights the side-effects of such extreme behaviours," she told Refinery29. "People don’t understand that excessive laxative abuse can cause low levels of potassium in the body – potassium regulates the heart and people who abuse this are at risk of a heart attack."

"People need to recognise the signs and symptoms of low potassium levels," Oaten added. These include an irregular heartbeat and muscle weakness, aches and cramps. She recommends seeking medical advice if you experience any of these.

Like Oaten, Deanne Jade, a psychologist at the National Centre for Eating Disorders, believes more needs to be done to tackle laxative misuse than a review of over-the-counter sales. She described it as "probably pointless" because sufferers could buy them elsewhere, including online. "Frankly, people need to know why [they're dangerous] rather than just that they’re 'a bad thing'," Jade told Refinery29. "Currently there is a major TV campaign promoting a well-known brand of laxatives as being healthy."

We asked three eating disorder sufferers who have misused laxatives to control their weight about their experience, and what they make of the government's review. Will it make a difference?

"I once drank so much I wet the bed"

Alex, 28, from London, has suffered with eating disorders – anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder – since being sexually abused at 12 years old. They are chronically ill and require laxatives to treat their illness, but when they were 22 they began misusing a laxative juice that they bought online. They no longer take laxatives but experience disordered thinking around food.

I've always thought that being ill makes me thinner. At the height of my problem I'd drink a large bottle [of laxative juice] three times a day. One time I drank so much I wet the bed. I haven't told anyone about my problem. It's dumb but this was probably the most embarrassed I felt about having an eating disorder. It's a bad way of thinking and getting the weight off, I know.

I think more young women take laxatives than people think. The stereotype for young women is that they want their body to be as doll-like possible – with no bodily functions – but a lot of us are desperate.

I'm against regulations being introduced because chronically ill/constipated people really do need laxatives, and I have experience of struggles obtaining them through the NHS. But there needs to be a greater awareness of laxatives used for eating disorders.

"I now suffer with IBS which is probably caused by laxative abuse"

Ruth, 36, from Beverley in East Yorkshire, began using laxatives at age 14 and continues to do so on a weekly basis. She developed anorexia at 8 years old and bulimia at 12, both of which she lives with to this day.

The only time I didn't struggle with eating disorders was when I was lucky enough to be pregnant. From the age of 14 to 23 I used laxatives, at one point I would take around 30 to 40 on a bad day. I stopped using them for many years and started again when I was about 30. I used to alternate where I bought them, although I was once refused from a Boots in Hull because I was also buying diet pills. I now suffer with IBS which is probably caused by laxative abuse.

Emotionally, using them is a mix – being in agony and pain isn't fun and there's the guilt that you may be doing irreversible damage. But then there's relief that it is okay to eat something, as most of it is gone without having to purge.

I fully welcome the news that the government might restrict sales of laxatives. Because of social media and more and more pro-anorexia sites, it's so easy for people to read that laxatives are an easy way to lose weight. If there was an age limit, an amount limit or some kind of restriction then maybe it could help more people. If these restrictions had been in place for my younger self then maybe things would be different for me now.

"I was told my heart could stop at any point"

Debbie, 34, from Lincolnshire, suffers with anorexia after first developing it aged 14. She began using laxatives a year ago as an eating disorder outpatient and stopped a few months ago.

I used to take a box of laxatives every day. I started because I thought they would help me lose more weight than I already had. I used to buy them from any supermarket. It got to the point that I became really poorly and had horrendous stomach cramps every day, which interrupted my daily life and working life. I stopped them a couple of months ago, when I was at an appointment and was told my heart could stop at any point. That really scared me because although I knew this deep down, it didn’t really register with me as I was oblivious due to the eating disorder voice in my head.

It’s a good idea that the government may restrict the sales of laxatives because they are really dangerous, especially for people with eating disorders.

If you are struggling with an eating disorder, please call Beat on 0808 801 0677. Support and information is available 365 days a year.

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Fashion is in flux, and designers hotfooting it from one brand to another isn't out of the ordinary. And yet many publicly mourned the departure of Phoebe Philo from Céline after a decade as the brand's creative director, even before knowing who would be her replacement – such was Philo's impact. She's credited with creating a kind of intelligent dressing that touched all areas of the industry: if you've worn Stan Smiths with work trousers, tucked your hair into a rollneck knit or donned a silk pyjama shirt outside the bedroom, you've been influenced by Philo's vision.

So when it was announced that Hedi Slimane – the French Tunisian designer responsible for Dior Homme's hard-edged, sexed-up, 'heroin chic' aesthetic – would be taking the mantle, Philophiles (the name given to Philo's dedicated fashion disciples) were understandably shook. There's a pretty stark contrast between the two designers' creative outputs. While Philo was all about the smart, cool and contemporary woman, Slimane looked to the darkly sexy underworld of clubs and punk.

Hedi's first moves as Celine's artistic, creative and image director haven't been without drama. On 2nd September he introduced the new brand logo via Instagram, reducing the spacing between letters and removing the accent, an homage to the brand's 1960s "original, historical version" and a modernist typography dating from around 1930. Fans reacted with outrage, perhaps naively, considering Slimane's removal of the 'Yves' from Saint Laurent during his tenure there. The whole debacle turned into a rather hilarious Instagram sensation, with the likes of Diet Prada documenting rogue accents being added back to the new logo on campaign posters during New York and London Fashion Week.

While speculation has been rife regarding Slimane and the new Celine, the designer himself is a man of very few words. In his 20-odd-year career, he's given a handful of interviews, and the mystery – bar a few campaign images and a handbag spotted on Lady Gaga's arm – surrounding his debut collection, presented this Friday, has the whole industry waiting with bated breath. In an unprecedented move, though, Slimane has given an interview to French newspaper Le Figaro, translated by Business of Fashion, in which he reveals – in rather philosophical fashion – his vision for the brand, his influencers, and his way of working.

Here are nine things we learned about Slimane and the new Celine, from how Donald Trump has made him reconsider his Californian home to whether he'll be sticking with that androgynous aesthetic.

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PARIS 28 SEPTEMBRE 2018 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #CELINEBYHEDISLIMANE

A post shared by CELINE (@celine) on Sep 3, 2018 at 11:01am PDT

California or Paris?

Slimane has lived in California since 2008, but the changing political scene there may well draw him to Celine's home in Paris. "[I was] already very attracted to Los Angeles, where I used to go regularly since the end of the 1990s," he explained. "I would start all my Dior collections there in my hotel room...There was no creative or artistic stimulation yet, nor was there a rise of a strong music taste. This became clearer later, after 2008. Barack Obama’s presidential victory played an important role. It boded well for the future. On the contrary, Donald Trump’s election created quite a strong uncertain environment that is hard to escape."

He'll follow Philo's tenure with respect but change

Acknowledging the stark contrast between their aesthetics, Slimane said, "Besides, we don’t enter a fashion house to imitate our predecessor, much less to take over the essence of their work, their codes and elements of language...It also means starting a new chapter. We arrive then with our own stories, our own culture, a personal semantic that is different from the ones of houses in which we create. We have to be ourselves, without any stance, against all odds." He notes that because the house isn't as old as Dior or Saint Laurent, it will be easier to "break free of...the weight of the past."

While he'll be starting afresh with the brand, he doesn't intend to erase its history. "The goal is not to go the opposite way of their work either. It would be a misinterpretation. Respect means preserving the integrity of each individual, recognising the things that belong to another person with honesty and discernment."

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A post shared by CELINE (@celine) on Sep 11, 2018 at 2:39pm PDT

Nightlife is still on the agenda

What goes on after dark, behind club doors, and after the show is over, has always fascinated Slimane, and this shows no sign of waning at Celine. "I infinitely like Paris by night. I grew up between the Palace theatre and Les Bains-Douches. It’s a pity that the city seems determined to close down interesting places like these and turn its back to the world of the Parisian night," he said. "The lights still remain, though. The lamp posts working their magic, the neons in the cafés, the sparkling Parisian youth and the energy of the streets."

The invitations for Friday's debut show? A bound book of photographs of 10 of Paris' most legendary haunts, from La Cigale to Pile au Face – a sign of things to come.

Removing Celine's accent was about shaking things up

Denying that changing the brand's logo was "marking my territory", Slimane said he expected it to cause a reaction. "Nowadays [this reaction is] even more present due to the viral effect of social media. It’s normal. It was anticipated but it had to be done." His reason for doing so, he explains, is about evolution and debate. "The major houses are alive. They must evolve and find the essence of what they truly are. Everything but indifference. We don’t shake things up to be subtle. When there’s no debate, it means there’s no opinion, which brings us to blind conformity."

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He's remaining faithful to his signature aesthetic

When asked whether he'll be able to stand by his androgynous style when so many collections are mixed gender now, he likens his work to big changes in silhouettes affected by the likes of Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent. "I stand firm on my principles. Why would I give up on what defines me? Becoming someone else on the grounds that what I have done in the past has been accepted or emulated? Historically speaking, as soon as the silhouette is modified, the reactions are always very sensitive. I think about Christian Dior’s 'New Look' or Yves Saint Laurent’s 'Libération' collection in 1971. A guideline, it’s always taboo, and yet, it’s at the start of everything."

And his inspiration for that slim-fit, almost genderless aesthetic came from wanting to deconstruct accepted masculinity

"Twenty years ago I put back the shoulders where they should be, and I redefined a line...I have always thought about masculinity as being represented in other ways than in the body, the muscles, the common places of virility. I was always interested in the 'beginnings', in the idea of the first suit, the pleasure and the young desire of a first jacket, a jacket for going out, some kind of tailoring for men that is devoid of any statuary character, far from the constraints and conventions of the banker suit. This had to involve a redefinition of the codes and the silhouette."

Unlike Kendall Jenner, Slimane believes models are just as key to a designer as the clothes

Slimane's casting has always been an intrinsic part of his shows, and for Celine, models are an integral part of the team. "I have girls and boys that come every day to try out new models: they are our partners," he says. "I admire them and their presence is crucial. The casting is key to everything. Couturiers are nothing without their models. I see them as artists. They have the capacity to transform, transcend, give life and justice to our creations. Indeed, if a dress that I particularly enjoy doesn’t have a body that wears it, it won’t make it to the catwalk because it’s not embodied. This Celine project is a collective adventure, a community of strong personalities. It’s a team work. The studio work, the workshop work, and the models’ work." Will his debut show include some familiar faces?

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He has chronic tinnitus, which resulted in a period of extreme pain

"It happened over a year ago now, when I started hearing obsessive and persisting noises one morning...there’s no remedy for it," he said. "This tinnitus apparently comes from a post-traumatic stress disorder without acoustic shock. It first got out of control, and I went through a very dark period, with anxiety phases that were unbearable. The unthinkable idea to never ever know silence was unbearable to me. It was a spiral. A pain on a daily basis."

He sees social media as "the Wild West"

While Celine and his photography website both have Instagram accounts, Slimane doesn't have any personal feeds. "I understand the craze, but in my opinion, the personal privacy seems to be the last luxury that needs to be preserved." While he sympathises with those growing up in the midst of this new digital reality, he wonders if we'll all tire of "this search for cyber-fame, where quantity is what impresses people" and instead a social network that moves "towards a new realism with no alteration or touch up" will emerge. "There still's a lot to do in order to protect everyone's balance and truth."

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For many of us in our 20s and 30s, it's enough of a struggle getting by financially day to day, with the cost of renting and buying property so prohibitive and our salaries failing to keep up. So it's no wonder that a quarter of us worry we'll never be able to retire, according to a recent survey.

Nearly as many believe they'll have to continue working in some capacity even after they've retired from their main jobs, and unsurprisingly, many aren't delighted at the prospect of being a slave to capitalism and soul-sucking jobs for the rest of their lives. Now, a small group of millennials are going to extreme lengths to retire early by embracing the so-called FIRE movement.

What is the FIRE movement?

The movement, which stands for "financial independence, retire early", involves frugality and saving as much money as possible in order to retire early (sometimes as young as 30) and never work again while living off investments, leaving them free to do whatever they want.

It has its origins in the US, with much of the conversation taking place on Reddit message boards and money "hacking" blogs like Mr. Money Mustache among tech bros fed up with their high-pressure jobs. Peter Adeney, the man behind the aforementioned blog, retired at 30 with his wife so they could start a family, which he managed through a combination of hardcore saving, shunning debt and credit cards, and avoiding spending wherever possible. The pair continue to live a mostly financially independent life with their three children (but he does make $400k/£305k a year from his blog).

The movement is now picking up momentum in the US and has spread to the UK, with a recent FIRE meeting in London attracting 900 people wanting to find out how to quit their jobs while still relatively young, The Times reported.

What does it involve?

At its simplest, FIRE involves living exceptionally frugally by tracking your spending, saving as much of your income as possible (sometimes as much as 50-70%), and paying off all debt (such as student loans and mortgages). You need to build up a net worth of 25 times your annual spending, to be invested in the stock market or buy-to-let property.

In practice, it also means making some pretty huge sacrifices, so it's definitely not for everyone: no credit cards, no holidays, no dinners out, no clothes you don't need, no coffees. It's the opposite of accumulating wealth in order to have more to spend.

People follow different levels of FIRE depending on how committed they are: "lean FIRE" (extreme frugality), "fat FIRE" (saving and investing while maintaining a more normal lifestyle), and "barista FIRE" (working part-time after retirement to qualify for company benefits, such as health insurance in the US).

What's the catch?

You need to be earning a decent wage in the first place in order to save enough to retire young. To live off £25k a year without a mortgage, you need to save up to £650k. For a more lavish lifestyle in which you spend £50k annually, you'd need £1.25 million. Not exactly small change. Probably worth a quick glance at these cities in the UK where you can earn the most...

Then there's the huge sacrifice of having to cut back on even the simplest pleasures, which for many of us would involve a serious downgrade in quality of life and missing out on important life events. Think about it: no cocktails to celebrate your friend's good news, no weddings abroad, no treating your parents to dinner, no consoling yourself with a pizza after a hard day... the list goes on. Also, not having a job would be great initially but it might (just might) get a little boring after a while.

Who's done it?

There are countless accounts online of people who have taken the plunge, including many young women. Kristy Shen, 31, and her boyfriend of 10 years saved $1m, quit their jobs (hers in IT) and are now backpacking around Europe and southeast Asia. "Our ex-coworkers thought we were nuts," she told Vice. "They joked that they'll have pillows ready for our knees when we come crawling back to work." But they seem to be having the time of their lives.

There's also Tanja Hester, a consultant on a "low-six-figure salary" in LA, retired in 2017 after saving enough to retire at 38 with her husband. "We see friends and spend our time outdoors," she told Vice. "We feel like kids waiting for an adult to show up and tell us we can't do this." Be warned: scrolling through Hester's serene, nature-heavy Instagram account will be enough to plant the thought in your own mind.

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When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I was in a long-term, committed relationship. Things had been rocky, and my life-altering diagnosis didn’t make them easier. I survived the cancer. My relationship did not.

During the two-plus years that I was undergoing treatment and reconstruction, I wasn’t having sex. I mean, who feels sexy when you are having your breasts removed and poisonous toxins flushed through your veins? There was a period of six months where I lived without nipples until I got them tattooed on. Looking at my body in the mirror was torture, so I certainly didn’t want anyone else seeing me naked. The thought of sex? It didn’t even cross my mind.

At some point, I decided I should get back on the dating scene. I wasn’t looking for anything serious. I just needed the practice. Plus, I like to flirt and socialise. I really didn’t think it would get beyond a few fun dinners.

A few months later I met a guy I liked (who is now my fiancé), and eventually things got serious. It was only after we finally got intimate that I discovered something shocking. Unbeknownst to me, because of my cancer-imposed sexual hiatus, things downstairs were radically different than before I got sick. When I started having sex again, I discovered my vagina was drier than the Sahara desert and it was really tough to have an orgasm. Trust me when I say it took a lot of work. I later learned from Dr. Lauren Streicher, a women’s health expert, that I wasn’t unique. A lot of female cancer patients experience some form of sexual dysfunction. And I was completely caught off guard because not one of my doctors – and I had a team of them – told me to expect this kind of thing.

Once again I felt completely betrayed by my body. Not only was I shocked and frustrated by my own inability to perform, but I was beyond mortified trying to explain it to my new lover. I was turned on, so I didn’t understand why my body wasn’t responding. To add insult to injury, my cancer medication, Tamoxifen, put me into “ chemopause,” chemically-induced menopause. So, in addition to my vaginal problems, I also started experiencing terrible night sweats. I would wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat. The sweat was so next-level, I would have to get up to change the sheets and my PJs. Now, this is one thing when you are sleeping alone. It’s a whole other embarrassing nightmare when you have a new boyfriend lying next to you.

Luckily for me, my guy is cool and compassionate. He used humour and kindness to distract from, and minimise, my embarrassment. Regardless, I felt cancer had stolen my identity of a woman. I secretly wondered — and worried — if I would ever feel sexy again.

I’m a girl who won’t take no for an answer. So, I certainly wasn’t going to let a dry vagina and some night sweats dull my shine. I started researching and interviewing experts on the topic of sexual health after cancer. I dedicated a chapter to it in my book, Pretty Sick: The Beauty guide for Women with Cancer. Dr. Streicher offered some key pieces of advice to women in my situation. Her first tip was: “use it or lose it.” She explained that vaginal muscles are just like other muscles in our body. They require exercise to stay strong and to function properly. Having intercourse (and masturbating) regularly – keeps everything in working order. She also suggested using Replens vaginal moisturiser, which helps keep the internal tissue hydrated and soft. And she shared how some laser treatments might help my vagina become more lubricated. I tried them, and they worked for me, although this past July, the FDA released a warning against the use of energy-based devices for vaginal rejuvenation procedures.

The crux of the matter is that being a cancer survivor comes with it’s own, often unexpected, quality-of-life issues. For some, there are simple solutions. For others, they aren’t. I just wish I had been given a heads-up about the physical obstacles I was going to face. Then, I could have been prepared. It’s one of the reasons why I share my story – to help other women who are about to travel the same bumpy road. The fact is, the more you know, the better equipped you are to handle the shit-storm of side effects. It’s also one of the reasons why I felt passionate about helping organise a cancer wellness expo. It’s a daylong conference where even the most provocative topics that (uniquely) affect the lives of women with cancer — such as dry vaginas, nipple tattoos and cannabis as medication — can be discussed freely and without judgment. The Cancer Wellness Expo, its official name, is a day about empowerment — with some fun pampering activities packed in the mix — something every cancer patient and survivor could use.

Today, my girly bits are better than ever. But it took time, money and a lot of practice to get her back in working order. It was a fight after the battle – and I won them both. I guess that makes me a true cancer warrior.

The Cancer Wellness Expo is being held on Saturday, Sept. 29th at Urban Zen, 711 Greenwich St., NYC. Register here.

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Yesterday, the CEO and president of Weight Watchers, Mindy Grossman, went on TODAY to announce that the 55-year-old company will now be called, "WW" in order to represent "wellness beyond just weight." It's very on-trend to pivot to wellness from dieting, but you might be ww ondering ww hat this actually means.

If you can decode the jargon-y message on their website, the general gist is that instead of catering to people who are looking to lose weight, WW will now be a wellness brand for people who just want to build healthy habits.

WW will continue to be "the best healthy eating program for weight loss in the world," but now they simply want to do more, Grossman told TODAY. "We can inspire people for healthy habits, to help them eat better, move better, use their mind to help support their efforts and really be about total wellness," she said. In addition to the new name, WW's app also got zhuzhed up with new features, such as custom guided meditations from Headspace, new "Connect Groups" for meeting like-minded members, and a new FitPoints program.

This move might seem to indicate that the company is shifting away from the now-taboo world of diets, but they aren't really changing anything or fooling anyone. Going forward, WW will still use their SmartPoints system, which assigns a "point" value to foods based on "complex nutritional information," so that members can keep track of their daily allotted points, and ultimately eat less and lose weight.

A big announcement from Weight Watchers… the company’s CEO and President @mindygrossman announces they will be changing their name and explains why. pic.twitter.com/iD19M57F5k

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 24, 2018

When TODAY hosts Savanna Guthrie and Hoda Kotb asked Grossman to clarify that the points system is not changing, Grossman talked in circles. "The reason why the business has been performing is that this idea of going from weight to wellness is more sustainable for people, because we’re giving them more than just a short-term solution. What we want is to be a partner in health sustainably," she said. In other words, WW is really just a diet in sheep's clothing.

"In the long run, continuing to assign a point-value to food evokes a dieting mentality," says Melissa Bailey, MS, RD, LDN, a clinical dietitian in Philadelphia. Using points still categorises foods into "good" and "bad" categories, which can lead to negative mental health implications, like guilt and shame, she says.

Any structured eating plan or "healthy eating plan " that demonises certain food groups, puts stress on daily food choices and can fall into the realm of disordered eating, says Danielle Zolotnitsky, RD, an outpatient dietitian at Einstein Medical Centre. "Ultimately, [this] goes against the idea of wellness: complete physical, mental, and social well-being," Bailey adds.

The biggest issue of all, which WW is now capitalising on, is the fact that "wellness" is a vague concept. As Kelsey Miller, author and creator of the Anti-Diet Project on Refinery29, wrote on Twitter, "Weight Watchers is not 'shifting focus.' It's doing the opposite. It's blurring the lines between health and dieting even further, and conflating them both with the blurriest buzzword of all: 'wellness.'"

By encouraging everyone — not just people who want to go on a diet — to track their weight and count points, WW is doing more harm than good, which was kind of their business model to begin with. "Grossman is right — this is exactly what they've been doing for 55 years," Miller wrote. "Finding new ways to make you feel like a problem and sell themselves as the solution."

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I'm not ashamed to say that I have definitely cried during a boxing class. For one thing, I love a good cry, and boxing is a form of exercise that brings up a lot of emotions for me. I don't know if it's the fact that some boxing instructors encourage you to channel the day's frustrations and emotions to the hitting the bag, but it's deeply cathartic to get lost in the combinations of punches.

As someone who lives with depression and who sometimes gets extremely anxious, I've definitely seen my state of mind improve since I started boxing over a year ago. Part of it really is about taking my anger out on a bag, but any form of exercise can certainly help people with anxiety, and there's definitely a reason that working out is such a common recommendation to improve mood and mental health.

"For me, boxing is a kind of moving meditation," says Lindsay Coke, a trainer at Shadowbox in New York City. "I love how personal it is, and how it's just as much about individual mental battles as it is the physical ones. It's so subjective, and in the end can be anyone's fight - there are rules to abide by, but it also pushes you to break down your walls and reach new heights."

Not to mention, for me, boxing classes at studios like Shadowbox toe the line between being solitary and social at the same time. According to a study from earlier this year, group workout sessions (like a boxing class) and team sports are associated with higher benefits for your mental health, when compared with individual forms of exercise.

Be that as it may, group workouts tend to make me a little anxious. In that sense, it's pretty helpful that most of the boxing studios I've tried in New York City mostly involve you and the bag, even if you're doing it in the company of at least 10 other people. While the setups vary from classes with individual bags to classes where you're in a ring with a few other people, for the most part, there's a lot of individual time for you to work on combinations alone. Sometimes, instructors will have you pair up for some hand-to-hand sparring, but that's why it's helpful to go with a friend.

And admittedly, if you're like me, and you don't love working out unless there is some kind of end goal, boxing can help you physically defend yourself if you ever need to.

With the world being a dumpster fire, boxing helps me feel some control over my life. And even if just for 50 minutes at a time, I feel like there's no problem I can't (safely) punch away. And hey, if it's good enough for Jack Pearson, it's good enough for me.

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Last Friday, when many began tweeting with the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport to explain (again) why women and men often do not come forward when they are sexually assaulted, Padma Lakshmi added her voice to the chorus and shared that she had been assaulted three times when she was young. On Tuesday, she published an Op-Ed in the New York Times detailing one of those traumatic events for the first time.

"He was in college, and I thought he was charming and handsome. He was 23," the Top Chef host said of her assailant, whom she was dating when she was 16 and worked at the same mall he did in the suburbs of Los Angeles. The man had been respectful of her virginity, always got her home early on school nights, and was polite to her mother.

"On New Year’s Eve, just a few months after we first started dating, he raped me," Lakshmi wrote.

She had been asleep in his apartment and awoke to find the man penetrating her. He continued despite her protests and later gave her the awful excuse, "I thought it would hurt less if you were asleep."

The second time I was 16 years old and a virgin. He was my boyfriend. "Date rape" wasn't discussed in the 80's. I was horrified and ashamed. #WhyIDidntReport

— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) September 21, 2018

The third time I was assaulted I was 23. I thought that no one would believe me, because no one wanted to stand up to him. I had seen the way Anita Hill was treated when she came forward. #WhyIDidntReport

— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) September 21, 2018

She never told anyone what happened and blamed herself for it, particularly because date rape was not discussed in the '80s. But more to the point, Lakshmi said she played out her assumptions of what adults would say if she spoke up: "What the hell were you doing in his apartment? Why were you dating someone so much older?"

She had also internalized the lesson that telling her parents about something like this would result in being cast out, because when she was 7 and she told them that her stepfather's relative touched her inappropriately, they sent her to India for a year.

So here she is, 32 years later, finally telling the world about what happened, because of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez's allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Lakshmi is coming forward because she doesn’t want young women to know the fear and shame these experiences made her feel for decades, she said.

"I have nothing to gain by talking about this," Lakshmi explained. "But we all have a lot to lose if we put a time limit on telling the truth about sexual assault and if we hold on to the codes of silence that for generations have allowed men to hurt women with impunity."

If you have experienced sexual violence of any kind, please visit Rape Crisis or call 0808 802 9999.

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There's some truth to the old saying “grandma knows best.” Just ask Adele Uddo. It was compliments from her grandmother that sent Uddo to her first hand casting, which eventually led to a decade-long career in front of the camera.

Although you might not recognise her face, Uddo has been a full-time body parts model for 10 years, working in international campaigns for luxury brands like Christian Louboutin and Dior. Over the duration of her career, she's had everything from her legs, hands, lips — even ears — photographed. But not even a career as unconventional hers is exempt from traditional pressures and insecurities that come with modelling.

“For many years I felt almost ashamed to be a parts model, mainly because I was raised by this hippie, feminist mother. I felt like I was somewhat betraying her by becoming this objectified body parts model,” Uddo explains. “There was this girly part of me that just wanted to express myself and wear lipstick. Somehow, I felt guilty when I did that.”

But Uddo didn't let that discourage her from modeling. She has shaped a successful career that works for her, which includes developing her own skin-care line (which, of course, includes hand moisturiser). "Parts modelling is what I do, it's not who I am. Now I realise we can be many things," she says.

Click play to watch Uddo demonstrate her best poses and hear more about how she became a full-time parts model.

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Bill Cosby has been sentenced to three to 10 years in a Pennsylvania State Prison for sexual assault.

Early on Tuesday, Judge Stephen O'Neill also ruled that Bill Cosby will be classified as a "sexually violent predator." The ruling will require the 81-year-old former television star and comedian to register as a sex offender and receive sex offender counselling for the rest of his life. He will also need to notify any community in which he lives of his "sexually violent predator" status.

Cosby was convicted in April of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former administrator at his alma mater, Temple University. The incident took place in 2004 in Cosby's Philadelphia home.

At Tuesday's sentencing hearing Constand submitted a victim's impact statement which detailed the emotional devastation the attack had on her life. She also addressed Cosby's many other accusers saying, "We may never know the full extent of his double life as a sexual predator, but his decades-long reign of terror as a serial rapist is over."

Cosby's first trial ended in a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a consensus. At retrial, the judge allowed five women to testify that Cosby had assaulted them in ways similar to the attack on Constand. He was found guilty of three felony counts of assaulting Costand: penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant.

Cosby is the first celebrity to be tried and convicted of sexual assault since allegations about film producer Harvey Weinstein emerged in October 2017, leading survivors of sexual misconduct to share their #MeToo stories.

While allegations of sexual assault had chased Cosby throughout his career, his public persona remained that of "America's Dad" — he starred as lovable doctor and family man Cliff Huxtable for eight years on the popular sitcom The Cosby Show. In 2014, comedian Hannibal Burress called out the disconnect between Cosby's image and the many allegations of sexual abuse that had been levelled against him saying, "People think I’m making it up. …That shit is upsetting. If you didn’t know about it, trust me. You leave here and Google ‘Bill Cosby rape.’ It’s not funny." Burress' remarks went viral, and were one of the many factors that galvanised other women to share their accusations against Cosby.

Nearly 50 women have come forward to say that they were assaulted by the television star in incidents going as far back as the 1960s. In a 2015 story, The Cut pointed out that Cosby's accusers represented a spectrum of women, including "supermodels Beverly Johnson and Janice Dickinson alongside waitresses and Playboy bunnies and journalists and a host of women who formerly worked in show business."

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The first time I negotiated my salary was eight years into my career and it was by accident. I was quitting my job at Coca-Cola Enterprises and they countered to get me to stay. It was a good offer, so I told the new company, Moviefone, I was thinking about staying. Then, Moviefone offered me even more money! After this enlightening experience, I realised that salary negotiations are par for the course and I could have negotiated right from the beginning based on my own merits — I didn’t need a counteroffer. But like most young women, I didn’t have the confidence or understanding to negotiate for myself.

At the core, women do not like to advocate for themselves. They’re afraid they’ll come across as aggressive, pushy, or even greedy. Plus, women tend to undervalue themselves. Going to bat for someone else? We are great at that — studies show that women will gladly ask for more for another colleague, but we fall short when tasked with asking for better pay or benefits for ourselves. One of the most important things women can do to close the gender pay gap is to ask for a raise and start earning what they deserve.

As an author, there’s nothing better than hearing first-hand accounts of how the advice in your book helped a reader in their career path. A few months ago, one woman asked me how to negotiate for more money in a complicated work situation (read her story here); I’m happy to report she took the advice and succeeded. Now, I’ve talked to even more women who followed the tips in my book, The Myth of the Nice Girl, on negotiating with empathy. Here’s what they did — I hope it inspires you to do the same.

Tip # 1: Know Your Worth

An effective way to build your confidence is to determine your market value and what you bring to the table, whether that’s new business, employee morale, or saving the company the cost of recruiting someone new. Lisa*, a lawyer with more than 13 years experience, was recruited for a great opportunity at a new firm. She was excited about the position and the firm's culture, but the first offer presented to her was drastically lower than she had expected. Rather than be discouraged by the starting number, she got ready to negotiate. First, she got clear about her own value and the fact that she brings years of practical legal skills and a desire to help other women advance professionally (which has led to an impressive network of high-achieving women). Next, Lisa took the time to calculate the value of her portable book of business to help the firm understand what her client portfolio would look like on day one and to show the potential for real growth.

The more data you can gather and present, the stronger your case. Sue, a product manager, knew what it would cost to replace her. She reached out to fellow product managers, as well as researched on Glassdoor, Women in Product, and LinkedIn to find salary comparisons. She also gathered examples of the work she had done over the last couple of months and quotes from colleagues to support how valuable she was to the team. “I knew my worth and showed it to them,” Sue says, and, in the end, negotiated a significant raise that put her at market rate.

Tip # 2: Focus on the Mutual Benefits

Great deals are made when both parties feel like they’ve won. Studies have shown that when women negotiate with an eye toward what is best for the organisation in addition to what is best for themselves, they have a better chance of success. Knowing that the company’s key desire was to gain new business, Lisa focused her negotiation conversation on her track record in building new business and her prowess as a relationship-builder when discussing her deep network of contacts. But she also made it clear that she wanted to feel good about the compensation to take the leap to a new firm.

Throughout the negotiations, her mantra was “I’d love to find a way to make this work” and after a few meetings, she achieved exactly what she wanted. She had reiterated what she brought to the table, her goals to drive new business to the firm, and how she thought she could get there. She was willing to walk away, if necessary. Now, Lisa says, “I am a partner at an incredible law firm and I feel valued both by my colleagues and my paycheque. And, let's be real, that matters, too!”

Tip #3: Time it Right

Your empathy is a great asset when determining the right moment to ask for what you deserve. When will your boss feel most accepting of the discussion? Caroline, an assistant to a music executive, researched her market value, practiced her talking points, and asked for a meeting at the right time. She knew that her boss was more open in the morning as well as toward the end of a work week. She asked to schedule her annual review in that time frame. Her preparation and timing worked to her benefit: during her review, Caroline presented the facts and secured a 14% salary increase.

No matter who your boss is, it’s always a good time to ask if you’ve recently had a big, high-profile win at work — or if the company has hit a major milestone. After her company closed a round of funding, Sue asked the CEO for a meeting to discuss her performance and future so they both could come prepared. She seized the moment where there was a lot of momentum and it paid off.

Tip #4: Know You’re Worth It

Know you’re not alone — most people are nervous when they walk into a negotiation. “When I thought about asking for a raise I was terrified,” Caroline says. “I needed to find the confidence to get over my nerves to ask for what I want.” Negotiation can feel like this crazy difficult task, but remind yourself that it happens all the time and if you act professionally, you will walk away with your head held high no matter the result. “The main thing that resonated with me from The Myth of the Nice Girl was it made me feel that I simply wasn't crazy for asking for a raise,” said Caroline. “Your words helped me convince myself that I deserved it.” And you do. We all do.

*Names have been changed.

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In an interview with Fox News on Monday night, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh said he has never sexually assaulted anyone, and "did not have sexual intercourse or anything close to sexual intercourse in high school or for many years thereafter."

So far, two women have alleged that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted them in high school and college, respectively. Last week, Christine Blasey Ford came forward claiming that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted and attempted to rape her at a high school party when she was 15 and he was 17. Then on Sunday, Deborah Ramirez told The New Yorker that Kavanaugh thrust his penis in her face without her consent while they were both students at Yale.

When Martha MacCallum, the Fox News reporter who conducted the interview, asked Kavanaugh to clarify that he was a virgin throughout the years in question, he said he never had sex in high school, and did not have sex until "many years after that." But just because someone is a virgin does not mean that they are incapable of sexually assaulting someone.

"Being a virgin is not a defence to sexual violence, and [Kavanaugh] is relying on a very, very narrow view and definition of sexual assault," says Shiwali Patel, senior counsel for education at the National Women's Law Center. Sexual assault is defined as sexual contact or behaviour that occurs without explicit consent of the victim, including attempted rape, touching, or forcing someone to perform sexual acts, according to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network. This can involve penetration of a body part or by an object, Patel says. "As a judge, it's quite shocking that he would have such a narrow definition of sexual assault and would present a dissent that would not hold in a court of law," she says.

What Kavanaugh says is incredibly important because "this is his job interview for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court," Patel says. His current actions and statements reflect the potential viewpoints he might take as a Supreme Court justice, she continues.

In her Patel's opinion, Kavanaugh's implication that he could not have sexually assaulted someone because he's a virgin "destroyed his credibility."

If you have experienced sexual violence of any kind, please visit Rape Crisis or call 0808 802 9999.

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Weeks before a beloved family series premieres its newest season, its creator announces a “significant” character will die during an upcoming episode. Immediately, fan theories pop up across social media, attempting to predict all the morbid details. Even the show’s cast members claim to be terrified the Grim Reaper is coming for their character.

This is a scenario lifted straight from the This Is Us playbook. After all, the time-hopping, multigenerational NBC tear-jerker, which kicked off in September 2016, wrung nearly two seasons-worth of television out of the looming question of how Pearson family patriarch Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia) died. Was it a drunk driving accident? A 9/11 tragedy? An evil washing machine? (Spoiler: A malfunctioning slow cooker and an MIA dog are to blame.)

But, autumn TV’s latest macabre mystery has nothing to do with the sobbing Pearsons and their 50-plus years of family tragedies. Rather, autumn TV’s ill-fated character belongs to Modern Family. Yes, the decade’s most dominant sitcom about zany family hijinks, dad jokes, and clown sight gags is about to murder a beloved character, and that death will leave “repercussions across several episodes ” in its wake.

It’s official: This Is Us ’s tear-stained, character-murdering sentimental fingerprints are all over television these days. The melodrama is playing out across many networks, genres, and perspectives, from other breakout smashes like 13 Reasons Why to new offerings this autumn.

While television has been powered by family series since its inception, from retro classics like The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet and The Brady Bunch to recent cult favourites like Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, there was something different about the way This Is Us broke the zeitgeist and sagging broadcast ratings trends.

The series was dubbed the most successful new show of 2016 weeks into its first season, garnering 10 million same-day viewers and 14.6 million with DVR viewing for its series premiere. Then, when the show returned for season 2, the premiere beat its own stellar numbers and became the most-watched episode of This Is Us ever. While pundits were surprised by This Is Us ’ success in 2016, they’ve since realised the unapologetic sentimentality of the drama tapped into a desperate need for comfort television amid America’s relentlessly turbulent, divided atmosphere. The constant stream of tears produced by the hysterics of the Pearson family became national, cathartic therapy.

This autumn, no show is more obviously the heir to the This Is Us throne than A Million Little Things, about the fallout of one man’s (Ron Livingston as the late Jon Dixon) death by suicide, premiering Wednesday, September 26. Like Dan Fogelman’s NBC juggernaut, the ABC drama features flashbacks, boundless emotional turmoil (the pilot grapples with cancer, alcoholism, infidelity, and suicidal depression in a mere 42 minutes), and a very gruesome mystery ( why Jon ended his life, rather than the “how” of Jack’s death). Everything from the musical cues to the sweater-like coziness of the series echoes This Is Us.

Even Million ’s creator D.J. Nash, who previously created NBC comedies like 2015’S Truth Be Told and 2014’s Growing Up Fisher, recognises the connection between the two broadcast dramas. “Oh, there’s no question [a] half-hour guy [like me] is allowed to do an hour show because of the incredible work Dan and the gang over there has done,” Nash graciously told Refinery29 in between editing his first-ever drama series’ third episode. Although the writer has been working in television for almost 15 years, he had “never” seen an appetite for one of his pitches like he saw while shopping around A Million.

“NBC wanted it because essentially they wanted a companion for This Is Us. ABC wanted it because they wanted their version,” Nash recalled, adding with a genuine laugh, “I have benefited greatly from the success of [ This Is Us].”

That doesn’t mean Nash is simply trying to crib This Is Us ’ style, a style creator Fogelman recently defended against the label of “emotionally manipulative.” Nash's idea for A Million Little Things predates the Pearsons’ entrance into television and was conjured up during a breakfast meeting with Nash’s agents and lawyer over two years ago. “They said to me, ‘Write a show you would watch,’” he explained. “So I sat down and wrote a script.” The very personal result was the original idea for A Million, which evolved from Nash’s usual half-hour long style to an hour-long drama.

“I wanted it to reflect the life I know. I am inherently an optimistic person. I wake up everyday believing today’s the day great things will happen,” he explained in a very Jack Pearson, and now Jon Dixon, way. “I really wanted the show to capture that determination. It’s a determination that I personally have thanks to my friends, and I wanted this group of friends to have thanks to each other.”

In following his own tastes, Nash now realises his series, keeping in line with the emotionality of Us and ABC sibling The Good Doctor, is able to tap into “something about where we are in time, where we are as a country.”

While A Million Little Things may come with all the This Is Us bells and whistles plus the humour of its creator — Nash is a former stand-up comedian — it’s not the only hour-long series that has seemingly been touched by NBC’s family drama. Just look at Netflix’s own breakout success story 13 Reasons Why, which began initial filming in early June 2016, smack dab in the middle of This Is Us ’ record-breaking trailer release and its even more successful autumn premiere.

On the surface, these two shows may appear to have little in common. One is a soapy, time-jumping family drama, and the other is an angsty (and controversial) teen saga about suicide, sexual assault, and toxic masculinity. Yet, when you really drill down to the bones of both series, you’ll see there are far more similarities than differences.

As with Us, the first season of 13 Reasons Why has its own grim mystery: the 13 moments that led to the suicide of Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford). Much of the draw of the streaming series’ first batch of episodes is getting answers to that gnawing question, especially since audiences are left wondering how sweet, well-meaning Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) could be implicated in Hannah’s death. And, as with This Is Us, viewers get that explanation through countless interwoven flashbacks — flashbacks that become so intricate in season 2, one needs to use a high school sports calendar to understand what’s going on.

When 13 Reasons Why uses its time jumping habit well, it can rival the emotional heft of This Is Us ’ weightiest episodes. For proof, look no further than season 2’s best episode, “The Smile At The End Of The Dock.” The instalment slowly unravels the previously unknown love story of Hannah and Zach Dempsey (Riverdale alum Ross Butler). As we find out through “Smile,” the two had their first sexual experiences together and began a summer-long fling filled with genuinely sweet, thoughtful, and intimate moments. While Zach was never exactly a villain of this Netflix story, the flashbacks put the sweet jock into a completely new, complicated, and mostly flattering light.

“Smile” stands as a similar character clarification to the ones This Is Us has doled out for Miguel (Jon Huertas) and Shauna (Joy Brunson), the troubled mom of Déjà (Lyric Ross). Zach was really the romantic hero all along, and Miguel never stole his best friend’s wife. Shauna is more than just an ex-convict for Randall Pearson (Sterling K. Brown) to yell at.

Once you see the connection between This Is Us and something so drastically different as 13 Reasons Why, it’s easy to the see where else the Us thread lives in television. Netflix’s dark horse fan-favourite sitcom Atypical, about a middle-class family with a son who has autism, is built off the same heady familial angst. It also has a 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The aforementioned Good Doctor ,2017’s most successful new broadcast series , lives and dies by its high emotions and tight bonds. Even the CW’s already-buzzy upcoming teen sports drama All American, debuting October 10, seems touched by the in-its-feelings-ness of Us. Although the series shares a producer with Riverdale in Greg Berlanti, American ’s obsession with familial relationships and pilot-closing twist is 100% Pearson.

And television’s dedication to ultra-emotional, sprawling narratives isn’t going to stop with this autumn. NBC will premiere The Village during midseason. The titular “village” is actually a Brooklyn apartment building where “the people who reside have built a bonded family of friends and neighbours,” according to the NBC website. Those people include an immigrant mom, her American-born son, a recently-returned veteran, a law student ,and his much older roommate. “These are the hopeful, heartwarming and challenging stories of life that prove family is everything, even if it's the one you make with the people around you,” NBC promises of The Village.

You should probably go buy that jumbo box of tissues right now.

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When Gucci designer Alessandro Michele likes something, he really leans into it – mixing prints. Pussy bows and trompe l'oeil ribbons with Disney. Yes, really. Since Michele took over as creative director in 2015, he's put his love of all things Disney on display. There was the Donald Duck capsule collection for spring 2017, an appearance by Snow White eating a poison apple during the spring 2018 line, and a pattern made up of the "Three Little Pigs" for cruise 2019. Michele's references aren't always immediately obvious like, say, Coach's adaptation of Minnie Mouse ears for handbags or Givenchy's use of Bambi, but they are genuine — in 2017, he told i-D he grew up watching Donald Duck cartoons.

On Monday, Michele took that appreciation one step further. In celebration of Mickey Mouse's 90th birthday this November, handbags shaped like the icon's head (including those ears, of course) were sent down the spring 2019 runway. For any other show, their appearance might have felt surprising. But at Gucci, it was just one of many moments — like Jane Birkin performing live, a cockatoo sitting eerily still perched on a model's shoulder, bedazzled jock straps, among many others.

Oh, and then there were the clothes. Paris' Le Palace Theatre in Montmartre set the stage for a collection where there were lots of feathers and sequins, plus an homage to Dolly Parton in the form of a denim jacket you'd get spray painted at the boardwalk. “I am reconnecting culture and popular culture,” Michele told British Vogue of the offering. And all of it — even those Mickey Mouse handbags — makes complete sense.

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Welcome to Money Diaries, where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking a cross-section of women how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period – and we're tracking every last penny.

This week we're with a civil servant who's been in Manchester for a year and has decided to move on to a nicer place and record how much it all costs.

"I moved to Manchester a year ago for a new job. Loved my old flat but the landlord never liked paying for repairs so I decided to move. I also wanted to sign up for a 12-month lease which my current flatmate couldn’t do, so I'm moving in with another friend."

Industry: Civil Service
Age: 23
Location: Manchester
Salary: £28,000
Paycheque amount: £1,766.80
Number of housemates: 1

Moving Expenses: £1,175

I applied online and was accepted by the landlords. We then had to pay £175 application fee each so the agent could start credit checks and referencing. Once that was cleared, I paid £1,000 (£475 first month's rent and £525 deposit). It’s annoying that I have to pay a new deposit before I get the old one back (the vicious cycle of renting). Told my mum this on the phone and she kindly donated the cost of the new deposit to my bank account. I'm very grateful that my parents are understanding of the high costs associated with renting in England (I’m originally from Ireland, where the costs are much lower). I will pay her back when I get the old deposit into my account.

Monthly Expenses

Housing costs: £500 pcm in the old flat, £475 pcm in the new.
Loan payments: Student loan repayments taken out before tax.
Utilities: £146 (£10 internet, £20 water, £15 electric, £10 contents insurance, £78.50 council tax, £12.50 TV licence).
Transportation: £0 (I live and work in the city centre so can walk to work).
Phone bill: £14 sim-free contract – bought the phone outright a year ago.
Savings? £400. £200 into a LISA (savings for a house deposit). I put £2,500 into the LISA each year which my parents then top up for me. It means I get the full benefit of the HMRC bonus each tax year. I also contribute £200 a month to a regular savings account with a high interest rate. This is going towards my emergency fund and a fancy holiday I plan on taking next year.
Other: £0.79 iCloud storage.

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