Content Warning: This article contains mild mentions of alleged sexual abuse.

Any time Michael Jackson’s name crops up in headlines these days, it’s almost guaranteed that some controversy or the other is being revisited — a lawsuit, an allegation, a family feud, money issues, or, in the case of an upcoming HBO documentary, all four. The two-part, four-hour HBO documentary, Leaving Neverland, is controversy -laden already. The doc gives the mic to two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who claim that they were sexually molested and abused by the King of Pop when they were ages 7 and 11, respectively. (The Jackson Estate, as well Jackson's brothers and nephew, have repeatedly denied Safechuck and Robson's claims.)

The documentary features graphic charges against Jackson, including allegations that the pop star plied Robson and Safechuck with alcohol and pornography before molesting them, and that Jackson even recorded one of his sexual encounters with Safechuck. This is the first time both men have spoken at length about these allegations.

But as with everything surrounding Jackson, there is a lot to unpack in the telling of these two men’s stories. Robson, now 36, and Safechuck, now 40, have had long and complicated relationships with the singer, and even with his family. Their decision to speak out was the “ultimate betrayal,” as Jackson’s nephew Taj put it, and HBO’s decision to air the documentary has been a saga of epic proportions unfolding in the press.

In early February, the Jackson family sued the network and its parent company, Time Warner, for $100 million for allegedly violating a non-disparagement clause from a 1992 contract concerning the airing of one of Michael’s concerts. HBO, in turn, has stood firmly behind director Dan Reed and his work, saying in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter: “Our plans remain unchanged. The two-part documentary, Leaving Neverland, will air as scheduled on Sunday 3rd March and Monday 4th March (and on the 6th and 7th March in the UK). Dan Reed is an award-winning filmmaker who has carefully documented these survivors’ accounts. People should reserve judgment until they see the film.”

The friction between HBO and the Jackson family seemed inevitable, and in a way, the estate’s public damning of the documentary is mostly serving to drum up interest in it, as well as in decades-old conversations about the talented, troubled, musical force that was Michael Jackson. Here, we break down what all the he-said, they-said hubbub is all about, and where it might leave both the Jackson family and the documentary’s subjects, Robson and Safechuck, after the documentary airs.

Controversy One: Both Robson and Safechuck have previously defended Jackson in court and to investigators.

Robson and Safechuck’s long and complicated relationship with Jackson was brought to light in 2005, when Robson was called to testify in a court case against the singer. At the time, Jackson was being accused of molesting 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo, and Robson, who became close with Jackson from a very young age, testified under oath that Jackson had never sexually molested him. (Safechuck, when questioned by investigators years ago as a child, similarly came to Jackson’s defence and denied any sort of sexual relationship.) Jackson was ultimately found not guilty.

In a recent interview with Gayle King on CBS This Morning, however, Robson explained what had prompted him to allegedly lie under oath. “Michael’s training of me to testify began the first night that he started abusing me, in the sense that, you know, that right away, after the first experience of sexual abuse, he started telling me that if anybody else ever finds out, we’ll both go to jail, both of our lives would be over,” he said.

Complicating things further is the fact that both Robson and Safechuck are currently appealing lawsuits that they lost against the Jackson estate in recent years. After testifying on behalf of Jackson in 2005, Robson came forward in 2013 claiming that the singer had indeed molested him; Safechuck came forward with similar claims one year later. The court ultimately ruled that the two men had filed their lawsuits past the statute of limitations and dismissed the case s. Both are now in appeal.

Controversy Two: The Jackson family believes the entire documentary is being made so Robson and Safechuck can make money and get attention.

Rather than entertain the idea that Robson and Safechuck may have been sexually molested by their brother and uncle, several members of Jackson’s immediate family are calling the men liars who are hoping to capitalise on their closeness to the pop legend. Taj, Jackson’s nephew, told USA Today that he knows Robson personally, and considers his allegations the “ultimate betrayal.”

“It’s never been about justice for him,” Taj said. “It’s always been about fame and money.”

Family members point out how Robson was invited to, and attended, Jackson’s memorial, and how the choreographer danced “right behind” Janet Jackson at a subsequent tribute for MJ at MTV’s Video Music Awards. He even, Taj pointed out, “wanted to get close to MJ’s kids” shortly after Jackson’s death. But then, the Jacksons said, when Robson was passed over to direct and choreograph Cirque du Soleil’s Las Vegas “One” show spotlighting Jackson, his relationship with the family began to sour. According to the Jackson family, that’s when Robson began waging war against his former idol, selling off his memorabilia and pitching a book with allegations against Michael. He also famously sued the family in 2013 in the aforementioned case.

In response to claims that Robson had vindictively turned on the family, Robson’s lawyer, Vince Finaldi, told USA Today, “It’s just another example of the Jackson press machine manipulating facts and telling half-truths in order to try and discredit a victim.” Finaldi added that Robson was hired to choreograph the “One” show, but ultimately suffered a nervous breakdown and dropped out.

It is also important to note that the Jackson estate itself could take a substantial hit depending on the overall reaction and response to the documentary; following his 1993 trial, Jackson was reportedly cut from several merchandising deals, and wasn’t able to secure any national brands to help back his 1996-1997 HIStory tour.

Controversy Three: Documentarian Dan Reed didn’t reach out for comment or response from the Jackson family.

In their $100 million lawsuit against HBO and Time Warner, the Jackson family expressed their disappointment and anger that Reed hadn’t even bothered to ask them for their views or response to Robson and Safechuck’s allegations. In a scathing 10-page letter, the estate called Leaving Neverland "an admittedly one-sided, sensationalist program" that didn’t seek to tell a balanced story, and was instead joining “the tabloid media’s ‘Michael Jackson cacophony.’”

“They weren’t interested in gathering any evidence that wouldn’t corroborate what they’re saying,” Jackson’s brother Marlon told USA Today. “That wasn’t the plan. It was a one-sided documentary.” Of the Jackson family members who have spoken out against the project, only Jackson’s nephew Taj, Tito’s son, said he would be interested in watching the doc once it has aired. “Because I would be able to probably pick it apart, scene by scene,” he explained. “I think they’re counting on the masses to see it and then our voices to be drowned out.”

Advocates for the documentary have argued that the documentary isn’t meant to be journalistic, but only nonfiction in nature, meaning that the decision to omit any of the Jackson family’s voices was not only deliberate, but permissible. In focusing on the survivors rather than the alleged perpetrator, Leaving Neverland is following in the footsteps of such recent documentaries as Surviving R. Kelly and Untouchable, as opposed to, say, the more perpetrator-focused series Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.

Controversy Four: The Jackson family says there is “no evidence” that the molestations ever happened, but proof of such encounters is difficult to procure.

In an interview with Gayle King for CBS This Morning, Marlon Jackson said that the documentary is an exploitative effort, and that there is no concrete evidence that can prove that any of Robson or Safechuck’s allegations are true. “There has not been not one piece of evidence that corroborates their story,” Marlon said. “And they’re not interested in doing that.” When asked what sorts of evidence would qualify as “valid,” however, none of Jackson’s brothers or nephew could come up with an answer.

Reed explained in an interview that aired the previous day that he had made the decision not to interview the Jackson family for the film because it wasn’t being fair to Robson and Safechuck. “No one else was in the room, I don’t believe, when Wade [Robson] was being molested by Michael or when James [Safechuck] was having sex with Michael,” he said. He added that he had made sure to include many clips of Jackson defending himself in his own words (pulling from the 1993 case and the 2004 case), since the allegations are against Jackson himself, and not his estate as a whole.

“This isn’t a film about Michael Jackson,” Reed said. “It’s a film about Wade and James, two little boys and this dreadful thing that happened long ago. And it’s the story of them coming to terms with that over two decades, and the story of their families.” The Jackson family, he said, have adamantly denied any wrongdoing on Jackson’s part, and so their voices wouldn’t add any new information to the story.

Controversy Five: Leaving Neverland is being released amid a growing swell of documentaries that revisit past newsmakers.

It’s no secret that documentaries are really getting the rockstar treatment these days, with the recent releases of Conversations With a Killer, Abducted in Plain Sight, Making a Murderer, Amanda Knox, and the two competing Fyre Fest documentaries all causing a buzz online and at water coolers around the nation. The competitive nature of today’s most prolific platforms — Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon — has also generated the sort of perpetual one-upmanship that was previously more common amongst the biggest television networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC. (The new model of competition is perhaps best exemplified by the twin release of the Fyre Fest documentaries.)

The Jackson estate alluded to this competitive element in a brief paragraph in their letter to HBO. “We know that HBO is facing serious competitive pressures from Netflix, Amazon and other more modern content providers, but to stoop to this level to regain an audience is disgraceful,” the letter reads in part. “We know HBO and its partners on this documentary will not be successful. We know that this will go down as the most shameful episode in HBO’s history.”

Controversy Six: Oprah Winfrey is now involved.

Less than a week before the premiere of Leaving Neverland, it was announced that Oprah Winfrey will be offering up her services as an expert interviewer for her own special, Oprah Winfrey Presents: After Neverland, which will air on Monday immediately following the second half of Leaving Neverland. The one-hour, pre-taped special will feature Winfrey interviewing Robson and Safechuck in front of an audience that includes survivors of sexual abuse.

Though it is unclear what wide range of topics Winfrey will cover during the special, which will air on both HBO and OWN, it is safe to say that her involvement in the telling of the story will add yet another layer to an already-confusing, controversial narrative.

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

The two-part documentary, Leaving Neverland, will air in the UK on Wednesday 6th at 9pm and Thursday 7th at 9pm on Channel 4.

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Update (4th March 2019): Ted Baker's CEO and founder Ray Kelvin has resigned following allegations of misconduct, including "forced hugging", the company announced today. Kelvin had been on a voluntary leave of absence since December, when the allegations emerged, and in a new statement said that while the company had been his "life and soul" it was now "the right thing to do is to step away," the BBC reported.

Update (7th December 2018): Ted Baker's CEO and founder Ray Kelvin has said he is taking a "temporary leave of absence" following allegations of harassment.

Kelvin's announcement comes after an anonymous staff member created a petition to end "forced hugging" by the 62-year-old executive in the workplace.

The petition, which has more than 2,500 signatures, described the practice as "part of a culture [at the company] that leaves harassment unchallenged".

"I’ve seen the CEO ask young female members of staff to sit on his knee, cuddle him, or let him massage their ears. I went to HR with a complaint and was told 'that’s just what Ray’s like'," the petition, which made headline news earlier this week, reads.

On Friday evening, the fashion brand said its committee and board have been informed of "further serious allegations" against Kelvin.

The company also said it has appointed a law firm to conduct an independent external investigation into the allegations, the BBC reports.

“Ray Kelvin has agreed, for the benefit of the business and the people who work in it, that he will take a voluntary leave of absence from his role with the company while these allegations are investigated," Ted Baker said in a statement yesterday.

Just a day earlier, on Thursday, the company had said that Kelvin would be continuing in his CEO role while matters were under investigation.

Following the U-turn, Kelvin said in a statement on Friday: "Ted Baker has been my life and soul for 30 years. I love this company and I care deeply for all my colleagues. It's for that reason that I have decided to take a temporary leave of absence."

"Ted Baker means everything to me and I can’t bear to see it harmed in any way," he added.

Ted Baker's chief operating officer Lindsay Page has been named acting chief executive during Kelvin's leave of absence.

The company also said on Friday that it will not be making any further comments about the nature of the allegations against Kelvin while they remain under investigation.

This piece was originally published on December 3, 2018 at 12pm.

Ted Baker staff have launched a petition to end "forced hugging" by its 62-year-old CEO and founder Ray Kelvin, which they describe as "part of a culture that leaves harassment unchallenged".

The petition, created by an anonymous member of staff on workplace website Organise, also accuses Kelvin of other inappropriate behaviour towards young women, including touching and objectifying remarks. The petition has attracted more than 2,400 signatures already. Ted Baker is investigating the claims.

"I’ve seen the CEO ask young female members of staff to sit on his knee, cuddle him, or let him massage their ears. I went to HR with a complaint and was told 'that’s just what Ray’s like'," the petition reads. It also accuses Kelvin of "regularly [making] sexual innuendos at staff," stroking their necks, taking off his shirt and talking about his sex life.

"So many people have left the business due to harassment, whether that be verbal, physical or sexual," it says, adding that the current system of reporting it to the company's HR is "hopelessly ineffective" as "they don't act on the reports". It's now calling on other staff and Ted Baker customers to share their own experiences.

Several anonymous staff also shared their experiences on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning. "He had a policy of hugging everyone, rather than a handshake," said one. "Nothing wrong with that but these hugs were extremely physically imposing as well as awkwardly long, often conducted publicly in front of the whole office."

The employees added that while they didn't have a problem with the hugging in itself, the behaviour that tended to accompany it made them feel uncomfortable: "unwanted personal comments, kisses on the cheek [and] neck stroking all used to happen after, particularly with women."

They went on to describe Kelvin's habit of massaging employees. One one occasion, he allegedly did so while showing a group of visitors around the office, "commenting loudly" on the tightness of the employee's muscles. "Although not illegal, obviously, it was deeply embarrassing," one said.

Another staff member claimed they'd been "warned by some of the senior staff that Kelvin was a character and could be inappropriate, and just to go along with it". They said they'd noticed that he would "go in for a hug regardless of any apparent desire from those he was hugging", and that hugs would last between 10 and 40 seconds, and would often involve him whispering, kissing necks or massaging people's ears. "This would happen every day if he was in a good mood," they added.

In response, the company said it had launched an investigation, and that while hugs are part of the company's culture, they are "absolutely not insisted upon". "While the claims made are entirely at odds with the values of our business and those of our CEO, we take them very seriously."

It added: "Ray greets many people he meets with a hug – be it a shareholder, investor, supplier, partner, customer or colleague. Hugs have become part of Ted Baker’s culture, but are absolutely not insisted upon."

To combat the lack of clarity over what constitutes acceptable workplace behaviour, Sandra Paul, defence litigator and partner at law firm Kingsley Napley, said companies need clear policies that are clearly communicated, so that "everybody has a common understanding about what the expectations are – what's okay and what's not," she told Radio 4's Today, adding that people should "have a right to be safe in their work environment".

Paul said that the rules should apply to staff throughout the organisation, regardless of their standing, as employees often feel pressured not to make allegations against company founders and/or CEOs, particularly dominant individuals.

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Update (4th March 2019): The world's first reusable tampon applicator has launched and is available to buy now on the high street – at last. In 2018, the UK-based startup DAME started a crowdfunding campaign to make our periods more eco-friendly, and the product is now available to buy in Waitrose stores for £24.99. The brand says each applicator (which is sold in a box with six tampons) will "save thousands of pieces of plastic", making it even easier for women to cut down the amount of plastic they get through each month. To keep it clean, it just requires a rinse under the tap.

This story was originally published on 1st March 2018.

Periods may be a necessary evil but they can also be seriously inconvenient – from PMS and painful cramps to the financial and potential health ramifications of our chemical-laden sanitary products – and on top of all that, there's the environmental impact.

Environmentally friendly, chemical-free sanitary products do exist, but they're not widely available on the high street, meaning we still often find ourselves using regular plastic-applicator tampons, which are terrible for the environment. The average woman gets through a reported 12,000 tampons in her lifetime, the vast majority of which end up in landfill or the ocean. Most cardboard applicators aren't much better either, as they often contain a plastic coating.

Applicator-free tampons are available, of course, but many women find them awkward to use and would rather not use menstrual cups either, which is where DAME's reusable tampon applicator comes in. The UK-based startup has produced a device to make your period more eco-friendly – even if you only use regular tampons.

The company – whose slogan is "Bleed red. Think green" – created the discreet, dark green applicator from Mediprene, a plastic used in medical products. It's also BPA-free and uses antimicrobial technology to keep it hygienic, meaning you can use it back-to-back with just a rinse under the tap.

Comfort was also high on the company's priorities list, with the device described as "smooth as silk" and designed to prevent leaks. It works in the same way as a regular plastic tampon – just slide the tampon through the applicator and out the other side – and it can be used with tampons of any size.

Celia Pool, cofounder of DAME, said the idea came when the company realised there was little appetite for sustainable sanitary products compared to regular disposable ones. “When we were running a thriving online period subscription service we realised how massive, but silent, the problem of menstrual plastic waste is," she told Refinery29.

"While we offered both disposable and reusable products, virtually no one wanted to buy the sustainable options. That’s when we decided to design our own version of a green tampon that women might actually use."

They decided on dark green for the product, which has been 14 months in the making, because it had the best reviews of all colour options presented to a 30-strong market research group. "It was the only one without any negative connotations, so we had a clear winner," Pool said, adding that they also wanted to "avoid making it look like a sex toy".

Pool believes it's only a matter of time before other businesses will need to think about how they can do their bit for the environment. "The recent press coverage and media campaigns about plastic pollution prove that consumers are waking up to the issue, too. Change needs to happen, but it doesn’t need to be difficult or painful."

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One can’t help but look at Sophie Turner ’s red-carpet beauty style — dotted with romantic loose waves and braided updos — and think she must have grabbed at least a little inspiration from Sansa Stark. Then again, with hair like that, she has no reason not to.

What really separates the actress's look from her on-screen persona's is the way she uses modern makeup to give classic styles a fresh twist. It’s a trick Turner has mastered almost from day one: take what looks good on you — in her case, a rosy complexion that lets her freckles shine, taupe eyeshadows, and lashes doused in mascara — and add a surprising new element, like a show-stopping matte red lip or feline flick of black liner.

The result is a trademark beauty look that feels authentic to Turner, but is never repetitive. See how the star has elevated a natural beauty look to one that matches her growing stardom (and tops wedding Pinterest boards), ahead.

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Acne doesn’t discriminate — especially on where it decides to set up camp. The bumps can park on your face, appearing on your chin or cheeks. Or, they can pop up on other parts of your body — including your scalp.

Even though it's covered in hair follicles, the scalp is actual skin. Just like your face, it can be prone to dryness, scabbing, scarring, and "acne." Dermatologist Neil Sadick, MD, of Sadick Dermatology in New York City, tells Refinery29 that scalp acne (known by doctors as folliculitis) occurs when a hair follicle gets clogged with sebum or product debris.

Ted Lain, MD, of Sanova Dermatology in Texas, explains that scalp acne is a common result of inflammation of the hair follicles. But sometimes it can be a sign of something more serious. “Acne on the scalp may also indicate a bacterial infection," he says. "If the acne seems very inflamed, itchy, and is spreading very quickly, you should seek care from a dermatologist."

If you've noticed a few pesky, red bumps after skipping a few washes, slathering your scalp with oil (which causes clogging), or rocking a slightly-snug protective style — the key to getting rid of scalp acne starts with picking the right products. Ahead, find the exact tips (and products) dermatologists give their clients when acne attacks.

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Chloe Grace Moretz has been acting since she was an adolescent, and she’s got the poise and wiser-than-her-years disposition to prove it. When she’s waxing poetic about the “cacophony of scenes and macabre moments” in her latest film, a horror thriller called Greta, you almost forget how young Moretz is. Then, in the same breath, she’s gushing about Britney Spears — she’s got stickers of the pop star plastered to her phone — and she sounds like every other twentysomething who grew up with “...Baby One More Time.”

When Moretz calls Refinery29 from New York City in the midst of her latest press tour, she has just celebrated her 22nd birthday, a milestone she calls “thankless.” To offset the monotony, she threw herself a 2000s-themed party at “an old-school gay bar” called Oil Can Harry's in L.A.. Moretz dressed as Spears (“Duh!” she says, like there was clearly no other correct choice of costume) while her friends made up the rest of the early '00s motley crew: Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton circa The Simple Life, the Olsen twins, and, of course, Kevin Federline. The fact that Moretz chose the celebrate her birthday with a nod to the 2000s seems fitting, given that Greta also feels like an ode to thrillers of that era. It’s campy like Obsessed, a slow-burn like The Descent, and features dynamic female performances like Panic Room.

Moretz plays Frances, a wide-eyed waitress whose good deed of returning a purse she found on the subway to a lonely older woman (Greta, played by French cinema icon and Academy Award nominee Isabelle Huppert) turns into a Very Bad Decision. Terror ensues. Mortez and Huppert go toe-to-toe in a movie that hinges on their chemistry, which Moretz says stemmed from their real-life friendship.

Here, Moretz talks about how Greta is like Get Out, why the horror genre is having a moment, and her "huge" nights out with Huppert.

Refinery29 Canada: You took a brief hiatus in 2016. You said you wanted to be more selective of the roles you were choosing. So, why this movie, and why now?

Chloe Grace Moretz: "I thought this movie was a really worthwhile opportunity for me to work with a French icon in the film industry like Isabelle Huppert. I think [the script] was really interesting because, like Get Out, it subverts the genre. You know, in an older version of this movie it would have been Isabelle as a man and my character as the young female."

In that older version, the relationship probably would have been about sex or romantic in some way, but in Greta, it starts as an intergenerational female friendship.

"That’s a big thing in this movie, [but] it is almost like a romance. That moment when [my character Frances] sees the other bags in the cupboard, it's not just her being like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm terrified, and this person is doing this to other people. It's also this moment of immense heartbreak. It's like realizing your partner is cheating on you. It’s realizing that you're not as special as you thought ... maybe everything you thought about that relationship is untrue. It makes you feel futile, it makes your entire soul feel cheap and taken advantage of. At its core, this is a movie about heartbreak and loss and loneliness, and what heartbreak, loss, and loneliness do to a person."

It is so interesting you brought up Get Out. It does seem like the horror genre is making a comeback with prestige films that are attracting big-name talent and critical acclaim again. Why do you think that is?

"[In horror], you're able to really push very massive archetypes and structures that we deal with in everyday life and real-life issues … under the guise of this wholly thrilling, exciting experience. [Audiences] don't feel like they are taking their medicine, but they are getting very real subject matter."

Isabelle Huppert is subtly terrifying in this role. Were there moments you were scared of her on set?

"Not really. [Laughs.] She became a really close confidant of mine, and she still is to this day. Even in our spookier moments, she was incredibly gentle and kind and caring. I think that really important for a movie like this, which is the same thing I went through with Julianne Moore on Carrie."

Both Julianne and Isabelle are veterans in this industry. You could say the same about you, but you come from very different worlds and you're obviously different ages. With Isabelle, what lessons did you learn from each other?

"What think I really learned most was her ability to always be a student. The amount of movies that she's made and the amount of acclaim that she has, she sat down and never preached to me. She asked me questions, and she asked my perspective. That was something I continued to want to learn from her — to never stop being a student and to ask as many questions as possible and continue to learn through every piece of work that you do."

She’s known as one of the most famous and respected actresses in French cinema, but what would people be surprised to learn about Isabelle?

"I think a lot of people are terrified of her because she is such a legend. I think they would be surprised to realize what a goof she is. She's really sweet and very silly, and she loves to dance."

Oh, her dancing scene in Greta is incredible.

"She and I would go out and have a few drinks and dance together on the weekend. We had some really huge nights together. She's a total riot....[She dances to] anything. We just listen to pop music in a very dark bar."

Is she an Ariana Grande stan?

"Yeah, fully. Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Britney. She will totally cut a rug with me. And I really appreciated it."

Greta is also about power of female friendship. You've always been open about representation in Hollywood and what needs to get better for women in Hollywood.

"I was thinking about this earlier today and someone asked me, 'What do you think, with all the change and all the progress that has happened, what do you think isn't happening yet?' My answer was that I don't think we're putting enough women in the driver's seat. We're not giving enough women the director roles, the producing roles, the prop master roles, the set design role, the editor, the sound mixer. We have so many roles in filmmaking that do not just pertain to a female lead, and I think it's a bit of a cop out lately to just cast a female lead and say that it’s changing the perspective, but it really isn't."

What are you doing to help change that perspective?

"For me, it's just trying to take as many meetings and reach out to as many female filmmakers and writers as possible and coming together. The communication is key. Trying to hold people accountable is the most important step that we can take."

This interview has been condensed and edited.

Greta is in UK cinemas from 19th April

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Two years ago at the Design Indaba Festival in Cape Town, Ikea teamed up with a group of designers, architects, artists and creatives from five African countries. The resulting collaboration is called Överallt – which fuses aspects of African fashion, sculpture, architecture and furniture design. The collaboration centres around "modern urban rituals" and the importance they play in the home with the aim of bringing cultures together and tapping into the creative explosion happening around Africa. The result is a collection of chairs, soft furnishings, storage and kitchenware that mixes modern ideas with traditional craft.

Clotilde Passalacqua, Interior Design Leader from Ikea UK and Ireland says: "The collection has a number of fantastic pieces inspired by African and Scandi design to create a modern look for urban living. For example, the Överallt chair, in natural, untreated plywood is the perfect blank canvas – its sleek architectural design looks great by itself, but encourages you to put your own touch on it. Moreover, with no screws required, the chair is functional easy to assemble. To personalise the chair, use African inspired prints from the textiles to add a pop of colour."

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Ever since Glossier announced the addition of a mysterious new sister brand called Glossier Play last week, intrigue and speculation has run high — what could it be? A line of sex toys? An immersive art experience, like the Museum of Ice Cream for "no-makeup" makeup? A new social-commerce platform... whatever that is?

Now, we have our answer: Glossier Play, out today, is a new range of "dialled-up beauty extras" that promises to turn the image of the clean-faced, dewy-skinned Glossier girl on its head with a full line of colour cosmetics. So what does "dialled up" mean to the people who famously brought us makeup that looks like we’re not wearing any at all? Based on the initial launches, they’re talking full-throttle makeup-lover’s makeup in saturated shades and dense glitter made to stand out — and not budge.

Four products are available today, starting with Colorslide, a £13 gel eye pencil in 14 metallic and matte shades that’s made to last through 12 gruelling hours of life without creasing or smudging. The colours aren't typical, either: Shades include a bright pink and a deep ginger orange — even Brack, Glossier Play's brown-black take on the classic tone, adds an unexpected twist.

Also launching: the £12 Glitter Gelée makeup topper, made to turn anything sparkly for a 12-hour run, and a £14 Vinylic Lip click pen, which aims to deliver high shine and deep colour without staining or feathering. Glossier Play's fourth offering, a £17 liquid highlighter called Nightshine, taps pearl powder for illumination that borders on metallic. Two tools round out the brand's debut collection: a pencil sharpener, and an applicator designed to be used with the brand’s liquid highlighter.

Each product is available à la carte or as part of of Glossier Play’s bundling option, called Playground, which offers one of each product in any shade of your choosing at a £13 saving — because somehow, Glossier knew we'd want them all. One thing is certain: No matter which shades we pick, or how many unexpected additions come to the line, what it means to have a Glossier face will never be the same.

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There's no shortage of products and treatments promising to be the magical silver bullet to a plethora of vaginal health concerns (which, to clarify, are often socially conditioned into us and unfounded to begin with). Now, there's another to add to the list. The Jamu Stick is being debunked by exasperated gynaecologists for its potentially dangerous consequences.

The Jamu Stick – a 12 cm-long and 2.5 cm-wide stick made from mysterious herbs, designed to be inserted into the vagina every three to four days – exfoliates the vagina "by removing the dead skin cells of the surface layers of the vaginal epithelial skin", to allegedly solve ailments as varied as a loose vagina, discharge, odour and a low libido. (That's the vagina it's designed to exfoliate – not the external skin of the vulva.)

Results of the Jamu Stick are said to be immediate – "return to your former tightness in seconds", the website claims – and, like clinics which peddle 'vaginal rejuvenation' (a supposed 'cure' for symptoms as varied as looseness, dryness, pain and incontinence), sellers of the Jamu Stick make some extraordinary (and linguistically confusing) guarantees.

The stick, which is sold online for $24-28 (£18-21), is "a 100% natural product... manufactured according to a secret recipe" that is "intended for vaginal cleansing, balancing urovaginal microflora, elimination of vaginal discharge and odour, tightening of the vagina, increase of libido and intensification of sexual feelings," says the seller.

In a Facebook post last week advertising the product, Jamu Stick said it treats the 'callus' inside the vagina, a term that sparked uproar among gynaecologists and medically clued-up social media users alike. The post has since been removed by the brand but there is a screenshot below.

excuse me? excuse me? excuse me? pic.twitter.com/m2Hvlex1A8

— chaeronaea fan account (@babypizzagaga) February 28, 2019

Oh my god please do not believe the lies that @jamu_stick spreads. You do not need to “tighten” your vagina. You do not need to wash the inside or your vagina, it is self cleaning, you do not need to exfoliate your vagina (yeah they said that), your vagina balances it’s own ph

— cheyenne (@cheygraciela) March 1, 2019

My wife just said "I would jamu that stick up your ass" and "what kind of work is a vagina doing to develop a callus" and I am laughing A LOT

— Flick 🇺🇸 (@Cory_Flick) March 1, 2019

Just looked at the website and I'd put money on it being run by a guy as one of the claimed 'benefits' is 'no need to consider penis enlargement' because the Jamu Stick 'cleans & tightens' 😯 https://t.co/IEYJqFZPsO

— Mr Omneo (@mr_omneo) March 1, 2019

I thought the Jamu Stick thing had to be a hoax but I googled and you can buy similar products on Amazon and I would like to leave this planet now

— Kalany (@kalanyy) March 1, 2019

Jamu Stick, which originates from Bali, Indonesia, isn't the only company selling vagina 'sticks', however. A search for 'vagina stick' on marketplaces including Amazon and Etsy returns similar products, which hail from countries including the US and Japan. (The makers of Jamu Stick warn against cheaper 'imitation' sticks sold around the world, which come "mainly from China" and "can be harmful due to the use of incorrect ingredients".)

Calluses are not possible. Anyone who thinks this doesn't understand even the basics of vaginal biology.

Dr Jen Gunter, the gynaecologist, obstetrician and vaginal health expert famous for discrediting Goop's most suspect claims and author of upcoming The Vagina Bible, called out a Japanese vagina stick on her blog as far back as 2016 – yet they are still being bought and sold online. Speaking to Refinery29, she was adamant that women should not insert abrasive objects into their vagina under any circumstances.

We asked if vaginal 'calluses' that require 'exfoliation' are even possible. Dr Gunter was clear: "NO! The vaginal epithelium sheds very regularly. Calluses are not possible. Anyone who thinks this doesn't understand even the basics of vaginal biology." The skin inside the vagina sheds by itself roughly every 96 hours, she says.

Is a vagina stick, such as Jamu Stick, in any way safe? "NO! The vagina is like a self-cleaning oven. None of the ingredients in the Jamu Stick can help in any way and will likely cause harm," Dr Gunter added.

Also, the vaginal epithelium turns over about every 96 hours — it is self exfoliating! It is one of the defense mechanisms.

— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) March 1, 2019

She told Refinery29 she had strong words for Jamu Stick and other companies selling such gadgets aimed at 'curing' vaginal ailments. "You should be ashamed of yourselves [for] preying on insecurities to sell a completely unnecessary and potentially harmful product."

Refinery29 put the allegation that its product was unsafe to Jamu Stick. A spokesperson said any such claim was "not true". They continued: "Because Jamu Stick has been used since thousands [of] years ago in Indonesia and until now its [sic] proven that [it is] safe to use for vagina."

We asked if there were any comprehensive and valid studies to support its use. The spokesperson continued: "Jamu Stick [is] made based on the traditional recipes in home industry, no one will share and find the link of studies that support Jamu Stick."

The spokesperson said the people criticising the product likely haven't used it themselves. "[Critics] do not know the effect of it and they not use it... Women who used it never complain about it and all of them [are] happy with Jamu Stick."

Like Dr Gunter, NHS guidelines are clear on what's necessary to maintain a healthy vagina – and it doesn't involve inserting rough objects. "The vagina is designed to keep itself clean with the help of natural secretions (discharge)." A healthy diet, exercise and perhaps some pelvic floor exercises will suffice.

For more news and reporting on cosmetic and non-cosmetic procedures targeted at women's vaginas, visit our #YourVaginasFine microsite.

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Zendaya is what you’d call a triple threat. The 22-year-old actress, singer and dancer started out on the Disney channel, graduated to film ( The Greatest Showman and Spider-Man Homecoming) and is now adding fashion designer to her many accomplishments.

Her new collaboration, TommyXZendaya, premiered on the catwalk in Paris this weekend. The show was a fun, '70s-inspired disco dance party modelled by an all-black cast of industry icons. The lineup featured one of fashion’s original muses, Grace Jones, as well as Pat Cleveland, the world’s first black supermodel, who also walked the 1973 Battle of Versailles catwalk, which put both American fashion and black models on the European map.

Zendaya wanted the collection to celebrate the groundbreaking women in fashion who have opened the door of opportunity for women like her. We caught up with the superstar at the Tommy Hilfiger flagship store in Soho to chat about her love for the '70s, how she copes with fame, and her obsession with Harry Potter.

Zendaya! What was it like working with Tommy Hilfiger?

It was awesome. We have a team of people who can pretty much do anything and I was lucky enough to have my dreams realised. All the things that I asked for or wanted, they were somehow able to create. There is such an incredible team and force behind all of it and I'm just very proud of everyone for all the work they've done. I'm just a small piece of that giant team.

Tommy is the all-American designer; what does 'all-American' mean to you in 2019?

It means that, to me, there's nothing more patriotic than wanting your country to be better. That's what I think my generation is fighting for and it's so cool to watch because some of them are younger than me and smarter than me, by far. I just kind of take their lead. I definitely don't know everything and I don't have all the answers but it is really inspiring to see my generation step to the plate and demand more from their country and demand better from their country. I think that if I can be a small part of that change then I will and I think that's what it means to be that now.

What was it about the '70s that appealed to you – so much so that you made it the focus of the collection?

That sense of effortless glamour. It was before stylists and things like that existed so they were kind of just dressing themselves and all those icons, that was their true style. That's just who they were and there's something so cool to me about that. There's something so honest and real about personal style and being fashion fearless and just wearing whatever you want, however you want. I just really admire that courageousness. And also, it's just chic and cool, and everything that's cool comes back around.

Are there a few pieces in the collection that you loved making?

I love it all, they're all my babies, how do I choose? I would say anything with the zodiac print just because I love this print and I love what it turned out to be and it's so cute and so fun and I want it everywhere. I want it in my house, I want it on my bedsheets, I want it in wallpaper, I want it everywhere. I think it's very colourful but it's muted and I think that it works so well as an all-over print. It works so well as a neutral to me. If you wear enough of it, it becomes black.

How do you compare your style now to how it was, say, five years ago?

Most people have a signature thing. Like Solange – she just has this cohesive, identifiable thing. It's so cool but I don't have that. I just do all this different stuff so I don't really know when I'm not going for it because I had to go for it on red carpets. I'm like, what does Zendaya dress like when she's not fully dressed, when I'm not giving a look? Who is that? What does that look like? And we basically made clothes that I could selfishly steal for my personal life, in my phase of who I'm coming into, who I'm figuring out. What does the grown woman version of myself look like and what is that style? I think I kind of want to create a uniform, because I'm really lazy. Do you know those people that kind of wear the same thing every day and it looks really chic? I want to do that.

How do you and your stylist, Law, decide on those incredible red carpet looks?

Sometimes it's very easy. Sometimes it's more of a back and forth. At this point, Law can bring me one thing and usually I'll like it and I'll wear it. It's not that we have to do these giant fittings, of course we still do, but sometimes it just works and I'm just like okay, cool, I like it. And that's it, I figure out what shoes I'm going to wear with it, how I'm going to do my hair, makeup and leave. That's pretty much how we've been doing it this past week. It's also been really fun to create outfits with my collection because obviously we have to create all these outfits for a show, for the lookbook and now create outfits for real life. It's been really fun to pick things, mix and match and see what goes with what, and just have fun with it.

How would you spend your ideal Friday night?

I would be doing nothing at home with my dog, who is basically my child. In fact, Tommy Hilfiger made him a custom doggie jacket with the zodiac print on it. It's so cute, I just opened it last night and it has a little collar that says "TommyXZendaya" for Noon. That's such a sweet little random thing they did. So, I'd be chilling with him, maybe have my little nieces come over, bother them a little bit. They're in a weird tween/teen age where I'm kind of not cool right now. Like I'm cool but I'm not. They won't let me know that they like me. And then I just watch Harry Potter and chill. That's usually what I do.

Have you read anything recently that you'd recommend?

I'm so busy reading scripts and memorising words that I really don't have time to read other words. But I do know that I want to read Michelle Obama's book, Becoming. I know that I have to read that, my name is in it, just saying. Humble brag.

In terms of your beauty regime, what's your best tip for looking great?

The best tip for anyone that wears makeup is, don't wear that stuff to bed! I don't understand how people can because it literally hurts my face in the morning if I still have makeup on. I feel dirty and I just can't do it. Do not do that! There was an interview I watched or something with Beyoncé and she said that and I was like, yes ma'am! Whatever she says must be right.

When life gets stressful and things are going a mile a minute, are there any mental health tips or coping mechanisms that you use?

I'm trying to figure it out myself because yesterday [the day of the catwalk show] was probably one of the most stressful days of my life, I'm not even going to lie, I had so much anxiety yesterday. It's just a big moment and there's a lot going on and a lot weighing on it and it's like, you want it to go perfect and you have to think about all these opinions and what are people going to say. Are they going to like the clothes? Are they going to like the show? What about this? What about that? I don't know if you've ever been backstage at a fashion show where they have to quick change, but it's terrifying. I think talk to people when you're stressed and you're spiralling in your brain, sometimes it feels really nice to talk to people. Even if you don't know them that well, sometimes it's just nice to talk, because just saying it and getting it off your chest sometimes really helps. Just writing down how I feel about what's going on right now and also writing the good things that happen. Oh, and Harry Potter.

TommyXZendaya is available to buy now, in store and online.

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According to a recent study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, film criticism is a field overwhelmingly dominated by (surprise, surprise) white men. Not anymore. In Refinery29's series, Writing Critics' Wrongs, our female movie critic will give fresh consideration to the movies we love, hate, or love to hate. It's time for a rewrite.

Vanity Fair ’s Becky Sharp is what we would call, in today’s parlance, a bad bitch. She’s an unapologetically ambitious status seeker who schemes her way up the ladder of early 19th century England high society, transgressing the conventions of soft, meek, and maternal womanhood that dominated her age. She, like so many women who follow their own path, is not “likeable.”

Or, at least, that’s how she was written by William Makepeace Thackeray in 1848.

And yet, as one of literature’s most complex characters, her story has been adapted many times ever since Thackeray introduced her. (There’s even speculation that Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind protagonist, Scarlett O’Hara, was based on Becky, though the author always denied ever having read the novel.) There have been at least five film versions of Vanity Fair, dating as far back to 1932. Television adaptations peppered the second half of the 20th century, with each version teasing out a new aspect of Becky. The most recent one, released by Amazon in December, cast up-and-comer Olivia Cooke in the role.

Director Mira Nair’s ( Monsoon Wedding) 2004 film adaptation starring Reese Witherspoon was the first real attempt to reconcile Becky’s so-called negative traits with the reluctant admiration so many readers have felt for her. Can a woman play the villain and the hero? This Becky Sharp is both. She’s an egomaniac, shrewd, and manipulative — but also fascinating, complicated, and in her own way, loving. Like all of us, she contains multitudes.

Nair’s adaptation leaned into the feminist themes inherent in Becky’s story — even if they weren’t necessarily intended by Thackeray — as well as renewed scrutiny on the book’s fixation with colonial India, resulting in a rich, colourful, and vibrant film. Fifteen years later, it feels like a film by and for women, reclaiming a character conceived long ago by a man.

It’s not all that surprising, therefore, that many of the mostly male reviewers circa 2004 took issue with Nair’s interpretation. Despite being nominated for a Golden Lion at the 2004 Venice Film Festival (the prestigious festival’s highest honour), Vanity Fair opened on September 1, 2004 to middling reviews.

At Rolling Stone, Peter Travers wrote: “It’s one thing to understand Becky — do we have to love her, too? The fault here may lie with Indian director Mira Nair, who understandably expands on the novel’s India themes but insists on reshaping Becky as a ‘modern woman.’ The strain shows."

David Edelstein echoed that sentiment . “It’s always touching when liberal, antiracist, feminist artists take it upon themselves to rescue incorrect classics from the prejudices of the author’s age,” he wrote for Slate. “Nutty, but touching.”

Over at Salon, Charles Taylor took issue with the neutering of Thackeray’s open judgement of his wicked anti-hero in favour of empathy for her complicated choices. “We get scenes that, even when they follow the events of the book, completely rewrite its meanings.’”

The issue of interpretation is one that comes up whenever a filmmaker adapts a beloved classic. Is it better to remain blindly faithful to the original text, or present their own interpretation? Both are valid methods, even as the latter remains criticised in Vanity Fair ’s case.

As recently as November, pegged to the release of Amazon’s series, The Guardian ’s John Dougdale asked: “Why is Vanity Fair' s scheming heroine misread on screen?”

“Cheering on Becky, rather than tut-tutting,” he wrote, “starts on the big screen with the 2004 Reese Witherspoon movie: with a star committed to empowering women, a feminist Indian director (Mira Nair) drawn to social outsiders, and a script by a future Tory peer (Julian Fellowes) predisposed to applaud the Thatcherite ambition other adapters despised, she was always bound to rebound.”

The recurring argument here seems to be: The male author of this nearly 200-year-old novel didn’t write that we should like this woman, and therefore never should anyone find her, or her savage amorality, sympathetic.

And yet, I too, read Thackeray’s novel. Yes, he is appalled (and amused) by Becky’s actions, and does sometimes paint her as horrendous. But why does that mean I can’t also like her?

Vanity Fair shows two competing versions of womanhood. On the one hand, you have governess Becky Sharp (Witherspoon), the daughter of a poor artist and a French opera singer strives to better her station through advantageous friendships and marriage, against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. On the other, you have her only friend, Amelia Sedley (Romola Garai), the daughter of an upper-middle class family, and the stand-in for staid 19th century womanhood. She’s a weepy, devoted friend, and singularly focused on the happiness of her fiancé, George Osbourne (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). Unlike Becky, who has to coldly scheme her way into people’s affections, Amelia is loved by all, including Captain Dobbin (Rhys Ifans), George’s caring best friend.

The two remain in each other’s lives through marriage (Amelia to George, and Becky to Rawdon Crawley, the dashing son of her employer, played by James Purefoy), war, death, children, deceit, and betrayals. And in the end, both learn that fulfilment (an entirely relative concept in the world of Vanity Fair) comes at a price.

Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes ’ script definitely takes some creative liberties: Most notably, the subplot about Becky’s aristocratic benefactor and maybe lover Lord Steyne (a brooding Gabriel Byrne) being a collector of her father’s paintings, is pure invention, as is the ending, which is sweeter than the original.

But what make Nair’s directorial choices so compelling is that she injects as much complexity and moral ambiguity into Amelia’s character as she does Becky’s. They exist as a result of their circumstances, and their reactions shift over time. (Hers is also the adaptation that best captures the love/hate dynamic between female friends, who can simultaneously be contemptuous and jealous of each other’s choices, while also deeply caring of one another.)

And yes, the purists are right — this is a departure from Thackeray’s vision. But why can’t both exist? Nair doesn’t claim her interpretation as gospel, so why take it as such? This isn’t the first or last movie to radically shift the perspective of classic source material — take Jane Campion’s Portrait of a Lady, which cast Nicole Kidman in a subversive adaptation of the Henry James classic, or even the zillions of rom-coms and dramas based on Shakespeare plays. Is 10 Things I Hate About You a poor reading of The Taming of the Shrew because it updates the play’s themes to suit modern-day sensibilities? In fact, at this point, not to glean fresh meaning from a classic is to be out of the loop. Nair was arguably ahead of her time.

Becky Sharp is a product of a brief permissive window between the social upheaval of the French Revolution and the looming Victorian era. When the film opens in London in 1802, the former was just winding down (Napoleon would crown himself emperor two years later) and Britain was at war with France, and would be, on and off, for the next 13 years. But it was also a time of Britain solidifying its hegemony over its Empire, which would, at its peak a century later, cover nearly a quarter of the world’s landmass, and rule over 458 million people.

Born in Northern India, Nair teases out the fascination with the country that was such a vital part of Thackeray’s novel with stunning colours and fabrics that punctuate the otherwise bleak and filthy cobblestones of London. The fact that Thackeray himself was born in India wasn’t lost on the filmmaker, who told The Guardian in 2004 that she saw him as “the ultimate outsider in his own society. I thought in Becky Sharp, he had created a mould of himself, as both insider and outsider."

But while Thackeray’s relationship with India was that of British citizen in a colonised land, Nair deftly uses his words to make a point about the ease with which Western cultures cherry-pick aspects of so-called “exotic” civilisations to make their own, while rejecting the people who came up with them as other.

Story aside, there’s just so much to love about this film: Nicholas Dodd’s earworm score; the specially composed end song by Indian trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy; stellar supporting performances by British heavy-hitters Jim Broadbent, Eileen Atkins (a joy!), and Bob Hoskins all co-star, as well as beautiful baes Rhys-Meyers, Purefoy (pure sex here) and a very young Tom Sturridge; Declan Quinn’s textured cinematography.

None of this would work without Witherspoon, who dominates the film’s more than two-hour run time and gives one of the best performances of her career.

In a post-Big Little Lies era, it’s hard to imagine anyone questioning Witherspoon’s ability to do anything. But there was real doubt about whether the Legally Blonde star would be able to pull off a corset drama.

In his review, Taylor wrote he feared “that after getting a taste of what it's like to be adored by the public in movies like Legally Blonde and Sweet Home Alabama, Witherspoon may be reluctant to throw herself into a true depiction of a character as plainly mean as Becky Sharp.”

Three words: Madeline. Martha Mackenzie.

Witherspoon’s accent may need a little work, but she’s gripping to watch as she plumbs new depths in Becky’s shallow soul, her impish smile suggesting that she’s in on a joke that we’re in that dark about.

But her Becky can be hard. In fact, Vanity Fair is the first movie I remember seeing — other than Gone With The Wind, and again that’s probably not a coincidence — in which a woman is shown to be largely indifferent to her child. Like most people she comes to love, Becky regards her son as an inconvenience — until she can no longer have him. There’s nothing that piques her interest more than that which is denied her.

What’s more, it’s hard not to empathise with a female character who’s making the most of a world that assumes the only thing she has to trade is her body — either in marriage, or as a mistress. Though Becky plays the game well, she does get in over her head.

And even if Thackeray never intended us to feel this way — so, what? Art is a living thing, and meaning is gleaned by those who consume it.

That’s not to say critics of the film are entirely wrong. Nair’s film is not the definitive version of the story. The most recent version of Vanity Fair — written by Gwyneth Hughes — allows its protagonist to be a little more callous. The serialised format, in which Cooke’s Becky breaks the fourth wall, is more effective at communicating this balancing act between naked ambition and vulnerability.

As a result, Olivia Cooke’s interpretation is probably the best Becky Sharp yet: She’s intensely charismatic, with a little more bite, and toes the line between being faithful to the book and teasing out more modern feminist themes a little more smoothly. But in doing so, she stands on the shoulders of Witherspoon and Nair’s vision. Onwards and upwards, just like Becky.

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Joan Juliet Buck is the acclaimed author of The Price of Illusion , the former longtime editor of Vogue Paris, and a novelist, critic and essayist. Her work has appeared in multiple magazines over the years — Vanity Fair, Vogue, Traveler, The New Yorker — and most recently Harper’s Bazaar, The Sunday Times Style and T magazine.

I kept diaries all along, so I know exactly what I was thinking.

First of all, eat something...living on cappuccinos and grapefruit is going to make your stomach ache.

Also, if you ate more, your skin would clear up. And by the way, those tetracycline pills the doctor prescribed to stop the pimples? OUT. They’ll turn your teeth yellow by the time you’re 40 and mess up your microbiome.

You can throw out the blue mascara.

Your heels are so high that streets stretch out forever, and distances seem impossible. But you’re not going to stop wearing them, because they make your legs look longer. I know. I’m you, many years ahead, and I want you to know some things I wish I’d known then.

Stop asking for permission from others; they won’t necessarily care what you do, or they’ll have an agenda for making you choose one thing over another. They won’t thank you for following their advice, and you’ll end up doing things you never wanted to do. Pull back into your own agenda. Figure it out.

Stop dating the standup comic because you want to be a standup comic. Drop the guy and grab the mic.

Stop thinking you’ll be punished for getting your way; that’s not true. You’ll be punished for not standing up for yourself.

And as for the punished business, stop fretting. The imagined catastrophes that wake you in the middle of the night are not going to happen. There will be some weird events along the way, but even if you just dreamt that a rogue planet crashed through the window, the world is not going to explode in a fireball.

I’d like you to be less anxious, more confident, more grounded. How can you be so ready for adventure, and also so fearful? Work and romance swirl you into an exhausting vortex of high and lows and endless drama. Yoga isn’t yet fashionable, no one you know meditates. You have a mental picture of lighting a candle and doing some deep breathing while wearing something loose and grey, but it’s just a picture. Find things that are good for you, that aren’t work, romance, social life or shopping. You’ve dropped ballet, though you’ll take it up again at 36, but right now you need to connect to the collective focus at the barre with live piano music while your feet in pink leather slippers do the rond-de-jambes and the entrechats you learned at 5, because there’s joy in that class.

Don't get in your own way. Stop overthinking every situation to try to be one step ahead of the worst possible outcome. Your energy must go to what you desire, not what you dread. It’s easier to walk when you're not shooting yourself in both feet.

Each time a relationship ends, you think that you’ll never love or be loved again. It wasn't true at 16, it’s not true at 26, and it won't be true 40 years in the future.

And when you fall in love, don't concoct reasons why it can’t work, and hurry to turn it into a memory instead of a future.

Lighten up. Not everything is a drama.

And now a touchy subject. You have high standards, which makes you kind of arrogant. Your taste in men is quirky, and sometimes abysmal. You believed the fairy tale that Anais Nin spun in her diary about living alone outside Paris, a free woman throwing herself into passions. You set out to be like her, independent and unencumbered, and will wonder, over the years, how she managed to pay the rent. You don’t yet know that the rent was paid by her husband, a banker. An actual banker.

I sound like my grandmother, but frankly, if you were as much of a free spirit as you pretend to be, you’d be taking more drugs, sleeping with more people, and living in a Volkswagen bus in Morocco.

I’m asking you to reconsider the words 'security' and 'stability', to rein in the contempt you feel for ambitious people who earn good money. I’ve heard that some of them are kind, reliable, funny, intelligent, warm, even sexy. It turns out that a partner who can support you is useful for writers who want to give all their energy to writing.

And for god’s sake, start putting some money aside. I sound like my grandmother, but frankly, if you were as much of a free spirit as you pretend to be, you’d be taking more drugs, sleeping with more people, and living in a Volkswagen bus in Morocco.

But instead you’re the tense and responsible correspondent for Women’s Wear Daily in Italy, where you write about movies and the arts as well as fashion. It’s an exciting job full of surprises and hard deadlines, and there’s no one to back you up. You just ran away from the violent man you were living with in Rome, you’ve got a single bed in an extended-stay hotel in Milan, you’re determined to concentrate on work, and you’ve just fallen in love. Despite the single bed.

Twenty-six is the year of peak adventures, wild opportunities, and the beginning of wisdom. You’re about to start trying to balance your love of the trivial with your attraction to the depths of intensity.

And next year, at 27, you’ll finally write something that expresses your doubts, your anxieties, and that weird arrogance of yours. It will run in Vogue, and your dream will come true when a letter arrives from a publisher asking if you’re working on a novel, which you are. But, typically, you will wait two years to answer him, until after you’re married. Imagine you’d answered him the next day. How many more books would you have written?

My final piece of advice is something the great love of my life told me years after our romance was over, when we were at last able to have a clear conversation.

He said, "You were always writing the whole script, you never gave me room to figure us out. It was as if there was only one person in the relationship. I wish you'd let me in."

So listen: Let the other person in. Don’t try to figure out the whole story from the first day. Open the windows, open the door. I swear, it’s safer than you think. It really is.

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A group of high school students in ritzy Newport Beach, CA, in Orange County, threw a party over the weekend where they made a swastika out of beer pong cups and did the Nazi salute. Many in the community have expressed sadness over the students' ignorance about Holocaust history, calling their decisions "a direct reflection of the privileged culture of Newport," and some are calling for them to be expelled from school.

Screenshots from Snapchat surfaced almost immediately of the group laughing and holding up the Sieg Heil gesture. In other pictures, there are captions including "German rage cage" and "German engeneraing " [sic].

This disgusting picture was taken last night in Newport Beach, CA at a party of high school students from various high schools. This hateful conduct is reprehensible & all involved must be held accountable. And we should all recognize that we must be diligent in ending bigotry. pic.twitter.com/qOf29GjUMs

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 4, 2019

newport harbor & costa mesa high school students playing swastika beer pong and doing the nazi salute. this never was and never will be funny. It’s a direct reflection of the privileged culture of newport. contact nhhs and cmhs so these ignorant assholes get what they deserve pic.twitter.com/ryj9YCNQiN

— bianca (@biancalutzz) March 3, 2019

A few people have moved to identify the students in order to shame them on social media and make sure they are disciplined at school. Many of them reportedly attend Newport Harbor and Costa Mesa high schools.

While the party drew outrage, none of the people in the picture have apologised and some of them, according to screenshots of alleged conversations, said it was a joke and they don't see what the big deal is.

"I was completely appalled when I saw kids in my city laughing and having fun saluting Hitler around a big swastika," Ava Ganz, a senior at a Jewish day school in the area, told the local ABC station. "I couldn't just scroll past this on social media and let it happen. I decided to tweet out the picture. My tweet got attention quickly; people are outraged, rightfully so. I hope that one day these kids truly understand the deep hate they were displaying that night."

Officials said the Newport-Mesa Unified School District had a crisis-management meeting on Sunday to discuss the situation.

"We have a concern both for the physical health of students who are underage drinking as well as the mental health of our students or their friends that thought this was an okay thing to do," school district president Charlene Metoyer told CBS Los Angeles. "More should’ve been done to make sure the students recognise the severity of the symbols they were using. It is not something funny. It’s a very, very serious situation."

"We were recently made aware of social media postings involving some students who created inappropriate, anti-Semitic symbols, and possible underage drinking," Adriana Angulo, a spokesperson for the school district, told OC Weekly. "While these actions did not occur on any school campus or school function, we condemn all acts of anti-Semitism and hate in all their forms. We continue to gather information regarding the conduct of these students and work with law enforcement."

Orange County Rep. Katie Porter issued a statement condemning the students' actions.

"I condemn the devastating and shocking anti-Semitism on display by local students this weekend," Porter said in a statement. "The use of such a harmful symbol, which represents the genocide of the Jewish people, is an act of aggression and hate that has no place in our vibrant, diverse, and welcoming community. I call on local parents and community leaders to redouble our efforts to educate these young people about the oppression of, and violence against, Jewish people worldwide, and ensure that acts like these never happen again."

The official account of the Auschwitz Memorial, the site of the largest former Nazi concentration and death camp, tweeted: "Someone should ask: how come? Why those young people decided to use those symbols of hatred? Someone should think how dangerous this is."

Someone had an idea... Someone placed the cups... People raised their hands... Someone took the picture & shared with with the world.

Someone should ask: how come? Why those young people decided to use those symbols of hatred? Someone should think how dangerous this is. https://t.co/rFZ15Zx9Es

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) March 4, 2019

The number of hate crimes in Orange County almost doubled from 2015 to 2017, with people who identify as either Muslim or Jewish being the most common targets, according to the county Human Relations Commission. In the US, hate crimes increased by 17% from 2016 to 2017, according to FBI statistics. Hate crimes against Jewish people rose by 37%. These upticks have been attributed to the presidency of Donald Trump, who has emboldened white supremacists by refusing to denounce Nazis and perpetuating racist conspiracy theories.

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I was in high school when the original Beverly Hills, 90210 started airing in 1990. Like many of the older Millennials and the younger Gen Xers, I had a thing for bad boys. Jordan Catalano on My So-Called Life? Check. Angel on Buffy? Hell yes. And Dylan McKay, with the mysterious eyebrow gash and don’t-give-a-fuck attitude on 90210? Swoon. To you, he may just be Archie’s dad on Riverdale ( this generation’s 90210, arguably). For me, he was one of many ill-advised teenage crushes.

Dylan was the guy between two female archetypes that most of the teen girls who watched 90210 sided with: Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty), the bad girl brunette and Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) the California girl next door with a past. If that sounds familiar, it is — it’s the Betty vs. Veronica story. He bounced between them, causing havoc in their friendship from story arc to story arc. He was an orphan, which was the teen dream of freedom realised...and a little bit scary. He was misunderstood, the swarthy surfer with a heart of gold. All you had to do was love him unconditionally, and teach him some emotional intelligence.

Luke Perry, the actor behind the iconic character, was the bad boy of the cast, too. Jason Priestley (Brendan Walsh) was too nice (and Canadian) to be bad. Ian Ziering (Steve Sanders) was just happy to be there and seemed as fame hungry as his character. And Brian Austin Green (David Silver) ...come on, he wouldn’t bloom from dork to hunk until several seasons into the show. A big part of the criticism of the show was that the cast didn’t believably look like teenagers — with Perry and Gabrielle Carteris (Andrea Zuckerman), who were the oldest cast members, taking the brunt of it. But that was part of what made Luke/Dylan so attractive. In real life and on the show, he seemed worldly, experienced, and most definitely not a guy your parents would want you around.

His character wasn’t the first pop culture bad boy, of course. Dylan (his hair included) was modelled, to some extent, on James Dean from Rebel Without a Cause — both California teens fighting, often just because, against the arbitrary rules made by adults. He smouldered and was the guy Brenda gave her virginity to on prom night, which was a huge deal. It was my formative crushes on guys like Dylan that eventually taught me not to have crushes on guys like Dylan. I feel lucky that I got to experience some of that misdirected teenage rebellion thanks to the antics of the 90210 crew, and get the Dylans, Jordans, and Angels out of my system with no major harm done.

And now, he’s gone. I never met him and didn’t know him, but I spent years with him. He was 52 when he died. Now, that feels awfully young.

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The number of women who've had miscarriages while in US Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) custody nearly doubled following the Trump administration allowing the indiscriminate detention of pregnant people, according to government records reviewed by the Daily Beast.

The report follows news that an undocumented 24-year-old woman from Honduras gave birth to a stillborn boy while in ICE custody. The agency says the unidentified woman was 27 weeks pregnant when she went into labor and that the stillbirth would not be classified as an in-custody death.

According to the Daily Beast, between October 2016 and September 2017, a total of 10 migrant women began experiencing a miscarriage while in ICE custody or right before being detained. In late 2017, President Donald Trump reversed an Obama-era rule which until then directed ICE not to detain pregnant women except in extraordinary circumstances. Under these new conditions, the number of women who've experienced a miscarriage increased to a total of 18 as of August 2018. This figure is only based on ICE data and does not take into account cases of migrant women experiencing miscarriages or stillbirths while in custody of US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).

The Obama administration implemented the policy of not detaining pregnant people in an effort to prioritise their health care needs. But the so-called pro-life Trump administration chose instead to put migrant women in custody unless they are in their third trimester. Reports have found that even at that point in pregnancy, migrant women have been detained — and regardless of how far along they are, they've faced abuses such as being shackled around the stomach during transport, denied medical care after an accident, and ignored when requesting prenatal vitamins.

Katharina Obser, senior policy of migrant rights and justice at the Women's Refugee Commission, told Refinery29 that advocates have been concerned about the treatment and detention of pregnant women in ICE detention facilities for a long time. "These are not appropriate conditions for pregnant women," she told Refinery29. "[These centres are] already a punitive and inappropriate place for the populations who are being detained there, let alone for someone with the specific medical needs that a pregnant women might have."

Obser said that while immigration detention centres are meant to be part of a civil, not criminal, detention system they are in essence jails. She added that reports of inadequate health care, overcrowding, medical neglect, and other issues can make it an unsafe place for someone who is pregnant. "They are also located in very remote areas, which leads to concerns over medical care because it means someone needs to be transferred to a hospital that might be far away, she added. "It also makes it difficult for people to find a lawyer,"Without a lawyer, it's nearly impossible for someone to pursue their immigration case." The latter adds to the stress of being detained, which is inevitably harmful for pregnant women, Obser said.

In September 2017, the Women's Refugee Commission and several other organisations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a complaint with Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and CBP, outlining concerns about the detention of pregnant women. The message then and now was clear: Immigrants should not be in immigration custody while pregnant. "The administration have many other options for anyone in detention: They can use case management, if they need support, or they can be released to their families as their pursue their immigration cases," she said. "That the administration is [detaining people] at these unprecedented rates and has gone so far as to reverse prior policy that favoured the release of pregnant women, makes it clear this is about deterring people from coming into the US. This is not about the wellbeing of the pregnant women in their custody."

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If your skin starts to feel tight, you’d probably assume it’s dry. If you're experiencing breakouts, you may blame your hormones or your new foundation, while redness and inflammation must mean you’ve got sensitive skin, right? Well, according to the experts, these symptoms could be proof that your skin is simply dehydrated.

"Everything from pollution and sun exposure to wind, air-con and central heating can sap the much-needed water in our skin," explains skin expert and facialist Debbie Thomas. But contrary to popular belief, chugging down eight glasses of water a day in a bid to stay hydrated just won’t cut it when it comes to your complexion. "The key to well hydrated skin is a combination of drinking enough water and boosting the water content of your skin cells," explains Debbie. "This also means minimising water loss through your skin." That's where your skincare comes in.

Hyaluronic acid, otherwise known as HA, has been dubbed the holy grail of hydrating skincare ingredients by dermatologists and beauty editors alike. It's a humectant – a substance used to reduce the loss of moisture – can hold up to 1000x its own weight in water and occurs naturally in the skin. But for the reasons Debbie mentioned, the natural levels sometimes take a dip and need replenishing.

From serums to moisturisers, heaps of products contain the star component but there may well be a new contender to knock it off the top spot: polyglutamic acid. With the ability to hold ten times more moisture than hyaluronic acid according to experts, polyglutamic acid (or PGA) sounds like a major game changer. Derived from fermented soybean mucilage, the ingredient – which is a peptide (aka protein) – does sound a little weird, but its effectiveness has skin experts all over the globe taking note. Hailed as one of the most powerful hydrating ingredients on the market right now, PGA diminishes the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, aids the skin's natural exfoliation process, minimises pigmentation, boosts elasticity (more so than topical collagen), and stimulates the skin's natural moisturising processes. Think of it as a jumbo glass of coconut water when you’re suffering from a next-level hangover.

"Polyglutamic acid is an exciting new ingredient that will leave skin smooth, plump and radiant," reveals cofounder of Be For Beauty and CEO of the The Inkey List, Mark Curry. "What makes it different to hyaluronic acid is that it forms a film on the skin that stops water from evaporating, so not only is it a humectant that draws more water into the cells, it holds it there too."

This doesn’t mean you've wasted your hard earned cash on hyaluronic acid serums, as Curry advocates using both HA and PGA, claiming they work in synergy with one another. "Hyaluronic acid can still be used as it will hydrate the lower levels of the skin. This has the added benefit of helping the skincare that follows to penetrate deeper. By adding PGA into the mix, you’re hydrating and plumping the top layer of skin and creating a seal that ensures maximum hydration." In other words, they're a match made in heaven for tight, dehydrated skin, peppered with fine lines and wrinkles.

Like me, you might be a little dubious. Is this simply marketing bumf used to sell us more skincare, or is the use of these two humectants the optimum formula for hydrated skin? As a huge fan of HA, I wasn’t sure you could get anything better but independent clinical trials prove that PGA is the real deal. And it's not as obscure an ingredient as you might think. Brands such as It's Skin, Zelens and STARSKIN have formulated serums, masks and moisturisers with the wonder ingredient, combined with AHAs for exfoliation, vitamin C for brightening and protecting against pollution, and niacinamide to even out skin tone.

I decided to put Mark's double-pronged theory to the test. What struck me off the bat was the difference in texture compared to hyaluronic acid. My go-to HA serum is super watery, while the PGA serum I tried (Inkey List Polyglutamic Acid, £12.99, launching 7th March on Cult Beauty) is more gel-like. I could really feel the silky film it left on my skin. That said, it can be used instead of a moisturiser and makes for an impressive makeup primer too. After three weeks of twice-daily use (morning and evening), I’ve been converted. My skin looks glowing and feels stronger and plumper. The random irritation I’d get out of nowhere seems to have subdued, too. So although polyglutamic acid might not be stealing hyaluronic acid's crown anytime soon, it most certainly makes for the perfect partner.

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Walking around Derry feels strangely nostalgic considering I haven’t been here before. I’m sure I’m not alone in sheepishly admitting that my first proper introduction to the city was through season one of Channel 4’s hit series Derry Girls. I too was wildly infatuated by the characters, the location and the prospect of eating cream horn (no, not a euphemism but a pastry). And so with a hop, skip and a flight across the Irish Sea, I eagerly arrive in Northern Ireland to be an IRL Derry Girl for the day and sneak a peek at the show's second season.

Cast your mind back to a little over a year ago and you'll remember Derry Girls hitting our screens. Set in the '90s against the backdrop of the Troubles, we were introduced to four teenage best friends – Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), Orla (Louisa Harland), Clare (Nicola Coughlan) and Michelle (Jamie-Lee O'Donnell) – who go to Our Lady Immaculate College. Hilariously cynical nun and head of college, Sister Michael (Siobhan McSweeney) is often on the receiving end of the girls' angst and mischief, and it's not long before the gang is joined by "wee English fella" James (Dylan Llewellyn), aka the boy who's found himself attending a girls' school and is the subject of 80% of all ridicule.

Fast forward a year and not much has changed. The gang are just as we left them except perhaps even more prematurely desperate to grow up (and away from their parents), eager to prove themselves and resentful of school work - at least, when we meet for a quick tea and a chat, Louise tells me that their perspective is changed by the arrival of a really cool new teacher.

I'm taken on a walk through the streets of Derry to get a feel for the place. It's exactly as you'd imagine it: quaint enough to feel familiar and intimately local but big enough to lose yourself on an ambitious trek around some of its more famous sights. We pass the church with the 'crying' statue of Mary, where Toto the dog disappears in episode three; up Pump Street, where Granda Joe was spotted with an apple turnover and the suspicious cream horn in episode four; and along the famous Derry City Walls that enclose the city.

Needless to say, the show has had a huge impact on the city it's based in. Restaurants now have menus inspired by the characters, tours have been created to show off the series' landmarks and I'm sure you don't need to live in the area to have heard about the giant mural that was painted in honour of the show's lead characters. So it's no wonder that when it came time for the world premiere of season two, shown to friends, fans and family at the local cineplex, the entire city was buzzing.

I can confirm that the hype is justified. Episode one sees us thrown back among familiar faces for more chaos as a school trip calls for some unsuccessful peacekeeping. Let's just say that tasking a group of teenagers with building bridges between Catholics and Protestants at a time when the very thought of an alliance struck fear into the hearts of the older generations ("Don't come back with any Protestant babies," warns mum Mary Quinn) wasn't ever going to go smoothly. They fail to name a single thing that either sect has in common – but when it comes down to the familiar priorities, like snogging, our girls are a little bit more proactive.

The relatable hilarity of Derry Girls' tight, observational wit remains strong, and though many of the cast and even the show's writer, Lisa McGee, weren't sure whether the Derry humour would resonate outside Ireland, the worldwide anticipation for the second season proves otherwise. "I think it’s a mixture of loads of different things," Saoirse tells me. We catch up again a couple of days after the world premiere and though she was really nervous watching the first couple of episodes, Saoirse is as confident as I am in the show’s brilliance. "I think the fact that it’s set in the '90s really does something and gauges a different audience. And I think most importantly it’s the fact that Lisa has developed a character that everyone should be able to identify with and each one of those characters are full, sculpted, rounded characters. That really dry sense of humour at that time, it hasn’t been done in a while – it's authentic at the same time as being new and fresh."

Louisa agrees that the series has a multifaceted charm: "It all boils down to Lisa’s writing – it's so good. Even from an Irish perspective I feel like it’s just littered with in jokes, but there are just so many layers to this show." When I ask Nicola about returning for a second instalment, her enthusiasm echoes Louisa and Saoirse. To explain why, she paraphrases one of her co-star's words: "Siobhan she says series one was amazing but series two is like that but in technicolour. Everything is amped up. She said it way better than I ever could. It’s like, you know the characters now. There’s no explaining to be done. People have accepted that this is the world, it’s all been established and I think it’ll be more fun this time."

This trip was arranged by Tourism Ireland. Derry Girls starts on Channel 4 on Tuesday 5th March at 9:15pm.

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In the fashion sphere, cardigans have about as much sex appeal as tights, their main draw being function and comfort over aesthetics. Like the Birkenstock before them though, cardis are having their moment; they were seen on the SS19 catwalks from Alexander Wang to Loewe, Marc Jacobs to Versace.

The fear with the cardigan is that it can veer into dowdy territory for anyone with boobs, so until now it's remained a favourite of grandpas rather than a fixture in the wardrobes of fashion-focused women. However, the '00s revival has seen an upswing of throwback cropped cardigans, while designers have offered a host of slouchy fits that work as well with midi dresses as slogan tees and jeans.

A great alternative to fisherman's jumpers and athleisure hoodies, it looks like the cardigan is here to stay, especially as a transitional staple between seasons. Here's how I styled three cardigans, from cute and cropped to oversized and cosy.

Cute & Cropped

As soon as I tried on this pink number from cashmere specialist Barrie, I fell in love. It's very expensive, so I'll be looking for vintage replicas of the shape and colour, but everything from the pink button details to the cut, which finishes just above these high-waisted Topshop jeans, is pitch perfect. I added some Whistles snakeskin pumps and a pearl barrette, and voilà, a sweet take on the cardigan.

Grandad's Best Knit

Matches Fashion's own brand Raey has garnered love for its minimalist aesthetic – think ribbed cashmere and silk midi skirts – and this cardigan is the new-season gem in the label's crown. Here, I paired it with a knit from Topshop and snake print midi from Warehouse, plus ankle boots from ASOS, but it's unbelievably soft and comfortable, so I'd wear it all the time: with jeans and a rust rollneck, with a floral midi dress and hiking boots, with flares and a '70s shirt...you name it. My point is, a versatile piece will go the distance in your wardrobe and this cardi fits the bill.

'00s Nostalgia

From 10 Things I Hate About You to every onscreen Olsen twins appearance, cardigans were a '00s favourite – specifically tight, cropped, scoop-necked cardigans. Thanks to designers bringing back a host of '00s trends, this style was seen at Ashley Williams, Chanel and Molly Goddard. This Balenciaga number taps into the logomania trend, and the electric blue hue just needs black separates plus some clashing leopard print heels. So fetch.

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Praise be! JW Anderson has collaborated with Uniqlo for a third time, and the resulting SS19 collection has a host of sunny pieces to take you from spring through to summer. Launching in store and online today, expect hallmarks of British style like reversible trench coats, paisley prints and pinstriped shirts, plus holiday-ready pieces like printed bucket hats, drawstring shorts and pussy-bow dresses.

"It is always fun collaborating with Uniqlo," Anderson said of his relationship with the high street brand in a press release. "I always find it super interesting how two brands with very different backgrounds can come together to create an exciting collection. In the third collation of the collaboration, I envision a summer wardrobe that could be relaxed and chic at the same time; a versatile and youthful collection.”

Any high street/designer collaboration sells out fast, but with JW Anderson's AW19 collection at London Fashion Week last month drawing critical acclaim – some called it his best in seasons – this collection is sure to go down a treat, especially with its affordable price point meaning anyone can nab a slice of his smart aesthetic.

With both the men's and womenswear lines brimming with instant classics, we're mixing and matching our favourite pieces, from beige drawstring two-pieces to yellow blouses and co-ordinating socks. Click through to see how we're wearing JW Anderson x Uniqlo SS19.

JW Anderson x Uniqlo is available from today.

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There are a lot of good movies. You enjoy them, and then you forget them. But some films are special. They open up the door in your heart for characters to move in, and stay forever. Which of us, after seeing Little Miss Sunshine, doesn't often think of Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin) performing her pageant routine with confidence, completely disregarding the collective open-mouthed gape of the adults in the room?

Ahead of International Women's Day, we gathered a broad range of films that highlight women's stories — the special kind of movies that will stay with you long past the first viewing. In these movies, you'll encounter all manner of women. Lonely vampires that stalk the streets looking to enact justice through their victim choices. A trio of astrophysicists that face sexism and racism, but don't give up. Lots of mothers and daughters. And all will speak to you.

Come to this list whenever you need to feel understood, and to feel united with other women from all ages, eras, and walks of life.

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