Janelle Monáe is the queer, Grammy-nominated musician and wearer of vagina trousers we want to party with. The singer has been filling us with unadulterated joy since her third studio album Dirty Computer came out last year.

She's known for her sartorial prowess – from power suits to head-to-toe monochrome, plus an excellent collection of hats – but her turn at Paris Fashion Week this season has been nothing short of legendary.

Whether she's sitting on the front row at Stella McCartney in an Alexa Chung and Karlie Kloss sandwich, or repping what we can only describe as puffed-up white angel wings at Giambattista Valli, Monáe looks like she's having a better time than anyone else.

There's plenty to dissect from her week of fashion fun, too: she's providing new-season beauty inspiration via gold hoops in her hair and blue shadow on her lids, and proving that colour drenching is still the best way to hold a goddamn room.

Ahead are all the looks the "Pynk" artist turned out at Paris Fashion Week. Enjoy!

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Our choice of language matters – not least when talking about sensitive health issues – and arguably the term 'smear test ' is outdated, off-putting and doesn't convey the ease and typically pain-free nature of a simple procedure for checking women's cervical health.

The government agrees that 'smear tests' are due a rebrand and today has launched its first ever national campaign on the issue in England. The Public Health England (PHE) campaign, "Cervical Screening Saves Lives", will see adverts on TV, radio and online for the eight weeks until 28th April. Notably, in the TV ad at least, the term 'smear test' is avoided in favour of the more neutral 'cervical screening'.

The TV ad (above) shows a young woman smiling while leaving her appointment, and several others thanking people close to them for reminding them to attend their screenings. It's hoped that the new drive will 'normalise' the procedure and encourage more women to respond to their invitation letter or to book an appointment with their GP if they missed their last test. Charities including The Eve Appeal have praised the campaign for its "clear language".

Today @PHE_uk launches the first national #CervicalScreening campaign. It uses clear language & well tested messages encouraging women to attend SCREENING. As the charity working across all five #gynae cancers, Eve know this shift in language is vital https://t.co/QPIGwOLB3W

— The Eve Appeal (@eveappeal) March 5, 2019

The number of women undergoing the test is the lowest it's been for 20 years – with a quarter of eligible women (aged 25 to 64) in the UK not attending their test – and two women dying from the disease each day, PHE said today. If everyone attended their screening regularly (every three years for 25 to 49-year-olds), 83% of deaths could be prevented, the government estimates.

Professor Anne Mackie, PHE's director of screening programmes, said the drop in the number of women attending cervical screenings was concerning, adding that "millions of women are missing out on a potentially life-saving test" and that cervical cancer is "one of the most preventable cancers if caught early."

Cervical screening is preventative and designed to identify potentially harmful cells before they become cancerous, increasing the likelihood of women receiving the right treatment quickly.

However, many women are nervous or embarrassed about the test and put off having it done out of needless fear. A survey of more than 2,000 25 to 35-year-olds in January by Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust found that the majority of young women who delay or miss their appointments feel scared (71%) and vulnerable (75%) at the thought of going, while even more claimed to feel embarrassed at the prospect (81%).

Professor Mackie continued: "We want to see a future generation free of cervical cancer but we will only achieve our vision if women take up their screening invitations. This is a simple test which takes just five minutes and could save your life. It’s just not worth ignoring."

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This morning — after over a week of waiting to find out what, exactly, that mysterious logo would stand for — Glossier finally unveiled Glossier Play. When we learned that the collection would be a colourful one full of neon eyeliner pencils and tiny pots full of glitter, a hard break from the brand's signature flesh-y tints, we knew we had to try it. All of it.

Once we got our hands on the shiny new goodies, which just dropped today on the Glossier site, we thought it best to share our honest take on the collection. The new Playground line includes four products — Colorslide gel-pencil eyeliner, Niteshine highlighter, Glitter Gelée eyeshadow, and Vinylic Lip lacquer — all available in a rainbow of shades. Ahead, see how the makeup looks on real Refinery29 staff members, and read our candid reviews of which Glossier Play products are truly worth the hype.

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Let's briefly state the obvious: There is a lot of content out there. Each Friday, Netflix drops enough new movies and TV shows to keep a person indoors all weekend. And don't get us started on podcasts.

So, it's easy to pass by the hidden gems. You may not have heard of the movies on this list – or you may just not have been paying attention. Maybe you strolled past ads on public transport, or talked through trailers while at buzzier movies. Either way: We're telling you now.

These are the under-hyped 2019 movies that will make you go home and tell your friends, "Stop everything and watch this movie." They fly under the radar — so we're putting them on yours.

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Karl Lagerfeld 's final collection for Chanel before his death last month at the age of 85 was always going to be emotional, but with tears and tributes aplenty, the AW19 show will go down in fashion history.

There has been an outpouring of adoration for the legendary (and often controversial) German designer since his passing on 19th February. Lagerfeld turned catwalk shows into million-dollar, Insta-bait spectacles, and his productions as creative director of Chanel were nothing short of astonishing. From a space rocket to a sandy beach, an enchanted forest to a Havana street party, no expense was spared when creating the immersive Chanel world.

As editors, celebrities and models watched Lagerfeld's final collection come down the catwalk, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. These were the most emotional moments of Chanel's AW19 show...

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Thisexcerpt from the book Queen Bey: A Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter , out 5th March, has been published with permission from Simon and Schuster.

I was in junior high when Destiny’s Child released their first video: “No, No, No.” I remember me and my friends, all the black girls, seeing this different kind of black girl, one we hadn’t really seen before. They all seemed like us but there was also something very Diana Ross–ish about Beyoncé, even at the very beginning, where your eyes were drawn to her. You didn’t even really understand why, but you knew it wasn’t just about the vocals. I gravitated to all of them so easily and so quickly, and I remember thinking, “They’re like me. They’re like us.” I could see something of me in them, in her. They were our generation.

Beyoncé was also a black queen. I saw in her Diana Ross but also Lena Horne and thought: So that’s what beauty is. That’s what it means to be hot. That’s what it means to step in the forefront.

I also immediately wanted to protect her, like she was my bud. Years after I first saw her perform with Michelle and Kelly at the House of Blues in Chicago, when she stepped out for her first solo album, I remember thinking, Oh man, I hope this is good. I was nervous for her because I loved Destiny’s Child, every iteration of it, and didn’t want any of their success or power to go away. Of course, it didn’t, it grew.

In a way we’re all on the same journey with Beyoncé. I remember seeing her be so confident and also coming into her own womanhood. I moved to L.A. in my twenties, where I was trying to find my own confidence and my own womanhood. That’s when I was really listening to her music and relating to her journey in terms of exploring who I was as a woman, as a person, as a black woman. And now, especially where I am in my career and looking at her, I understand that idea of having to go through a baptism where you bless yourself with the water and you ordain yourself a new woman. Only then can you step forward.

Beyoncé gives you permission to stumble a little bit but then make something beautiful out of that stumble. She proves you can survive like a phoenix no matter what the world throws at you.

I appreciate also that she knows the journey is never crystal clear. It’s not always smooth. It’s not always a direct path. Sometimes there are things that you do that you regret. Sometimes you take a step back and then you take a step forward. As I’ve gone through the challenges in my life I’ve been looking at the challenges of her life, and she gives you permission to stumble a little bit but then make something beautiful out of that stumble. She proves you can survive like a phoenix no matter what the world throws at you.

I fell in love with my fiancée when the self-titled Beyoncé album hit. I wanted the things she talked about in that album, to feel that passion and connection to someone.

Lemonade is the album that lifts us up, all of us. With Lemonade, she talks about surviving heartbreak and betrayal. There’s just something so human about it and so brave. It’s also the album that represents community, where she included all these women that she admires, like Serena Williams. She showed how she survived that time of her life as a black woman, finding people in her circle to look to when she was struggling and looking for someone to say, Okay, that person is strong so I can be strong. When you hear the song “Sorry” for the first time, you’re blown away by Warsan Shire’s poetry. She’s putting people in the public eye you ordinarily wouldn’t know about or care about. But because Beyoncé is uttering this person’s words, this brown woman’s words, we all go out and look for her and find her. Beyoncé used Lemonade to shine a light not just on herself but on a community of women of colour, to tell their stories and to share their journeys. And she may not have won a Grammy for best album for Lemonade, but that won’t make people listen to it any less. If I hadn’t won an Emmy for the Thanksgiving episode of Master of None, that wouldn’t make people feel any less connected to it. Black women have always been the back-bone of everything. Black women have never sat back.

Beyoncé shows that we’re all made of the same stuff; we are all in the same boat. She makes it her business to say, I’m a mother, a wife, I’m an activist, I’m a daughter, I’m a friend. We’re all friends in this life even if we’re different. And no matter how big or small your voice is, she reminds us that we have to stand tall because our ancestors did. So who are we not to do it as well? It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what your means are. Look at how she holds up her love for Houston. I’m from Chicago and both cities have their issues, but we know there is beauty in these cities that other people may look down on. But to attach Beyoncé to Houston makes people hold the city and that community in a special place versus saying, Oh that city over there. To speak to our cities is to remind people there that you can stand where I stand.

Black women have always been the back-bone of everything. Black women have never sat back.

For gay people, Beyoncé represents a light at the end of the tunnel. She may not be gay, but like Cher and Madonna she’s a gay ally and icon in the community because she knows what it means to not be like everybody else and to be unafraid of that truth. There are people all over the world — gay, straight, trans, black, white — that she speaks to because she can cross all barriers. In that way she’s descended from Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson. They were proud African Americans who continued to speak to black audiences, but they couldn’t help but bleed over to other audiences because there was some- thing so pure and special about them. Plus there’s the specificity of Beyoncé’s work—her music and her heart—that’s propelled her. As a writer who writes about my life, I know firsthand it’s specificity that brings you a broader audience. The more specific you are, the more willing you are to bare your soul, the more audiences endear themselves to you, feel like they know you and cheer for you. That’s when things shift in your career. She’s done that multiple times.

I grew up on Whitney and Michael and Prince. We may have lost them, but Beyoncé is not afraid to take on the baton of their talent, of their impact. I remember watching Being Bobby Brown and Whitney was in the car and they started talking about Beyoncé. Whitney in a way was giving her stamp of approval. She was kind of saying, Beyoncé can take it from here. Whenever I look at Beyoncé I’m always reminded of that. Whitney gave her a touch, a sign to go ahead, a touch that said, You got it from here.

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You can never know what it’s like to be from Texas unless you are from Texas. But, on her new album, When I Get Home, Solange does her best to evoke not only the vibe of her hometown of Houston, but what it’s like to return as an adult to the place that shaped you into who you are.

Musically, Solange has progressed from her previous album, 2016’s A Seat at the Table. There, she deconstructed the idea of a song; on Home she abandons the pretence of pop song structure altogether. The familiar elements remain: beats that could fit into a Soundcloud jam, Motown-inspired harmonies, warm gospel organs, funk bass lines, hip hop as interpreted by Texas, and jazz. There aren’t lyrics as much word loops, a jazz trick that makes her voice, and those of her collaborators, into an instrument in the cacophony. The words are typically not the focus of the songs here.

At the heart of When I Get Home is Houston. H-town streets come up in the track listings, from S McGregor to Almeda to Beltway 8 to Scott Street. Songs like “My Skin My Logo” and “Down with the Clique” owe an obvious debt to the city’s sizzurp-drenched scene of the ‘00s and DJ Screw — as well as beloved, long-running rap radio station 97.9 The Box. But the range doesn’t stop there — Rice University’s student-run KTRU, a home for both acid jazz and indie rock, round out the influences Solange reaches back for on opener “Things I Imagined.” Radio is a huge deal in a city like Houston, whose vast urban sprawl is legendary. Blasting music in your car is a rite of passage, from the Geto Boys in the parking lot of Greenpoint (aka Gunspoint) Mall to Grizzly Bear in the parking lot of indie music venue Fitzgerald’s. But there’s also a slowness, a deliberateness that’s inherent to a climate like the one in Houston (as well as New Orleans, Solange’s other home). The heat and intense humidity slow you down, affecting everything from the way you talk to the way you move; you don’t have to be sipping on sizzurp to look and sound laconic.

In “Almeda,” Solange ruminates on Hurricane Harvey, imagining the brown flood water along with the brown liquor homeowners downed by the vat while they watched the rain fall and fall and fall. She captures a sense of disbelief and hopelessness in the surreal music, with just a harsh-enough edge in the piano as it works down the scale. “Stay Flo” may be the closest thing to a bop on the album, but that might just be the familiarity talking — it operates a lot like her previous work with collaborator Dev Hynes musically. That said, like all the tracks on this album, it’s not a fully formed pop song, at least not as we think of them commercially. Rather, “Flo” is more of an idea of a song, taking elements from many musical styles and putting them together without a chorus, verses, or throughline. Much more of an experimental, avant-garde performance artist than her sister, Solange is banking on us going with her to a higher, more spiritual level on When I Get Home, manifesting songs as memories. But she doesn’t shy away from revealing how incomplete and fallible those memories can be.

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Dr. Damien Jacob Markiewicz Sendler, a prominent sexologist who’s been featured everywhere from Forbes to Dan Savage’s Savage Love podcast, is not a sexologist after all, according to an investigation published by Gizmodo. Reporter Jennings Brown found that despite his prevalence in the media, the majority of Sendler’s claims about his education, research, and medical background appear to be fabricated.

According to Gizmodo, Sendler never attended Harvard Medical School, despite saying he graduated with both a PhD and an MD; he’s not a member of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, despite claiming he is; he isn’t licensed to practice as a psychologist, psychoanalyst, or mental health counsellor in New York, despite saying he does so; and the foundation where he claims to be the chief of sexology appears to be entirely made up. After Brown told Sendler about what he'd discovered, Sendler told Gizmodo that he actually got his MD from the Medical University of Warsaw, but Brown was not able to verify that.

Sendler made a name for himself by presenting studies about topics that are “practically tailor-made for outlets that cover taboo sex news,” writes Gizmodo. VICE interviewed him about his study on bestiality; Playboy quoted from his paper on necrophilia; MEL Magazine covered his study comparing the "traumatic rectal injuries" in humans who practiced anal fisting — or, as Sendler put it, “butt-fisting” — to those who "had anal sex with animals." He also presented himself as an expert on autoerotic asphyxiation to Dan Savage's Savage Lovecast, and on women who fall in love with serial killers to Forbes. His coverage extended outside sex, too; Sendler told Gizmodo that he currently has a paper under review about teenagers attempting to live-stream suicide on Facebook.

However, Gizmodo notes that at least one of these studies — the one on necrophilia — was never actually published, and the studies that were published often have serious ethical or factual issues. A psychologist, David Ley, told Gizmodo that the “butt-fisting” article is “commingling paraphilias and kink — treating basically all people who are interested in kink as though they have sexual disorders,” and that the necrophilia article is “extremely implausible...the sexual elements read more like Penthouse Letters than clinical narratives.” Gizmodo also points out that much of the language Sendler used to discuss suicide goes against guidelines set forth by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the National Institute of Mental Health.

After Gizmodo published their report, the Cut notes, Sendler removed all the content on his website and replaced it with a statement calling the Gizmodo article a “great work of fiction writing" and that Brown is "biased against me because of my European heritage and ability to work multidisciplinarily and to live in the US as well as Poland." This statement has since been removed (though it lives on in screenshots on Twitter) and replaced with another, in which Sendler says that the reporters who interviewed him did not read his papers thoroughly enough, and that “Twitter and other social media tend to get explosive with jumping into conclusions.”

In a Psychology Today article about his involvement with the Gizmodo report, Ley examines how Sendler was able to trick so many people. “Our media, in a time of clickbait journalism, is desperately hungry for sensational, controversial soundbites,” Ley writes. “Sendler weaponised this, telling Jennings: ‘I ask myself usually: Is this the weirdest thing I have done in terms of scientific inquiry?’... Sadly, it appears that our academic press, with peer-reviewed journals and editorial boards, fared no better.” He offers a list of ways to fact-check self-presented experts’ claims, writing, “there needs to be a lot more on a sexpert than just their website.”

The reporters who were duped by Sendler appear to agree; Salon notes that many have either added updates to their articles, or removed the pieces entirely. “This was Savage Love -bait,” Dan Savage told Gizmodo of his decision to interview Sendler about autoerotic asphyxiation on his podcast. “Clearly, we’re going to have to add a layer of vetting that we haven’t had in the past.”

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You may have heard a little something about Kylie Jenner's claim to the throne of youngest self-made billionaire, but there’s another cosmetics doyenne who takes Kylie’s astounding fortune and raises her 50 times that: L'Oréal heiress and chairwoman Françoise Bettencourt Meyers. The industry scion was named the richest woman in the world by Forbes yesterday, ahead of today’s release of its 2019 World’s Billionaires list.

The granddaughter of L'Oréal founder Eugène Schueller, who's said to have invented hair dye, Bettencourt Meyers owes a large portion of her wealth to the family business. Last year alone, her personal fortune was boosted by £5.4 billion after the cosmetics giant recorded its best sales growth in more than a decade, according to the publication.

Though this is Bettencourt Meyers' first time topping Forbes' ranking of the richest women, the fact that she's there isn't exactly a shocker. Her late mother, Liliane Bettencourt, who passed away in 2017, had made the World's Billionaires list every year since Forbes first published it in 1987. The publication also reports that, for the better part of the past three decades, the title of world’s richest woman has bounced between L'Oréal's Bettencourt and Walmart's Walton families.

How does the world’s richest woman spend much of her energy? In addition to being a published author of books about Greek mythology and Jewish-Christian relations, Bettencourt Meyers serves as president of her family’s philanthropic foundation, which has supported a range of endeavours from genomic research to vocal training for choral singers in France. But as a longtime L'Oréal board member, she also helps guide the brand where, according to Forbes, an estimated 90% of her wealth is tied.

Will Bettencourt Meyers retain her seat as world’s richest woman by the time next year’s list rolls out? And how long until Stormi makes the list as an heiress herself? Of one thing we're certain: As long as the beauty industry thrives, so do the world’s richest women.

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When scrolling through bridal hair looks, it's easy to pin the top contenders into two camps — up or down — and then proceed to agonise over which vibe most represents you. Am I a boho bride? A classic bride? A sexy bride? A minimal bride? You can take an online quiz (or 10) to figure out where you land, or you can find your sweet spot somewhere in the middle with a half-up hairstyle that manages to look romantic and modern all at once.

A far cry from the messy, clipped-up versions of the '90s, Hollywood's biggest stylists are proving that half-up hair can be deliberate and chic — and practically made for a walk down the aisle. For one, the style ensures your hair is off your face for better pictures, but it still looks romantic and free flowing. It also begs for bling in the form of sparkling hair accessories, veils, and tiaras.

To augment our ever-growing Pinterest board of half-up looks that toe the line of pretty and cool, we talked to celebrity hairstylists Bridget Brager and Vernon François. They share their tips on how to score a half-up look fit for a bride, ahead.

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We consider springtime a vibe, as opposed to a season. You're wearing your favourite white eyelet blouse, enjoying the afternoon sunshine beaming through the window, and drumming your glossy lavender fingernails across your desk as you daydream about your patio brunch plans. From where we're sitting, there's absolutely no reason that you shouldn't have that feeling — bright and spring-y, with a fresh manicure to match — as early as February.

While we sadly can't change the forecast, we can round up the nail polishes to get you in a warm-weather mood sooner. From mainstays like lemon yellow and icy lilac to more unexpected shades like muted sage and rainbow glitter, you'll find 2019's biggest spring nail polish trends, ahead. Scroll through to find the bottle you should buy and wear now, before everyone else catches the fever.

At Refinery29 UK, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

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Rosey Adams was at the start of her third trimester when her midwife encouraged her to go and see her GP. That same day, she was put on medication for depression.

“For a while, I was just in denial about it. I was scared to speak to my GP or my midwife, because I wasn’t sure of what would happen if I wasn't very well,” says the 29-year-old mother of three from Scotland, talking about her last pregnancy, eight years ago.

Despite having suffered from depression since her teenage years, Adams didn’t really worry about it when she found out she was expecting her first baby, at 18. “The thought of being a young mum and having a pregnancy was more of a worry than my mental health. It just didn’t really occur to me, I didn’t realise that pregnancy could have such a big effect on my mental health, and a lot of women go through the same, there’s just not enough awareness out there,” she says.

She now thinks depression affected all three of her pregnancies, although her last experience was the worst: “My third pregnancy was the one where it was most severe and the symptoms were far more obvious, with things like intrusive thoughts about not wanting to continue with the pregnancy and not wanting to be here,” she remembers.

Depression, anxiety and other mental health issues don’t only come up after giving birth, as a quarter of pregnant women actually experience these problems while expecting, according to a new study from King’s College London – more than previously thought, researchers say.

“There has been a lot of focus on the after-birth period, on postnatal depression particularly, it is almost as if people have assumed that pregnancy is a protective time. What the study illustrates is that it is not because, actually, mental health problems are really common,” says Louise Howard, professor of women’s mental health at King’s College London and author of the study.

While it is likely that some of the conditions detected in the research were longstanding, there are also many reasons why somebody would develop a new mental illness durin g a pregnancy. Especially if that pregnancy is unplanned, unwanted or the result of rape or partner violence, Howard points out.

A lot of focus is usually put on depression – which still affects an estimated 11% of pregnant women – but the study found anxiety to be the most common problem (15%), with women also experiencing eating disorders (2%), obsessive-compulsive disorder (2%), PTSD or bipolar disorder, as well as a combination of different issues.

“There isn't as much knowledge – research knowledge or general knowledge – about these problems in pregnancy, particularly the problems that aren’t depression,” Howard explains. All these illnesses are problematic, all of them are going to have an impact on the woman and her pregnancy, and there need to be tailored treatments in place, she argues.

Since 2015, the UK has been developing new services for maternal mental health care, but availability is still patchy and interventions tend to focus on treating cases at the more severe end, instead of working to prevent them.

Women usually seek help and advice from their GP, their midwife or health visitors, and Howard says these are the people who need to be trained to identify mental health problems and give the most appropriate information and advice – about possible risks, best psychological interventions or medication issues, for instance. “Certainly we have quite a way to go in terms of these professionals being trained up enough to feel confident that they know how to ask and know how to respond. And, of course, there is no point in asking if the services are not yet available.”

Christina Taylor was 26 when she got pregnant with her first child about six years ago, probably after a bulimic episode affected her birth control. Having struggled with eating disorders since the age of 13, she felt absolutely terrified and excited, at the same time.

“I told my midwife [about my eating disorder] immediately, but at 16 weeks I was struggling so much with keeping any food in me at all or knowing how to feed myself that I saw my GP and asked to be referred to eating disorders services and a dietician,” she explains. She didn’t receive any help, and it was only after a fall at 28 weeks pregnant that a midwife picked up on her distress and referred her to mental health services.

“I remember walking into my first appointment and the therapist asking why it had taken me 34 weeks to get any help, and I just burst into tears,” she recalls.

Three years later, when she became pregnant again, she was much further along her recovery process and more assertive about getting help. At that point though, she wasn’t considered unwell enough to receive support from mental health services: “It got to a point where the consultant I was under just brought me in every two weeks to talk to me and reassure me about the pregnancy, simply because no one else was interested in helping me,” she says. Her midwife also granted her extra appointments, but it is crucial that everyone is able to access the resources they need before symptoms get worse and recovery more difficult.

Some women may not even realise they have a mental health problem – despite having symptoms like extreme fatigue or not being able to sleep or to eat, for instance. They may not have been asked about their emotional wellbeing in a sensitive way, causing doctors to miss an official diagnosis.

Even for those who do realise, they may not want to get help, for fear of being judged. “A lot of women worry that social services might be involved, so they don’t want to access services for that reason,” Professor Howard says. “It isn’t the case that just because you have a mental illness there is going to be an impact on the child,” she clarifies. And no, you will not automatically get postnatal depression, if you had depression during pregnancy. “The simplistic messages that are sometimes out there are unhelpful and actually blame women, who end up feeling very guilty, thinking that somehow they’re causing damage to the next generation and that maybe they’re not good mothers,” she warns.

Having dealt with depression during and after pregnancy, Adams says women need more honesty from healthcare professionals, as well as other women and the media, to overcome the misconception that pregnancy is an ecstatic experience for everyone. “There’s a lot of taboo of not wanting to say you’re actually struggling and not enjoying your pregnancy,” she says.

Taylor’s eating disorder made her feel especially guilty: “So many women would kill to have a healthy pregnancy and baby – how can you talk about the fact that the idea of putting on weight paralyses you with fear or that you feel so miserable you can barely get up in the morning?” She feared talking about it, and even experienced a backlash on a website for mothers where women told her she was lucky to be pregnant at all, when she asked for advice.

Even though access to specialist resources is still limited, if a woman is struggling through her pregnancy the advice is to talk to a trusted professional – maybe a GP or a midwife – to work out the best intervention available locally. “Some GP practices actually do have a psychologist there, or they might be referring to a perinatal psychiatrist if it’s a different kind of problem, it really depends,” explains Professor Howard. “The important thing is to share how you are feeling with a health professional, ideally as early as possible, so you can receive treatment and hopefully enjoy the rest of your pregnancy.”

If you are struggling with mental health issues, please contact your GP or mental health charity Mind for advice on what to do next.

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Sat on my bed, looking at the floor, I am disgusted with myself. My bedroom is what my mother would describe as a 'pigsty', with clothes, makeup, half-read books and chargers for phones long dropped down toilets strewn across the carpet. I’m not dirty – the knickers are all fresh from the washing machine and I’m militant about washing up plates once I've eaten – but I am, without a doubt, untidy. Some would say that’s a symptom of my laziness; I would argue quite the opposite: I’m far too busy to concern myself with something so trivial as putting things in drawers. And what am I busy doing? Watching Netflix, obviously. More specifically, I’m watching Marie Kondo tidy other people’s houses.

We’re a generation of Netflix-bingers, watching other people be better, do better and, well, live better than us.

The irony is almost too much to bear. While I watch Kondo burst with delight at the chance to teach someone how to fold a tie, I’m horizontal in my pyjamas at 11am on a Saturday, and – depending how much I drank last night – most likely have a Deliveroo on the way. Across the country, if not the world, others are playing out the exact same scenario, their flats in various states of disarray while the scenes on their screens become more and more spotless. We’re a generation of Netflix-bingers, watching other people be better, do better and, well, live better than us. It’s enough to make you cancel your subscription – except we don’t.

Netflix doesn’t release viewing figures for all its shows, but if Twitter’s reaction is a good litmus test – and it usually is – then millions of us have seen Kondo rearrange books and enthuse over a misplaced sock. She is an extension of our society’s obsession with wellness and self-care and when it comes to the telly, she is by no means alone. Sticking with Netflix, Queer Eye ’s Fab Five are all missionaries of the self-improvement crusade, each bringing their own expertise to those in desperate need of a little 'zhuzz', whether your hair is long overdue a trim, your cooking skills don’t extend beyond pasta or, like me, your house needs an overhaul. They’re here not only to help the hapless men (and one woman, shout out to Tammye) but also to inspire us, the viewers.

Joining them soon will be none other than Gwyneth Paltrow, when her wellness brand Goop makes its television debut on the same streaming platform. It doesn’t even have a name yet, but according to Variety, Goop The TV Show will take the form of 30-minute episodes examining "issues relating to physical and spiritual wellness". For many, Goop’s increasing influence in pseudoscience and frankly dangerous products are more than enough already, and they would rather not have Paltrow beamed into their own living room. I tend to agree with them, but also know that I will most likely end a lazy day on the sofa wondering whether I do need to steam my vagina after bingeing the whole lot in one go. (Note: You really, really don’t need to steam your vagina.)

When you’re lying in bed, crying over your fourth viewing of the Tom and Abby reunion from the very first episode of Queer Eye ’s reboot or marvelling over the way Kondo folds baby clothes (vertically, because they’re so small), you don’t even realise how the programme is supposed to affect you. For all my hours of watching the love of my life, Antoni Porowski recoil at the sight of someone’s empty fridge, my own has never contained more than wine and a bag of sad spinach. Which begs the question: Why are we all so on board with self-care on TV, but reluctant to actually practise what Kondo and the Queer Eye boys are teaching us?

Why are we all so on board with self-care on TV, but reluctant to actually practise what Kondo and the Queer Eye boys are teaching us?

Perhaps it is because we are grossly misled about what self-care actually is or can be. Mental health charity Mind defines the act of self-care as anything from practising mindfulness to working on your relationships, to spending time outside in nature. There’s no arguing that four hours of Netflix on a Sunday afternoon can equal the bounty of vitamin D and serotonin even a lick of sunlight can offer, so I’m happy to concede on that one.

Mindfulness, however? Yes, watching Marie Kondo makes me feel mindful. I know, now I’m the one who sounds like a Goop editor, but I’m standing by it. Watching Kondo help a widow rearrange her house to get rid of, but still remember, her late husband’s possessions is a humbling experience, and one that the meme-makers refuse to recognise. As with Queer Eye, this isn’t about folding pillowcases or getting rid of books, it’s about people and the curveballs of crap life throws at them. Maybe that isn’t mindfulness in the meditative sense of the word, but I am personally more aware of my thoughts while watching and, probably most crucially, none of them is about my own messy bedroom.

Does wellness TV designed to inspire us belong on platforms that lock us to our sofas, defying the very lessons Kondo is so excited to teach us? Netflix, iPlayer and the like want us to stay inside. They make it easy to watch episode after episode without lifting a finger, only asking us (somewhat sarcastically) if we want to continue watching after we’ve already consumed six episodes. Yes, we do want to continue watching…mainly because the alternative is tidying the house.

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We know how to prep our skin for flawless foundation and how to apply lipstick to make thin lips look fuller almost instantly, but when it comes to nailing eye makeup, especially eyeshadow, it's a little trickier.

Once you've worked out the best shades for your eye colour, bought the right brushes and decided whether you want to create a smoky eye or something more minimal, there's the back and forth of blending and the inevitable clean-up. But according to LA-based makeup artist and photographer, Jordan Liberty, it doesn't have to be that taxing. Here are all the eyeshadow hacks we learned when we sat down for lunch with the pro himself.

How to do a smoky eye...without looking bruised

According to Jordan, there are two mistakes we tend to make when doing a smoky eye: using too much dark eyeshadow and not starting close enough to the lash line. But it's easier not to use any eyeshadow at all...

"I like to build a smoky eye up with eyeliner instead of eyeshadow," he told R29. "I’ll take a really soft, creamy, gel-based eyeliner, like Urban Decay's Glide On Eye Pencil, and smudge it on to the lid first. As it's controlled, there’s no fallout and you won’t look like a raccoon. Liners like these move easily when blended with a brush. I find it’s easier to define the outer third of the eyes and if you keep the darker colour close to the lash line and then just blend it out, it won’t be as scary. It’s a cool fashion look to go above the crease, but it can look a little too much. That's when you can go in with a little eyeshadow to make it softer. I'd also suggest mixing tones. Sometimes use a chocolate colour eyeliner and an eyeshadow in a contrasting colour."

These are the best eyeshadow shades to suit your eye colour

Because purples aren't that wearable day-to-day, Jordan suggests sticking to neutral hues for maximum impact. "Those with brown and hazel eyes can get away with virtually all colours, but I love greige, a cross between grey and beige. A little hint of silver vibrates against brown eyes. That said, cobalt blue is a great wildcard shade. When it comes to blue eyes, I’ll always opt for warmer, peachy tones, which really makes them pop. For green eyes, warm shades with slightly red tones bring out the golden flecks."

Make sure you're using the right tools

"If you’re scared of eyeshadow, get yourself a really soft, fluffy brush," advised Jordan. "The softer and fluffier, the less colour it'll apply. If you want to create more of a defined crease, choose a brush that comes to a point and tapers off. You get more of a diffused line, not a 'slice'. The softer the brush, the more natural the look."

How to apply eyeshadow for every eye shape

"With hooded lids, you can get away with more colour because you only really see it on the lid when you blink," said Jordan. "My aim is never to alter the shape of the eye because it’s beautiful, but I’ll always aim for a pop of colour on the lower lash line to emphasise the eye."

If you want to make small eyes appear bigger, use warmer colours and take them higher and lower than you normally would. "I use the Audrey Hepburn tip," revealed Jordan. "Her makeup artists would take a taupe-y colour and take it slightly lower than where you would normally apply it to create a gap between the eye and the shadow. This emphasises the height and width of the eye without looking too stark, which white eyeliner can sometimes do. The aim is to use colours that suit your own skin tone, as they add a bit of weight underneath the eye so it’s more fresh and doe-eyed."

And if you have round eyes and want to make them appear slightly more cat-like, use your brush to blend the eyeshadow out at the outer corner, halfway up to the temple. "Taking eyeshadow off the eye in this way is a bit like sculpting and creates a soft, contour effect," said Jordan. "This technique also helps to resolve the end of the eye to make sure eyeshadow doesn’t look blocky. "

How to do a cool cut crease

Sharp, Instagram-inspired cut creases aren't for everyone, but if you do want to get on board the trend, Jordan has a few top tips. "I'm not the biggest fan, but I would suggest tracing your brush through the crease very gently, as this creates a much softer line. You don’t have to use dark colours and it doesn’t have to be black or brown. I like applying metallic colours in the crease because they don’t close the eye. It creates a shadow, but because of the metallic light reflection, it doesn’t look too dense or heavy."

Invest in eye primer

If you don't want to do a full-on eye, Jordan suggests just a swipe of tinted eyeshadow primer. "Sometimes I’ll just apply a little of this and then define the crease by running a brush through. These days, they're almost like cream eyeshadows and give a little wash of colour to lids."

This is the pro way to clean up mistakes

Whether you use a cream or powder, some fallout is inevitable. If you’ve already done your foundation, Jordan advises grabbing a fan brush. "I don't like applying translucent powder under the eyes when applying eyeshadow because it looks too chalky and dries out the area. Keep it as hydrated as possible. My trick is to place the fan brush under your eye while applying eyeshadow so you can let it fall on to the brush."

And what about mascara? "Mascara shields are great. If your mascara does smudge on to your finished eyeshadow, wait until it’s completely dry before you try and take it off. If it’s wet it will smudge. When it’s dry, use a dry Q-tip and it’ll pick up a lot faster. I also paint on mascara to avoid mistakes. Take out your mascara, pick up an angled brush and simply paint the lashes. I find it’s so much easier to define them in this way. No clumps, no big clumsy wand so close to your eye and no smudges."

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Working nine to five is no longer a way to make a living – one study last year found that just 6% of people in the UK now adhere to traditional working hours. While many of us are continuing to work a 40-hour week (just more flexibly), many others are working longer hours, thanks to globalisation, 24/7 business operations and zero-hour contracts – and they're experiencing mental ill-health as a result. Women are more likely to suffer the psychological strain. A recent study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found that women who work more than 55 hours a week are more likely to experience depression than men who work the same long hours.

Based on data from more than 20,000 British adults over 10 years, researchers found that women who worked 55+ hours a week were 7.3% more likely to show depressive symptoms than women who worked 35-40 hours, but the same pattern wasn't evident among men. Working weekends also had a more adverse impact on women – 4.6% reported debilitating low moods as a consequence, versus 3.4% of men.

One explanation is the "potential double-burden experienced by women when their long hours in paid work are added on to their time in domestic labour," the researchers suggested. Household chores and caring responsibilities – which we know still aren't being divided equally in heterosexual relationships – often dominate any free time that overworked women do have. It's no wonder our mental health is suffering. "Our findings should encourage employers and policymakers to consider interventions aimed at reducing women’s burdens without restricting their full participation in the workforce, and at improving psychosocial work conditions," the academics concluded. Too right.

Ahead, three women who know all too well about the connection between overwork and poor mental health share their experience.

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

This week: "I moved to Nottingham three days before Christmas (just to make things as stressful as possible) with my 7-year-old daughter, to live with my girlfriend. After struggling financially throughout my daughter's life and racking up credit card debt when I just couldn't make ends meet, I'm now in a much more comfortable position where I can start paying it back and start saving."

Industry: Nursing
Age: 31
Location: Nottingham
Salary: £23,023 wages plus £20.80 per week child benefit
Paycheque amount: Around £1,500 all in
Number of housemates: Two: girlfriend and daughter

Monthly Expenses

Housing costs: My girlfriend (GF) pays the mortgage as it's her house. When I'm in a better position and have cleared my debt, we'll buy a place together.
Loan payments: £200 to my credit card plus anything else I can put towards it at the end of the month. My student loan repayment comes out of my pay before tax, it's around £45.
Utilities: GF pays for gas and electric as she makes more than me. I pay for food and school fees.
Transportation: We take it in turns to fill the car up, my share is £50 a month. I spend about £30 on buses.
Phone bill: £10
Savings? About £120 into my pension, pre-tax. £50 into a LISA, £40 into an instant access savings account for any unforeseen bills. Once I've finished paying off my credit card I'll put that £200 into my LISA as well. I only got a pension aged 29 so I'm quite worried about saving for retirement. I squirrel away little bits into various "pots" so that when school uniform, holiday clubs, etc need paying for it's not too much of a stretch.
Other: £250 for all our food, cleaning products and household bits and pieces. £20 to charity. £54 for one-to-one swimming lessons for small girl (SG). £870 for school fees. SG was recently diagnosed as autistic and was really struggling in her last school. We made the decision to send her to a private school with much smaller class sizes as she struggles with crowds and lots of noise. It's a huge stretch financially but so far she's settling in well, so I'm happy.

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With so much negativity going on in the world, it's easy to turn on the news and feel small and useless. You feel you should be doing your bit to help make the world a better place, but how to get started?

You can of course donate money to various charities, but if you'd like to do something IRL there are plenty of volunteering opportunities out there. The trouble is, not everyone has the time. After all, many volunteering opportunities take place when most of us are at work.

When one of the members of our Facebook Money Diaries group asked for suggestions of where to volunteer in London, the group came back with a range of different opportunities which suit a whole bunch of different commitment levels. We decided to share the responses with you, in case you're struggling to find an opportunity that fits your schedule.

If you're outside London and looking for volunteering opportunities in your area, head to the group and pose your question – we've no doubt that the members will be happy to help you out.

You can also look for volunteer opportunities through your local council’s website or, if you're in London and nothing below takes your fancy, visit the Mayor of London's Team London for more. If you have other suggestions, add them in the comments below.

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The Danes may have overtaken the French as the effortlessly stylish women we want to be, but Jeanne Damas is keeping the Parisian girl flame alive with her heavenly brand Rouje. The label's SS19 collection has just dropped and though we may be stuck in grey old London, we're dreaming of long, balmy evenings and sundowners on deck.

The campaign imagery has enough inspiration to keep us going until our first holiday of the year. Alongside the pastel hues, ditsy prints and hyper-feminine cuts we've come to expect from the brand, there are newer styles too: woven bags, sorbet knits and silk slips, making the perfect spring-to-summer wardrobe.

"Rouje is a brand for girls who apply lipstick with their fingers, who ride up their skirt to let the sun kiss their legs, and who eat French fries and drink red wine," Jeanne says of the label. Count us in.

Click through to shop Rouje's SS19 campaign.

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In 2019, International Women's Day is celebrated around the world. But this day to highlight the fight for equal rights started over 100 years ago: First, National Women's Day in 1909, which celebrated garment workers in New York protesting for better work conditions. Then in 1910, a Women's Day was established to support the fight for universal suffrage. Finally in 1911, International Women's Day marked the day of protest in Europe for women's right to vote and work.

This fight continues today. The progress of women in the workplace has no doubt come a long way, but there are still so many hurdles for women all around the world: from pay parity; to creating good, high-paying jobs for women; to equity at home with regards to unpaid domestic work; to initiatives that would ensure talented women can reach the highest levels of business and public office.

We asked 11 women around the world the one thing they'd like to see change at work in 2019. Click ahead to see what millennial women hope for the future of female work in their countries.

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Whoever said you couldn't achieve defined curls with the snap of a finger never tried the finger-coil method... Okay, maybe you can't snap your fingers and make magic happen, but you can use the low-fuss technique to achieve defined, shiny curls that last for days.

This particular method isn't new — some of us have been rocking finger-styled curls since we were babies. But it's still the preferred styling option for those who want definition without twisting or braiding. You only need your fingers (yes, really) and your favourite styling products.

You want to start your finger coils on wet hair, apply a curl cream or gel (for hold and definition), and separate your hair into loose sections. Then — piece by piece — twirl your hair around your finger. It's that simple. Once your coils are dried, they can be teased with an Afro pick, separated for volume, or stretched into an updo. Fair warning: Even though the coiling motion is brief and easy to DIY, doing your entire head will take some time — especially if you have lots of hair. But the results will last at least a week.

If you need more incentive to try the finger-coil method, we rounded up a few easy-to-follow tutorials ahead.

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