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This Photo Of Mark Zuckerberg's Closet Offers A Lesson For Working Parents

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For many parents, going back to work after taking parental leave is fraught with emotion and anxiety -- from making sure child care is arranged to getting back in the work flow to simply feeling sad to be leaving your little baby just as you were getting to know him or her.


But, as Mark Zuckerberg demonstrates, there could be at least one way to minimize some of the stress: Don't sweat your outfit.


The Facebook founder and chief executive is returning to work after a well-publicized two-month paternity leave following the birth of his daughter, Max. 


And he won't be wasting a minute thinking about what to wear.





Zuckerberg is known for always wearing a gray T-shirt. "I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything, except how to best serve this community," he reportedly once said after being asked about the shirt during a Q&A session at his company's headquarters.


He's not the only big-shot person to adhere to the same-outfit strategy: Others include President Barack Obama -- he told Vanity Fair he sticks to gray or blue suits for work, which helps him "focus [his] decision-making energy" -- and Apple founder Steve Jobs, who was famously devoted to the black turtleneck. Women are in on it, too. Cultural critic, writer and icon Fran Lebowitz wears the same jacket, men's shirt with cufflinks, jeans, cowboy boots, two gold rings and tortoiseshell glasses on a daily basis. (See also: Wonder Woman, other superheroes.) 


The idea is to spend less time making nonwork and noncritical decisions and to keep all your mental energy available for more important stuff (saving the world from doom, inventing iPhones, etc.). There's a body of research showing that your decision-making capabilities actually diminish as you are forced to make more decisions. It's called "decision fatigue." (Charlie Brown and Doug Funnie, also poster children for the one-outfit approach, are clearly exceptions to this theory.)






Still, can mothers -- birth mothers in particular -- returning to work take a page from Zuck's book? They may be dealing with a drastically different post-partum body and stressing over finding the time and space to pump breast milk at work. There's definitely a strategic way to dress to make the pumping take less time.


Nothing in my closet -- except hideous maternity clothes -- even fit me when I returned to work after my son and daughter were born. There were some frantic last-minute shopping expeditions involved in my return.


Still, it would've been cool to just buy multiple versions of one new outfit -- instead of worrying about getting a variety of new things. That would have saved me some mental energy I could've used to play with my kids or plot my triumphant return to the office. 

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.












WIW2B: In Loving Memory

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As most of you know, this January I have dedicated my blog to profiling some of the women in my life and encouraging the #healthyatanysize community to define for ourselves the women that we want to be by exploring definitions of aspirational womanhood.

It saddens me to share that an acquaintance of mine, and a woman that I have aspired to be more like since the moment I met her, has lost her life to domestic violence. Out of respect for her and her family, I won't be using her real name or referencing the details of her story in this piece. But I feel moved to honor my memory of her, and share my reaction to this tragedy in the hopes that it somehow benefits others.

To me, it just seemed like her star burned too brightly to have been impacted by this kind of personal tragedy. We all have our conceptions of what domestic violence "looks" like, and in my mind this statuesque, kind, effervescent, beautiful, and confident woman wasn't the kind of woman that a man would ever raise his hand to.

She was that woman in the office that you wanted to spend your coffee break with. She was beautiful, inside and out, and every head in the room turned when she entered not only because of her external beauty, but also because of the beauty that shone from within her. She had a smile for everyone, and she was always able to lighten a tense conversation and get people to laugh at themselves. She was a comedienne, and had a well-developed sense of appreciation for the absurd scenarios that can play out in any workplace.

She had a deep love of music and a beautiful singing voice, which she exercised often. She probably should have been signed to a music label, but as a devoted wife and mother she made her family the center of her universe, and would instead take opportunities to sing at community events, church events, and official Navy ceremonies, such as retirements and change-of-commands. These ceremonies are where I got to experience her talent. She had such poise and stage presence, in addition to a beautiful voice, and her performances were always much anticipated treats for those that knew of her abilities.

But it just goes to show that the statistics about domestic violence, which perhaps we are numb to, are all too true. Race, religion, socioeconomic status--not even the fact that the man perpetrating this violence was, by many other standards, a hero in our society--absolved her and her family from being affected. And now their young daughter will grow up without parents, having born witness to their tragic deaths and untold amounts of anger, violence, and trauma leading up to that.

I don't say any of this to exploit these tragic events or encroach upon the right of her family and loved ones to mourn their loss privately. I don't even claim to have been especially close to her. She was a mere work acquaintance, and not someone I often thought of outside of my professional interactions with her, other than when I'd see from her posts on Facebook. But in those times where I did interact with her, I was often struck by her aspirational qualities. As a woman, I can't help but feel empathy for what she must have been going through. As a human, it's in my nature to seek to learn something or find good in the apparent darkness of this type of tragedy, just like anyone else.

What I will take away from her death is that we as women must always be mindful of what one another may be going through in private, and go out of our way to support one another. And we should never take for granted that because of all the modernity and material excess we may enjoy in the first world, each of us gets to live with a reasonable feeling of safety. There are private struggles and different forms of human tragedy playing out around us every day, and we can't afford to rely upon events like this to remind us of that.

I wouldn't have expected her to share with me what she was going through. We weren't as close as that. And I don't know what, without knowing, I could have done for her. But maybe just going out of my way to smile at her more, to acknowledge her accomplishments and contributions, and praise her for the qualities I admired in her could have in some way helped or comforted her. At a minimum, she deserved to know how she was thought of by me, and I know by so many others as well. So I hope that I did somehow convey my respect and admiration for her through our interactions, and that she knew how very adored she was.

In so many ways, she represented the kind of woman that I have always wanted to be. She was a great woman to work with, a good friend, a loving mother, and a radiant, beautiful soul who touched the lives of many. But beneath all of that beauty and strength was a tender spirit that needed love and protection. I suppose all that anybody can do after a tragedy like this is give that love and tenderness to everyone, because we never know what someone might be going through. Even the women that we want to be may be women in need, in ways that we cannot imagine.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.











Palm Beach (excerpt from Seduced By Polo)

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Palm Beach

Palm Beach is a headline always waiting to happen.

One small Southern county, brazen enough to throw off a national election, Palm Beach curtsied from debutante to a diamond-edged dart-board with fate for a bulls-eye.

Palm Beach proper, or improper to those who know her intimately, spread her scandalous, tropical wings into Palm Beach County to let the world know what Palm Beach was all about: a don't f... -with- me- hurricane of money, power, good old boys and nouveau arrivistes, waiting to let out a buck and a roar. A little jail time here, a little polygamy there, no one really cared, as long as you spelled his name right.

Palm Beach made her social debut as the winter home of Henry Flagler, a railroad tycoon who set his tracks on Florida. He was unstoppable, and so were his tropical investments.
The Breakers Hotel, a Flagler get-a-way, inspired by a famous Italian Renaissance Palace, with an aura that ghosts were there from the get go, burned to the ground more than once, only to be resurrected again and again into a five-star rated hotel for the rich and famous. Palm Beach didn't elect defeat as an option.

The "season," as first inaugurated by the Flaglers and an elite group of their friends, was a few short weeks in January.

Palm Beach was too much fun, too much dazzle, to remain a well kept secret for long: a pedigreed adolescent well-groomed beauty, waiting to strip down and dirty.

Soon, her season stretched from a few winter weeks into a few wild months, with parties, philanthropy, and one stunner of a scandal after another on her agenda.

Country clubs with boldly unwritten but hardly invisible exclusionary membership and guest rules made it callously clear who needn't apply.

The excluded formed their own club, and welcomed JFK as a member.
Palm Beach was too seductive to remain a trite safe haven chained by the artifice of clubhouse rules.

She attracted it all: Forbes Four Hundreds, international royalty, rockers: John Lennon, Rod Stewart and the Boss; the outspoken in Rush Limbaugh and F. Lee Bailey; social climbers and those who didn't need to climb; heirs and heiresses and a more than the legal limit of wannabes.

When Marjorie Merriweather Post's ornately historical home Mar-a-Lago proved to be way too pricey to be kept up by her foundation, Donald Trump came to the rescue, turning Mar-a-Lago into a private club for members with enough cold, hard cash to get past the gates. The Old Guard was predictably appalled.

In "season" Palm Beach was money incarnated: a constant flow of Rolls Royces, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, yachts and caviar, and deal makers toasting how good life had gotten. Land value skyrocketed, and expanded north into to terrain once designated for sugar and not a whole lot of spice.

Off-season, palm leaves blew into vacated pools, while their owners wetted their summer appetites in Southampton, Monte Carlos or wherever the jet set flew in flocks.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.











Gregorio Sanchez Presents at Art Hearts LA Fashion Week

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Sanchez's Style

Touted as one of the "best of the best" at the Art Hearts LA Fashion week, Gregorio Sanchez, displayed an incredible array of women's fashion. His style caught the eye of fellow designers and viewers alike. Gregorio Sanchez's line included vibrant colors, and some hands embroidered, provocative pieces, like lace and transparent blouses. Many of the models wearing the transparent blouses shed their bras to add to the sex appeal. To complement the blouses, the models wore tall stilettos (7 inches) and a beautifully crafted pompadour hairstyle to match the sexy, elegant clothing.

Some viewers described Gregorio Sanchez's line as "energetic and fun." In contrast with the brilliant colors, Sanchez included other patterns of checkered black and white to make the vibrant colors pop. Many of the dresses displayed floral styled patterns and jewels. Sanchez also included sequins and other Spanish styled designs that were emphasized by floor length capes, colorful belts, and some other earrings that embellished the models' look. Gregorio's line reflected a Hispanic style but also had inspiration from the styles of India and Bali, thus, the wide selection of shining colors and stunningly ornate accessories. Some writers described this montage of colors and style as something that may be seen in Cuba.

Gregorio's successes have neither began nor ceased at LA Fashion week, however. Gregorio Sanchez has been designing unique lines for more than 15 years now. Sanchez got his start in the design world by studying at Fashion and Design at the Louise Sallinger Academy of Fashion in San Francisco, CA. After graduating from the Louise Sallinger Academy of Fashion, Gregorio Sanchez worked as an art director for the prominent designer James Galliano in Beverly Hills.

After the rigorous tutelage of Galliano, Sanchez returned to Mexico to open up his fashion line called RG Sanchez. Sanchez continued to expand his lines by opening up boutique shops around the United States which sold handbags, footwear, and a wide array of eclectic clothing.

Gregorio's success with his boutique shops allowed him to continue presenting his work at various fashion platforms around the world, including International Designers Mexico, Fashion Week Mexico, and Vancouver Fashion Week

Today, Gregorio continues to flaunt his fashion lines in a variety of different venues. Gregorio Sanchez recently opened a storefront in Beverly Hills on the well-known Rodeo Drive. His boutique boasts a clothing line representative of his native Mexican heritage that brings with it the bold colors but also a pragmatic, elegant style that can be worn every day. The store is located at 421 North Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210.

Gregorio has recently become a very involved with an organization called Face Forward. Face Forward is a non-profit organization that provides gratuitous reconstructive surgery for victims of domestic violence and various persons involved in human trafficking and other related crimes. On December 16th. Gregorio held an in-store shopping promotion where 25% of the proceeds would be donated to the Face Forward foundation. On top of that, Gregorio donated 20% of the sales proceeds for the month of December.

Celebrities and Other Notable Persons With Whom Sanchez has Worked

Gregorio Sanchez has worked with actress Blanca Blanco, who has an active role in advancing humanitarian efforts and who supports some charities and non-profit organizations.

During the Los Angeles Fashion Week, Gregorio Sanchez also had model Alexis Bellino working their magic on the catwalk. Sanchez continues to grow his clothing line and work with some different celebrities. Blanca Blanco and Alexis Bellino are only the tip of the iceberg as to what we envision for Sanchez in the future.

This article originally appeared in Los Angeles Entertainment News.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.











How This 27 Year Old Female Entrepreneur Made "Made in LA" Happen

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When I first sat down across from Sofia Melograno in the fall of 2014 at a coffee shop in downtown Manhattan, she was the third young designer I'd met that week. Like the others, she was just starting out and wanted to source ethically. Often times, many of the designers' ideas don't pan out and our conversations consulting on their sourcing and marketing peter out. But Sofia was different.

She had really done her research, had been developing her idea for years and was committed to building a brand the right way with a sustainable and traceable supply chain. The only problem was she wanted to go big from the beginning. She was very adamant about manufacturing in sub-Saharan Africa having worked, lived, and traveled in various parts of the continent and she felt very strongly that not only would it be a beautiful story to tell but that as a social impact company, they could have a tangible impact in the lives of low-income women that they would employ.

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We were meeting to discuss manufacturing in Ethiopia using organic cotton prints sourced from the region, which at the time, while it could technically be done, I strongly advised against: quality control, sourcing cotton, price, labor and skills etc. are all still big issues when manufacturing on a small scale in that region. Logistics are almost always a problem and it can also become very costly, very quickly.

As the savvy entrepreneur I've come to know, Sofia was open to different options to realize her idea. We started talking through what would make sense like manufacturing closer to home to start out so she could control quality and looking at deadstock or surplus fabric material as an interim option towards organic fabric.

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Fast forward a year and a half and Sofia has her own children's line, Beru Kids, manufacturing fun, wearable, quality clothes out of LA from deadstock material. Her designs and prints for childrenswear are unique and so forward thinking (like harem pants for toddlers) and the brand has a social mission giving a percentage of sales back to the community.

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Sofia and I sat down to talk through her achievements and challenges over the last year and a half, how she built her brand and what it takes to be a young female entrepreneur.

Sofia, when we first sat down, you were planning on manufacturing in East Africa. Can you talk about how did you end up manufacturing in LA?

I chose to manufacture our line in Los Angeles soon after I moved to California to work on Beru full-time for a number of reasons: First, poverty is a very, very real thing in Los Angeles. Being able to provide jobs to LA residents and directly support our local economy is a very empowering thing. Though I still believe that and there's no denying that my time in sub-Saharan Africa has greatly shaped who I am, I feel that often times people in the developed world look to 'help/support/give back' to those on the other side of the world where poverty is much more visible when there are real problems at home.

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Also, when you outsource your manufacturing to a country where you are not based full-time it is virtually impossible to know details of the production process. You can be told that things are operating ethically, that people are being treated well, that kids are not employed, but are you really certain?

Often times companies will have contracts with factories and those factories will sub-contract the work out to other factories and you have no idea. You can hire a quality assurance specialist but it isn't rare that they get kickbacks and tell you one thing when other things are going on under the table. This isn't always the case, but for me knowing and being a part of the community at our factory is very important to me and who we were as a brand. Being able to visit and personally know exactly who you're working with and who is making our garments is underrated. I'm at the factory at least once a week, checking in on progress, getting feedback, and just hanging out with Pedro (the factory owner), Kim (our designer), and other employees.

Can you tell us a little bit more about the partner factory you ended up choosing?


I think I knew I wanted to work with our factory when I was having a conversation with Pedro and I said, "I know you have all these extra benefits for your employees and all of you are very close, but you don't have to do all of this. You could easily be another factory that pays minimum wage or pay per garment, rather than hourly... Why do you do all of this?" And he basically said, " I was one of these guys. I had their position at one point and I didn't have a boss that treated me well. I was treated as a machine to make my boss more money. I'm treating them just as they are: people, not machines."

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There are little things at the factory that make me so happy to work with them: everybody who works there is very close. Everybody eats lunch together every single day, from the owner to the newest employees. There's a soccer league that they play in after work or on the weekends. I just love their community.

As you grow, will you stay there at the factory?

We aren't going anywhere. Where we produce is who we are as a brand. If and when we grow big enough, I'd be open to other locations domestically and internationally, but the majority of our production will always be in LA.


Tell us about a typical day - how about when you visit the factory?


My day starts early if I'm going to the factory. I usually try to be downtown at around 8 or 9 am to miss the lovely LA traffic. When I get to the factory the first thing I do is sit down with Kimberly, my designer, to chat. Sampling is always the busiest time for us usually because we're on a tight deadline. No matter how much extra time we give ourselves we always seem to be crunching at the end.

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We have an adorable size 3 mannequin, named Francois, that we try all of our first round samples on and then we make the necessary adjustments. First round samples we usually just do with our white fabric that has the same fabric content (different fabrics lay different). We don't like to waste our pretty fabric on first rounds. There are usually a bunch of small changes to be made: add 1 inch at the shoulder, shorten hem by ½ inch, widen the sleeve, etc. Kimberly can make those changes pretty fast. We tend to try and stagger our sampling so we don't have one big push. Second rounds I find more fun because it's in the actual fabric and is often (if we're lucky) our final round. We then get a kid to try on our final round just to make sure that our sizing is correct.

Once we've checked out all of the samples and made the necessary corrections, I usually have a couple of meetings outside of the factory. I'll have to go and source all of our trims: grab buttons and have them dyed, zippers, ribbon, etc. I also try to make it a point to run to the deadstock warehouse and swatch fabric to see if anything stands out to me. If you like something at the deadstock warehouses, you have to buy then because it will likely be gone the next time you go back.

What have the highlights and challenges been in this first year of business?


Having an ACTUAL product was a highlight in mid 2015. Beru was an abstract idea that I had been thinking about for years and to have an awesome product that I could share with others has been rewarding. Then, figuring out our supply chain and developing a solid brand identity were the most exciting accomplishments of 2015. Figuring out your supply chain is crucial for any brand and nailing that down was exciting (and a huge relief).

The major challenge for me has been finding a factory that I trust. There are a lot of factories that are just plain sketchy. Also, getting Beru in front of the right consumer has been a challenge but I think it's a challenge for any start-up.

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What advice can you offer to new designers setting out to start a brand?


Definitely talk to as many industry people as possible about your idea/concept and ask a lot questions. I've found that people genuinely want to help if they can and if they can't, they'll put you in touch with somebody that can. Go in and ask for something specific. "I'm focused on xyz. If you could help with this, etc." One of the first people I spoke to about Beru Kids gave me really good advice. After I told him I was nervous to talk about my idea to people, he said to me, "Look, if you're determined to do this, you will and don't worry about talking to people about it. Only lazy people get their ideas stolen."

What is the most important lesson you've learned in your career to date?

Persistence: I will figure it out. There may be a few dead-ends (in my case more than a few) before you do, but you've always got a back up - try a different direction. I had so many big blows in the beginning from working and hiring the wrong people, to dishonest factories, to terrible patterns resulting in un-wearable garments, I could go on and on.

Also, as cliché as it sounds: passion. I need more of a reason to get out of bed than just a paycheck. I need to feel like I am contributing to improving our world, even if it was just on a very small, local scale. As a millennial we are the next generation of leaders who have the power and influence to make the changes that we want to see and that are important to us. We're at a crossroads with so many issues (climate change, issues affecting women and girls, national security, our economy, etc). I actually feel like it's my responsibility to act on making these changes rather than just talking about them. Talking about them is great, awareness is great, but we have to put those ideas into actions.

What do you think is the biggest issue for female entrepreneurs?

For me the biggest issue is that people recognize I'm capable and that this isn't just a passion project. I find that as a woman who has worked in philanthropy and the non-profit world, far too often people respond to Beru with "Wow, that's so nice...but what does your balance sheet look like?" True story.

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Which other female leaders do you admire and why?

I admire Malala. I heard her speak in Santa Barbara. I felt like I was in the room with the Gandhi of our generation. She is a young woman who has sparked the entire world to seriously start the conversation about girls' education. Inspiring is not a strong enough word.

I have a total girl crush on Lisa Ling. She explores issues and people that often go forgotten in the US. I'm a huge fan of her show, "This is Life on CNN". She's also an unapologetic feminist. I've found many women who say, "yes I support those issues...but I'm not a feminist."

As an inspiration for our work at Beru Kids, I really admire Jacqueline Novogratz, who is redefining approaches to poverty eradication. Her sustainable bottom-up approaches rival the traditional and all too common top-down aid approach. Her organization, Acumen is also NOT a charity. We need more of these models that aren't giving hand outs but are focused on social return.

And of course, I'm a huge Oprah fan. I met her at a dinner when I was 16 and to this day it was the best day of my life. She clapped for me and my mom for working on adoption issues at the time → Is an explanation necessary?

What brands do you admire and suggest others check out besides Beru?

Patagonia is a role model: They have completely mapped out their entire supply chain and are ethical in every aspect of manufacturing, right down to the zippers and buttons. What I find even cooler is that it is completely ingrained in their business model. Also check out, Reformation, Everlane, Oliberte, lemlem and Warby Parker.

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What do you want Beru to accomplish in the next year?

I want Beru to be recognized as a big player in the kidswear industry. But more than that as a brand that is doing things the right way. I want to be an example of a brand that can be profitable without cutting corners. If as a company, we're not paying fair wages or sourcing things ethically, somebody is paying for that choice. Working on launching a truly impactful program in LA is high on the list.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.











Yes, Bubble Wrap Is Glamorous And We Proved It

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In light of Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (January 25th), we're here to show you how chic bubble wrap can really be.


The Huffington Post collaborated with students at the High School of Fashion Industries and Sealed Air to put together a fashion show that turns packing material into haute couture.


Here's some of the magic the students created:





-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.











Contrary To Popular Belief, There's Cool Stuff On Etsy For Guys, Too

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On the surface, it seems like Etsy has no idea what a guy wants.


Its men's market page is full of masculine clichés ("Dadzilla" T-shirts, "coffee makes me poop" mugs, signs that say "When I go to sleep, I count antlers, not sheep," and knitted elephant boxers with a trunk that you put your dick in).


But underneath Etsy's basic-bro stuff you'll find furniture, one-of-a-kind vintage items and leather goods (think wallets, dopp kits and messenger bags) -- as long as you know where to look.


"There are tons of unique items for guys on Etsy," Emily Bidwell, merchandising manager for Etsy, told HuffPost in an e-mail. "Some of the biggest trends we see are funny T-shirts, fan art and bespoke toys, like surfboards and skateboards. We also see a lot of leather accessories for gentlemen, such as wrist watch bands, weekender bags, and grooming products."




If you're not shopping for yourself, the marketplace can also be a great way to source DIY ideas or cheat find the perfect gift for your lover if you're able to find the list of items they're watching on their profile.


Here's how to make Etsy work for you.


Let those who know do the work for you. 


Rather than its hilariously unfortunate men's market page, Etsy's "Gifts for him" roundup is much more curated (and refined). Editors scour the site every day to find the best stuff and highlight it in categorized lists ("gift ideas for dad" and "winter style for men," for example). From time to time, their Featured Shop Series includes brands that skew toward masculine (such as Solid Manufacturing Co.), which is a great way to find exactly what you want in the mob of other vendors on the site.


Create a profile.


And add any items that you like to your favorites. "The more you Favorite, the more new items and great gift ideas you’ll discover in your activity feed that become personalized to your tastes," Bidwell said.


You should also sign up for their newsletters, Etsy Finds and Etsy Dudes, which pulls out some of their better items.


Start with these shops:


If you still need more convincing, here's a list of some ways Etsy will enhance your style, whether it's in the bedroom, kitchen, office or wardrobe.



Also on HuffPost: 




-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.











7 Ways to DIY Upcycle Your Wardrobe

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When your clothes have fallen apart, fallen out of style, or fallen from grace in the gospel word of Vogue -- you have two choices. You can either take them to the hipster thrift store and further let them be re-purposed for the sake of irony, or you can try to look at them as a canvas. See not what they are, but what they can be.

Upcycling isn't a new concept, but it offers so many new ideas. And whether the middle of winter has you feeling like a wet blanket, or you're looking for a refresh, giving some pieces of seasons old a little nip-tuck always does the trick. Check out 7 of my favorite ways to shake it up and show off your DIY skills ... *in style.*

1. Cut some out, add some in with this Pop of Neon Tee


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Cutting your tees is the oldest trick in the upcycle book. Ever since the days of summer camp have restlessly creative spirits been snipping away at their bulk-ordered boxy cotton cages on a mission to bare their midriff and declare their must-be-heard individuality. This DIY Pop of Neon Tee sees your rebellious teenage spirit, and'll do you one better. Styling a deep V in the back, and fixing it with wide bands of colored ribbon give an upgrade to your torn-apart tee that elevates the look from adolescent angst to street style star.

Get the DIY Tutorial.



2. Stick it to the man with this Patch Purse

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Just as coloring books are eclipsing Kim Kardashian's "Selfie" as the most important addition to your coffee table, so too are their indoor recess comrades, the sticker books, making a late-in-the-game comeback. Patches, pins, and accouterments of the Lisa Frank variety have been exhibiting themselves boldly on denim jackets, but so rarely, and rarely so brilliantly, are they seen on an upcycled handbag.

Get the DIY Tutorial.



3. Harness your creativity with this Body Harness

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When an opportunity presents itself wherein you can complete an uber-chic and on-trend DIY and earn the underused compliment "strapping lass" in a way that is both figurative and literal -- there is no consideration here, you must take it. Retire your it's-2009-and-everyone-cool-has-one pleather jacket and upcycle it into an effortlessly attractive accessory. Taylor Swift once implied that harnesses are the sign of an adventurous spirit ... so what are you waiting for?


Get the DIY Tutorial.



4. Get pattern on the brain with this Meander Pattern Hat

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Because I picked up this hat at The Goodwill, I'll never know what adventures it went on before it came into my ownership. It could have traveled the Panama Canal, it could have belonged to Grace Kelly ... or Grace Kelly's manicurist! Or, likely, because the price tag and store name were still attached inside, it came from only a few miles away. But! With some painting, gluing, and careful ribbon selection, this hat will say arrivederci to the clearance bin and konichiwa to a new, stylish outlook.

Get the DIY Tutorial.



5. Free yourself with this DIY Car Wash Skirt

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Is it possible for legs to get claustrophobic? The seemingly eternal appeal of so-tight-you-might-not-be-able-to-procreate skinny jeans implies no such thing is possible, but yet, when I put on a midlength skirt, there it is again -- that suffocating feeling. With a swift 1-2 punch of some scissors and hot glue (a DIY-ers bread and butter) you can redesign the repressive structure of this skirt, and totally knock em out with your newly freed gams.

Get the DIY Tutorial.



6. Make some elbow room in your closet with these Jeweled Elbow Patches



Sweaters, the sartorial equivalent of waffles and syrup in bed, are sometimes known to take the cozy a little too seriously and leave your outfit with a case of "Keeping Up with the Librarians." And while Frances McDormand-chic works for some gals, I prefer my sweaters to have a little spark. Enter the bejeweled elbow patch, a solution that honors the Franceses of the world, but also appeases my quota for sparkle and shine.

Get the DIY Tutorial.



7. Embrace your messy side with this Paint Splatter Blazer


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One of the most common culprits of discarded-too-soon clothing is an unfortunate spill. Whether it's nail polish, beet juice, or some unidentifiable black sludge, a stray splotch of color can derail your entire immaculately conceived concept of an outfit. Unless ... you let that spill become the first layer of your newly upcycled Jackson Pollack-worthy piece of wearable art.

Get the DIY Tutorial.



Check out more DIYs, style guides, and hilarious how-tos at MrKate.com.


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The Vogue Body and Beauty Book, Or: 'How to Hate Yourself in 200 Needlessly Complicated Steps

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After the enlightening experience which was reading Lessons in Loveliness, I was excited to discover another old, instructional beauty book in my childhood bedroom. No idea how this came into my possession, but the "Vogue Body and Beauty Book", published in 1977, contains a multitude of questionable advices, from hairstyles to holistic healing. With a target audience of women, rather than teenage girls, and a 30 year jump from Lessons in Loveliness, it piqued my interest to see what fun, ruthless, didactic commands they could shove down my throat.

From the inner sleeve blurb, I could tell that this wasn't going to be as fun as L.I.L. I guess because Vogue are talking to women, as opposed to impressionable and sensitive girls, they took it as a free reign to be more overtly negative and even mean. "All women have bones, flesh, fat, skin and hair -- all these present problems in varying degrees." What a horrible way to live your life -- looking for what needs to be fixed and maintained, your beauty regimen become an ever growing source of anxiety. My philosophy (and thus, the only correct philosophy) is that everyone in their natural state is fine and fully formed and acceptable. Everything else you do is just extra.

There is a whole side of beauty which I don't yet feel properly qualified to explore in my writing, and that is beauty as being about health, yoga, electrolytes, detoxing and all of that stuff. I like to think I have a pretty sensible head on my shoulders (one with great eyebrows, too), and I believe that being a healthy person probably will be beneficial to your "looks," but I don't think that's the sole reason to try to be healthy. Also, the side of beauty which excites me more is the one about neon lipsticks, ugly and unflattering things and embodying your inner "cool girl."

Vogue says: "Beauty, today, is not a perfect face or a certain look -- we have left those attitudes behind. Beauty is now seen in the way a woman protects, reflects and projects her body power and mental energy." Maybe they were a bit too pleased with the rhyme here and lost focus on what they were actually trying to say. Because that first sentence I totally agree with, and it seems mightily forward thinking of a 1970s tome to disregard the idea of perfection in this way. I think everyone has pretty much realized that perfection is such a subjective idea that it can't objectively exist -- one version of perfection doesn't exist for everybody. But you lose me (and, doubtless, others too) when you start to try and connect makeup wearing to holistic, hippie language. I think wearing makeup for the right reasons and in the right way is probably good for what they term "mental energy" but let's please not waste too much of our mental energy and body power stressing out about our thighs and chin and eyelashes and hairline and whatever else is causing a "problem," OK?

Also, for a book which is supposed to be about beauty with a focus on health there is a lot of advice which sounds like it would kill you, or at the very least give you the farts. There is an extensive six page section dedicated to what Vogue calls "crash diets," or what I call "eating disorders." For example, the "6 Bananas, 3 Glasses of Skimmed Milk" diet, where you can consume only the aforementioned every day. Or, if you're into a more rustic feel, the "wine and steak" diet -- involving 12 oz of grilled steak and two glasses of red wine split up over the course of the day. And, not for the fainthearted, it the quite simply amazing "Drinkers' Diet" -- where lunch is 150g white fish, 1 small green salad, and 2 drinks -- whiskey, gin, vodka or white wine, and dinner is (you guessed it) 150g lean beef or chicken, 1 small green salad and 2 drinks -- whiskey, gin, vodka or white wine. The drinks are presumably to help you numb the pain of only being allowed 300g of food a day.

The book also contains a multitude of what they call "Natural Aids" -- the kind of kitchen cupboard face masks that I thought were relegated to pre-teen magazines. However, some of these remedies seem to be a hard sell even to an impressionable young girl. For example, the instruction to "rub skin with a slice of raw potato" with no explanation as to why that would be a good idea. And "for extremely dry skin, melt a teaspoon of butter and beat in two tablespoons of milk; apply liberally and leave for a few hours." The whole book seems to have an obsession with putting milk on your body, which strikes me as a one way ticket to smelling like a cheese shop. Pages and pages of suspicious sounding skincare recipes -- personal un-favorites are the "mayonnaise facial masque" (just unfathomably gross) and a "sun protection lotion" made simply of a crushed cucumber and some rosewater, probably (although I'm just guessing here) not actually proven to prevent skin cancer at all.

One thing I can't criticize this book for is thoroughness. It doesn't discriminate on where it needs to be so detailed: there are comprehensive (read: boring) descriptions of all the different minerals in a glass of water (if that doesn't entice you, I don't know what will). And the attention to detail doesn't end there -- EVERYTHING is explained in minutiae: such contentious issues as "how to brush your hair" spanning many pages.

A quote at the end -- unattributed, but presumably from some Vogue back-issue -- summed up why this book was more depressing than L.I.L. could ever hope for. "A woman who is a beauty has no need - and no time - to be anything else. Success in her chosen career brings everything that is most dear to the heart of woman - a jealous husband, envious women friends and admiring great-great-grandchildren." I don't really have anything funny to say about this because it has made me so sad. If that is the point of being interested in beauty then I'm so far off the mark in my thinking. But I, of course, think I'm right, and you should all ignore the Vogue Body and Beauty Book -- for your health.

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Don't Take It Personally When I Tell You 'No.' I'm Using It On Everyone This Year

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We live in a culture of Yes. The common self-help wisdom is that we benefit from seizing opportunities, embracing the unknown, soaring headfirst into the possibilities presented to us. And this is all well and good: yes, do try hiking in Fiji! And yes, accept a date with that handsome Italian who works at the bar you frequent, even if it might make things awkward down the line.

A well-timed yes can expand our world in beautiful and unexpected ways. But I am writing now to espouse the power of another simple word: no.

In fact, 2015 was my year of no (not as inspiring as Shonda Rhimes' Year of Yes but effective nonetheless) and I plan to make 2016 an even NO-ier one.

I am in YES recovery. Like many humans, many women, I am a people pleaser. Can I be there at noon? Sure can! Will I bring three hundred bucks in foreign currency? Absolutely! Will I also promise to help a friend move, be late meeting them because I also agreed to babysit another friend's sick rabbit, then disappoint everyone in the process? I sure will!

"No" is a word that could have served me well many times, but I didn't ever feel I had the right to use it.

A delightful cocktail of self-doubt blended with the need for constant approval had me convinced that "yes" was the key to my like-ability. Without "yes" what did I have to offer? And so I sprinkled it liberally, and as my obligations built up, so did my resentments, so did my feelings of inadequacy. Nice cycle, that one. (For more on this, see Whitney Cummings' incredible piece on codependency on Lenny Letter.)


'No' is a word that could have served me well many times, but I didn't ever feel I had the right to use it.


It's easy to relegate this phenomenon to our personal lives, and for a long time it remained there. As I twisted on the vine, desperately trying to keep my friends and family satisfied--unable to realize the expectations I was running so hard to meet were expectations I had myself created--I thought of my "yes" problem as exclusive to my personal relationships. After all, work is all about working hard, taking on the challenge. Work is, organically, a place of yes. In the television business we take on too much, race against the clock, do our best on little sleep and lots of caffeine and random bursts of inspiration. Because I had so much shame about the private strings of unanswered texts, broken plans, re-made promises, at work it became my mission to answer every email no matter the hour, agree to every added task, finish the day off by reading a link sent by a colleague rather than a book for pleasure. Even as a boss, I often refused to delegate, instead taking on added jobs for my employees in hopes that they'd be impressed by just how on the ball I was. If there was an extra-curricular writing assignment, I took it.

If there was a chance to run like a maniac from work to a panel, toilet paper trailing from my heel, tea stains on my blouse, I was doing that too. And for awhile, it worked like a charm. A compliment like "you're the fastest email-er I know," or "how do you do so much at once?" was better than a romantic sweet nothing to me. It fulfilled my desire to be seen as unsinkable, reliable. And in the deepest place, lovable.

But we can only pull off a high wire act for so long before gravity does its job. The more my personal relationships suffered, the more I wanted to work. The more I worked, the more work I had to do. Meanwhile, a part of my job involves being creative, dipping deep into the well of experience, leaving time to dream. That had been replaced with a busy iPhone and a to-do list that never ceased to multiply. I wish I could say my bottom was sleeping through my friend's baby shower, or falling in a pothole because I was texting "be there in five" and spraining my knee. But every painful reminder of what Yes had gotten me and where No had failed only pushed me further.


Even as a boss, I often refused to delegate, instead taking on added jobs for my employees in hopes that they'd be impressed by just how on the ball I was.


One night, third season of Girls, I was on deadline, finishing a script, and I found my eyelids growing impossibly heavy. I called Jenni, my partner: "I'll send this in tomorrow. Too exhausted. Sorry."

"I knew tonight wasn't a realistic goal," she said gently.

I grew defensive, listing the range of activities I had already undertaken that night, the pressures I was under, the exhaustion and the bla bla bla--

She cut me off: "And I just wanted you to listen so you could enjoy your night, not place this pressure on yourself. I just want you to be realistic about what you can do and save yourself this stress."

It was a small, empathic moment -- Jenni reminding me that meeting a deadline wasn't the reason I was loved or not loved, respected or not respected, and that life didn't have to be an endless jog to accommodate all the Yes's.

It was a slow process, but a polite "no" soon entered my vernacular. "I can't do it realistically by Friday," or "I wish I could be on that panel but my week is insane," or even "no, I'm not comfortable with this dynamic." And something miraculous happened: my personal life followed suit. I can't be at the birthday party. I don't want to go to laser tag ever as long as I live. I am exhausted. People respond well to honesty, to reality. They understand. And so with those no's, YES sprung back up everywhere. Funny how that works.

Sign up for LENNY, A Newsletter about Feminism, Style, Health, Politics, Friendship, and everything else from Lena Dunham.

Lena Dunham is a LinkedIn Influencer and this post first appeared on LinkedIn Pulse.

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15 Pastel Hair Color Ideas That You'll Be Dyeing To Try

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Hilary Duff has us reconsidering our decision to wait until spring to sport pastel hair. The "Younger" actress is just one makeover away from joining Nicole Richie and Katy Perry in the My Little Pony hair club after recently coloring her blonde bob "iced sorbet pink."


Having experimented with mermaid blue, ombré gray and magenta, Duff's dramatic transformations are proof that you can get real creative with pastel hair. 


Here are 15 pretty awesome pastel hair color ideas we found on Pinterest -- from seafoam green to cotton candy pink -- that will soften up your next dye job.



 


Also On HuffPost:





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What Women Over 50 Shouldn't Wear: Part II

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I wrote a post a year ago about what women over 50 shouldn't wear.

The post was popular and seemed to touch a nerve with a lot of people.

Some of which were very upset over being told, once again, what they should and shouldn't wear if they are of "a certain age". To those people I say: Hahahaha you crazy kids. You should really read more than the headline before posting a comment.

In revisiting this theme, it became glaringly obvious that I left some things off the "what not to wear" list.

  • Bitterness -- When you are bitter, then you get lip lines. You know those lines. The lines that makes your lipstick bleed up onto your face. When you are bitter, you make a face that is the opposite of "duck face". You pucker your lips up instead of pushing them out, making an "asshole face". If you stop wearing bitterness, then you won't have to suffer the heartbreak of lip lines caused by perpetual asshole face.


  • Anything that hurts -- For all that is holy, we have bodies. Many of us humans have bodies with peaks and valleys. That sounds more scenic than rolls and bulges. Is it really necessary to squeeze ourselves into squishy underwear that makes a good mood nearly impossible? We are who we are. We don't have to bind ourselves to be more visually pleasing to the other humans. Unless we are going to our class reunion, in which case, the super squishy Spanx are in order. It's not just trying to force our tummies to be flat and our asses to stop jiggling. Must we force our feet into shoes that pinch our toes and break our hips? I'm not suggesting that you give up your shoe habit. I'm suggesting you wear footwear that is stylish/funky/trendy and also not a death trap. Personally, I find a nice pair of combat boots works with so many different looks.


  • Doormats -- Not actual doormats, that is just silly and not at all practical as clothing. Although, a doormat would be more practical than a meat dress. I'm looking at you, Gaga. I mean, give up being a doormat. Don't wait for people to come around and treat you the way you deserve to be treated. Don't stew in frustrated anger when people put unreasonable demands on you. Stand up for yourself. Honestly, in all likelihood, no one else is going to stand up for you. It makes no sense to not defend ourselves. We deserve nothing less.


  • Pettiness -- Wearing pettiness just isn't safe. Pettiness adversely affects your vision. When you wear pettiness, you can't see beyond whatever ugly thought you are clinging to. When you surround yourself in pettiness, then you limit your range of motion. You won't grow. You won't appreciate beauty or humor or clean drinking water. If you wear pettiness, then you are willfully choosing to box yourself in and are admitting you'd rather feel ugly thoughts or behave badly toward other people than live with peace and joy and contentment. Pettiness does have a slimming effect, though, in that it makes your face look drawn. If you must continue to wear pettiness, then at least give up wearing the color yellow because the combination makes you look like a ghoul.


  • Sticks -- The kind of stick that finds its way into a person's ass. Get the stick out of your ass. By the time we hit that half-century mark, we should be beyond contributing to the women bashing women movement. We should not only refuse to share memes comparing a Kardashian to a Diana, we should point out how damaging they are to all women. I have to think if a woman feels compelled to slut shame, ridicule or tear down another woman, it has to be because there is a huge, throbbing stick up her ass. Also, this really doesn't just apply to women over 50. The sticks need be removed regardless which decade you are currently in. Having a stick up your ass sucks all the joy out of your life. Then you get wrinkles. This is science, people.


I'm not saying that I don't have to extract the occasional stick or that I am never petty or bitter. None of us are perfect, but there isn't any reason we can't try shed some habits that are better left behind. Shedding baggage becomes more important as we age. This middle part of life is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I'm finding that the lighter I pack, the easier it is to find the fun parts.

Earlier on Huff/Post50:



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So THAT'S Why There's A Tiny Pocket In Your Jeans

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Ever wonder why there's a teeny-tiny pocket above the regular ones in the front of your jeans? Or, more likely, have you ever gotten your thumb stuck in there due to its teeny-tiny smallness? Well, wonder no longer.


It's a watch pocket, originally for men who wore pocket watches and needed a protective place to store them. Though, as Levi's points out, the pocket has also served many other purposes over time, from condom storage to coin hoarding. 


Faaahbulous!




The burning question arose this week after curious minds re-discovered a Quora thread in which users have discussed this mysterious fifth pocket for years.


The Levi Strauss blog confirms their conclusion: "The first blue jeans had four pockets—only one in back and, in the front, two plus the small, watch pocket. This extra pouch has served many functions... condom pocket, coin pocket, match pocket and ticket pocket, to name a few."


The pocket appears on the oldest pair of jeans in the Levi's archives, which date to about 1879, Levi's historian Tracey Panek told HuffPost.  


The more you know.


H/T Perth Now


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The Wild World Of Helmut Newton, An Artist Who Brought Kink To Fashion (NSFW)

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Francisco Goya's "La Maja Desnuda (The Nude Maja)" introduced the painting world to a provocative image involving a nude woman reclining and unabashedly directing her gaze at the viewer. Inspired by Goya's perspective, Helmut Newton was one of the first photographers to explore sensuality and eroticism within the world of fashion photography. By creating a realm composed of corseted silhouettes, leather saddles and handcuffs, one of the stars of modern photography challenged traditions and experimented with satire.


Take, for example, an image of a mirror reflecting a nude model, shown below. The photographer can be seen at work behind her, while in the foreground, a woman seated on a director's chair observes the entire scene. The woman is Jane Newton, the wife of the artist who is wielding the lens in "Self Portrait with Wife and Models."



This photo, along with two hundred others in the series "White Women" (1976),
“Sleepless Nights" and "Big Nudes" will be on display from April 7to August 7, 2016, at the Casa dei Tre Oci in Venice, Italy.


On display are photos shot for Vogue, Marie Claire, Elle, Playboy, Vanity Fair and GQ,as well as work previously exhibited in New York, Paris, London, Houston, Moscow, Tokyo, Prague and Venice. The collection transcends fashion photography into portraiture, and portraits into news stories that seem to be taken straight from crime scenes.



To create the massive black and white photos for "Big Nudes," Newton took inspiration from posters distributed by the German police that had been used to track down Red Army Faction (RAF) terrorists. He earned himself a spot in museums and galleries the world over, and immortalized stars like Ava Gardner, Charlotte Rampling, Catherine Deneuve, Romy Schneider and Raquel Welch.


This list also includes Margaret Thatcher, the only woman to have ever frightened Newton. In a 2001 interview with The Guardian he confessed, “I had wanted to get her in front of my camera for years. The more powerful she became, the sexier she was for me."


Eventually, beauty became routine for him. At a certain point, the German photographer, who received his first camera at the age of 12 and at 16 was already working as an assistant at the fashion photography studio Yva, had had enough of perfect forms and gorgeous women. Whenever he was asked "Don't you think this girl is stunning?" he would reply, "She reminds me of work." 


Nonetheless, Newton's legacy endures.



This post first appeared on HuffPost Italy and has been translated into English.

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The Best Drug Store Face Lotions For Guys, All Under $30

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Put lotion on your face.


It's so easy to overlook this tiny step in your morning routine. But moisturizers, which contain humectants, attract water and help keep it in the skin, and many protect you from damaging UV rays, which all adds up to you looking younger, longer.


Rubbing a little lotion on your face every day is an easy -- and inexpensive -- thing you need to do for yourself.


But be aware of your skin type. If you're oily, use a lotion; dry, use a cream. Combination skin? That's trickier, but not impossible. Start off with lotions made without acids, such as Lubriderm or Cetaphil. 


It's helpful to remember that you should test a new product on your forearms for as many as two weeks before you commit to using it. 


You don't need to break the bank. Here are the five best moisturizers you can find at your neighborhood drugstore, all for under $30.



Also on HuffPost:




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23 Weird Facts About Butts You Didn't Know

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By Kate Sullivan, Allure

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Photo: Tyler Boye/WWD

There is hardly a female erogenous zone that hasn't been celebrated in art, poetry, and fashion--the bum included. The most fascinating numbers about one of history's most prized assets.

1: Approximate century the original nude statue Venus Callipyge was created. Translated from Greek, the name means "Venus of the beautiful [kalli-] buttocks [pyge]."

2002: Year Duke University scientists discovered the gene mutation that results in enlarged posteriors on some sheep; they named the animals callipyge sheep.

28,000 B.C.: Estimated period the Venus of Willendorf, a small statue with a large bottom, was created in Austria.

570: Estimated number of works by Peter Paul Rubens. The Flemish Baroque artist had an affinity for painting full-figured women, and his name gave rise to the term Rubenesque.

1870s: Decade bustles--steel hoops that give volume to the back of a woman's skirt to make her waist appear smaller--became fashionable throughout Europe.

1919: Year surrealist artist Marcel Duchamp painted a mustache and goatee on a reproduction of the Mona Lisa for his piece called L.H.O.O.Q., a play on words meant to sound like the French phrase "elle a chaud au cul," which roughly translates to "her ass is on fire."

24: Number Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" reached on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1979. The song was later used in the opening credits of Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary Super Size Me.

1992: Year Sir Mix-a-Lot wrote "Baby Got Back" after watching a Budweiser Super Bowl commercial that featured women who were "shaped like a stop sign."

22: Years after releasing the hit song that Mix-a-Lot revealed the line "got it going like a turbo 'vette" was inspired by Jennifer Lopez, a dancer on In Living Color at the time.

19.6 million: Number of views the music video for Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda," which samples "Baby Got Back," in its first 24 hours online.

16,000: Number of women in a 2007 study that found that those with a greater hip-to-waist ratio had higher IQs than less-curvy women. Their children also scored higher IQs, perhaps because the fat stored around the buttocks and thighs is high in omega-3 acids, which help a baby's developing brain.

1998: Year the Ivory Coast prohibited public performance of mapouka, a traditional tribal dance, dubbed "the dance of the behind," that's been cited as the inspiration for the bump and twerking.

2013: Year "twerking," defined as "a dance or dance move involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance," was added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

2010: Year Jean-Léon Gérôme's The Snake Charmer, a painting prominently displaying a naked butt, was shown at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, marking the first time the work had returned to France since 1880.

9: Number of backup dancers who wore black thongs and a coat of fine gold glitter to perform with Beyoncé at the 2014 Video Music Awards. Collectively, it took about three hours to apply the glitter to the dancers as they lay on the floor.

86.1: Percentage increase in butt augmentations from 2013 to 2014--going from 11,527 to 21,446 procedures, according to American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Butt lifts increased 14.8 percent.

34,147,700: Number of unique views--twice the annual average for the entire site--that Paper magazine's "#BreaktheInternet" nude photo shoot with Kim Kardashian West received in a matter of weeks.

59: Percentage of Argentine men who said they were more attracted to butts than breasts in a 2013 University of Buenos Aires study.

45.5: Degree angle of a woman's spine--which lifts her butt and make it appear larger--preferred by male subjects in a 2015 study published in Evolution and Human Behavior. Researchers noted, "Men who think they like big bottoms may actually be more into spines."

25: Number of butt dimples that can be treated in one hour by Cellfina, a device that cuts away at cellulite under the skin with no bleeding and minimal bruising--at a cost of $3,000 to $6,000.

7.4 million:
Approximate number of followers who subscribe to Instagram celebrity Jen Selter's workout pics and "belfies" (butt selfies).

84: Age of acclaimed news anchor Barbara Walters in February 2014 when she did a workout including squats and donkey kicks on The View, guided by Selter.

$79: Base price per person for the Metropolitan Museum of Butts tour offered by the group Museum Hack. The website's description reads, "This tour focuses on over 6,000 years of butt history and looks at the enormity of the Met's collection through the lens of butts and all things butt-related."

More from Allure:
Find the Best Haircut for Your Face Shape
7 Weird Tricks for Looking Great in Photos
The 10 Best Drugstore Mascaras Under $20
The 6 Prettiest Haircuts for Long Hair
Celebrity Hairstyles That Will Make You Look 10 Years Younger
51 New Hair Ideas to Try in 2016

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Dita Von Teese Thinks All Women Should Own These Items

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Image credit: Dita Von Teese for AOL BUILD


There's no doubt the Dita Von Teese is the epitome of burlesque sexiness - Tesse is the pinup girl we all want to be; dark, sensual, captivating and individually retro. Teese is all glamour and embraces being "unconventionally beautiful." The natural blonde who now dons jet-black tresses is also the muse of Christian Louboutin, loves makeup, corsetry and retro fashion. Praised by RuPaul, Jean Paul Gaultier and her ex-husband Marilyn Manson, the retro burlesque beauty gives her beauty tips and advice in her new book, Your Beauty Mark.

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Image credit: Amazon


Teese visited AOL BUILD to discuss her new book, body image and how a small town natural blonde from the midwest became an international fashion and style icon.

Besides a good red lipstick, Teese believes having self-confidence and individualistic glamour is just as important.

"It's really about celebrating the things that makes you different from other people," explains Teese. Teese, who has her own lingerie line that's available at Nordstroms and Bare Necessities, explains what pivotal items every woman, no matter what dress size should own and wear.


Black Lace Lingerie
Let's face it, black is sexy and so is lace so this should be an easy one. Teese's collection has beautiful lingerie that comes in black and various colors that looks great for everyday wear.

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Image credit: Dita Von Teese Collection on Nordstroms

I'm also a huge fan Bandelettes because their thigh bands stop chaffing and it's plus-size friendly. I have the onyx and chocolate ones. In the picture below, I'm wearing Bandelettes and an Alter Ego Clothing corset.

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Image credit: Fabulize magazine and Fabulize magazine Instagram

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Image credit: Bandelettes.com

What's sexier than black? Nude. Nude Barre offers durable and comfortable tights in every hue and sizes are available up to XXL.

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Image credit: Nude Barre



Great Fitting Bra

An outfit is just as good as your bra. A great bra can change your posture, shape and outfit which can boost your self-confidence. Plus, who wants to have their bra digging in their skin or readjusting during the day? Nobody has time for that!

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Image credit: Lane Bryant

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Image credit: Dita Von Teese Collection on Nordstroms

Buy Your Favorite Underwear in Different Cuts

Teese feels like every woman should buy her favorite panties in different cuts. Boy shorts, thongs, full coverage and hipsters all apply. If you fancy nude colored panties and briefs and have a hard time finding nude-colored lingerie for browner tones, Nubian Skin offers a variety of hues.

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Image credit: Nubian Skin

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Image credit: Dita Von Teese Collection from Nordstroms


Garter Belt and Stockings
Nothing is sexier than stocking and garter belts and it brings out your inner sex kitten. These can be work under your work attire or when you are home and of course Dita Von Teese has you covered there too.

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Image credit: Dita Von Teese Collections from Nordstroms

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Meet 90's East Coast Hip Hop Inspired Designer Jonathan Goldberg

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Jonathan Goldberg is a fashion designer inspired by the 90's hip hop culture.

Being from the Tri State area, the culture of NYC and its Hip Hop history of such artists as Notorious B.I.G Nas, Mobb Deep, and Wu Tang have been a big inspiration to Jon.

Sourcing all his fabrics and production in the Tri State area this is something that made me interested in him & his clothing label The Essence, I wanted to find out what it is like to source and create a fashion label in one of the most fast paced cities.

I caught up with Jon in New York City to find out more about him and his brand.

Where are you from and when were you born ?

I was born in New Jersey, New Jersey has been my home since January 8th 1979.

When did your love for music start ?

I first gravitated to Michael Jackson at 4 years old, I was fascinated with the "Beat It" video and "Billy Jean" video.

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What has the best thing about living in the Tri State area ?

The Tri State is great because it's so fast paced. Even if you don't live directly in New York its so accessible and the energy can't be duplicated.

How is the experience designing and sourcing your product in the tristate area ?

Designing in the Tri State has its advantages because i am surrounded by inspiration. Materials and hardware have been accessible as well. It's not an easy process but i've acquired a great deal of knowledge as I have learned from my successes and failures.

When starting The Essence what was the first design ?

The first design was a hat with a 1979 logo on it, just made for conversation. The first real design was the Shaolin Chessboxin varsity jacket. It took a while to get it right, but in the end I was happy with the result.

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What is it about the old school hip hop that inspires you so much ?

I'm inspired by the music and accompanying elements of style and culture that were so prevalent during my high school years -- 93-97. It was an incredible era that offered classic after classic. My generation got spoiled.

How long has The Essence be around ?

The brand started in late 2013, Its now 2 years old.

What has been the highlight so far ?

The highlight was seeing artists that I gravitated to in high school take a liking to my designs. I just made what I liked. The fact they saw them later and wound up wearing them validated my ideas and creativity.

Pictured below Nas wearing Custom made "Mass Appeal" Varsity jacket designed by Jon.

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What is your favourite piece so far

My favorite piece is the way back lumberjack coat. I wanted to reinterpret a lumberjack theme but combine elements of a fireman coat, trench coat and varsity jacket. The term hybrid has been used for it. I wanted it to look luxurious and a bit outrageous. The body is cashmere , sleeves are leather, and lining is satin. It took a while to draw out exactly what I wanted and had to tweak some things along the way. We played with the placement of the chenille patches and chose to place them in a nonconventional location. It was a tribute to elements of the past and the words and references of Biggie Smalls. I didn't want to be too direct, but still offer the key elements. The antique brass fireman hook closures are what really finishes the jacket correctly. They complete the look and allow it to truly look luxurious.

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Whos your top 5 artists and why ?

Top 5- (no order) Jay Z , I think he is the most complete MC, he can do anything, and he has so many classics. He offered us every piece of his life at some point or another. He can really tell a story, I never get tired of his music.

Nas, He is just a brilliant artist, paints vivid pictures, tells a great story, can examine himself as well. He gave us some epic material. He started off so young and We literally grew up with him Album to album.

Ghostface , I love the whole Wu, but ghost has been the most prolific in his solo career. So many albums. Great stories and his humor is incredible the skits are classic too. Never conformed. Just does what he likes. I never get tired of Ghostface.

Kanye - He gave us his heart and soul over and over. I can see how much time and effort he put into those early albums. A true perfectionist. I admire that. Not afraid to acknowledge his flaws, wins or losses. Truly opens up and allows the listener in. He Offers tremendous substance.

Biggie

His career was tragically cut short but gave us two classics back to back. He wasn't afraid to open up. He Could tell a story and people would listen, rocks a party, changes flow. He was the full package.

Who do you think is the next star to break out of the East coast ?

Dave east is the next big thing out of the east coast. He has so much potential to do it all. He's building a great following ands delivers quality material. If you haven't listened to him check him out here https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/dave-east/id451759978

Keep up to date with Jonathan and The Essence at the below links.

http://www.theessenceclothing.com/

https://www.instagram.com/theessence1979/

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10 Tricks For Getting Your Best Brows Ever

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By Sophia Panych, Allure

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Photo: Kyle Ericksen/WWD

Our best-kept beauty secret at Allure isn't a miracle cream or the perfect shade of red lipstick. It's Maribeth Madron, the makeup artist who comes to the office once a month to ensure we're putting our best brows forward. But Madron's powers go beyond grooming the perfect arch. She's helped many of us bounce back from the egregious tweezing of our teenage years. Growing out your brows isn't fun--or pretty--but with Madron's master brow-rehab program, it's a lot easier.

Step away from the tweezers
The hardest step is also the most important. "You want to resist the urge to touch your brows for at least four months," says Madron. "It usually takes that long for brows to grow out unless you've removed a lot of hair. Then it might take a year or more." Lose your salon's phone number, avoid the mirror when you're PMS-ing, and freeze your tweezers in a glass of water, says Madron. "If you can't get to the tweezers immediately, the urge to pluck will pass."

Condition at night
A brow conditioner will help speed the growth process along. Madron's favorite is RevitaBrow, which she recommends to many of her clients. But one conditioner doesn't necessarily fit all. "You may need to try different products with different active ingredients," says Madron. Talika's new Eyebrow Lipocils Expert is quite good, as is the Crave Collection Brow Braun Eyebrow Conditioner. If all these fail, try talking to your dermatologist about prescription-strength options.

RevitaBrow Advanced Eyebrow Conditioner, $110, nordstrom.com.

Talika Eyebrow Lipocils Expert Supplement, $57.50, amazon.com.

Crave Collection Brow Braun Eyebrow Conditioner, $65.99, amazon.com.

Pop some pills
The same supplements that help your hair grow--biotin and Viviscal (if you have an iron deficiency)--will also help brow hairs sprout. "That way, you're supporting the issue from the inside out," says Madron.

Viviscal Extra Strength Hair Nutrient Tablets, $39.99, ulta.com.

Fill in the gaps
There's no avoiding it: Your brows will go through an ugly phase during the grow-out process. "This is where brow fillers, pencils, waxes, and putties come in very handy," says Madron. "If your brows are a good shape but you're filling in holes, pencils and powders are best." Madron recommends Maybelline New York Brow Define and Full Duo (she's a spokesperson for the brand, but we're also a fan), which is a dual-ended stick with a pencil on one end and a powder on the other.

Maybelline New York Brow Define and Full Duo, $6.94, walmart.com.


Fake it
If you're growing out more than just a few sparse patches, pencil won't cut it. "What you want to do is paint on the brow shape you're desiring," Madron explains, "covering up all the patchy, new growth inside the lines with a wax/powder combination or a putty-like product, both of which are more forgiving, allow for less precision, and tame stubborn hairs." Madron likes Maybelline New York Brow Drama Pro Palette, which contains both wax and powder. As for putties and pomades, we're fans of Giorgio Armani Eye & Brow Maestro and NYX Tame & Frame Tinted Brow Pomade. For stubble or sparse hairs growing in at the tail end of your brows, you can cover them up with a very dry concealer, like Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage.

Maybelline New York Brow Drama Pro Palette, $10.99, target.com.


Employ distraction techniques
Keep the attention as far from your brows as possible. "Wear bangs, a statement lip, whatever you have to keep people from focusing on your brows," says Madron. And avoid cat eyes and winged liner. "Wearing liquid liner with strong edges during the growth phrase isn't a good choice: The sharp lines direct eyes straight to your brows, where they will be able to see every hole and gap," says Madron.

Try tinting
"Brow tinting is life-changing. It's helped me so much when growing out my brows because it bulks up all those baby-fine hairs," says Madron. Your best bet is to go to a professional rather than trying it at home (although, if you do, make sure to use a nice vegetable dye). "The other benefit of seeing a professional is they can paint on the tint in your desired brow shape," says Madron.

Avoid the unibrow
Remember how we said not to touch your brows? Well, if you're prone to sprouting a few hairs between your brows, we're not going to tell you to walk around like Ernie from Sesame Street for four months. To make sure you're not over-plucking, Madron recommends using your finger as a guide. Place your index finger between your brows and draw a line on either side of it with eyeliner pencil. Remove your finger and only tweeze the hairs in between those two lines. "You don't want to remove too much hair from the inner corners," says Madron. "It's very hard to get hair to grow back in those spots, so I always err on the side of caution."

Set yourself up for success
After four months--or once your brows have filled in substantially--you will want to shape them. We recommend leaving it to a professional, but if you prefer to tackle them at home, Madron stresses the importance of good lighting. "You want to be in front of direct natural light if possible. Overhead lighting creates shadows, which obscure your view." To determine your perfect brow shape, look at pictures of yourself before you started plucking them and assess your face shape. "It's all about balance," says Madron. "If you have small, petite features, like Kirsten Dunst, Winona Ryder, or Halle Berry for example, your brows shouldn't be too large, and if you have big features like Keira Knightley or Sofia Vergara, your brows can also be bigger."

Dust off the tweezers
Once you've determined your perfect shape, it's time to carefully clean up errant hairs with tweezers. But before you start plucking, break out a black or bright-colored eyeliner pencil and outline the shape you want. Get really close to your mirror and, using slanted tweezers, only remove what is outside the pencil lines. Then wash off the pencil to see the results.



More from Allure:
Find the Best Haircut for Your Face Shape

7 Weird Tricks for Looking Great in Photos

The 10 Best Drugstore Mascaras Under $20

The 6 Prettiest Haircuts for Long Hair

Celebrity Hairstyles That Will Make You Look 10 Years Younger

51 New Hair Ideas to Try in 2016

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.











How to Grow Out Your Hair (Even When It's Totally Fried)

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By Kristie Dash, Allure

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Photo: Delphine Achard/WWD

The process of growing out bleached hair or getting rid of fried ends can seem as tedious as watching grass grow. And since we don't expect everyone to be down for a major pixie cut, we consulted colorists and stylists for their best tricks on how to deal.

Switch up your style
"You need volume at the roots," says Kyle White, colorist at the Oscar Blandi Salon in New York City. "When your roots look flat, it draws more attention to them, which draws more attention to the variations in color." Some root-concealing styles he recommends include zigzag parts, messy updos, and loose ponytails. "You want to avoid strong parts, stick-straight hair, and anything that pulls the eye to the hair closest to your scalp," he says. Hairstylist Kazu Suzuki, of Louis Licari Salon in New York City, opts for a little dry shampoo and teasing around the part, but feel free to experiment.

Use coconut oil as a leave-in
Roots might seem like the most obvious issue when growing out your hair. But the difference between dry, processed ends versus your natural regrowth--even if you blend the color--can give you away in an instant. Dana Ionato, a colorist at Sally Hershberger Downtown names coconut oil as her secret repair weapon. "There's no right or wrong way to use it, wet or dry, but it will help with the texture," she says. "My favorite trick is to drench your hair with the oil, concentrating it at your ends, flip your head over, twist it into a high topknot, and use the oil like a styling product to smooth flyaways." This way, you'll be conditioning all day long while still looking chic.

Get regular trims
If you don't want to go for a full-on pixie, we get it, but at least get trims to keep up with breakage--dyed or not. "The ends of long hair have been styled and colored so many times that they get dry and frizzy very quickly," says hairstylist Serge Normant. If you snip off half an inch every other month, you'll avoid the situation.

Utilize texturizer
A little strategic styling can also disguise dry, frayed ends. Your best bet is to add lots of texture with a product like Jonathan Dirt Texturizing Paste. The rough, mussed-up waves you get when you scrunch in the product will conceal a lot. So your hair doesn't look too dry, add a hint of shine to the ends with half a pump of oil (we like Sally Hershberger 24K Golden Touch Nourishing Dry Oil).

Jonathan Dirt Texturizing Paste, $19.93, amazon.com.

Sally Hershberger 24K Golden Touch Nourishing Dry Oil, $40, sephora.com.


Add highlights, lowlights, or a gloss
If your hair is dyed, the key is to blend the old color and the new growth so that there's no stark line on the top of your head that screams, "I'm growing out my hair!" The best thing to do is add bits of color here and there. "Connect a few thin--not chunky--highlights around your face to take care of that straight line of regrowth. As those grow out, it creates the illusion of that beachy blonde look and it will be less wear and tear on your hair," says Ionato. If blending isn't your problem (example: you're trying to get rid of your ombré), Ionato suggests going for a gloss since it's more translucent and natural-looking.

Try root-concealing sprays
There are so many different root concealers on the market right now, and we're happy to report that they actually work. Your best (and least messy) bet is to use a spray rather than a powder. "Sprays have a shinier finish than powders, which can look a little dull," says colorist Rita Hazan. Powders can also flake and come off when you touch them. "Root-concealing sprays, on the other hand, won't rub off on your pillow or fade when you sweat--but you need a cleansing agent to remove them," says Hazan. To find the most believable color, Ionato says to match your roots, not your ends. "It will appear lighter on white hair, especially," she says, so it's best to go a shade darker than you think. Our favorites: Oribe Airbrush Root Touch-Up Spray and Rita Hazan Root Concealer.

Oribe Airbrush Root Touch-Up Spray, $29, amazon.com.

Rita Hazan Root Concealer, $25, amazon.com.


Take hair supplements
"Healthy hair starts from the inside," says White, who recommends adding a hair growth-supplement to your daily regimen. "Try a vitamin like biotin, or if you want to really go for it, there's Viviscal, which is a whole system you can follow," White says. (Although be aware that Viviscal may not work for everyone. It's loaded with iron, which can cause adverse effects for some people, so make sure to consult your doctor before taking it.) Additionally, Phyto and Ouai (Jen Atkin's new hair line, out in February) both have supplements that contain helpful ingredients for the cause, like fish oil and vitamin D.

Viviscal Extra Strength Hair Nutrient Tablets, $29.92, amazon.com.


Invest in shampoo and conditioner
Every expert we spoke to stressed the importance of investing in sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner. "Sulfates are the detergents in shampoos that cleanse away dirt, oil, and other impurities from your hair, but they also wash away color molecules and fade highlights," White says. Look for a duo that is specially formulated for color-treated hair that's low in sulfates and high in moisturizers. And read the ingredient list. "If alcohol and water are on top of the list, it's going to be drying and watered down. Treat your hair like you treat your face," says Ionato, who, like her fellow colorists, recommends any of the tried-and-true formulas from Kérastase, Shu Uemura (we love their Color Lustre line), Oribe, and Bumble and Bumble.

Shu Uemura Color Lustre Brilliant Glaze Shampoo for Color-Treated Hair, $59.90, amazon.com.

Shu Uemura Color Lustre Brilliant Glaze Conditioner for Color-Treated Hair, $48.87, amazon.com.


Care for your scalp
Scalp treatments should be your new best friend if you're trying to grow your hair out. The concentrated essential oils in the formulas "nourish the scalp, creating the right foundation for healthier, stronger hair with less breakage," says Francesca Fusco, a dermatologist based in New York City. Oh, and really massage it in for at least a minute or two to "stimulate circulation and promote better scalp health." We recommend Philip Kingsley Stimulating Scalp Mask and Christophe Robin Cleansing Purifying Scrub With Sea Salt.

Philip Kingsley Stimulating Scalp Mask, $11, amazon.com.

Christophe Robin Cleansing Purifying Scrub With Sea Salt, $58, amazon.com.


More from Allure:

Find the Best Haircut for Your Face Shape

7 Weird Tricks for Looking Great in Photos

The 10 Best Drugstore Mascaras Under $20

The 6 Prettiest Haircuts for Long Hair

Celebrity Hairstyles That Will Make You Look 10 Years Younger

51 New Hair Ideas to Try in 2016

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.











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