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And it's about time that clothing got smarter. Fashion as a mammoth commerce machine (a $40B industry globally) has been largely overlooked and has underinvested in R&D until only recently.

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Products containing shea butter typically have a soothing effect, but the process to make these ointments is often rough and unforgiving for women laborers.

For generations, women in rural Ghana have exclusively harvested and processed shea nuts into butter. So much so that the product is often referred to as “women’s gold,” according to Root Capital, a nonprofit social investment fund. 

Ghana is among the top exporters of shea butter in Africa and produces 130,000 tons per year, according to StarShea, a cooperative that empowers female producers of shea butter. 

While an estimated 3 million women in rural Ghana are involved in the female-dominated production process, many of them face abuse and unfair labor practices, according to the BBC. 

After five days of manual labor, for example, Rebecca Atornyege, 65, earns just 8 Ghanaian cedi, that’s about $2, from selling her shea butter at the market.

It’s not just meager wages that befall these women.

Since the industry isn’t regulated, women farmers are abused and beaten by local men. They also aren’t protected from the rough terrain and poisonous snakes they face while collecting the nuts, the BBC added.

The process involves walking miles to collect nuts, cooking them in the scorching heat and then frying them to turn them into a smooth brown paste.

Because of its innate healing properties, which include vitamins A and E and a number of antioxidants, shea butter and oil are used in shampoos, conditioners, moisturizers and anti-aging products.

To help women in Ghana produce shea butter in a more efficient way, and earn fairer wages, a number of cooperatives are teaching them better business practices and providing them with key benefits.

StarShea, for example, which boasts a network of 10,000 women in northern Ghana, teaches its members how to improve their age-old harvesting techniques and how to optimally package their products.

They’re able to obtain higher revenues, since StarShea helps them sell directly to large buyers throughout the year.

Ojoba Women's Shea Butter Cooperative, made up of 400 rural women in northern Ghana, trains women to produce shea butter. The members are enrolled in Ghana’s National Healthcare Plan and get free adult literacy classes.

Such organizations have proven to help empower women and improve their economic standing.

Adamu, a woman from Sagnarigu Dungu in northern Ghana, made 6 Ghanaian cedi a month ($3) when she was making shea butter on her own, according to the UNDP. 

After joining the Sangnarigu Women’s Shea Butter Group, her income jumped to 80 Ghanaian cedi a month ($40).

The increase in my income has had numerous positive impacts on my health, the education levels of my children and improved my marriage,” Adamu told the UNDP. “I can now afford to buy school uniforms, bags and shoes for my children." 

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Memorial Day weekend is the official start to summer and while most people spend a lot of time picking out their bathing suit and sandals, most people overlook the most important staple of the season -- sunscreen. 

Whether you're going to be tanning by the ocean, chasing your kids at the playground or hosting a backyard barbecue, it's imperative to wear SPF. And finding the right one that isn't too greasy, too sticky or too expensive, is always a challenge. 

So we turned to our editors to find out which sunscreens they swear by. Herewith, eight sunscreens that have gotten their skin through hot summer days. 

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Being royal does not grant immunity from parents' daily bedtime struggles: Prince William admitted that as a baby, Prince George “never slept,” Hello! Magazine reported.

We’d probably have trouble drifting to dreamland, too, if President Obama and the first lady dropped in right before bedtime.

Luckily, William reportedly said he discovered one trick to help calm crying baby George -- the sound of running water.

Turns out, there may actually be some science behind why the trick might work as a slumber aid. Studies have shown white noise helps some people fall asleep and stay asleep because it drowns out the other disruptive sounds that might wake us up. 

And if that doesn’t work, other experts say sticking to a bedtime routine, avoiding screens before bed, getting enough physical activity throughout the day and eating right (including a bedtime snack) are some of the best ways to help your child rest well.

Sarah DiGiulio is The Huffington Post’s sleep reporter. You can contact her at sarah.digiulio@huffingtonpost.com.

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This company is putting their money where your mouth is. 

Cheeky is a tableware company that sells plastic and paper plates -- and for every item you buy, they donate a meal to people in need.

“As I learned about the issue of hunger in America, it became alarming how few people were talking about it,” founder PJ Brice told the Huffington Post. “In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, fifty million Americans are food insecure? It’s hard to believe.”

The company partners with Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks providing free food to families and individuals who need it. For every product bought from Cheeky -- say, a pack of paper plates -- the company donates the monetary equivalent of one meal to the organization.

In the 18 months since its inception, Cheeky's given over 7 million meals.  

“There are lots of other causes that are incredible, but I can’t think of many more primary than hunger," Brice said. “If people are working full-time jobs and can’t afford to feed their families, this is a problem.”

In New York, one in five people lining up for free food at pantries has a job. And the problem is nationwide: One in six Americans lives in a food insecure household. 

Brice thinks of Cheeky like a TOMS or Warby Parker: The buy-one, give-one model allows them to sell original products, while supporting an important cause.

“Cheeky is about generating meals,” Brice said. “But it’s also about raising awareness.”

The next step for Cheeky is a kids’ line, launching in the fall. The line will benefit No Kid Hungry, an organization that connects low-income kids to nutrition they need, like school breakfasts and summer meals.

“If children can’t concentrate in the classroom because they haven’t eaten breakfast, that’s an issue,” Brice said.

Brice’s ultimate goal, though, is to go beyond just donating to food organizations:

“We want to change perceptions, and absolutely change behavior,” Brice said. “For instance, let people know how much food goes to waste and why. A vast amount of food in American fridges gets chucked out. We want to help educate and empower people, so they can make the right choices.”  

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The concept of "nude" has long referred only to pale tones when it comes to cosmetics and clothing. Thanks to efforts by both small and large brands, the term has started to become more inclusive of what's nude for everyone. 

But the desire for diverse options when it comes to skin tones is not limited to shoes, outwear and makeup: There's a need for nude underneath, too.

Enter Naja, a lingerie brand from creative director Catalina Girald and actress Gina Rodriguez. Thanks to a new range of nude underwear modeled by 10 diverse women, the company has turned the "typical nude" on its head. 

The brand's "Nude for All" collection, which launched Monday, boasts an impressive seven shades options, from pale to dark, in different styles of bras and underwear. For shoppers unsure which tone is closest to their own, the site provides corresponding makeup shades from MAC, Nars, Bobbi Brown and L'Oreal so shoppers can compare.

What's more, the models fronting the ads are 10 women mostly sourced from social channels. The Nude #1 shade is worn by a Venezuelan ballerina from San Francisco and Nude #2 is modeled by a software engineer. Girald told The Huffington Post she picked women with powerful jobs and voices in their community to further push the line's message of diversity.

"To have a woman who is one of those positions thats traditionally seen as male, it was a great addition to telling our story," she said. 

Girald, who told The Huffington Post she's been interested in launching a range of nudes since even before founding Naja, was inspired by watching one of U.S. Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas' routines. 

"I noticed she was wearing a wrap on her ankle and it was that nude color we're used to. It just stood out," she said. "It has been relatively recent that we've seen black women in gymnastics, so I looked at it and it automatically struck me. I had never thought about that before."

That awareness followed Girald through the launch of Naja in 2014. Once they had the funds to expand nude options, the brand started with 23 color options for underwear, bringing in different people try them on.

"Over and over I would hear [from women trying on the underwear samples] how cool it was to see lingerie in their skin tone," she said. "That's how I knew this would be a really powerful project."

But Naja's goal isn't just to provide new options. It's to tell the story of these women, and other women who shop the brand, too. As part of the campaign, Naja took over a subway stop in Brooklyn, NY, with advertising images and prompts for passengers to take a selfie with their shade of nude. Those selfies were then plastered along columns on the subway platform.

The brand's decision to use women who don't typically work as models had an impact on those involved. Christine Minji Chang, second from left above, who works as both an actress and the executive director of a non-profit promoting diverse Asian-American artists, told HuffPost that while she has not personally struggled with finding nudes for her skin tone, starring in the ads taught her a thing or two about finding her own confidence.

"In the process of my work, I've come to understand the impact of damaging marketing and cultural norms, and how it has played a part in my journey as a woman, a person of color, a leader, an artist and just a human being," she said. "Being part of this campaign was pretty much the scariest thing I could've imagined for myself, getting down to my skivvies in public and doing it with confidence I'm still building up."

Rodriguez, who joined the brand in 2015 but has long advocated for diversity -- whether of body, ethnicity or otherwise -- said getting people like Minji Chang involved helps push inclusion forward.

"There is nothing more encouraging than seeing the outpouring of love and necessity for inclusion. Not just in the industry, not just in our schools or workplace, but in our own journey of acceptance. To be seen, to be included, to be represented, to be uplifted, that is what this line is all about. Now we all get to go nude," she said. 

Cheers to Naja for changing the way the world thinks about nude, one pair of underwear at a time. Check out more images from the campaign below.

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Do you really need $50 deodorant? The editors of Men's Health parsed through over 2,500 kinds of men's grooming products to test them out, and published a list of their favorites in their annual Grooming Awards this week.

The best news? We noticed a few genius tricks from experts peppered throughout the list.

"I was surprised with almost every single tip the team and I uncovered," Brian Boye, the executive fashion and grooming editor at Men's Health, told The Huffington Post. Over the 16 years he's been at the magazine, he noticed that "men want to invest in their appearance but need help figuring out what to use, why and when... I sometimes think I’ve heard it and seen it all, but I’m constantly surprised by the wealth of useful information out there."

It turns out there IS a way to look good without spending all your precious money (and morning free time) on it.

Here are a few tips from the ranking that we definitely didn't know about, republished here with permission from Men's Health:

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Jane Fonda, Sharon Stone and Alfre Woodard have been in the Hollywood spotlight for decades, but they say it's only now, after age 50, that they're having the time of their lives.

The three actresses are the covergirls for AARP The Magazine's June/July 2016 issue available today. 

“If you’d told me when I was 20 or 30 that I’d be happier at 70, I would have said to you, ‘You’re out of your mind,'" Fonda, 78, told AARP. 

It was a sentiment echoed by both Woodard and Stone, who agree that just being alive is an exciting thing -- no matter your chronological age.

“It’s that, ‘you’re only as old as you feel,’” Woodard, 63, said. "Age is what you decide you want it to be. I am still in motion here.”

All three actresses have found long-lasting fame and career success, a rarity for older women in Hollywood. Fonda is currently starring in the hit Netflix series "Grace and Frankie," while Woodard and Stone both have films in the works. 

Stone, 58, says it's all thanks to a renewed perspective that's come with age. 

"I think it’s just getting comfortable in your self," Stone said.

Speaking of which -- Woodard says not only has she embraced aging, she's wearing it with pride.

“I don’t want to put an expiration date on showing my jiggly legs at the beach, or say, ‘I’m over 50. I shouldn’t wear this.’" Woodard said. "No, this is my 63-year-old butt, and I am free and happy. It has earned its freedom!”

We couldn't have put it better ourselves. 

Head over to AARP to read the full interview in the latest issue of the AARP The Magazine. 

h/t AARP The Magazine 

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If you've ever been to a black-owned hair salon, you know the absolute strife you have to endure on the road to trying to have laid edges and slayed hair.

From unnecessarily long hours under the dryer to getting burned one too many times by the flat iron, Black Twitter hilariously encompassed the unique service customers experience at black hair salons using the hashtag #BlackSalonProblems.

Check out some of the funniest tweets below:

But the end results are worth it, right?

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Serving señorita realness on this rainy #Sunday in #vintage @dvf #Curves #curvygirls #LoveYourBody #curvystyle #effyourbodystandards #bodypositive #bodyconfidence #curves #selfiesforselflove #curvyfashion #curvygirlfashion #ootd #curvyfashionista #purebodylove #faceyourcurves #curvyBlogger #mystylishcurves #JustCurvyThings

A photo posted by V (@ravaldavis) on May 1, 2016 at 11:13am PDT

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On this week's best-dressed list, celebrities teach us how to buck the fashion rules. 

Lupita Nyong'o wore a Hawaiian print dress with much success, Zendaya taught us how to wear flesh tones, Kelly Rowland showed us that sheer can be sophisticated and Naomie Harris proved that blue and black belong together. 

Check out our favorite looks of the week and let us know if you agree with our picks. 

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Creative replica dresses, whether from paper, on adorable kids, or otherwise, never fail to impress. But none have ever been quite so delicious. 

Sine Benjaphorn, who according to her Facebook page owns and models for a women's clothing store in the Ratchaburi province of Thailand, gave a red carpet gown worn in Cannes the ultimate (shrimp) cocktail treatment.

She recreated Thai actress Araya Hargate's dress with bags of prawn crackers. 

Hargate, known to her fans as "Chompoo" thanks to a L'Oreal ambassadorship, wore the show-stopping Ralph & Russo gown to the premiere of "Cafe Society" at the Cannes Film Festival on May 11. Benjaphorn told Yahoo U.K. that seeing it inspired her to get cracking. 

"When I saw Chompoo’s dress, I immediately thought of my mum’s crackers. My mum has a street food stall selling snacks like this and it reminded me of them," she said. 

Using crackers that come in the same pink hue as the gown, she sewed layers of snack bags onto her dress. The results? Anything but shrimpy. The snack food stunner, at first glance, is pretty spot on.

We might even dare to say that the crustacean version is more desirable than the stunning original. After all, an elaborate gown and a delicious snack, all in one? It's a win-win. 

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If you haven't heard, women don't like sports. According to a recent sexist t-shirt, at least. 

According to a t-shirt sold by clothing company Live Love Gameday, girls who love baseball and football are rare unicorns that men should "wife up" ASAP. And it's making people on the Internet rightfully angry. 

The Dallas-based retailer also sells shirts that read "I vow to always love you, even during baseball season" and "I vow to always love you during hockey season."

The Huffington Post reached out to Live Love Gameday for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication. 

With women making up 44 percent of the NFL's fan base, according to data from ESPN and the U.S. Census. The shirt, aside from being sexist is simply wrong. It's not that rare for a lady's favorite day of the week to be game day.

To top it off, the MLB team with the most social and active female fans is the Texas Rangers with women making up 50 percent of the team's social fan base -- right in Live Love Gameday's backyard. 

Twitter users responded accordingly to the sexist shirt slogans: 

Women play sports, women like sports, women are sports fans. It's that simple. 

H/T Today

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