October 27, 2013

Black, White and On Screen

Black and white films, made in the 20th century? What’s THAT all about then? But believe it or not, a host of creative directors have chosen to shoot acclaimed and very recent movies in monochrome. From Frances Ha to Control, sometimes black and white just makes sense.

Top film festival honours at both London and Warsaw this week were won by Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida - a Polish road-movie with a bleak post-war bent that was shot in luminous black-and-white. With a host of directors turning their backs on colour of late, here are some high-points in this-century monochrome. Read more: Dazed Digital.

October 21, 2013

Concealer 101

Covering up blemishes and brightening those dark circles, finding a concealer that has all-day staying power and provides seamless coverage is essential. From Maybelline and Clinique to Bobbi Brown and NARS, these ones have been tried, tested and honestly reviewed.

This week the glossy team review the best concealers for blemishes to find out which ones are spot on when it comes to covering up. Read more: Get The Gloss.

October 14, 2013

Women’s Work

To get ahead you need to be ambitious, with qualities that we stereotypically associate with men, right? But perhaps we need to stop putting men and women in boxes and learn to value ‘male’ and ‘female’ characteristics equally…

Why is that male leadership traits have become synonymous with ‘aggressive’, ‘dominant’ and ‘loud’, asks Julia Oliphant, after a survey showed half of women feel they need to “act like men” to get ahead in the workplace. Read more: The Telegraph.

October 9, 2013

Focusing on Fitness

It’s oh SO easy to promise yourself you’ll go to the gym or make a mental note of how much exercise you think you’ve done each week. But when it comes to tracking your actual fitness every day, there’s only one way to keep tabs - with a fitness tracker. The latest exercise apps and gadgets will help you monitor progress - and they’re a fantastic way of staying motivated too…

What’s the point of a fitness tracker? If you’re doing hardcore, focused training for en event, you will probably be in the market for a training watch or computer. However if you’re simply trying to increase your daily activity levels, monitor your heart rate or trying to keep an eye on your calorie-burn, a neat fitness tracker may be perfect for you. Read more: Zest.

October 7, 2013

Bowie’s Books

Ziggy Stardust reads! From novels such as On The Road and Nineteen Eighty-Four to poetry, essays and works on history and music, David Bowie’s list of his 75 favourite books makes for fascinating reading.

A new retrospective of the David Bowie’s work at the Art Gallery of Ontario features 75 of his must-read books — a fascinating tour of his cross-disciplinary curiosity and the fuel for his combinatorial creativity. Although all but two of the books were published within Bowie’s lifetime — with the exceptions published within two years of his birth — he makes up for the presentism bias with an extraordinary diversity of disciplines, topics, and sensibilities. Read more: Brain Pickings.

October 1, 2013

The Meaning of Life?

Just what IS it all about? Does a meaningful life lead to happiness? Or does being happy give our lives a sense of purpose - a meaning? It’s a question most of our ask ourselves throughout our lives. In a typically meaty and fascinating Aeon mag read, Roy F Baumeister investigates…

Parents often say: ‘I just want my children to be happy.’ It is unusual to hear: ‘I just want my children’s lives to be meaningful,’ yet that’s what most of us seem to want for ourselves. We fear meaninglessness. We fret about the ‘nihilism’ of this or that aspect of our culture. When we lose a sense of meaning, we get depressed. What is this thing we call meaning, and why might we need it so badly? Read more: Aeon magazine.

September 24, 2013

The New Face of Feminism

Women making up the majority of a government - something which you might see happening in a forward-thinking place like Iceland, or perhaps one of the Scandinavian countries. No - it’s happening in Rwanda. So how are women in politics spearheading change in Africa - and why aren’t we hearing more about it?

Rwanda’s parliament is now almost two-thirds female, while Malawi, Liberia and Senegal have women at the helm. Western feminists, take note. Read more: Comment Is Free.

September 20, 2013

Skip Smart

You’re not a boxer or a schoolgirl, so skipping probably isn’t for you, right? But what if skipping was actually a fun, highly efficient workout?

Skipping is one of the cheapest, most effective, fat burning workouts you can do. And it’s fun too. What’s stopping you? Here are 12 reasons to do a skipping workout. Read more: Zest.

September 15, 2013

Bye Bye Bed Head

Yes, bed head hair can be sexy. But it can also look like you’ve been dragged through fields and hedges backwards - not a style you may want to consider wearing to work. Dry shampoo has long been one of our instant hair saviours, but how about if you could create a runway-worthy blow-dry in less time than it might take you to choose your shoes?

George Northwood of the Josh Wood Atelier is hairstylist to some of the world’s most stylish women, from Rosie Huntington-Whiteley to Alexa Chung. Here he shows us how to turn a seriously bad hair day (we’re talking frizz, flyaway everything going in different directions) into a really good one in a matter of minutes - no shampoo required. Read more: Get The Gloss.

September 5, 2013

There’s Something About Stella

Violence against women, cyber-bullying and sexism; MP Stella Creasy is a very modern politician - and one who may just be starting to make her voice heard.

From facing down Twitter trolls to challenging payday loan companies, Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy is fast becoming one of the UK’s most recognisable and engaging politicians. Rachel Salmon speaks to her about protecting online spaces and getting more people involved in politics. Read more: Libertine.

Running In Heels