If you're anything like me, getting out of bed in the morning is the hardest part of your day.

Basically, unless there's something concrete I need to be at first thing in the morning, staying in bed until the last minute will always win out.

Obviously, this means morning exercise isn't really a 'thing' that I manage to do. Sure, I've had spurts; a couple of weeks here and there, an exercise class, a run around the neighbourhood, but getting a regular morning exercise schedule that lasts? Never going to happen.

Or is it?

Morning exercise makes SO much sense. It wakes up the mind and the body, gives you clarity before starting your day, means you have extra time in the the evening... In short, it's a no-brainer.

So what to do?

I decided to ask people who I know are morning exercisers what their tricks are for getting out of bed in the morning. Essentially I wanted to find out if they are just weirdo 'morning people' or whether I too can become one of them.

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Who’d be the Queen? The people, the noise, the endless unveiling of small brass plaques; it would try the patience of a clam. Or else drive you to drink – how many mayors of Grimsby is it possible to meet in a lifetime and not want to defenestrate yourself or drink neat gin out of a bottle? Boredom, not republicanism, is the real enemy of the monarchy.

So it came as precisely no surprise when Vanity Fair last week revealed that the Queen is no flincher at the glass. She knocks it back. When she is at home, the 91-year-old monarch manages to put away two cocktails and a glass of wine before 1pm and then rounds off a day of queening with a glass of champagne before bed.

And why not? No one could ever begrudge her the odd glass. She has 16 countries and 128 million people to think of. Most of us can barely recall our mum’s birthday. But it does beg a question: Is the Queen pissed all the time? Can you drink that much booze and not feel a little squiffy? In the interest of science and/or national security, I decided to drink like the Queen for the day and see what happened.

The first problem I encountered in this matter was that the Queen’s first drink of the day, according to former royal chef, Darren McGrady, is a cocktail made of one part gin and two parts Dubonnet.

Now, unless you are, say, the Duchess of Argyll or a royal footman, you have probably never come across Dubonnet, an aromatised wine-based aperitif, which is likely because it is not very nice. It is largely thought that the only reason the drink is still in production is because the Queen likes it (though it doesn’t have a royal warrant; presumably because it is French) and, sure enough, you can’t even get it at Waitrose at the Westfield Centre. After ordering the fortified wine off the internet, I mix it with my gin, add the lemon and drink it with “lots of ice”. It is fragrant, it is strong, it is what I imagine drinking Estée Lauder is like. At this point I start to feel the unmistakable pleasure of mild drunkenness. I wouldn’t, say, go and climb up some scaffolding, but I am on my way.

Next up, along with her lunch, Her Majesty enjoys a gin martini. Apparently she follows the Noël Coward rule when it comes to making the king of cocktails. A perfect martini, said Coward, should be made by filling a glass with gin, and then waving it in the general direction of a bottle of vermouth. So lots of gin and just a tiny bit of vermouth goes into a shaker. It went down like the devil in leather trousers, as you would expect for something composed of pure alcohol. I feel free of life’s concerns. I am happy. It is 12.32pm.

After lunch, the Queen, oddly, has a glass of wine and a small square of chocolate. This seems somewhat ascetic to me but each to their own. It is unclear which type she favours but I plump for a Syrah-Grenache blend with a picture of a sausage dog on the label and the name Longue-Dog. It would have taken all my moral resources to have only one glass so I drink three. I feel confused, amused and ready for action. I do not feel I could entertain a prime minister.

And so we reach the hardest part, the unending stretch of desert between the last drink with lunch and the pre-bed sharpener. Tiredness comes on like a lecher. I feel useless, wan, incapable of concentration. I have a hangover by 3pm. But then salvation – before bed, a glass of Veuve Clicquot. The delicate bubbles make me pleased. My hangover goes on its way. I drift off into sleep.

I have drunk more in my life than this before, and I have drunk for longer... but seldom at lunch. Apparently when the late Queen Mother was having lunch with her daughter and the Queen asked for her meal-ending glass of wine, the Queen Mum lifted her head, smiled and said, “Is that wise? You know you have to reign all afternoon.” Reader, that afternoon, I couldn’t have rained on a parade.

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Welcome to the Refinery29 Book Club! Each month five members of the team will read a book that has everyone talking, before sharing our thoughts and feelings with you. Join in the conversation or recommend a book for next month in the comments below.

Roxane Gay often writes about the personal and the political, but this memoir has been lauded as her most feminist yet. The writer, professor, editor and commentator is loved for her blisteringly honest words, and Hunger delves even deeper into the complicated, excruciating aspects of one's mind. A memoir that reads like a stream of consciousness, Gay looks at how her body came to be the size, weight and shape it is now. She maps her body out in two halves – before and after her rape – but her relationship with food, her family, and her public and private selves are not so simple.

Before most people had had a chance to read Gay's new memoir, the controversy had begun. Ahead of speaking on an Australian news website's podcast, Gay had made some particular requests, which interviewer and Mamamia founder Mia Freedman saw fit to publish on iTunes. A breach of confidence, the whole incident made clear just how unsure people are of discussing others' fatness. Gay's very existence proves this – how people who love her, people who want to hurt her, people who don't know her, judge, treat, and act towards a body that is unfamiliar to them.

A harrowing but vital read, click through to see what R29 staff thought about Roxane Gay's Hunger.

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Sound the beauty klaxon: Dr.Jart+ has landed at Selfridges, meaning fans can get their hands on even more experimental products from the skincare brand. What's so exciting about this drop? For the first time, Dr.Jart+ Rubber Masks are available to buy in the UK; satisfying news for those with an ever-growing collection of weird and wonderful skin saviours.

Thanks to the influx of playful Korean beauty, we've tried the bubble mask, the sheet mask, the snail mask and the slice mask – and now we're planning an evening in with a mask that brings to mind one Hannibal Lecter. Sure, the packet makes it look like a terrifying sleeping baby but we assure you, the two-step system works. A highly concentrated serum containing berry complex, firming salicylic acid, and moisturising red seaweed is applied to the skin before the squidgy rubber mask is placed on top to prevent the ingredients from evaporating. The mask comes in three colours with different purposes: moisturising, brightening, and firming. They're really fun to use, but don't be fooled by their playful appearance – Dr.Jart+ works closely with 15 dermatologists across 15 different clinics, each at the forefront of skincare innovation, bringing you the best in ingredients and formulas.

What else can we expect from the brand's latest drop? The brand "believes in the true spirit of science", so it comes as no surprise that its new Ceramidin line is already receiving acclaim for its patented technology. Made up of a cream, a liquid, an oil balm, and a gel cream, it's targeted at skin that feels dry even after a moisture hit. Encapsulating ceramide (a natural skin barrier), it penetrates the skin to efficiently restore the skin's natural defences. Think moisture retention, hydration, and rejuvenated skin, without nasties like parabens or mineral oil.

“Dr. Jart is an intelligent brand for consumers seeking smart skin solutions that will also appeal to their creative sides," says Selfridges' Beauty Workshop buyer, Emily Saunders, "with a range that’s as exciting visually and conceptually as it is results-driven.” We couldn't agree more. Just make sure you're home alone when trying those masks, ok?

Dr.Jart+ is now available at Selfridges.

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Welp, Judd Apatow is not a feminist. In an interview with Vulture, the producer-writer-cum-standup comedian said that he doesn't give himself that title.

"Do you think of yourself as feminist?" interviewer David Marchese prompts. "I don't, at least not in those terms. I just try to do what's right whenever I see the opportunity," Apatow answered. He went on to discuss the film Bridesmaids, which many consider to be iconoclastic in the women comedy canon.

"With Bridesmaids, I never thought, 'It'd be great if there was a movie that starred a lot of women, and maybe that will help open some doors.'"

He added, "It's great if that ends up happening, but that sort of thinking is never the starting point."

Apatow seems to have a muddied definition of feminism — these quotes indicate that he sees the word as a sort of mission statement. If he drinks the feminism Kool-Aid, then his work will be dictated by politics rather than artistic impetus. (God forbid art be politically motivated.) He made Bridesmaids because it was a cool movie; the cultural repercussions are just fun little side effects.

And there's the trouble. To the women of the world, Bridesmaids was inherently political. Period. If you are a woman or a minority making movies, just about everything is a Boundary Breaking Big Thing. (Look no further than all the press surrounding Patti Jenkins, the director of Wonder Woman, for proof of this.) As Apatow is neither of those, he is Not Breaking Boundaries. He's just doing his thing, and he doesn't feel the need to declare partisanship. If a woman made Bridesmaids, she would probably admit that promoting women in comedy was part of the mission of the film.

Apatow is also certainly a feminist on paper, which is why his statement is puzzling. Feminism is simple. A feminist is a person who believes in equal rights — wouldn't Apatow, who is by all means a progressive figure, agree with those ideals?

In the same interview, Apatow claimed that his wife Leslie Mann taught him about the Bechdel test.

"People talk about the Bechdel test. Leslie has been giving me that test for decades," he said. As per Vulture, all of Apatow's films pass the test, save for Funny People, a 2009 film starring Adam Sandler. (His television work, such as Love and HBO's Crashing, wasn't evaluated.)

That seems to conflict with his earlier rebuke of feminism. So, you've been making sure your films meet feminist criteria, but you're not a feminist? That doesn't align.

Of course, Apatow is no political saint. It's likely his television endeavours don't pass the Bechdel test. He tweeted support of HBO's problematic show in development Confederate. (The singer John Legend responded to Apatow's tweet, gently disagreeing with Apatow's support.) Most saw Katherine Heigl's comments about the sexism in Knocked Up as the sign of a sour actress; others, including myself, think that maybe Heigl had a point. Then, there's the fact that his work — women-filled or otherwise — is overwhelming white. Paste Magazine gave a thorough run-down of the whiteness of the Apatow canon in 2016, and the numbers aren't good. (Nor is his reaction to criticism about it: When asked about the lack of diversity in Girls, Apatow shrugged it off, saying, "The show will be on for a long time, so there's plenty of time to have every type of person on the show.")

Apatow seems averse to declaring missions with his work. If feminist stuff happens, so be it. If his shows happen to be inclusive, cool. But you know what makes making good, inclusive art a little bit easier? Making it your mission to do so.

Representation for Apatow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Rihanna's latest Instagram posts have celebrity and non-celebrity fans alike singing her praises. The singer posted photos of herself with turquoise hair in a jewelled, feathered costume for a carnival in Barbados — and yes, she's totally rocking the look. But it looks like Chris Brown may have commented on one of Rihanna's photos — and fans aren't having it.

According to screenshots published by various sites, including E! News and BBC News, Chris Brown commented on the photo with the eyes emoji. The emoji might seem harmless on its own, but given the fact that Brown has admitted to assaulting Rihanna in 2009, fans want him to stay far away from her and her actions.

Rihanna 's post now has almost 67,000 comments, so it would take a lot of time and scrolling to verify whether Brown's comment is on the photo. But there are plenty of responses from fans tagging Chris Brown's handle and telling him off. (Still, other fans said it was just a comment and that we should let Brown and Rihanna handle their own business.)

More recent high-profile comments, including Lorde's "I'm DEAD" and Elle magazine's three fire emoji, are still visible. Nick Jonas also left fire emojis, and Pharrell posted an Instagram live video of himself saying "Damn" because of Rihanna's photo. Clearly, Rihanna has plenty of celeb fans.

the @aura_experience caught by @dennisleupold #BARBADOS #cropover2017 #culture

A post shared by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Aug 7, 2017 at 1:44pm PDT

Regardless of the controversy, though, Rihanna definitely slayed her carnival look. The photo has more than three million likes.

Rihanna also shared an illustration of her costume and new hair colour on Instagram Tuesday morning, and the post brought in more than 164,000 likes and 1,476 comments within a half hour of being posted. Don't expect Rihanna to address Brown's Instagram comment — she's too busy being her fabulous self.

A post shared by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Aug 8, 2017 at 5:32am PDT

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A Chinese restaurant has provoked outrage after it offered discounts to women based on their bra size. Locals complained about the sexist advert for the restaurant Trendy Shrimp, which showed a line-up of cartoon women with various bra sizes in their underwear.

The restaurant, located in a mall in Hangzhou in eastern China, accompanied the crude poster with the slogan "The whole city is looking for BREASTS", and made clear that women with bigger breasts would be eligible for a better discount, BBC News reported. Women with A-cup sized bras would qualify for 5% off, while those with G-cup bras would get a 65% price cut.

Chinese restaurant offers bra-size discountshttps://t.co/dJ2ij5hhlg
Cup size discounts at a Chinese restaurant?? What the hell?!?

— Curtis McAlister (@CMcAlister79) August 8, 2017

Residents complained to the council about the poster, which went up on 1st August and has since been removed, reported local paper the Qianjiang Evening Post. They quite rightly described it as "vulgar advertising" and "discriminatory towards women".

Despite having removed the advert, the restaurant's general manager Lan Shenggang failed to apologise and defended the eatery's offensive offer, insisting that it was well received by customers. He said "customer numbers rose by about 20%" once the deal started, adding that "some of the girls we met were very proud – they had nothing to hide," reported the BBC.

Other Chinese restaurants have also come under fire in recent years for offering discriminatory discounts based on appearance. Back in 2015, a restaurant in Chongqing offered discounts for thin women and overweight men, while another in Henan drew worldwide attention for offering free food to people it deemed good-looking.

A café in Australia also caused controversy earlier this week for introducing a voluntary 18% "gender pay gap" tax on its male customers. Handsome Her, in Melbourne, sought to raise awareness of wage inequality but not everyone was on board.

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The movie industry thinks it's come a long way in terms of feminism, but every once in a while, there's a stark reminder that there's still so much progress to be made. Unfortunately, Chloe Grace Moretz had to experience it first hand.

Moretz has been in the acting business since she was a child. By the time she was fifteen, she was landing major roles in movies like Kickass and Carrie. So, it makes sense that she's gone through more than her share of sexism.

While shooting an undisclosed film, Moretz' co-star and on-screen love interest expressed his unnecessary opinion about her size.

“This guy that was my love interest was like, ‘I’d never date you in a real life,’ and I was like, ‘What?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, you’re too big for me’ — as in my size,” she recalled in a cover story for Vanity Fair. "It was one of the only actors that ever made me cry on set."

Choosing the high road, Moretz refused to reveal who the actor was. Only mentioning that he was “23, 24 or 25” and she was 15 years old at the time.

“I had to pick it up and go back on set and pretend he was a love interest, and it was really hard," she continued. "It just makes you realise that there are some really bad people out there and for some reason, he felt the need to say that to me. You have to kind of forgive and not forget really, but it was just like wow. It was jarring. I look back on it and I was 15, which is really, really dark."

It's not just co-stars she had to watch out for. Moretz brought up a time when she was overlooked for a part because of the way she looked.

“Because I’m blond and there’s another blond in the movie, you can’t cast me?’” she said. “That’s such a masculine way of looking at things.”

Instead of deciding someone's worth based on their outward appearance, everyone should take a step back and focus on what really matters.

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Even if you consider your relationship rock-solid, chances are there's something your partner does that ticks you off. Maybe they're always late to meet up with you, even on important dates. Perhaps they don't bother helping you schedule the dog walker. The way they sigh when you ask them to do you a favour might be the thing that sets you off. These grievances are normal in a relationship, and they can even be healthy — if you talk about them the right way.

In a lecture about love in the modern age, author Alain de Botton explains why it's helpful to critique our romantic partners. "Mothers and friends don't care enough, and don't have to deal with you all the time," he says. "They don't give you the vital feedback that only a lover deep in a relationship or marriage would tell you." Even though we should be communicating when we want our partner to do something differently, we often just do a lousy job of delivering the criticism. "We don't know how to educate, because we think education is a breach of love, rather than the beginning," he says.

There are a few reasons why people tend to be critical, says Jessica Higgins, PhD, PsyD, LPC, a relationship coach and host of the podcast, Empowered Relationship. You might have parents who nit-picked your behaviour, or were raised in a very critical environment, for example. Maybe you're hard on yourself, too. "People tend to feel some level of angst or anxiety, and they don't know how to manage it, so their strategy is to control their external environment," she says. For these perfectionist types, their logic in a relationship is, If I could get you to be different, I would feel better, she says.

The problem with that is we're often missing the point. "A lot of people express criticism because they feel a vague sense of discomfort or displeasure, but the thing they complain about is rarely what’s really causing the dissatisfaction," says David Ludden, PhD, a psychology professor who focuses on the psychology of language. Even though you might pick a fight about the way your partner put away the laundry, for example, it's not really about the laundry. "That’s what they’re focusing their attention on, because even they don’t know for sure what’s bothering them," Dr. Ludden says.

So, the first step in delivering criticism that'll stick is making sure you're talking about the real issue and not getting mired in distracting details. (Maybe it's not the socks on the floor, that really bothers you, but an overall lack of respect for your shared space, for example.)

There's also a big difference between constructive feedback and criticism, Dr. Ludden says. Constructive feedback is something you give your partner because you care about them and want them to grow as a person, but criticism is just an expression of something you don’t like about your partner that you want them to change, he says. "In other words, constructive feedback is given for their sake, while criticism is given for your sake," he says.

We don't know how to educate [our partners], because we think education is a breach of love, rather than the beginning.

In relationships, there are going to be moments when your partner does something that doesn't make you happy, "but criticism is rarely an effective technique for behaviour modification," Dr. Ludden says. We have a tendency to want our partners to feel all of our longing, discontent, and pain — and then fix it, Dr. Higgins says. That may be expecting a bit too much.

You might want to start by literally asking your partner for permission to give your input. For example, you could say, "I've noticed some things," or "I have some observations, would it be helpful to talk about this?" "Respect that someone is making their own choices," Dr. Higgins says. "That's a different angle than, Hey, I'm the authority, I see what's going on wrong with you." Instead of pointing out what you don't like, you might tell your partner what you do like in a calm, lighthearted way, Dr. Ludden suggests. "If your partner is highly defensive, the direct approach may not work. Humour can sometimes get a person to let down their defences."

It can sometimes be helpful to tell your partner how their behaviour impacts your feelings. You could say something like, "It makes me feel like I can't count on you when you forget to take out the trash," This way, the goal isn't to call your partner out, but have them see your pain and understand how to help, Dr. Higgins says.

If you find yourself on the receiving end of the criticism, it helps just to listen. "Listening to criticism doesn’t mean that you accept it as valid, but you do validate your partner’s feelings when you hear them out," Dr. Ludden says. "And maybe once they start talking, they’ll discover for themselves what’s really upsetting them." If it sounds like your partner is really emotional about the topic, it can be helpful to respond to their feelings, Dr. Higgins says. "See it as them raising the flag that something's not working, and then see if it's really about them more than it is about you," she says.

Ultimately, you have to pick your battles and know when your input is really necessary. "If you're constantly riding someone, it's difficult for your partner to know what's important and what's not, because it all kind of blends together," Dr. Higgins says. But if you do get good at having these difficult conversations with your partner, then the bigger issues might seem easier to manage. And remember that you're not always going to be able to change your partner — or where their clothes land — but you can change how you react to them.

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I lead a quiet life these days. It’s just me, my husband, and the dog in a cosy Cotswold cottage. Our social life is so minimal that there are cobwebs on the doorbell. I am so desperate for the company of my grown-up children, that when our youngest comes back from college, I relish the chance to do her laundry and scour cookbooks for vegan dishes with which to tempt her newly principled palate.

But let's wind back a decade or so. I was 40 (ish). We had a big, worn-out house in a small worn-out London suburb. I was worn-out myself, most of the time, having four kids and a stressed-out husband, running on a hamster wheel to keep us all fed while attempting to be a writer. It seems to have gone in a flash — one minute I was singing "The Wheels on the Bus," the next I was listening for their keys in the lock late at night. At the time, though, it dragged like a life sentence with no hope of parole. Date night? For me and my husband it came around about twice a year, when we could afford a babysitter, and we spent it bickering over a cheap Indian meal, or watching a play from so far up in the nosebleeds that it might as well have been a flea circus.

Then something changed. A new couple moved in nearby — Deborah and Tim. They were a bit younger than us and quite a bit groovier. Tim was an A&R man for a record label; Deb was a director for a TV soap. They had three kids and their younger two were, by happy coincidence, the same ages as our younger two and in the same classes at school. We were shy at first — being British and all — would they, er, maybe like to come 'round for something to eat on Friday night? No point shelling out for a babysitter, just bring the kids along for a sleepover. They were in.

I don’t know why I bothered plumping up the cushions or vacuuming the Rice Krispies out of the cracks in the floorboards, because the house got trashed that night. Not by the kids — they flaked out pretty early on. It was the grown-ups. We ate moussaka, drank three bottles of wine, and got on like a house of fire. The guys bonded over their vinyl collections (something of a rarity at the time; most people having replaced them with shiny, new compact discs). My husband put on Oasis, then The Stone Roses, then Pulp. After that, it was all a bit of a Blur (you get it).

While the guys talked limited edition 12-inch singles, Deb and I threw caution to the wind, dancing like nobody was watching (which they weren’t), with the lights off and the music turned up so loud that our sensible neighbours, Keith and Gayle, knocked on the wall at 2 a.m. At that point, we conceded defeat, put on some Leonard Cohen, and Tim rolled a double-skinner with his homegrown hash. We hung out until the light started leaking through the Venetian blinds and the sound of birdsong reminded us that the kids would be up within an hour or two, and someone (please God not me) would have to drop the older two to soccer practice and piano lessons, respectively.

The kids were in their pajamas in front of the TV in a room that looked like a bordello — empty wine glasses, brimming ashtrays, the heady smell of ganja in the air.

My husband, saint that he is, signed up for the job, so when I woke up, with the worst hangover I can ever remember, to find him snoring beside me 10 minutes after departure time, the kids lolling in their pyjamas in front of the TV in a room that looked like a bordello — empty wine glasses, brimming ashtrays, the heady smell of ganja in the air and a record still revolving on the turntable — I was appalled.

So appalled that when Deb and Tim invited us to their place to do it all again the next night, I didn’t hesitate. Seeing that we’d only be a couple doors down, I offered the 14-year-old a fiver to babysit his younger siblings, and we were off. This time we got takeout and a box of wine and took a nostalgia trip back to the '80s. While our kids ran amok at home, we danced like dervishes to The Teardrop Explodes, The Pixies, Depeche Mode. I knew we had consumed too many stimulants when my husband got on the dance floor and started pogo-ing to "Too Drunk to Fuck" by The Dead Kennedys.

They were the best of times, they were the worst of times. There was judgment and there was shame. Keith and Gayle stopped knocking on the wall, but they stopped giving us the spare produce from their CSA, too. Relations with our other neighbours became distinctly chilly. The worthy parents on the playground — the ones who always remembered when it was "come as your favourite book character day," and baked the cakes for the school fairs — exchanged disapproving looks when Deb and I walked into the school looking like zombies. I could imagine what they were saying but I didn’t care.

But then I did care. I cared when I caught our eldest puffing on a makeshift joint that he’d constructed from the carelessly discarded butts scavenged from the ashtray that I’d been too wasted to empty the night before. That was a wake-up call.

We tried passing it off as "Dad’s herbal tobacco" but our son knew better. It’s hard to play the heavy-handed parent to a wayward teen when you’re doing the same things you'd otherwise lecture them about. So we knocked off the weed for a while, but tried to stay loyal to the "every night is party night" philosophy. Then, Tim signed up for a dry-January-like charity driven month without drinking. We called a halt to the partying, to make it easier for him, and somehow after that, it never really got back on track. We remained friends, had the odd dinner party, but somehow, without ever acknowledging it, we all knew that time of exhilarating, no-holds barred hedonism had run its course. I guess we got old.

Looking back, it’s not a period of my life I’m particularly proud of, and it’s probably just as well it was shortlived. But other than making fools of ourselves, I don’t think we did any lasting damage. And when winter comes to the Cotswolds, and my husband builds a fire, turns on The Antiques Roadshow, and settles down with the crossword, I’m almost tempted to get out The Dead Kennedys and give it one last spin.

Felicity Everett is the author of more than 20 fiction and non-fiction books for children. Her debut adult novel, The People at Number 9 , goes on sale August 8. It's another story about when being friends with neighbours goes slightly awry.

Refinery29 in no way encourages illegal activity and would like to remind its readers that marijuana usage is illegal

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Victoria Beckham is considering taking legal action against a restaurant in Tyneside called Sidhu Golden Fish and Chips after it used a caricature of the fashion designer in an advertisement. The disturbing ad depicts a skeletal Beckham wearing a bikini and sash that reads “anorexic fashion icon”. According to People, the ad is being displayed on the Sidhu Golden Fish and Chips’ delivery vans in order to promote the restaurant’s new pizza, which has tastelessly been dubbed the “Victoria Beckham Thin Crust” because it’s “only 2 mm thin”.

The restaurant’s ad is appalling and infuriating as it makes light of a very real and serious eating disorder just to sell pizza. The ad completely disregards the feelings of those who have to live and struggle with this disorder. For these reasons, Victoria Beckham may pursue legal action. A spokesperson for Beckham told Fox News: "It is highly inappropriate to trivialise such a disorder, and defamatory to be so thoughtless with a person's reputation in this way, therefore we are seeking legal advice."

Thoughts on this? Charities slam takeaway owner in N. Shields for trivialising anorexia. Advert offers pizza thinner than @victoriabeckham pic.twitter.com/IzFTbnvAdX

— Nathan Lee (@NathanLeeTV) August 8, 2017

After the ad began getting media attention yesterday, Sidhu's manager posted a lengthy statement on the restaurant's Facebook page, which started: "I as the manger on the behalf of all our staff and owners would like to state we recognise how serious eating disorders are and would never make light the seriousness of people with eating disorders. We are not a fly by night, business trying to make a quick buck. Anorexia and any mental illness are very serious."

Then, just three hours ago, a photo featuring the blank back windshield of one of the restaurant's delivery vans was posted to Sidhu's Facebook page. Accompanying the photo was a note that started: "Its Gone! As of 5:15pm Tuesday Aug 2017, we have had no official complaint from Mrs Beckham or her legal team." It then goes on to say: "No complaint has been made to us about the advert on our van but with the media hype the whole account has left our staff dejected" and "It’s a sad state of affairs when in England 2017 an innocent joke is twisted and turned into an opportunity by some to cause distress." These two sentences in particular make it seem as though the restaurant's management may not actually recognise how disgusting this advertisement truly was and the hurt it could have caused to those dealing with anorexia and Victoria Beckham herself.

If you are struggling with an eating disorder, please call Beat on 0345 634 1414. Support and information is available 365 days a year.

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Sharing the bed with a partner for the first time can be an important test: Is the person a barnacle who wants to clutch your body until you're both sweating? Do they ghost before the sun rises? Or are they respectful of your physical boundaries and drift into REM sleep an arm's length away? In truth, sleeping with another person is a skill that takes learning. But some people have an easier time adjusting to the new circumstances than others.

"Sleep is very sensitive to the individual's environment," Scott Hollingshaus, MD, clinical instructor of sleep medicine at the University of Utah's Sleep Wake Centre told Refinery29 last month in an interview about summer sleep struggles. Each person is acclimated to their individual room's environment, which includes the lighting, noise, bed and temperature, Dr. Hollingshaus said. Any significant changes in your environment can be disruptive to sleep, which is why the first night of sleep in a new bed — or with a new partner — can be so shoddy. Over time, you might get used to having another body in bed, so that becomes your new norm. But do couples actually sleep better when they're together?

While your sleep environment could make it easier to sleep with another person in bed, there might be some emotional reasons why you sleep better with someone else under the covers. A review of research that ran in the Wall Street Journal in 2012 hypothesised that perhaps sleeping in bed with another person provides feelings of safety and security, which may lead to better sleep.

A small 2017 study examined how well heterosexual couples sleep in bed together. Sleeping together didn't improve the couples' sleep quality or quantity, but both the men and women in the study said their perceived sleep quality was higher when they slept with their partner. And men in particular slept longer and got up later when sleeping with a partner compared to their solo nights. Researchers say that if you're in bed with a person you like and trust, then you'll likely sleep better — or at least feel like you're sleeping better.

From an evolutionary standpoint, these theories kind of make sense: When kids are scared at night, they go to their parents' room to be comforted. In the last season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kim Kardashian West told her sisters that she didn't want to sleep alone in a hotel bed in Palm Springs. She was still grappling with the trauma of her robbery a few months prior, and having someone in bed with her was comforting. For some people, the stress from a traumatic event can lead to a slew of sleep issues, so having a trusted friend or family member sleep in the room can help, according to the National Sleep Foundation. So although having another body in bed might not directly impact that person's sleep quality, it could be comforting or help to quell anxiety.

The same rules don't apply for babies, though. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises against co-sleeping, or sleeping with an infant in your bed. Some co-sleeping advocates claim that babies and parents sleep better when they're in bed together, but the vast majority of experts agree that the danger of a sleep-related death is much too high.

But if you're looking for consensual couple's sleeping? It's usually perfectly safe, even if it can be a little uncomfortable.

Sleep is a very personal process, and it might take some time for you and your partner to sync up. Or you might have to make a few adjustments in the bedroom to make sure that you're both comfortable. But if you are someone who does enjoy having another body in bed, just make sure you find a cuddling position that you and your partner enjoy — and please, don't hog the covers.

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Lorde's Lollapalooza performance was cut short due to weather concerns, but the singer didn't let Mother Nature stop her from delivering a killer cover of Martha Wainwright's "Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole" in the rain on Friday night.

Lorde performed the 2005 folk song at Osheaga, a star-studded festival in Montreal. Wainwright's tune has recently surged in popularity after being prominently featured on HBO's limited series Big Little Lies. Fans of the show will recognise it as the song that Jane (Shailene Woodley) frequently listened to as she ran on the beach, often while fighting off PTSD flashbacks of her rape.

The song isn't an easy one to cover. Not only is it tough to capture Wainwright's ability to make the refrain "you're a bloody mother fucking asshole" sound beautiful, but the song requires an emotional range that conveys both sentimentality and fury. Lorde proved that she was more than up for the challenge, and it was particularly meaningful that she performed it in Wainwright's hometown of Montreal.

The singer was accompanied solely by an acoustic guitarist, so we can fully appreciate her vocal chops on this one. Check out the video below and you'll understand why we're listening to Lorde's cover on a loop.

Lorde's Osheaga set also included songs from her new album Melodrama. She was also joined onstage by Tove Lo during her performance of "Homemade Dynamite."

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“Whatever you do, don’t do Captain Corelli’s F**king Mandolin. I’ve heard it three times.” This was the advice I was given when I was first asked to choose a reading for my friend’s wedding. Five minutes later, someone else said exactly the same thing...Louis de Bernières was off the table.

Anyone making the slog through several summers of nuptials will empathise. From the tooth-achingly saccharine to the weird proliferation of 'comedy' poems about all the arguments they’ll probably have, the readings are rarely anyone’s highlight.

But as weddings have pivoted away from tradition – couples are less likely to get married in church than ever before – the ceremony has become as tailor-made as the dress, as long as you both get to the “I do” part.

Hyper-customisation is the way forward and the pick-and-mix approach to wedding ceremonies is as millennial as the portmanteau hashtag, the mason jar cocktails, and the fairy lights-and-floral bunting design combo.

Choosing the right words for the couple, the occasion and the reader is daunting, especially if you’re picking for someone else’s ceremony. One night in my research I realised I’d read almost every Modern Love column The New York Times had ever published and was still coming up empty-handed.

So whether you’re choosing a reading for your own wedding or someone else’s, here are some tips and suggestions to ensure no one’s gagging on cheesy Nicholas Sparks-level mushiness or rolling their eyes at the sixth Velveteen Rabbit of the year.

Know your audience

I was a guest at one laid-back garden wedding where a guest solemnly, and with a completely straight face, read the entire lyrics to Chaka Khan’s "Ain’t Nobody" (including the “oh oh oh ohs”). Most of the guests didn’t realise what they were hearing until the chorus kicked in and it brought the house down. At another, two thespy guests performed snippets from The Merchant of Venice to a rapt audience, in homage to the couple, who met performing in a play. Both were spot-on in capturing the mood of the couple, the ceremony and the crowd. So if you know you’ve got a super woke congregation, maybe it’s the perfect time to break out the bell hooks or if the couple are both scientists, perhaps something textbook – literally – might honour their chemistry.

Go gender neutral

If some elements of the institution of marriage make you feel icky, going gender neutral opens up your options. Steer clear of crusty gender-based humour (“She’s a nag and he’s a lech; she’ll be moody once a month and he’ll probably end up with a drinking problem. Congrats guys!") and look for passages that aren’t bogged down in traditional wedding lingo. Queer blogs and sites geared towards same-sex marriage are a great source for readings that don’t explicitly refer to husbands and wives but instead focus on themes like falling in love, partnership, togetherness and connection.

Get off the beaten track

The readings we hear time and time again are popular for good reason but mining some less exhausted sources can turn up a gem or two. If you love an author or poet, try searching their essays, letters or interviews for the perfect quotes, instead of their main works. Looking at the relationships considered the greatest loves of all time (fictional and real), they often go from ferocious passion to volatile infidelity (Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo), or from naive bliss to untimely death ( Romeo and Juliet). For fresher inspiration, look at pop culture couples that the happy couple might be into: Tim and Dawn in The Office or Johnny Cash and June Carter.

Stick to your values

This doesn’t mean arming bridesmaids with placards or shunning the microphone for a megaphone but you can still make choices that reflect your beliefs. At my friend’s wedding I decided it was important to me, as a feminist, to read words written by a woman. Although a number of my failsafes deserted me in the moment – despite her sizeable contribution to the romantic comedy canon, Nora Ephron is better on snarky divorce debriefing than she is on love – in the end, Jeanette Winterson came through for me.

Write your own

The if-all-else-fails option. When Gareth, 31, was asked to read at his best friend’s wedding, the internet listicles felt impersonal so he bit the bullet and wrote his own contribution to the ceremony. “I just wrote about how you have your best mates who you love but then you find your partner in crime who you can be your absolute self with,” he says. This gives you total free rein to perhaps mention the couple’s meet-cute, their pets or mutual obsessions. Keep it short and sweet though, and steer clear of after-dinner speech territory – remember, that part of the day is yet to come so you don’t want to tread on toes and (crucially) this is also pre-fizz.

Jeanette Winterson, from Big Questions from Little People and Simple Answers from Great Minds

Good for: Couples that have had long-distance relationships; animal-lovers

“You don't fall in love like you fall in a hole. You fall like falling through space. It’s like you jump off your own private planet to visit someone else’s planet. And when you get there it all looks different: the flowers, the animals, the colours people wear. It is a big surprise falling in love because you thought you had everything just right on your own planet, and that was true, in a way, but then somebody signalled to you across space and the only way you could visit was to take a giant jump. Away you go, falling into someone else’s orbit and after a while you might decide to pull your two planets together and call it home. And you can bring your dog. Or your cat. Your goldfish, hamster, collection of stones, all your odd socks. (The ones you lost, including the holes, are on the new planet you found.)

And you can bring your friends to visit. And read your favourite stories to each other. And the falling was really the big jump that you had to make to be with someone you don’t want to be without. That’s it.

P.S. You have to be brave.”

Maya Angelou, "Touched By An Angel"

Good for: Romantics; humanist ceremonies

"We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex

Good for: Non-traditionalists; feminists

"Authentic love must be founded on reciprocal recognition of two freedoms; each lover would then experience himself as himself and as the other: neither would abdicate his transcendence, they would not mutilate themselves; together they would both reveal values and ends in the world."

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Updated 11.30a.m. 9th August: Google has been accused of alleged sexism and a gender pay gap, and now more than 60 current and former employees are considering a class-action lawsuit, according to the Guardian.

The attorney working on potential legal action told the Guardian that they "contend to have earned less than men at Google despite equal qualifications and comparable positions" and spoke of a culture that is "hostile to women". It comes after an employee was fired at the weekend for penning a controversial memo about diversity.

Original story published 11a.m. 8th August: Google Has Fired The Employee Behind The Controversial "Anti-Diversity" Memo

Google has taken action against the employee who penned the controversial memo on diversity. Bloomberg reported on Monday night that the company has fired James Damore, the author of the memo, who was initially unnamed but has since been attached to the internally-circulated document.

Motherboard first reported on Damore's memo, entitled "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber," early on Saturday morning, after multiple Google employees took to Twitter to voice their concerns. The document has since been published in its entirety on Gizmodo. The memo has a ranting nature, and claims the gender gap within tech exists because women are biologically different from men in ways that make them less suited to engineering roles. Furthermore, Damore goes on to say that efforts to increase diversity by focusing on specific genders and races is discriminatory in itself. The memo came at a time when concerns about sexism in Silicon Valley are at an all time high.

Yesterday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai penned a note to employees that has since been posted on The Keyword, a blog about goings-on at the company and product updates. Pichai's letter echoes some of the messaging previously sent by Danielle Brown, Google's VP of Diversity, Integrity, and Governance, by beginning with a reference to the right to free speech.

"We strongly support the right of Googlers to express themselves, and much of what was in that memo is fair to debate, regardless of whether a vast majority of Googlers disagree with it," Pichai wrote.

Though Pichai continues to emphasise the importance of finding ways for employees to freely express themselves, he makes clear the memo violates Google's "basic values and our Code of Conduct, which expects 'each Googler to do their utmost to create a workplace culture that is free of harassment, intimidation, bias and unlawful discrimination.'"

Read the note to employees from our CEO Sundar Pichai about the memo that was circulated over the past week → https://t.co/wzcNsc5Fsh pic.twitter.com/S8dDzJEBQB

— Google (@Google) August 8, 2017

On Twitter and in the media, reactions to Damore's firing are divided. Many have come out in Damore's defence, and claim the firing shows Google's unwillingness to be open to unpopular ideas. In an email to The New York Times, Damore said he may pursue legal action against his former employer.

Others have come out in support of Google's firing, saying that Damore's actions harmed his coworkers and fostered a hostile workplace. There's legitimacy to these claims. In his 2015 book Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead, Laszlo Bock, Google's former SVP of People Operations details the company's overhaul of its performance review system. One element Bock notes is Google's peer review system, which operates on the "wisdom of crowds" theory: Your manager doesn't see everything, but your peers see the real you. Damore's memo presents the possibility that it affected his judgement of some of his colleagues, namely women and minorities, in his peer reviews — which has very real consequences under Google's performance review system and could impact salaries.

Google is already under fire for its salary practices. In April, the Department of Labor accused Google of gender pay discrimination, which the company denied.

The "anti-diversity" memo saga is likely far from over for Google, but the wider discussion it has sparked about diversity initiatives, free speech within companies, and how Silicon Valley handles dissent in corporate environments are ones that the entire tech industry has to grapple with.

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“To be trans, black, and femme is to be a constant obstacle course / it is to be in continuous movement dictated from the track / it is learning how to simultaneously apply your lipstick whilst jumping away from incoming traffic / to dodge bullets whilst ensuring your heel doesn’t sink into cracks of sidewalks.”

Travis Alabanza, a transfemme gender non-conforming performance artist, wrote this piece just three minutes after someone threw, in broad daylight, a chicken burger at their head. All of the words that make up Travis’ new chapbook, Before I Step Outside [You Love Me], were written in public – on public transport, while walking, after being harassed, while being stared at. Every poem, diary entry and essay reflects on their experience of being a trans person navigating the hostile and violent nature of public spaces. In "Obstacle", in particular, the constant duel between living your identity proudly and looking over your shoulder for the next potential danger is palpable. “Unfortunately, as a trans person, particularly a trans person of colour, we birth these skills of survival. We all know the tricks, the areas we can’t walk through at night, we talk to each other about the tactics to use to stay alive,” Travis tells me. “It’s the reality of what it means to be trans feminine in the UK.”

Travis is a performance artist, poet and theatre-maker from Bristol, living in London. Having toured their work across the country at queer venues, universities and spaces like the V&A, Tate and Roundhouse, they’re one of the most exciting and important queer artists right now. “I grew up on the outskirts of a council estate, and as my mum was a single parent, we didn’t have time or money to go to the theatre. I always knew I loved to perform, I just didn’t know a job existed where you could do it. I started doing open mic poetry, before realising I wanted my performances to be the whole package, so I started experimenting and found my space within the queer cabaret scene.” Travis’ chapbook reflects that experimentation, too, with an amalgamation of poetry, prose, essays and statements interacting with photographs of the artist.

Before I Step Outside [You Love Me] was designed by Jessie Denny-Kaulbach, Travis’ friend of 15 years: “I needed someone that didn’t follow a brief, but just knew who I was and had experienced my harassment – I needed someone that had gone through this process with me.”

While the design plays a key part in bringing the words to life, another interaction is that between the artist and the reader. On the first page of the chapbook, Travis encourages people living similar lives to write in their own name to "remind yourself that you are deserving of love and care."

"I wanted a page that said, ‘I am really thankful for you buying this book, investing in this physical thing, I want you to imprint on it – I didn't want a passive reader, I wanted an active reader,” Travis explains. "But I also wanted to show people that it’s not just trans people who fear being outside: other gay men and women obviously know what it feels like to be harassed and frightened. Sometimes language separates us and while that’s useful sometimes, we all have this common experience of going outside and feeling scared.”

Indeed, I could relate to some sentiments in the book, knowing all too well the creeping fear of post-sunset streets, the keys clutched between knuckles, the letting loved ones know your route home. But I’ll be passing this book onto my trans friends, which is what Travis also had in mind: “I imagined what it would mean to be given this as a gift. For me, this book has been a coping mechanism. If this book could be like that for someone on public transport, then that would be really lovely.” A portable lifeline, of sorts, telling you you’re not alone.

While the work is clearly so important for those who identify with Travis’ personal experience, there are vital lessons to be learned for cis het people. “I didn't want this to be a book that just pits men against women. The complexity of being transfeminine is that actually you're receiving assault and abuse from all corners: children harass you, women harass you, men people.”

A piece entitled "Womb-en Only" is a heartbreaking and necessary reminder that ‘women-only’ spaces are both trans-exclusionary (side-eyeing you, Germaine Greer) and dehumanising. "They said the room was women only. I heard womb only. I heard them measure up who was women enough to be in their room."

The poem shines a light on the lack of intersectionality and inclusion in a lot of feminist circles. “There's only an acceptance of certain types of trans people in wider feminism. I've been to meetings where they've said trans women are welcome, but I don’t identify as a woman and I’ve experienced trans-misogyny. Surely we should be bonded by our experience of misogyny, rather than our gender identity.” The poem ends with a gut-punch of uncomfortable truths: "I heard us both say that what we are wearing does not make it our fault. I heard only one of us nod at the other."

The whole chapbook is a privileged, if difficult, look into Travis’ world, one that requires our action and love – but do they think, in 2017, that societal progress is being made? In the introduction, a beautifully poetic line reads "I take a selfie before I go outside to remind myself how I looked in that moment. To remind myself that it is not me who is the problem, more the world that cannot hold me."

“In terms of visibility, there’s obviously been huge strides,” they say, nodding to the success of Laverne Cox and publications like The Guardian featuring Travis and their peers, “but I also question if it’s the right type of liberation. Visibility isn't going to save me; Caitlyn Jenner’s Vanity Fair cover doesn’t stop you from getting punched. We’re still not thinking about trans healthcare, about prison abolishment, about the bigger structural issues that affect trans people. But I think it’s way deeper than that. What I mean when I say ‘the world cannot hold me’, is that we are so obsessed with the binary, that we would really have to shift the whole world in order for people like me to be accepted. We would have to unlearn thousands and thousands of years of a structure.”

I tell Travis that I actually read the line to mean that their identity is a transcendental and unconstrained thing, sitting outside the limits of a world stuck in the past. “I really like that reading. Sometimes, when I’m walking and being harassed, it helps to have this bubble around me: ‘You know what, you just haven’t caught up yet’. A lot of my male friends now play around with gender in ways that they didn't before knowing me. I think about what that means – trans people are such a positive part of society, because we remind people that gender doesn't have to be rigid.”

The chapbook is a glorious, educational, emotional and insightful read. Both an ode to their peers ("I want you to know, before you step outside, that you are a warrior"), and a plea for more humanity (“This all boils down to me needing someone to just love me outside, to imagine what it would look like if everyone cared about me when I walked outside”), right now, everyone needs to read Travis’ words. So how can we be better allies?

“It comes down to being active. If you see someone being harassed, say ‘No, that's not okay’. Actively go out of your way to listen. If you don't have trans people in your lives, find trans people online, buy our books and learn about what’s happening to us. There are practical ways too; if people are financially able, donate to trans organisations, to our surgery funds. But, really, this book was trying to strip away all of the language that we hear in feminist circles about allyship. Once, when I was harassed, I saw someone holding a Judith Butler book – they did nothing. When that chicken burger was thrown at me, there were about 350 people that saw it, and no one did anything. It was outside King's College University, and I’m sure all of them have had a gender lesson or two. This book is saying: forget all these rules, it’s clearly not working; we just need to care about each other. And if we start from caring with each other then everything else should follow.”

Buy Travis Alabanza's Before I Step Outside [You Love Me] here.

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Ruth Crilly, model, blogger, busy mum and cofounder of the Colab dry shampoo brand shares her five favourite time-saving beauty products.

In the blurry first weeks and months of new motherhood, when it takes a monumental effort just to get dressed, let alone put on makeup, you need quick and easy beauty products that really pull their weight. Here are my ultimate time-savers for hair, face and nails – this is low-key, low-maintenance grooming at its very best.

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

This week we're with a 24-year-old who has been living in London for just over a year. She says she is lucky that she gets to live in her parents' flat for cheap (for London!) rent. She is currently saving to try and do her yoga teacher training and, unusually, actually enjoys budgeting and has recently learned that buying loads of stuff doesn't really make her any happier.

Industry: Marketing
Age: 24
Location: London
Salary: £27,000
Paycheque amount per month: £1,726
Number of housemates: 0

Monthly Expenses

Housing costs: £500. I'm really lucky to live in my parents' flat!
Loan payments: Student loan taken out of paycheque – £71
Utilities: Included in rent!
Transportation: I top up my Oyster as I go, and go back to my parents' on the train most weekends, which I pay for as I go.
Phone bill: £15.70
Savings: Trying to save £500 a month so I can quit my job and do my yoga teacher training. 9-5 life isn't for me. Currently have £0.
Other: Apple Music – £9.99, Car insurance – £46

Total: £1,071.69

Total left for the month: £654.31

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You may recognise the familiar silhouette of a low-v, long sleeves and adjustable ties as the blouse shape of summer '17, worn by all your favourite style crushes in your Insta feed over the past few months. However, if the idea of a tie-front blouse conjures up images of Britney Spears in "Baby One More Time", I'm here to convince you that there's far more to this trend than risqué school uniforms.

An ordinary button-down might be an uninspired, obvious choice of top to wear with your favourite denim but, thankfully, the tie-front blouse offers something far more eye-catching, often available in bold prints, with the plunging neckline countered by the elegant long sleeves and chic bow detail.

As the warmer weather fades and holiday season winds down, ahead is a roundup of the best of these blouses to send off summer in style.

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Another day, another exciting announcement about a soon-to-be-cult eye palette. Over the past couple of months we've been spoilt with the UK launch of Anastasia Beverly Hill's new Subculture shades as well as Urban Decay's Naked Heat palette. But if you weren't one of the lucky ones to snap up the hyped new releases before they sold out, fear not, because Instagram queen and makeup maestro Huda Kattan has just unveiled a new 18-shade palette, set to be released on 18th September.

Reminiscent of the rich colours of the Middle East, Huda Beauty's latest offering, the Desert Dusk eyeshadow palette, takes us on an Arabian journey, capturing the vivid shades and striking landscapes of Dubai. From the rich sky at sunset to the shifting shades and shadows on the sand, the opulent colours of the Middle East have been encapsulated in this highly pigmented palette. Building on the phenomenal success of the record-breaking Rose Gold Textured Shadows Palette, founder and CEO Huda Kattan wanted to ensure that Desert Dusk would exceed expectations. Determined to take her second palette to stratospheric heights, Huda created 18 new shades with four never-seen-before formulas.

The palette includes eight matte shades, reformulated for an even smoother, butter-like application. The texture from the Huda Beauty Rose Gold palette is reimagined in vibrant purples and ochres, and soft sandy nude tones. There are also six pressed pearls in plum, bronze and rose shades, creating a high-shimmer, velvety finish that layers effortlessly on top of matte formulas to add depth and intensity to lids. Three duo-chrome toppers offer exquisite light-shifting formulas, creating an enchanting duo-chrome effect. And finally, the one pure glitter shade, inspired by the precious jewels of the Middle East, with magenta, bronze and golden tones, adds depth and texture. Go bold and apply this glitter shade all over the lid using a flat brush with stiff bristles, or use it as a glitter liner.

Here she is 💗💗💗 revealed at the SDCAs first!!#HudaBeautyDesertDusk #HudaBeautySeptember18

A post shared by Huda Kattan (@hudabeauty) on Aug 8, 2017 at 11:50am PDT

“I knew it would be hard to follow the success of our Rose Gold Palette, so I had to replace it with something phenomenal," Kattan explained. "Taking on feedback and appreciation from our previous palette, we perfected the formulas to ensure the creamiest textures for the best application and wear. We combined so many versatile shades and used highly pigmented shadows that can be layered to create a vast array of looks. We also added a mirror for makeup lovers on the go, as this is something our community had been asking for.”

Determined to be involved in every aspect of product development, Huda travelled to Italy to handcraft and finalise the palette. “I spent so much time in Italy to ensure that every shade was exquisite. I knew exactly what colours and pigments I wanted so I spent hours blending and mixing the colours until we refined the shade and formula of each one. Every colour is so special to me because it was an emotional and rigorous journey before we got to the final product.”

The Desert Dusk Eyeshadow Palette also includes the beloved shade, Angelic, from the Rose Gold palette, while Huda’s favourite shades from the new palette include Nefertiti, a sparkling gold pressed pearl, and Celestial, a shimmering gold and pink duo-chrome sheen.

Huda Beauty Desert Dusk Eyeshadow Palette, £56, launches on 18th September on shophudabeauty.com, also available at Harrods and Selfridges.

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