I never really imagined I’d meet my boyfriend of four years in a random, mom-and-pop antique shop in Brooklyn. But I also never thought that — in the age of Tinder, Twitter, and Instagram DMs — we’d begin a two-month-long courtship strictly over email.

I stumbled upon the shop on an August afternoon, shortly after moving to the area. It was full of handmade gifts, vintage lamps, and other trinkets, with a small restaurant in the back — certainly not a place I’d go looking for someone to date. But while browsing, I came across a lamp I was interested in, and I looked up to see a tall guy with curly hair looking at it, too.

He introduced himself as Jason and seemed a bit shy — which, as an introvert, I could totally relate to. But after making some small talk, he ended up asking for my phone number. I was hesitant, as I often am (even if I think I like a guy), and stammered something along the lines of, “Could we stay in touch online?” assuming we would exchange Instagram handles as a way to get to know each other better. He said that he didn’t have social media but that we could stay in touch via email. I was admittedly thrown by the suggestion but also intrigued by his lack of social media. We exchanged email addresses, and that was that — it was practically a setup from a '90s rom-com.

I wasn’t expecting to hear from him, but the next day, I received an email saying how nice it was to meet me and asking me a bit more about myself. In return, he also told me about his background: where he was originally from (Rochester, NY), his age (8 years older), and what he did (finance). We chatted back and forth a bit over the course of the week.

Over email, I felt like I had the space and time to think about what I wanted to say and what I wanted to know — it didn’t feel as rushed or as ambiguous as texts or dating-app messages. It was old-fashioned, in a way — almost like writing letters to a pen pal or lover.

It was old-fashioned, in a way — almost like writing letters to a pen pal or lover.

After the first few days of getting to know each other via email, Jason asked me out. I politely declined and told him I just wanted to be friends, since I did really enjoy talking to him. I was pretty honest about the fact that our age difference — I was 22, he was 30 — made me feel unsure as well. But instead of giving up entirely, he was completely understanding, and we continued to email long letters to each other. The letters were mostly friendly but with some light flirting on both our ends.

For two months, we continued emailing, growing remarkably close for two people who had only briefly met, once, in real life. We talked about everything from the best cupcakes in our neighborhood and our favorite artists to places we hoped to travel one day. We learned a lot about what we had in common, too, and even helped each other discover new parts of our neighborhood, like restaurants and parks.

Meanwhile, I was still on dating apps and meeting suitors in real life — without much success. One bad date in particular really made me think hard about whether I should ask Jason out. He’d been a kind, active listener; a great friend; and an amazing support system. While the age gap had initially made me hesitant about pursuing him romantically, I had grown so comfortable talking to him, I felt like we’d known each other forever. Why not take the plunge?

I was insanely nervous as I hit “send,” shooting off the shortest email I had ever sent him: “Would you perhaps want to get brunch at the spot where we first met?”

His reply came almost immediately, and it was decided that we’d meet the next week. When our brunch date finally came, I saw the same slightly shy, smiling face right where I’d last left it. Talking to each other felt natural and fun, not stilted and awkward, like so many app dates had. We even ordered the same thing: pumpkin pancakes. After brunch, I wanted to hang out longer, so I made up an excuse that I had to go to an Italian shop a few blocks away to buy cheese and asked him to join. Even to this day, he jokingly tells me that’s the moment he fell in love with me.

Our long emails let us express ourselves and be honest in ways we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

While our courtship was unconventional in the age of dating apps, I’d argue that our long emails let us express ourselves and be honest in ways we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise, had I just taken his number that day in the store and started texting and dating him in the same week.

Maybe it's because I'm a writer, but I really loved getting to see his world and who he was through his words. In fact, it’s kind of beautiful to have a sort of archive of modern-day love letters that go beyond a text message. Even after four years, we still write each other long emails when we feel like it. Just for old times’ sake.

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Even though Black Panther comes out on February 16, fans have been waiting in i m patient anticipation for months on end (and if they didn't snag an advanced ticket, they may have to wait a little longer). You don't have to be a Marvel fan to appreciate the fact that this film is chockfull of representation, with nearly an entire Black cast of heroes and villains gracing our screens.

Aside from Lupita Nyong'o, Chadwick Boseman, Tessa Thompson, Angela Bassett, and Michael B. Jordan getting time to shine, we're also ecstatic that most of the cast wears natural hairstyles in the film. Not only are they badass, but they prove that Black beauty is just as conventional as everything else we've seen up until now. Last night's Los Angeles premiere was no different. With a dress code of "royal attire," the cast and fans showed up — and showed out — with their 'fros tall, edges laid, and locs flowing. See some of the best looks ahead.

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Natural hair isn't a trend — it's what's growing out of our heads — but we still can't help but swoon when a stylist is able to push our curls, coils, and kinks to new and unique heights. Celebrity hairstylist Nai'vasha Johnson does that with every red carpeted event or press tour that she's on.

Just look at her roster: Yara Shahidi, Zendaya, Skai Jackson, and John Legend have all been lucky enough to grace her chair. Even though her Rolodex is the ultimate Who's Who, Johnson is still humbled by the love, especially considering her beginnings as a realtor in Tennessee. "Every time I get an opportunity, it blows me away," she tells Refinery29. "I'm constantly getting surprised daily." And so are we: Johnson's natural hairstyles constantly have us screenshotting and pinning, making us wonder what's next. But before we muse about the future, read ahead to see how the budding star got her start.

Southern Roots

"I was that girl in high school who did all of her friends' hair. I went to cosmetology school directly after, and then took a break from it. In Memphis, where I'm from, doing hair isn't that glamorous. They don't treat hair as an art form; they treat it as a trade. So I put it on the shelf for a long time and did banking and real estate. Once the market crashed, I reinserted myself and picked up hair from there.

A post shared by Nai'vasha Johnson (@naivashaintl) on May 8, 2013 at 12:17pm PDT

"At that time, we were living in Atlanta because my husband is in the military. That was the first time that I had an opportunity to see the beauty industry being treated as something for celebrities, as opposed to being just a neighborhood beautician. In Atlanta, you were a hairstylist or a hairdresser. You hung out with celebrities, and you had features and editorials. That intrigued me."

First Steps

"In 2013, I did a reality TV show called Big Rich Atlanta. That was the first time I really had an opportunity to be on the other side of the camera and be behind the scenes in that capacity. I remember being most surprised about the pay, to be honest. I didn’t realize that you could make that type of money being a hairdresser. I only knew about the $25 haircut. In the professional industry, the sky is the limit. My perspective of the beauty industry changed, and once that happened, I didn’t stop.

"I never assisted, either. I was always so afraid that no one would really help me, because it was so competitive. So I studied on my own. I practiced on my own. I did everything on my own because I didn't trust that anyone would say 'hey, Nai'vasha, let me put you under my wing and take you in.' No one ever did that for me, so I did it all for myself."

A post shared by Nai'vasha Johnson (@naivashaintl) on Jan 6, 2018 at 11:46am PST

Her Big Break

"My first big name was a reality star, Ariane Davis of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta. I had an opportunity to go with her to her first New York Fashion Week runway show, where she walked for my really good friend Avnah. Everything started happening after that. I surrounded myself with industry people, like designers and fashion stylists. I started contacting photographers and other makeup artists and other wardrobe stylists, and then I started shooting. Once I started shooting all of the time and doing editorials, people started reaching out to me and taking notice of my work.

"Another moment was Zendaya's pixie at the 2015 Grammys. It was the first time she was seen with a big haircut. Her stylist, Law Roach, had it in mind, to create a moment for everyone to think on and talk about. We wanted to show that Zendaya grew up and was coming into her own.

"Yara had that moment, too, at the 2017 Emmys. Her hair wasn’t as big and curly at that moment. She wasn't in kitten heels. She had this ultra-chic wet look that was off her face, with a beautiful custom Prada gown and gorgeous makeup. America's darling had grown up."

Shaking Up The Status Quo

"I went to a beauty school where we didn’t train on textured, Black, or curly hair. All of the training we did was on white hair or Asian hair. It wasn’t until the latter part of my Atlanta experience that I got into natural hair. Even then, I was still pressing it out and making it smooth. Now, I take those beautiful images I love so much — like maybe a Sassoon haircut or an Aveda updo — and turn that into a textured look. I'll put a really clean bob on the kinkiest, curliest hair I can find, or the waviest girl that I can find.

"One of my favorite looks is Uzo Aduba for the Emmys, because that was such a risk. And to see Viola Davis celebrate her big, kinky, textured hair on the carpet for the Globes was so good, and I was so happy about that. Before the Emmys, no one was doing that. I can't remember another moment where someone rocked thick, kinky hair on the red carpet. To see women of color rock the red carpet with all of this texture, it's an awesome day. It's a beautiful day in beauty."

Frequent Flier

"I'm based in New York, but travel roundtrip a minimum of four times a month. I frequent Los Angeles the most. Life is still so different for me. Now, I don’t have to be quite as in your face and sociable with my clients. I don’t have to see as many people. When you're doing about nine or 10 people per day, that’s a whole lot of socializing, a lot of personalities, and a lot of being on your feet. If I’m with someone like Yara for the day, I’m primarily only with her just for the day and not for the week.

"Because I'm spending so much social time with my clients, it feels like we're hanging out with as sisters or cousins. We're laughing, flipping through books, figuring out our styles. It's relaxed, and totally different — like night and day"

She Still Has #Goals

"My dream is to work with Halle Berry or Iman. When you think of iconic beauties, those are some of the first names that come to mind for women of color and women, period. Their looks stand the test of time, and I would love to have either one of those ladies in my chair on any day of the week. I know the exact style that I want to do on Halle, too. It'd be epic.

"More importantly, I want other aspiring stylists to know that there’s space for all of us. There's enough room for everybody. We've got to keep celebrating ourselves. I don't know if natural hair is necessarily a priority for Hollywood glam squads, but I know that we're embracing it and really loving our authentic selves, which includes our textures."

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It's unheard of for a single skin-care product to fly off shelves at the same rate as, say, a KKW Beauty contour kit. But that's exactly what happened last week, when Kim Kardashian West, she of the dewy, poreless skin and poor judgment calls, shared with subscribers of her paywalled website that she relies on a $9.80 serum to slow down the signs of aging.

The Ordinary's Granactive Retinoid* 2% Emulsion sold out at Sephora shortly thereafter, another nail in the coffin for retinoids' former reputation for being stodgy anti-aging ingredients that are either prohibitively expensive or only available by prescription. Times have changed; celebrities now charge you money just to look at their websites. But some things remain the same — like what, exactly, retinoids are in the first place.

Retinoids are a class of vitamins, all derived from vitamin A, under which falls, in order of potency: retinoic acid, retinaldehyde, retinol, and retinyl palmitate. Retinoic acid is the active form of the chemical, the one that can immediately be used by the skin; it almost always requires a prescription, like in Retin-A (tretinoin), cosmetic chemist Randy Schueller of The Beauty Brains tells us. The others are slightly less effective than the real thing because the skin must convert them before they can be utilized, and you lose some of the potency in the process.

Retinyl palmitate, sometimes called vitamin A palmate, is the least powerful retinoid. That's why it's also the cheapest... and, on the plus side, the least drying. "The most 'effective' forms tend to be the most irritating," says Schueller, so a weaker form doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing. "Some people get better results using a less effective form because it doesn't irritate their skin as much, so they're more likely to use it more often." But even if retinoids are the sweet, sweet anti-aging, anti-acne ambrosia the world has been waiting for but doesn't have totally figured out just yet, one cannot simply walk into a store and grab the nearest thing that says "retinol" or "vitamin A" on it.

Or, well, you can, but it's probably not the best idea. You'll want to take into account your skin type — many sensitive types are too delicate for the full-strength stuff and can do more harm than good with dryness and irritation if they dive into it too fast — and you'll also want to be extra cautious about only purchasing from brands you trust, not just the cheapest formula or the one that promises to be the most potent. (You'll also want to not be pregnant. There is no reported evidence of topical retinoids causing any harm to an unborn child, but some studies have shown that high doses of vitamin A can be harmful, and oral retinoids like Accutane are known to cause birth defects.)

As celebrity esthetician Renée Rouleau explains, retinol is known to be highly unstable — not only extremely fragile to oxygen and light exposure (which is why you should look for ones that come in opaque, airless packaging), but also when combined with other ingredients together within a product. "Simply put, retinol doesn't play well with others, and only a very experienced formulator will know the best way to make it effective," she says. "Anyone can add the ingredient retinol to a product and market it for anti-aging, but it may not be doing much of anything."

And, yes, a well-formulated, high-quality retinoid can err on the expensive side to formulate, which is how they got that reputation in the first place. But you don't need to spend tons of money to get a good, effective retinoid — you just need to know what to look for, and where. How's that for making good judgment calls?

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Donald and Melania Trump rode separate cars to the State of the Union on Tuesday, breaking with the longstanding tradition of the president and first lady arriving together.

Instead, Melania chose to have the guests she had invited to join her in the first lady's box for the brief motorcade ride from the White House south lawn to the Capitol building, according to CNN.

The first lady's communications director Stephanie Grisham told CNN that Melania rode in a different car because she is "honoring her guests for the true heroes they are."

"In addition to holding a White House reception and photo opportunity for them, along with their friends and family, she is accompanying them to the Capitol," Grisham said in a statement. "Once there, the first lady and Mrs. Pence will host a more intimate meet-and-greet to engage with them on a personal level prior to the speech."

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told CNN that Melania came separately for "no reason other than she can greet the guests and he can go straight in."

Grisham said the first lady wanted to have a more intimate pre-event gathering with her 15 guests, who include the parents of two girls who were killed by members of the MS-13 gang in New York. Trump has promised to "destroy" MS-13 and has drawn parallels between the gang and undocumented immigrants.

Both recent former first couples — Barack and Michelle Obama, and George and Laura Bush — drove together in a limo from the White House to the State of the Union, for all eight years each president was in office.

A White House official told CNN that Donald and Melania Trump will travel together in the same car to return to the White House.

In Michael Wolff's explosive new book Fire and Fury, he writes that the Trumps' relationship was “perplexing” to those who worked closely with them, and that they would often go for days at a time without contact. “He and Melania spent relatively little time together... Often she did not know where he was, or take much notice of that fact,” he writes.

Then, a few weeks ago, InTouch magazine dropped a bombshell interview with Stormy Daniels, a former adult film actress who alleged that she had sex with Trump in 2006, a year after he married Melania and while she was pregnant with Barron. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump's lawyer paid her $130,000 to keep quiet about their tryst.

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I'll admit it: I wasn't crazy about Instagram Stories when they launched in August. They looked like a Snapchat copycat — and not a very good one at that. Where was the dog face? The geotags? The option to set up a birthday filter?

For an app that I've always loved for its creativity and viewed as an artistic hub, Instagram was letting me down. I thought Stories would have a brief surge and then fizzle out, relegated to the land of tech failures.

But as an increasing numbers of people (100 million daily to date) jumped on board, I realized that maybe Instagram Stories really was a complement to Snapchat, and not a replacement. I stopped comparing them so much and dove in headfirst, determined to master the platform. Here, 29 tips and tricks for turning any Instagram Story into thing of beauty — or, at the very least, one of many artfully drawn thought bubbles and color blocks.

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“If you’re only going to have three piercings right now, I would do your lobes, your tragus, and your daith,” L.A.’s "It" piercer Brian Keith Thompson told me on the phone this week. “The daith is really popular right now — and [they] look cool all together.”

And if this piercing oracle says it's true, you better believe it. The Body Electri c owner/artist is responsible for constellation piercings, L.A.’s obsession with nipple adornment, and even the latest uptick in the labret (the center of the bottom lip) and the philtrum (he just did FKA Twigs’, but more on that later. Did we mention his client list is stacked with major A-listers?)

So, what are the raddest piercings you need to know about for 2017? When it comes to ears, the daith, rook, forward helix, and tragus are in hot demand — often in artful groupings of three or more. Facial piercing trends are shifting too, with lip piercings becoming more popular and the nostril slowly usurping the septum. (There's a sentence we never thought we'd write.)

As for body? Feel free to blame Beyoncé for this next one. “There was a lull, but we are seeing the navel come back even stronger now,” Thompson says. “Very delicate, thin, dainty rings are big.” No surprise here: The nipple is still huge, too: “I thought that it was going to die down, but I can’t keep barbells in stock right now!” he reports.

Ahead, Thompson walks us through the piercings and combinations that L.A.’s loving.

This story was originally published on February 15, 2017.

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There are two distinct ways of looking at a haircut: fun and exciting...or completely terrifying. If you fall into the latter category, like I do, you've probably had long hair for as long as you can remember. In an effort to change that, I've been thinking about the concept of a "shock-proof haircut." While notably shorter, these looks aren't jarring, because you can still create the same styles as you did with your longer hair — and more importantly, the same feeling ( whether sexy, glamorous, edgy, whatever).

A "shock-proof haircut," mind you, is not just the cut you currently have, only shorter. Instead, it's a cleverly selected cut that makes sense based on your current style and one that gives you the ability to re-create your everyday look. For help navigating these uncharted waters, I turned to two top hairstylists (one on each coast) for their expert opinions: Leanne Citrone, co-owner and stylist at Andy Lecompte Salon in Los Angeles, and Jon Reyman, founder of bicoastal salon Spoke & Weal.

"The same thing, only shorter is not always the best thing," Reyman agrees. However, there is one base cut both he and Citrone recommend: You guessed it — the bob and its cousins, the short bob and the lob. "It opens the door to a bunch of different haircuts," Reyman explains. "For so many years it’s been about long hair or short hair, which is such a big jump for people. We started giving lobs...[it's] a gateway drug to different cuts."

So, how do you know if you should take the plunge? "I understand the attachment people have to their length," Citrone says. "But when you're ready, you're ready." If that sounds like you, click ahead for a two-in-one consultation with these pros, which will make picking this big chop incredibly easy.

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From the spring/summer 2003 Luella Bartley-designed Mulberry bag named for Gisele Bündchen to Proenza Schouler's 'anti-It Bag' the PS1, the tan pocketbook has weathered the ebb and flow of trends. Now, for spring '18, it's back and more desirable than ever.

For the past several seasons, bold, bright bags have ruled, with '90s monogramming enjoying a particular renaissance right now. But that only amplifies the appeal of the tan bag. In its neutrality — both in color and material — it can accessorize nearly every item in your closet and, in eluding garish prints or outlandish finishes, it avoids becoming dated. What with fashion's current maximalist aesthetic, perhaps we're all craving its quiet stability.

"This season it’s all about tan bags; we saw them everywhere from the likes of Gucci to Chloé, and we’re already seeing this shade filter through into fall/winter 2018," Hollie Harding, accessories buyer at Browns, tells Refinery29. "Neutral colors such as tan are a really great base to have in your wardrobe and in my opinion are poised to replace the classic black bag for spring."

Givenchy was among the brands that revived the classic handbag this season, with its micro belt bag with central buckle. Altuzarra's braided handle and tasseled tan bag brought a touch of the Wild West to its show, while J.W.Anderson debuted the most luxurious mixed-leather bag with gold finishings. But that's not all. "Loewe is definitely one of my go-to brands for the perfect tan bag, and this season they’ve introduced several new styles, including a beautiful woven leather tote in addition to their classic puzzle and hammock-style bag," Harding adds. "Alongside Loewe, both Staud and Wandler have absolutely nailed the tan bag and are definitely brands to invest in now."

Much like leopard print and denim, a timeless tan bag can be reimagined in countless ways, making it one of the smartest buys around. Click through to find our picks of the season.

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Even the most symmetrical faces out there know that no two brows are the same — sisters, not twins, as the saying goes. And anyone who spends at least five minutes filling in their brows every morning will also have a favorite sister... and a not-so-fave one.

Luckily, there is a plethora of cult faves and new brow launches every season to sculpt your brows into almost-twins if you so desire. Here, three Refinery29 staffers show us their daily eyebrow looks, from a three-product routine to a simple one-tool technique. Are you like Sam, who not only fills in her brows, but uses a gel and a concealer for a light contour? Or are you more like Sloan, who simply pencils in her brows after brushing them out with a spoolie brush?

Naturally, a few common faves came up. We can't talk about sculpting our brows without mentioning Anastasia Beverly Hills' Brow Wiz, after all. It would be like discussing red lipsticks and completely forgetting about Ruby Woo. But several brands have released what they deem "universal" brow products — tricky, when you have customers with a wide range of skin tones. Our beauty fans put three supposedly universally flattering brow tamers to the test, and surprise, surprise, not all of them lived up to their claims.

Watch the video above to learn a few new techniques for Insta-worthy brows, and see which brow launch actually worked on all three of our testers. Then let us know if we missed your favorite products in the comments below.

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We use Amazon for everything. And we mean everything. Thanks to Amazon Prime, any item you purchase on a whim can arrive on your doorstep in two days or less — sometimes, even the same day. We live in a magical time.

But with that awesome power comes...strange choices. For some of us, that one-click checkout button can lead to some unusual impulse buys. For others, it's all too easy to start browsing Amazon in a late-night haze, saying yes to things you'd ordinarily never consider you needed in your life. But now that you've got a five-pound bag of Skittles or a dedicated wall-mounted purse hanger in your life, you've got to make the most of it, right?

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There are plenty of reasons to look forward to tonight's full moon (the second one of the month) and the coinciding lunar eclipse. But, once the dust settles and February officially starts on Thursday, we'll be left in the dark — literally. We won't see another full moon until March 1, so February won't feature the energizing effects that accompany this bright, expansive lunar phase. But that doesn't mean we're staring down a month of total celestial boredom.

Depending on whom you ask, next month will have a "black moon," which isn't nearly as scary as it sounds. In this case, it simply refers to a month that lacks a full moon, but it can also describe a month with two new moons or the third new moon in a season that has four total (which is one more than the average three). Regardless of the definition you happen to be dealing with, its spiritual significance remains essentially the same. During a black moon, the energetic focus is on the new moon, the one phase in which the moon is completely invisible. This lunar phase is most closely associated with personal growth, self-improvement, and fresh starts.

Keep in mind that we'll be coming off a lunar eclipse when we begin this black moon period. Eclipses, lunar and solar alike, are believed to signal the end of something and the start of something new. So, as you begin what's set to be a pretty introspective month, you might be better served to focus on any new beginnings you could kick off in your inner life, rather than anything that's going on at work, in your family, or anywhere outside yourself.

Maybe you want a clean slate in your workout routine, so you sign up for a new class or upgrade your old pair of sneakers. Or, you might want to make a small change to be more productive every day, in which case you could shift your sleep schedule by an hour or drink more water throughout the day.

The new moon encourages us to reflect on what others can't see. Use the time leading up to the the new moon on February 15 to decide what new changes you'd like to see in yourself. Then, after the 15th, as the moon begins to wax toward fullness, you can put those plans into action. Think of this as a new moon ritual that you have weeks to accomplish — don't be afraid to be ambitious.

Besides, it's actually relatively common for February, the shortest month in the year, to lack a full moon: February black moons occur about every 20 years. So, you can look forward to (or, depending on how you feel about quiet reflection, dread) yet another monthlong tour of your innermost self in 2038, give or take.

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If Kanye West loved maybe one person as much as he loves Kanye West, we’d put our money on it being his wife, Kim Kardashian-West. His devotion to her seems to know no bounds, from sending her emails about which sunglasses will make her look the coolest, to creating a heartwarming video montage for her 36th birthday. Now, West has completely outdone himself (even more so than he did with Kardashian's Christmas present): For Yeezy Season 6's campaign, the 40-year-old rapper cast a series of models, influencers, and more, and dressed them to look just like Kardashian did in the paparazzi shots that served as the collection's unconventional unveiling (in place of showing during New York Fashion Week) back in November.

#YeezySeason6 #ParisHilton #ForeverTheOG YEEZYSUPPLY.COM

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jan 30, 2018 at 11:29pm PST

The images star influencers-cum-models Yovanna Ventura, Abigail Ratchford, Sarah Snyder, Chinqpink, and Amina Blue, whose modeled for West before, fashion designer Sami Miro, as well as The Clermont Twins, Shannon and Shannade, of Bad Girls Club fame. Adult film star Lela Star is also featured, as is makeup artist Madeleine Rose and Kristen Noel Crawley, a beauty writer-turned-entrepreneur. But the real kicker is that West enlisted Paris Hilton, his wife’s former boss (Kardashian used to clean her closet), to dressed as Kardashian, squashing any rumors of a lingering feud.

Kardashian and Hilton fell out of their friendship around 2008 as the hotel heiress and the soon-to-be reality star seemed to trade places in the spotlight. Then disparaging remarks surfaced — Hilton said Kardashian’s butt looked like “cottage cheese in a big trash bag,” and even walked out of an interview when asked about her former friend. In 2014, things seemed to have turned around when they were spotted partying together at Riccardo Tisci’s birthday in Ibiza (they even took a picture for the ‘gram). Now, their families even spend the holidays together at Kris Jenner's annual Christmas Eve bash.

The fact that Hilton and Kardashian, who are now 36 and 37, respectively, are now on good enough terms that Paris is willing to dress up as Kim? As West so eloquently rapped in “N***as in Paris” (which is seeing new life again, too, these days), all we have to say is: “that shit cray.”

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Following every presidential State of the Union speech, it's customary that a representative from the opposite party deliver an official rebuttal in response — and who better to issue the clapback to President Donald Trump's first SOTU address last night than Democratic Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III of Massachusetts, the latest golden boy to carry the name of one of America's most influential political dynasties.

Kennedy's words were cutting, his tone a rallying cry that one political correspondent called the "best entry" into the usually-underwhelming genre of SOTU response speeches. "This administration isn't just targeting the laws that protect us," he said. "They are targeting the very idea that we are all worthy of protection." But some who watched Kennedy deliver his stirring speech could only focus on where those words were coming from — not atop a car lift in the auto shop at Diman Regional Technical School in Fall River, Massachusetts, but rather the politician's shiny, shiny mouth.

The general consensus, at least among GOP pollsters on Twitter, was that Kennedy was drooling — "drool-mouth," Republican "public opinion guru" Frank Luntz called it, comparing the incident to Marco Rubio's desperate grab for a bottle of water during his State of the Union response to then-President Barack Obama in 2013. But Kennedy confirmed this morning during a televised interview with ABC correspondent George Stephanopoulos that his lip balm was to blame. "Oddly enough, I decided to go a little bit light on the chapstick this morning," a matte-mouthed Kennedy joked. "More on the coffee, light on the chapstick, which was probably a wise choice."

Rep. Joe Kennedy speaks to @GStephanopoulos after giving the Democratic response to the State of the Union. https://t.co/Uhk1ekQPME pic.twitter.com/UKaGKnskEm

— Good Morning America (@GMA) January 31, 2018

As you may recall, Marco Rubio's bid for hydration made him the subject of Trump's ridicule for several years — and considering the President's propensity for giving belittling nicknames to his political opponents and anyone who dares "treat him badly," it seems like only a matter of time before Kennedy joins Little Marco Rubio, Crazy Bernie, Sloppy Steve Bannon, Crazy Mika and Psycho Joe, Liddle' Bob Corker, Lyin' Ted Cruz, Crooked Hillary Clinton, Rocket Man Kim Jong-Un, and so very many others (425, at last count) as the next object of the POTUS' Twitter mockery. We hope to see more of Shiny Mouth Joe taking the public stage — but for his next major appearance, might we recommend the Kiehl's Facial Fuel No-Shine Moisturizing Lip Balm?

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Phone, wallet, keys, and lipstick: The mantra of many a millennial woman. Beyond those four basics, however, every woman has a few necessities that might seem just plain weird. In Spill It , we ask influential women to share everything that's in their bag — embarrassing, enlightening, and otherwise. Here, beauty vlogger Amanda Steele opens up her Yves Saint Laurent work bag on camera.

If you've ever wondered whether beauty bloggers carry their entire makeup bag around with them, you might be disappointed by Amanda Steele. The YouTuber behind MakeupforMandy24 (with 2.8 million subscribers and counting) does lug around a large bag on a daily basis, but the most she carries with her might be her vlog camera.

Turns out, after sharing many a makeup look on her channel, she only really needs two beauty items on a daily basis — and no, it's not a classic red lipstick, concealer, or even a mirror to touch up her cat-eye. In fact, her necessities are much more pared down.

Click ahead to watch Steele share what's in her bag (including a surprising receipt), and then shop her beauty must-haves afterwards.

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There are some books you pick up because you know they'll be tear-jerkers, and you're not opposed to a good cry. Then there are the books that sucker-punch you with a tragic plot twist that leaves you dribbling tears and snot onto the pages. You'll find both types here.

The very best reads have the ability to elicit a full range of emotions, even if that entails a little heartbreak. Whether it's the death of Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, or the tales of abject poverty in Angela's Ashes, the impulse to feel loss is very, very powerful. It overwhelms us whether it's fiction or nonfiction, a weighty dramatic tome or a beloved children's classic.

With that in mind, we've rounded up a selection of reads guaranteed to make you whimper. Expect your chin to wobble at the very least. It's cathartic, right?

Spoiler alert: We will be discussing some very sad endings to books you may not have read yet. Proceed at your own risk!

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It's easy to become infatuated with celebrity tattoos. Whether you have one or not, there's enough Instagram inspiration from famous artists like Dr. Woo and New York's JonBoy to turn anyone into a fan of body art — especially when it's inked on Hollywood's elite.

But unfortunately, sometimes stars like to keep the meaning of their most personal tattoos on the low, providing an evasive, almost nonexistent explanation behind the design. For the most part, people leave the inspo up to speculation. But if you're tired of guessing and want to know the truth, stick with us.

From Rihanna to Miley Cyrus to Selena Gomez, we've rounded up a string of celeb tattoo meanings just waiting to answer your questions — ahead.

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No matter what you might say about Hillary Clinton 's decision not to fire one of her top advisors after a young woman on her campaign accused him of inappropriate touching, kissing, and suggestive emails — and you just might have a lot to say — her nuanced reflection on it deserves our attention.

While Donald Trump fear-mongered and hyperbolized his way through an extra-long State of the Union on Tuesday, in which he said essentially nothing about women, much less sexual harassment, Clinton posted a 1,500-word essay on Facebook examining her decision not to fire Burns Strider, a senior advisor to her 2008 presidential campaign accused of repeatedly sexually harassing a staffer who shared an office with him.

"The short answer is this: If I had it to do again, I wouldn’t," Clinton writes.

Sources told The New York Times that despite her campaign manager's suggestion, Clinton did not let Strider go but instead docked him for several weeks' pay and required him to undergo counseling. She also separated him and the woman, assigning her to another office, and, according to her post, "put in place technical barriers to his emailing her." He was warned that he'd be fired if he did it again.

Several years after working for Clinton, Strider was fired from another job for inappropriate behavior. About this, Clinton writes: "That reoccurrence troubles me greatly, and it alone makes clear that the lesson I hoped he had learned while working for me went unheeded. Would he have done better — been better — if I had fired him? Would he have gotten that next job?"

The short answer is this: If I had it to do again, I wouldn’t.

She admits that at the time, she thought firing Strider wasn't the right solution. "Taking away someone’s livelihood is perhaps the most serious thing an employer can do. When faced with a situation like this, if I think it’s possible to avoid termination while still doing right by everyone involved, I am inclined in that direction. I do not put this forward as a virtue or a vice — just as a fact about how I view these matters," she writes.

Clinton didn't make the decision that many of us, after the cathartic outpouring of the #MeToo movement, view as the right one. She should have fired him, 2018 lens or not. But her statements show a remorse and contrition that are unfortunately rarely heard from public figures. Unlike many, she dissects her decisions and learns from them. "There is no way I can go back 10 years and know the answers. But you can bet I’m asking myself these questions right now," she writes.

Where are the former Harvey Weinstein executives writing thoughtful essays about what they should and shouldn't have done while working with the abusive entertainment mogul? Where are the statements from tech company CEOs that go beyond PR lingo? (Et tu, Republican Party?) How many public figures actually publicly examine themselves in less than flattering ways?

Precious few. But Hillary Clinton does, and our outsized expectations of this woman are hard to overlook. The striking amount of times she apologized in What Happened — her own, personal memoir — shows that she's more prepared to examine her failings that the average millionaire. And it brings up questions of why women are constantly being asked to mop up men's failings.

There are issues with her statement. At one point, she says that a female boss has "extra responsibility to look out for the women who work for her," which suggests that women should assume more of the burden around these workplace abuses. This bears out in real life: Just look at all the women at the Golden Globes (or, really, insert your awards show/event here) who spoke up in support of Time's Up and all the men who didn't and silently wore pins. But as we're all learning and growing in this moment together, there's value to making mistakes out in the open rather than hiding behind an iron-gated PR team.

Some will ask why it took her so long to speak up about this, and her response is honest: "I’ve been grappling with this and thinking about how best to share my thoughts. I hope that my doing so will push others to keep having this conversation — to ask and try to answer the hard questions, not just in the abstract but in the real-life contexts of our roles as men, women, bosses, employees, advocates, and public officials."

Finally, and most importantly, Clinton writes, she's spoken with the young woman who was affected, and the woman has "read every word of this and has given me permission to share it."

It's not going to please everyone in America, because, well, insert shrug emoji here. But it absolutely matters that Clinton delivered a well-reasoned, nuanced response. It matters because we live in a world in which this very article, and pretty much every article about Hillary Clinton, will be pummeled with misogynist attacks, links to alt-right propaganda, "BENGHAZI" GIFs, and misspelled swear words. It matters because the discourse has become so poisoned that there seems to be no room for learning, being human, and making mistakes. Especially not for women like Hillary Clinton. There are only litmus tests.

One of the most criticized women on earth made a mistake when she believed she was doing the best by her staffer. She responded to it more thoughtfully than the vast majority would have. "In other words, everyone’s now on their second chance, both the offenders and the decision-makers. Let’s do our best to make the most of it," she writes.

It would do us well to listen to the words of the supporters commenting on her Facebook post, who say things like: "Why do women tear each other down? She has been a role model and representative for women her whole life and yes she’s not perfect! Are you?"

Another said: "Why do you even need to defend this when we have a sexual offender in the White House and not a single Republican seems to care?"

They have a point. We demand so much of Hillary Clinton — and women in general. It's about time we held men to the same standard.

We've reached out to Clinton's spokesperson and will update this story when we hear back.

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This week, Kate Middleton has been touring Sweden and Norway alongside her husband the Duke of Cambridge. Visiting landmarks with each country’s royals, the Duchess is still serving us all the stylish outfits we've come to expect, all while being six months pregnant. And as if to make sure we're paying attention, she'll often incorporate subtle nods to her husband's mother, the also stylish, Princess Diana.

On Day Two of the tour, she was photographed wearing a red and white houndstooth Catherine Walker coat over an Alexander McQueen boucle dress, and a Chanel quilted handbag with a bamboo handle, to the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Middleton’s look is reminiscent of the Moschino red houndstooth cropped blazer with a white and black scarf roped through the collar, and black houndstooth pencil skirt Diana wore in 1991 on a trip to Canada, sparking chatter Middleton’s look is a bit of a tribute.

And honestly, maybe it is, but there is also a very real chance that the 36-year-old just likes houndstooth, which when we take a stroll through memory lane, is clear she does. There was the black and white belted houndstooth coat she wore in December on a trip to the Children’s Global Media Summit. Or we could even further back, to December 2015, when Middleton wore a black and white houndstooth coat with chic cuffs at the end of each sleeve. Earlier that year, she wore a Christopher Kane cobalt blue houndstooth coat in Scotland, and she also visited a children’s mental health charity, wearing a Ralph Lauren black houndstooth-print shirtdress.

Though, we have to say, if we had something in common with Princess Diana, we’d remind people of it every chance we got, too. Hey, at least we’d be in good company.

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Starting in January 2019, pharmacists will be able to prescribe a 12-month supply of birth control to women in Washington, D.C., thanks to a bill signed into law Wednesday by Mayor Muriel Bowser.

The legislation, called the Defending Access to Women’s Health Care Services Amendment Act of 2018, would mean that women won't need to visit their doctor in order to get a contraception prescription. Seven other states, including California, Oregon, and New Mexico, have similar laws in place, though the regulations vary per place. The new D.C. law also requires that patients have access to co-pay free birth control, regardless of whether the receive coverage through insurance providers, Medicaid, or the D.C. Healthcare Alliance.

"Preventive care saves lives and reduces healthcare costs,” Bowser said in a statement provided to Refinery20. “From extending open enrollment to creating forward-thinking legislation that keeps Washingtonians safe from detrimental health care reforms, in Washington, D.C., we are committed to ensuring all residents are able to get the care and services they need to thrive and get on pathways to the middle class. "

A 2013 found that about 30% of women who were not on birth control or used a less effective method believed they would start taking the pill if it was offered without needing a prescription. And there's a myriad of reasons why patients would opt out of going to the doctor: financial barriers, inability to find child care, difficulty getting time off at work, and many others. A move like the new D.C. law could encourage them to get contraception, since it erases the need for a doctor's visit.

Being able to get a 12-month supply is highly beneficial, too. According to a 2011 study, there was a significant decrease in rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion when women were not forced to go to the pharmacy every one to three months in order to pick up their birth control prescription.

The bill was authored by Councilmember Charles Allen and passed unanimously by the Council earlier this month. One of the main reasons behind its creation was the Trump administration and the Republicans in Congress' multiple attacks on the Affordable Health Care and women's healthcare in general.

The new policy was met with praise from reproductive rights advocates, such as Dawn Laguens, Planned Parenthood Federation of America's executive vice president.

"We applaud Mayor Bowser and the D.C. City Council for listening to their constituents by taking critical steps to protect birth control coverage and the basic right for people to control their own bodies," she said in a statement provided to Refinery 29. "In 2018, we are still working toward a world in which we all have the freedom and opportunity to control our lives at the most basic level: our bodies, our families, and our life’s path. This must include access to birth control."

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