It seems like a group of men have discovered the magic of makeup and are now taking full advantage of its powers. No, they’re not applying it to their faces, like Covergirl and MAC intended. Guys are using makeup to contour their members.
Penis size is an issue that causes a lot of insecurity and stress, so this event is not much of a stretch even if it’s quite surprising. The makeup style that’s currently enlarging men is called “contouring.” According to Men’s Health, this style popularized by the Kardashians makes faces and penises look “sculpted” by providing definition and enhancing base structures. Within this context it sounds a little terrifying.
This idea was initially mentioned in a YouTube video, where professional make-up artist Jeffree Star confessed that he’s contoured his penis several times to make it seem larger.
Although Star didn’t go into the specifics of penis contouring — and there aren’t any make-up tutorials readily available — the contouring process generally consists of color correcting your imperfections, applying foundation and concealer, and using some sort of highlighter to bring the shine out of your skin. In short: it sounds pretty itchy and not like the world’s healthiest treatment for your penis.
Naming anything can be hard. Children, WiFi networks, a town, pets. It’s difficult because we associate names with particular meanings, whether we intend to or not. Often we’re inspired by nostalgia. After all, how often are kids named after a grandparent or distant relative? Just as often, we’re inspired by what thrills us in life. And in Denver, Colorado, that means cannabis. Yes, pet owners in Denver naming their dogs after marijuana is a thing.
According to the leading dog experts at Rover.com, “marijuana-themed monikers” for dogs are up 41 percent. Cannabis-themed names for those dogs include “Mary Jane” and “Doobie.” Which just has us imagining some high-minded dog owner yelling in a high-pitched tone, “Come here, little Doobie. Time for dinner!”
Rover, which labels itself “the world’s largest network of pet sitters and dog walkers, and a leading dog name expert,” pulled from its database of more than 1 million dog names to consider which were most popular in the nation.
For those curious, Max and Bella are the most popular male and female dog names, respectively. According to the report, 94 percent of dog owners consider their pet to be part of the family. This is why 36 percent of dogs have “decidedly human” names.
Others, however, find more influence from pop culture as 16 percent of all dog names derive from some pop culture reference. The biggest influence at the moment? Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, as names based on the movie rose 97 percent. None more so than Drax, which rose in dog name popularity by 186 percent.
When you’re joining your spouse’s family for the holidays for the very first time, deciding what to give as gifts can be a daunting task. And when your spouse’s family is royalty, things get a little stickier. What do you buy for a family that has everything?
Princess Diana didn’t get the memo during her first Christmas as a royal that gag gifts are the presents du jour on Christmas Eve at the Palace. So instead of buying Princess Anne a whoopee cushion or one of those “I went to Buckingham Palace and all I got was a royal waste of my time” t-shirt, she got her a cashmere sweater. What a jerk. In return, she got a toilet paper cozy.
(Also, Prince Charles. Where you at? You couldn’t have informed your wife of this royal tradition?)
According to InStyle, Di made good the following year and bought Sarah Ferguson a leopard print bathmat. In addition, InStyle compiled a list of what other royals have received over the years:
Hall of fame mentions go to Kate Middleton, who once gifted then-single Prince Harry a “Grow Your Own Girlfriend” kit; Princess Anne, who gave her brother Prince Charles a leather toilet seat that he actually loves and reportedly travels with; and Prince Harry, who gifted his grandmother — the QUEEN — the aforementioned message-bearing bath hat.
And for Meghan Markle’s first Christmas with the royal family last year, she gave the Queen a little stuffed hamster that sings. “It was so funny, especially when the corgis tried to take hold of the toy. She laughed and said ‘they can keep my dogs company,” a source told The Daily Star.
The Queen reportedly burst out laughing when her corgis came through and tried to snatch the critter away from her. Adds the source, “She laughed and said, ‘they can keep my dogs company.”
As a Millennial, I often wonder how people persisted in this world prior to the internet. How did you stay in touch with relatives before Facebook and Facetime? How did you travel without Waze? And how did you satisfy weird curiosities percolating your brain if you couldn’t Google them?
Google recently released its year-end results of most-searched items in its algorithm. According to the report, people were really curious about CBD gummies this year. In fact, “CBD gummies” was the third-highest search term when it came to food-related Google searches.
Unicorn cake came in as the top food-related Google search, while romaine lettuce—a major worry in the United States following a major E.coli outbreak—took the number two slot.
Interest in CBD gummies steadily rose over time throughout 2018.
Nowhere in the U.S. were people more interested in CBD gummies than Tennessee. Back in 2015, Tennessee passed an extremely limited medical marijuana law, which allows for CBD oil with less than 0.9 percent THC content. However, Tennessee did not establish legal sales for that CBD oil within its state, meaning residents had to find access elsewhere. Maybe that explains why they kept Googling for the answer.
If you’re not sure if you should be cutting wine out of your diet in order to lose a few pounds before the holidays (so you can gain them back), you might want to reconsider. A new study says those who drink moderate amounts of nature’s liquid gold are less likely to be admitted to hospital than those who don’t drink at all.
The study, published in the scientific journal Addiction, comes from the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention of I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed in Pozzilli, Italy. Researchers examined 21,000 men and women with an average age of 5 and discovered that moderate drinkers who consumed about 4 ounces of wine a day were healthier than both heavy boozers and teetotalers.
We observed that a heavy consumption of alcohol is associated with a higher probability of hospitalization, especially for cancer and alcohol-related diseases. This confirms the harmful effect of excessive alcohol drinking on the health. On the other hand, those who drink in moderation present a lower risk of hospitalization for all causes and for cardiovascular diseases compared to lifetime abstainers and former drinkers.
It’s no secret that wine is good for you. Older studies have found that the compounds in red wine are heart healthy when consumed in moderation. But if you’re not a drinker, this new study is not a reason to start.
Ken Mukamal, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, explains: “We are absolutely not saying that any teetotaler should start drinking to improve his/her health. However, this research reaffirms that the effects of alcohol consumption cannot be reduced to a single catchphrase or punchline. This very comprehensive study clearly shows that we need to consider its health effects based upon both dose and disease”.
In a ranking that includes Amazon, sex, and alcohol, Amazon wins. Despite our culture’s obsession with booze and sex — both having inspired millions of songs, movies, and books — Amazon, a development of the modern world, is the thing that a large part of Millennials treasure the most. It’s terrifying, but is it surprising?
Millennials are an adjusting generation, one that’s had to live in a world that’s changed a lot and that doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon. The fact that younger generations have thousands of sources of stimulus from all directions means that their attention is split, and sometimes this can affect the things humans used to treasure the most.
An in-depth study of the “sex recession” conducted by The Atlantic confirmed that we’re having less sex than ever due to a mixture of facts; the world is becoming a more stressful place even if we can’t pinpoint the source. Dating is more complicated than ever, with apps that perpetuate a “hook up” culture that doesn’t leave much room for hooking up. There’s also the fact that a large part of Millennials are having trouble making ends meet.
The study, conducted by Max Borges Agency, concluded that 44 percent of Millennials would rather give up sex than give up Amazon for a year. Of those surveyed, 77-percent would choose Amazon over alcohol. These results were gathered from polls conducted on 1,108 people with ages ranging from 18 to 34. All of the survey participants had bought consumer-tech products on Amazon over the last year, ensuring that the people who were surveyed were active members of the Amazon community.
Despite all the controversy surrounding Amazon and Jeff Bezos, the company is still one of the most beloved in the country, giving special treatment to their members and making them value their Prime accounts. Amazon owns Whole Foods and is now opening up stores that also give out special treatment to Prime costumers. The company has also produced dozens of movies and shows, seeping into our brains in ways that are imperceptible to us.
Even though quitting sex for online shopping sounds ridiculous, the thing we have to wonder is why we live in a culture where one company looms so largely over our lives.
Did you know that you can make your own confectioners’ sugar? Or that you can “temper” eggs to make cookie dough safe to eat? These seven simple baking hacks will not only save you time and add a professional touch to your baking, but will make you feel like Mr. Wizard in the kitchen.
1. Make Your Own Confectioners’ Sugar In Minutes
Out of confectioners’ sugar? No need to rush to the store. Simply put granulated sugar in a strong blender, and blend until it’s reached a powdery consistency. Voila, you’ve just made your own confectioners’ sugar.
2. Fortify Your Whipped Cream With Marshmallow Fluff
Nothing’s sadder than wilty whipped cream. Avoid dessert deflate-gate by stirring in a few tablespoons of marshmallow fluff into your next batch of whipped cream. It will give the whipped cream a little added enforcement so that it can maintain its shape and stay stable.
3. Store Cakes In Your Oven Or Microwave
Photos by Jessie Moore
Looking for a safe spot to stow your finished cake? Look no further than the (turned-off, please) oven or microwave. Think about it: both of these spots provide an airtight, dust-free area where no bugs can get in. Just remember that the cake is in there before you start preheating the oven, or things can get messy.
4. A Slice Of White Bread Can Save Your Brown Sugar
Photos by Jessie Moore
Has your brown sugar turned hard as a rock? Bring it back to life by placing a slice of white bread in an airtight container with the sugar for a few hours. The sugar will draw the moisture out of the bread, and will soften so that it’s usable once again. This can also be done with a slice of apple.
5. Use Dental Floss For Perfect Cake Slices
Photos by Jessie Moore
For lovely, clean slices of cheesecake or flourless chocolate cake, just reach for the dental floss. What? Yes, you read that right. Unflavored (unless your cake is mint flavored, of course) dental floss can be held tightly and drawn back and forth in a sawing motion to yield perfectly clean and lovely slices.
6. Temper Your Eggs To Make Cookie Dough Safe To Eat
Many people deny themselves the sweet joy that is cookie dough because of the possibility of foodborne illness due to raw eggs in the batter. Next time, temper your eggs first by submerging them in cold water in a saucepan (with an instant read thermometer handy); heat on medium, until the temperature reaches 140 degrees F. Let the water hold that temperature for 2-3 minutes, and then remove from heat and let the eggs come back to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe. This process heats the eggs enough to kill harmful bacteria, but not so much to cook them. Tempering eggs is also handy for recipes containing raw egg, like eggnog or French silk pie.
7. Smack Your Butter To Soften It Faster
Who has time to wait for butter to soften when you want cookies (or cake, or frosting) right now? To hasten the softening process, try this easy trick: put the butter in a freezer bag and whack it a few times with a rolling pin. The flatter, thinner surface area of the butter will soften in less than half the time of butter left in stick form. Technically, you could also cut the butter into small pieces, but where’s the fun in that?
A visit from the green fairy is a pretty common experience in New York City, where a multibillion dollar black market keeps thousands of budtenders crisscrossing the five boroughs, but it’s still illegal—and not 100% reliable. In states that have recreational programs but don’t allow retail storefronts to provide a cannabis shopping experience, delivery services have stepped up to serve the population, many of which had been doing so for medical patients before recreational laws passed.
These services reach their customers through word of mouth, limited forms of direct advertisement, cannabis directories, and mailing lists. This is how I found out about Kushagram, the California-based company that brought me my first legal recreational cannabis delivery.
I first came across this delivery service on a visit to California in early 2018, when many retail permits had not yet been cleared, and most shops were still only serving in-state medical patients. A quick search gave me the information I needed to connect with Kushagram so that they could verify my info and I could get to buying. The need for recreational cannabis during those initial months in Los Angeles was so strong that they actually ran out of product before I could make a purchase, before 4pm! Thankfully for Angelenos, this was just growing pains, and not only are they currently delivering all day, they serve many areas of Southern California, so you can stay put.
On a more recent trip, I was enjoying the pool and the food at Avalon Beverly Hills way too much to leave that oasis — the perfect time to order up my first legal delivery. Selection was as simple as texting their dispatcher, choosing off a menu, and having cash ready for the curbside drop off.
I chose both affordable and fancy items, ranging from a crazy cheap half ounce of platinum OG to a cache of sexy pre-rolls, and was really excited for this stash to make its way to my waiting hands. It was so thrilling to order delivery with no illegality, no sneaky money pass off, and no inflated black market prices with deflated black market quality.
Photos by Danielle Guercio
Within an hour a driver texted, and all of the sudden getting nearly an ounce of cannabis in the broad daylight in one of the fanciest neighborhoods on the planet was like ordering falafel off of Seamless back home. Handing over the cash didn’t feel like some weird handshake, and since Kushagram asks that customers check out the goods before the driver leaves, looking at the jars and smelling what was inside wasn’t hidden or secretive in any way.
Photos by Danielle Guercio
The product ended up being of pretty great quality for the price, the more expensive items were more potent and fresher, while the ‘deal’ selection was only marginally less pristine. For just $100 (including tip!), I got enough cannabis to last through an entire weekend with a rowdy crew, and I didn’t even have to leave my fancy perch.
As legalization creeps into new spaces, delivery services like these are making cannabis dramatically more accessible, and it’s going to do more than change hearts and minds, it’s going to mean everyone from our grandparents to a newly 21-year-old can order what was once prohibited right to their door with minimal effort.
Nowadays, it’s very important to protect your phone. With apps like Apple Pay, Venmo, and Apple wallet, all of which make your life a thousand times easier, your phone has never been more valuable and your data has never been more at risk.
Despite the fact that most smartphones have very reliable and thorough security measures, there are always ways of hacking a device or having someone guess your password (looking at you, people whose pin is ‘1234’). Business Insider wrote an article about one of Apple’s most useful and feared features, which deletes all of your data after 10 failed attempts.
Daring Fireball explained that this feature, although highly secure, is disregarded by a lot of iPhone users out of fear. What if a child grabs the phone or a friend plays a prank? The post explains that even if the feature sounds scary it’s much more complex than it appears to be.
After the 5th failed attempt, iOS requires a 1-minute timeout before you can try again. During this timeout the only thing you can do is place an emergency call to 911. After the 6th attempt, you get a 5-minute timeout. After the 7th, 15 minutes. These timeouts escalate such that it would take over 3 hours to enter 10 incorrect passcodes.”
You can activate the feature by opening your Settings, scrolling down to Touch ID & Passcode, and then scrolling down to the bottom until you flip on the Erase Data switch. Activate it and you’ll have one less thing to stress over. Also, keep a back up of your important data.
Governor-elect J.B. Pritzker said during his campaign that he would push for this reform to overhaul the criminal justice system and help remedy the state’s enormous $8 billion budget deficit. Now, lawmakers like Democratic Representative Kelly Cassidy are at the drawing board, working to conceive legislation that not only gets it done but gets it done right.
Similar measures have been introduced in the past just to end up in the garbage by the end of the session. There is some belief, however, that Illinois can pass a progressive recreational marijuana law this year that has the weight to become the national standard once the federal government decides to end prohibition once and for all.
The ball is already rolling on this all-important issue, Pritzker said earlier this week in an interview with NPR Illinois. The incoming government told the news source that he has been hashing out the detail with lawmakers and hopes negotiations are not far off. “There’s an opportunity for us to be the first state in the Midwest to make it available, and so I think the legislature should get at it,” he said.
Representative Cassidy and Senator Heather Steans are taking leadership concerning the marijuana debate. The two are expected to introduce legislation at the beginning of the year in both the House and Senate. The two political figures are apparently working to craft language that appeases Pritzker’s concept of adult-use by providing opportunities for minority communities beaten down by the drug war.
The proposal will likely not only seek to legalize marijuana but also expunge the criminal records of small-time pot offenders. It may ever go a step further by forgiving criminal violations for convicted drug dealers that have managed to avoid recidivism. Pritzker said early on that he wants to “reinvest in communities hit hardest by the war on drugs and the legacy of mass incarceration,” so a far-reaching pot law is expected.
“The good news about being eighth or ninth to get this done is we can look at what works and put it in place in Illinois,” Pritzker said.
Interestingly, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is proposing a constitutional amendment aimed at legalizing of marijuana. But rather than focus on the big picture, he wants the tax money from legal weed and a proposed casino to help dig four pension funds out of debt. Pritzker does not support the plan. He says it’s not a proposal that has much of a chance of going the distance, as “it’s not something I’m out promoting in any way.”
Regardless of the marijuana proposal that makes the cut, there will be challenges to getting a law on the books. Opposing forces are expected to come out to prevent specific components of legalization from home cultivation to all the other usual arguments brought forth by law enforcement.
Still, according to a recent report from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, the state would be better off with legal weed. The report shows legalization would create 24,000 jobs and generate more than $500 million in state and local tax revenue. It would also boost the state’s economy by $1 billion annually.
But will it pass in 2019?
“I can’t give you a guarantee this is going to pass this year,” Cassidy said. “I would never do that because I have seen the wheels come off things that are even more of a lock. So, I’m not going to say you can take this to the bank but I am going to say we’re very well positioned. We need 60 votes in the house 30 votes in the Senate and the governor’s signature. And we’re working hard towards getting that.”
