A new petition on change.org that’s ironically been backed by the daughter of former Hearst Corp. chairman Randolph A. Hearst, Vanessa Hearst, and started by model and aspiring actress Nicole Weider, is pushing for Cosmopolitan to be packaged in nontransparent packaging and  sold only to adults 18 and older due to its racy content.

We all know every month Cosmo is going to show you another 365 ways to have an orgasm, make your man melt in the bedroom, or have a triathlon-like night of sex, but as hard as it may be to believe, the magazine has calmed down from what it was in its heydey. I doubt many grown women in control of their sexuality are wooed by the salacious headlines, but with the trend that 10- and 11-year-olds are likely reading Cosmo Girl, and 13- to 17-year-olds Cosmo, the concern might be real.

Weider sent a letter to FTC Secretary Jon Leibowitz, along with issues of the magazine in which she flagged several suspect features, like, references to anal sex, sexting, casual hookups, and threesomes, and an article with URLs to female-friendly porn, asking:

“How is this even legal? If it’s an adult magazine, just sell it to adults.”

So far, 33,000 people and counting agree with that sentiment. That’s the number who have signed Weider’s petition and want to prevent more girls from experiencing negative consequences like having their hearts broken, getting pregnant, or catching STDs as a result of following the magazine’s advice, as Weider says hundreds of girls as young as 11 have told her in letters.

Obviously, this effort doesn’t leave room for much parental intervention, which should already be in place to stop girls from reading material that’s not appropriate for their age anyway, but it seems in the eyes of these petitioners reading Cosmo is as dangerous to underage girls as smoking cigarettes or taking a drink. What do you think?

Should you have to be 18 to buy Cosmo?

The post Should Minors Be Banned From Buying Cosmo? appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

Just by examining the style, cost, color, and condition of someone’s shoe, participants were able to guess about 90 percent of the of the owner’s personal characteristics. The 63 student volunteers looked at pics showing 208 different pairs of shoes that belonged to volunteers in the experiment and then filled out a personality questionnaire asking them to guess the gender, age, social status, and different personality traits of the owner, like whether the person was an extrovert or introvert, liberal or conservative and the degree of their emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness.

As would be expected, expensive shoes belonged to high earners, flashy and colorful footwear belonged to extroverts, and shoes that were not new but appeared to be spotless belonged to conscientious types. Less obvious conclusions showed practical and functional shoes generally belong to agreeable people, ankle boots fit with more aggressive personalities, and uncomfortable looking shoes were worn by calm personalities. This means people really do wear shoes to match their personalities, whether they realize it or not.

Going a little bit further, people with “attachment anxiety” or who were most worried about their relationships generally had brand new and well-kept shoes, likely because they worry so much about their appearance and what others may think of them. Liberals didn’t mind rocking less flashy and inexpensive kicks, but when it came to people with boring shoes, volunteers missed that the owners were “aloof and repressive” and didn’t care what others thought of them so they didn’t stand out fashion wise. The authors wrote that:

“Shoes convey a thin but useful slice of information about their wearers. Shoes serve a practical purpose, and also serve as nonverbal cues with symbolic messages. People tend to pay attention to the shoes they and others wear.”

And that is why I plan to step my shoe game up pronto.

Do you judge people based on their shoes?

The post Do You Judge People Based on Their Shoes? You Actually Should appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

Fashion Bomb Daily landed an exclusive interview with the celebrity makeup artist and Fashion Fair Creative Makeup Director and when they asked the beauty guru the one area where black women need to step their game up he didn’t hold his tongue:

“I think the biggest beauty mistake is really not wearing makeup.”

Let him explain. “I think the biggest beauty mistake is not understanding how to enhance your beauty,” Sam added. “And I think a lot of [women of color] are scared that makeup is going to make [them] look fake, ‘It’s not gonna look like me, they’re not going to have my color.’ I think that they just tend to step away from the category when a brand like Fashion Fair, is releasing a liquid foundation in July to add to the range of colors. Nineteen shades! There will be 17 shades in liquid! And if you look at that, that’s not a range that’s broken up for general market vs. African Americans. So you really are getting a wealth of coverage options and colors. I think the biggest mistake is not participating in the game at all.”

That’s a good point. With it being so hard to find your perfect shade in an industry catering to white beauty without spending big bucks, most black women do opt to forgo makeup altogether. They also tend to think they’re going to look too made up or overdone and if their mother’s don’t wear makeup, they’re usually slow to dabble into it later down the line.

The good thing is Sam doesn’t believe it takes a face full of makeup to enhance your natural beauty. In fact, he can narrow down just five key things women should have in their makeup bags to put their best face forward, and they’re not overpowering.

“Pressed powder, mascara, and lip gloss, because I think those things aren’t intimidating,” he said. “Once you get past the shade of powder, I think that becomes easy to apply. But if I had to go two steps further, I always start out with some kind of a coverage product. A concealer, or a foundation that you can use as a concealer. Underneath the eyes is the thinnest area of skin, so you really want to make sure that any redness or discoloration can be covered.  Also powder. Powder’s going to set the foundation or the concealer so it can stay on longer. I always say powder is to foundation what topcoat is to nail polish. It really holds it in place and keeps it from rubbing off and settling in fine lines.”

That doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

Do you think black women are too hesitant to experiment with makeup?

The post Sam Fine Says Biggest Beauty Mistake Women of Color Make is Not Wearing Makeup appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

Professor Debra Merskin at the University of Oregon dove into this issue a little deeper and categorized the names of 1,722 lipsticks to see which types of monikers were most popular. It turns out if a lipstick has anything to do with food, sex, or our mood, we’re most likely to buy it. Here’s the breakdown of the most popular categories:

• Food: 24%
• 
Color: 20%
• Sex and Romance: 10%
• Elements and Minerals: 9%
• Emotions and Characteristics: 8%

Professor Merskin is getting a little deeper than most of us go when we’re just slapping some color on our lips, but she says these names coincide with how we feel about ourselves when we have the colors on, and how we act. So for example, if you’ve got on Mac’s Rebel shade you might feel a little more rebellious possibly, or a lip gloss line of deliciously sheer shades might appeal to your sweet senses and butter you out of the cash in your wallet.

This research is probably more useful for marketers trying to figure out how to get more women to take home their products but consider this a warning next time you’re enticed by a sweet-named lipstick at the makeup counter. It might be the name that’s drawing you in as opposed to the shade.

What’s the name of your favorite lipstick?

The post Are You a Sucker For Sweet, Sexy Lipstick Names? appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

Most times when our hair doesn’t come out exactly the way we expected we’re ready to go off on the stylist and threaten never to return but in some cases they’re not the only ones to blame. We’ve probably never gone in for a new style and told the beautician, “just do whatever,” but when we’re not specific enough about the exact look we’re going for, we might as well say that. We don’t want anymore of you to leave the shop with the disappointed ‘do look so here are a few tips to make sure you walk out of the salon with the hairstyle you came in for.

Tip #1: Research
It’s rare that people decide to go to a new beautician when they’re ready for a brand new look, but sometimes they have no choice if they’re in a new city, their beautician’s booked too far in advance, or they’re not happy with the service they’ve received before. If you’re in this position, it’s best to seek out recommendations from people you know. Sure, you can find reviews on just about anyone or anything online but the experiences vary so much and are so non-specific that there’s really no telling what you’re getting into. Friends, family, and coworkers can give you first-hand details on what their stylist is like so you can make a better decision about whether to pay them a visit. You also might want to go in for something standard like a wash and set first—who can mess that up—to see how you like their service, then let them do something more drastic next time.

Tip #2: Bring Evidence
If you have an idea about how you want your hair to look, it’s best to try to find photos to make the thought in your head more visual. Whether we’re talking about a particular color, cut, or style, photos are invaluable when it comes to a real-life example of what you’re going for. This should eliminate tons of confusion and guide the stylist immensely.

Tip #3: Be Realistic
At the same time that you want your hair to turn out exactly the way it looks in the photo you show the stylist, you have to be realistic about a number of things. For starters, almost all of the looks we see in magazines or on our favorite celebs of color are courtesy of weave, which means we’re not likely to have the exact same outcome if we’re trying the style with our real hair. It’s sad but it’s reality so we have to be real with ourselves about our own hair texture and health to manage our expectations. In terms of dye, the base shade of your locks has a huge effect on how the final color will turn out, so again, it may not look the same on someone from a photo shoot as it does on your hair, and that doesn’t mean the beautician did something wrong.

Tip #4: Be Specific
Unless you and your stylist are experts in measurements, coming in and saying chop off a few inches is likely not going to get you the cut you want. Use your hands to show exactly where you want your new hair length to fall after the cut. You may even want to go a bit longer, since we know stylist tend to get scissor happy once that start snipping away. When it comes to a new color, saying I want my hair blonde or red, isn’t going to cut it either. There are so many shades in each of those spectrums from strawberry and honey blondes to auburn, rust, and cinnamon dyes. Unless you’re picking a specific shade out of a color book or bringing in an example of your own, you’re tossing the dice with the color combo your stylist comes up with. And that means the odds of you leaving that chair with a pouty face increase dramatically.

How do you make sure your hair comes out exactly how you want at the shop?

The post How To Leave The Salon With the Style You Came For appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

Us ladies typically don’t go that hard—unless it’s the Holidays and someone has a killer sale. The most we’ll do on a regular day is maybe log on for an Internet sale that starts at midnight or 6 am or something like that, otherwise we figure it’s not meant to be or it’s just not that serious. I’ve tried to think of something—anything that I’ve ever wanted or could want so bad that I would sleep outside all night in a tent chair just to have, but so far I’ve come up empty handed. But I could be alone so I’ll extend the question to you:

Is there any clothing or accessory item you would camp out for?

The post What Accessory Would You Camp Out For? appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

There’s a reason women say it’s not easy to look this good—it’s true. As much as we love stepping out looking our absolute bests, the process to get there sometimes makes us ask over and over and over again, is it worth it? When we see how good we look, we usually answer yes, but when it comes time to doing that one aspect of our beauty routine that’s extremely painful, time consuming, or ridiculously expensive again, those doubts creep back up.

For me, that thing is eyebrow threading. The process is truly different every time because I haven’t been able to consistently go to the same person. Sometimes it feels like the woman is trying to pull out every single hair outside of my brow line individually, other times I think the artist is trying to get every hair in one pull, along with each strand I have along my hair line, my cheeks, and everywhere else which makes me think, hey I didn’t ask for all that. But no matter how it’s done, for me it hurts—terribly bad—and that’s just a fact. Threading also almost cost me a friend because when I told one of my girls threading was worth the pain, when all was said and done, let’s just say she didn’t agree with me.

For another one of my close friends, threading doesn’t bother her, but she has to take a shot or two before going in for a waxing. She likes to knock all of her hair removal out at once so by the time she gets her eyebrows, armpits, legs, and her love below taken care of, she’s nearly numb from head to toe. But since it’s a once a month thing she figures she can stomach the infrequent pain. After doing painful and non-effective electrolysis treatments more than she’d care to think about and breaking out every time she tries Nair in a pinch, waxing has been her best bet. But trust, there are days when she regrets it.

Some parts of our hair routines are a little trying too, shall we say. Most of us have experienced the dreaded scalp burn when our heads tingled with pain during a relaxer application and we were left with blisters all up under our roots. But even simple things like braiding can be torture for the tender headed. Sometimes you’re just doing it for a braid out, other times, it’s the first step for a sew-in, but no matter the sty;e, depending on how determined the braider is to get every single piece of hair in that braid, you might find yourself asking, why did I sign up for this? I know I’m not the only one who goes through some uncomfortable processes in the name of beauty so tell us your experiences.

 What beauty regimen do you hate the most?

The post Beauty is Pain: What Part of Your Routine Do You Dread Most? appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

1. What you’re looking for: It sounds obvious but if you walk into a store like Sephora or a makeup counter all willy nilly you’ll get eaten alive. You don’t have to know every single thing you might buy but have a general idea of what you want. Are you due for a new concealer, do you just want to try a different type of eyeliner, or are you giving your makeup bag a complete overhaul? Be prepared with that answer because the makeup artist will ask.

2. What kind of coverage you want: If you’re at the counter for a new foundation, the artist is going to want to want to narrow the options she offers by knowing how much coverage you want. Sheer means you’re not looking to be too made up and you have skin that doesn’t require a lot of smoothing out. On the other hand if there are blemishes or discoloration you want to mask, full coverage foundations are the route to go and the artist can show you the best ones.

3. What kind of skin you have: Basically is your skin normal, dry, oily, or a combination of the two? This will help the makeup artist determine whether you should have a liquid- or powder-based foundation and whether you need any specific type of primer to help your makeup last longer like a hydrating base or something with shine control.

4. Do you prefer a natural look or color: Obviously this varies by your mood but if you walk up to a counter and just say, I want a new eyeshadow or lip color the artist needs somewhere to start. By knowing you want something more natural, the artist can pick out neutral shades that match your complexion, possibly with a little shimmer. On the other hand, if you’re open to bright colors or stepping outside of your makeup box, you two can experiment with bright mattes or paint pots until you find something you like.

5. How much you want to spend: In a store like Sephora or Ulta there are tons of brands to choose from and prices vary from slightly more than drugstore brands to high-end quality. Let the person working with you know how much you’re willing to spend so they can direct you to the best brands for your budget. The last thing you want to do is fall in love with a product out of your price range. There’s no need to break the bank when there are so many beauty lines to choose from.

The post 5 Things You Should Know Before You Hit The Makeup Counter appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

Eventually my friends and I would share stories about our salon experiences and they brought up the idea that it’s something about black stylists that they are always trying to cut someone’s hair off, I laughed it off thinking, why would they even care? But then I thought back to a few of those instances where the cost of getting my hair done drastically increased because my beautician had to do more than trim my ends and I was charged for a full a cut, and I started to think, hmmm maybe there is something to this.

What’s funny is after switching to Dominican stylists when I moved to New York my hair grew longer than it had ever been. Back home people would always comment that the Dominicans must really know what they’re doing, but I thought not really. For anywhere from the $17 to $22 I had to pay to get my hair done I knew there was no miracle grow in the products they used but I did notice that when I asked for a trim I got my $5 worth. Meaning my ends were actually trimmed and I didn’t lose half my head of hair. Coincidence?

After a few years of Dominicans shops I felt I needed some special care. I wanted to try a black male beautician and despite knowing how much gay male hairstylists hate to see a woman not keep every strand of gorgeous locks on her head, I walked out of the salon looking like the pre-NYC hater trimmed victim I was at 22. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt at first but as he explained that I hadn’t really lost any length—he just gave me layers—as I rode the barely-there ponytail struggle bus, I thought this man is worse than a hater, he’s dillusional.

In my post-NYC stint, I refused to go from a $25 trip to the salon to a $50-$60 one so I decided I would simply take care of my hair at home and when I needed a trim I’d hit up a walk-in shop like First Choice, Fresh Cuts, or some place like that that always has that one black stylist. Unfortunately she was never there when I walked in, but a white beautician managed to hook me up just like the Dominicans. My dry, frizzy, dead ends were gone but the rest of my hair wasn’t and I felt certain after my experiences/experiments that the hater trim is real.

In actuality I’m not sure it’s so much a hater – I don’t want you to have long hair trim – as it is beauticians feeling like they have creative license with your hair. Black hairstylists like to experiment and prove they know what looks good on you—sometimes better than you do. If you’ve ever been to a Dominican shop you know they don’t care about all that. Everyone gets the same 3-step, wash, roller set, blow-out process no matter hair length or texture, and if you happen to need a trim, they’ll take the extra five minutes to do it and send you on your way—same with white salons. But a black beautician isn’t satisfied with that simple wash and set, she’s going to show you how she earned that cosmetology license, all at your new growths expense. You already know you have to be careful with who you let cut your hair but if you haven’t already learned, you also need to watch out for who (hater) trims it too.

Have you ever had a hater trim?

The post Have You Fallen Victim To The Hater Trim? appeared first on Clutch Magazine.

The 35-year-old says she’s always had a way of making things happen and when it comes to her highly anticipated return with Master of My Make-Believe, there’s nothing about her rise to success that’s a fantasy.

In the May/June issue of Spin magazine, the artist, born Santi White, revealed a very simple key to her long-awaited return after four years away from the industry.

“I’ve always had dreams that come true and no understanding or control of it. It’s not until you learn to silence the clutter that you can pay attention to the coincidences.”

Santigold’s success is certainly no coincidence, neither is her eclectic style. Santi talks about going from an all-white girl school in the eighth grade to a public high school with a mix of people for her freshman year, and then a Quaker school for the next three years and realizing she didn’t have to switch her up her style for the people around her.

“I was like, ‘I don’t have to be this way or this way or this way.’ I am really comfortable in all these environments and with all these different people. So I made it my business to find every scene in Philadelphia — house-music parties, college parties. I was a connector, because all these different people would never hang out together, but they’d be together with me.

“That’s what my music does. And that’s what I realized.”

Check out some of Sanitgold’s looks from her Spin spread.

Are you a fan?

The post Santigold Shines in Spin appeared first on Clutch Magazine.