I thought it was stupendous, giving birth. I felt like an Amazon, pushing out those wonder-children – long and hefty, smooth pudgy skin, so tender under my hand. It was a miracle of world-making to see a whole human unfurl from my womb. But this other shocking reality: torn flesh, lumpy stitches, burning urine, painful […]
Everything I’ve learned as a beauty columnist about the products that actually work, from £17 body cream to LED masks | Beauty
I’ve been writing about beauty for almost two decades, and in that time my ardent pursuit of hacks and game-changing advice has had two goals: to make my routine faster, and to get a better overall effect. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn […]
The 12 best women’s winter pyjamas for peaceful nights and cosy sofa days | Fashion
The temperature has dropped and the nights are drawing in, so it’s time to think about winter nightwear. The right pair of pyjamas can stop you from reaching for the thermostat dial and keep you toasty as you let the dog out first thing. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if […]
Neglect, rape and wrenching loss: can Rebecca Roberts survive it all to become the strongest woman in history? | Life and style
The gym where Rebecca Roberts trains is in an unremarkable industrial unit in St Helens, Merseyside. The room is small, the ceiling low, the music driving, the equipment incongruously large. There are the 115kg (253lb) logs she presses over her head and the atlas stones she heaves on to plinths. The heaviest stone she has […]
Can breast implants make you sick? | Well actually
In 2016, when Britney Pollock was 26, she decided to get breast implants: 400 cubic cm of silicone, inserted under her pectoral muscles. She “felt awesome” after the procedure, says Pollock, now 34 and a teacher based in California. “It just felt good to look good.” Around 2019, things began changing. “I started getting randomly […]
‘Young women from the ghetto were taken advantage of’: the power and pain of R&B’s ‘new jill swing’ era | Music
A flash of Technicolor fills the screen, as four women spin and glide in perfect unison. The bouncy crunch of drum machines collides with slick, soaring vocals, as the women then jump over one another’s heads. “I broke my ankle doing some of this stuff,” says Stacy Francis of the lively music video for You […]
‘It’s natural, it’s real, it’s raw’: the rise of birth photography | Childbirth
Click. Click. Click. I’m vaguely aware of the sound of a camera shutter coming from somewhere above me. I push deep into my bottom, a dull, rising ache reverberating around my stomach and back. Click. Click. The noise is now in front of me, I think, but I can’t focus on it, so great is […]
Do you want kids? It’s finally OK to simply say no | Life and style
There are more people dying in the UK every year than there are people being born. It’s a stark news story to read over toast, containing as it does all of life and all of death, and the shape and perfume of ancient fables, so I read it again, with tea. Even after stripping out […]
I’m a woman in my 30s and I haven’t got any close female friends – it’s making me sad | Life and style
Do “romantic comedy friendships” still exist? I am perpetually hopeful, but losing faith. I love my alone time, and enjoy coffees with women in my neighbourhood and colleagues from work. But, although these encounters are mostly pleasant, they feel superficial. Thoughts of missing out on my “tribe” have been overwhelming lately; even back at school, […]
How we met: ‘We got chatting on the plane – and she suggested I move in with her’ | Friendship
As a friendly student who loved to travel, striking up a conversation on a flight wasn’t unusual for Kate. But when she boarded a plane headed from New York to London in January 1996, she had no idea she would be making a friend for life. “I’d spent the previous summer interning for Rolling Stone […]