Healthy lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle is one which helps to keep and improve people's health and well-being.Many governments and non-governmental organizations have made big efforts in healthy lifestyle and health promotion.
Mental Health
Mental health can be considered a very important factor of physical health for the effects it produces on bodily functions. This type of health concerns emotional and cognitive well-being or an absence of mental disorder.
Public health
Public health can be defined in a variety of ways. It can be presented as "the study of the physical, psychosocial and socio-cultural determinants of population health and actions to improve the health of the population.
Reproductive Health
For the UN, reproductive health is a right, like other human rights. This recent concept evokes the good transmission of the genetic heritage from one generation to the next.
Health
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
jeudi 6 avril 2017
Jared Leto Talks Tattoos, Smelling Musky, and His Minimalist Hair Care
Any child of the '90s likely had a crush on Jared Leto (ahem, Mr. Jordan Catalano) and probably still does (I do!). Thankfully Jared is still acting and performing with his band, Thirty Seconds to Mars. And can we talk about the internet's obsessed with his ever-changing hair?!
The renaissance man is also the face of Gucci fragrances, and the campaigns are pretty steamy (see exclusive behind-the-scenes images here!). This Spring, he is fronting the campaign for Gucci Guilty Absolute (an earthy-woody scent). In the ads, photographer Glen Luchford shot Jared starring at his handsome reflection in the mirror. Since that was not enough Jared for us, we also got to interview him via email about his grooming and scent routine . . .
POPSUGAR: What does Jared Leto smell like in three descriptive words?
Jared Leto: I think I like heavier, muskier smells in general. I don't love flowery, powdery smells. I love kind of darker, stronger smells.
PS: What is your favorite scent memory?
JL: I've always had a strong sense of smell and I think smells for me, I remember when I was a kid, that the smell of a fireplace. This is gas, but the smell of a fireplace is always really powerful to me. A campfire, a fireplace, it always brings back memories.
PS: We are obsessed with your hair texture. How do you take care of it?
JL: I take a shower and shampoo and that's it.
PS: What is your guilty pleasure?
JL: Maybe I have a guilty indulgence with art and creativity because as an artist you can be indulgent, and it's important to be, in a way. To spend time thinking about your own creative desires.
PS: What is your skin care routine?
JL: I don't do any beauty routine, in my own personal life. I try to eat as good as I can, and I try to sleep. But for films, I would do whatever it takes. I made a movie in Budapest, Bladerunner, and it was a lot of makeup and big transformation. [For] another movie in Japan I had tattoos everywhere - all over my body, my whole body - it was crazy. Eight hours in makeup.
The Reason This Woman Has "Decided" to Stay Pregnant For 260 Weeks
Lauren has been pregnant since 2012 . . . with the same baby, because she can't afford to take time off work from her job that doesn't have paid leave . . . so she's just decided to stay pregnant until she racks up enough vacation days to have a baby.
OK, so Lauren's case is impossible, but the message behind her it-would-be-funny-if-it-weren't-true situation is applicable to many moms (and dads) all over the US who don't receive paid leave. This video from the National Partnership For Women and Families seeks to bring light to this issue with a touch of humor and a whole load of truth bombs.
"It's absurd that most US workers - 86 percent - don't have paid family leave through their employers," the caption on the video reads. "And only some are lucky enough to live in the four states that have paid family and medical leave laws. But we can change this." The organization offered a course of action on its website: "Ask your members of Congress to watch the video and then stand up for a robust national paid family and medical leave program."
Do it for yourself. Do it for Lauren.
This Commercial Could Save Your Baby's Life Someday
It's really easy to tune out during TV commercials, but this one could save your baby's life. When St. John Ambulance questioned parents, the British first aid charity found surprising results: over 40 percent of parents had witnessed their baby choke, but more than 75 percent of them were clueless about how to help.
In order to educate parents, caretakers, and peers about proper emergency treatment for infants, St. John created an advertisement about how to care for a choking infant. Called "The Chokeables," the commercial is narrated by small toys that pose a choking hazard to small children. It's a cute ad but a serious topic - watch to learn about this lifesaving technique, and then share it with every parent you know. It could save a life!
Watch Demi Lovato Prove She's Indeed a Musical Diva to James Corden
Demi Lovato is a diva and now the world knows it. The singer challenged James Corden to a Divas Riff-Off, and boy did she give him a run for his money. While James sang some older classics like Aretha Franklin's "Respect," Demi brought it back to this generation with Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and her own hit "Heart Attack." The two proved to be very tough competitors but only one reigned supreme. Watch the video above and see for yourself.
Watch Demi Lovato Prove She's Indeed a Musical Diva to James Corden
Demi Lovato is a diva and now the world knows it. The singer challenged James Corden to a Divas Riff-Off, and boy did she give him a run for his money. While James sang some older classics like Aretha Franklin's "Respect," Demi brought it back to this generation with Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and her own hit "Heart Attack." The two proved to be very tough competitors but only one reigned supreme. Watch the video above and see for yourself.
The Reason This Woman Has "Decided" to Stay Pregnant For 260 Weeks
Lauren has been pregnant since 2012 . . . with the same baby, because she can't afford to take time off work from her job that doesn't have paid leave . . . so she's just decided to stay pregnant until she racks up enough vacation days to have a baby.
OK, so Lauren's case is impossible, but the message behind her it-would-be-funny-if-it-weren't-true situation is applicable to many moms (and dads) all over the US who don't receive paid leave. This video from the National Partnership For Women and Families seeks to bring light to this issue with a touch of humor and a whole load of truth bombs.
"It's absurd that most US workers - 86 percent - don't have paid family leave through their employers," the caption on the video reads. "And only some are lucky enough to live in the four states that have paid family and medical leave laws. But we can change this." The organization offered a course of action on its website: "Ask your members of Congress to watch the video and then stand up for a robust national paid family and medical leave program."
Do it for yourself. Do it for Lauren.
The Truth About How Men Choose the Woman They're Going to Marry
Our friends at YourTango break down what love and marriage means to the men who love us most.
How do you get a guy to pop the question?
You may be incredibly sexy and great in bed. We may have sex with you both morning and night. And we may remember you fondly.
However, this is not enough to marry you. In fact, it has little, if nothing, to do with it.
The reason men marry women happens outside the bedroom. Now, you're wondering how to get him to marry you?
Simple. We marry women who can make us better men.
It starts out when we notice that our car is cleaner and our house is cleaner. But then it goes deeper than that. A noble quality comes over us and we want to take care of you.
We want to know where you are. We care about the condition of your car and we make sure you have enough gas. Little things we never thought about become important.
We care about how you feel, not just how you look.
As a woman, you may be thinking, "That sounds great! How do I make it happen?"
The truth is there's nothing you can do to make it happen. However, you can allow it to happen.
It's energetic. The first and most important thing is that a man loves a woman who loves him, but not more than she loves herself. Some people call it confidence - but it goes deeper than that.
Confidence is what you can do; self-love is who you are.
The second key, which builds on the first, is allowing love to happen: You feel comfortable and worthy of being cared for not for what you do but for who you are.
Allowing love means when he checks on your car, you let him. When he wants to get you gas, you let him, rather than saying you can get it yourself.
For a man to become a better man, he needs the space and the opportunity to do so. In short, a man marries a woman who he believes makes life better - and even better, you allow it to happen.
Check out more great stories from YourTango:
My Boyfriend Had to Choose Between His Mom and Me - and He Chose Me
Last year, I met a guy. A perfect guy.
He's charming, funny, sweet, endlessly patient (seriously - he takes my constant button-pushing like a champ), ambitious, handsome, happy. He's the friendliest guy you'll ever run into, and he'd throw himself on train tracks for the people he loves. I knew I got lucky when I met him on Tinder last Summer (yes, good things can come of the app!). We've been together ever since.
The one imperfect thing related to him? His mom.
She's a psychiatrist and a strict Muslim, and she hates me. So much so that I've never even met her, nor am I allowed on her property (which is actually no issue for me - I'm OK with staying far away from her, believe it or not).
I knew what I was getting into when we first met, after my boyfriend explained to me that his mom had become a religious fanatic ever since his dad died about 15 years ago. His mom is from Pakistan, and his birth father is from India. They had an arranged marriage after migrating to the US, where my boyfriend was born.
Growing up an American, there were some serious cultural differences between him and his mom. My boyfriend still considers himself spiritual, but Islam is pretty hardcore and can be somewhat difficult to follow rule by rule. For example, dating is prohibited - hence why there are so many arranged marriages in the faith. Can you imagine meeting someone for a few supervised lunches and then agreeing to bind yourself for life? (My boyfriend describes this as generally how arranged marriages go.) I, personally, can't even wrap my head around it.
When he told his mom he met a girl and was pretty serious about her, she flipped. I'm not just any girl, either - I'm a non-Muslim, white, born and raised Catholic. Basically, his mom's nightmare.
I remember feeling completely guilty about her reaction. I even tried to break up with him a couple months later, because I thought the differences in our backgrounds were too great. Another factor in my attempted split was the fact that his mom literally told him I wasn't allowed in his driveway to pick him up after he had surgery and couldn't drive. (I had to wait a ways down the road.)
Speaking of that surgery, my boyfriend's mom prayed over his hospital bed because she thinks he's going to hell. To hell, because of me! It was too much for me to deal with, and I thought it best for us to part ways. My boyfriend eventually talked me off the ledge. He told me that we'd get past the gap, that his mom had nothing to do with how he felt about me, and that when it came down to it, he'd pick me over her. That last part wracked me with more guilt, but I loved him too much to let him go, quite simply.
And it did end up coming down to that one crucial choice: me. The result is something of an estrangement from his mom. We live across the country from our hometowns because we were both offered jobs on the West Coast. When we fly home, my boyfriend and his mom barely speak to each other. The only reason he'll stay at his mom's place is because he's still close with his stepdad and sister. I can't picture how awkward that household is.
The good news is my parents are very tolerant, and they wholeheartedly approve of my boyfriend. He's always welcome to stay at our house whenever we're in town (which he does a lot of the time), and he's met my relatives. It's impossible not to love my boyfriend, so in a way, I feel bad for his mom. She's definitely missing out.
Overall, I try to be understanding. It used to grind my gears that she wouldn't even give me a chance, but I've come to accept that this is just the way it is, and her beliefs will never budge. Just as I have my own religious values, I must accept hers for what they are.
Honestly, it could be worse. She could be one of those batsh*t crazy, overprotective mothers who can't keep her hands out of our affairs. Quite the contrary: she's sort of just let her son float away like a balloon on a cool, cloudless day. And one day she might run after it, realizing what she's letting go - but I won't count on it.
In Praise of the Unflinchingly Honest Approach to Teen Suicide on 13 Reasons Why
Trigger Warning: Discussions of suicide and depression below. There are also spoilers for 13 Reasons Why throughout.
There's a good chance Hannah Baker is just like you. At the very least, Hannah Baker is just like someone you know; she's smart, she has a bright future ahead of herself, she has loving parents, she just wants to be liked. Maybe that's what makes the fact that Hannah Baker slices her wrists open and bleeds to death in 13 Reasons Why so difficult to swallow.
Netflix's 13-episode drama, an adaptation of Jay Asher's best-selling 2007 YA novel, follows quiet high school student Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) after he receives a box of 13 cassette tapes from Hannah (Katherine Langford), his classmate and crush who killed herself a few weeks earlier. "Hi, this is Hannah," she announces on the first tape. "Settle in, because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended." Each cassette, and each episode, reveals a person (aka one of the titular "reasons") she deems responsible for her eventual decision to commit suicide. Hannah has another classmate, Tony, make sure everyone included on the tapes passes them on to the next person one by one, or else he'll release a copy of them to the public. Since the reasons range from cruel bullying to rape, it's obvious why the people on the tapes want their secrets to stay under wraps.
While listening to the first tape, Clay rides his bike to the park where everything started for Hannah, at her posthumous instruction. Distracted, he swerves out of the way of an oncoming car only to collide head first with one parked on the side of the street. From then on, the gash he gets on his forehead from the accident is featured prominently throughout each episode during close-ups, or whenever he looks in the mirror. As Clay sinks deeper and deeper into Hannah's world, gradually understanding why she did what she did, the cut begins to heal until it's nothing more than a green and yellow bruise; a physical manifestation of Clay's reckoning with the tragedy.
And tragedy it most definitely is. With the rate of suicide in the US climbing among adolescent girls, 13 Reasons Why could not have come at a better time. Make no mistake, though; this show is not a PSA. Instead, it's an unflinching portrayal of suicide and its aftermath. I can't recall ever having seen a TV show address mental health and suicide in such a brutally honest way. The Jason Foundation, a youth suicide prevention organization, reports that not only is suicide the second leading cause of death for ages 10-24, but there are an average of over 5,240 suicide attempts by young people in grades 7-12 each day. That's part of what makes show show feel like a thriller of sorts. What happened to Hannah Baker could happen to someone you know, and the worst part is you might not even realize it. Like some kind of invisible horror movie villain, depression sneaks up on you. "What does it really look like?" Hannah asks in the penultimate episode, referencing her mental state right before she chose to kill herself. "Here's the scary thing: it looks like nothing . . . It feels like a deep, always blank, endless nothing."
I've struggled with depression since I myself was Hannah's age, and never before has a piece of dialogue knocked the wind out of me harder than that line. Immediately tears filled my eyes, partly because I couldn't believe feelings I've dealt with my entire life were finally being portrayed accurately, and partly because I wish I'd had a show like this to watch when I was 16. I wish that I'd known I wasn't alone and that conversations about mental health are necessary parts of life, rather than things that should be swept under the rug.
This is why the scene of Hannah killing herself is so, so important for everyone to watch (although "endure" might be a better word). After a school counselor, Mr. Porter (Derek Luke), tells her that the only choice she has is to reveal the name of her rapist to him or "move on" with her life, she considers her fate sealed. She steals a pack of razors from her parents' drug store. She goes home. She turns on the bathtub. She gets inside of it in all of her clothes. She slices deep gashes into her arms and bleeds out, as water spills over the ceramic white wall of the tub in a waterfall of unsettling pink. The camera doesn't give you an out by zooming in on her face or panning away as she cuts herself, either. Hannah dies in a horrific, gut-wrenching way, and you're going to face it whether you want to or not.
This series is not a campaign quietly and politely asking people who feel down not to kill themselves; it's an unwavering account of a depressed, brutalized teenage girl who thinks she has no way out.There will be think pieces accusing the scene of being too graphic, too much like "torture porn," or done simply for shock value. I disagree. Showrunner Brian Yorkey doesn't hold back from depicting the horrors of being Hannah Baker (or a teenager in general) up until that episode, so why should they stop being truthful during the most important scene of the entire series? Anything less than showing Hannah's death in all of its brutal, bloody reality would be a disservice to the character, the show, and its audience. This series is not a campaign quietly and politely asking people who feel down not to kill themselves; it's an unwavering account of a depressed, brutalized teenage girl who thinks she has no way out. You might not like what you see, but this is a choice thousands of teenagers make a year. This is real life.
A lot of people may consider suicide a "selfish" act, but for many of those thinking of killing themselves, they see it as an end to their pain and a way to stop being a burden to those around them. Mental illness is a tricky, slippery thing. As you see with Hannah and her parents, played by Brian d'Arcy James and Kate Walsh (who has never been better), the voices of loved ones saying that they're there for you can be softer than the voices telling you that maybe, just maybe, life would be easier for everyone if you just disappeared. Hannah has those exact thoughts shortly before she makes her fateful choice. Try to imagine, just for a second, the depth of her pain: how could the show not try to make that as clear as possible?
"She let people intimidate her over and over and over until she disappeared," Clay says during a tense conversation with Mr. Porter after he finds out the role he played in Hannah's death. "You can't love someone back to life," Mr. Porter replies. Clay, a determined look in his eyes, hits back, "You can try." And that is what 13 Reasons Why does. It tries to tell an honest story about an epidemic that is all too real for a lot of families. Hannah isn't the only one dealing with demons, either. Clay has mental health issues of his own, another character turns to alcohol as a way to subconsciously deal with the fact she was raped, and another has an abusive home. The list goes on and on, shining as bright a light as possible on the things people experience everyday.
Whether it gets picked up for a second season or not, it's obvious that Netflix has achieved something special here. And this is exactly the kind of storytelling everyone (not just teenagers, and not just their parents) needs to see.
Kate Middleton Has Been Wearing These Brown Boots For Over a Decade - and Now We Know Why
One thing we know to be true: Kate Middleton is a thrify shopper. Beyond loving her favorite high street stores like Zara and Topshop, the savvy duchess also saves her old items, waiting for the perfect moment to bring pieces back out.
During her well-documented tour in Canada, Kate brought along her favorite pair of Penelope Chilvers tasseled boots. The knee-high, embellished Long Tassel Boots ($616) were perfectly on-trend, but the shocker is she's owned them for years. She even packed them for her tour in India and Bhutan and sported these babies as far back as August 2005 for the Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park in England.
Perhaps the key to why they've lasted so long lies in how they're made. Watch a video from the designer, who talks about the process and all that goes into a single pair. Then, check out how Kate's worn these boots throughout the years.
Related:
In Praise of the Unflinchingly Honest Approach to Teen Suicide on 13 Reasons Why
Trigger Warning: Discussions of suicide and depression below. There are also spoilers for 13 Reasons Why throughout.
There's a good chance Hannah Baker is just like you. At the very least, Hannah Baker is just like someone you know; she's smart, she has a bright future ahead of herself, she has loving parents, she just wants to be liked. Maybe that's what makes the fact that Hannah Baker slices her wrists open and bleeds to death in 13 Reasons Why so difficult to swallow.
Netflix's 13-episode drama, an adaptation of Jay Asher's best-selling 2007 YA novel, follows quiet high school student Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) after he receives a box of 13 cassette tapes from Hannah (Katherine Langford), his classmate and crush who killed herself a few weeks earlier. "Hi, this is Hannah," she announces on the first tape. "Settle in, because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended." Each cassette, and each episode, reveals a person (aka one of the titular "reasons") she deems responsible for her eventual decision to commit suicide. Hannah has another classmate, Tony, make sure everyone included on the tapes passes them on to the next person one by one, or else he'll release a copy of them to the public. Since the reasons range from cruel bullying to rape, it's obvious why the people on the tapes want their secrets to stay under wraps.
While listening to the first tape, Clay rides his bike to the park where everything started for Hannah, at her posthumous instruction. Distracted, he swerves out of the way of an oncoming car only to collide head first with one parked on the side of the street. From then on, the gash he gets on his forehead from the accident is featured prominently throughout each episode during close-ups, or whenever he looks in the mirror. As Clay sinks deeper and deeper into Hannah's world, gradually understanding why she did what she did, the cut begins to heal until it's nothing more than a green and yellow bruise; a physical manifestation of Clay's reckoning with the tragedy.
And tragedy it most definitely is. With the rate of suicide in the US climbing among adolescent girls, 13 Reasons Why could not have come at a better time. Make no mistake, though; this show is not a PSA. Instead, it's an unflinching portrayal of suicide and its aftermath. I can't recall ever having seen a TV show address mental health and suicide in such a brutally honest way. The Jason Foundation, a youth suicide prevention organization, reports that not only is suicide the second leading cause of death for ages 10-24, but there are an average of over 5,240 suicide attempts by young people in grades 7-12 each day. That's part of what makes show show feel like a thriller of sorts. What happened to Hannah Baker could happen to someone you know, and the worst part is you might not even realize it. Like some kind of invisible horror movie villain, depression sneaks up on you. "What does it really look like?" Hannah asks in the penultimate episode, referencing her mental state right before she chose to kill herself. "Here's the scary thing: it looks like nothing . . . It feels like a deep, always blank, endless nothing."
I've struggled with depression since I myself was Hannah's age, and never before has a piece of dialogue knocked the wind out of me harder than that line. Immediately tears filled my eyes, partly because I couldn't believe feelings I've dealt with my entire life were finally being portrayed accurately, and partly because I wish I'd had a show like this to watch when I was 16. I wish that I'd known I wasn't alone and that conversations about mental health are necessary parts of life, rather than things that should be swept under the rug.
This is why the scene of Hannah killing herself is so, so important for everyone to watch (although "endure" might be a better word). After a school counselor, Mr. Porter (Derek Luke), tells her that the only choice she has is to reveal the name of her rapist to him or "move on" with her life, she considers her fate sealed. She steals a pack of razors from her parents' drug store. She goes home. She turns on the bathtub. She gets inside of it in all of her clothes. She slices deep gashes into her arms and bleeds out, as water spills over the ceramic white wall of the tub in a waterfall of unsettling pink. The camera doesn't give you an out by zooming in on her face or panning away as she cuts herself, either. Hannah dies in a horrific, gut-wrenching way, and you're going to face it whether you want to or not.
This series is not a campaign quietly and politely asking people who feel down not to kill themselves; it's an unwavering account of a depressed, brutalized teenage girl who thinks she has no way out.There will be think pieces accusing the scene of being too graphic, too much like "torture porn," or done simply for shock value. I disagree. Showrunner Brian Yorkey doesn't hold back from depicting the horrors of being Hannah Baker (or a teenager in general) up until that episode, so why should they stop being truthful during the most important scene of the entire series? Anything less than showing Hannah's death in all of its brutal, bloody reality would be a disservice to the character, the show, and its audience. This series is not a campaign quietly and politely asking people who feel down not to kill themselves; it's an unwavering account of a depressed, brutalized teenage girl who thinks she has no way out. You might not like what you see, but this is a choice thousands of teenagers make a year. This is real life.
A lot of people may consider suicide a "selfish" act, but for many of those thinking of killing themselves, they see it as an end to their pain and a way to stop being a burden to those around them. Mental illness is a tricky, slippery thing. As you see with Hannah and her parents, played by Brian d'Arcy James and Kate Walsh (who has never been better), the voices of loved ones saying that they're there for you can be softer than the voices telling you that maybe, just maybe, life would be easier for everyone if you just disappeared. Hannah has those exact thoughts shortly before she makes her fateful choice. Try to imagine, just for a second, the depth of her pain: how could the show not try to make that as clear as possible?
"She let people intimidate her over and over and over until she disappeared," Clay says during a tense conversation with Mr. Porter after he finds out the role he played in Hannah's death. "You can't love someone back to life," Mr. Porter replies. Clay, a determined look in his eyes, hits back, "You can try." And that is what 13 Reasons Why does. It tries to tell an honest story about an epidemic that is all too real for a lot of families. Hannah isn't the only one dealing with demons, either. Clay has mental health issues of his own, another character turns to alcohol as a way to subconsciously deal with the fact she was raped, and another has an abusive home. The list goes on and on, shining as bright a light as possible on the things people experience everyday.
Whether it gets picked up for a second season or not, it's obvious that Netflix has achieved something special here. And this is exactly the kind of storytelling everyone (not just teenagers, and not just their parents) needs to see.
I Made These 3 Changes at Breakfast and Finally Started Losing Weight
Despite eating (what I thought was) a wholesome breakfast every morning, the pounds weren't dropping. So why was I not losing weight? All the experts say breakfast is key to boosting metabolism, after all. I didn't realize I was making three huge mistakes, but once I changed them, I could see the difference in how my body looked.
Bye-Bye Granola
Cereal was my go-to breakfast all the way from elementary school through college. Although sweet, delicious, and easy, it was the worst breakfast for me. It's full of sugary carbs and not much fiber or protein. I even went for the healthy stuff like Kashi's GoLean Crunch, granola, and Raisin Bran, but cereal is cereal, and it's not the most nutritious choice on the menu. I started focusing on getting 13 to 20 grams of protein, at least six grams of fiber, and 10 to 15 grams of healthy fats. So I ditched the boxes for a blender and started sipping on smoothies. I also do overnight oats because it reminds me of cereal - I'm huge fan of the brownie batter and banana cashew.
What Time Is It?
Not sure where I heard that you're supposed to eat first thing in the morning and to never skip breakfast, but I followed that advice diligently. I ate within a half hour after waking up, around 7:30, even if I wasn't hungry (99 percent of the time I wasn't). I'm convinced it turned on my hunger because by 9 a.m., I was starving, which translated to eating two breakfasts, and that meant twice the calories. No wonder I wasn't slimming down! Now I wake up, get in a workout, and usually don't feel hungry until 9 or 10. Listening to my body's cues when it comes to breakfast has carried through to other parts of my day. I eat when I'm hungry, not when the clock tells me to.
Tablespoons Aren't Just For Baking
Another huge mistake? I never measured anything. When I was eating cereal, I grabbed a huge bowl - way bigger than your typical soup or salad bowl - and poured with abandon. I usually mixed three different cereals; added raisins, nuts, and blueberries or banana; and used Very Vanilla soy milk. Holy calories! No joke - my bowl was easily pushing 600. Same went for oatmeal, yogurt with fruit and granola, toast, or smoothies. I got out my cups and spoons and measured everything, making sure it was around 400 calories. To this day, I still measure everything to avoid accidentally eyeballing higher amounts.
This DIY Squishy Slime Ball Will Help You Relieve Stress and Stay Chill
Slime videos are the internet's latest fascination, and for good reason. Watching them can help you de-stress! But it's time to take it a step further and make a slime-filled stress ball for yourself. YouTube user DaveHax created an insanely satisfying DIY that you can easily try at home. Using this squishy slime ball is the perfect way to decompress.
This Real-Life Unicorn Cafe Is So Pretty and Magical We Could Cry
Currently researching plane tickets to Bangkok, because I literally cannot wait another second to visit the Unicorn Cafe. Yes, you read that correctly - a cafe filled with pastel colors, sugar, My Little Pony plushies, and pure magic.
The little piece of heaven located in Thailand is a Lisa Frank-lover's dream come true. Not only is there a dress-up section where you can don a unicorn onesie, but there's also crazy-cute food options. Whether you want a cotton candy milkshake, a massive cupcake, colorful waffles, or rainbow spaghetti, you'll be happy. I get excited just looking at all the Instagram pics.
Feast your eyes on the enchanting cafe and all the adorable things inside. We have photos from every angle.
Mark-Paul Gosselaar Is Aging Like Fine Wine, and It Needs to Be Discussed
Mark-Paul Gosselaar must be drinking from the fountain of youth. The 43-year-old actor has maintained his crush-worthy status since his days as Zack Morris on the popular '90s sitcom Saved by the Bell. In 2016, the adorable father of four returned to the small screen (sporting a glorious beard) in Fox's baseball drama Pitch and we couldn't have been happier. Keep reading to see why Mark-Paul is still a certified heartthrob, then be sure to check out where the rest of the Saved by the Bell stars are today.
Tarte's Friends and Family Sale Is Happening and Our Wallets Aren't Ready
It's the most magical time of the year, and we're not talking about Christmas. Tarte's annual friends and family sale is coming and it's the perfect time for makeup-lovers to stock up on old favorites (and try some new goodies out).
Beginning Monday, April 3, you can use the code FESTIVAL on tartecosmetics.com to enjoy 30 percent off of all of Tarte's products, including skin care and body care. There are only two exclusions: Shape Tape Contour Concealer and the Limited-Edition Magic Wands Brush Set.
Hear that? That's the sound of our wallets freaking TF out. The offer is only available through Thursday, April 6, so we suggest you build those carts fast. If you're not sure about what to shop, we've recommended a few of our favorites ahead. Keep reading, then set your alarms for April 3. Happy spending!
You've Never Seen Anything Like Taylor Swift's New NYC House
Instead of wallowing in her breakup from Calvin Harris, Taylor Swift is moving on to greener pastures. The superstar singer has reportedly just signed a lease on an over-the-top West Village carriage house that will make even the most hardcore architecture buff envious. Taylor is renting the 5,400-square-foot home for a cool $40,000 a month while her TriBeCa apartment undergoes renovations. While this seems like a steep price tag, it's actually $10,000 less than the last renter paid. We're assuming the 20 percent discount is because Taylor is expected to be a long-term renter, living there for the next year until construction is complete. And once you see the spectacular home, you'll understand why it merits the cost.
Originally built in 1912, the five-bedroom, seven-and-a-half-bathroom carriage house has undergone a full modern makeover, complete with a spectacular rooftop addition. In addition to the rooftop lounge and entertaining area, the home boasts four floors that include a garage and - wait for it - indoor pool. Soaring double-height ceilings, artisanal hardwood floors, massive windows, multiple fireplaces, and terraces with dramatic north- and south-facing views. Basically, it's the coolest party pad ever. We can only imagine the fun Taylor and her squad will have here. Check out the spectacular property in the images below.
Kate Middleton Has Been Wearing These Brown Boots For Over a Decade - and Now We Know Why
One thing we know to be true: Kate Middleton is a thrify shopper. Beyond loving her favorite high street stores like Zara and Topshop, the savvy duchess also saves her old items, waiting for the perfect moment to bring pieces back out.
During her well-documented tour in Canada, Kate brought along her favorite pair of Penelope Chilvers tasseled boots. The knee-high, embellished Long Tassel Boots ($616) were perfectly on-trend, but the shocker is she's owned them for years. She even packed them for her tour in India and Bhutan and sported these babies as far back as August 2005 for the Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park in England.
Perhaps the key to why they've lasted so long lies in how they're made. Watch a video from the designer, who talks about the process and all that goes into a single pair. Then, check out how Kate's worn these boots throughout the years.
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Money-Saving Tips For Decorating Your First Apartment
Sure, graduation and your first job are huge steps towards adulthood, but what's the true sign that you've officially made it? When you get the keys to your very own apartment. Moving into your first (or second) place is a big deal, but we all know it can come at a high price. It was a rude awakening the day we realized our Pinterest-fueled dreams didn't exactly fit our budget. But don't give up hope! Having an apartment that's chic and affordable is totally possible. The key is knowing the tricks and hacks that will help you save money without skimping on style. That way, you'll save your money for what's really important . . . the housewarming party.
9 Stylish American Women Who Married Royals
Imagine meeting your future husband (aka your prince charming) and he actually turns out to be a prince. Well, for these nine lucky women, that was actually the case. Meghan Markle has already got people buzzing about her relationship with Prince Harry, having accompanied him to a wedding in Jamaica wearing a dazzling maxi dress.
People are already speculating whether the couple might get married in the near future. If that were the case, Markle wouldn't be the first American woman to marry into a royal family. In fact, some of the most fashionable non-royals who have married princes are American. From Grace Kelly to Lee Radziwill, have a look back at nine fashionable American women who have style fit for a queen.
9 Surprising Truths No One Tells You About Moving Into a Tiny Home
The meteoric rise of the tiny-house movement in recent years has been spurred on by contemporary homeowners' desire for a simpler, unfettered life. While these micro dwellings do come with some great perks - they're inexpensive and low-maintenance, freeing up time and money for other things - they also come with a few lesser-known cons. Before you sell off your belongings and take the dive into the tiny-living lifestyle, get all the information. Check out nine surprising truths of tiny-home ownership below.
Basic Life Functions
Everyday things you take for granted in a standard house, like getting mail and doing laundry, require thought when living in a tiny house. If you decide to downsize, you'll likely find yourself going outside the home to pick up letters at a P.O. box or wash clothes at the laundromat.
Legal Trouble
One of the biggest - and least known - complications of living in a tiny home is the legality of it. Many states have minimum home size requirements that tiny houses don't meet, making them illegal dwellings. There are some ways to navigate around this, such as having the house reside on land where it's a secondary accessory dwelling to an approved primary house or trying to have it registered as an RV. But these are complicated issues that require serious research. Ignore them, and you could find your tiny home with an eviction notice on it.
Clutter Reality
The beautiful images of tiny homes that fuel your daydreams have been styled to Pinterest perfection. In reality, tiny homes get messy just as fast, if not faster, than traditional homes. In such a tight space, it begins to feel cluttered the second an item is out of place.
Entertaining Limitations
Say goodbye to big dinner parties. With a good floor plan, you can squeeze one other couple in, but otherwise you'll need some outdoor space to accommodate company. And when it comes to having overnight guests, you'll need a fold-out chair and an adventurous guest (and yes, that was guest singular). There just isn't room for more.
Forced Intimacy
If you plan on moving in with another person, prepare to get up close and personal. There's no private space to escape off to for alone time. You'll be constantly connected and have to compromise on basic things such as what to cook for dinner (no room to prep two meals) to what TV show to watch (only one set).
Plumbing Considerations
Depending on how often you plan on moving your home and where you plan on moving it to, there are several plumbing options. Homes can be built to plug into sanitation and electricity infrastructure in RV parks, have a pressurized water hookup to connect to a hose when parked in a backyard, or even collect rainwater and have compostable toilets for those looking to go off the grid. All require more work than plumbing in traditional homes.
Health Changes
Before taking the plunge, consider how your circumstances might change within the next few years. Changes in health or a growing family can seriously impact your ability to live in a tiny house; for example, it will be nearly impossible to navigate your way up to a loft bed if poor health causes your mobility to be limited or you're heavily pregnant.
Lifestyle Proclivity
If you're a homebody or one who enjoys decorating the house and tending to the yard on the weekend, you may not be suited for microhome living. Those who prefer being in the great outdoors and detest home maintenance - and generally live their lives outside of their home - tend to fare best in the microhome community, as domestic activities and decorating are extremely limited.
Downsized Belongings
One of the biggest perks is also one of the biggest challenges to small-space living: getting rid of things. On one hand it's very liberating to toss most of your belongings, but on the other hand downsizing means you have to get rid of some sentimental and valued pieces. If you're not willing to part with Grandma's treasured dress collection or heirloom antique furniture, then you might not be ready for a microhome.
I Made These 3 Changes at Breakfast and Finally Started Losing Weight
Despite eating (what I thought was) a wholesome breakfast every morning, the pounds weren't dropping. So why was I not losing weight? All the experts say breakfast is key to boosting metabolism, after all. I didn't realize I was making three huge mistakes, but once I changed them, I could see the difference in how my body looked.
Bye-Bye Granola
Cereal was my go-to breakfast all the way from elementary school through college. Although sweet, delicious, and easy, it was the worst breakfast for me. It's full of sugary carbs and not much fiber or protein. I even went for the healthy stuff like Kashi's GoLean Crunch, granola, and Raisin Bran, but cereal is cereal, and it's not the most nutritious choice on the menu. I started focusing on getting 13 to 20 grams of protein, at least six grams of fiber, and 10 to 15 grams of healthy fats. So I ditched the boxes for a blender and started sipping on smoothies. I also do overnight oats because it reminds me of cereal - I'm huge fan of the brownie batter and banana cashew.
What Time Is It?
Not sure where I heard that you're supposed to eat first thing in the morning and to never skip breakfast, but I followed that advice diligently. I ate within a half hour after waking up, around 7:30, even if I wasn't hungry (99 percent of the time I wasn't). I'm convinced it turned on my hunger because by 9 a.m., I was starving, which translated to eating two breakfasts, and that meant twice the calories. No wonder I wasn't slimming down! Now I wake up, get in a workout, and usually don't feel hungry until 9 or 10. Listening to my body's cues when it comes to breakfast has carried through to other parts of my day. I eat when I'm hungry, not when the clock tells me to.
Tablespoons Aren't Just For Baking
Another huge mistake? I never measured anything. When I was eating cereal, I grabbed a huge bowl - way bigger than your typical soup or salad bowl - and poured with abandon. I usually mixed three different cereals; added raisins, nuts, and blueberries or banana; and used Very Vanilla soy milk. Holy calories! No joke - my bowl was easily pushing 600. Same went for oatmeal, yogurt with fruit and granola, toast, or smoothies. I got out my cups and spoons and measured everything, making sure it was around 400 calories. To this day, I still measure everything to avoid accidentally eyeballing higher amounts.
Manny MUA and Jeffree Star Have Responded to The Lawsuit Filed Against Them
Update: A representative of Manny MUA and Jeffree Star sent POPSUGAR an official statement via email: "The issue has been resolved. The Jeffree Star Cosmetics x Manny MUA collaboration will launch as planned on April 8. We are so grateful for the continued support of our fans and are excited to share this moment with them." POPSUGAR has reached out to the legal representation of Black Moon Cosmetics and will update this article should they respond.
Original story: The highly anticipated collaboration between makeup vloggers Jeffree Star and Manny MUA just experienced a major hiccup: the duo is getting sued. On April 4, a lawsuit was filed against the pair for trademark and copyright infringement on behalf of Black Moon Cosmetics by MacArthur Law Firm. Black Moon Cosmetics is seeking an end to the sales of their products as well as damages and paying for attorney fees.
Black Moon Cosmetics launched in 2015 with a holographic moon logo that looks similar to the holographic moon on Jeffree Star and Manny MUA's new collaboration. In the lawsuit, representatives of Black Moon state that it was the first company to use a holographic moon on a black background on cosmetic packaging and claims that Manny MUA had contacted Black Moon and communicated his admiration of the packaging via a direct message on Instagram saying "absolutely loveeeeee your packaging!"
The lawsuit goes on to state that four months later, Manny MUA first used a similar-looking holographic crescent moon on a black background on his own product packaging. This isn't the first time that Manny MUA has used a comparable logo on packaging. In 2016, the vlogger collaborated with Makeup Geek on an eye shadow palette that featured a holographic crescent moon as well.
Black Moon claims that the vloggers produced packaging for their collaboration with the knowledge that it looks similar to Black Moon's products. Black Moon states that the vloggers' collection is likely to cause confusion with items from Black Moon's company when it launches on April 8. In a statement on MacArthur Law Firm's website, the firm has included a link to screenshots showing comments on an Instagram photo of the collaboration from consumers pointing out the similarities between the logos.
It's unclear if the lawsuit will delay the launch of the collaboration, and neither of the vloggers have issued a statement. Stay tuned for more updates as they become available.
This Commercial Could Save Your Baby's Life Someday
It's really easy to tune out during TV commercials, but this one could save your baby's life. When St. John Ambulance questioned parents, the British first aid charity found surprising results: over 40 percent of parents had witnessed their baby choke, but more than 75 percent of them were clueless about how to help.
In order to educate parents, caretakers, and peers about proper emergency treatment for infants, St. John created an advertisement about how to care for a choking infant. Called "The Chokeables," the commercial is narrated by small toys that pose a choking hazard to small children. It's a cute ad but a serious topic - watch to learn about this lifesaving technique, and then share it with every parent you know. It could save a life!
Mark-Paul Gosselaar Is Aging Like Fine Wine, and It Needs to Be Discussed
Mark-Paul Gosselaar must be drinking from the fountain of youth. The 43-year-old actor has maintained his crush-worthy status since his days as Zack Morris on the popular '90s sitcom Saved by the Bell. In 2016, the adorable father of four returned to the small screen (sporting a glorious beard) in Fox's baseball drama Pitch and we couldn't have been happier. Keep reading to see why Mark-Paul is still a certified heartthrob, then be sure to check out where the rest of the Saved by the Bell stars are today.
I Made These 3 Changes at Breakfast and Finally Started Losing Weight
Despite eating (what I thought was) a wholesome breakfast every morning, the pounds weren't dropping. So why was I not losing weight? All the experts say breakfast is key to boosting metabolism, after all. I didn't realize I was making three huge mistakes, but once I changed them, I could see the difference in how my body looked.
Bye-Bye Granola
Cereal was my go-to breakfast all the way from elementary school through college. Although sweet, delicious, and easy, it was the worst breakfast for me. It's full of sugary carbs and not much fiber or protein. I even went for the healthy stuff like Kashi's GoLean Crunch, granola, and Raisin Bran, but cereal is cereal, and it's not the most nutritious choice on the menu. I started focusing on getting 13 to 20 grams of protein, at least six grams of fiber, and 10 to 15 grams of healthy fats. So I ditched the boxes for a blender and started sipping on smoothies. I also do overnight oats because it reminds me of cereal - I'm huge fan of the brownie batter and banana cashew.
What Time Is It?
Not sure where I heard that you're supposed to eat first thing in the morning and to never skip breakfast, but I followed that advice diligently. I ate within a half hour after waking up, around 7:30, even if I wasn't hungry (99 percent of the time I wasn't). I'm convinced it turned on my hunger because by 9 a.m., I was starving, which translated to eating two breakfasts, and that meant twice the calories. No wonder I wasn't slimming down! Now I wake up, get in a workout, and usually don't feel hungry until 9 or 10. Listening to my body's cues when it comes to breakfast has carried through to other parts of my day. I eat when I'm hungry, not when the clock tells me to.
Tablespoons Aren't Just For Baking
Another huge mistake? I never measured anything. When I was eating cereal, I grabbed a huge bowl - way bigger than your typical soup or salad bowl - and poured with abandon. I usually mixed three different cereals; added raisins, nuts, and blueberries or banana; and used Very Vanilla soy milk. Holy calories! No joke - my bowl was easily pushing 600. Same went for oatmeal, yogurt with fruit and granola, toast, or smoothies. I got out my cups and spoons and measured everything, making sure it was around 400 calories. To this day, I still measure everything to avoid accidentally eyeballing higher amounts.
All of Megan Fox's Best Bikini Moments
There's no question that Megan Fox is one of the sexiest stars in Hollywood. She's just as hot offscreen as she is on, and these bikini pictures prove it. Keep scrolling to see the expectant mom's best swimsuit moments from over the years, and then check out the most adorable pictures of her sons!
Melania Trump's Outfit Has More Than a Few Similarities to Queen Rania's
Days after Melania Trump raised some eyebrows with her official White House portrait, she stepped out to meet Queen Rania of Jordan in a more demure dress. Melania chose a structured emerald number with long sleeves while its hem, with a middle slit, hit at the knees. As she walked side by side with Queen Rania through the White House grounds, we noticed that the two actually (sort of) wore the same outfit.
They both opted for a skinny belt to cinch in their dresses and wore classic closed-toe pumps. Though Melania wore black heels to match her waist accessory, Queen Rania took a bolder route with white pumps to match her dress's collar. Her ensemble was as posh as it gets, something we've come to expect from the royal. While we're intrigued to know what the two ladies chatted about, their outfits will tell you everything you need to know. Scroll on to have a look and shop similar picks too.
How 1 Stranger Saved This Little Boy From an Injury That Only 1 Percent Survive
4-year-old boy who was internally decapitated, expected to make a full recovery. Mother says chance of survival < 1% http://pic.twitter.com/ZBftcIlcN5
- Sierra Oshrin (@SierraKBOI) June 3, 2016
After a horrific accident, one little boy's head was internally decapitated and essentially just hanging on by a thread to his spinal cord. Luckily for this 4-year-old child, he's not only expected to make a full recovery but also one without surgery thanks to a stranger the family credits with helping to save his life.
An internal decapitation is a rare condition that occurs when the skull becomes separated from the spine. Less than one percent of people survive this massive injury and those who do usually require a major operation as well as a halo brace. However, little Killian keeps on beating the odds.
After celebrating Killian's fourth birthday, the little boy and his mother, Brandy Gonzalez, were driving home when their car hit some ice and began to skid out of control. Their vehicle slammed into another car, but luckily a police officer and his wife, Leah Woodward, happened to be driving toward the accident at the time of the crash.
As the first ones on scene, they immediately checked for survivors and heard the child screaming from the car. With the doors locked, the cop had to smash the back window open so his wife could get inside. He then guided her on how to help the severely injured child.
Leah sat up his limp body and securely held his head in order to protect his cervical spine from any further damage, common protocol before EMT professionals can protect his neck with a brace. She didn't move for over an hour, and her actions most likely saved his life - the slightest move could have been enough to completely sever the boy's spine.
"I'm trying to stay calm but inside I'm panicking. I'm thinking I don't know what I'm doing, and it was the worst feeling I've ever had to not know how to help," Leah said to KBOI2.
Killian's mother broke almost every bone in her body during the accident and is currently recovering at a hospital across the street from where her son is being treated for a ruptured spleen and broken arm and ribs, as well as the clinical decapitation.
"It's just so hard because I'm in the same town and I haven't been able to see him," said Brandy. "It's just hard knowing he's in so much pain and I can't be there."
Read All About It! Our 50 All-Time Favorite Children's Books
If there's one thing that we can't get enough of around here, it's books for our kids. Reading is something that resonates with us as editors, as parents, and as the kids we once were ourselves. When it came time to cultivate a list of the all-time best children's books, we polled our co-workers to ensure a list that's comprehensive, including everything from old classics to newfound favorites.
Did your family's most beloved books make our list?
Melania Trump's Outfit Has More Than a Few Similarities to Queen Rania's
Days after Melania Trump raised some eyebrows with her official White House portrait, she stepped out to meet Queen Rania of Jordan in a more demure dress. Melania chose a structured emerald number with long sleeves while its hem, with a middle slit, hit at the knees. As she walked side by side with Queen Rania through the White House grounds, we noticed that the two actually (sort of) wore the same outfit.
They both opted for a skinny belt to cinch in their dresses and wore classic closed-toe pumps. Though Melania wore black heels to match her waist accessory, Queen Rania took a bolder route with white pumps to match her dress's collar. Her ensemble was as posh as it gets, something we've come to expect from the royal. While we're intrigued to know what the two ladies chatted about, their outfits will tell you everything you need to know. Scroll on to have a look and shop similar picks too.
All of Megan Fox's Best Bikini Moments
There's no question that Megan Fox is one of the sexiest stars in Hollywood. She's just as hot offscreen as she is on, and these bikini pictures prove it. Keep scrolling to see the expectant mom's best swimsuit moments from over the years, and then check out the most adorable pictures of her sons!
13 Awesome Foods You Didn't Know You Could Get at Costco
There's always something new to discover at Costco. Besides the fact that there are so many ways to save money at Costco beyond the free samples, there are tons of products that you might not even realize are hiding within the packed shelves of the store. These are 13 unexpected, customer-approved groceries you'll want to keep your eye out for the next time you take a trip to Costco.
Stephen Colbert Perfectly Parodies Sean Spicer With This Muppets Mashup Video
Ever since White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer started holding press briefings, the internet hasn't stopped with the hilarious memes. Spicer makes it almost too easy, as we can all remember from Saturday Night Live's various spoofs on him. Now, even The Late Show With Stephen Colbert is joining in on the fun by mashing up every time Spicer says "phenomenal" with the Muppets song "Mahna Mahna."
The video isn't too long, but the best part might be Spicer's clueless look at 0:20. It's clearly struck a tone with viewers, considering the video has more than 257,000 views. Watch the entire video above and wait for the surprise at the end.
13 Awesome Foods You Didn't Know You Could Get at Costco
There's always something new to discover at Costco. Besides the fact that there are so many ways to save money at Costco beyond the free samples, there are tons of products that you might not even realize are hiding within the packed shelves of the store. These are 13 unexpected, customer-approved groceries you'll want to keep your eye out for the next time you take a trip to Costco.
The Story You Probably Haven't Heard of a Whistle-Blower's Historic Settlement
Pharmacist Victoria Starr was simply following her moral convictions when she approached a lawyer about her employer's marketing strategies. "I figured I was just going to make a phone call, talk to some lawyer, maybe have him look into it," she says.
She had no idea that 10 years later she would receive one of the largest settlements from a pharmaceutical company in American history - or that her story would eventually be made into an upcoming documentary.
Starr's phone call would set off a chain of events that culminated in 2013, when the Justice Department ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $485 million to the plaintiffs of a class action lawsuit and $1.72 billion in federal fees. Prosecuted by then-Attorney General Eric Holder, the lawsuit was the the third-largest pharmaceutical case ever settled.
In 2004, Starr was working for the J&J subsidiary Janssen and asked a lawyer if the way the pharmaceutical giant was marketing Risperdal, an antipsychotic drug, was legal. Until the lawsuit was filed that same year, Starr says J&J was systemically instructing its sales representatives - including Starr - to market off-label uses for Risperdal and paint it as catch-all drug that could help elderly patients with anxiety and treat ADD and OCD in children.
Marketing it this way was not only against the law - at the time, those off-label uses had not been FDA-approved - but also ethically wrong and dangerous. Soon, Risperdal would cause harmful side effects among the most vulnerable members of the population: children and the elderly.
"I didn't meet a single pharmacist that was a sales rep when I worked for Johnson & Johnson."
The Side Effects and the Cover-Up
Risperdal is most often prescribed to treat schizophrenia: the antipsychotic drug balances dopamine and serotonin levels to assuage symptoms like hallucinations and delusions. It's also used to treat manic episodes in patients with bipolar disorder.
J&J's Risperdal was not approved by the FDA for use with children until 2006, although the drug was initially approved in 1993. Even when J&J was approved to sell Risperdal to children, it was only for bipolar I disorder and specifically not for treating ADHD, depression, or conduct disorders.
In some children, particularly adolescent boys, Risperdal increased hormone production that caused some boys to develop breasts in trials (a condition called gynecomastia). As of 2013, J&J has settled 1,000 claims and 80 lawsuits alleging Risperdal caused such side effects.
As recently as 2016, a man with autism who took Risperdal from 2002 to 2006 - beginning when he was 7 years old - won a lawsuit against J&J after the drug caused him to grow size-46DD breasts. Austin Pledger, now 22, won $2.5 million in damages. Pledger's lawyer described J&J's actions as a "grave mistreatment of children." According to the Wall Street Journal, at least a thousand similar lawsuits were being litigated at the time Pledger's case was settled.
Suing J&J for promoting Risperdal use for children, especially adolescent boys, was so rampant that in 2015, lawyers spent $5 million dollars advertising to Risperdal clients.
Evidence from Pledger's case explicitly demonstrates that J&J knowingly targeted children because attention deficit disorder treatment was a lucrative market. The company believed Risperdal could reap the benefits. David Kessler, who was the FDA commissioner under George H.W. Bush, testified for the prosecution and detailed the extent of J&J's pursuit of profits. He said the company illegally influenced the perception of Risperdal as a positive treatment for children with conduct disorders in several ways.
In his deposition, Kessler wrote that the company "planned to use medical education and sales representatives" in 2001 to influence doctors to prescribe Risperdal for nonapproved uses to children. Despite comprehensive tests that detailed Risperdal's harmful side effects, J&J also continued to push the drug on doctors by paying them "kickbacks" to write more prescriptions of the drug.
When scientific reviews revealed that adolescent boys who used Risperdal developed breasts, J&J covered it up, according to internal documents. Kessler, in his testimony, said, "In my opinion, Jannsen developed a corporate strategy to illegally promote Risperdal" based solely on the fact that the drug was already on the market.
Pledger's lawyer, Tom Kline, wrote to POPSUGAR via email about the case. "Austin's case was the historic first jury trial, the first of five in which jurors determined in each trial that J&J failed to warn physicians of the true risks of gynecomastia caused by the powerful antipsychotic drug, marketed off label to children," Kline wrote.
"Austin's breast growth, to my recollection - like with many victims of Risperdal-induced gynecomastia - was not immediately discovered due to his weight gain," Kline added. He says it wasn't until doctors did blood testing - "specifically checking for elevated levels of the hormone prolactin" - that they discovered Pledger's gynecomastia.
According to Kline, Pledger presently "lives his life daily under the care, supervision, love, and affection of his mother, Benita."
Risperdal caused harmful physical changes in the elderly, too, and increased the risk of stroke substantially. Johnson & Johnson knew this but downplayed it through its sales team. According to the Justice Department's release on the ruling, the strategy included an "ElderCare sales force" whose role was to target nursing home doctors and a business plan that stated its goal as "[to] grow Risperdal's market leadership in geriatrics and long term care."
The report also details how J&J paid doctors to speak about the benefits of Risperdal for the elderly. Sales representatives acted as a conduit for this scheme, informing doctors who wanted to speak that they needed to "increase their Risperdal prescriptions" first.
Despite warnings from the FDA, J&J also outlined that "Key Base Business Goals" from 1999 to 2005 were to "grow and protect the drug's market share with child/adolescent patients," according to the Justice Department's findings.
And if patients complained, J&J had a plan: a training manual called "Handling the Most Common Objections Voiced by Prescribers." Worse still, a 2001 presentation demonstrates that even when it became aware of ethical concerns involving pushing Risperdal on older patients, it decided it was actually unethical to end the push since so many patients who already took Risperdal would be disrupted.
J&J's nefarious marketing scheme paid off, quite literally. In 2004, the year the lawsuit was filed, Risperdal earned $3.1 billion for the company - five percent of its total revenue that year.
"I didn't know there was a legal issue with it," Starr told POPSUGAR. "I was talking to other colleagues about it, and that's when it really resonated with me: not only [did] I need to leave, but that somebody needed to know what was going on."
Starr's Involvement in the Case
When Starr started working at J&J as a pharmacist in 2001, she was immediately uncomfortable with the Risperdal sales strategy; when she spoke up, her concerns were either ignored or rebuffed by her superiors. It grew increasingly clear to her that J&J was cognizant of its marketing malpractice since it manipulated studies to present a favorable argument for the drug. She saw firsthand how Risperdal's exorbitant earnings superseded patients' health.
Starr, now in her 40s and living in Portland, OR, spoke to POPSUGAR about her involvement in the case and what she plans to do with the settlement.
Her story will be part of a documentary about the lawsuit based on Steven Brill's 2015 exposé for The Huffington Post titled America's Most Admired Lawbreaker. The directors of Netflix's widely acclaimed docuseries Making a Murder, Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, will adapt Brill's serialized story. A release date has yet to be specified, but the project was announced in June of 2016. One of the production companies involved in the film, Sonar Entertainment, confirmed the documentary to POPSUGAR but did not offer any details beyond the project's existence.
"It was very aggressive moves that they were doing to a very vulnerable population of people."
From a young age, Starr wanted to be a pharmacist to follow in her father's footsteps. After graduating from the University of Oregon's pre-pharmaceutical school in her home state and Washington State's pharmacy school, Starr went to work at the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly in Portland, OR
Accepting a promotion at J&J in Portland, Starr moved from Eli Lilly, where she predominately sold mental health medications like Prozac. In her new position, Starr was focused on selling mental health medications, Risperdal in particular.
Starr's education as a pharmacist was unique at J&J: while Eli Lilly employed pharmacists to sell drugs, J&J's reps did not have medical backgrounds. "They were marketing majors, business majors," she said. "I didn't meet a single pharmacist who was a sales rep when I worked for J&J."
J&J's move to hire people without pharmaceutical backgrounds in favor of people with sales backgrounds had consequences. With Risperdal, the strategy was quite simple: instead of encouraging sales representatives to sell the drug as a treatment for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (as it was approved for), "the whole sales message shifted" to promoting its use among children and the elderly, said Starr.
The sales message was far from accurate. "That really disturbed me," Starr said. "[They were] very aggressive moves that they were doing to a very vulnerable population of people."
Starr was not the only person to approach superiors about the transparently calculated policy. She said other people complained, but her bosses simply said it was how the company wanted to sell. "They weren't concerned about anything," she told us. Since Starr's qualms were repeatedly ignored, she resolved to approach a lawyer about the policy. "I had absolutely no idea it would be as big as it was."
After sending a firm all of the relevant sales strategy information she had, Starr again assumed her role in the investigation ended. She couldn't have been more wrong.
"There were days where I was being questioned for 10 hours at a time."
After a back and forth with lawyers where Starr shared emails and promotional materials she used in her day-to-day work, a Philadelphia-based law firm called the Sheller Law Firm agreed to take on the case. In February of 2004, Starr resigned from J&J; three months later, the case was filed, making her the first whistle-blower of many in this case to come forward.
The ensuing investigation, lawsuit, and settlement proceedings lasted nearly a decade. Starr's testimony was paramount to the FDA's inquiry. "There were days where I was being questioned for 10 hours at a time," Starr recounted.
Starr also recalled how a majority of the investigation was either unknown or not disclosed to her. "Every day held surprises for me. Weeks or months would go by and I would hear nothing about the case. Then, in a single instant, I'd be needed to fly to Pennsylvania for long meetings with my lawyers," Starr said. "For 10 years, I rode the spectrum of a simple life, followed by the jolt of undercover duties. The hardest thing was keeping these activities from the people I loved."
Starr was one of six whistle-blowers to file lawsuits against J&J. At least one other whistle-blower, Judy Doetterl, experienced the same level of thorough investigation as Starr, even having to wear a wire to a national company sales meeting. "I was concerned that I would be found out accidentally and someone would see me go into a room to meet the agent," Doetterl told Bloomberg. "I had to change battery packs every four hours. I knew in the end I was doing the right thing. They needed to know what was going on." Ultimately, Doetterl was awarded more than $20 million in damages.
The former-employees-turned-whistle-blowers were awarded damages because they were the first to file in this particular case. Since the initial filing that blew the lid off of the entire scheme, patients have filed additional suits against J&J, and many have received payouts like Pledger's. A teenager in Tennessee was awarded $70 million in damages after he won his lawsuit in July of 2016.
Despite settling with six whistle-blowers, J&J maintains it did nothing wrong. In a statement following the closing of Doetterl's case, J&J said the settlement "is not an admission of any liability or wrongdoing, and the company expressly denies the government's civil allegations."
Janssen, the J&J subsidiary at the helm of Risperdal's distribution, accepted a plea deal in the class action lawsuit. While the pharmaceutical giant failed to accept full culpability, J&J admitted that it "promoted Risperdal to health care providers for treatment of psychotic symptoms and associated behavioral disturbances exhibited by elderly, non-schizophrenic dementia patients," which it was not authorized to do.
The Outcome
When the Justice Department finally closed the case in January 2013, Starr was still working in pharmaceuticals but had pursued positions where she could interact with patients. First, she worked in a nursing home advising doctors about medications, and then she opened pharmacies for five years before accepting a role as a county mental health pharmacist.
Since the beginning of her career, Starr has been fascinated by mental health issues and consistently advocated for those patients. She still keeps in touch with many of her former patients, and she has been involved with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for years. Starr has hosted lectures and worked directly with caregivers through NAMI to champion the destigmatization of mental health.
"I feel very strongly about people getting the care that they need and in this country," she said. "People are not getting that care."
While federal law typically favors the first plaintiff to file, Starr's $112 million settlement was split between other whistle-blowers who filed around the same time she did. For Starr, her decision to sue was motivated by the safety of her patients.
"I imagine there's always going to be someone who's not going to understand the rationale," Starr confessed, "or think that it had to do with money. It never did."
"It's so important to keep that fire burning in you that pushes you towards the right."
In fact, Starr was terrified of the lawsuit's potential consequences. "I was really scared. But at the same time, I think I was some what naive," Starr explained. "I had to live my life day by day and not think about it. I think I did a good job about not doing that. But there were some times where I was really nervous." Ultimately, though, her moral instincts about J&J prevailed and provided an invaluable lesson for the rest of her life.
"It's so important to keep that fire burning in you that pushes you towards the right," Starr said. "Even if it makes you a little bit queasy."
Starr's lawsuit was one of many brought against several pharmaceutical companies in the early 2000s; the Justice Department has ruled against Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, and AbbVie in similar cases. The FDA's rules on advertising are now considerably more stringent (although the United States and New Zealand remain the only developed countries that permit direct consumer medical ads).
Pharmaceutical sales representatives are also a nearly extinct breed. The Wall Street Journal reports that the industry cut roughly 40,000 of those positions between 2006 and 2013.
Although pervasive stigmas around mental health remain, society has certainly made strides in the last decade. Celebrities are speaking up about their struggles, politicians are advocating for more accessible care, and admitting to mental health issues is less often seen as a sign of weakness.
Starr has not indicated whether she will launch her own mental health foundation or advocacy group with her portion of the settlement money, but she told us NAMI will continue to receive donations from her.
In the future, Starr hopes ending the mental health stigma will prevent mass shootings that are endemic in the United States and stop people from hurting children. "I'm trying to make miracles happen, one person at a time," she said.
"I don't know if I could even come close to taking care of the problem that this country faces," Starr added. "So I just start here and I start with what I can do to make my mark."
Starr's experience also proved to be an exercise in trusting one's intuition, a message she hopes people will remember from her story. "I think that we all have that instinct in us that knows what is right and what is wrong," Starr concluded. "We need to go with our gut and our instinct to do the right thing, and sometimes it means taking a risk. Sometimes that means getting our of your comfort zone. As long as it is for the good of people or some good, you're always going to be in a good position."
14 Everyday Struggles of Bilingual People
I speak 2.5 languages. I'm fluent in Spanish (my birth language) and English, and I know enough Italian to help a lost tourist in the subway. Though being able to communicate in more than one tongue has its serious benefits - there are more jobs available to me, I have an easier time when traveling abroad, some studies even say we're smarter (tooting my own horn here) - there are struggles. Boy, are there struggles.
More than once, I have spoken Spanish to someone who has no idea what I'm saying, and words have come out of my mouth in a total jumble of Spanglish that not even I understand. Minor issues, sure, but if you're bilingual, you know it doesn't end there. Keep reading for a list of the everyday situations you probably also face - bilinguals, unite!
These 26 Recipes Are Delicious and Perfect For Lenten Fridays
Have you been picturing yourself enjoying a tasty and fresh fish dish while sitting out on your patio for the past few chilly months - maybe with a cold beer sitting nearby? We have, too. And though the weather outside is not quite right yet, seafood-lovers can't wait until Summer to enjoy everything from tilapia to shrimp.
For those people, there's this list of 26 Latin-inspired dishes that feature seafood center stage. Yes, you'll find ceviches, but we also went beyond and included seafood paella, salmon with avocado sauce, Brazilian moqueca, and much more. Scroll ahead to find the delicious recipes.
How 1 Stranger Saved This Little Boy From an Injury That Only 1 Percent Survive
4-year-old boy who was internally decapitated, expected to make a full recovery. Mother says chance of survival < 1% http://pic.twitter.com/ZBftcIlcN5
- Sierra Oshrin (@SierraKBOI) June 3, 2016
After a horrific accident, one little boy's head was internally decapitated and essentially just hanging on by a thread to his spinal cord. Luckily for this 4-year-old child, he's not only expected to make a full recovery but also one without surgery thanks to a stranger the family credits with helping to save his life.
An internal decapitation is a rare condition that occurs when the skull becomes separated from the spine. Less than one percent of people survive this massive injury and those who do usually require a major operation as well as a halo brace. However, little Killian keeps on beating the odds.
After celebrating Killian's fourth birthday, the little boy and his mother, Brandy Gonzalez, were driving home when their car hit some ice and began to skid out of control. Their vehicle slammed into another car, but luckily a police officer and his wife, Leah Woodward, happened to be driving toward the accident at the time of the crash.
As the first ones on scene, they immediately checked for survivors and heard the child screaming from the car. With the doors locked, the cop had to smash the back window open so his wife could get inside. He then guided her on how to help the severely injured child.
Leah sat up his limp body and securely held his head in order to protect his cervical spine from any further damage, common protocol before EMT professionals can protect his neck with a brace. She didn't move for over an hour, and her actions most likely saved his life - the slightest move could have been enough to completely sever the boy's spine.
"I'm trying to stay calm but inside I'm panicking. I'm thinking I don't know what I'm doing, and it was the worst feeling I've ever had to not know how to help," Leah said to KBOI2.
Killian's mother broke almost every bone in her body during the accident and is currently recovering at a hospital across the street from where her son is being treated for a ruptured spleen and broken arm and ribs, as well as the clinical decapitation.
"It's just so hard because I'm in the same town and I haven't been able to see him," said Brandy. "It's just hard knowing he's in so much pain and I can't be there."
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