Welcome toMoney Diaries , where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking millennials how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we're tracking every last dollar.

Today: a high school English teacher who makes $41,000 per year and spends some of her paycheck this week on ashwagandha supplements.

Occupation: English Teacher
Industry: Education
Age: 26
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Salary: $41,000
Paycheck Amount (2x/month): $992.58

Monthly Expenses
Rent: $600 for my share. (Rent includes gas, water, trash, internet, a plowing service in winter, and lawn care.)
Student Loan Payment: $178
Car Loan Payment: $100
Health Insurance: $75, out of my paycheck
Electricity: $30
Phone: $50
Charitable Contribution: $10 (It's an automatic donation to a local organization that works with refugees.)
Hulu, Netflix & Spotify: $0 (My friends shared their passwords with me.)
401(k) & 457 Plans: $100 (Between both accounts, I have about $9,000 set away for retirement at this point.)
Savings: $500–$700, depending on my spending and upcoming travels.

Day One

5:10 a.m. — My alarm rings just once before I catch it. My cat, begging for breakfast, woke me twenty minutes ago and I dutifully, albeit sleepily, fed her. I grab my outfit for the day off the top of my dresser and head to the shower.

5:30 a.m. — I listen to the most recent The Moth podcast as I get ready for the day. The episode is about the places we go that shape our lives. As the first story teller comments on the pain of leaving her home, I look up and see all the boxes in my own home. My lease is about to end, but this time I'm moving into a new home by myself, and the reality of my recent breakup hits me hard. I step away from the kitchen and find myself back in the bedroom. I open the closet and find one of my boyfriend's shirts, which smells like him. As tears stream down my face, I remind myself that the breakup is for the best, even though I don't fully believe that just yet.

5:40 a.m. — I come back to the kitchen but tune out the podcast. I pack a banana and a Tupperware of homemade ham and potato soup for lunch. I opt to have Thai takeout leftovers for breakfast instead of my usual smoothie. As I savor my Thai food, I heat water so I can bring a thermos of cinnamon black tea to work as I do every day. I'm on the road by 6 a.m.

11:30 a.m. — I'm a high school teacher, and my juniors are understandably struggling today after a week of standardizing tests including the dreaded SAT. I've had to be extra engaging all day today to make up for their lack of energy. Now it's lunchtime, and I plop into a seat in the staff lounge after heating up my soup.

3:30 p.m. — I'm home from work and it's the beginning of my weekend, but I start to wonder if I'm coming down with a cold. I scrounge around in the medicine cabinet to find DayQuil to help with my sore throat. It's raining outside, and the purple crocuses in the yard look beautiful during the storm. I force myself to be a bit productive by packing two boxes worth of books before taking a nap.

6 p.m. — I'm daydreaming about sushi, but make myself cook at home to save money. For dinner, I make pasta with a homemade sauce consisting of Italian sausage, onion, garlic, basil, diced tomatoes, and half-and-half. I pack up leftovers and bring them over to my friend's house. With me being sick and her being tired, we lazily spend the evening on her couch watching movies and talking. Despite it being a lackluster Friday night, I'm grateful for the company. I've been feeling lonely since my boyfriend (ex? that's painful to write) recently moved out.

10:30 p.m. — I make a pit stop at the local grocery store on my way home to pick up needed supplies before the ice storm kicks in: DayQuil, tissues, and cough drops. I head home and promptly go to sleep. $10.50

Daily Total: $10.50

Day Two

9:30 a.m. — I'm definitely sick. I don't normally sleep in this late. Before opening my eyes, I hear the rapping on my window. The rain must have turned to sleet. I turn to look outside and find myself sharing my pillow with my cat. I get out of bed, make green tea, prepare a simple smoothie, and sit down by a window to read after taking a healthy dose of cold medicine.

11 a.m. — I come into the kitchen to do my dishes and notice some of my food has spoiled. I throw away a number of clementines and salad mix. I feel bad wasting food, but it's certainly hard shopping and cooking for one person. I'm not used to it yet.

2 p.m. — I spend my early afternoon alternating between grading student papers and reading. I take a break and grab boxes from my car that I pilfered from work. I turn on a Spotify playlist and get to work taking down the art from my walls.

3 p.m. — I keep seeing on Facebook that a lot of businesses in the area are losing power and closing. I decide to shower and cook an early dinner just in case I lose power too. I fry potatoes on the stove and add garlic, cheese, and a fried egg on top. Simple, but tasty.

4 p.m. — The rain and general gloominess are relentless and uncharacteristic of April in Michigan. It's bringing me down. I've kept myself busy all day, but in this quiet moment, I think of my ex and my heart just aches. I want to reach out to him and see how he's doing, but I know I shouldn't and space is what we need right now. I look around the room and see constant reminders of him. This was our apartment, after all. I don't want to dwell in this sadness, so I make myself take a nap.

5 p.m. — I start focusing on my plans for the evening. Earlier in the week, I spontaneously reached out to Z., a guy I met in college. I asked him if he wanted to grab a drink sometime, and he said yes. We're meeting tonight in a few hours. I don't know if it's a date or not. I tell myself it isn't so I don't get nervous. As someone who has always been in long-term relationships, I haven't really dated as an adult. The thought freaks me out a bit. I take out my phone and do some light Facebook stalking. I don't think he has a girlfriend. I see recent pictures of him and his dog and of his recent travels. I make a mental note to ask him about both.

6:45 p.m. — A great part about my neighborhood is its walkability. I don a bunch of layers to protect myself from the wind and sleet and walk the few blocks to the restaurant where Z. and I are meeting. I arrive a bit early, take a seat near the back, and order a cider.

7 p.m. — As I wait for Z., a strange man walks up, makes a lot of eye contact, and bends over for a hug. I give him a one-armed hug as I rack my mind to figure out who he is. He starts to sit down and I say, "Uhh, I don't think I'm the person you're meeting." He realizes he's made a mistake and walks away abruptly. The people at the tables next to me chuckle. We assume he was on a Tinder date. I hope he found who he was actually looking for.

7:15 p.m. — Z. finds me and sits down. Over the next few hours, we talk about anything and everything: our travels, jobs, aspirations, college memories, and so on. The conversation flows easily. I like his smile. At one point, when ordering our second drinks, he says: "I have to know – is this a date?" I laugh and say that I don't really know, but it can be. He says he'd like that. For a moment, it's a bit uncomfortable, but our conversation picks up easily.

10:30 p.m. — By the end of the night, I've only had two drinks: a cider and a cocktail. With tip, the bill comes to $17.50. Before we leave, Z. says, "Maybe this is too soon, but would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow? I'll cook." He then adds, "Just promise not to murder me." I laugh because I appreciate a comment like that. He's right; spending time with a stranger does bring up questions about safety, at least for me. I tell him yes, and that that would be nice. We part ways with a second date in the books. I walk home and head to bed. $17.50

Daily Total: $17.50

Day Three

7:30 a.m. — I can't seem to fall back asleep, so I get up. While feeding my cat, I look out the window and see my car covered in a layer of ice. I have brunch plans with a few friends today and wonder if it'll end up being cancelled because no one wants to drive.

8:30 a.m. — The only sound I can hear is the howling wind. I'm on my computer in the breakfast nook and start looking at flights on Kayak. I'm heading to California this summer to participate in a National Endowment for the Humanities institute and I need to book my own transportation. One-way tickets from Grand Rapids to San Jose are $285. I decide to wait a few days to buy one to see if I can get a better price.

10:30 a.m. — There's a lot of back and forth in our group text on whether or not to cancel brunch. We ultimately decide to. I start daydreaming about a snow day tomorrow and getting my hopes up (hey, it's one of the perks of being a teacher!). As I start to plan the rest of my day, I toast an English muffin and slather on a generous amount of peanut butter and strawberry-rhubarb jam from the farmer's market.

1:30 p.m. — I inevitably start to feel a bit stir-crazy. I've been doing much of the same for the last few days and start feeling unsatisfied. While I'm sitting on the couch brushing my cat, my mind wanders to my ex. The pain and loss is a palpable thing. My chest hurts and I feel so heavy. I reach out to my best friend, M., through text for a bit of reassurance. I tell her how scared I am of the future and all the unknowns, about how the newness feels so heavy. M. sends a series of texts back: "Be a little kinder to yourself and where you are and the decisions you're making. I think you're being too hard on yourself again. Each day gets you closer to where you want to be. Set small goals and allow life to happen." M. has always been there for me and has had to give me pep talks like this before. I don't fully accept her words, but I try. I want to. I breathe a bit easier.

5:30 p.m. — It's time to head over to Z.'s house for dinner. I start to question if seeing him again is a good idea and if I'm ready to invest energy into a new person. I tell myself to take things one day at a time, though, and that making new acquaintances is what I need right now. Z. lives a little over a mile away from me in a different area of town, so I decide to drive.

6:30 p.m. — I'd been nervous about coming over, but Z. is so kind and his demeanor puts me at ease. I play with his dog as he cooks dinner and we chat. He serves me sweet potato and black bean tacos garnished with cilantro and avocado. After dinner, we notice the weather has finally let up, and Z. asks if I want to go for a walk in the woods outside his window. After days of feeling quarantined at home, I relish in the idea of being in the woods.

7 p.m. — Wearing our thickest boots, we tromp through snow, ice, and mud behind his dog, who excitedly leads the way. Z. and I share more about our families and our childhoods, bouncing from topic to topic. There isn't a lull in conversation and I can't tell if that's just because we're both so talkative, if it's out of nervousness, or if it's a combination of both. Regardless, talking with him is nice. We wind through the woods and trek across the neighborhood, making a big loop back to his house.

8 p.m. — When we make it back to his driveway, I thank him for the dinner and say we should hang out again soon. My departure probably seems a bit abrupt, but whatever happens next in my life, I want to take it slowly. I'm conscious of my fragility and am trying to take care of my myself.

9 p.m. — When I make it home, I check my phone and see a snow day has been called for work tomorrow. This is the best surprise I can imagine. It's time to make the most of the evening then. After a brief ab workout at home, I draw a bath. I quickly Google household items to add to bath water and get the idea to add a quarter cup of coconut oil. I also add a few drops of lemon and rosemary essential oils. I go all out for this bath – I bring in a book, my Bluetooth speaker, my computer, and half a bottle of wine I opened earlier in the week. I read for a bit, but ultimately decide to turn on Sylvan Esso, slide a bit deeper into the bath, and enjoy the wine. The only thing standing between me and full relaxation is my cat, who – during every bath – thinks I'm in danger and stands on the edge of the tub, alternating between pleading eye contact and hissing at the water.

Daily Total: $0

Day Four

8 a.m. — A snow day in spring – who would ever imagine? I decide to get up and make the most of the day. I quickly jump in the shower and make scrambled eggs with toast for breakfast. I make a mental note that I'm stupidly low on groceries. I pack a bag with my computer, a book, student papers, and my wallet, and head out to walk to a café.

9 a.m. — The walk is tedious through the slush, but I get a call from my grandma, who asks if I want to come over for some homemade chicken noodle soup. I say yes. I can't remember the last time my grandma felt well enough to invite me over for lunch.

9:20 a.m. — From my house, I can easily walk to four different cafés, so I rotate where I go. Today, this particular café is relatively empty. I order a turmeric-ginger tea latte and use the time to submit a recent short story of mine to a number of literary publications, which is something I don't usually have time for. I'm pleased to have this extra day to myself and am grateful that I feel relatively positive today. $5.50

12 p.m. — I drive to my grandma's house and find her in the yard throwing old French fries near some robins. She tells me she's feeding them because: "How are they supposed to find food in this snow?" We head inside and she nearly force-feeds me bowl after bowl of chicken soup and crusty bread as she presses me with questions on my new house. I try to seem excited about the move. She gives me food to take home, as always.

3 p.m. — I feel inspired to do some downsizing. I go through my closet and find a handful shirts I never wear to give to the counseling office at my school to be given to students who need them. I take a dozen books to drop off at the nearest Little Free Library for someone else to discover. Then I take pictures of wall art I no longer like and post them on the Facebook Marketplace.

5:30 p.m. — I peer inside the Tupperware my grandma gave me and can't tell what is what, but heat it up regardless. I give it a taste and it really is delicious, so I have it for dinner tonight.

7:30 p.m. — After pouring over prices and times, I order my tickets to head out west this summer. $336 for a one-way ticket to San Jose, CA, plus a trip from California to Seattle for $123 to vist my friend. I don't book a flight home just yet. These costs will eventually be reimbursed by the institute I'm participating in, but that check won't come until August. $459

8 p.m. — Last night's bath was enjoyable enough to convince me to do it again tonight. I fill the tub and balance my gin and tonic with cucumber on the ledge as I settle in. This time, I bring my laptop in so I can watch Baskets on Hulu. A friend told me it was a funny show, but I find it irrevocably sad.

9:30 p.m. — I search for pajamas on this chilly night and find one of my ex's shirts again. I debate putting it on, questioning if it's the right thing to do. I slide it over my head and crawl into bed.

Daily Total: $464.50

Day Five

5 a.m. — I get up to feed my ravenous cat and notice I have to scrape my car off again. Begrudgingly, I proceed to get ready and fill my thermos with peppermint tea to help with my persistent stuffiness and headache. For lunch, I pack more of my pasta leftovers and vow to myself to bring something different tomorrow. I munch on peanut butter toast as I brush my cat, giving her a bit of attention before I leave.

9 a.m. — During my prep hour, I email my principal to express my firm interest in only teaching English next year. Being new to the building, I spent a big chunk of this school year teaching a college-prep class dreaded by staff and students alike. I'm sure my request will be ignored, but I feel better at least verbalizing it. I check online to see if there are any open positions in neighboring districts.

10 a.m. — Z. texts me and asks if I've been to the new poke restaurant in my neighborhood. I text back and start to feel heavy. Hanging out with Z. was fun, but I'm beginning to recognize that I have a lot of healing to do. I make a mental note that I need to express this to Z. sometime this week. I can't keep seeing him and pretending I'm okay.

12 p.m. — Today feels harder than usual. I can't seem to shake the cloud hanging over me. The work hours go by in a blur. I only have a few more hours until I can head home.

3 p.m. — I slump into the couch as soon as I walk in the door. My cat jumps up and joins me in the sun. I remember my grad class meets this upcoming Saturday and I'm behind in my work. I get a lump in my throat and worry about not being prepared, but can't bring myself to work on it right now. I allow myself to rest and cry, but feel guilty as I fall behind in my responsibilities.

6 p.m. — I walk to meet a friend for tacos and a beer. As she talks about her recent work trip, I notice a ring on her finger. She didn't tell me she got engaged. I expect to feel upset, but I don't. I'm glad for her. We order a large appetizer and two tacos apiece. She picks up dinner this time. We head across the street to a brewery and order PB&J ales. I pay for drinks and promise that dinner's on me next time. $10.50

10:30 p.m. — I quickly tidy up the house and throw the ball for my cat before I head to sleep. I feel a bit better than I did earlier, acknowledging that my friends really do care about me.

Daily Total: $10.50

Day Six

5 a.m. — I had some terrible dreams, so I've been awake for awhile. I dutifully rise with my alarm and repeat my normal morning routine before work. I'm not hungry, but I force myself to eat. As I eat my cereal, I remember my friend telling me about ashwagandha supplements and how she takes them when she feels overly stressed. I'm skeptical, but do a quick bit of research and order a bottle off of Amazon on a whim. $20

9:30 a.m. — I text a few trusted friends about the therapists they see and how they pay for it. The rave about their experiences and explain they only have a $20 copay. I convince myself it's something I should try. I look into my insurance and discover I'd have to pay my annual deductible of $1,350 before my insurance covers therapy. I'm crushed. I thought teacher's insurance was supposed to be amazing? I never come close to meeting my deductible and begin to feel like therapy isn't a viable option for me.

2:30 p.m. — The work day is over and I rush to volunteering. Once a week, I volunteer at a nonprofit that works with young students on creative writing.

5:15 p.m. — Driving home, I receive a message from my ex saying he'll be stopping over tomorrow to get the last of his things. Suddenly it feels like I can't breathe again. I try to push it out of my mind, but I can't fight off the tears.

6:15 p.m. — I drown out my thoughts with episodes of Grace and Frankie on Netflix. For dinner, I rummage through my freezer and find homemade egg rolls. I look at the Budget Bytes recipe again for directions on reheating and pop them in the oven. As I watch Netflix and eat dinner, I pack a few boxes of items in the living room, feeling numb to reality.

7:30 p.m. — My close friend invites me over and I quickly accept the invitation. I can't stand being home anymore. We don't do much of anything, but I'm fine with that.

9:30 p.m. — I'm back home and head to sleep. My mind runs rampant with dreams all night.

Daily Total: $20

Day Seven

5 a.m. — Today's the day I've been dreading for a long time. I get ready for work in a daze: I do all of my normal things (shower, make tea, pack lunch), but don't really notice I'm doing them. I make an egg-in-a-basket for breakfast, but barely eat any of it. I pick off pieces of the egg and feed it to my cat who's meowing next to me. She seems to live for moments like these.

6:30 a.m. — I'm at work and I get a text from Z.: “Your week going well?” He's trying to be nice and make conversation. I figure this is when I should tell him how I'm really feeling. I draft a text to send to Z. I briefly explain that I'm in a rough place emotionally right now and need to figure out who I am and what I want now that I'm in this position of being newly single for the first time in my adult life. I state that I need to invest in myself before I can invest in others. I tell him he's very enjoyable to be around and if we continue to hang out, it'll need to be just as friends, not as potential partners. I hit send.

11 a.m. — My new lease is emailed to me. I read through it carefully while my students are busy. I still can't get over the pet fee being $50 per month with a (refundable) $400 pet security deposit.

3:30 p.m. — This is the last time my ex and I will be together at our house. We both cry, embrace, and tell each other happy memories that pass through our minds. We're trying so hard to end this on the best note we can. He packs his car with the rest of his things. We have one last kiss on the porch. We don't say goodbye.

5:30 p.m. — A friend of mine pulls up into the driveway to pick me up. She's taking me to a poetry reading to help get my mind off things. After the event, we head to the cocktail bar by my house and order drinks. I pick up the tab. $25

11 p.m. — As I crawl into bed, I mull over everything that's happening, but am too tired to dig that deeply. I tell myself to take things one day at a time and drift off to sleep.

Daily Total: $25

If you are experiencing anxiety or depression and need support, please call the National Depressive/Manic-Depressive Association Hotline at 1-800-826-3632 or the Crisis Call Center’s 24-hour hotline at 1-775-784-8090.

Money Diaries are meant to reflect individual women's experiences and do not necessarily reflect Refinery29's point of view. Refinery29 in no way encourages illegal activity or harmful behavior.

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Can I admit something? Up until a few months ago, I thought hate and bigotry was a conservative thing. I thought this mostly because of conservative’s historical stance of fighting against policies that made life better for people who weren’t white, straight, and rich. Conservatives haven’t exactly gotten behind causes like gay marriage, immigration, and welfare programs like universal healthcare. But for every Make America Great Again bumper sticker I saw, I would see a Make America Smart Again bumper sticker poking fun right back. Turns out liberals aren’t above calling out conservatives' supposed lack of education, a classist jab that doesn’t do much to bridge the divide. It’s like we’re in a ping pong game of provoking each other. But what would happen if we talked to people who had different opinions and beliefs than our own? How do we even have these conversations?

Tan France knows. As the fashion and style expert on the Netflix reboot of Queer Eye, France admits that he’s not usually asked about his opinions beyond style, fashion, and skin care. But he has stories to tell and advice to give. Like the time he and Karamo Brown refused to keep shooting the show. Or the time he was called a terrorist by one of the men he was making over. Tan is one of two men of color on the show, which filmed its first season in the suburbs surrounding Atlanta in 2016. That experience gave Tan multiple opportunities to interact with conservative white men whose beliefs were very different than his own and hone his approach.

“I was asked if I was a terrorist because they didn’t realize I was middle eastern. Two of our heroes asked, 'Are you a terrorist?' and it was a very honest question for them. They weren’t trying to be funny. Our show is about bridging these divides and we are meeting with a lot of Republicans and this isn’t meant to be a liberals vs. conservative show at all. But it gives us an opportunity to have a very open conversation.”

As France told me the story, I shook my head in disbelief. Someone invites you into their home to help make them over and then asks if you’re a terrorist? Let’s just say I wouldn't have been able to stay so composed.

This excerpt didn’t make it into the show. Why? France says there were more important and timely topics like Black Lives Matter to talk about that season. “There were subjects like the Black Lives Matter subject that we needed to tackle. Maybe we can talk about Islamophobia next season! But those kinds of questions are real for people.”

But even France has his limits. He recalls when he refused to shoot after the cast was pulled over by the cops while shooting. The experience was too real for reality TV.

The back story is that Brown, the show’s culture expert, is a queer Black man driving in the South during a period of police brutality against people of color. Karamo pulls the truck over to the shoulder and is asked to get out.

France recalls his experience to me: “The police officer says, ‘he has to get out of the car’ and Jonathan is like, 'I just don’t want him to get shot.' Rightly so. When you step out of the car, that spells trouble. It was an incredibly real situation for us. Yes the camera crew knew what was happening. We didn’t, so as far [as] we concerned, trouble was afoot. So it was just building and building.”

Karamo gets out of the truck and, if you’ve watched the show, you know it was all a set up. The cop reveals he was the one who nominated a fellow police officer for a makeover. Karamo yells “You can’t do that to me!” while France chimes in from the back seat “You can’t do that to the Black people!” It comes across as light hearted but after the scene, Karamo and Tan refused to shoot.

“Afterwards, we were fuming, saying “this can never happen again. This wasn’t OK. You don’t know what it feels like to be a person of color and get pulled over. We didn’t want to film the next day. We were like 'we’re done. That’s it.'”

The two made amends with the producers and it turned out to be one of the most important episodes in the season.

“Thankfully it turned out great in the end because it’s a conversation that needs to be had.”

How does France stay so composed during tense interactions?

“I connect with them on a human level. There are certain things that I do that hopefully does disarm a person: I look them in the eye. I’ll give them a pat on their shoulder to make sure they know that I’m there for them. I want to support them through this. It humanizes me, it humanizes them, and then we can have a real conversation.”

And France makes a great point about the power of seeing these conversations in our pop culture:
“We’re not just talking to that person, we’re talking to everybody else at home who’s watching who’s thinking ‘we feel the same way.'”

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Sometimes, people wear clothing for things other than what they're intended for. Example: I wear hiking socks not for hiking, pajama pants not for sleeping, and my expensive Brooks running shoes at moments when I am fully aware I’ll be spending the day at my desk. But sometimes, items that are built for the most extreme things (ahem, pedaling a few hundred miles) are also helpful for daily life (in this case, maybe not having creeps peeking up your skirt).

When I saw bike shorts make their way down the runway at Nina Ricci, Saint Laurent, Off-White, and many others during Paris Fashion Week in September, the first thing that popped into my mind was: “Are those lace cycling shorts padded for optimal booty cushioning?” Then I recalled age seven me, wearing hot pink bike shorts and feeling like a mini superhero. That sentiment fully returned when I shimmied into bike shorts last week and committed to wearing them for seven days straight.

But first, some worries I inevitably had for the week ahead: 1) Camel toe, and what underwear I should wear to try to avoid this; 2) How exposed will I feel wearing just bike shorts with nothing covering my crotch area?; and 3) Do bike shorts automatically make it easier to bike in outfits that I previously considered unbikeable?

What I came to find: At times, the bike shorts were my best friend. At others, it felt like they were against me. Overall, the experience was a wild, spandex-clad (bike) ride. Here's how it all went down.

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It's no secret that we're big fans of Mango. In fact, the mega-retailer is often our first and last stop for not only fashion-forward wears, shoes, and accessories but also the innovative (and admittedly, sometimes wacky) ways to style them. Once again, the brand has managed to up the ante for affordable, street-style-ready versions of our favorite runway trends — just in time for our much-needed summer wardrobe refresh.

In other words: Cue all the gingham linen dresses, matching two-piece sets, and pops of pastel our hearts can handle (and our closets can physically accommodate). Peep our versatile faves ahead, but browse with caution: It'll be tough to keep your credit card at bay for very long with these fresh finds top of mind.

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No meme in history will ever demonstrate a mother's unconditional love quite like the one of Kris Jenner holding a camera at her daughter's photo shoot saying, "Kim, you're doing amazing, sweetie." She is the definition of a supportive parent — and not just the kind that sends you flowers when you get a raise, but is actually responsible for your multimillion-dollar salary.

In fact, Jenner is behind every Lip Kit, sock deal, cosmetics line, E! spinoff, and perfume launch any of her six children put out — and she reportedly has 10% of the profits to show for it. But after more than a decade playing a supporting character in the Kardashian-Jenner family, it looks as if the momager is finally ready for her time in the spotlight.

Hey guys.. it’s me! and oh, my collection drops on Mother’s Day.

A post shared by Kris Cosmetics (@kriscosmetics) on May 8, 2018 at 1:16pm PDT

Earlier today, Jenner hacked the Kylie Cosmetics Instagram account to announce a brand new line: Kris Cosmetics. The Instagram bio reads, "ONLY FOR A LITTLE 😉" and only one video has been posted since the hack with the caption, "Hey guys.. it’s me! and oh, my collection drops on Mother’s Day."

Never a family to leave you in the dark, she then shared the details on her brand-new lip collection (called Momager, because of course) via Instagram Stories, where she swatched a range of reds, pinks, and nudes in matte, velvet, and gloss finishes on her daughter Kylie's arm.

Pricing and the full range of shade names have yet to be revealed. We've reached out to the Kylie Cosmetics team for more information and will update this post when we hear back, but in the meantime, get ready to see a Jenner makeup line you have (actually) never seen before.

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Hey, mom. We love you, we appreciate you, we look up to you, but we're still pretty bad at finding you a proper mother's day gift that makes up for all your calls we've shamefully screened. And while we shouldn't have to wait until Mother's Day to show you our devotion, it can serve as a good reminder that you deserve to be showered with the utmost amount of love we can give.

This year, we're going to pass over your Amazon wishlist and skip on getting you a new microwave just because we know yours is broken. Instead, we'll be pooling together all the pennies we have to gift you something that will provide you as much joy as we felt when we opened up the myriad of toys, bikes, and shopping mall excursions you've given us over the years. We hope you'll love the options ahead as much as we love you.

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Even though they're gloriously steeped with cultural significance, locs still have a negative connotation that's hard to break in some circles. For a long time, Sojourner Elleby, a Refinery29 production assistant, let it stop her from experimenting. "My mom decided to loc her hair when she was in her late thirties," Elleby reveals. "I wanted to try them, too, but I thought that they wouldn't be widely accepted."

Now, Elleby says she's in a place where she's ready to ignore whatever society thinks — which led her to the chair of Annette Roche, co-owner of Nappstar NYC salon. "I chose this style for two reasons," Elleby continues. "For one, I’ve never had before. I see Meagan Good and Eva Marcille rock their gorgeous bohemian goddess locs, and have always been intrigued. But most importantly, I chose this style for my mom. As I grow into my womanhood and become more comfortable in my skin, it’s a style I absolutely plan on getting when I reach her age," she says.

Elleby's confidence didn't come easily. The Howard University graduate decided to go natural in college after years of relaxing. Like most naturalistas, she has three textures in her 'fro: 4a, 4b, and 4c. "I hate to admit it, but part of the reason I went natural is because I wanted those loose, defined curls instead of the coarser hair that is actually more true to my African roots," she says. "Thanks to celebrities like Solange, Viola Davis, and Jill Scott, I feel better about loving and embracing my hair the way it is. I try not to hit myself with the 'I wish my hair was longer' energy. I can now proudly say I love my hair."

And it shows. Check out the video above to hear more of Elleby's hair history and see her finished locs, too.

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The world is divided on plenty of topics: Soul Cycle, peanut butter, culottes. Slide sandals, though, are one of the few things we can all agree on — because what’s not to like about the easiest shoe to slip on and off, especially in the summer?

Sure, slides don’t always feel the most dressed up — if the Sarah Jessica Parker in you has an aversion to anything without a four-inch heel, you might scoff at the idea of a shoe like this. But summer is about kicking back. It’s for wearing the same shoes to a party that you would throw on to run downstairs to collect your Seamless order. And that’s exactly the versatility these sandals boast.

To step into high summer with the utmost ease, we rounded up some of our favorite slides ahead. Trust: You won’t be wanting to go back to complicated laces, heels, or buckles anytime soon. At least, not until September rolls around.

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As liberal organizers prep for the midterm elections coming this fall, an existential battle is raging among Women’s March activists about who literally gets to own the movement.

The latest disagreement is over the trademark: On one side is Women’s March, Inc. the high-profile national organization seeking to trademark “Women’s March,” a brand they feel they own and need to control; on the other is a group of 14 other organizations that sprung out of the national day of protest in 2017 (some of which use a variation of "Women's March" in their names; some of which use "March On" or are more local in nature), that say that the movement is large and diffuse, and that no single organization can control it.

“In principle, the movement belongs to no one. There were hundreds if not thousands of women who were intrinsic parts of making this happen,” says Vanessa Wruble, the executive director of March On, who was a chief architect on the original Women’s March on Washington team and worked alongside the four co-chairs (Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez and Bob Bland) among others, before leaving the organization in early 2017. “I worked on it from the moment it was a thing, and I’m still working on it. I believe it belongs to everyone.”

The debate over who owns the Women’s March and what it stands for has been an ongoing question since the beginning in November 2016. But it’s flaring up again because in March, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that Women’s March, Inc. would soon be granted the trademark “Women’s March. ” This trademark means the organization would control all uses of the “Women’s March” mark and, as a result, the Women’s March brand. Crucially, it means controlling the funds raised off of Women’s March-branded T-shirts, hoodies, baby onesies, and other merch. But it could also mean controlling the messaging and overarching goals of “the movement” and who gets to be a part of it. As is typical in the trademarking process, any organization seeking to dispute a trademark after a public notice has 30 days to do so.

After weeks of heated discussions about what to do, 14 separate organizations, including March On as well as independent entities from California, Chicago, New York and Boston, all filed extensions in order to express dissent between April 11th and April 13th. In interviews with Refinery29, organizers from the groups say they filed extensions both to give themselves more time to think about how to proceed, and to signal to Women’s March, Inc. that they disagree. They hoped that by doing so, Women’s March, Inc. might simply drop the matter, removing the need for a full challenge.

If we don’t protect the trademark, it could be co-opted and employed by people antithetical to our mission.

In the meantime, another group, Women’s March Los Angeles, has already moved forward with an official letter of protest to challenge the mark along with an application for its own trademark for “ Women’s March Los Angeles.”

“I’ve built this brand along with them. They aren’t the only group who should own it,” explains Emiliana Guereca, the co-executive director of Women’s March Los Angeles and newly elected President of Women’s March California. Guereca says the trademark was initiated without discussion, and so she felt she had to oppose it just to “get a seat at the table.”

Women’s March, Inc., which already owns the mark in Canada, insists that filing for the mark is a “matter of course” for any organization. “We have to be able to control it or else anyone could use it. We need to be able to protect the brand, which represents the Unity Principles and is rooted in Kingian Nonviolence,” says Bob Bland, co-president of Women’s March, Inc., adding that Time’s Up and Black Lives Matter have also registered trademarks. Already, she adds, “there are thousands of sites using the name to raise money. We have no idea where that money is going. If we don’t protect the trademark, it could be co-opted and employed by people antithetical to our mission.”

Refinery29 spoke with nine of the 14 group leaders who filed in opposition. (Five didn't return calls for comment by press time.) They cited a lack of transparency, fears that Women’s March, Inc. might charge licensing fees or dues to use the name, and stories of local organizations already being sent letters asking them to stop using the phrase and branding associated with “Women’s March," as reasons to question the goals of the trademark.

“I get why they want it on some level, but why was this not discussed with the other leaders in this movement?,” Guereca says. “If you tell me we’re trademarking it, and these are going to be the rules for the trademark, and we can all agree, we could have all signed off on it. But that’s not a conversation we’re having.”

In one instance that was reported in the New York Times in January, a group called Mobile Marchers in Mobile, Alabama, was asked not to use Women’s March branding after trying to list their anniversary event on the Women’s March website. In another report by Rolling Stone, the original organizers of Women’s Marches in Canada were unceremoniously kicked out of their roles, locked out of social media accounts and replaced by staffers chosen by Women’s March, Inc. Organizers interviewed by Refinery29 say they fear this is an example of what might happen in the U.S. as well, if the mark is granted.

Bland insists that the fee rumors are false, and they have no plans to exclude anyone. “We have said this repeatedly: We don’t own the movement. We never will. We haven’t stopped anyone from using the name Women’s March, unless it’s someone using it for personal profit,” she says. “We have many stakeholders who have an understandably deep commitment to the brand and feel ownership. We are absolutely here and available to speak to anyone with concerns and our goal, as always, is to make sure everyone who wants to be a part of this movement feels included.”

But organizers dispute that there are open lines of communication. “I actually would love to talk to any of the people at [Women’s March Inc.],” says Eve Hurwitz, director of March On Maryland. “I tried for months to reach out to Women’s March and I never heard from anybody."

"They have rarely engaged in conversations with sister march organizers and when they have it is defensive and unkind," says Jessica Rodgers, a co-organizer for March On Colorado, which organized Denver Women's March.

On top of that, Guereca argues it's not right to trademark a phrase as general as “women’s march,” which has been used repeatedly by women around the world. “I’ve marched in Argentina and in Mexico at ‘women’s marches.’ There has always been a women’s march somewhere. Did they call and get permission from The Zapatistas? The people behind the Women’s March on Versailles?,” Guereca says.

They go around saying they’re a national organization. But that’s not what’s happening. There are a lot of leaders out here... And we have no say.

While the organizers admit that the Women's March On Washington was what one could call the headline event, they point out that women from other cities independently organized their own sister marches across the country that day. The result was an international day of protest that was largely a spontaneous response to a moment in time.

“Women’s March Chicago would support Women’s March Inc.’s application to trademark a unique name which reflects their historic work organizing the Women’s March on Washington in 2017. We would similarly support such an application by any other organizing body which engaged in work in their community,” reads a statement emailed to Refinery29 on behalf of Women’s March Chicago’s board of directors. “However, Women’s March Chicago would prefer that no organizing body seek a trademark which arguably covers the labors of other organizers in the Women’s Movement. A trademark on the phrase 'Women’s March' does exactly that.”

Many of the groups that have opposed the trademark have in fact already re-branded or never used the exact phrase “women’s march” in their name or branding to begin with. They are disputing the trademark on principle.

"We hosted and funded both the 2017 and 2018 Women's March in New York," says Katherine Siemionko, executive director of Women's Alliance (formerly known as Women's March Alliance) in New York City. "Both times they have removed us from the national website. They've bashed us on social media. They're not supportive of what we're doing."

Siemionko says she's reached out repeatedly to Women's March, Inc. to try to work together. She says her organization has already re-branded to reflect the lack of association between the two groups, but she says she remains concerned about the trademark. "The march is the thing people know. If I want to have another march, then it will be confusing if I can't use the name Women's March."

“We feel pretty strongly that this is a mistake. There’s not a whole lot that would affect my specific organization but we feel this doesn’t serve the broader movement,” says Karen Cosmas, executive director for March Forward Massachusetts in Boston. "To be clear, I think that a look and feel and a logo is associated with the D.C. Women’s March. We don’t use that look and feel. But to purport that a group of activists who wants to host a women’s march have to be approved by this one group in New York City — it defies the grassroots nature of what we’re all trying to do.”

Alexandra Wojcik, a spokesperson for March On Hudson Valley, echoes the sentiment. “We believe that the term ‘women's march’ should describe the women's march movement, and thus the term should not be owned by any one organization, be they at the forefront of the movement or not,” Wojcik said over email. “To trademark ‘women's march’ implies hierarchy — it implies that a specific group or organization not only owns the movement, but is also making decisions about who can and cannot affiliate with the movement.”

Other local organizers, some of whom declined to speak on this publicly, expressed that fighting the trademark is actually a way to protect a brand they feel has been sullied by poor leadership. This is especially true in light of the Louis Farrakhan controversy earlier this year, which depending on who you ask was either bad public relations or a sign of actual anti-Semitic leanings of certain leaders. (This is among the main reasons Siemionko re-branded her group.)

“I think its been hurtful to the movement at large, and we have done our best to show our community that we stand strong in support of all communities. It’s been tough honestly,” says Dawn Addis, a Women’s March organizer in San Luis Obispo, California. “The power of Women’s March is in the 5 million marchers that marched worldwide. That’s part of why we’re pressing back against the trademark. This is a grassroots movement. It’s not about the four people who organized D.C.”

"This schism wasn't born in a vacuum, it is a direct result of these women, who are poor leaders, to communicate," Rogers says. "I don't feel that they’ve used their platform as a tool for change, but as a tool for their resumes."

“They go around saying they’re a national organization. They are the leaders, and we follow,” Guereca says. “But that’s not what’s happening. They’re not running it like a real organization. They spent a year and a half building their personal brands instead of building this movement. That’s understandable. But I think we all need to be honest about why we’re doing this.”

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Back in 2015, word started circulating about a “secret” Facebook inbox, one where messages from people you weren’t friends with went to sit and gather dust. The “other” inbox (as it was called) was hard to find and full of spam, including creepy, flirtatious messages from people you had never met. But, every so often, there was a hello from a middle school friend you fell out of touch with post-playground days, or a message you actually wished you had seen.

A year later, users were stunned to discover this hidden inbox was like a Russian nesting doll, with another hidden inbox inside, full of so-called “filtered requests”. Both inboxes still exist in Messenger, although they aren’t buried so deep that only the Messenger sleuths among us can dig them out: “Unread Requests” — those from people you haven’t friended — appear at the top of your inbox. When you tap that and scroll to the bottom, you’ll see “filtered requests.” You won’t get notifications about these, so it’s worth checking every so often to see if you’re missing out on a note from a long lost lover.

That’s the extent of Facebook’s message maze, but you may not know — or simply forget to check — a similar inbox in another one of the company’s apps: Instagram.

Open Instagram, go to your direct message folder, and look at the top of your inbox. Do you see a small “requests” heading in blue font on the right-hand side? Tap that, and you’ll see any pending requests from people you don’t follow. You can choose to allow the request, at which point the sender will see that you’ve seen the message, or decline it, in which case they’ll never know you opened and ignored it.

On a good day, this “requests” folder might include an invite to a party or, if your account is public, interesting input on one of your Stories from someone you haven’t met. For influencers, it can be an important place to connect with brands and fans, and, prior to direct message updates announced yesterday, a place for businesses to interact with potential customers.

But for everyone who just uses Instagram to connect with friends, the “requests” folder can be one of the darkest, strangest places of the online world. You might find messages from people who saw you on Tinder and are trying a more direct approach, inappropriate images from total strangers, and incomprehensible sentences likely formed by bots. In other words, accounts you probably don't want communicating with you or looking at your profile.

In response to a request for comment, an Instagram spokesperson says its moderation policies do apply to direct messages, too: “Instagram uses automated technology that scans all images when they are uploaded on the platform, including those sent via Direct. This system flags known child exploitative material and known terrorist propaganda so we can quickly remove content.”

While you could just ignore the folder and never see what lies in store, there might be messages you don't want to miss. For that reason, it’s better to open it, then block and report the messages from accounts you never want to hear from again. Before tapping “decline” when you open a message, tap the “i” icon in the upper right-hand corner. There, you’ll have the option to report the message as “spam” or “inappropriate” and can choose to block the sender. If you do accidentally accept a message and immediately regret it, follow the same steps to block or report it. Ideally, Instagram's filters would block all of those unwanted messages from ever appearing in your "requests" to begin with. But when they do, you have the control to take action — use it.

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In 2012, Kim Kardashian West “let” her then-boyfriend, now-husband Kanye West clean out her closet and throw away anything he deemed 'uncool.' She later revealed that she actually kept everything to save for her daughter, North, but thanked West for “helping her fall in love with fashion.” And so it seems, six years ago, West had the vision — just look at how his styling tricks have changed fashion, how he had the foresight to tell his wife she needed to get on the tiny sunglasses trend, and how the infamous Great Leather Jogger Fiasco of 2013 took the world by storm — because Kardashian is getting the ultimate stamp of approval from the fashion industry.

On June 4, Kardashian will be honored with the Influencer Award at the 2018 CFDA Fashion Awards. “Over the past decade, Kim Kardashian West has mastered the meaning of influence in the digital age,” CFDA chairwoman Diane von Furstenberg said in a press release. “Kim is the most important and powerful influencer in the world. Her reach extends far beyond her own brands,” CFDA board member Tommy Hilfiger added. “Every time she wears, posts, or talks about a fashion brand, there is an immediate and significant increase in both awareness and sales.”

Kardashian’s influence is undeniable, especially for someone who is often criticized as not having any talent. As she told Forbes in 2016 of the success of her game, website, and app (which earned her the cover of the magazine): “When people looked at me in a way like, 'Why is she stepping into the tech world? That's not her territory! Stick to reality TV!' I was like, 'No.' This is fun for me," she said. “Now I'm coming up with Kimojis and the app and all these other ideas. I don't see myself stopping.”

Now, we wonder if West will be able to tear himself away from the studio to support his wife on her big night. Perhaps he'll even introduce her?

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Remember the judge who sentenced Brock Turner to just six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman? Well, Aaron Persky is back in the news because he is comparing the backlash to his absurdly lenient decision to how unpopular — wait for it — school desegregation was.

The Santa Clara County Superior Court judge justified the sentencing during a press conference and talked about the efforts to recall him, BuzzFeed reports. Perksy also said that judges should be given "the courage" to make "hard decisions."

" Brown v. Board of Education was unpopular in many states," he said, referencing the U.S. Supreme Court 1954 decision determining that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. "Imagine for a moment if those federal judges had been faced with judicial recall in the face of that unpopularity."

He added: "We ask judges to follow the rule of law, not the rule of public opinion."

When Persky handed out the six-month sentence, he said that he feared more time in prison would have a "severe impact" on Turner, then 20. He didn't seem to consider the impact the sexual assault had on the 23-year-old woman Turner assaulted, though she described the horror she lived in a heartwrenching, viral letter. Turner was released after serving only three months in jail and is now trying to appeal his conviction.

In the wake of Turner's conviction in 2016, California amended the loophole that allowed Persky to hand out such a lax sentence.

Stanford Law School Professor Michele Dauber, who one of the leaders of the recall effort, pushed back against Perksy's comments.

She tweeted: "Sentencing a privileged elite recruited athlete sex offender to probation is not a 'courageous' decision. It is business as usual. The fact that he would say that just shows how tone-deaf and clueless he is about what he did and the impact it had on women. #ThisIsRapeCulture."

Sentencing a privileged elite recruited athlete sex offender to probation is not a "courageous" decision. It is business as usual. The fact that he would say that just shows how tone-deaf and clueless he is about what he did and the impact it had on women. #ThisIsRapeCulture https://t.co/IpjfM0ULid

— Michele Dauber (@mldauber) May 9, 2018

Persky's recall vote will take place on June 5.

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Update: Sanaa Lathan's drastic September 2017 haircut is starting to grow in — and with that, she's growing more comfortable with her shorter length, too. At first, "it was terrifying!" Lathan told Health magazine in her June 2018 cover story, in which she discussed the change for her role in Nappily Ever After. "My character [Violet] is in crisis, and everything that she thought she knew is unraveling. So the emotions were all over the place for me—because I’m playing Violet, but I’m also shaving my head! It was actually really powerful and kind of weirdly cathartic and freeing."

Overall, the response has been positive. "A lot of my exes... so many guys were calling me, saying, 'I wanna rub your head,' and I was like, 'What are you into?,'" she joked. And for Lathan, it's exactly the freedom she needed. "It was kind of a perfect time in my life to do it," she said. "I have a lot of hair, and it’s thick. I was just so over it. If I got it straightened and then I worked out, it would go right back into the original—the Afro... my girlfriends would even be like, 'Why aren’t you doing anything with your hair? You look crazy!' In all, Lathan says the change represents more than just a cut. "[It feels like this is time] in terms of women of color coming into this amazing renaissance of owning who they are, and owning all of their beauty in whatever shape, size, color it is. There’s no more cookie-cutter, like, 'This is the ideal.'"

For more details on the chop straight from Lathan's hairstylist, keep reading.

This post was originally published on September 7, 2017.

Either every available role in Hollywood right now requires buzzing your head, or the actors and actresses in L.A. are finally realizing just how freeing and chic the style can be — especially in the summer heat.

For Sanaa Lathan, the decision was a mix of both. The actress, who shaved her hair for her role in Nappily Ever After, a Netflix original film hitting screens in 2019, revealed her new look on Instagram this week, saying, "I feel so light, I could fly away."

Of course, the likes poured in at a breakneck pace... as did the questions. So we went straight to the source: her longtime hairstylist Larry Sims, to clear things up.

"I'm actually surprised that she even revealed it, to be honest with you," he told Refinery29. "We talked about when she was going to do it, and she released [the video] unbeknownst to me. But we knew it was going to be a big deal. It leaves a lot of people with questions."

And sadly, a lot of those questions can't be answered right now. "To walk you through the evolution of the looks is to reveal the movie," Sims teases. "They don't want me to reveal it just yet. It'll give it away!"

If you're not familiar, Nappily Ever After is based on the early 2000s book series by Trisha R. Thomas. Lathan is set to play Violet Jones, a career woman who had the picture-perfect job, boyfriend, and chemically-straightened hair. Everything ended up falling apart, though, and that's when she reached for the shears.

Over the past few weeks, Lathan has given her 3.5 million Instagram followers a sneak peek at her character's many hair looks, including a blonde dye job. But nothing's more important than her shaved head, according to Sims. "It's a pivotal moment in the script. That's all I can say about it. It's the biggest moment in the evolution of Violet," Sims says.

A post shared by Sanaa Lathan (@sanaalathan) on Sep 5, 2017 at 2:54pm PDT

So pivotal, in fact, that Lathan opted to cut her own curls — something that she actually didn't have to do. "We gave her the option to use a bald cap and shave that," Sims notes. "With today's technology in film, it can look like you're actually shaving your hair. She was committed to shaving her actual head and hair for this role. You'll see her real reaction on film. That shows you, nervous or not, she was committed to telling the story which is going to be so important to women around the world once they see the actual film."

Sims says that before the big chop, Lathan's hair almost reached her waist. "Sanaa really takes care of her hair," he says. "It's natural, not processed. No relaxer, no color, virgin hair. No heat. When she had hair, we did a lot of things. We incorporated a lot of hair pieces and wigs, which is why it's as long as it is. Or was, rather."

But just because she's free of her long locks now doesn't mean she's off the hook when it comes to haircare. "When you shave your scalp, you see dryness," Sims says. "You need to moisturize and invigorate the scalp." To do that, he uses Smooth 'N Shine Olive & Tea Tree Treatment Oil to prevent flakes. He shampoos and conditions her hair with Schwarzkopf Gliss Hair Repair Shampoo and Conditioner as well. (Sims is a spokesperson for both brands.) "Our scalp produces so many natural oils, so it's good to keep it clean," he says. "With Sanaa's buzzcut, the great thing about that is that you can wash your whole hair and body on a daily basis. It's so freeing."

A post shared by Sanaa Lathan (@sanaalathan) on Sep 6, 2017 at 12:36pm PDT

Nappily Ever After hits Netflix in 2018, but Sims has a feeling that Lathan will be rocking this look for a while. "She's certainly having fun with it and embracing it," he says. "She loves that her head is a great shape [laughs]. Obviously, it was hard to tell with all of her hair. She feels amazing. She looks gorgeous. She's not in a space where she's like, 'Oh my God, I hate that I did this. I need my hair back.' No, she's really happy that she did it and looks even more beautiful, in my opinion now, than she did before."

For those considering or facing a buzzcut, Sims always tells his clients to embrace the emotional response, too. "Some people do it to get rid of energy, or for a fresh start. Sometimes it's because of a breakup or a new relationship. Sometimes it's cancer or sickness. No matter why you do it, it's chopping off the old and beginning anew," he says. "The biggest message is that we are beautiful beyond just our hair. To be able to shave off something so adored, to tap into your inner beauty and let it shine from within, is glorious and inspiring. It's beyond hair. It's spiritual cleansing. It's a refreshing thing to see and experience."

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When you've been blessed with natural curls or coils, you've already got a canvas for some of the dopest hair accessories out there. Stud your 'fro with flowers. Put pearls on the ends of your braids. Hell, you can even stick a few butterflies in your curls, if you're feeling fly. In the midst of all this creativity, we've forgotten about our day one: filigree tubes, or hair cuffs. The tiny decorations, usually sold in a pack of 12 for $1 at local beauty supply stores, were the easiest accessories to clip on to box braids or locs. Now, naturalistas are finding so many ways to wear them — and are giving even the most expensive baubles a run for their money. See the styles we love, ahead.

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FKA twigs has been fairly absent from the limelight since her big project with Nike last year, and today she opened up about where she's been. The British singer and dancer, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, announced on Instagram that she had been dealing with painful uterine fibroid tumors and had undergone surgery in December to have them removed.

"I am a very private person as u all know and I have gone back and forth in my mind whether to share that this year I have been recovering from laparoscopic surgery to remove six fibroid tumours from my uterus," she wrote in the caption to a video of herself dancing around a pole.

dear friends, I am a very private person as u all know and I have gone back and forth in my mind whether to share that this year I have been recovering from laparoscopic surgery to remove 6 fibroid tumours from my uterus. the tumours were pretty huge, the size of 2 cooking apples 🍎 🍎, 3 kiwis 🥝 🥝 🥝 and a couple of 🍓🍓. a fruit bowl of pain everyday. the nurse said that the weight and size was like being 6 months pregnant. I tried to be brave but it was excruciating at times and to be honest I started to doubt if my body would ever feel the same again. I had surgery in December and I was so scared, despite lots of love from friends and family I felt really alone and my confidence as a woman was knocked. but... today whilst dancing with Kelly at the choreography house I felt like my strong self again for the first time in a while and it was magical. thank you precious body for healing, thank you for reminding me to be kind to myself, you are a wonderful thing, now go create and be other once again <3 I know that a lot of women suffer from fibroid tumours and I just wanted to say after my experience that you are amazing warriors and that you are not alone. you can get through this. and with this I let go of the pain... love always twigs 🌱

A post shared by FKA twigs (@fkatwigs) on May 8, 2018 at 10:29pm PDT

Fibroids are non-cancerous growths found in or around the uterus, and they're extremely common — it's estimated that between 20% and 50% of reproductive-age women have them (though not all are diagnosed), according to UCLA Obstetrics and Gynecology. The cause is not known, but they most commonly develop during women's reproductive years when estrogen levels are at their highest, which is often close to menopause.

"The tumours were pretty huge, the size of two cooking apples, three kiwis and a couple of [strawberries]," twigs wrote. "A fruit bowl of pain everyday. The nurse said that the weight and size was like being six months pregnant."

She said that while she "tried to be brave... it was excruciating at times and to be honest I started to doubt if my body would ever feel the same again."

Around the time of her surgery in December, she revealed she was scared and felt alone, "despite lots of love from friends and family... and my confidence as a woman was knocked".

"But... today whilst dancing with Kelly at the choreography house," she wrote, referring to the video of herself dancing, "I felt like my strong self again for the first time in a while and it was magical. Thank you precious body for healing, thank you for reminding me to be kind to myself, you are a wonderful thing, now go create and be other once again."

She continued: "I know that a lot of women suffer from fibroid tumors and I just wanted to say after my experience that you are amazing warriors and that you are not alone. You can get through this. And with this I let go of the pain... love always twigs."

She has already received hundreds of supportive comments and tweets.

It’s almost 5 am & I’m crying at FKA Twigs’ lates ig post about her fibroid tumors. I want the best for her, she deserves it. Love you Twigs💜 @FKAtwigs pic.twitter.com/onNJHNaUeY

— brenda (@goawaybrenda) May 9, 2018

ALSO NOT TO BE EMOTIONAL BUT FKA TWIGS AND SANAM BOTH DISCLOSING ABOUT THEIR ISSUES WITH PELVIC PAIN/UTERINE FIBROIDS/ENDOMETRIOSIS MADE ME FEEL SO VALIDATED AND SEEN - THESE ISSUES ARE SO REAL FOR PEOPLE EVERYWHERE & NOBODY TALKS ABOUT THE PAIN/CONFUSION/SADNESS THAT COMES WITH

— ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶ (@souljafetus) May 9, 2018

omg I srsly love @FKAtwigs im so happy she’s okay 🌹 pic.twitter.com/yXELL0IiJ4

— xenia (@sailor_n3ptune) May 9, 2018

Dear @FKAtwigs you're a warrior she having laparoscopic surgery in december
, to remove 6 fibroid tumours from her uterus. pic.twitter.com/ClQOJKthmv

— fka twigs pics (@fkatwigspics) May 9, 2018

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It was the question on everyone's lips at the 92nd Street Y on Tuesday night as comedian Jessica Williams interviewed Cecile Richards about her best-selling book Make Trouble. During the Q&A portion, people sent up index cards to the stage reading, "Are you running for office?" and "#RichardsWilliams2020."

Richards deflected the questions onstage, but in an interview with Refinery29 backstage organized by OkCupid the outgoing president of Planned Parenthood said she wouldn't rule out running for office.

"Never say never, right?" she said. "Don't box yourself out. I think as women, we need to have more tapes in our head that say, 'You know, I could do that.' [laughs] And so, I never want to say there's something I'm not going to do. There's no reason to foreclose things."

Richards said that "just going for it" is a lesson she's learned from her mom — Ann Richards, the former governor of Texas — who, as she describes in her book, encouraged her to go to her Planned Parenthood interview in 2006, right before she died.

She said, however, that for now, she feels more comfortable being behind the scenes. With her background as a political organizer, she said she's seen firsthand what it a difference it can make. "Helping other people organize...to hold people in office accountable for issues that matter, that brings me real joy," she said. "I've seen the power of people organizing together...and there's a role for that that's as important as having good people in office."

After she stepped down from her position, she's made it clear that she wants to help organize women to get out and vote in the 2018 midterm elections — but hasn't elaborated on the shape this work will take yet.

"I'm trying to talk to women about what it is they want to see in government and the political environment that's not happening right now — affordable healthcare, equal pay, affordable childcare, good public schools," she said. "These are issues that I just don't see being talked about in Washington, and I think it's important that women not only run for office and vote, but also really organize around things that they want and need. That, to me, is exciting."

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