Get Pepper Potts' Natural Texture (Because Gwyneth Paltrow Looks Amazing in Iron Man 3)

Have you guys seen Iron Man 3 yet? I heard it was as awesome as the other two and am dying to go. Plus, it made more in its opening weekend than any other solo superhero, not to mention practically any movie ever. Personally, though, I was stoked to hear that Gwyneth Paltrow totally embraces her inner badass as Pepper Potts and, from what I've seen, looks gorgeous in the process. (I mean, hello! Look at her.) Here's how to get her beachy-cum-badass texture. 

Start by washing your hair with a curl-defining shampoo and conditioner (even if you have straight hair), then use a microfiber towel to squeeze out all the water. Gentle comb out your 'do with a wide toothed comb, then scrunch in a curl defining, volumizing mouse like Bumble and bumble's.

If you have natural texture, use a diffuser to blow dry sections, gently cupping handfuls of strands as you. If you've got super straight hair like moi, dry it with a diffuser similar to the above. While your strands are still warm, twist two-inch pieces into tiny little buns and pin them in place. Leave it in for an hour at least (I did closer to four, cause like I said, my mane is straighter than an arrow) before you let them loose and it hit 'em with flexible hold hairspray. I'm loving this spray from VO5.

Then, go kick some bad-guy ass.

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Image Credit: Courtesy of ScreenRant.com

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Me-Ality Finds the Perfect Jeans for Your Figure (Even Though It Looks Like an Airport Scanner)

Confession: I probably have about 20 pairs of jeans. Actually, take out the probably. I have 20 pairs of jeans. I know this because I counted last night. What I don't have? That one perfect pair. You know, the one that fits you just right; that's comfortably stretchy but never shrinks,  fades or stretches out too much. Most importantly, though, is that this perfect pair should make you look slim. Every day. Even on days you don't feel it. But now, there's a solution for that.

Needless to say, I was so excited when I heard about the Me-Ality Size-Matching Station at Bloomingdale's. How this airport scanner look-a-like works: You stand in the booth for 10 seconds while a machine measures your body. (Don't worry: You don't have to remove any clothes -- unless you're wearing a bulky outer jacket -- and no one is going to frisk you afterwards.) Once you've been measured, you get a barcode that you scan into a computer, and the result is the most amazing thing ever: a list of jeans -- brand, size and style included -- that fit you the best and that the store currently has in stock. It's even ranked in order of how perfect the fit should be. If you're looking for something specific, like skinny jeans, you can check a box and the computer will take away any denim that doesn't match. Brilliant, right?

When I scanned in my code, I got a list of 20 possible pairs. A couple of which--Paige and Joe's--I'd never tried before. A saleswoman helped me pull about 10 pairs from the list. Every pair fit. Like, every.single.pair. It kind of felt like magic. Of course, that didn't mean I liked them all (that would be magic), but it was still pretty great to be able to comfortably zip each one. After narrowing it down to two favorites, I ended up going with the number one-ranked pair on my list: Paige Skyline Skinny jeans. My coworker Anna, also ended up in a pair she'd never tried before: Adriano Goldschmied Stilt. Serious scores.

We hit up the Me-Ality at the Bloomingdale's 59th St. Flagship store in NYC, but the free service is also available at four other Bloomingdale's locations: Garden City, NY; Chevy Chase, MD; Costa Mesa, CA and Santa Monica, CA. Additionally, it's in 20 malls nationwide. (Check out me-ality.com/locations to find one near you.) And once you're measured, your stats are saved. Simply create a profile on me-ality.com and the program will help you find the right size for online purchases, too. The company's next project: bras. Which means finding the perfect one will no longer require letting a stranger measure your boobs. Don't know about you, but I'll happily get scanned for that any day.

--Sara Wells, Senior Editor

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Concussion Damage Looks Much Like Early Alzheimer's: Study

Preliminary finding suggests mild brain injury triggers long-lasting abnormalities in white matter

By Dennis Thompson

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) -- Concussion can lead to damage in the white matter of the brain that resembles abnormalities found in people in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine said their findings should prompt a re-evaluation of the long-term effects of concussion, which affects more than 1.7 million people in the United States annually. About 15 percent of concussion patients suffer persistent neurological symptoms.

"The previous thinking before was you get a concussion, and that causes a certain damage from bopping your head and you get these symptoms," said study author Dr. Saeed Fakhran, an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "We found it acts as a kind of trigger, and lights a fuse that causes a neurodegenerative cascade that causes all these symptoms down the line. Once you've hit your head, the injury isn't done."

The findings are published online June 18 in the journal Radiology.

The study drew some criticism from concussion and Alzheimer's disease experts who said the findings, while provocative, should not be interpreted as drawing a clear link between a concussion suffered early in life with the development of Alzheimer's.

"I don't want a mom to pick this up and say, 'Oh my god, my 10-year-old is going to get Alzheimer's now,' because that is not the case," said Dr. Ken Podell, a neuropsychologist and co-director of the Methodist Concussion Center in Houston. "It's very inconclusive at this time, and there's no clinical application of this at this point of time."

White matter serves as the tissue through which messages pass between different areas of gray matter within the brain and spinal cord. Think of gray matter as the individual computers in a network, and white matter as the cables that connect the computer.

The researchers reviewed past brain scans of 64 people who had suffered a concussion, focusing on scans that used an advanced MRI technique called diffusion-tensor imaging, which spots microscopic changes in the brain's white matter.

The investigators then compared these brain scans to symptoms reported by concussed patients in a post-concussion questionnaire. They focused on symptoms shared with Alzheimer's patients, including memory problems, disturbances in sleep cycles and hearing problems.

The results showed a significant correlation between high concussion symptom scores and reduced water movement in the parts of the brain's white matter related to auditory processing and sleep-wake disturbances. Further, the researchers said, the distribution of white matter abnormalities in mildly concussed patients resembled the distribution of abnormalities in people with Alzheimer's disease.

"Basically, it looks a lot like Alzheimer's," said study co-author Dr. Lea Alhilali, an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "You get the same distribution of damage in the way that Alzheimer's disease affects the brain."

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An American Looks At Home From Afar

What is going on in America? It's the refrain heard most round the office this week. Wedged between the tragedy that rocked Massachusetts and the fertiliser plant explosion that hit Texas hard, the Senate rejected a bipartisan plan to curb gun violence.

Afterwards, Barack Obama spoke about Washington's shame. This wasn't a move to ban firearms after all; it was a plan to extend background checks on those purchasing guns online and at gun shows - it had 90% support in the polls and it still fell six votes short of going through. And that's when the rest of the world starts scratching its head. 

Because unlike in America, where I was born and raised, there seems to be a general consensus in the UK, where I have lived for the past five years, as well as the rest of the western world, that there's no need for guns in private households.

Sitting amongst my friends, a mix of Brits, Aussies and European nationals who make up a spectrum of political beliefs, the topic has again been raised: how is this still an issue in 2013? "Ban guns and shootings go down," they chorus.

It's basic maths, but the reality - the mentality - of growing up American makes this more complicated, burying the reasons (of which there are many) why the US can't seem to shake this topic.

Freedom: Is there a country that more rigorously echoes this mantra? It's the backbone of the States, a concept that is woven through every school lesson - free press! free speech! - starting from the Boston Tea party and fraying out to our involvement with other nations now. But this is it. In a nutshell the nation's historical narrative goes like this: our founding fathers fled religious persecution in England, fought the Brits for our freedom (there it is again), won, and haven't looked back since. The first order of the day was establishing the Bill of Rights, a handy manual that in essence flipped off King James II, making sure we didn't make the same mistakes as the mother country. Instead we made our own.

Pride: Mix this notion of freedom with national pride and you get one toxic cocktail - pounding fists on chest, 'defending' the rights our forefathers won for us. To hear gun supporters tell it, we're all in some episode of Games of Thrones, and would be sorely caught out without our weapons to protect us. This wasn't my experience in the northeast of the country, but if these views are anything to go on I'll steer clear of Texas.

Peer-pressure: You can't avoid the National Rifle Association, which lurks like a mosquito the government just can't squash. For a country that rallies so ardently against bullying, the US seems to be listening increasingly to the whispering devil on its shoulder. That the NRA has a monetary hold is no secret, that we don't know the half of it is bewildering.

*****

Eleven days before Christmas I was reading in my flat next to my husband who watched sports online beside me. "There's been another shooting in America," he said. I looked over at him, and then went back to reading. Another one, I thought, and part of me shut off, folded closed - the part that's been hyper-sensitive since 2001. The part that doesn't seem to heal, it just keeps scabbing over. It's a reality not just for Americans, but every person in every country on every continent.

When I sat down, by myself, to read about Sandy Hook, I felt bile in the back of my throat and salt in my eyes. If, after all this - after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Colorado, Aurora - we can't bring about a change, then when?

After the Dunblane school massacre in Britain in 1996, the Conservative party pushed through a ban on firearms the following year. And, as it was reported this week in the UK, 1 person in 100,000 dies from a gun every year to 3.2 in the US. 

Shame - it robs you of the pride you feel for the country, the culture and the memories of home. It's laced with disgust - at the people who raced out to stockpile guns in the wake of Sandy Hook - and frustation - at the people who refuse to see this tragedy as plain, hard proof of what happens when you make it easier to buy a gun than get a driver's license.

The strength of a nation depends on its ability to adapt in an evolving world; America's founders recognised this, while its progeny clings to the past.

If we can't at least limit the means, then how can this end?

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Help! My Hair Always Looks a Little Sad by Happy Hour

One product, two minutes: That's all it takes to revive end-of-day hair.

If Your Hair Is Straight: Flip your part to the opposite side for instant volume (you'll get used to it, swear) and mist roots with hairspray, says Gwynne Mims, lead hairstylist for Ojon in New York City. Then spray a brush and run it through hair to tame flyaways.

If Your Hair is Wavy: Coat hands with wave spray. Twist 2-inch sections of hair around fingers, using them like a curling iron. For more lift, pull hair up and away from your head as you wind.

If Your Hair is Curly: Rub a leave-in curl enhancer between palms, then rake fingers from roots to ends to depoof and define curls. Twirl hairline pieces with fingers; they lose shape fastest.

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Image Credit: Catherine Wessel

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