Author: Shekari Philemon

Dermatologists break down the real risks behind traditional, gel and acrylic manicures and what you can do to protect your nails and skin. If you have ever sat in a salon chair and quietly wondered whether your manicure habit is slowly wrecking your nails, you are not alone. It is one of those low-grade beauty anxieties that tends to resurface every time a nail technician pulls out the electric file or the acetone soak runs a little long. The short answer is that manicures are generally not harmful. The longer answer is that certain practices, repeated often enough and without…

New research and expert insight challenge decades of kitchen wisdom about which cutting board material is truly the safest choice. It is one of the most overlooked decisions in the kitchen. Most people grab whatever cutting board is closest and get to work, but where your knife lands matters more than you might expect. Cutting boards sit at the center of cross-contamination risk in the home kitchen, and the material you choose, along with how you care for it, plays a direct role in how safely you are handling food. For a long time, plastic was the default recommendation. It…

New research links early menopause to a significantly higher risk of heart disease, with Black women facing a disproportionate burden that demands urgent attention. A woman’s reproductive history has long been recognized as a window into her long-term health. Pregnancy complications like preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and recurrent miscarriage have each been tied to a higher lifetime risk of heart disease. Now, new research is pushing that conversation further, drawing a direct line between when menopause begins and how the heart fares in the decades that follow. A study published this month in JAMA Cardiology found that women who go through…

Kim Kardashian and Lewis Hamilton have made no secret of their relationship lately, and a recent weekend in Tokyo added another chapter to what has quickly become one of the most watched romances of the year. The couple was photographed strolling arm in arm through the city, relaxed and visibly happy, as they made their way through a day of shopping alongside Kardashian’s sister Khloé. Kardashian stepped out in a long-sleeved gray dress and black heels, while Hamilton kept it casual in a brown jacket and matching pants. Fan photos captured the two moving through the city with an ease…

There are artists who return to the stage after years away and seem to be chasing something they once had. Mýa is not one of them. Her set at the 2026 Jazz in the Gardens Festival moved with the ease of someone who never really left, working through a catalog that still holds weight and connecting with an audience that clearly felt every moment of it. She handed out roses and CDs before the show even started, moving through beloved hits and weaving in medleys that honored the golden era of 1990s R&B. The performance was less a nostalgia trip…

When Paapa Essiedu was cast as Severus Snape in HBO’s forthcoming Harry Potter series, he understood the role would come with scrutiny. What he did not anticipate was the scale and ferocity of what followed. Since the announcement, the British actor of Ghanaian descent has been subjected to a sustained wave of racist harassment online, including direct threats against his life. In a wide ranging interview published recently, Essiedu described coming across messages threatening to show up at his home and harm him. He also shared that he had received messages telling him to walk away from the production or…

Earlier this year, the White House declared what it described as the largest tax refund season in American history. The celebration centered on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a sweeping piece of legislation promising the typical household hundreds of dollars more in refunds. For millions of Americans, it felt like a rare financial win. That feeling may not last long. Economists are now warning that rising gasoline prices, driven largely by the ongoing military conflict involving Iran, could effectively cancel out those gains before most households ever feel them. What the numbers actually say Researchers at the Stanford Institute…

Xavier Smalls, known to audiences through his role on Tyler Perry’s Beauty in Black, spent much of February navigating the consequences of a moment that was never meant to travel as far as it did. A live video he broadcast on Instagram in early February drew sharp criticism after screen recordings began circulating widely, exposing remarks many viewers found deeply offensive toward LGBTQ people. In the video, Smalls framed his comments through a religious lens, describing various behaviors he believed to be sinful in the eyes of God and placing LGBTQ identities within that category alongside other conduct he listed…

For decades, conversations about healthy pregnancies have centered almost entirely on the mother. What she eats, how she sleeps, whether she takes her vitamins, the scrutiny has always pointed in one direction. A sweeping new review is pushing back on that narrow focus in a meaningful way, suggesting that men’s health before conception may play a far larger role in pregnancy outcomes and children’s long-term health than most people realize. The review, published this week in a leading international medical journal, pulled together findings from multiple studies to examine how a man’s physical health, mental health, nutritional habits, lifestyle choices,…

When excerpts from a new royal book began making the rounds, most expected the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to either stay silent or brush it off with grace. Instead, their spokesperson fired back with a pointed and detailed statement, and now a public relations expert is questioning whether that move hurt more than it helped. The book in question comes from a well-known critic of the couple, and its latest claims quickly found their way into a prominent British publication. Rather than letting the coverage fade, Harry and Meghan’s team chose to engage, pushing back firmly and at length…