You know what I’m talking about. You walk into an office and there, on the receptionist’s desk, sits that innocent bowl of candy tempting you. Not one of those bowls with unwrapped morsels and a scoop. I won’t touch them. Who knows what grubby little fingers have been in there?

No, these are the last of the bagged candies, dumped unceremoniously into the bowl before they become stale and inedible.

The Bad Habits – We All Have Them

I don’t consider myself an addictive personality. I quit smoking long ago and won’t be starting up again in this lifetime. I’d rather have another baby than go through the agony of an encore performance of cigarette withdrawal.

I don’t do drugs since my love of wine is quite enough for me to handle. But tempting me with candy is another matter. My friends and family somehow manage to keep their hands to themselves, but I can’t resist those little bowls of free tidbits.

So here I am waiting patiently in my vet’s office for her to process my payment. And there’s the bowl. In it I see a new candy. It is wrapped in gold and looks so wrinkled that maybe someone has opened it, rejected it and rewrapped the thing.

It has me curious enough that, when no one is looking, I pick it up and conceal it in my hand for later inspection. I don’t want anyone to think I’m going to eat something someone else has perhaps smelled, licked, and put back.

Back in the car, I inspect my bootie. This is new. Maybe it’s supposed to look all wrinkly. I open it up to reveal a rather tempting little morsel. Chocolate covered buttercrunch sprinkled with crushed nuts. Hmmmm. Doesn’t look like it’s been licked. What the heck; I pop it in my mouth.

What on Earth?

I am undone! The angels are singing! This is beyond anything my taste buds have ever experienced. I think I’ve discovered chocolate covered heroin. No words can describe this heaven on earth!

Suppressing a groan, I immediately place the wrapper in my pocket for later inspection so I can find out who is the maker of this ecstasy.

Once home, I retrieve the wrapper and search the Internet. There it is! Writing it down, I’m off to Walmart to buy some. But alas, they don’t have it. I drive to Superstore and then on to Shopper’s Drug Mart. No luck. I pull out my iPhone and search.

London Drugs has it and it is within driving distance.

Parking the car, I descend on the store at a pace I’m hoping doesn’t look suspicious. Standing in front of shelves and shelves of candy, I search in desperation. Success! There it is. And wouldn’t you know it; the large container is on sale! They must have known I was coming.

All Mine!

As my mother has confessed to me on numerous occasions, once the candy box is open, the contents are fair game and will be consumed without mercy. Her addiction is peanut brittle and she understands.

Carrying my newly found pot of gold up to my home office, I don’t tell my husband what I have. I have no intention of sharing. Removing the freshness top, I take my first candy.

I can’t stop. I now understand addiction!

I force myself to make them last three days until they are all gone. For now, I will resist purchasing more as I know what the outcome will be.

Did I forget to tell you what my obsession is? Brown & Haley Almond Roca. I think I’ll buy stock in the company.

I know I am not alone.

Just for fun, what candy has you by the nose? I just might want to give it a try. Join the conversation and share your candy stories!

Do you carry a handbag? What’s in yours? Do you know? Are we all carrying too much in our bags?

As a light traveller, I extend my Planepack light travel principles to other aspects of my life – my wardrobe, my house, my car, and especially my handbag – to carry as little as possible!

Why Organise Your Bag?

I like to be prepared and organised, particularly if I’m attending a business meeting – or travelling by bus – as I’ve started to do recently.

I’m far less stressed in the morning if I don’t have to worry about the contents of my bag. I value having less to carry, which is particularly useful on the bus – as it is on the plane, boat or train.

I like to leave the house knowing I have everything I need with me; no need to worry I might have left an important item – like a wallet – behind.

Use a Bag Within a Bag

For the past few years, I’ve used a handbag organiser. This is essentially a bag within a bag – and there are many of these bags to choose from on the market. My handbag organiser is a little bit gorgeous: it’s fabric and red leather, made by hand in the States and bought on Etsy.

My handbag organiser is a little bag in its own right: with handles, compartments and outer pockets. The trick is that I lift it out of one handbag and put it straight into another.

It’s so easy to swap my handbags with my organiser. Today I might use a beige bag, tomorrow a black bag – without worrying I’ve left out an essential item. The handbag organiser keeps me organised.

One of the things I’ve learnt is to always keep the same items in the same place. My wallet and toiletries go into the central compartment; my pens, phone, business cards and more go into the outside pockets. That way I know exactly what to grab in a hurry.

Separate Toiletries from Technologies

Grabbing in a hurry is particularly important when you’re attending an event, giving a presentation, going to the movies or anywhere you need a specific item quickly.

I no longer scrabble around in my bag, nor do I have to turn upside down the contents of my bag to find my keys. I simply slip in my hand and pull out the right object!

Separating your toiletries from your tech items is essential: never embarrass yourself by pulling out the lipstick instead of the thumb drive.

These days I keep my toiletries in a small pouch, quite separate from my techie stuff which I keep in another pouch. The two pouches have different textures; I know to grab the right pouch even in the dark.

Need to Have, Not Nice to Have

As I use a handbag organiser, it’s easy to keep my essentials always ready and packed. I don’t exchange the items individually when I change handbags; I just lift my organiser out of one bag and straight into another bag.

I don’t carry with me items that I imagine might be nice to have. These days, I know exactly what I’ll need to use in any situation.

My Planepack handbag essentials are:

• pens (I carry a writing pen, a drawing pen and a stylus)
• Glasses (reading and sunglasses in different cases, differentiated by texture)
• Wallet (with the bare minimum cards and cash)
• iPhone
• Keys (house and car only)
• Business cards (I have different sets, each one in its own separate card holder – so I know which one to grab)
• Cord roll (this is essential for rolling up my headphones and charger wires to prevent them from getting tangled up with everything else)
• Tissues
• Lipstick and mirror
• Comb, toothbrush and toothpaste (optional)
• Lightweight, rollable shopping bag (optional)
• iPad and Apple Pencil (optional, depending upon meetings)

These items fit mostly in my handbag organiser, and if they don’t (like glasses cases), I simply slip them down the side of my handbag, between the organiser and the larger handbag.

What’s in your handbag? And how do you organise it? I’d love to hear more. Let’s have a conversation about light handbags.

Forget about Keeping up With the Kardashians; can you keep up with celebrity hair trends? It seems every other week, there’s something new, regurgitated or completely left-field that somehow takes over our Instagram feeds and eventually, local salons. To be fair, celebs tend to have nearly unlimited access to hair pros that are always on the cusp of what’s new or coming down the pipeline. As a result, they become the guinea pigs—very good ones, may we add—for not only testing out trends, but introducing them to the masses and giving them that “must-try” appeal. And come winter, the color that always seems to gain traction is black, hence the never-ending fleet of celebrities with black hair.

No, not brown-black. We’re talking jet black, the kind that looks otherworldly against richer skin tones and fairer complexions alike. We’re talking about the hair shade that contrasts better than most others against bright clothing. Oftentimes, though, there’s a lot of trepidation about entering the dark side due to worry that it’ll make you look as though you’re wearing a Halloween wig. Au contraire; with the right box dye, shampoo (like dpHUE’s cult-fave Gloss+), and daily styler, raven hair is life.

Whenever hesitation threatens to keep us from trying something new, we get lost in inspiration IRL and on the interwebs. So here, we’ve gathered a sampling of A-listers of different skin tones and hair textures who have kept the black hair trend alive. From Laura Prepon’s raven bob to Zoë Kravitz’s box braids, we have a feeling these hair chameleons will have you more than ready to dip into the dye.

Image: Michael Buckner/STYLECASTER.

Lana Condor

Our Self-Love Issue cover star is the raven-haired star of the addictive To All the Boys Netflix film series—impatiently waiting for the next installment, BTW.

Shutterstock.

Billie Eilish

Before the history-making and boundary-breaking teenage phenom transitioned to lime green roots, she opted for black hair on the stage and red carpet.

Shutterstock.

Constance Wu

The Hustlers and Crazy Rich Asians star is a bonafide red carpet star who always stuns with her beautiful black hair fashioned into a bevy of head-turning styles.

Shutterstock.

Gabrielle Union

The actress and author has proven time and time again that she can pull off any hairstyle and color, including black, side-swept box braids

John Sciulli/Getty Images for Spotify.

Becky G

Though the Latina singer has experimented with lighter shades and highlights, we’re partial to the jet-black wavy bob that frames her face beautifully.

Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images.

Ciara

As of now, the singer and mother of two is wearing her hair a lighter shade of brown. But back in February 2018, she hit New York Fashion Week in waist-length raven-colored strands.

Steve Granitz/WireImage.

Demi Lovato

It’s been some time since the singer and actress walked a red carpet, but when she stepped out for the 2017 American Music Awards, it became one of her fiercest looks to date.

Amanda Edwards/Getty Images.

Dita Von Teese

The burlesque icon has never deviated from her signature coif, which just so happens to be the sleekest shade of black.

Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images.

Eniko Hart

Kevin Hart’s IRL leading lady is also part of the black hair pack, having rarely experimented with other hues since stepping into the spotlight years ago.

Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images.

Katy Perry

Blink and you’ll miss the singer’s new hair color, but at one point—May 2018 in particular—she sported a jet-black hairstyle, reminiscent of the Old Hollywood era.

Steve Granitz/WireImage.

Kelly Rowland

Keeping things simple, yet stunning, the singer recently stuck to her natural black hair color for the 2018 Baby2Baby Gala.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic.

Kim Kardashian

She’s gone blonde. She’s gone gray. She’s even gone pink. But if there’s one “old faithful” shade in Kardashian’s repertoire, it’s black.

Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic.

Krysten Ritter

The Jessica Jones star is another celeb who has almost never deviated from black hair, which looks drop-dead gorgeous against her fair complexion.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic.

Kylie Jenner

Wigs, weaves and everything in between have been worn by the beauty mogul, but a black bob proved to be one of her shining mane moments in 2015.

Matthew Eisman/Getty Images.

Laura Prepon

After departing That ’70s Show and beginning her award-winning stint on Orange Is the New Black, Prepon ditched her red hair and opted for jet-black strands instead.

Frederick M. Brown/FilmMagic.

Lupita Nyong’o

The Oscar winner’s red-carpet hair journey includes a handful of truly wonderful braided looks, including this all-black updo at the 2018 Governors Awards.

Marc Piasecki/WireImage.

Naomi Campbell

Her signature waist-length straight hair is usually brown or black, but we’re unexpectedly enamored with her all-black take on the curly bob and bangs.

Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images.

Nicki Minaj

The rapper delivered inches and plenty of shine when she attended the 2016 TIDAL X: 1015 concert wearing a jet-black ‘do.

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic.

Nicole Scherzinger

Effortless is the best way to describe the former Pussycat Doll’s black waves, which just so happens to be her natural texture.

Karwai Tang/WireImage.

Rihanna

An underrated hair moment from the multifaceted performer is this beautiful black bob at the 2016 Brit Awards.

Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.

Vanessa Hudgens

As of late, the actress has been styling her bob into a slew of fun styles, all while keeping the same dark hue in place.

Anthony Harvey/Getty Images.

Zoë Kravitz

Our favorite part of the actress’s past box braid phase was when she opted for black ones during the 2015 awards season.

Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images.

Tessa Thompson

In March 2018, cameras spotted the actress in what appears to be a Sade-inspired low-hanging braid.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

I’ve thought long and hard about writing this post. I figure some things are best kept private – in an era where it is the norm to over-share personal information, I have always believed that you have the right to maintain some privacy.

However, since I am probably not going to be able to keep this quiet for much longer – you will see why shortly – maybe, just maybe, my problems can help someone else who is going through the same thing.

So, my secret? I’m bald. Not just going a little thin, or receding, but full-on Friar Tuck halo kind of bald. And it will never grow back.

I have Lichen Planus Pilaris – an auto-immune disease which kills off both the hair follicle and the stem cell, meaning that, unlike many forms of alopecia, it will never grow back.

Life-Changing

While this is not life-threatening, it is certainly life-changing. I have been wearing hair toppers for around four years – these aren’t full wigs, but they clip on to existing hair to cover up the bald patches and thinning hair.

They have the added bonus of being lighter and less restricting than full wigs, but it does mean that the colour and length has to match the hair you have left.

Life-changing? Yes, it is. Going on holiday and swimming became a nightmare. Do you take it off, wear a headscarf or a swimming cap?

How do you cover up when the weather is really hot? Wigs and toppers are quite warm. Also, depending on what kind you have, some of the covering right on top of the head is very thin, to mimic a normal scalp, meaning that it may burn the top of your head.

And in winter, when you cover up with a pompom hat, the skin becomes itchy, and if you have a fringe (bangs) as I do, it pushes it into your eyes.

Of course, you don’t want to look as if you’re wearing a wig, so looking as natural as possible is important. I’ve made hundreds of pounds worth of mistakes buying wigs, which, naturally, come in all shapes and sizes.

Some of them have made it look as if I’m wearing a large helmet, while others have had hair that is too short, too long or the wrong colour for my skin tone.

I am talking about this now for two reasons. One, I have told only my closest friends about my condition, and a couple of them have shared that their hair is starting to recede at the temples.

Secondly, although I currently wear a topper clipped to what’s left of my own hair, there will soon be nothing left to clip to, which means, it will become apparent that I have to wear a wig.

Alopecia Just Means Hair Loss

There are many different types of alopecia. From what I have read, the most common forms are alopecia totalis, alopecia areata and of course, alopecia caused by illness or medication – including some treatments for cancer. If it is the latter, is does tend to grow back, though not necessarily the same as before.

Lichen Planus is one of the rarer forms and is also known as Ciatricial (or scarring) Alopecia. There is also male/female pattern baldness (Androgenic Alopecia), Alopecia Universalis and Traction Alopecia.

The Cause of Hair Loss Is Unknown

The cause of alopecia is largely unknown, though there are various theories – severe trauma, stress and history of hair loss have often been blamed, along with lack of vitamins. One hospital consultant even went so far as to say that Lichen Planus did not exist until the early 90s.

He explained it became prevalent in Australia following the “Slip, Slop, Slap” campaign, leading some to believe that the chemicals in certain sunscreens triggered the auto-immune disease to protect the body. He believed that products and the environment played a part in this kind of alopecia.

Since I have never had strong hair, and still spent years dyeing, perming, curling and straightening my hair, there is a possibility I overdid things. We will never know, though – maybe I was just pre-disposed to losing my hair from something in my genes.

The psychological issue is really the one which causes most distress. Initially, I took several different drugs to try and halt the spread of the hair loss in the early days. Unfortunately, many had toxic side effects, and ultimately, they did not slow down the hair loss, let alone stop it.

When I told my consultant I didn’t want to continue treatments, he admitted that they rarely work in cases such as mine.

I should also point out that this is not a particularly sexy subject, and since it is not life-threatening, research into causes and cures has been sporadic. In fact, there has been very little progress in several years.

The Social Side of Alopecia

Although I have pretty much kept this to myself, I had to tell my best female friend since we sometimes take mini-holidays together and sharing a room becomes even more personal.

She once remarked that she thought I had accepted it really well. The truth is, I will never accept it. All I have managed to do is cope with it. But come night-time, when I’m getting ready for bed, I feel especially vulnerable, and yes, ugly!

My husband has told me it makes absolutely no difference to who I am, and that he loves me anyway. But looking in the mirror and seeing what is staring back at me can be immensely distressing.

I know this is a common feeling. One of my fellow sufferers once admitted she wore her wig to bed for many years so her partner never saw her without her hair ‘on’.

The Cost Isn’t Just Emotional

If you’re in the UK, the NHS will probably allow two synthetic wigs a year on prescription (these cost around £70 each, even for those over 60), but entitlement may vary between health authorities, so do check before taking my word for it.

If you buy privately, the cost of a wig can vary from just a few pounds for a synthetic wig to several thousand pounds for a custom-made real hair wig. Quality varies considerably and since there is a whole industry on different methods of making wigs, I don’t propose to go into detail here.

So, the time will come, very soon, when I will have to wear a full wig. I have made the decision that if I am going to go public and wear a wig in the future, I will change my hair colour and length to suit my mood and wardrobe!

I already have longer and shorter wigs lined up, and I’ve just received a pink one – since that’s my favourite colour.

I am currently working with a milliner to try and design some pretty headwear to wear at those times when I need to take off my wig – perhaps something with detachable trimmings to mix and match an outfit or occasion, since the turbans I have seen to-date are pretty boring.

Please don’t ask me any medical questions. If you are losing your hair, do go and visit your GP or medical practitioner – they are the best ones to diagnose and give advice on treatments. But if you have hair loss stories, please share them – I hope it will help others.

I regularly go to my local Alopecia support group in the UK which can give practical help and support, but they are not doctors – just people like me who have made the most of their distressing situation.

Also, please do remember that we are all individuals and what works for some doesn’t necessarily work for everyone. You are not alone. I cried buckets in the early days, but ultimately, I believe you just have to get on with it and find something that works for you.

Have you suffered hair loss? How have you coped? What treatment have you had? Have you found any pretty headwear you would like to share?

Leah McSweeney’s Black Side Tie Tank Dress With Luann and Tinsley

Real Housewives of New York Season 12 Episode 8 Fashion

Leah McSweeney’s ribbed tank dress that she wore while having lunch with Luann and Tinsley on last night’s episode of RHONY may be called the “Aerin Dress,” however it should really be called the “Faryn” dress because it’s totally up my alley with it’s all black colour and cute side ties. And Leah if you want to give yours to me, you can pretty much guarantee that I will totally thug hug you out.

Fashionably,

Faryn

Click Here to See Her Sold Out Reformation Dress

Click Here to Shop it on eBay in Rust

Click Here to Shop Her Saint Laurent Bag in Multiple Colours

Click Here to Shop Additional Colours

Click Here For Info on Her Earrings

Click Here For Info on Her Sunglasses

Originally posted at: Leah McSweeney’s Black Side Tie Tank Dress