Alice Vol. 2 No. 3
Published by UA Student Media in May 2017.
Published by UA Student Media in May 2017.
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CHARLOTTE OC<br />
Q&A wtih trendy singer-songwriter<br />
48 HOURS IN<br />
BIRMINGHAM<br />
Hottest spots in the Magic City<br />
ESCAPE<br />
ARTIST<br />
Examining escapism<br />
in pop culture<br />
ETERNAL<br />
$3.99 <strong>Vol</strong>. 2, <strong>No</strong>. 3<br />
SUMMER<br />
Keep your head in the clouds and your feet in the sand as you<br />
shine in refreshing florals, throwback styles and dreamy trends<br />
The University of Alabama | May 2017
LOOKING AHEAD<br />
Grab your ice cream cones and leave<br />
your shoes at home as <strong>Alice</strong> braves the heat<br />
in this exquisite summer issue. Join us<br />
beneath sprawling moss-draped live oaks or<br />
on the waterfront as we explore the trends<br />
this season has to offer. The possibilities<br />
are endless.<br />
Photo by Alex Green
Letter from the Editor<br />
On the web:<br />
Twitter: @<strong>Alice</strong>themag<br />
Instagram: @<strong>Alice</strong>themag<br />
facebook.com/<strong>Alice</strong>themag<br />
alice.ua.edu<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> on Pinterest:<br />
pinterest.com/<strong>Alice</strong>magazine<br />
Editorial and Advertising offices for <strong>Alice</strong> Magazine are located at<br />
414 Campus Drive East, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.<br />
The mailing address is P.O. Box 870170, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.<br />
Phone: (205) 348-7257.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> is published by the Office of Student Media<br />
at The University of Alabama.<br />
All content and design are produced by students<br />
in consultation with professional staff advisers.<br />
All material contained herein, except advertising or where<br />
indicated otherwise, is copyrighted © 2017 by <strong>Alice</strong> Magazine.<br />
Material herein may not be reprinted without the<br />
expressed, written permission of <strong>Alice</strong> Magazine.<br />
Summer is just around the corner. The temperature is rising,<br />
the sky seems bluer and sunscreen is an absolute must. My senior<br />
year is now coming to a close (waterworks may have taken place).<br />
This year has been a season of lasts and now this is my last <strong>Alice</strong><br />
as editor in chief. With this being my final issue, I wanted to<br />
make sure that I “left it all on the field.” Every time I see <strong>Alice</strong><br />
on the stands at the Supe Store or in the hands of a student, my<br />
heart swells. I couldn’t be more proud of this magazine. Having<br />
the opportunity to work with the magazine this year has been<br />
a dream come true. I couldn’t imagine my senior year being as<br />
wonderful without this position. I have loved every single second<br />
of working for this magazine. From the late nights laughs of<br />
productions to the moments of frustration from the April rain<br />
showers that made our photo shoots very difficult to get finished<br />
— it has been so rewarding. I cannot say enough good things<br />
about <strong>Alice</strong>. She’s a mentor, a fashion expert and someone that<br />
has made me realize my potential as a leader. She’s something<br />
different to other people — discover what she has to offer you.<br />
With all that sappiness being said, let’s talk about this issue.<br />
As I say every issue, the team and I have put all of our<br />
hearts and souls into this magazine. But, hey, it’s true and I<br />
want to recognize the incredible work ethic and creative genius<br />
of the editors of <strong>Alice</strong>. This summer’s magazine is definitely<br />
the most innovative that we’ve ever done. The Ten Bleaching<br />
Commandants on page 5 is something I will definitely urge<br />
people to check out (With recently bleached hair myself, I have<br />
been pouring over it). The fashion spreads are seriously stunning<br />
— turn to page 16 and get ready to be blown away. Read The Big<br />
Reveal to see the latest trend: fishnet tights (pg. 34). As many<br />
people will probably be attending summer weddings, catch up on<br />
our Wedding Survival Guide (pg. 41). Check out our article on<br />
alternatives to the pill (pg. 58) and nudity in art (pg. 62). Flip<br />
to our Coffee Crawl on page 70 to know about the newest coffee<br />
shops in town. What is summer without a good book? Go to page<br />
80 for Dreamy Pool Reads and page 87 for Poetry for People Who<br />
Don’t “Get” Poetry.<br />
While working on this season’s issue, our time was split by<br />
spring break. For part of that week I was able to go to New York<br />
City with Allie Binford, the next editor in chief of <strong>Alice</strong>. I know<br />
I’ll miss this magazine, but I also know that’s in great hands<br />
and I can’t wait to see where <strong>Alice</strong> is headed. As we adventured<br />
throughout the city and even at the top of the Empire State<br />
Building, Allie would bounce around incredible ideas for the<br />
future of <strong>Alice</strong>. Get ready, people, great things are coming and<br />
it starts with this issue. I’ll just leave you with this: *Cue “Don’t<br />
You (Forget About Me)” here.*<br />
Paige Burleson
Editorial<br />
Editor in Chief PAIGE BURLESON<br />
Creative Director MARIA OSWALT<br />
Photo Editor EMILY HEATH<br />
Managing Editor CLAIRE TURNER<br />
Market Editors ALEXIS DANZO AND ALLIE BINFORD<br />
Beauty Editor KAILA WASHINGTON<br />
Lifestyle Editor RACHEL WILBURN<br />
Fashion Editors ALLIE BINFORD AND EMILY HEATH<br />
Food and Health Editor MADISON SULLIVAN<br />
Entertainment Editor ELLEN JOHNSON<br />
Features Editor ALEXIS FAIRE<br />
Social Media Coordinator DONICA BURTON AND CLAIRE TURNER<br />
Contributing Writers EMILY ADAMS, HALEIGH AMEND, CHRISTINA AUSLEY, VONDRA ARNOLD, SERENA BAILEY, KATIE BELL,<br />
EMILEE BENOS, MIA BLACKMAN, SARA BETH BOLIN, PAIGE BURLESON, CARSON COOK, ANNA CRAIN, LOTA ERINNE,<br />
ANALIESE GERALD, JO HANNA HILL, KATIE HUFF, ANNA KLEMENT, LAUREN LANE, MIKELAH LUKE, LAWSON MOHL,<br />
MARIA OSWALT, KALLEN SEBASTIAN, KALI STURGIS, KIRBY TIFVERMAN, CLAIRE TURNER, DANIELLE WADDELL,<br />
AUDREY WATFORD, CAROLINE WELLS, CARSON WOODY<br />
Contributing Photographers PRESTLEY BRAMLETT, ALEX GREEN, TEAH SHAW, MARIE WALKER, SARAH WESTMORELAND<br />
Contributing Designer MARY KATE HOLLADAY<br />
Models ARI BARLEY, LUCY COOK, REAGAN CUNNINGHAM, ALEXIA DUGGER-MAYE, ALANNA FAGAN,<br />
EFFIE GUENTHER, MEGAN HILL, HALLIE HUDSON, ADAM KIM, SARA MORGAN, DONNA PATE, MADYSON SMITH,<br />
LINDSAY TATMAN, ALYISCIA THOMAS<br />
Hair and Makeup HALEIGH AMEND, EMILY HEATH, ALLIE LOWERY<br />
Advertising<br />
Advertising Manager RUFUS ALDRIDGE (cwadmanager@gmail.com)<br />
Advertising Creative Director GRANT SNOW (cwcreativemanager@gmail.com)<br />
Sales Representatives (205) 348-7845<br />
JADE LEDET, LIZZIE MIZENKO<br />
Advisers<br />
Editorial MARK MAYFIELD (msmayfield1@ua.edu)<br />
Published by UA Office of Student Media<br />
Director PAUL WRIGHT<br />
[2] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
Table of<br />
Contents<br />
Beauty<br />
5 BLEACHING COMMANDMENTS<br />
7 A WRINKLE IN TIME<br />
9 DON’T SWEAT IT<br />
11 IS YOUR SKIN WORTH THE<br />
SPLURGE?<br />
13 THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL<br />
Fashion<br />
16 HEAD IN THE CLOUDS<br />
22 COLOR THEORY<br />
28 LET THE GOOD<br />
TIMES ROLL<br />
34 THE BIG REVEAL<br />
ABOUT THE COVER: The call of seagulls and crashing<br />
waves set the scene for our sunrise shoot in Fairhope and<br />
Montrose, Alabama. Pat Hall, a UA alum, and Charlotte<br />
Carey graciously let us into their homes and clued us in on<br />
the places to see around the Mobile Bay area. From tropical<br />
and breezy beachwear to cleancut formal outfits, this<br />
edition of <strong>Alice</strong> has it all. Sun-soaked streets and nautical<br />
views served as the perfect backdrop for our little getaway.<br />
Cover photo: PRESTLEY BRAMLETT<br />
See story: PAGE 48<br />
Lifestyle<br />
37 48 HOURS IN BIRMINGHAM<br />
41 WEDDING SEASON SURVIVAL<br />
42 PACK ATTACK<br />
44 BOTTLE IT UP<br />
45 REVIVING RESOLUTIONS<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [3]
Features<br />
48 ETERNAL SUMMER<br />
58 HARD TO SWALLOW<br />
62 EXPOSED<br />
64 ESCAPE ARTIST<br />
Health<br />
& Food<br />
68 SHADE OF YOU<br />
70 COFFEE CRAWL<br />
71 BREAK IT DOWN<br />
72 SUMMERTIME SWEETS<br />
73 SUPERFOODS<br />
75 ON THE BRINK OF NO STINK<br />
77 WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO<br />
KNOW ABOUT EXPIRATION DATES<br />
Entertainment<br />
78 SO YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO HANGOUT<br />
80 DREAMY POOL READS<br />
82 TAKE A CHANCE<br />
83 Q&A WITH STUDENT COMEDIAN<br />
85 THE SHORT LIST<br />
86 A DOC A DAY: DOCUMENTARIES TO MAKE YOU THINK<br />
87 POETRY FOR PEOPLE WHO DON’T “GET” POETRY<br />
88 CHARLOTTE OC<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> would like to thank<br />
the following stores for<br />
providing outfits and<br />
accessories for photo shoots:<br />
LULUS.COM<br />
MARKET HOUSE<br />
AZ WELL<br />
LAVISH<br />
PANTS STORE<br />
TWICE AS NICE<br />
LUCCA<br />
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA SUPE STORE<br />
[4] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
BEAUTY<br />
Photo by Prestley Bramlett<br />
By Kali Sturgis<br />
As summer approaches, tans get<br />
darker, days get longer and hair definitely<br />
gets lighter. Take a look at our<br />
hair bleaching bible to get that sunkissed<br />
look while keeping the locks<br />
happy and healthy.<br />
DOs<br />
Do listen to your stylist. One of the<br />
hardest tips to follow, but the most<br />
important to acknowledge: listen. The<br />
majority of us who like to dye our hair<br />
will often go for a color that we find<br />
amongst social media or our favorite<br />
celebrities. Showing a picture to your<br />
stylist prior to your appointment will<br />
guarantee your stylist’s ability to be<br />
able to (or not to) color your hair how<br />
you would like it. So if your stylist tells<br />
you that the color you want is unattainable,<br />
ask what they could do to produce<br />
a hair color you can happily sport, or<br />
find another stylist who is confident<br />
in their hair coloring abilities, and<br />
see if they’re willing to get you your<br />
dream color.<br />
Do sleep in argan oil or coconut oil<br />
the night before bleaching. Easy to<br />
do, easily accessible and reduces hair<br />
damage from bleach; oil isn’t just for<br />
cooking. Seventeen.com dishes Kylie<br />
Jenner’s hair stylist’s trick to having<br />
healthy hair after bleaching. Coat your<br />
strands in argan or coconut oil the<br />
night before you bleach your hair, then<br />
go to sleep with the oil to let it soak<br />
into your locks and scalp. If you’re<br />
concerned about messing up your pillowcase,<br />
wrap your head in a towel<br />
or wear a shower cap to prevent leakage.<br />
Just don’t forget to wash it out in<br />
the morning!<br />
Do give yourself time to bleach. This<br />
is super important. Try bleaching on<br />
a weekend to give yourself time to go<br />
slowly and appraise your results. Then<br />
you won’t be rushed to fix any mistakes<br />
while worrying about having to be seen<br />
in public with discolored hair.<br />
Do be gentle with your hair. People<br />
wonder why their hair becomes so<br />
damaged after bleaching. The main<br />
problem comes from continuing their<br />
usual hair routine. When you bleach<br />
your hair, the actual hair follicle is forever<br />
changed. Invest in a deep-conditioner<br />
and use it once or twice a week<br />
along with always conditioning after<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [5]
shampooing. This will add that extra<br />
moisture your hair needs. When it<br />
comes to showering, your hair is already<br />
going to be dry and inelastic,<br />
and washing your hair multiple times<br />
throughout the week will cause major<br />
hair breakage. So reduce your everyday<br />
wash to every other day or even try<br />
every two days. Remember those oils<br />
that were so great for the night before<br />
a bleach? You can do the same thing<br />
before a hair wash to keep your hair<br />
hydrated and protected from environmental<br />
damage.<br />
Do get regular trims. A lot of people<br />
try to avoid this tip when they’re<br />
on the kick of letting their hair grow<br />
out, but this is so important to follow<br />
through with. You should be getting<br />
your hair trimmed at least every six<br />
to eight weeks so that your hair stylist<br />
is able to remove all of the previously<br />
damaged hair for new, healthier<br />
hair to grow in its place. Continually<br />
growing your hair overtop damaged<br />
hair does not magically make a happy,<br />
healthy head of hair.<br />
DON’Ts<br />
Don’t try and bleach your hair yourself<br />
if you have virgin hair. This point<br />
is kind of an obvious one, but if you’ve<br />
never dyed your hair before, then going<br />
to a professional is a lot safer than<br />
standing confused in the beauty aisle<br />
of your local convenience store. It will<br />
also ensure that you come out of the<br />
salon with practically perfect bleached<br />
locks. So put down that sketchy box of<br />
drugstore bleach and call your locally<br />
appraised hair salon to avoid damaging<br />
your hair and a bad hair day.<br />
Don’t overlap bleach in the same<br />
day: Genuinely think before re-bleaching<br />
your hair. Bleaching your hair already<br />
strips the hair follicle and causes<br />
it to be prone to breakage. Waiting<br />
at least a day before bleaching your<br />
hair again allows the scalp to relax<br />
from sensitivity you can obtain from<br />
bleaching. This will also help reduce<br />
hair damage that can occur during the<br />
bleaching process.<br />
Don’t use permanent hair dye to<br />
dye your hair. According to hercampus.com,<br />
permanent dyes disintegrate<br />
the hair cuticle due to the process of<br />
pulling out your natural hair color and<br />
sequentially putting new color back in,<br />
unlike semi- and non- permanent dyes<br />
that avoid damaging the hair by coating<br />
the hair follicle with color like a<br />
gloss. Semi- and non-permanent dyes,<br />
also, last for about four to six weeks,<br />
so you won’t have to worry about being<br />
stuck with a color you dislike for a long<br />
time or continuously having to go get<br />
root touch-ups.<br />
Don’t use (as much) heat. Obviously<br />
we all can’t avoid hot tools for<br />
as long we color our hair, but we can<br />
regulate how much heat we use. Keep<br />
the heat on low to avoid as much hair<br />
damage as possible. Patting your hair<br />
dry (not scrunching) or using a blow<br />
dryer and round brush can go a long<br />
way compared to straightening your<br />
hair. If you do use heat, make sure to<br />
apply some sort of heat protectant to<br />
your locks to reduce as much damage<br />
as possible.<br />
Don’t leave the bleach on for too<br />
long/too little. Leaving bleach on your<br />
hair and scalp for too long can cause a<br />
variety of mishaps to occur, including,<br />
but not limited to: chemical burns on<br />
your scalp, damaging your hair follicle<br />
and frying your hair to the point<br />
of it falling out. While this all sounds<br />
completely terrible, leaving bleach<br />
on for too little can also cause some<br />
problems. <strong>No</strong>t allowing enough time<br />
for bleach to sit on the hair won’t allow<br />
the bleach to lift the original color<br />
from the hair, which will cause those<br />
dreaded brassy tones to show up. So<br />
make sure you follow the bleaching<br />
instructions carefully.<br />
Getting that perfect summery glow<br />
to your hair can definitely take a toll<br />
on your strands, but follow these tips<br />
and you’ll be able to rock lighter locks<br />
while keeping it all intact. *<br />
Photo by Prestley Bramlett<br />
[6] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
BEAUTY<br />
Photo by Emily Heath<br />
By Anna Klement<br />
Everyone ages. Let’s face it, most of you reading this are<br />
in or around your 20s. When it comes to skin care (and<br />
life in general), we’re in that awkward age gap between<br />
too old to have baby’s butt skin, but we’re not yet past the<br />
teenage acne stage. From the inspiring words of Britney<br />
Spears, we’re “not a girl, not yet a woman.” However, you<br />
can’t help but see dozens of labels shouting out to you as<br />
you pass through the beauty aisle at Target — “anti-aging”<br />
this, “reverse fine lines” that.<br />
Do you ever wonder in the back of<br />
your mind when will be your time<br />
to step up to the plate and face the<br />
unknown of age related cosmetics?<br />
We’re sparked by these fascinating<br />
terms like “collagen” and<br />
“retinol,” but what do these things<br />
actually mean? If you’re clueless<br />
about where to begin, read on to<br />
learn how to really take care of your skin: there’s no time<br />
like the present.<br />
The truth is, you’re not going to learn the intimates of<br />
anti-aging skincare in your chemistry or anatomy class.<br />
Aging is a natural process of life. With the society we live in<br />
now, it’s hard not to be concerned about fine lines and wrinkles<br />
that are doomed to pop up on our face one morning.<br />
But don’t lose yourself in a world that requires anti-aging<br />
as a beauty standard — do it to love your skin and keep it<br />
healthy. My grandmother always says, “take care of your<br />
We’re sparked by these<br />
fascinating terms like<br />
“collagen” and “retinol,”<br />
but what do these things<br />
actually mean?<br />
skin now so you don’t have to pay for it later.” She’s the brunette<br />
version of Christy Brinkley, and I think I owe my entire<br />
top shelf to her as far as good products and good genes<br />
can go. Looking for your guide to keeping your skin fresh?<br />
Here’s <strong>Alice</strong>’s take on tackling anti-aging in your 20s.<br />
Sunscreen. You should be lathering up — Every. Single.<br />
Day. It doesn’t matter if it’s pouring rain outside; sunscreen<br />
is essential to the health of your skin. Prolonged sun exposure<br />
speeds the aging process tremendously. Infrared rays<br />
(hair dryers, ovens, phones) can also damage skin, hence<br />
why you should never be caught<br />
without this essential layer of protection.<br />
Radiation penetrates skin<br />
and attacks collagen. Stick with a<br />
SPF of 20-40. FYI- a higher SPF<br />
than that doesn’t actually work to<br />
protect your skin.<br />
<strong>No</strong> smoking. Cigarettes contain<br />
over 400 toxic chemicals. These<br />
chemicals causes blood vessels to<br />
constrict, which decreases blood flow that is essential to<br />
healthy skin . Smoking can also lead to puffiness, wrinkles,<br />
blackheads and scars. This is one of the most detrimental<br />
things you can do to your body when it comes to trying to<br />
age gracefully.<br />
Be gentle with your skin. Use eye cream, serums and oils,<br />
even if you have oily skin. When you break out, your body is<br />
trying to make up for lost nutrients. Dab eye cream on with<br />
your ring finger so the vitamins absorb fully in your skin. Using<br />
your ring finger gives you the perfect amount of control<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [7]
while also keeping your touch gentle<br />
— the tools to your skincare are<br />
your hands! Since skin is thinnest<br />
around the eyes, they often<br />
age first, so be sure to take care of<br />
that area.<br />
Daily regimen. Implementing a daily<br />
skin care regimen will get you into the early<br />
habit of taking a few extra minutes to show<br />
your skin some TLC. You can modify this list<br />
to what fits your lifestyle, but here’s an overview of<br />
some great steps to a routine:<br />
#1. EXFOLIATE Use an exfoliator 2-3 times a<br />
week to remove dead skin cells.<br />
#2. CLEANSE Use a gentle cleanser daily, even if<br />
your skin isn’t sensitive.<br />
#3. TONE The necessity of toner in your routine is<br />
highly debated between all sorts of online blogs and<br />
dermatological testimonies, but it can be worth it if<br />
you’re looking to improve your complexion. You can<br />
substitute this with micellar water, which removes<br />
excess dirt and has similar benefits to a cleanser.<br />
#4. MOISTURIZE This is an incredibly important<br />
step. Moisturized skin helps prevent aging. Your<br />
skin craves moisture (think about when your lips<br />
get chapped), so in addition to this, drink tons<br />
of water.<br />
#5. OILS This is for those of us with skin like<br />
the desert. Skip this step if you have oily skin, as<br />
the oil is meant to provide nutrients your skin lacks.<br />
#6. SERUMS Something all skin types should take<br />
the time to do. Something like a Vitamin C serum,<br />
which plumps skin, does just the trick.<br />
#7. EYE CREAM Small amount, ring finger,<br />
tapping motions — simple as that. You can actually<br />
use any excess on the skin around your lips to help<br />
with fine lines and wrinkles.<br />
#8. SUNSCREEN Can you tell how important<br />
layering on some SPF is? Use this in conjunction<br />
with everything else.<br />
Befriend a dermatologist. Remember to eat well and<br />
consult a nutritionist if you’re interested in vitamins and<br />
supplements. These things play a huge role in your outward<br />
appearance, although you might not see results as fast as<br />
the other tips. Try not to get too stressed out over aging<br />
because it’s the natural cycle of life. Aging is unavoidable,<br />
so take care of your body, and your body will love you back<br />
— after all, you only get one in your lifetime! *<br />
Crisis Pregnancy?<br />
We want to help you.<br />
Free Counseling,<br />
Adoption, and<br />
Multi-Level<br />
Support Services<br />
Available<br />
205-324-6561<br />
info@cfsbhm.org<br />
www.cfsbhm.org<br />
[8] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
BEAUTY<br />
DON’T<br />
SWEAT IT:The<br />
best waterproof<br />
makeup of<br />
the summer<br />
By Haleigh Amend and Kelsey Zaroff<br />
Summer means cookouts, beach<br />
trips, pool days and high temperatures.<br />
But after hours of sweating you<br />
might glance in a mirror at your makeup<br />
and think, “YIKES.” The good<br />
news is, <strong>Alice</strong> won’t let melted makeup<br />
kill your summer vibe. We’ve got the<br />
secrets to waterproofing your makeup<br />
for when things get hot and steamy (we<br />
mean humidity, of course). <strong>No</strong> matter<br />
what, your makeup will look as fresh<br />
as it did when you first applied it.<br />
THE PREP<br />
Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Daily<br />
Liquid Sunscreen<br />
Before reaching for your makeup,<br />
you want to start with a sunscreen.<br />
Doing this will prevent wrinkles for<br />
when you’re older and decreases your<br />
chance of getting skin cancer. Also,<br />
who wants a burned face? The type of<br />
sunscreen you use can make or break<br />
the lasting power of your makeup, so<br />
it’s important to use one that’s lightweight.<br />
The Neutrogena Ultra Sheer<br />
Daily Liquid Sunscreen is oil free, so<br />
you won’t break out or look greasy.<br />
Milk Blur Stick<br />
Let your sunscreen soak in for five<br />
minutes before following the next<br />
step to make your makeup melt-proof:<br />
primer. The Milk Blur Stick will help<br />
you achieve the flawless matte complexion<br />
you’re after.<br />
THE FACE<br />
It Cosmetics Your Skin But<br />
Better CC Cream<br />
Once your skin is fully prepped for<br />
makeup, adding a light layer of CC<br />
cream will give you the coverage you<br />
need without looking too overdone.<br />
The It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better<br />
CC Cream will give you a natural<br />
look with insane coverage and an extra<br />
dose of SPF 50.<br />
NYX Gotcha<br />
Covered<br />
concealer<br />
If you’re not<br />
a fan of CC cream,<br />
you can simply just spot<br />
treat areas that you need to<br />
hide. The NYX Gotcha Covered<br />
concealer is waterproof and full coverage,<br />
so you know it’ll keep everything<br />
covered no matter what.<br />
NYX HD Finishing Powder<br />
A setting powder is going to be your<br />
saving grace for banishing shine.<br />
Carry this with you to touch up when<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [9]
you see shine attempting to break<br />
through. Translucent is best because<br />
it’s colorless and won’t get cakey when<br />
you add more to your face throughout<br />
the day. We love the NYX HD<br />
Finishing Powder.<br />
Physicians Formula<br />
Butter Bronzer<br />
To add a subtle bronze<br />
glow to your skin, apply<br />
a light colored<br />
bronzer — like the<br />
Physicians Formula<br />
Butter Bronzer<br />
— to the areas the<br />
sun would naturally<br />
hit your face. With a<br />
large, fluffy brush, apply<br />
the bronzer to the hollows<br />
of your cheeks, temples and<br />
under your jaw. For a fully bronzed<br />
look, apply the bronzer down to your<br />
collarbone and neck as well.<br />
Makeup Revolution Sun<br />
Kiss Highlight<br />
Make your cheekbones pop with a bit<br />
of a golden highlight. Dust on some of<br />
the Makeup Revolution Sun Kiss highlight<br />
in the color Sun Kiss. The shimmer<br />
in this highlighter is finely milled<br />
so you’ll look naturally lit from within<br />
rather than looking like you just<br />
doused yourself in glitter — or sweat.<br />
Tarte Cheek Stain<br />
A healthy dose of color on your<br />
cheeks will keep your face looking<br />
fresh. The Tarte Cheek Stain is perfect<br />
because it is a stain rather than<br />
a powder which will leave your cheeks<br />
with a rosy flush even after swimming<br />
in the ocean. There’s a wide range of<br />
colors to choose from so there’s a shade<br />
to flatter every skin tone.<br />
THE EYES<br />
NYX Eyebrow Gel<br />
If you like to keep your brows fleeked<br />
at all times, try the NYX Eyebrow Gel<br />
— it’s waterproof and long-wearing.<br />
Your brows will look natural and defined<br />
like normal, but this brow gel is<br />
specifically formulated to last. It won’t<br />
be going anywhere when you swim or<br />
sweat, and it’s also affordable.<br />
Revlon ColorStay Cream<br />
Eyeshadow<br />
The Revlon ColorStay Cream Eyeshadow<br />
is a quick way to add a wash<br />
of shimmery color to your eyes with a<br />
swipe of your finger. These come in an<br />
array of colors that give you options<br />
for every occasion whether it’s for day<br />
or night.<br />
NYX Proof It Waterproof<br />
Mascara Top Coat<br />
If you don’t want to buy a specifically<br />
waterproof mascara just to go to the<br />
beach, opt for the NYX Proof It Waterproof<br />
Mascara Top Coat instead.<br />
With this product, you can transform<br />
any mascara you already own into a<br />
completely waterproof product.<br />
<strong>No</strong>w that we’ve shared all of our tips<br />
and favorite beauty products for summer,<br />
it’s up to you to create your signature<br />
waterproof summer look. When<br />
you do, take a selfie and make sure you<br />
tag <strong>Alice</strong> on Instagram. *<br />
[10] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
BEAUTY<br />
Photo by Alex Green<br />
Floral dress: Buckle<br />
By Vondra Arnold and Anna Crain<br />
There is something satisfying about<br />
having aesthetically pleasing, high end<br />
and raved-about skin care products<br />
sitting on your countertop. Who doesn’t<br />
love going into Sephora and picking<br />
out their favorite beauty guru’s holy<br />
grail moisturizer or face mask? Are all<br />
high end skin care products worth the<br />
hype? Or are there equally as effective<br />
and affordable products out there when<br />
you aren’t willing spend the rest of your<br />
money on a tiny tube of eye cream?<br />
ASK THE EXPERTS<br />
When is comes to skincare, there<br />
are products that are worth the high<br />
price tag and others that you can<br />
find at your local CVS for $10. The<br />
big issue is deciding what products<br />
to splurge on and what products<br />
you can put on your shopping list<br />
for your next grocery haul. Price is<br />
not always the best indicator of the<br />
quality of a product. Dr. Neal Schultz,<br />
Founder of DermTv.com and creator<br />
of Beautyrx.com, shares that when<br />
you buy higher end products, you are<br />
paying for ingredients, formulation,<br />
the way the ingredients are actually<br />
mixed together, packaging, prestige<br />
and perception.<br />
When buying skincare products,<br />
ingredients are crucial factors that<br />
affect the quality. There are two<br />
different types of ingredients: active<br />
and vehicle. Active ingredients are<br />
treating agents. They’re things like<br />
Vitamin C, caffeine, and glycolic acid.<br />
Vehicle ingredients make up creams<br />
and lotions, which active ingredients<br />
are dissolved in. Dr. Ellen Marmur<br />
says, “Some of the more luxury<br />
department store brands may have<br />
more premium ingredients in them,<br />
though that doesn’t mean drugstore<br />
brands aren’t efficacious.” So be on the<br />
lookout for those ingredients during<br />
your next skin care routine update.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [11]
WHEN IT’S OK<br />
TO SPLURGE<br />
Schultz suggests splurging on treatment<br />
products such as eye creams,<br />
moisturizers, exfoliants and antioxidants.<br />
These products tend to have<br />
more active ingredients, which are<br />
usually significantly better in higher<br />
end products. <strong>Alice</strong> has done the<br />
research for you and discovered the<br />
products that are actually worth<br />
the splurge.<br />
DR. DENNIS GROSS C+<br />
COLLAGEN BRIGHTEN & FIRM<br />
VITAMIN C SERUM $78<br />
This illuminating gel-serum packed<br />
with Vitamin C will brighten up your<br />
face — great for that 8 a.m. you stayed<br />
up all night for. The fast absorbing<br />
gel helps smooth skin and reduce fine<br />
lines. The serum is loaded with the<br />
antioxidants niacinamide and CoQ10,<br />
which help fade the appearance of<br />
dark spots and prevent future signs<br />
of aging.<br />
CLINIQUE MOISTURE SURGE<br />
INTENSE $39<br />
If the name isn’t convincing enough,<br />
customer reviews say this product is<br />
like drinking a huge glass of water<br />
— but for your face. This moisturizer<br />
locks in moisture without leaving<br />
your skin feeling greasy, no matter<br />
what your skin type is. Other customer<br />
reviews share that this product is excellent<br />
for the winter time and is great<br />
with or without makeup. It’s sure to<br />
become your go-to daily moisturizer.<br />
FIRST AID BEAUTY FACIAL<br />
RADIANCE PADS $30<br />
When it comes to exfoliation, you<br />
want a product that is going to penetrate<br />
into your skin. It needs to dissolve<br />
the oil and makeup that builds<br />
up deep in your pores. Dr. David<br />
Colbert, M.D., a cosmetic dermatologist<br />
in NYC, suggest using exfoliator<br />
with glycolic and lactic acids. First aid<br />
Beauty’s Facial Radiance Pads fit all<br />
the requirements and do just the trick.<br />
ORIGINS HIGH-POTENCY<br />
NIGHT-A-MINS MINERAL-<br />
ENRICHED OIL-FREE RENEWAL<br />
CREAM $43<br />
If you don’t like serums but still<br />
want their benefits, wearing a night<br />
cream may be for you. Night time is<br />
when your skin is able to regenerate<br />
and heal. Experts say antioxidant enriched<br />
night creams are most effective<br />
at reducing redness as well as moisturize<br />
dry skin. Origins formula is a<br />
creamy mineral formula filled with vitamins<br />
and oils.<br />
WHEN TO SAVE<br />
YOUR MONEY<br />
It’s still possible to treat your skin<br />
without paying the big dollar. Products<br />
like facial wash, toner, body lotion<br />
and even face masks will do just the<br />
job coming from your local drugstore.<br />
Of course, some drugstore products<br />
will be a bust, but there are plenty of<br />
fantastic items you can pick up on your<br />
next Target run.<br />
CETAPHIL DAILY FACIAL<br />
CLEANSER $10<br />
Cleansing your face is one of the<br />
most important parts of your skin routine,<br />
but this doesn’t mean you need<br />
to spend a fortune. Since cleansers<br />
are only on your face for less than a<br />
minute, you don’t need to splurge on<br />
ingredients that could be found in your<br />
[12] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
moisturizer and serums. This product<br />
gently removes makeup, dirt and oils<br />
without drying out your face. Packed<br />
with glycerin and Pro-Vitamin B5,<br />
Cetaphil’s Daily Facial Cleanser will<br />
leave your skin feeling soft and clean.<br />
MARIO BADESCU’S RANGE OF<br />
TONERS $15<br />
Toner is one of those products you<br />
can go with or without. Since it’s not<br />
a necessary skin care step, there’s no<br />
need to buy something fancy. Toners<br />
range from complex treatments to basic<br />
hydration, so it’s best to find a toner<br />
that fits your skin type. Aloe and<br />
chamomile-infused toners are designed<br />
for those with sensitive skin, while glycolic<br />
acid and AHA-packed formulas<br />
fight uneven texture and brighten dull<br />
skin. Clarifying astringents are best<br />
for acne prone skin. Mario Bedescu’s<br />
range of toners are designed for a variety<br />
of skin types, all at a friendly price.<br />
GARNIER SKINACTIVE CLEAN +<br />
PORE PURIFYING 2-IN-1 CLAY<br />
CLEANSER AND MASK $5<br />
Yep. You read correctly, $5. Ever<br />
wanted to indulge your skin in the<br />
new trend of charcoal face products?<br />
Well, now you can. Garnier’s new clay<br />
cleanser and mask uses charcoal, while<br />
kaolin unclogs pores and removes surface<br />
impurities. You can use this product<br />
as a daily cleanser, but get the<br />
added benefit of it being a mask. In<br />
just five minutes and $5, you can treat<br />
you skin.<br />
Next time you go out shopping for<br />
your next skin care products, consider<br />
this: “don’t cheat yourself, treat<br />
yourself.” We want to take care of our<br />
skin and make sure it’s flawless, but<br />
take the time to look into the products<br />
you’re buying so you know exactly<br />
when to pull out a credit card. *
BEAUTY<br />
By Lawson Mohl<br />
Photos by Emily Heath // Makeup by Bobbi Brown<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [13]
“Although we love the<br />
smokey copper eyes<br />
and mulberry lips of<br />
the colder months, this<br />
season is the time<br />
to experiment.”<br />
If there’s one season that gives off<br />
that “anything goes” vibe, it’s summer.<br />
Although we love the smokey copper<br />
eyes and mulberry lips of the colder<br />
months, this season is the time to experiment.<br />
Bold, bright colors are becoming<br />
the summer staple; to hell with<br />
the rule that says you can only emphasize<br />
your eyes or your lips — never<br />
both. If you’re ready for the whimsy<br />
that comes with the warm weather,<br />
let <strong>Alice</strong> help you find your signature<br />
summer look.<br />
SPECTRUM SHADOWS<br />
Out of all of the makeup categories,<br />
eyeshadows have perhaps the widest<br />
range and availability of textures,<br />
finishes and colors. Don’t be afraid to<br />
make your eyes stand out; that ‘80s<br />
blue eyeshadow fear has morphed into<br />
a sought after statement look. Makeup<br />
brands have begun to cultivate a range<br />
of bright eyeshadow palettes, making<br />
it simple to create every eye look over<br />
the rainbow. You can choose to stick to<br />
a color palette — like a warm sunset<br />
eye or cool toned galaxy lid — or combine<br />
totally unrelated colors to really<br />
make an impact. Look for eyeshadows<br />
that aren’t chalky and don’t have a<br />
lot of fallout. To make the color stand<br />
out as purely as possible, prime your<br />
eyes with an eye primer, and use a flat<br />
packing brush for the lid. This makes<br />
it so you layer the pigment straight on<br />
rather than buffing it out to be more<br />
sheer. Then blend out your crease for a<br />
seamless, airbrushed finish.<br />
PUCKER UP<br />
One of the easiest ways to make a<br />
statement when you walk out the door<br />
is to play up your lips with a bold color.<br />
There’s no need to stick to the traditional<br />
reds and nudes — teal, lavender<br />
and electric orange are all underrated<br />
options great for making your lips pop.<br />
If you’re not ready to dive into the deep<br />
end of the rainbow, try an orangey-red<br />
or a hot pink; you can still be daring<br />
while keeping your look suitable for<br />
every day. Before you apply any bright<br />
[14] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
lipstick, make sure your lips are exfoliated<br />
and moisturized. You want to<br />
give your lipstick as much of a smooth,<br />
even canvas to work on, so you can<br />
build up that pigment. Look for a liquid<br />
lipstick or a bullet lipstick with<br />
some coverage to really make your<br />
lips eye-catching.<br />
GET IN LINE<br />
Graphic liner is a fast growing trend<br />
that is perfect for those of us who want<br />
to spice up that classic cat eye. The<br />
great thing about graphic liner is that<br />
it gives you full license to break the<br />
conventions of drawing on your normal<br />
wing: many of the styles employ geometric<br />
shapes, sketchy lines and symbols.<br />
If you want to create the look but<br />
you’re not sure where to start, look for<br />
natural lines around your eye that you<br />
can accentuate with eyeliner. Trace<br />
your liner along your crease and connect<br />
it with your normal eyeliner into<br />
the shape of an open wing. Skip top<br />
liner altogether and extend your bottom<br />
lash line with a double flick. Or do<br />
away with lines and ink out some cool<br />
dots instead. Don’t think you have to<br />
stick to black either; some of the most<br />
fun looks involve a cobalt blue, pure<br />
white, or an ombré of several colors.<br />
When it comes to getting graphic, liquid,<br />
gel and a creamy pencil liner are<br />
the way to go. Don’t forget to have a<br />
small clean up brush and some concealer<br />
on hand so you can sharpen and<br />
define your look.<br />
So whatever your comfort level is,<br />
don’t be afraid to be a bit more free<br />
with color this summer. Take advantage<br />
of this time to try new things, be<br />
creative and just have fun with your<br />
look — after all, with all of the colors<br />
of the rainbow at your disposal, why<br />
not use them? *<br />
SPRING101<br />
> TRENDS 2016<br />
@THE<br />
UNIVERSITY<br />
OF<br />
STYLE.<br />
online on facebook + university-mall.com<br />
1701 McFarland Blvd East<br />
Open Daily 10am-9pm, Sunday 1pm-5:30pm<br />
PLAID . COLD SHOULDER . TIE DYE . SUEDE<br />
FRINGE . BACKPACK PURSES . VIVID COLOR<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [15]
FASHION<br />
HEAD<br />
IN<br />
THE<br />
CLOUDS<br />
Photo by Teah Shaw<br />
Airplanes and location courtesy of Abe Alibrahim<br />
[16] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
Blazer: Az Well<br />
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth<br />
with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been<br />
and there you will long to return.<br />
– Leonardo da Vinci<br />
Photo by Emily Heath Photo by Emily Heath<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [17]
Photo by Sarah Westmoreland<br />
[18] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
Photo by Emily Heath
White flowy top: Market House<br />
Pants: Az Well<br />
All sunglasses: Lulu’s<br />
Gray jumpsuit: Lulu’s<br />
Photo by Emily Heath<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [19]
Blue jumpsuit: Lulu’s<br />
Photo by Emily Heath<br />
[20] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
Photo by Emily Heath<br />
Photo by Teah Shaw Photo by Sarah Westmoreland<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [21]
FASHION<br />
COLOR THEORY: GOLDENROD<br />
Photo by Alex Green<br />
[22] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
Photo by Alex Green<br />
Romper (above): Lulu’s<br />
Romper (left): Pants Store<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [23]
Photo by Alex Green Photo by Alex Green<br />
Goldenrod blazer: Forever 21<br />
Striped dress: Forever 21<br />
[24] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [25]<br />
Photo by Emily Heath
Cool Looks for a Hot Summer<br />
It’ll be a summer of comfort and style in these bold, bright and colorful outfits –<br />
inspired by the sunny streets and untouched beaches of Cuba. The Havana Collection,<br />
available at The Trunk Show boutique inside both Supe Store locations.<br />
Floral flowy v-neck<br />
¾ length sleeve dress<br />
by JODIFL - $36<br />
3/4 length sleeve floral wrap romper<br />
by JODIFL - $34<br />
Chambray ruffle shorts<br />
by jella c. - $21<br />
Cold shoulder long sleeved<br />
tunic w/ eyelet lace trim<br />
by EMME - $40
Black strappy crepe dress with embroidered<br />
bodice by JODIFL - $36<br />
Ditsy floral wrap dress<br />
by JODIFL - $36<br />
Strappy cropped top<br />
by daytrip - $19<br />
Shorts: short linen ruffle shorts by<br />
veryJ - $26
FASHION<br />
LET THE<br />
GOOD TIMES<br />
ROLL<br />
Photo by Alex Green<br />
[28] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
Photo by Alex Green<br />
Red two-piece: Lavish<br />
Black off-the-shoulder top: Lavish<br />
All other items: Twice as Nice<br />
Photo by Alex Green<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [29]
Photo by Teah Shaw<br />
Photo by Alex Green<br />
[30] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
Photo by Emily Heath<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [31]
Photo by Emily Heath<br />
[32] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
Photo by Alex Green<br />
Bralette: Lavish<br />
Black bead necklace: Lavish<br />
Photo by Alex Green<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [33]
By Kallen Sebastian<br />
This season, less actually is more.<br />
Clothes that show a little skin have<br />
made a major appearance in both runway<br />
and day-to-day fashion. From<br />
nude and sheer to cutout and mesh,<br />
clothes seem to be doing a lot more<br />
showing and a lot less telling.<br />
Perhaps this is a result of recycling<br />
styles from the ‘80s, or perhaps it’s<br />
a byproduct of the lingerie trend:<br />
whatever it is, everyone seems<br />
to be getting on board.<br />
Although we may not<br />
all be so bold as to<br />
wear an entirely sheer dress like Rihanna<br />
or Kim K, we’re starting to see<br />
their vision.<br />
So arrives sheer tops, fishnets and<br />
cutouts of every kind. Fishnets aren’t<br />
limited to their classic design: we’ve<br />
seen a variety of colors and sizes on<br />
the streets (and the internet). If you’re<br />
feeling an early 2000s throwback, try<br />
layering fishnets over nude tights or<br />
try a pair underneath torn denim, giving<br />
you a little grunge while keeping<br />
you in 2017. Even better: try it with<br />
high-waisted fishnets that peek above<br />
your jeans.<br />
If full-on fishnets aren’t for you,<br />
don’t think you have to go all-out to<br />
be a part of the movement. Nude fishnet<br />
ankle socks paired with loafers or<br />
converse are a great way to add a little<br />
spice while keeping it subtle.<br />
Shirts and bodysuits with lace-up<br />
cutouts are also a simple way to show a<br />
little skin without baring it all.<br />
If you’re not quite so Madonna and<br />
a little more Jane Fonda, you will be<br />
pleased to know that athleisure hasn’t<br />
missed the cut either: mesh leggings<br />
and strategically-placed cutouts are<br />
making bold entrances into the athletic<br />
work. It gives workout gear a little sass<br />
without losing its function.<br />
With summer right outside our windows,<br />
it’s no wonder we want to show a<br />
little skin. This season, add some intrigue<br />
to the equation. *<br />
[34] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
Photos by Emily Heath<br />
Grey skirt: Twice as Nice<br />
Mesh shirt: Twice as Nice<br />
Black top: Az Well<br />
White pants: Pants Store<br />
Blue two-piece: Az Well<br />
Blue fishnet: Forever 21<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [35]
LIFESTYLE<br />
Photo courtesy of Prestley Bramlett<br />
[36] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
48<br />
hours in<br />
Birmingham<br />
By Emily Adams and Christina Ausley<br />
Birmingham: our local big city with a southern, small-town feel.<br />
Whether you’re visiting for the food or the sights, it’s the perfect<br />
city to spend a weekend. Birmingham’s historic downtown area,<br />
up-and-coming music scene and delicious southern eats are all conveniently<br />
located only an hour from campus. Treat yourself to some<br />
retail therapy, make evening plans to see the hottest show in town<br />
and, most importantly, leave a little room for a bit of spontaneity.<br />
Day<br />
1<br />
<strong>No</strong><br />
weekend excursion would be complete<br />
without a luxurious hotel room.<br />
Stay at the newly-renovated Hampton<br />
Inn and Suites’ Tutwiler Hotel for its<br />
convenient downtown location and affordable<br />
room options. The Tutwiler is<br />
perfect for anyone who admires southern<br />
elegance and appreciates modern<br />
conveniences.<br />
9 a.m. Chez Lulu and Continental<br />
Bakery is a little slice of Paris right<br />
here in the deep South. Step into this<br />
corner bake shop to sample the best<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [37]
delicacies Chef Carole Griffin has to offer.<br />
Every bite of her crepes, baguettes<br />
and tarts is a taste of authentic French<br />
cuisine (just ask her many loyal customers).<br />
The doors to the bakery open<br />
at 7 a.m., and since every item on the<br />
menu is made fresh daily, it’s definitely<br />
worth making the early morning trek.<br />
Stop by for a delicious breakfast bite<br />
and ask for the daily special. You won’t<br />
be disappointed!<br />
The details: 1909 & 1911 Cahaba Rd. /<br />
$9 / chezlulu.us<br />
10 a.m. Once you’ve had your daily<br />
sugar fix, head to the Market at Pepper<br />
Place. A retro farmer’s market located<br />
in the former Dr. Pepper Syrup Plant<br />
and Bottling Company, Pepper Place<br />
offers the freshest food and trendiest<br />
wares on the market. With over a hundred<br />
Alabama-based artists, artisans<br />
and crafters present each week, the<br />
market is a hub for tourists and locals<br />
alike. Be sure to take the time to explore<br />
the rest of the historic Lakeview<br />
Design District during your visit here!<br />
The details: 2829 2nd Avenue South /<br />
Varies / pepperplacemarket.com<br />
12 p.m. From Pepper Place, it’s only<br />
a short walk to one of the quirkiest<br />
shops in town: What’s on 2nd. A treasure<br />
trove of undiscovered vinyls, vintage<br />
movie posters and collectibles of<br />
all kinds, What’s on 2nd will keep you<br />
busy for hours as you lose yourself in<br />
its ever-changing inventory. Stop by<br />
this local favorite to find that perfect<br />
vintage piece for your apartment or to<br />
peruse a bit of pop culture history.<br />
The details: 2323 1st Ave. N. / Varies /<br />
whatson2ndbirmingham.com<br />
1 p.m. After a morning of exploring<br />
the city, you’re probably looking forward<br />
to some quintessential southern<br />
eats. Saw’s is barbecue at its finest,<br />
and the heaping plates of mouthwatering<br />
brisket, chicken and pork are<br />
Photos from top left to bottom: Light Tunnel, Seth Doyle;<br />
downtown Birmingham, Blair Blackmon; Birmingham sign,<br />
Morgan Stevenson; Penny & Sparrow at Iron City, Emma Bjornson<br />
[38] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
definitely worth the wait in line. (Get<br />
here before the lunch hour rush to<br />
snag a spot at the front.) Saw’s is an<br />
award-winning eatery, and it’s easy to<br />
see why when the homemade sides are<br />
just as delicious as the main course.<br />
The details: 1008 Oxmoor Rd / $15 /<br />
sawsbbq.com<br />
2 p.m. There’s nowhere better to grab<br />
dessert (and to relax after a satisfying<br />
meal) than Church St. Coffee and<br />
Books. Come here to lounge with a new<br />
bestseller in the cozy upstairs reading<br />
nook, buy a homemade gift for a friend<br />
or try a tasty treat off the unique<br />
café menu. The Breakup Cookie is a<br />
cult-favorite and locally famous for its<br />
chocolatey deliciousness.<br />
The details: 81 Church St., Mountain<br />
Brook / $10 / churchstreetshop.com<br />
7 p.m. For a picture-perfect moment<br />
after the sun sets, visit the Light Tunnel.<br />
An underpass turned art installation,<br />
the Light Tunnel is the creation<br />
of artist Bill FitzGibbons. Using thousands<br />
of LED lights on a computerized<br />
system, FitzGibbons turned a historic<br />
Art Deco tunnel into a technicolor wonderland<br />
perfect for cyclists, pedestrians<br />
and Instagram enthusiasts to enjoy.<br />
The details: 2501 5th Avenue <strong>No</strong>rth /<br />
Free<br />
8 p.m. To wrap up your first day in<br />
Birmingham, catch a show at Iron City<br />
Music Hall. Originally built in 1929 as<br />
an auto factory, Iron City now hosts<br />
one of the most phenomenal music<br />
scenes in Alabama. Featuring upcoming<br />
acts such as Mayday Parade and<br />
Sister Hazel, Iron City is the perfect<br />
venue for a girls’ night out or a rockin’<br />
date night. With its three stages, two<br />
bars and restaurant, there’s sure to be<br />
something that catches your eye at this<br />
downtown music hall.<br />
The details: 513 22nd St. S. / Varies /<br />
ironcitybham.com<br />
Day 2<br />
The sun rises on day two and it’s<br />
time to kick-start your last 24 hours in<br />
the Iron City. Stretch your legs and get<br />
ready for a day full of French cuisine<br />
made with local ingredients and views<br />
to die for. Use these tips, but also plan<br />
ahead by making reservations if you’re<br />
in the mood for a nicer sit-down lunch<br />
or dinner under the city lights of Birmingham.<br />
8 a.m. Let’s toast! If you’re in the<br />
mood for a tasty morning treat, try<br />
this: Trattoria Centrale. Start your<br />
morning off right with Trattoria Centrale’s<br />
famous French toast in a trendy,<br />
European-styled café. If French toast<br />
isn’t your thing, the café also offers<br />
fresh scones, omelets, sandwiches and<br />
orange juice — all made with local and<br />
organic ingredients.<br />
The details: 207 20th St N / Varies /<br />
trattoriacentrale.com<br />
If you’re closer to Clairmont Avenue,<br />
Bogues remains open from 6 a.m.<br />
– 2 p.m. and offers a unique spot for<br />
breakfast, brunch or lunch. This Birmingham<br />
gem offers traditional southern<br />
hospitality and cuisine from biscuits<br />
and gravy to a stack of blueberry<br />
pancakes, not to mention the prices are<br />
more than reasonable.<br />
The details: 3028 Clairmont Ave / Varies<br />
/ boguesdiner.com<br />
9 a.m. If you want to see the true view<br />
of Iron City, check out Birmingham’s<br />
Vulcan Statue. Home of the largest<br />
cast iron statue in the world, this giant<br />
stands tall over the city. For just $6,<br />
you can climb up the steps to the top<br />
and view Birmingham in all its glory.<br />
The overlook is a great photo-op and<br />
can be accessed in the early morning<br />
or late evening for spectacular sunrise<br />
and sunset views. With Birmingham<br />
known as “Steel City,” how could you<br />
miss this 50-ton iron giant?<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [39]
The details: 1701 Valley View Dr / $6 /<br />
visitvulcan.com<br />
11 a.m. If you’re looking to walk off<br />
those blueberry pancakes or French<br />
toast, Railroad Park offers an array<br />
of walking paths and trails. The park<br />
also offers free exercise classes like<br />
yoga and Zumba whether you’re in the<br />
mood to relax or get your heart rate<br />
up. Visit http://www.railroadpark.org/<br />
for the park’s schedule of events.<br />
The details: 1600 1st Ave S<br />
12 p.m. In need of a little pick-me-up?<br />
If you’ve spent your afternoon walking<br />
the trails or climbing the Vulcan Statue,<br />
you’re more than likely in need of a<br />
sugary or caffeinated boost. For a hip,<br />
rustic and local coffee shop, try Urban<br />
Standard Coffee for a house-made chai<br />
latte or iced coffee.<br />
The details: 2320 2nd Ave N / Varies /<br />
urbanstandard.com<br />
If you have a sweet tooth, try Doodles<br />
for homemade sorbet or Savage’s Bakery<br />
for an intricately-frosted cupcake<br />
or cookie. Both locations are long-running<br />
and local favorites.<br />
The details: (Doodles) 3236 Cahaba<br />
Heights Rd. (Savage’s) 2916 18th St S<br />
/ Varies / savagesbakery.com<br />
2 p.m. Let’s turn the page, if you’re<br />
looking for a little taste of shopping, be<br />
sure to sort through Jim Reed Books.<br />
This historic book store offers thousands<br />
of novels, magazines, newspapers<br />
and antiques fit for almost any curious<br />
visitor. The best part about this<br />
shop is that it offers around 250,000<br />
uncatalogued items up for discovery.<br />
Ask for just about any obscure item,<br />
and they’ll find it for you.<br />
The details: 2021 3rd Ave N / Varies /<br />
jimreedbooks.com<br />
Outside of books, Charlemagne Records<br />
and Renaissance Records offer<br />
thousands of vinyls to skim through<br />
and purchase. Whether you’re looking<br />
[40] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
for classic rock, alternative or vintage<br />
pop, both of these businesses will more<br />
than likely have exactly what you’re<br />
looking for.<br />
The details: (Charlemagne) 1924 ½<br />
11th Ave S / Varies // (Renaissance)<br />
2020 11th Ave S B / Varies<br />
6 p.m. Once dinner time rolls around,<br />
try Bottega Restaurant for upscale<br />
Italian fare or Hotbox for a fun take on<br />
Asian food for less than $10. Though<br />
both locations couldn’t be more different,<br />
both offer some of Birmingham’s<br />
best cuisine and local favorites.<br />
The details: (Bottega) 2240 Highland<br />
Ave / Varies / bottegarestaurant.com //<br />
(Hotbox) 4036 5th Ave S #2 / Varies /<br />
hotboxbhm.com<br />
8 p.m. If you’re looking to wrap it up,<br />
enjoy Birmingham’s nightlife watching<br />
the sunset from Red Mountain<br />
near English Village, purchasing a<br />
ticket for the night’s performance at<br />
Alabama Theater or checking out<br />
Moonlight on the Mountain. Moonlight<br />
Photo by <strong>No</strong>ah Hinton<br />
on the Mountain provides a unique<br />
musical atmosphere where you’re encouraged<br />
to bring your own drinks<br />
and snacks, as they don’t serve any of<br />
their own. Instead, the intimate setting<br />
offers live acoustic acts, poetry<br />
readings and comedians. Visit http://<br />
www.musiconthemtn.com/events/ for<br />
their schedule of events and more information.<br />
The details: (Red Mountain) 2011<br />
Frankfurt Dr / redmountainpark.org<br />
// (Alabama Theater) 1817 3rd Ave N /<br />
Varies / alabamatheatre.com // (Moonlight)<br />
Bluff Park Shopping Center, 585<br />
Shades Crest Rd<br />
Check out the app “Birmingham IN<br />
Guide,” where you can get a layout<br />
of the city’s restaurants, hotels and<br />
attractions. The app also supplies directions<br />
to each location and customer<br />
comments to help you find the parts of<br />
Birmingham that best accommodate<br />
your preferences. *
Wedding<br />
Season<br />
Survival Guide<br />
By Katie Bell<br />
With the sunshine comes the bride:<br />
summer wedding season is upon us.<br />
From what to wear and who to bring,<br />
this time of year can be a little daunting.<br />
Travel, lodging and registry gifts can<br />
be enough to make your head spin. We<br />
know you know the Golden Rule (don’t<br />
wear white to a wedding), <strong>Alice</strong> has<br />
the best tips to not just surviving but<br />
thriving for every summer celebration.<br />
Lots of planning goes into a wedding<br />
from the bridal party’s side, and being<br />
prepared on your side can help the big<br />
day transition smoothly. It’s a special<br />
event celebrating the couple’s big day,<br />
but a bride is just as worried about her<br />
guests having fun as she is walking<br />
down the aisle.<br />
First and foremost, RSVP to wedding<br />
invitations by the suggested date<br />
given. This helps the bride plan for catering<br />
and seating, while also showing<br />
appreciation and respect for the hard<br />
work that went into designing, organizing<br />
and mailing those invitations.<br />
Next, book a hotel or Airbnb for the<br />
weekend if applicable. Always go in<br />
with friends to reduce the cost and<br />
make a fun road trip out of it if you<br />
don’t fly. Also, monitor the bridal registry<br />
and pick a gift within your price<br />
range or go in with a friend on an expensive<br />
item.<br />
As far as bridal showers go, don’t<br />
sweat if you can’t make all of them —<br />
the bride will understand. Pick a party<br />
that works with your schedule, RSVP<br />
and enjoy the time celebrating the bride.<br />
DO<br />
“Pick the right shoes. Don’t wear a<br />
pair with skinny heels that will sink<br />
into the ground if it’s outside. Dress<br />
for the venue.” - Molli, 22<br />
“Take a date that you know can handle<br />
the agenda for the day. A ceremony<br />
and reception can sometimes be allday<br />
events, and mixing that with alcohol<br />
and strangers and be overwhelming<br />
for some. Take someone who would<br />
be excited to go.” - Kelley, 22<br />
“Eat a little something before you<br />
go. You never know what the food table<br />
will look like and partying on an empty<br />
stomach can be risky.” - Kim, 54<br />
DON’T<br />
“Don’t blow your budget going to<br />
every party or shower a couple has.”<br />
- Angel, 38<br />
“Don’t post pictures of the wedding<br />
before the professional photographer<br />
does.” - Allison, 35<br />
“Don’t experiment with spray tans<br />
a few days before a wedding if you’ve<br />
never gotten one before. I did once …<br />
let’s just say it didn’t go very well.”<br />
- Kady, 22<br />
<strong>No</strong>body wants to provoke a bridezilla.<br />
When choosing an outfit, steer clear of<br />
anything that could potentially overshadow<br />
the bride or bridal party. Don’t<br />
be the guest on her phone the whole<br />
time — this means putting it away for<br />
the ceremony and reception.<br />
You are responsible for your plus one<br />
date, which means choose a respectful<br />
date who knows how to conduct himself<br />
or herself around an open bar and new<br />
people. At the end of the night, don’t<br />
worry if you’re unable to say goodbye<br />
to the bride and groom. Offer congratulations<br />
and praise at some point of<br />
the night when the bride and groom<br />
are available; saying goodbye can be<br />
hard in a reception room full of people.<br />
Overall, remember you are there to celebrate<br />
the marriage of a friend and to<br />
have fun. *<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [41]
Pack<br />
[42] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
By Lota Erinne and Carson Woody<br />
Whether you’re spending a summer<br />
in Paris or just going home for the<br />
weekend to visit family, there is one inescapable<br />
issue when it comes to traveling:<br />
packing.<br />
It’s the least glamorous part of any<br />
trip, yet it’s arguably the most important.<br />
After all, how can you enjoy<br />
a getaway with friends if you’re scrambling<br />
to replace those sandals you left<br />
at home or worrying about how to deal<br />
with the catastrophe of a shattered<br />
bottle of foundation? An organized, efficiently-packed<br />
suitcase is the key to<br />
starting any trip on the right foot, and<br />
we are here to help you unlock the keys<br />
to a stress-free vacation.<br />
WEEKEND TRIP<br />
Whether you’re going on a fun getaway<br />
with your friends or traveling<br />
for something more serious, everyone<br />
needs to know how to pack for a weekend<br />
getaway. All you need for this short<br />
trip is one bag and maybe a large purse<br />
or tote bag (seriously, those things<br />
can hold everything). Here’s what<br />
you’ll need:<br />
Shirts: It’s tempting to dump your<br />
entire closet in your suitcase, but stay<br />
strong. You’ve worn the same shirt for<br />
the past four days (#RealTalk). Two<br />
or three shirts should do the trick.<br />
Pants: Depending on the weather,<br />
two pairs of pants or shorts should<br />
be fine. For a lightweight solution<br />
that barely takes up any space,<br />
bring leggings.<br />
Underwear: Here is where you can<br />
splurge. Underwear hardly takes up<br />
any space, so overpack a little on this<br />
in case of emergency. Pro tip: you can<br />
pack underwear inside other things —<br />
like shoes.<br />
Toiletries: Just bring the basics.<br />
Wherever you are going will most likely<br />
have shampoo and conditioner, so<br />
remember the essentials: your makeup<br />
bag, a toothbrush, some deodorant and<br />
personal medications.<br />
A WEEK<br />
Weeklong trips pose a dilemma:<br />
Should you stick to one small-to-medium<br />
sized bag? Or would it be better<br />
to bring two bags or just upgrade to a<br />
big suitcase?<br />
One big suitcase is fine for air travel,<br />
but less is definitely more if you’re<br />
driving to your destination. It’s best<br />
to cram all you can into a suitcase<br />
that’s not too tough to maneuver and<br />
doesn’t take up much space. Here<br />
are a few tips to maximize efficiency<br />
and keep your long-suffering zipper<br />
from busting.<br />
Pack socks and underwear in shoes.<br />
This technique, as weird as it sounds,<br />
will keep your shoes from flattening<br />
out. Lay them on their sides with the<br />
soles touching each other to keep from<br />
getting your clothes dirty — no one
Attack<br />
wants to open their suitcase and be<br />
greeted with a dirt-streaked surprise.<br />
Roll your clothes. You’ve heard your<br />
parents lament your habit of just<br />
throwing everything in the bag, and<br />
now it’s time to listen to them. While<br />
folding is the most common practice,<br />
rolled up clothing saves even more<br />
space and is easier to sift through<br />
without yanking out the contents of<br />
your suitcase.<br />
Don’t cut corners. Once your bag<br />
seems full, take a moment to reassess.<br />
Are there empty spaces in the corners?<br />
Could you reposition your makeup bag<br />
to create more room? Never miss an<br />
opportunity to fit a few last things in<br />
your bag.<br />
Get stacked. Place anything fragile<br />
— glasses, breakable makeup containers,<br />
etc. — between layers of softer<br />
material. Be sure to pack everything<br />
tightly to minimize jostling as you<br />
travel and keep your belongings intact.<br />
STUDY ABROAD<br />
Congratulations: You are about to<br />
embark on one of the most exciting adventures<br />
of your college career. With<br />
all the paperwork and detailed planning<br />
behind you, you want to make<br />
sure that that last piece — packing<br />
— is as painless as possible. As with<br />
any lengthy trip, a well-packed suitcase<br />
is essential. However, you don’t<br />
have to pack literally everything you<br />
own just because you’re going to be<br />
gone for months. Remember: you can<br />
buy things in other countries too, so<br />
that pillow that’s taking up space in<br />
your luggage has got to go. What you<br />
need are the essentials, and a few other<br />
lesser known items that people tend<br />
to forget.<br />
Medicine: If you take a regular medication,<br />
research it and make sure it is<br />
allowed in your destination and on the<br />
plane. It’s best to pack a full supply for<br />
the duration of your trip.<br />
Clothing: Roll your clothing so it fits<br />
better in your suitcase. You’ll be gone<br />
for a while, so bring all your staples,<br />
including at least one nice outfit. Pay<br />
attention to the weather as well, and<br />
pack accordingly. If you need to bring<br />
a big winter coat, wear it with you<br />
while you travel to save space.<br />
Photocopies of all important documents:<br />
This is the most important one.<br />
Make sure you have copies of all the<br />
documents you need (passport, visa,<br />
etc.) — actually, make multiple copies<br />
and store them in a secure place.<br />
Credit Card without Foreign Transaction<br />
Fees: <strong>No</strong> one wants to pay extra<br />
fees when they are already traveling<br />
and spending money.<br />
Toiletries: Keep these minimal. Most<br />
of these items can be bought in any location,<br />
so free up some space in your<br />
suitcase and leave them out.<br />
Shoes: You don’t need more than<br />
three pairs of shoes — wipe that grimace<br />
off your face, you know you don’t.<br />
Pack one for casual day-to-day wear,<br />
one formal pair and one pair for more<br />
rugged terrain.<br />
Leave some room: When you eventually<br />
have to go home (yes, you do have<br />
to leave at some point), you’ll want to<br />
bring a few mementos back with you.<br />
Leave some extra space in your suitcase<br />
to store memories made on your<br />
amazing time abroad.<br />
OVERALL TIPS<br />
A suitcase is a suitcase no matter<br />
where you take it. The following strategies<br />
are useful for trips of any length<br />
— keep them in mind every time you<br />
travel and you can’t go wrong.<br />
Check the weather forecast for your<br />
destination and prepare accordingly.<br />
Plan your outfits, or at least have an<br />
idea of what you’ll need to wear.<br />
Make a list of everything you pack.<br />
When you’re coming home, go back<br />
over the list and be sure you aren’t forgetting<br />
anything.<br />
Travel is going to be a bit hectic no<br />
matter what, but you don’t need to<br />
let the stress take over the fun and<br />
adventure of the journey. When in<br />
doubt, focus on the necessities and<br />
remember that if your forget something<br />
it won’t be the end of the world.<br />
Happy Traveling! *<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [43]
LIFESTYLE<br />
BOTTLE IT UP<br />
By Danielle Waddell<br />
With sweltering heat right<br />
around the corner, hydration<br />
is key to keeping up<br />
with your summer bucket list. <strong>No</strong>t<br />
sure what type of water bottle best<br />
suits your summer needs? Here’s our<br />
list of hyped-up water bottles, their<br />
perks and downfalls.<br />
A+ Nalgene Tritan Wide<br />
Mouth (32 oz.) $10.99<br />
Easy on the nose. Users say Nalgene<br />
bottles don’t hold the “smell,” as compared<br />
to some other bottles. If you’ve<br />
experienced (and hate) the “smell,”<br />
here’s your new BFF!<br />
<strong>No</strong> limitations. The Tritan’s wide<br />
mouth allows for lots of ice and water<br />
without the difficulty of fighting a<br />
strange or small mouth shape.<br />
Tough skin. Nalgene users gush<br />
about the bottle’s durability. <strong>No</strong><br />
amount of drops, falls or abuse drive<br />
the bottle to leak.<br />
Shape of you. Nalgene bottles<br />
come in all shapes and sizes, so be<br />
sure to check out which one best fits<br />
your preferences.<br />
A<br />
Hydro Flask (21 oz.<br />
Standard Mouth) $32.95<br />
Baby, I’m worth it. User Mallory<br />
McIntosh said the bottle is heavy duty,<br />
long-lasting and perfect for keeping<br />
cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot.<br />
For long summer days on the beach,<br />
ice cold water is more than worth the<br />
extra money.<br />
Tough Skin. McIntosh says the nice<br />
exterior of Hydro Flasks fade quickly<br />
[44] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
with a few drops to the floor, so handle<br />
your Flask carefully.<br />
Shape of you. Be aware of the different<br />
mouth shapes; different people<br />
have different preferences. Research<br />
what’s best for you before purchasing<br />
your bottle or any add-ons.<br />
A heavy load. Hydro Flask products<br />
tend to be rather dense (part of<br />
the temperature technology), adding<br />
some weight to your daily cross-campus<br />
travels.<br />
Tinted, not tainted. Users say the inside<br />
of your Flask may stain from coffee<br />
or tea — a warning for those easily<br />
panicked by signs of staining.<br />
A-<br />
S’ip by S’well $24.99<br />
Baby, I’m worth it. Keeps your hot<br />
drinks scalding and your cold drinks<br />
frigid.<br />
Ice, ice, baby. The small opening<br />
makes getting peculiar-shaped ice into<br />
the bottle tricky, so be aware of your<br />
freezer’s ice shape.<br />
Size matters. On the topic of size,<br />
S’ip is a bit on the small side, but<br />
Erika Pope said she loves the size —<br />
S’ip fits into backpack pockets beautifully.<br />
Thankfully, S’well’s handy<br />
temperature-keeping strength is found<br />
in all their bottles for those seeking a<br />
little more water room.<br />
Don’t sweat it. Pope raved about the<br />
bottle’s no-sweat power. Dry hands<br />
for days!<br />
B+<br />
Brita Filtered $18.99<br />
So fresh, so clean. With a built-in<br />
Brita water filter, users can drink<br />
nearly any water, anywhere — a major<br />
bonus for world travelers.<br />
Work for it. Due to the filter itself,<br />
along with the shape and science of<br />
the spout, it takes a bit more effort to<br />
drink water from this bottle as compared<br />
to others.<br />
Clean freak. Cleaning the bottle<br />
proves to be quite a hassle as areas of<br />
the lid are difficult or nearly impossible<br />
to reach.<br />
A piece of cake. Replacement filters<br />
for the bottle are inexpensive and easy<br />
to replace.<br />
B- CamelBak Chute<br />
(0.75L) $15.00<br />
I’ve got it handled. Chute users love<br />
the harnessed cap that folds back and<br />
snuggly slips into the handle. <strong>No</strong> worries<br />
about losing the lid or having it<br />
fall on your face mid-sip.<br />
Clean freak. Frequently compared<br />
to the difficult-to-clean Eddy mouthpiece,<br />
Chute’s wide mouth allows for<br />
easy cleaning.<br />
Rain drop, drip drop. While some<br />
users never experience leaking issues,<br />
others say the Chute leaks no matter<br />
how well or tightly the cap is screwed<br />
on. Give the bottle a thorough trial run<br />
before allowing it the space next to<br />
your laptop.<br />
Tough skin. The Chute can take a<br />
hit (or two, or three…) While reviews<br />
say a few falls might further affect the<br />
leaking, the bottle itself proves to be<br />
tough stuff.<br />
Summer is fun, but not when you’re<br />
dehydrated. Whether hiking your way<br />
through summer (Nalgene for the<br />
win!) or relaxing on the beach day-byday<br />
(hello, Hydro Flask), don’t forget<br />
your most important accessory: your<br />
water bottle. *
LIFESTYLE<br />
Revamp<br />
and Revive<br />
Your New Year’s<br />
Resolutions<br />
By Mikelah Luke<br />
It’s sweet summertime right now,<br />
and, between all of the beach trips and<br />
days in the sun, you realize that you<br />
haven’t even thought about your New<br />
Year’s resolutions since January. But,<br />
hey, it’s okay, it happens to the best of<br />
us. In fact, statistics have shown that<br />
about 45 percent of people who make<br />
resolutions each year don’t maintain<br />
them past six months. If you don’t<br />
want to be one of those people and<br />
you’re looking for a way to get back on<br />
track, here are our five steps to revamp<br />
and revive those resolutions, so you can<br />
get out of that “better luck next year”<br />
mindset and you’ll be able to show the<br />
rest of this year who’s boss.<br />
Step 1: Revisit<br />
The first thing you need to do is revisit<br />
your resolutions. Think about<br />
what it was you wanted to change or<br />
start doing and write it down. Along<br />
with doing this, you want to make sure<br />
you’re being realistic when it comes to<br />
making your resolutions. It’s great in<br />
theory but ending world hunger can’t<br />
be done in a year. It’s a better idea to<br />
have realistic goals that you can complete<br />
in a decent amount of time. You’ll<br />
feel loads better in the end when you’ve<br />
actually accomplished what you set out<br />
to do.<br />
Once you’ve got your thoughts together,<br />
try to prioritize your list by<br />
what’s most important to you. Figuring<br />
out those things can make the entire<br />
process a lot less stressful. Let’s<br />
face it — you probably already have<br />
too much stress in your life, so you<br />
should try to cut out as much of it as<br />
possible.<br />
Step 2: Support<br />
So you’ve got your new and improved<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [45]
list: what’s next? Get a support system.<br />
We honestly can’t stress this enough<br />
— if you don’t have someone there to<br />
help motivate you, you’re more likely<br />
to fail compared to someone who has<br />
a whole army of people behind them.<br />
I’m not saying you need an entire battalion,<br />
but a couple of people, or even<br />
one, is always better than none. For example,<br />
it’s easier for most people to go<br />
to the gym with a friend than it is for<br />
them go to by themselves. It’s always<br />
helpful to have someone go with you to<br />
help motivate you, and that same logic<br />
applies here.<br />
If you’re trying to eat more vegetables<br />
or cut out sodas from your diet,<br />
you can always expect to have weak<br />
moments. Sometimes you’d rather eat<br />
the cupcake instead of the celery and<br />
having someone to tell you, “<strong>No</strong>, remember<br />
that you’re trying to cut that<br />
stuff out,” can help you move leaps and<br />
bounds towards your goals.<br />
Step 3: Baby Steps<br />
While your support system can help<br />
hold you up during your weak moments,<br />
you have to first remember<br />
that taking small steps is essential.<br />
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you<br />
can’t change your whole lifestyle in a<br />
day either.<br />
You always have to remember to take<br />
it one day at a time; while it can seem<br />
like it’s easy to just cut out half of your<br />
regular food groups in one day, trust<br />
me, it’s not.<br />
Step 4: Patience<br />
Speaking of failure, it happens to everyone.<br />
Failure is a part of life and unless<br />
you have the willpower and determination<br />
of a bull, you’ll probably fail.<br />
But, even if you do mess up, you<br />
have to remember not to be too hard<br />
on yourself. Stuff happens and life can<br />
always get the best of us. If you’re at a<br />
tailgate and you decide to try that football-shaped<br />
cupcake instead of going<br />
for the vegetable platter, it’s completely<br />
fine. Sometimes cheating is good for<br />
you, and you have to try not to feel too<br />
guilty about straying from the path<br />
you’ve set out for yourself.<br />
Always remember to take care of<br />
yourself first. While sticking to a goal<br />
can feel great, mental health should<br />
always be your top priority. A healthy<br />
mind is always the first step to creating<br />
a healthy lifestyle.<br />
Step 5: Keep It Fun<br />
Last but not least, make the process<br />
fun. If you’re too clinical about this,<br />
it won’t be something you want to do<br />
every day and you’ll go right back into<br />
that “better luck next year” mindset.<br />
Try to find ways that can make you<br />
happy to be making lifestyle changes.<br />
If you can find ways that you enjoy<br />
you’ll want to do it everyday and then<br />
eventually it’ll become a habit. Reward<br />
yourself along the way — when you<br />
reach a milestone, go buy those shoes<br />
you’ve had your eye on, or treat yourself<br />
to a facial and a night in with your<br />
dog. The little things always add up in<br />
the end and can really make changing<br />
your life worth it.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> knows that being a student<br />
can be tough, especially when you<br />
feel the pressure of keeping up with<br />
homework, internships and social lives<br />
as well as your personal goals. We’ve<br />
been there and know how rewarding<br />
it feels to complete a New Year’s resolution.<br />
Hopefully these steps can help<br />
you as the mid-year slump approaches.<br />
There’s always time to turn the year<br />
around and with our guide and your<br />
people around you, you’ll have that list<br />
of resolutions finished in no time. *<br />
[46] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
48<br />
58<br />
62<br />
64<br />
Features<br />
Eternal Summer<br />
Hard to Swallow<br />
Exposed<br />
Escape Artist<br />
Photo by Alex Green<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [47]
Photo by Prestley Bramlett<br />
Black floral maxi: Lulu’s<br />
[48] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
ETERNAL<br />
SUMMER<br />
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?<br />
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:<br />
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,<br />
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:<br />
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,<br />
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;<br />
And every fair from fair sometime declines,<br />
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d;<br />
But thy eternal summer shall not fade<br />
<strong>No</strong>r lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;<br />
<strong>No</strong>r shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,<br />
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st;<br />
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,<br />
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.<br />
–William Shakespeare<br />
Styling by Allie Binford<br />
Hair and makeup by Allie Lowry<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [49]
Photo by Prestley Bramlett<br />
Green maxi: Lucca<br />
White jumpsuit: Market House<br />
Photo by Prestley Bramlett<br />
[50] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [51]<br />
Photo by Alex Green
Striped two-piece: Pants Store<br />
Photo by Prestley Bramlett<br />
[52] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
Photo by Prestley Bramlett<br />
Photo by Prestley Bramlett<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [53]
Photo by Prestley Bramlett<br />
[54] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
White tank: Market House<br />
Black top: Az Well<br />
Striped skirt: Az Well<br />
Light blue dress: Lucca<br />
Striped pants: Market House<br />
Photo by Alex Green<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [55]<br />
Photo by Prestley Bramlett
Photo by Alex Green<br />
Photo by Alex Green<br />
[56] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
Tan dress: Lucca<br />
Navy jumpsuit: Lulu’s<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [57]<br />
Photo by Prestley Bramlett
Photos by Marie Walker<br />
[58] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
HARD<br />
TO<br />
SWAL-<br />
LOW<br />
A look into fertility awareness and<br />
hormone-free alternatives to the pill<br />
By Maria Oswalt
The ‘80s had Heathers, the<br />
‘90s had Clueless — if you<br />
ask any college-aged woman<br />
today what she considers the<br />
most quotable movie of her generation,<br />
I’d bet good money she says it’s Mean<br />
Girls. The 2004 teen comedy became<br />
a cult classic with its witty one-liners,<br />
which continue to be relevant over a<br />
decade later. My favorite quote comes<br />
from the skeeziest character in the entire<br />
movie — Coach Carr, the health<br />
teacher. Parodying abstinence-only<br />
sex education, he proclaims to a gym<br />
full of teenagers:<br />
“Don’t have sex,<br />
because you will<br />
get pregnant and<br />
you will die.”<br />
Various studies, including one in<br />
2007 from the National Center for Biotechnology<br />
Information in the U.S. Library<br />
of Medicine, suggest that abstinence-only<br />
approaches to sex education<br />
don’t delay or prevent sexual activity<br />
in adolescents — so I wouldn’t recommend<br />
Coach Carr’s tactics. However,<br />
that’s a debate for another day. Rewatching<br />
this scene made me recall the<br />
sex education I received growing up in<br />
north Alabama.<br />
Despite the anti-sex stereotypes<br />
surrounding the Bible Belt, the sex<br />
education I received in high school<br />
was relatively comprehensive. I vividly<br />
remember when my tenth-grade<br />
health class watched The Miracle of<br />
Life — well, actually, I remember the<br />
smooth surface of my desk against my<br />
forehead and the faint smell of Clorox.<br />
I’d put my head down to avoid seeing<br />
too much, and the girl sitting behind<br />
me generously narrated every gruesome<br />
detail, so I wouldn’t miss out.<br />
Outside of the awkwardness of that<br />
film, my health teacher did a decent<br />
job explaining the biology behind sex,<br />
talking about the dangers of various<br />
STIs and even discussing the pros and<br />
cons of barrier methods vs. hormonal<br />
methods of contraception. Something<br />
that never came up, however, was the<br />
science behind fertility. I was shocked<br />
when, at 20 years old, I learned that<br />
there were natural, hormone-free ways<br />
to avoid pregnancy that were nearly<br />
as effective as hormonal<br />
contraception.<br />
I was doubly<br />
shocked when I<br />
learned that the<br />
pill is classified as a<br />
Group 1 carcinogen<br />
by the World Health<br />
Organization. If<br />
there were healthier<br />
options, why<br />
weren’t we learning<br />
about them? I was<br />
already an adult (well, as much as you<br />
can consider a 22-year-old who wears a<br />
Pikachu onesie every so often an adult)<br />
when I realized that I knew next to<br />
nothing about how my fertility worked<br />
— and a quick survey of my friends revealed<br />
that I wasn’t the only one feeling<br />
that way.<br />
“The only sex ed I got was in seventh<br />
grade, and they basically told us, ‘Use<br />
the pill. Use condoms.’ It wasn’t until I<br />
was in college that I learned anything<br />
about the possible consequences,” said<br />
Georgia Gallagher, a freshman from<br />
Denver. “I feel like most women are<br />
in the same boat as me, and they take<br />
it because they don’t realize there are<br />
other options.”<br />
Genevieve Aucoin, a senior from Atlanta,<br />
echoed her sentiments. “Most of<br />
what I remember from my high school<br />
sex ed was a single transparency they<br />
put on the projector that showed the<br />
different kinds of birth control and the<br />
pros/cons of each. I think there was<br />
something about the Rhythm Method,<br />
and they said that it was ineffective<br />
— that was all they told us about<br />
‘natural alternatives.’”<br />
Mary Katherine Holladay, a sophomore<br />
from Athens, Alabama, said<br />
that she received an abstinence-only<br />
sex education. She eventually got her<br />
information about contraceptives from<br />
friends and friends’ parents.<br />
“I’ve tried multiple forms of birth<br />
control, and for the most part they had<br />
a negative effect on other areas of my<br />
life, such as my mood,” Holladay said.<br />
“It just wasn’t worth it. Hormones,<br />
for me, haven’t been an effective or<br />
worthwhile solution.”<br />
As college-aged men and women, it’s<br />
imperative that we make well-informed<br />
sexual health decisions — so what exactly<br />
are the consequences of using<br />
hormonal birth control? What are our<br />
options in regards to natural methods?<br />
PILLS N’ POTIONS<br />
Let’s start at the very beginning (a<br />
very good place to start). The history<br />
of the pill is riddled with controversy,<br />
and not just because of the typical drama<br />
surrounding contraceptives. Many<br />
ethically reprehensible practices were<br />
involved in its development — for example,<br />
in the 1950s, biologist Gregory<br />
Pincus, gynecologist John Rock<br />
and Dr. Edris Rice-Wray couldn’t find<br />
enough women willing to endure the<br />
painful side effects from the trial runs<br />
of their hormonal contraceptives, so<br />
they turned to forcing women to participate<br />
in their studies. “These women<br />
weren’t told what the pill was for;<br />
instead, they were supposed to shut<br />
up, take their medicine, and submit<br />
to frequent, invasive medical exams,”<br />
writes Bethy Squires in her Broadly<br />
article “The Racist and Sexist History<br />
of Keeping Birth Control Side Ef-<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [59]
fects Secret.” She goes on to mention<br />
that the development of birth control<br />
for men was considered, but it was<br />
eventually dismissed due to the side<br />
effects. “It was believed that women<br />
would tolerate side effects better than<br />
men, who demanded a higher quality of<br />
life,” she writes. Beyond the trial runs<br />
of hormonal contraceptives, as it was<br />
brought into the consumer market,<br />
the risks continued to remain under<br />
wraps. Thankfully, modern technology<br />
has reduced the number of side effects<br />
related to the pill, but it has not<br />
eliminated them.<br />
Estrogen acts as both<br />
a promoter and an initiator,<br />
so higher levels of estrogen<br />
in the body lead to much<br />
higher risks of breast cancer.<br />
[60] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
A RISKY CHEMICAL ROMANCE<br />
With this knowledge, it’s no surprise<br />
that there are so many misunderstandings<br />
surrounding the pill’s side effects.<br />
Recent studies link use of the pill with<br />
everything from depression to a higher<br />
risk of breast cancer.<br />
A <strong>No</strong>vember 2016 study from Denmark<br />
is the most recent one to find a<br />
correlation between hormonal contraceptives<br />
and depression. This study<br />
reported an 80 percent relative risk<br />
increase in the likelihood that a 15- to<br />
19-year-old taking oral contraceptives<br />
would later be put on antidepressants<br />
as well. Other types of hormonal contraceptives<br />
— such patches, rings and<br />
injectables — reported higher rates<br />
of correlation with depression than<br />
oral contraceptives.<br />
When it comes to breast cancer, the<br />
connection comes from increased estrogen<br />
levels. According to the American<br />
Cancer Institute, cancer is caused by a<br />
mutation in a cell’s DNA. Carcinogens<br />
are factors which can aid in the development<br />
of cancer in one of two ways:<br />
either they speed up the cell division<br />
rate as a “promoter,” which increases<br />
the chance that a mutation will occur,<br />
or they are an “initiator,” which directly<br />
causes the mutation. Estrogen acts<br />
as both a promoter and an initiator, so<br />
higher levels of estrogen in the body<br />
lead to much higher risks of breast<br />
cancer. While oral contraceptives as<br />
a whole have been labeled as Group 1<br />
carcinogens because of this, the pill<br />
comes in many forms with varying<br />
levels of estrogen, so each type comes<br />
with a different risk level.<br />
Other, less severe side effects that<br />
have been linked to the use of hormonal<br />
contraceptives include nausea, mood<br />
swings and a loss of libido.<br />
As our culture increases its awareness<br />
regarding the hormones we put in our<br />
bodies through our food, it is equally as<br />
important to consider the effect of the<br />
hormones we consume through contraceptives.<br />
While the knowledge of these<br />
side effects might not affect every person’s<br />
sexual health decisions, it is important<br />
that this information is more<br />
widely known.<br />
NO EASY ROAD<br />
The primary reason that natural alternatives<br />
to the pill are not utilized is<br />
a lack of convenience. They require the<br />
user to study and chart their own fertility<br />
levels — hence why they are often<br />
referred to as fertility awareness-based<br />
methods, or FAMs. They can also be<br />
referred to under the umbrella of Natural<br />
Family Planning.<br />
According to the Guttmacher Institute,<br />
a sexual health research and policy<br />
organization, only 1.4<br />
percent of people avoiding<br />
pregnancy use FAMs. It<br />
makes sense that — with<br />
the convenience of simply<br />
taking a pill rather than<br />
charting and learning about<br />
fertility — a whopping 25.9<br />
percent of contraceptive users take<br />
the pill.<br />
When it comes to effectiveness, however,<br />
the two are almost equal. Studies<br />
from the Guttmacher Institute reveal<br />
that the percentage of women using<br />
FAMs who will have an unintended<br />
pregnancy over the course one year<br />
of “perfect” use is only 0.4–0.5, compared<br />
to 0.3 percent of women who<br />
“perfectly” use the pill for a year.<br />
WHADDUP FAM?<br />
So what constitutes a fertility awareness-based<br />
method? A common misconception<br />
about FAMs is that they are all<br />
essentially the Rhythm Method. The<br />
Rhythm Method, developed in the early<br />
twentieth century, is calendar-based<br />
— users chart their periods and use<br />
mathematical projections to estimate<br />
the next time they will ovulate. This is<br />
not nearly as effective as other FAMs,<br />
which typically require the user to<br />
monitor more than just timing. Furthermore,<br />
twenty-first century medical<br />
technology has greatly improved their<br />
effectiveness. Today, the most common<br />
FAMs are the Creighton Model,<br />
the Symptothermal Model and the<br />
Marquette Model.<br />
CHEERS TO THE<br />
FREAKIN’ CREIGHTON<br />
The Creighton Model of NFP focuses<br />
on female cervical mucus. Users learn<br />
from a certified instructor about the<br />
various types of mucus and how they<br />
relate to fertility and hormone levels,<br />
and then they monitor and chart their<br />
observations every day. While there is<br />
a bit of a learning curve, this method<br />
can be highly reliable if done with the<br />
help of an instructor; a five-study composite<br />
compiled by NaProTECHNOL-<br />
OGY found the method-effectiveness<br />
of the Creighton Model to be 98 percent<br />
and the use-effectiveness to range<br />
from 94.6 to 97.9 percent.
BE A SYMPTOTHERMAL<br />
KIND OF MAN<br />
(I tried, y’all. There are zero good<br />
puns using the word “symptothermal,”<br />
so I did what I could).<br />
The Symptothermal Model also<br />
monitors cervical mucus, but in addition,<br />
it reqiures the user to track<br />
their basal body temperature as well.<br />
This dual-tracking method has been<br />
found to have an accuracy rate of 99.5<br />
percent when used properly with an<br />
instructor’s help.<br />
Both the Creighton and Symptothermal<br />
models are especially useful<br />
for women with irregular cycles who<br />
might have trouble relying on calendar-based<br />
methods like the Rhythm<br />
Method. Although it is more time-intensive,<br />
monitoring the body’s natural<br />
signs and functions to estimate ovulation<br />
is much more reliable than merely<br />
relying on statistics.<br />
BACK ON THE MARQUETTE<br />
The Marquette Model tracks hormone<br />
levels to determine fertility with<br />
an at-home urine test. This model is<br />
more high-tech than the others and<br />
requires less training, but that comes<br />
with a price — the cheapest fertility<br />
monitor, from Walmart, will set you<br />
back $110.99. Higher quality monitors<br />
can cost up to $200. If you can<br />
afford it, the Marquette Model is easier<br />
to use, and it has been found to be 97<br />
percent reliable.<br />
THE MORE YOU KNOW<br />
The benefits of FAMs go beyond<br />
just being a hormone-free way to avoid<br />
pregnancy. If someone using FAMs<br />
decides that they do want to get preg-<br />
nant, the body literacy gained by using<br />
FAMs makes achieving pregnancy<br />
much easier. Furthermore, it is empowering<br />
to better understand the way<br />
your fertility works. Men and women of<br />
all ages can benefit from having better<br />
body literacy.<br />
“I’ve actually been charting since<br />
I was eighteen,” Aucoin said. “Since<br />
then, I’ve learned a lot more about my<br />
body and why it does the things it does.<br />
It’s not some big mystery any more.<br />
[Fertility awareness] has given me an<br />
opportunity to get to the base of my actual<br />
health problems, helping me treat<br />
what needs to be treated rather than<br />
merely treating the symptoms.” *<br />
THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT<br />
Although many prefer the traditional<br />
pen-and-paper style of charting, if<br />
you’re a techie kind of gal, there are<br />
apps that can help you chart, track,<br />
and estimate your ovulation cycles.<br />
Here are a few of top recommended<br />
apps for Natural Family Planning:<br />
OVUVIEW<br />
Ovuview’s tagline is “Period<br />
and fertility taken seriously.”<br />
Available only for Android users,<br />
OvuView uses the Symptothermal<br />
Model to monitor your period,<br />
fertility, and more.<br />
KINDARA<br />
Kindara boasts that they are<br />
“the most powerful and trusted<br />
fertility app on the market.” In<br />
addition to the app, they also offer<br />
a bluetooth-connected basal<br />
body temperature thermometer.<br />
Kindara is available for both Apple<br />
and Android users.<br />
GLOW<br />
Glow is new and unique in that<br />
it is the only app to offer both<br />
male and female fertility tracking.<br />
They allow you to input your<br />
current symptoms, medications<br />
and other factors that might affect<br />
your charting. A review from<br />
How We Flourish (howweflourish.com)<br />
highly recommends this<br />
app; however, they also warn that<br />
you should not rely solely on its<br />
predictions. The author states,<br />
“[Glow] attempts to tell you your<br />
percent chance of getting pregnant<br />
on a given day — DO NOT<br />
pay attention to these numbers!<br />
They are simply estimations and<br />
mean nothing about your own fertility<br />
— trusting them is basically<br />
trusting the calendar method.”<br />
NAPROTECHNOLOGY<br />
Interested in learning more<br />
about FAMs? Want to talk to<br />
a professional? Look into finding<br />
a NaProTECHNOLOGYspecialized<br />
doctor near you.<br />
NaProTECHNOLOGY (short<br />
for Natural Procreative Technology<br />
and often shortened<br />
further to NaPro), is a relatively<br />
new reproductive science<br />
that focuses on fertility awareness.<br />
NaPro-specialized practictioners<br />
can help you navigate<br />
the world of FAMs and discover<br />
how increasing your body<br />
literacy can lead to an overall<br />
healthier lifestyle.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [61]
[62] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
EXPOSED<br />
Photos by Marie Walker<br />
Text by Claire Turner<br />
From Native American cave paintings to every piece in<br />
the Museum of Modern Art, art has defined and refined<br />
our culture, setting examples and breaking barriers. Art<br />
is years spent chipping away at a slab of marble; art is the<br />
scent of oil paint in a warehouse; art is the snap of a camera;<br />
art is dark charcoal on fingertips. Art is a great wave<br />
coming over the horizon; art is a sculpture of a god. Art is<br />
a collection of fruit in a bowl; art is a woman posing nude<br />
on a bed.<br />
Or is it?<br />
A great debate exists that argues whether or not nudity is<br />
actually considered art or pure objectification. However, everything<br />
in art is technically objectified: a tree, an animal,<br />
an idea. According to Susanne Langer, author of Mind:<br />
an Essay on Human Feeling, art is “the objectification of<br />
feeling and the subjectification of nature.” Basically, this<br />
means art is taking something of value and turning it into<br />
an object while the subject desperately wants itself to be<br />
known. Artist and muse, working hand-in-hand.<br />
Think back to the classics. Sandro Botticelli’s 15th-century<br />
Birth of Venus, which depicts a long-haired nude woman<br />
emerging from the sea in a seashell while modestly trying<br />
to hide her body; Edouard Manet’s Olympia from 1865,<br />
which shows a nude woman on a bed staring confidently at<br />
the viewer; and Pablo Picasso’s 1907 The Young Ladies of<br />
Avignon, which portrays five Cubist nude women, known<br />
to be prostitutes. Each work was and is celebrated for the<br />
artist’s mastery, yet in today’s world, a well-known feminist<br />
like Emma Watson poses semi-nude for a magazine and is<br />
criticized for being a hypocrite. Bodies define feminity at its<br />
core: more than homemakers, more than prostitutes, more<br />
than child bearers ... beneath it all, women are women no<br />
matter what they are wearing.<br />
How can a painter of a nude woman be more acclaimed<br />
than the woman herself? The nakedness of a woman who<br />
is cloaked in confidence and shrouded in mystery deserves<br />
to be the center of attention. <strong>Alice</strong> wants to commemorate<br />
women of all types, no matter their shape, color, role or belief,<br />
and remember that a woman is a woman over and under<br />
her clothes. *<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [63]
Escapism through film and literature<br />
By Paige Burleson<br />
[64] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
After all the hype, I finally<br />
gave in. My mother, sister<br />
and I shuffled into the dimly<br />
lit theater with our torn<br />
movie tickets. I stopped dead in my<br />
tracks as I rounded the corner, seeing<br />
the room was almost entirely full, and<br />
the movie didn’t start for another 30<br />
minutes. We stood at the front for a<br />
few seconds as we scanned the rows,<br />
looking for a seat. Faces peered down<br />
at us, and I began to feel uncomfortable.<br />
We decided to split up — I lost<br />
sight of my mother as she went left,<br />
and my sister, Katherine, and I went<br />
right. I asked a middle-aged man if he<br />
was saving the two seats beside him,<br />
and, thankfully, he wasn’t. Katherine<br />
and I did the awkward dance to get to<br />
them, and we collectively let out a sigh<br />
of relief when we claimed the chairs<br />
as ours.<br />
The previews started and after each<br />
one, Katherine and I would quietly discuss<br />
if we would see it or not. The film<br />
began to roll, and the screen lit up with<br />
bright colors and singing and dancing<br />
in an L.A. traffic jam as the ever-wonderful<br />
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling<br />
appeared. As I began to feel immersed<br />
in the movie, all of my cares, worries<br />
and doubts of society, politics, school<br />
and my future faded away. The only<br />
two things that could bring me out of<br />
this blissful trance were the man snoring<br />
next to me and the ending of La<br />
La Land.<br />
DEFINE IT<br />
When I returned to my bed in Tuscaloosa,<br />
Alabama, I put the needle on<br />
a Duke Ellington record and pulled up<br />
Google. Merriam-Webster defined “escapism”<br />
as “a habitual diversion of the<br />
mind to purely imaginative activity or<br />
entertainment as an escape from reality<br />
or routine.” People escape the burdens<br />
of their life mainly through film,<br />
literature and music.<br />
Some forms of escapism are through<br />
nostalgia for decades past. Listening<br />
to Frank Sinatra can transport you<br />
from 2017 to a “simpler time,” just like<br />
reading The Great Gatsby can push the<br />
politics of today out of your mind and<br />
replace it with prohibition and wild<br />
parties. Another form of escapism is<br />
through the fantastical, such as Game<br />
of Thrones, Lord of The Rings and other<br />
popular books that are turned into<br />
movies or TV shows.<br />
Vogue created a list of 21 escapist<br />
movies that will truly make you want<br />
to buy a plane ticket to a glamorous location,<br />
each filled with striking scenes,<br />
dazzling colors, fashionable outfits and<br />
the desire to escape. Some of the more<br />
popular movies on this list include: The<br />
Talented Mr. Ripley Atonement, The<br />
Grand Budapest Hotel and The Blue<br />
Lagoon. In this May 2016 article, one<br />
Vogue editor described watching Blue<br />
Crush as, “The location and the entire<br />
plotline tapped into my 20-something<br />
(read: present day) dropout dream to<br />
take up surfing full time, live on the<br />
beach and date a pro quarterback.”<br />
These movies (and many more) are<br />
intended to entertain, but they also<br />
create an innate sense to gravitate towards<br />
the idea of dropping everything<br />
and escaping into the screen.<br />
THE SWEET ESCAPE<br />
While looking for the definition, my<br />
Google search also brought up the<br />
question about whether escapism is just<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [65]
avoidance. The word escapism usually<br />
carries a negative connotation. Some<br />
articles, such as “How to Snap Back<br />
to Reality” and “Leave your Fantasy<br />
World and Live in Reality,” described<br />
the downsides of too much escapism.<br />
Other articles say that escapism can<br />
help alleviate depression and can promote<br />
a creative lifestyle. The one thing<br />
that these articles and studies agree on<br />
is moderation. I am not a professional<br />
psychologist, but I do believe that I (an<br />
almost-journalism graduate) should<br />
not tell you what is right or wrong.<br />
How about I present you with the information<br />
and you can come up with a<br />
conclusion for your personal life?<br />
A Lifehacker article said, “[Escapism]<br />
allows a momentary reprieve<br />
from your circumstances, giving you<br />
a chance to recharge your batteries<br />
before you jump back into the fray.”<br />
The writer agreed that escapism is a<br />
normal way to get away from the feeling<br />
of being overwhelmed. When not<br />
in moderation, escapism can also be<br />
detrimental. Patrick Allan, the writer<br />
of the Lifehacker article, said, “Think<br />
of escapism like sugar or salt. You can<br />
sprinkle it on top of your life to make<br />
it better, but too much will ruin the<br />
whole thing. It can cause problems at<br />
work, damage personal relationships<br />
and maybe even cut yourself off from<br />
normal social circles.”<br />
Writers such as C.S. Lewis and<br />
J.R.R. Tolkien were advocates for escapism.<br />
They escaped through writing<br />
and we escape through their words. In<br />
C.S. Lewis as Philosopher, the writers<br />
said that Lewis “considered that used<br />
in moderation, escapism could serve<br />
both to refresh and to expand the<br />
imaginative powers.” Even inside the<br />
novel, The Lion, the Witch, and The<br />
Wardrobe, the children escape from<br />
Nazi Germany into the countryside<br />
and eventually to the land of Narnia.<br />
Without Lewis’s imagination, we also<br />
wouldn’t be able to escape to his world.<br />
In Tolkien and the Modernists, Theresa<br />
Freda Nicolay said, “Tolkien argued<br />
for escapism in fantasy literature as<br />
the creative expression of reality within<br />
a secondary (imaginative) world.”<br />
Escaping to Middle-Earth in Lord of<br />
the Rings wouldn’t exist without Tolkien.<br />
These novels and movies have affected<br />
people across the world. These<br />
writers created worlds for their characters<br />
and readers to fall into when<br />
their surroundings get overwhelming.<br />
<strong>No</strong>w, the movies of our childhood are<br />
being made into live action films, and<br />
escaping to Neverland, Wonderland<br />
and other fantastical realms has never<br />
been easier.<br />
In a study about “Culture and Politics<br />
in the Great Depression,” Alan<br />
Brinkley says that in 1929, Americans<br />
escaped the depression through<br />
magazines, radio and movies. He said<br />
in Life magazine in the 1930s “most<br />
of the pictures give no indication<br />
that there was such a thing as a depression;<br />
most of the pictures are of<br />
“Think of escapism like sugar or salt.<br />
You can sprinkle it on top of your life<br />
to make it better, but too much will<br />
ruin the whole thing.”<br />
[66] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
bathing beauties and ship launching<br />
and building projects and sports heroes<br />
— of almost anything by poverty<br />
or unemployment.” Most films of that<br />
time were “consciously, deliberately set<br />
out to divert people from their problems,”<br />
said Brinkley. In no way am I<br />
comparing our society and politics to<br />
that of the Great Depression, but I believe<br />
that any stress about presidents,<br />
money or war can be escaped through<br />
film and literature just as they did in<br />
the past.<br />
BUT I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE<br />
Hello, my name is Paige and I’m a<br />
daydreamer. My head is perpetually in<br />
the clouds. I’m a talented escape artist.<br />
<strong>No</strong>, I can’t escape from chains or<br />
boxes, but I am pretty dang good at<br />
escaping reality. Whenever I’ve had a<br />
long day, my favorite way to escape is<br />
to read any of the Harry Potter books<br />
(I could never choose a favorite).<br />
The world of magic that J.K. Rowling<br />
created holds a special place in my<br />
heart. I can to be completed captured<br />
by her words and able to keep my stress<br />
at bay — at least for a few chapters.<br />
When I start to feel overwhelmed by<br />
graduation, I lay at the end of my bed,<br />
turn on my globe string lights and put<br />
on a Penny and Sparrow vinyl on the<br />
record player. Records automatically<br />
make me feel better. The scratching<br />
sound the player makes before the music<br />
begins takes me back to a time before<br />
I was born; an era that I’ve experienced<br />
only through books and movies.<br />
Through watching Z: The Beginning<br />
of Everything on Amazon, I saw Zelda<br />
Fitzgerald (then-Zelda Sayre) go from<br />
an Alabama beauty to an icon of the<br />
‘20s. I felt as if I was traveling along<br />
with her from Montgomery to New
York City. After just binge-watching 13<br />
Reasons Why on Netflix, I have needed<br />
to escape through happier means.<br />
When wanting to turn off my mind<br />
and relax, I tend to watch 20-minute<br />
shows that I’ve already seen. My personal<br />
favorite is Scrubs, perfect for<br />
those wanting to laugh and relate to<br />
the characters.<br />
Movies are a whole other obsession<br />
of mine. I think any Tim Burton or<br />
Quentin Tarantino movie has the best<br />
cinematography for escape. Netflix recently<br />
added Midnight in Paris to their<br />
site, and it sat in my queue for a few<br />
days until my roommate convinced<br />
me to watch it. Woody Allen (another<br />
talented escapist director) brings the<br />
lovely Paris to life, but with a twist.<br />
Gil (Owen Wilson) finds himself transported<br />
to the 1920s at the stroke of<br />
midnight. It’s a must see for those that<br />
love the Jazz Age and the scenic views<br />
of France. Lion, a true story about a<br />
young boy getting lost in India and<br />
finding his way home after 25 years,<br />
has breathtaking scenes of India and<br />
the beaches of Australia. It was also<br />
nominated for a few Oscars, so, you<br />
know, no big deal. The plotline will<br />
have you in tears and the views will<br />
leave you breathless.<br />
Last, but not least, I give you Fantastic<br />
Beasts and Where to Find Them.<br />
As you already know, I’m quite the<br />
Harry Potter nerd, so when this movie<br />
came out, I was first in line to see it.<br />
I was once again able to travel to this<br />
magical world through film and I forgot<br />
about all the worries I had a few<br />
minutes before the lights dimmed.<br />
BON VOYAGE<br />
There you have it. Escapism is the<br />
act of escaping reality through entertainment.<br />
In moderation it’s a good<br />
thing for your mind and soul, but<br />
abusing it can lead to avoidance. So I’ll<br />
just sit (still on my bed) with the Duke<br />
Ellington record waiting for me to flip<br />
it to the other side. And I’ll talk to you:<br />
The girl who is stressed out about finals,<br />
or the girl who is going through<br />
a bad breakup or the girl who doesn’t<br />
know what will come after graduation.<br />
Escape. Escape through film, television,<br />
Netflix, music, a book or whatever.<br />
Just escape. You’ll always find your<br />
way back. *<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [67]
HEATH & FOOD<br />
Shade of You:<br />
Tanning Bed Alternatives<br />
By Audrey Watford<br />
With summer just around the corner,<br />
the pressure to be bronze<br />
goddesses in our beachy Instagram<br />
posts also brings the unhealthy pressure<br />
of tanning bed use. It’s easy and<br />
affordable, plus you can see quick results<br />
before your eyes, but it’s not worth<br />
the damage to your skin. The mildest<br />
of side effects are early wrinkling, sunspots<br />
and freckles, not to mention the<br />
increased risk of skin cancer, resulting<br />
in difficult treatments and surgeries to<br />
remove damaged skin. Why chance all<br />
of this when there are healthier ways<br />
to achieve that covetable glow?<br />
Self-Tanners<br />
The first, no-fail option is applying<br />
tanning products wherever you are,<br />
from the comfort of your home to a<br />
hotel room. Options for self-tanning<br />
range from sprays to mousse gels to<br />
wipes. TanTowel is great for fair skin<br />
tones and beginners, although the<br />
[68] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
glow can be deepened with a darker<br />
shade option. The towelette allows a<br />
more thorough coverage, and the tone<br />
is forgiving if you miss a spot or two.<br />
TanTowel also offers a spray that can<br />
be used for spot tanning, such as legs<br />
or face, and both applications begin to<br />
show up within two hours. It is available<br />
at Ulta or Amazon.com. Jergens<br />
Natural Glow Daily Moisturizer is a<br />
great option for those who worry most<br />
about pale legs. It is available in Fair<br />
to Medium and Medium to Tan shades,<br />
and you can use it in replacement of<br />
your regular body moisturizer. It can<br />
be found at Target, Wal-Mart and<br />
most drugstores. St. Tropez Self Tan<br />
Classic Bronzing Mousse is the best<br />
option for any skin tone, even the fairest<br />
of complexions don’t look orange.<br />
St. Tropez offers a tan applicator mitt<br />
to rub the foam all over the body, and<br />
you can immediately see a difference.<br />
You can add multiple layers depending<br />
on how dark you want to be, and the<br />
foam is available in three sizes at Ulta.<br />
Spray Tans<br />
Spray tans are an effortless option<br />
for last minute tanning. Palm Beach<br />
Tan in Tuscaloosa offers beds and<br />
sprays, but Tara Spath, the store<br />
manager, recommends sprays for<br />
skin health.<br />
She said UV light from tanning beds<br />
automatically draws vitamins and<br />
nutrients from the skin. Palm Beach<br />
spray tans last three to five days, and<br />
the color can be restored at any time<br />
with another spray and without skin<br />
damage. You can choose between<br />
sprays in a computerized booth or by<br />
hand by one of the staff, whichever you<br />
are more comfortable with. The salon<br />
offers a college-friendly Silver package<br />
of $19 a month, but the best package<br />
is Platinum for $69.95, which includes<br />
unlimited sprays and discounts on<br />
all additives for a longer lasting tan.<br />
If you have sensitivity to the odor of<br />
spray tans, Palm Beach offers scents<br />
to add to the Mystic spray booths to<br />
lessen the smell.
Base Tans Debunked<br />
By Carson Cook<br />
Natural Tanning<br />
The last, most beneficial option is<br />
tanning naturally outside. <strong>No</strong>t only<br />
does sunlight improve brain function<br />
and sleep quality, but it also provides<br />
the richest glow to your skin. The Skin<br />
Cancer Foundation recommends at<br />
least a SPF of 15 or higher for acceptable<br />
UVB protection for normal everyday<br />
activity and a SPF of 30 or higher<br />
for extensive sun exposure. Adjusting<br />
the angle of your body toward the sun<br />
periodically makes for a more even tan,<br />
and the reapplication of sunscreen is<br />
best every two hours, especially on the<br />
sensitive skin of your face and neck.<br />
An after-sun moisturizer with aloe infusion,<br />
such as Hawaiian Tropic Silk<br />
Hydration, is a great way to soothe and<br />
replenish skin after a day in the sun.<br />
Regardless of the option you choose,<br />
all are much healthier than the harsh,<br />
direct UV rays of tanning beds — it’s<br />
like a hot box for cancer. Taking care<br />
of your skin is so important, and we all<br />
want to look young forever, don’t we? *<br />
With summer right around the corner, drug<br />
stores everywhere have set out brightly-colored displays<br />
of sunscreens that many of us walk right past.<br />
Yes, getting some vitamin D from the sun can be<br />
healthy, but only if you’ve protected yourself from<br />
the harmful UVA and UVB rays.<br />
UVA rays hit the surface of your skin, causing<br />
sunburn. UVB rays penetrate deeper into the epidermis<br />
layer, which is where most cases of skin cancer<br />
occur. How can you be sure that you’ve protected<br />
yourself from both types of rays? Make sure the<br />
sunscreen you choose says “Broad Spectrum.” This<br />
means your lotion will protect from both UVA and<br />
UVB rays. It is also highly recommended to use a<br />
sunscreen with SPF 30. Less than SPF 30 is not<br />
enough protection, and anything higher than 30<br />
does not actually protect you more. In fact, many<br />
who wear sunscreens with super high SPF end up<br />
burning because they think the higher SPF will<br />
protect them and forget to reapply every two hours,<br />
as recommended.<br />
Another commonly held belief is that once you<br />
have a base tan, you will not burn. Getting a base<br />
tan is the equivalent of wearing an SPF 4, which is<br />
essentially no protection at all. The best sunscreen<br />
will be a lotion, not a spray or powder.<br />
There is no way to know for certain how much of<br />
the sprays or powders are absorbing into your skin.<br />
The best sunscreens contain two important ingredients:<br />
zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. Wearing<br />
sunscreen is important every season and even when<br />
you are not tanning. One of the most common places<br />
of skin cancer forming is on the left arm from<br />
your car window while driving.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [69]
HEALTH & FOOD<br />
Coffee Crawl<br />
By Caroline Wells<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> tries three local coffee shops<br />
Oooh, coffee. I am convinced the<br />
word “coffee” lights up the pleasure<br />
receptors in the brains of every college<br />
student. It is coffee’s bitterness<br />
and warmth that draws us in and its<br />
caffeine boost that keeps us coming<br />
back for more. It’s the early morning,<br />
the late night and the afternoon cups<br />
of coffee that keep us alive. Recently<br />
in Tuscaloosa, coffee shops have<br />
been popping up everywhere. <strong>Alice</strong>, of<br />
course, wanted to try them all out, and<br />
this is what we found.<br />
Heritage House<br />
Heritage House is the traditional<br />
local coffee shop in Tuscaloosa loved<br />
by every college student that walks<br />
through its doors. It has expanded into<br />
three locations in town and the newest<br />
location is <strong>Alice</strong>’s favorite. Large<br />
windows and long tables make this<br />
Heritage House feel like home. If you<br />
are a fan of the flavored coffee, Heritage<br />
House’s specialty coffee menu will<br />
make all your dreams come true. I got<br />
the Bama Blitz coffee (vanilla, caramel,<br />
roast of the day, steamed milk). It<br />
was smooth, sweet, and delicious. For<br />
all of you black coffee warriors, the<br />
Turtle Kisses roast is a must try.<br />
O’Henry’s<br />
Although O’Henry’s is one of Tuscaloosa’s<br />
coffee franchises, its environment<br />
nestled in downtown feels<br />
inviting and homey and anything but<br />
a chain coffee shop. It offers a large,<br />
covered outside patio for good weather<br />
days and many single tables for days<br />
when studying alone is a necessity. If<br />
you are a sugary-sweet coffee lover,<br />
this coffee shop is for you. O’Henry’s<br />
drinks are crafted with true Ghirardelli<br />
chocolate, making their lattes<br />
some of the sweetest and tempting in<br />
Tuscaloosa. If you are a fan of chocolate,<br />
caramel, and coffee, The Snickerdoodle<br />
Mocha must be your next<br />
order. But, if coffee’s not your drink<br />
of choice, O’Henry’s Hot Cocoa made<br />
with Ghirardelli Chocolate will become<br />
your new addiction.<br />
Monarch Espresso<br />
Two Alabama alumni recently<br />
opened the newest coffee shop in Tuscaloosa,<br />
Monarch Espresso. This coffee<br />
shop has a big-city feel with its<br />
dark brick interior and modern tables.<br />
It appeals to true coffee lovers with<br />
a simple but delectable menu. Some-<br />
what of a hidden gem is the Cuban, a<br />
velvety espresso with sweetened condensed<br />
cream and steamed milk. They<br />
also offer clean and rich tasting pour<br />
overs. The Guatemalan pour over is a<br />
dark and smooth coffee that delivers a<br />
punch of dark roast flavor.<br />
[70] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
HEALTH & FOOD<br />
Break It Down<br />
By Analiese Gerald<br />
The sun is hot and the beach<br />
is waiting, and while there’s<br />
an excited rush as everyone<br />
buys their newest and cutest bikini,<br />
there’s also the annual scrambling to<br />
hit the gym and get that last-minute<br />
beach body.<br />
Since most quick-fix workouts don’t<br />
produce the miracle results they promise,<br />
I decided to look for a program<br />
that was a little more trustworthy<br />
when looking for my summer workout<br />
plan, even if it meant some more time<br />
and effort. I settled upon fitness guru<br />
Shawn T’s Hip Hop Abs.<br />
Shawn T is well known and respected<br />
in the fitness world, and I have previously<br />
done his infamous Insanity<br />
workout program, (which was every bit<br />
as insane as advertised, but so worth<br />
the results). Hip Hop Abs is a monthlong<br />
program that averages around<br />
30 to 50 minutes a day and goes for<br />
around $28 on Amazon. One month of<br />
hard work in exchange for some toned<br />
abs seemed both realistic and worth it.<br />
I was ready to go.<br />
Week 1<br />
I started off my first day with the<br />
program’s instructional video “Secrets<br />
to Flat Abs,” which explained Shawn<br />
T’s “tilt, tuck, tighten” technique, the<br />
backbone of Hip Hop Abs. I learned<br />
how to tilt my shoulders over, tuck<br />
my hips under and constantly keep<br />
my core tight, activating all parts of<br />
my abs while it felt like I was simply<br />
dancing along to the video. Even just<br />
learning the technique had my abs<br />
burning! When I moved onto the first<br />
workout, however, I got a little discouraged.<br />
Though the hip hop dance moves<br />
were fun and easy at first glance, applying<br />
“tilt, tuck, tighten” while still<br />
keeping pace was less simple. Each day<br />
I got the hang of it a little more, but<br />
I still felt like I wasn’t fully following<br />
the technique, and therefore didn’t feel<br />
like my abs were getting as much of<br />
a workout as they could be. Week one<br />
wasn’t a total flop, but more frustrating<br />
than I’d hoped.<br />
Week 2<br />
Week two, day two: something<br />
clicked. Though I had been consciously<br />
focusing on sticking to my technique<br />
while following along with the workout,<br />
beginning my second week there were<br />
still some specific moves where I didn’t<br />
feel any work being done in my core.<br />
But practice makes perfect held to be<br />
true, and I was finally able to complete<br />
a workout tilt, tuck, tightening the<br />
whole way through and keeping pace<br />
with the dance moves. Along with this<br />
improvement came the soreness, which<br />
just motivated me even more. I wasn’t<br />
immediately flawless — I still had to<br />
pause occasionally to make sure I was<br />
dancing correctly — but I finally felt<br />
like every move had a purpose and was<br />
making a difference.<br />
Week 3<br />
I was used to the dancing, and tilt,<br />
tuck, tightening was coming more and<br />
more naturally. This was the week<br />
where I started to both feel and see<br />
the long-awaited results. In the workouts<br />
I noticed my stamina improve,<br />
and that I was able to go longer before<br />
getting tired and do more without being<br />
sore. Visual changes were less noticeable,<br />
but subtly started to appear.<br />
I shaved off a small amount of weight<br />
and there were the beginning hints of<br />
defined abs. Another thing that made<br />
a big difference this week was making<br />
a conscious effort to clean up my eating.<br />
Exercise that isn’t paired with a<br />
healthy diet isn’t very effective, if effective<br />
at all.<br />
Week 4<br />
I entered my final week with excitement<br />
about where I was at and even<br />
more excitement at the last bit of progress<br />
I could make during the week.<br />
There was definitely a sense of accomplishment<br />
on the last day, and though<br />
I didn’t stick to the program perfectly<br />
(life happens), I stayed as consistent<br />
as I could, and it paid off. The results<br />
I started to see in week three became<br />
more pronounced — my stomach was<br />
noticeably flatter and abs more defined.<br />
Besides just looks, I felt stronger<br />
and had better endurance. Each<br />
workout I was able to do longer without<br />
getting tired.<br />
Overall, I’d recommend the program<br />
with the advice of sticking to it, even<br />
if the tilt, tuck, and tightening takes<br />
a while to get the hang of. <strong>No</strong> workout<br />
program is going to give you Victoria’s<br />
Secret abs in just one month,<br />
and Hip Hop Abs may require more<br />
focus than most, but I was happy with<br />
the changes I saw and felt in my body<br />
and my mind. *<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [71]
HEALTH & FOOD<br />
Southern Summer Pops<br />
Ingredients<br />
1 cup sweet tea (your favorite brand or homemade)<br />
¼ cup sliced peaches<br />
Directions<br />
Pour sweet tea into popsicle molds about halfway,<br />
then place sliced peaches in each mold to desired affect,<br />
pour in more sweet tea until the molds are filled<br />
to ¼ of an inch of top. Freeze for at least four hours<br />
before enjoying on the front porch.<br />
By Jo Hanna Hill<br />
Is there anything better than having a delicious<br />
popsicle in the scorching summer heat?<br />
Well, it could be better if you made that popsicle<br />
yourself. These recipes are easy, fresh and just<br />
as satisfying in the summer sun.<br />
The following recipes make about six popsicles<br />
from a standard mold. If you don’t have a popsicle<br />
mold you can easily use paper cups — just fill<br />
them to ¼ inch below the top, cover with plastic<br />
wrap and stick a popsicle stick through the middle<br />
before freezing.<br />
Parfait Pops<br />
Ingredients<br />
1 cup plain yogurt<br />
¼ cup sliced strawberries and blueberries<br />
A sprinkling of Granola<br />
Honey (optional, but delicious)<br />
Directions<br />
If using honey, drizzle honey on sides of the popsicle<br />
molds first. Spoon a thin layer of yogurt in each<br />
mold, sprinkle berries over yogurt and then top<br />
the berries with more yogurt in alternating layers.<br />
Repeat until ½ of an inch from top of mold, (ending<br />
with a yogurt layer). Make sure to get yogurt<br />
throughout the layers so the finished pop stays in<br />
one piece. Top with granola before putting in stick<br />
and freezing for at least four hours. Makes a perfect<br />
breakfast for warm summer mornings.<br />
1 cup lemonade<br />
½ cup blueberries<br />
¼ cup fresh mint<br />
Smoothie Pops<br />
Ingredients<br />
1 banana<br />
Frozen strawberries, blueberries and cherries<br />
½ cup orange juice<br />
½ cup plain yogurt<br />
Directions<br />
Blend all ingredients together (you can even switch<br />
out these ingredients for your favorite smoothie).<br />
Pour the smoothie mixture into molds, place sticks,<br />
and freeze for at least four hours. Yes, you will probably<br />
have extra smoothie after placing the mix in the<br />
molds... but who’s complaining?<br />
Blueberry Mint<br />
Lemonade Pops<br />
Ingredients<br />
Directions<br />
In a separate bowl, crush the blueberries and mint<br />
together. Add the lemonade to the bowl and mix all<br />
together before pouring into the popsicle molds.<br />
Freeze for at least four hours for a refreshing pop.<br />
[72] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
HEALTH & FOOD<br />
Superfoods<br />
For the Broke College Student<br />
By Lauren Lane<br />
The word “superfood” often comes<br />
with the connotation that it must be<br />
overpriced and sourced from the Amazonian<br />
jungle or an Asian village.<br />
There is no actual legal or scientific<br />
definition of a superfood, but they are<br />
often defined as a nutrient-dense food<br />
that can improve one’s quality of life<br />
and provide a wide variety of vitamins<br />
and minerals.<br />
College diets are notorious for lacking<br />
enough essential vitamins and<br />
minerals; instead, they are often full<br />
of salt, sugar and fat. Superfoods are<br />
great options to add to our diets as<br />
they add multiple vital nutrients, and<br />
can be affordable if you buy them from<br />
the right vendors. We have picked out<br />
10 of our favorite superfoods for you to<br />
try, and, if you buy them from Amazon<br />
Prime instead of the Amazonian jungle,<br />
you too can eat like Gwyneth and<br />
Gisele everyday.<br />
Dark Chocolate<br />
You already like this list, don’t you?<br />
Well, the kind of dark chocolate we<br />
are talking about is not Hershey’s.<br />
Dark chocolate must contain at least<br />
60 percent cacao to be considered a<br />
healthy addition to your diet. Cacao<br />
is loaded with antioxidants, good fats,<br />
fiber, minerals and vitamins, particularly<br />
magnesium. Dark chocolate also<br />
contains flavonols, which lower blood<br />
pressure and protect us from UV rays.<br />
Ghirardelli Intense Dark and Green<br />
& Black’s are two affordable and<br />
healthful options.<br />
Black Beans<br />
At less than a dollar per can, you are<br />
almost stealing your optimum health<br />
into existence by adding these to your<br />
grocery list. Black beans are full of<br />
protein, 14 grams per cup to be exact,<br />
and 12 grams of fiber. They are also<br />
high in Vitamin B6. Combine these<br />
with quinoa, avocado and salsa for a<br />
well-rounded, satisfying dish.<br />
Flaxseed<br />
These little seeds are chock-full of<br />
Omega-3’s, both kinds of fiber, and<br />
they have been known to reduce cancer,<br />
cardiovascular disease and diabetes.<br />
The subjects of Charlemagne back<br />
in the eighth century were required by<br />
law to consume them because he believed<br />
so much in their nutrient power.<br />
Keep this superfood in your refrigerator<br />
and blend it into smoothies or into<br />
pancake mix.<br />
Granola<br />
Yes, granola. Ignore the refined<br />
grain-laden, sugar bomb versions and<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [73]
check out healthier brands such as<br />
Purely Elizabeth. This brand of granola<br />
is a combination of healthy fats<br />
from coconut and cashews and different<br />
kinds of nutrient-packed seeds,<br />
proving itself worthy to be called a<br />
sweet superfood snack. With flavors<br />
like dark chocolate sea salt and banana<br />
nut butter, you can enjoy snacking on<br />
Purely Elizabeth granola on its own or<br />
in yogurt.<br />
Broccoli<br />
With brussels sprouts as the trendy<br />
veggie of the moment, broccoli has been<br />
pushed out of the limelight. Broccoli<br />
provides more than 100 percent of the<br />
daily-recommended amount of Vitamin<br />
K and C and is anti-inflammatory. It is<br />
an excellent detoxifier and helps support<br />
a healthy digestive system. Serve<br />
this cruciferous veggie raw with hummus<br />
or mixed into a healthy stir-fry.<br />
Oats<br />
Oats have been keeping breakfast<br />
healthy for generations. Whether<br />
you prefer them steel-cut, instant, or<br />
soaked overnight, this whole grain can<br />
be made differently every morning of<br />
the week. Oats are full of filling fiber,<br />
bone-building manganese and energizing<br />
carbs to power you through 8 a.m.<br />
classes and group projects. Make your<br />
oatmeal Instagram-worthy by topping<br />
it with sliced fruit, nut butter, coconut<br />
flakes and whatever else will get you up<br />
[74] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
in the morning.<br />
Green Tea<br />
Speaking of getting up in the morning,<br />
green tea provides anywhere from<br />
35-70 milligrams of caffeine and is full<br />
of catechins, a special type of antioxidants.<br />
Debates over whether or not<br />
green tea actually helps you lose weight<br />
have us unsure, but it is a healthier and<br />
more relaxing swap for sugary drinks.<br />
Harney and Sons Green Tea with<br />
Coconut is a great starting point for<br />
green tea newbies, as it adds a sweet,<br />
tropical flavor to this otherwise bitter<br />
drink without all the sugar.<br />
Salmon<br />
Salmon gets its acclaim from being<br />
rich in Omega-3’s and being a good<br />
source of protein. It is also full of Vitamins<br />
D and B12, vitamins that can be<br />
difficult to come by. This famous fish<br />
is also good for our hearts, brains and<br />
bones but needs to be wild-caught and<br />
not farmed. Salmon is often served<br />
with grilled veggies and healthy grains<br />
to provide a nutrient-dense meal.<br />
Leafy Greens<br />
There’s a reason why your mom<br />
made you eat them. Leafy greens,<br />
such as kale, spinach, chard and cabbage<br />
are some of nature’s most nutrient-dense<br />
foods in the world. They are<br />
a leading source of calcium and iron<br />
and also provide a host of other minerals<br />
and vitamins. Leafy greens are a<br />
good source of fiber and help detoxify<br />
the body. If the only kind of greens you<br />
are used to are in spinach dip, blend<br />
them into a smoothie until you can eat<br />
(and enjoy) them in a salad.<br />
Avocados<br />
This fruit may be as trendy as the<br />
Kardashians and for good reason.<br />
Avocados are loaded with monounsaturated<br />
fatty acids, which are known<br />
to help with weight loss and reduce<br />
cholesterol. They are also full of fiber<br />
and adding them to any meal will keep<br />
you full for hours. Sneak these into a<br />
BLT or add them to a sushi roll for improved<br />
heart health.<br />
Red Wine<br />
You’re welcome. Start feeling better<br />
about Wine Wednesday and The<br />
Bachelor on Monday nights thanks to<br />
our friend, resveratrol. It helps prevent<br />
blood clotting, inflammation and<br />
reduces cholesterol and assists other<br />
antioxidants in keeping our hearts<br />
healthy. Pinot <strong>No</strong>ir provides the biggest<br />
resveratrol bang for your buck<br />
and should be purchased by brands<br />
other than Barefoot and Sutter Home.<br />
So next time your friend is trying<br />
to justify her college diet of Taco Bell<br />
and Cook Out, tell her about the superfoods<br />
that are at her disposal and rake<br />
in the thank-you’s. *
HEALTH & FOOD<br />
“On The Brink of <strong>No</strong> Stink”<br />
Tips for Deodorizing Smelly Workout Shoes<br />
By Madison Sullivan<br />
You lace up your tennis shoes and hit the boardwalk, the<br />
sun sizzling on your face and the sea breeze whipping past<br />
you. With the summer heat comes sweaty runs, long hikes,<br />
trips to amusement parks and cycling classes that are all<br />
fun and games until you slip out of your sneakers, seeing<br />
noses crinkle in disgust.<br />
Every athlete and gym rat knows the struggle that comes<br />
with breaking in the perfect workout shoe. The smell. And,<br />
as the summer months approach and the temperature soars<br />
it only gets worse.<br />
Although life is not the movie Holes, and “Sploosh” doesn’t<br />
actually exist, I have put a few methods to the test (on my<br />
countless pairs of equally smelly sneakers) to help you figure<br />
out the best way to banish your tennis shoe funk once<br />
and for all.<br />
Disclaimer: Don’t actually use peaches and onions like in<br />
the film.<br />
The Store-Bought Method<br />
What: Sneaker Balls Deodorizer<br />
Where: Dicks Sporting Goods<br />
Price: $4.99<br />
Well, you’ll break a sweat by the time you get the packaging<br />
open; so make sure you’re not wearing tennis shoes<br />
during this part of the process or you’ll have to clean that<br />
pair as well. Once I finally wrestled the packaging open,<br />
I realized the deodorizers smelled like clean laundry and<br />
looked like tiny soccer balls, so I was excited to give them<br />
a try. I twisted them and popped them halfway into each<br />
sneaker, leaving my shoes to sit overnight. The next morning<br />
I took a big sniff and immediately regretted the decision.<br />
They smelled almost exactly the same with a hint of<br />
deodorizer mixed in. If you’re dead set on using Sneaker<br />
Balls, I recommend using them as soon as you get a new<br />
pair of shoes, popping them in every time you get home to<br />
keep them from smelling from the get go.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [75]
The DIY Method<br />
What: Washing Machine<br />
Where: Any washer & dryer<br />
Price: See your local laundromat<br />
I’ll preface this by saying I was very wary of this method.<br />
In the past I’d heard my friends swear by it, but could never<br />
bring myself to put my grimy shoes into the machine that<br />
I trust to clean my wardrobe. So, I waited until I was home<br />
with my laundry expert of a mother before I finally gave<br />
myself permission to put my pudding-stained (thanks to my<br />
best friend), once white-soled, absolutely disgusting tennis<br />
shoes into her pristine washer and dryer. Let me tell you,<br />
I am a convert. In fact, I just washed another pair today.<br />
Here’s how it’s done: pour Tide detergent into the machine,<br />
tie the laces at the top with the tongue open, and start the<br />
regular cycle on hot. My mom informed me that some people<br />
take out their laces and wash them separately while using<br />
this method — but since my laces were not the part of the<br />
shoe that smelled, we left mine tied. Next, stuff them with<br />
dryer sheets, wrap them with a towel and put them in the<br />
dryer. Keep in mind that it will sound like your dryer is<br />
falling apart. It (most likely) isn’t. Once we got my sneakers<br />
out of the dryer, they smelled and looked new. I would<br />
recommend this method to anyone who has the time and<br />
doesn’t mind the noise.<br />
The Quick Fix<br />
What: Dry Shampoo<br />
Where: Your dresser<br />
Price: $3.00<br />
I’ll admit that this is a secret trick I’ve used in the past<br />
and I honestly never knew it was a thing other fitness junkies<br />
did until recently. I discovered it one day when I was<br />
about to go on a date and could smell my sneakers wearing<br />
them… standing up. (Give me a break, I’m a health writer!)<br />
The dry shampoo was the first thing I could find that had a<br />
pleasant smell, and, as I leaned over to slip off my shoes and<br />
spray it, I realized that its moisture wicking, smell-masking<br />
design is the perfect quick fix for when you don’t have time<br />
to spare. Granted, this is not a permanent fix, it likely won’t<br />
last longer than a few hours, but I’d recommend it to mask<br />
tennis shoe odor in a pinch.<br />
So next time you’re scared to take off your shoes around<br />
another living human being, remember these tips and try<br />
them all out to see which method works best for you so that<br />
you no longer have to live in fear. Pound that pavement and<br />
be comfortably stylish in peace. *<br />
[76] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
HEALTH & FOOD<br />
What You<br />
what you<br />
Really<br />
really need to know about expiration dates<br />
Need to Know About<br />
Expiration Dates<br />
By Caroline Wells<br />
Cool air rushes onto your face as you<br />
open the fridge. You’ve never been this<br />
hungry in your entire life. You feel like<br />
a lion about to attack. As you look and<br />
push around, your heart begins to sink<br />
because, as always, there’s nothing to<br />
eat. It’s not that the fridge is empty<br />
or that there’s nothing on the shelves.<br />
It’s actually packed. Someone looking<br />
over your shoulder might think you<br />
were crazy for even suggesting there’s<br />
nothing to eat, but a closer look at the<br />
contents of the fridge reveals the sad,<br />
dirty truth: All the food is expired or<br />
expiring too soon for comfort. All of it<br />
will be wasted. You aren’t sure how it<br />
got to this point; in the grocery store<br />
your intentions were to buy, cook and<br />
eat everything you bought. But somehow,<br />
all of it has expired so now you<br />
can’t eat it … right?<br />
Well, maybe, but also maybe not.<br />
An “enjoy by” or “consume by” date<br />
is actually more of a “highly suggested<br />
day,” more than a date when a product<br />
will actually go bad, causing food illness.<br />
In an article by The National Resources<br />
Defense Council, titled “Wasted,”<br />
the author notes that pounds of<br />
food are thrown away because the average<br />
American misreads “sell by” and<br />
“best by” dates.<br />
“‘Use by’ and ‘best by’ dates, commonly<br />
found on both perishable and<br />
nonperishable products, are manufacturer<br />
suggestions for peak quality.<br />
They do not indicate food safety, as is<br />
commonly believed, nor are they regulated,”<br />
the article stated.<br />
If food is kept in an airtight, shallow<br />
container in the refrigerator, you<br />
might be able to consume it a few days<br />
after the best by date. Unfortunately,<br />
microbial growth is not stopped by<br />
refrigeration or freezing, it is merely<br />
slowed. So if there is green mold growing<br />
in your Greek yogurt, it’s time to<br />
throw it away and buy a smaller container<br />
next time.<br />
Some foods that are usually safe to<br />
consume after the expiration date include:<br />
canned goods, cereal, frozen<br />
foods, cookies, chips, crackers, bread<br />
without visible mold and dry pasta.<br />
These foods will generally be okay to<br />
consume past the expiration date, but<br />
always use your senses. If it looks or<br />
smells terrible, it’s time to chunk it.<br />
Some trickier foods that can be consumed<br />
after the expiration date involve<br />
a small test to make sure they are safe<br />
to eat. Eggs are usually fine to eat and<br />
cook, but to test put them in a bowl<br />
of water. If it sinks, it is still safe to<br />
eat. If it floats, you can throw it out.<br />
Hard cheeses like Parmesan and cheddar<br />
are also fine, even if they have a<br />
little mold growing on them. Carefully<br />
cut off all of the mold before consumption<br />
and the remaining cheese will<br />
be edible.<br />
Most of the time, produce is hard to<br />
buy because it must be used so quickly<br />
after purchase. Salad mixes can be<br />
difficult to use before the stated expiration<br />
date, but they are usually fine to<br />
eat a few days after. Wilted leaves are<br />
no big deal. If the leaves are soggy and<br />
slimy though, pitch them. As for your<br />
meats, freezing them is the smartest<br />
way to preserve them. Cooking and<br />
consuming raw meat that has been sitting<br />
in your fridge for longer than four<br />
days is not safe, but freezing/re-thawing<br />
meat can extend the shelf life for a<br />
few months.<br />
“If it looks or smells<br />
terrible, it’s time to<br />
chunk it.”<br />
Although expiration dates can sometimes<br />
be up to interpretation, always be<br />
smart with your choices when deciding<br />
to consume something past the printed<br />
best by date. So next time it’s midnight<br />
and you’re rummaging through<br />
the fridge for a late-night snack, take<br />
a closer look at the packaging before<br />
you ditch your attempts and drive<br />
to McDonald’s. *<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [77]
ENTERTAINMENT<br />
So You’ve Never Be<br />
Our Guide To Alabama’s Biggest<br />
By Ellen Johnson<br />
Florence Welch, one of the U.K.’s most acclaimed artists<br />
of recent years, hails from South London. Florence + The<br />
Machine is ranked 270th (an impressive number) in the<br />
world for number of monthly listeners on Spotify. Her uplifting<br />
anthem “Dog Days Are Over” was covered on the TV<br />
show Glee. Her songs are a melancholy melting of pop and<br />
soul sounds, the farthest thing from country music. Why,<br />
then, was she singing on an Alabama beach in May 2016?<br />
She was a headliner at Hangout Music Festival in Gulf<br />
Shores, Alabama — that’s why. Under the moonlight, Ms.<br />
Welch sang “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful” adjacent<br />
to the blue, big, beautiful ocean, bringing the 2016 festival<br />
to a close. Hundreds of thousands of people have made the<br />
musical pilgrimage to Hangout since the festival’s first year<br />
in 2010. Since then, the artist chops have risen to a level<br />
of almost outrageously cool: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stevie<br />
Wonder, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Kendrick Lamar,<br />
OutKast and Kings of Leon are just a few of the artists and<br />
bands who’ve played Hangout over the years. Still can’t believe<br />
this all happens right here in Alabama? It gets better.<br />
This year’s headliners are Frank Ocean, Twenty One Pilots,<br />
Mumford & Sons and Chance the Rapper. WHAT. You<br />
read right. Around 40,000 people will flock to Gulf Shores<br />
beaches again this year for a slammed lineup chock full of<br />
music’s biggest names and the best of indie’s up-and-coming.<br />
If you’re one of the ones lucky enough to trudge the<br />
same sands as Frank Ocean and warm yourself under the<br />
same sun as Mumford & Sons’ banjos, make sure you make<br />
the most of your experience.<br />
Here’s your Hangout quick guide; you won’t want to miss<br />
a thing.<br />
[78] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
1. Don’t fasten that wristband<br />
until it’s where it belongs —<br />
on your wrist<br />
The Hangout wristbands, which are<br />
your only means of entrance to the festival<br />
everyday, will arrive in your mailbox<br />
a few weeks before you make your<br />
way to Gulf Shores. You’re going to be<br />
so gleeful at the thought of dancing by<br />
the waves to your favorite Head and<br />
the Heart song that you’ll want to rip<br />
that sucker out and play with it. Don’t.<br />
Once you tighten the wristband, it cannot<br />
be loosened and it won’t fit on your<br />
wrist. That means no Head and the<br />
Heart for you. So don’t tamper with<br />
the wristband until you’re so close to<br />
the sea you can smell the salt in the air.<br />
2. Hydrate so you<br />
don’t die-drate<br />
You are allowed to bring an empty<br />
water bottle up to two liters in size to<br />
the festival. There are water stations<br />
everywhere you go on festival grounds,<br />
so you’ll be able to fill up your favorite<br />
Camelbak or Nalgene and hydrate<br />
yourself all the daylong. This is definitely<br />
your best move — you won’t<br />
have time to enjoy the music if you’re<br />
too weak to walk.<br />
3. You should eat, too<br />
<strong>No</strong> outside food or beverages are al-
en to Hangout:<br />
Music Event of the Year<br />
lowed inside the gates. However the<br />
food inside the festival, while pricey,<br />
is delicious and satisfying. Anything<br />
you could get to eat at a shopping mall<br />
is available: pizza, Mexican food, Chinese<br />
food, sandwiches, hot dogs, etc.<br />
It might cost a little extra, but you’ll<br />
thank yourself later when the only<br />
sounds you hear are sweet musical<br />
notes, and not the rumblings of your<br />
stomach.<br />
4. Get there early<br />
Once the schedule is released, you’ll<br />
realize that the bigger acts won’t start<br />
until later in the day or evening. But<br />
you, dear knave festivalgoer, have no<br />
time to waste with so much new music<br />
to discover. Eat some breakfast and<br />
then get to the gates when they open<br />
at 11 a.m. Head straight to whatever<br />
act seems the most interesting. You<br />
never know when your new favorite<br />
band could be performing on the next<br />
stage over.<br />
5. Keep an open mind<br />
You probably paid close to $300 for<br />
your general admission ticket (or more,<br />
if you’re swinging for VIP options),<br />
and while it’s not cheap, it’s a great<br />
deal for the amount of music you’re going<br />
to be hearing. Many would pay that<br />
amount just to see one of the headlin-<br />
ing artists, but you’ll get to hear ‘em<br />
all. But don’t forget about the names<br />
you haven’t heard of before — LANY,<br />
Frances, Joseph and Cobi may sound<br />
unfamiliar now, but if you head into<br />
their performances with an open mind<br />
(and open ears) you might pleasantly<br />
surprised.<br />
6. Dress the part<br />
It’s hot out there, so you will be most<br />
comfortable in light clothing. Swimsuits<br />
are an obvious choice, but if you<br />
want to cover up a bit more try for<br />
athletic material shorts, a lightweight<br />
cover-up or a rash guard or surf shirt.<br />
Funkier options include overalls and<br />
anything tie-dye. Wear a comfortable,<br />
sand-friendly shoe like Chacos or Sanuks<br />
(back straps are helpful when<br />
trudging from one stage to the next).<br />
But your most important accessory is<br />
sunscreen. Lather up several times a<br />
day so you don’t get burned.<br />
7. Stay close to the festival<br />
If possible, you’ll want to find a condo<br />
or house within walking distance<br />
(say, around one mile away) of the<br />
festival. You can leave throughout the<br />
day and re-enter at any time with your<br />
wristband, but it will be pretty hard to<br />
sneak home for a bit if you’re staying a<br />
bus ride away. There’s pretty much no<br />
parking at the festival, so say goodbye<br />
to your car for a few days. While many<br />
condos do offer shuttles, you’ll thank<br />
yourself if you stay close.<br />
8. Embrace the fanny pack<br />
Hands-free is the way to go when it<br />
comes to festivals. A backpack will feel<br />
too cumbersome, a purse too loose —<br />
fanny packs are the sweet spot. Keep<br />
your sunscreen, sunglasses and cash<br />
in there for safekeeping.<br />
9. Take it all in<br />
You made it. You and 40,000 others<br />
are all here together in this one place<br />
for the same reason: to hear music. The<br />
musicians are passionate about what<br />
they’re doing, and hopefully you’re<br />
passionate about what you’re hearing.<br />
Take in each moment to realize what<br />
you’re experiencing because it’ll be<br />
over before you know it. Appreciate the<br />
magic that is live music. Remember<br />
that one James Taylor concert in the<br />
‘80s your parents always talk about?<br />
Well, Chance the Rapper could be your<br />
James Taylor. *<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [79]
ENTERTAINMENT<br />
By Serena Bailey<br />
Hot summer days spent lounging by the pool are the perfect<br />
time to catch up on some reading. The school year is busy,<br />
and those over-before-you-know-it months leave little time<br />
for indulging in a novel or fiery non-fiction work. With sunny<br />
days ahead, take some time for yourself, escape reality and<br />
choose one of these dreamy reads. Here’s <strong>Alice</strong>’s list of recent<br />
and upcoming book releases that will hit the stands just in<br />
time to complete your personal summer reading list.<br />
If you like sci-fi adventure…<br />
The Wanderers by Meg Howrey<br />
As three astronauts train to be the first humans on Mars,<br />
they spend 17 months in one of the most realistic simulations<br />
ever. Always under observation, the pressure to remain calm<br />
and in-control is high. As they struggle to work in increasingly<br />
claustrophobic quarters and with each other, they realize that<br />
life in space is no less complicated than life on Earth. But,<br />
as the line between what is real and what isn’t begins to blur,<br />
they each must confront their own personal struggles and<br />
examine their longing for discovery.<br />
If you want to up your nerd cred...<br />
Thrawn by Timothy Zahn<br />
The Star Wars galaxy is more than what you see on the big<br />
screen. Follow the story of one of the Empire’s most cunning<br />
generals as he rapidly climbs the ranks of the Imperial Army.<br />
After Thrawn is rescued from exile by Imperial soldiers, he<br />
seeks to gain the attention of Emperor Palpatine and become<br />
his most loyal and successful commander by taking down<br />
smugglers, spies, pirates and rebels. However, Thrawn’s<br />
skill on the battlefield doesn’t translate to politics, where<br />
he struggles to navigate a potential alliance with those who<br />
could make or break his ascendance through the ranks.<br />
[80] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017
If you want to get political...<br />
This Fight is Our Fight: the Battle<br />
to Save America’s Middle Class<br />
by Elizabeth Warren<br />
Elizabeth Warren has made a name for herself in Washington<br />
as being a fiery and outspoken force to be reckoned with.<br />
Looking back on her own middle class childhood in Oklahoma<br />
and weaving in stories from American workers, the senator<br />
from Massachusetts examines the history and current state<br />
of America’s middle class. From how it was born, how it<br />
grew, why it’s currently under attack and what can be done<br />
to save it, Warren looks at how political leaders like Franklin<br />
Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and current leaders from both<br />
sides of the aisle have influenced the lives and well-being of<br />
American workers.<br />
If you’re the tech friend...<br />
Startup: A <strong>No</strong>vel by Doree Shafrir<br />
Shafrir’s debut novel follows three characters as their lives<br />
intertwine in a Manhattan tech startup office. Mack McAllister<br />
is the creator of a $600 million idea, the mindfulness app,<br />
TakeOff, and he’s about to launch a new version that could<br />
turn it into a $1 billion business. Katya Pasternack is a tech<br />
journalist looking for a hard-hitting story that will make her<br />
one of the biggest writers in the industry. Sabrina Choe Blum<br />
is a jaded mother and writer trying to break back into the<br />
industry, whose husband is also Katya’s boss. When a scandal<br />
embroils TakeOff and the company goes viral for the wrong<br />
reasons, these three become entangled in the mess. It’s up<br />
Sabina and Katya to get to the bottom of it, and tell a story<br />
that the men in their lives would prefer stay hidden.<br />
If you want some more mystery...<br />
Into the Water<br />
by Paula Hawkins<br />
After the success of her debut novel, The Girl on the Train,<br />
Paula Hawkins returns with a new psychological thriller. A<br />
single mother is found dead in the same river where a teenage<br />
girl met a similar fate a few months before. She leaves behind<br />
a lonely fifteen-year-old daughter, who is now left in the care<br />
of her aunt, a woman who never wanted to return to this<br />
town and who’s a stranger in the eyes of her niece. As the<br />
investigation goes on, secrets about the town and the river<br />
will be dredged up from below its seemingly calm surface.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [81]
ENTERTAINMENT<br />
Take a Chance:<br />
Streaming Services Rejuvenate the Music Industry<br />
By Katie Huff<br />
A 23-year-old from Chicago, filled<br />
with the purest form of happiness and<br />
endless love for his hometown, made<br />
history in February. You may have<br />
heard of him. Among his fans are Beyoncé,<br />
Kanye West and Barack Obama.<br />
His most recent album is heavily influenced<br />
by gospel music and focuses on<br />
the many “Blessings” he has received.<br />
He is most often seen with the number<br />
3 stitched on his baseball cap.<br />
Chance the Rapper made history at<br />
this year’s Grammy Awards with his<br />
three wins; the number three is fairly<br />
constant in Chance’s life. He won best<br />
new artist, best rap album and best<br />
rap performance. The album, Coloring<br />
Book, was released solely on music<br />
streaming services, making it the<br />
first album to be nominated and win<br />
a Grammy without actually selling a<br />
single copy.<br />
Chance’s win lays the groundwork<br />
for immense change in the music industry.<br />
The Grammys would never<br />
have considered a stream-only album<br />
in previous years, but as the music<br />
industry landscape changes, award<br />
shows must adapt.<br />
Spotify has more than 50 million<br />
paying users, Apple Music has over 20<br />
million paying users and SoundCloud<br />
has over 175 million monthly users. As<br />
streaming services such as these become<br />
more popular, the need to buy a<br />
CD on iTunes or at Target becomes insignificant.<br />
The many features of each<br />
service allow listeners to experience<br />
their favorite songs in two clicks from<br />
any location.<br />
[82] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
With the Spotify app, you can listen<br />
to the xx’s most recent album<br />
through your headphones as you sit on<br />
the beach, walk to class or wait at the<br />
DMV. The ease with which one can listen<br />
to music with the introduction of<br />
these streaming services has changed<br />
the music industry forever.<br />
Artists are perhaps those affected<br />
most by the push towards streaming.<br />
Bands just entering the music industry<br />
greatly benefit from streaming<br />
services. Music can be uploaded to<br />
SoundCloud in less than a minute. Any<br />
SoundCloud user is capable of uploading<br />
their tracks to the streaming services<br />
and the music is available to the<br />
public in an instant. Every minute, 12<br />
hours of music is uploaded to Sound-<br />
Cloud. The artists use SoundCloud in<br />
order to increase their followers and<br />
acquire a fanbase. SoundCloud does<br />
not pay license holders like Spotify, so<br />
it functions as a resource for artists to<br />
connect with followers.<br />
The upload process for Spotify is<br />
done through labels and distributors<br />
to protect against licensing issues.<br />
Spotify has partnerships with labels<br />
and a large percentage of the streaming<br />
service’s profits redistributed<br />
amongst the labels. While many worry<br />
that streaming services put the music<br />
industry in danger, many labels are<br />
actually benefitting from the change.<br />
Illegal downloads are far less common<br />
because streaming service users can<br />
pay a small amount for an immense<br />
catalogue of music at their fingertips,<br />
or they can make use of the free<br />
streaming offerings.<br />
Most streaming services offer artists<br />
the ability to view their analytics.<br />
This allows an artist to see how users<br />
are finding their music, where their<br />
listeners are and the listeners’ demographics.<br />
The ease of access to statistics<br />
such as these is beneficial to artists<br />
as they plan how to release their<br />
music and where to tour. Small artists<br />
without labels are able to receive information<br />
that they may not be privy<br />
to otherwise.<br />
Streaming services give artists control<br />
of their music and diminish the<br />
ability of large record labels to undermine<br />
the artist. Chance the Rapper is<br />
not signed to a label and he does not<br />
need to be. He is able to release his<br />
music on streaming sites and forms a<br />
fan base through these sites. Coloring<br />
Book debuted at Number 8 on the Billboard<br />
200 chart, so the business model<br />
is working for Chance. His profits come<br />
from touring and selling merchandise,<br />
including that famous “3” hat.<br />
Music streaming services have revived<br />
the music industry. Users are<br />
able to listen to any artist at any time.<br />
Because of streaming services like<br />
Spotify and SoundCloud, our culture<br />
has a widened appreciation for music<br />
and an increased participation in the<br />
music industry. Those that felt excluded<br />
from music in the past are now welcomed<br />
with open arms into the large<br />
music communities of Spotify, Sound-<br />
Cloud, Apple Music and Tidal. <strong>No</strong>w,<br />
artists like Chance the Rapper consistently<br />
contribute to the immense sea of<br />
music found online and provide users<br />
with an easy escape. *
ENTERTAINMENT<br />
Q&A with Hallie Tarpley<br />
The Hows, Hijinks,<br />
and Ha-Has of<br />
Being a Female Comic<br />
By Mia Blackman<br />
For Hallie Tarpley, second grade<br />
was more than an arena for reading<br />
and learning multiplication — it was<br />
her first comedy gig. She’s now a<br />
junior at The University of Alabama<br />
majoring in telecommunications<br />
and film. She got her start telling<br />
jokes to classmates before storytime,<br />
but since she has blossomed into a<br />
rollicking stand-up act, performing<br />
on real stages instead of classroom<br />
carpets. She’s a regular at Stand-Up<br />
Tuscaloosa, her favorite corny joke<br />
involves zebras and her ultimate life<br />
goal is to shake Tina Fey’s hand. This<br />
funny lady isn’t slowing her roll or her<br />
punchlines anytime soon, and she’s<br />
defining for herself what it means to<br />
be funny, and what it means to be a<br />
woman in the male-dominated world of<br />
stand-up comedy. <strong>Alice</strong> sat down with<br />
Tarpley to talk life, comedy and all<br />
things laughs.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: What got you started<br />
into comedy?<br />
Tarpley: It started mostly with<br />
television. Just loving comedic<br />
television and then when I was nine, I<br />
was in second grade, I started telling<br />
jokes to my class. I would get a little<br />
segment before story time and I would<br />
get to tell a joke to everyone on the<br />
carpet. They would be mostly jokes I<br />
heard from joke books or comic strips<br />
or something like that but sometimes I<br />
would try originals and they would not<br />
go over well. Like I would try to write<br />
my own jokes and they were so bad.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: Is there a comedian you look<br />
up to?<br />
Tarpley: I like Ellen DeGeneres a<br />
lot but she’s so clean though so I feel<br />
like we don’t have the same style. I like<br />
Jen Kirkman, Amy Schumer, Sasheer<br />
Zamata, Liza Treyger, Jenny Slate.<br />
I like a bit of everything. Louis C.K.<br />
obviously. I like Anthony Jeselnik,<br />
he’s crazy. You never know where<br />
he’s going.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: How would you describe your<br />
comedic style?<br />
Tarpley: That’s a toughie ‘cause I<br />
don’t really know. I think I can describe<br />
the differences between myself onstage<br />
and off-stage. I’m like a little reckless<br />
on stage. Last night I was hosting a<br />
show and I used language that I don’t<br />
really use in day to day life. So I think<br />
it’s just like a freedom to be a character<br />
who’s like a little bit bolder and a little<br />
bit more interesting as a character but<br />
scarier as a person on stage.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: What would you be doing if<br />
you weren’t a stand-up comedian?<br />
Tarpley: Oh my gosh. Just a<br />
loudmouth probably. I do think about<br />
this. I think you divide comedians<br />
into “you can be comedically minded”<br />
or “you can be funny,” and great<br />
comedians are both. And not to say I<br />
fall anywhere specific on that spectrum<br />
but just from what I observed being<br />
around other comedians is some people<br />
are comedically minded and, to me,<br />
that just means they’re critical and<br />
upset by a lot of things. Someone<br />
that’s funny can make that criticism<br />
something that is funny and sellable.<br />
I think I would just be a loudmouth.<br />
It would be strange. I don’t know… I’d<br />
probably just stick to my babysitting<br />
job or something [laughs].<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: Do you ever feel pressure to<br />
talk about a certain subject because<br />
you are a female comic?<br />
Tarpley: <strong>No</strong>t a certain subject but<br />
I feel the pressure to be that much<br />
better because typically I’m the only<br />
female in a show. I’ve occasionally<br />
done all-women shows, which are very<br />
exciting, but usually there’s maybe<br />
one other female and so I get really<br />
upset with myself or the other female<br />
comedian if either one of us are below<br />
top notch. For the male ones, I don’t<br />
group them because there’s so many<br />
of them. Especially the straight, white<br />
male comedian. There’s a lot of them<br />
so you don’t feel the pressure to uphold<br />
the whole situation on your shoulders.<br />
So I definitely feel pressure to be very<br />
refined, very prepared and I fall short<br />
all the time. I think at the end of the<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [83]
day it will make me better; it does<br />
make me better.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: How did you become involved<br />
with Stand-Up Tuscaloosa?<br />
Tarpley: I started actually with<br />
Goulash Comedy out of Birmingham.<br />
I followed Goulash Comedy on<br />
Instagram and I saw they were having<br />
an open mic in <strong>No</strong>vember of 2015. I<br />
didn’t want to tell anybody so I just<br />
drove down in the dark of night. I<br />
brought one of my friends and lied<br />
to everyone else. I tried it for the<br />
first time and I didn’t come back to<br />
January 2016. In that early winter<br />
I met several Tuscaloosa comedians<br />
who came down to do Goulash and<br />
they were like, “You know we have a<br />
stand-up group in Tuscaloosa.” and I<br />
was like “Whaaat?” So then I liked the<br />
page, went to a show, went to an open<br />
mic and the rest is history.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: How do you develop your<br />
comedic material?<br />
Tarpley: I usually bring around my<br />
book that I carry all the time. I have<br />
four editions of this book. I’ll just write<br />
down things that stick out to me like<br />
“Oh! That’s funny!” and it’ll come to<br />
me in a perfect punch. And then other<br />
times it’s things that bother me and<br />
I’ll articulate why they bother me and<br />
communicate it to someone through<br />
some type of an analogy. I think this<br />
would be worse than someone finding<br />
my diary because nothing makes sense<br />
in it. It says, like, “Buffalo text, alcohol<br />
question mark, proving not a baby.”<br />
It’s just absolutely senseless. I’ll also<br />
write all my set lists down and jokes<br />
just so I can look back at them.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: Are there some topics that<br />
can get racy? Who do you think has<br />
more leniency to talk about those<br />
topics? Male comics or female comics?<br />
Tarpley: I think female because I<br />
think males have the ability socially<br />
to examine a wide array of topics<br />
but I think with women in general<br />
there’s like a purity that you expect<br />
and when they defy that expectation,<br />
it’s automatically funny. When you<br />
[84] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
have me at 5 feet 2 inches, and I come<br />
on stage and say things bigger than<br />
what my appearance would suggest,<br />
then there’s automatically a disrupt<br />
of expectations. If you take someone<br />
like Jenny Slate — she looks so nice,<br />
wholesome and girl-next-door-esque<br />
and then she says all this stuff like,<br />
“Whoa! We’re going there.” But when<br />
Anthony Jeselnik does it, it’s like not<br />
surprising because he looks sinister,<br />
like a scary man. I think women have<br />
a better opportunity to defy those<br />
expectations but I think it’s harder for<br />
a woman to be a clean comic.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: Harder to be a clean comic…<br />
so is your set list kind of racy?<br />
Tarpley: I try to play it pretty<br />
evenly. I think I could assemble a clean<br />
set, but in a college town, me doing<br />
a bunch of dad jokes, I don’t think it<br />
would go over quite well.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: What is your favorite show<br />
that you have ever done?<br />
Tarpley: There was a show, Fresh<br />
Ground Comics in Birmingham, and it<br />
was like a ten-minute set on a Friday<br />
night and I was so nervous cause<br />
my mom had invited a bunch of her<br />
friends to come and there was also a<br />
girl I babysat in the crowd. It was just<br />
very scary to have these people I knew<br />
professionally and my mom’s friends<br />
there and then to go up on stage and<br />
behave in a way I normally wouldn’t<br />
around my parents’ friends, but it<br />
actually went really well and it was a<br />
huge relief.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: What is the funniest thing<br />
that’s happened to you recently?<br />
Tarpley: I got called a psycho<br />
in some bar. This woman started<br />
screaming at me because I was dancing<br />
too close to her. She was wearing a fur<br />
vest and it was extremely scary. She<br />
was, like, 40, too, and bleach blond<br />
and she was like, “You are standing<br />
too close.” And then she went on this<br />
rampage and her husband had to carry<br />
her out of there. It was really nuts.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: What do you think is the<br />
biggest misconception people have<br />
about female comics?<br />
Tarpley: That who they are on<br />
stage is who they are in person. I think<br />
you could apply that to comedians at<br />
large but with women I think it’s a<br />
harder line.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: What are your future projects<br />
and goals?<br />
Tarpley: Stand-Up Tuscaloosa<br />
recently started a new show at the<br />
Wheelhouse Sports Pub on the fourth<br />
Wednesday of every month and I’m the<br />
host of that show. It’s open mic and<br />
I think trying to connect that with a<br />
student audience is my immediate goal<br />
right now. I think other open mics are<br />
great, but they’re just geared towards<br />
a more older population of Tuscaloosa.<br />
But I think there are so many students<br />
who would as comedians and audience<br />
members have a better time there.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: What is your ultimate goal<br />
in life?<br />
Tarpley: I think I would love to<br />
shake Tina Fey’s hand. I just want to<br />
say hello. I think that’s my ultimate<br />
goal.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: What is your favorite<br />
cheesy joke?<br />
Tarpley: What’s black and white<br />
and black and white and green all over?<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: A sick skunk… maybe?<br />
Tarpley: Two zebras fighting over a<br />
pickle! It’s so good. It’s so simple and it<br />
takes you on a journey.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: As a comedian, do you<br />
surround yourself with funny people?<br />
Tarpley: Ummm, no. Sort of.<br />
Yes. One of my best friends is also a<br />
comedian but we can only spend so<br />
much time together, cause it’s, “Punch,<br />
punch, punch! Joke, joke, joke!” And it<br />
gets so shop-talky that we have to take<br />
a break. I feel like I surround myself<br />
with eccentric people that inspire<br />
comedy more so than people that are<br />
funny themselves.<br />
<strong>Alice</strong>: To finish off, what is the best<br />
piece of advice you have ever received?<br />
Tarpley: My grandmother says<br />
this and my mom repeats it: “Make a<br />
decision and make it work.” *
ENTERTAINMENT<br />
The Short List:<br />
Five Short Films You Didn’t Know<br />
You Should Be Watching<br />
By Emilee Benos<br />
Director and Star Jim Cummings in Thunder Road<br />
When most people think of standouts<br />
of the Oscars or Sundance, or movies<br />
in general, short films don’t usually<br />
make the list. A real shame, because<br />
there are so many great short films out<br />
there. <strong>Alice</strong> compiled a list of the five<br />
best short films of the last year you<br />
didn’t know you should be watching.<br />
Some tell stories of dreamers, some<br />
of grievers, and some of frustrated<br />
lovers, but all are worth watching<br />
(plus, their short run times make for a<br />
quick watch).<br />
Thunder Road<br />
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at<br />
the 2016 Sundance Festival, Thunder<br />
Road tells the story of a man giving<br />
a eulogy for his mother using Bruce<br />
Springsteen lyrics. Director and star<br />
Jim Cummings originally conceived<br />
the idea when he was drunk and heard<br />
Springsteen’s Thunder Road on the<br />
radio. In just 12 minutes, Thunder<br />
Road goes from awkward, to comical,<br />
to heartbreaking and back again.<br />
What is perhaps most noteworthy is<br />
Cummings’ delivery of the whole thing<br />
in one continuous take. Thunder Road<br />
originally premiered on Vimeo in July,<br />
and is still available to view.<br />
Her Friend Adam<br />
What director Ben Petrie calls<br />
“16 minutes of romantic doom,” Her<br />
Friend Adam tells the story of couple<br />
Robert (Ben Petrie) and Liv (Grace<br />
Glowicki), and Liv’s gay friend Adam.<br />
When Liv gets home from work,<br />
what starts as a casual exchange<br />
evolves into a full-fledged argument<br />
over Robert’s dislike and mistrust of<br />
Adam. The actors deliver real, raw<br />
performances — Glowicki won the<br />
Short Film Special Jury Award For<br />
Outstanding Performance at the 2016<br />
Sundance Festival.<br />
Food For Thought<br />
Director Davide Gentile originally<br />
developed Food For Thought for World<br />
Health Day 2016. Food for Thought<br />
takes place in a diner, eliciting a sense of<br />
childhood nostalgia. The film explores<br />
how bad food can be detrimental to<br />
your health. The cinematography is<br />
a standout feature of the film, and<br />
Gentile uses color, sound and closeup<br />
shots to deliver his message and<br />
make the film engaging. Food for<br />
Thought leaves viewers full with an<br />
important message.<br />
Embers and Dust<br />
Embers and Dust takes place<br />
during Orson Welles’s infamous 1938<br />
radio broadcast of War of the Worlds.<br />
Written and directed by Patrick<br />
Biesemans, the film follows residents<br />
of a small town hearing the broadcast<br />
about a fictional alien invasion for the<br />
first time, and explores the fears of<br />
the 1930s. The film brilliantly blends<br />
fiction and reality, and the lighting and<br />
cinematography effectively transport<br />
audiences to the scene.<br />
Stutterer<br />
Stutterer won an Oscar in 2016 for<br />
Best Live Action Short Film. In the<br />
film, director Benjamin Cleary and<br />
producer Serena Armitage explore<br />
the problems that arise with modern<br />
romance. The film stars Matthew<br />
Needham as Greenwood, a lonely man<br />
with a stuttering problem who begins<br />
an online relationship with a woman<br />
named Ellie. Greenwood fears meeting<br />
Ellie in person because of his stutter.<br />
Stutterer is a sweet and poignant<br />
shoutout to today’s society. *<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [85]
ENTERTAINMENT<br />
A Doc<br />
A Day<br />
Documentaries<br />
to Get You Thinking<br />
By Sarah Beth Bolin<br />
So we can all agree that Netflix is<br />
one of the most important creations of<br />
the 21st century. Hours upon hours of<br />
the most talked about, cherished TV<br />
shows and movies are available at the<br />
tip of our fingers. But what do we do<br />
when we get tired of mindlessly bingewatching<br />
the same shows over and over<br />
again? What if we want something to<br />
help us think? Documentaries are<br />
there to pick up where sitcoms and<br />
dramas leave off. There’s something<br />
out there for everyone, no matter what<br />
your interest is. Lucky for us, Netflix<br />
is a gold mine for documentaries.<br />
Here’s a few that are set to inform<br />
and entertain.<br />
Poverty, Inc.<br />
As a society, everyone wants to<br />
help each other. We see someone in<br />
poverty on TV and our heartstrings<br />
are tugged. Companies like TOMS<br />
thrive on a philanthropic platform that<br />
help justify buying a pair of shoes so<br />
that we can help people in need. We<br />
send billions of dollars in relief aid to<br />
natural disasters each year. But what<br />
happens when the disaster is over and<br />
people start relying on aid instead of<br />
producing themselves?<br />
[86] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
Happy<br />
What really makes us happy? Is<br />
it money? Family? Friends? Power?<br />
Happy explores the idea of happiness<br />
and takes us on a journey to find a true<br />
form of it. Follow the filmmakers across<br />
the world from Louisiana to sunny<br />
Brazil to the small island of Okinawa,<br />
Japan as they search for the answer to<br />
this question. This documentary will<br />
surely make you smile.<br />
Making a Murderer<br />
Okay, so if you haven’t heard of Making<br />
a Murderer, you might be living<br />
under a rock. This viral Netflix sensation<br />
premiered in 2015 and has rocked<br />
the world of criminal justice. Follow<br />
the story of Steven Avery, who was released<br />
from prison after 18 years for<br />
a crime he didn’t commit. After starting<br />
an investigation about corruption<br />
in the police force, he was arrested<br />
and convicted of the murder of a local<br />
woman. Avery and a team of lawyers<br />
worked for almost 10 years to get the<br />
conviction overturned, and the popularity<br />
of the series helped raise awareness<br />
for false convictions and corruption<br />
in the police.<br />
The Hunting Ground<br />
According to statistics, one in five<br />
women in American colleges and universities<br />
are sexually assaulted. But<br />
most of these crimes are not reported.<br />
Why not? The Hunting Ground<br />
explores rape culture on college campuses<br />
and exposes the stigma against<br />
reporting sexual assault in American<br />
universities. It also captures the stories<br />
of survivors and explains their<br />
decision on whether they chose to report<br />
their assault or not. It’s definitely<br />
hard to watch, but it’s one of the<br />
most eye-opening documentaries you’ll<br />
ever see.<br />
Planet Earth<br />
This documentary is seriously nostalgic.<br />
Everyone remembers middle<br />
school science classes — whenever<br />
teachers didn’t want to actually teach,<br />
they would roll out the box TV and<br />
turn on Planet Earth. But these colorful<br />
documentaries are still beautiful at<br />
any age. The series explores so many<br />
parts of the world, letting the viewer<br />
experience places, people and animals<br />
that they never would before. It’s a<br />
great way to see the world without ever<br />
actually leaving your couch. *
ENTERTAINMENT<br />
Illustration by Shel Silverstein<br />
POETRY<br />
for People Who<br />
Don’t “Get” Poetry<br />
By Kirby Tifverman<br />
Reading poetry for pleasure can seem like a daunting<br />
task for even the most avid lover of prose. However,<br />
good poetry has the power to resonate like no other<br />
works can — sometimes a compilation of figurative language<br />
can ring far more true than our favorite novel.<br />
If you’ve been dying to dive into poetry, but you don’t<br />
know where to start, here are the best poetry books to<br />
read if you’ve never read poetry before.<br />
Where the Sidewalk Ends<br />
by Shel Silverstein<br />
Shel Silverstein, acclaimed author of The Giving<br />
Tree, wrote multiple volumes of poetry for children<br />
throughout his life. He was a favorite childhood author<br />
for many before they could fully grasp the life lessons<br />
behind his silly words. Like all of the best children’s<br />
fiction, the poems in Where the Sidewalk Ends are just<br />
as enjoyable and authentically touching when re-read<br />
as an adult.<br />
Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur<br />
Rupi Kaur wrote and self-published this #1 New York<br />
Times bestseller in 2014. Milk and Honey is a collection<br />
of poetry that weaves beautifully through four sections,<br />
highlighting the reality of being a young woman. A story<br />
of love and loss, joy and pain, any reader can relate<br />
to this tale of the ups and downs — the milk and honey<br />
— of life.<br />
Love & Misadventure by Lang Leav<br />
A story of love lost and found again, Love & Misadventure<br />
will strike a millennial nerve while navigating<br />
the 2017 tumultuous dating scene. Pick this one up if<br />
you’ve recently been dumped or just need your faith in<br />
love restored.<br />
The Complete Poetry<br />
of Edgar Allan Poe (Signet Classics)<br />
by Edgar Allan Poe<br />
Before you dismiss this one for conjuring memories of<br />
high school AP Lit, consider this: Poe was basically the<br />
originator of both the crime and horror genres. Instead<br />
of binge watching a Criminal Minds marathon, pick up<br />
The Complete Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe. Like his famed<br />
short stories, many of the selections are guaranteed to<br />
make a chill run down your spine.<br />
Crank by Ellen Hopkins<br />
A constant page-turner, Crank is the story of a young<br />
girl and her terrifying personal demon. Crank, the<br />
street name for crystal meth, haunts this story’s protagonist,<br />
Kristina. As the monstrous drug infiltrates<br />
Kristina’s relationships, life and personality, you’ll realize<br />
just how thrilling poetry can be. *<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [87]
ENTERTAINMENT<br />
By Ellen Johnson<br />
Sometimes teenagers and people in<br />
their 20s need time to figure things out,<br />
learn about themselves and discover<br />
their world. But most don’t take that<br />
path of self discovery after making an<br />
album for Columbia Records. Charlotte<br />
OC (given name Charlotte O’Connor)<br />
is a different story. The British singersongwriter<br />
made her debut album for<br />
Columbia as a teenager in 2011, and<br />
then temporarily stopped making<br />
music to work a stint in her mother’s<br />
hair salon. In 2013, she was back with<br />
her EP, Strange, and a newfound fire in<br />
her music. Her latest album, Careless<br />
People, was released in March of this<br />
year, and with comparisons to female<br />
powerhouses like Sia and Lana Del<br />
Rey, she’s one to watch in 2017. <strong>Alice</strong><br />
chatted with Charlotte about life,<br />
influences and making music even in the<br />
darkest hours.<br />
Did you always know you wanted<br />
to make music?<br />
Charlotte: When I was 16 years old<br />
I started playing guitar...I just had<br />
the feeling, just incredible. It was a<br />
really nice feeling and that’s when<br />
I got the feeling I could do it. And<br />
when I started writing that’s when I<br />
got better and that’s when I realized I<br />
[88] <strong>Alice</strong> May 2017<br />
wanted to create something as a singer.<br />
It’s another outlet for you in music<br />
and It’s about creating. That’s the<br />
moment when I realized I wanted to do<br />
this forever.<br />
You made an album for Columbia,<br />
but it didn’t work out, and you<br />
took a few years and worked in<br />
your mom’s salon. How did this<br />
experience shape you as an artist<br />
and as a person?<br />
Charlotte: I was so young. I wasn’t quite<br />
proud of what I had done looking back<br />
to it now. It’s not necessarily where my<br />
head’s at. I think when I took two years<br />
out I was grateful. I think I was losing<br />
myself a little bit. I kept my head down<br />
and tried to figure out what I wanted to<br />
do and do all the stuff I was missing out<br />
on doing when I was making a record.<br />
When you’re that young and doing it it<br />
kind of feels like you’re doing a chore,<br />
and I think you need to take yourself<br />
out of it to get back again and see. I<br />
think being in music is fueled by being<br />
hungry for it. If that hunger’s not there,<br />
you’re not moving along.<br />
Can you tell me about the<br />
inspirations behind the new album<br />
and how your hometown influenced<br />
your music?<br />
Charlotte: I’m from Manchester in a<br />
town called Blackburn. It’s quite a<br />
small industrial town. I grew up there.<br />
It was boring in a way, but there’s also<br />
this kind of folklore there — ghosts and<br />
witches. [In my music] it’s not quite<br />
home, but the idea of home and the<br />
warmth to it. But there’s also a little bit<br />
of coldness and a bit of quite majestic<br />
about them and quite otherworldly about<br />
them, which is how I see Blackburn: as<br />
a warm place of my home, my parent’s<br />
home. But there’s also this coldness of<br />
being in a <strong>No</strong>rthern town but also this<br />
magical feel to it. I wanted my music to<br />
be like that. I wanted it to feel like that.<br />
Can you tell us about the songs<br />
“Darkest Hour” and “Medicine Man”?<br />
Charlotte: What I was going through,<br />
being in a toxic relationship, I wrote<br />
that song as a way for me to get my head<br />
around it and for me to realize how I<br />
felt about that situation. It was about<br />
me evaluating it. It’s almost like a little<br />
bit of a prayer. When things get really<br />
bad you always kind of ask for help from<br />
something or somewhere. “Medicine<br />
Man” is about love. It’s about that<br />
feeling of love for the first time. Love<br />
is like medicine in a way. It’s somebody<br />
there making it a little bit better.
You’ve been compared to artists<br />
such as Sia and Lana Del Rey. How<br />
do you feel about that?<br />
Charlotte: I appreciate both of those<br />
artists. I think that Lana really carved<br />
the way for artists like myself wanting<br />
to make pop. It’s a gateway for artists<br />
like myself.<br />
Who are your musical influences?<br />
Charlotte: I’m always really inspired<br />
by Aretha Franklin. I was watching<br />
the Muscle Shoals movie and it’s super<br />
interesting that she couldn’t find who<br />
she was in the beginning. <strong>No</strong>body really<br />
knew what to do with her and then all<br />
of a sudden it was just her. With great<br />
artists, you’re not easy to be placed. It<br />
takes time to find. She’s always been<br />
one of my favorite, if not my favorite,<br />
female vocalist. I also liked Freddie<br />
Mercury a lot when I was younger.<br />
What music are you really into right<br />
now/what’s the best album you’ve<br />
heard lately?<br />
Charlotte: I listened to the new Childish<br />
Gambino album and I really liked that.<br />
The Sampha album is amazing. The xx<br />
album, the new one, is incredible.<br />
Describe your songwriting process.<br />
Charlotte: I kind of like making the<br />
piano first and putting the melody on<br />
top of it. It kind of merges together. I<br />
like doing it at the same time. I don’t<br />
usually go in with lyrics first. I usually<br />
write the lyrics after the structure.<br />
Do you have a favorite song to<br />
perform?<br />
Charlotte: I like performing “Medicine<br />
Man.” It’s a lot of fun It’s like the sweet<br />
spot in my voice so it’s really nice to<br />
sing. Another called “Running Back<br />
to You.” I completely lose myself in<br />
that song.<br />
What do you enjoy most about<br />
playing live?<br />
Charlotte: The fact that I’m not really<br />
hiding behind anything. And it’s that<br />
one moment where I can do that and<br />
it just feels like I’m being my most<br />
magnified self and there’s nothing I can<br />
really do about it. And there’s nothing<br />
really anybody else can do about it,<br />
because I’ve got the microphone. It’s<br />
kind of like a power to it. It’s like the<br />
feeling when you were a kid, like being<br />
a child again. The only way I can really<br />
explain it. You don’t completely lose<br />
yourself in it; you’re really present.<br />
If you could tell your 16-year-old<br />
self anything what would you tell<br />
her now?<br />
Charlotte: I’d tell her to stop messing<br />
with her hair and stop back combing it.<br />
I’d tell myself to stop wearing so much<br />
makeup because I probably looked like<br />
a drag queen or someone a lot older<br />
looking. I’d also tell myself to drink lots<br />
of water. And I’d tell myself to not try<br />
and do things to please others, like it’s<br />
about what makes you is you being you.<br />
Somebody once said to me, “Be yourself<br />
because everybody else is taken,” and I<br />
think that’s just like quite an important<br />
thing to remember. It’s the most<br />
attractive thing when you see someone<br />
truly being themselves. It takes time,<br />
but once you find it, it’s easy. *<br />
<strong>Alice</strong> May 2017 [89]