One of my biggest regrets in life is being out of the office the day that Eugene Mirman came to Nylon to hand out free hamburgers. I regret it because like many fans of comedy, I love Eugene Mirman. I've seen him host his eponymous comedy festival in Brooklyn (it's wonderful, you should go), and as the voice of Gene Belcher on Fox's consistently hilarious animated sitcom Bob's Burgers, Mirman slays. So it hurts my heart to see him running around our Soho office with a burger in his hand, frantically looking for "Ben." In fact, it's going to haunt me for the rest of my life. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a sudden craving for a burger.   

Despite being known as “Lena Dunham’s mother” to most millennials, New York-based artist Laurie Simmons has been using miniatures and dolls as her subject matter since Andy Warhol’s heyday. Over the years, Simmons’s dream-like lens has shifted from miniature objects and environments to dolls of different shapes and sizes, all the while keeping it removed and eerie quality intact.

This spring, Simmons will exhibit her new body of work inspired by the real-life-doll communities—women like the now-famous Valeria “Space Barbie” Lukyanova who assume the appearance of life-sized dolls through makeup, clothing, and plastic surgery. Also entering into Simmons's sphere of work: social media, and its potential for creating a multitude of virtual selves. We caught up with Simmons at the opening of her new exhibition, Laurie Simmons: How We See at The Jewish Museum in New York, and talked about her new body of work, feminism, and Drake. 

Congratulations on the exhibition. The first thing your photos brought to my mind was the human Barbie, Valeria Lukyanova. Why do you think that now more than ever, people are morphing themselves into something else? 
"I think the simple answer might be because it’s possible. Because there are surgeries and make-up and all these possibilities for body transformation, and it’s kind of a chicken or the egg question. What came first? The desire to morph or change? Or the possibility for making those changes? As far as the Barbie girls, I was really interested in taking pictures of them and I reached out to several of them, but I was never able to make contact. Which is why I kind of decided to create my own doll girls."

Your work with real dolls goes way back, and there’s definitely an inhuman quality to this photo series—it’s like they could be robots or mannequins. What exactly were you aiming for? 
"I was trying to find a way to photograph a human, but to intervene or disturb in the picture in some way that made it artificial enough for me to be comfortable with it. So painting on the eyes gave it a more doll-like quality that connected to my earlier work."

How did the models feel about the experience? 
"Mostly, they already knew my work, so they liked the idea of collaborating. They came knowing that their eyes were going to be painted and that they had to sit still for a while—it was not going to be a typical fashion shoot. I think it attracted the kind of model who felt like she could sit still and meditate for a while."

How We See is inspired by doll-girl communities, who share uncanny characteristics despite being different, which made me also think of women around Drake, and how they always seem to look the same, thin-waisted, similar make-up, long hair. The last 10-15 years was all about individualism, whereas right now it feels like people move in flocks again.
"Well, Drake knows what he likes right? (Laughs.) It’s really interesting for me because when I was growing up, there was one, idealized way that girls felt that they should be. Individualism wasn’t celebrated in any way, in fact, the more unique you were, the weirder people thought you were. I’ve always felt likes things would progress and were progressing on that score, so thinking about an idealized Barbie Doll look in present day is disheartening. Although I still really feel like there’s room in our culture for a unique kind of beauty. As with everything else, there’s a real dichotomy. There’s part of our culture where uniqueness is celebrated and appreciated, and another part of our culture where this one way to be: one color hair, one sized breasts, one kind of nose, that’s also front and center."

Earlier, you were talking about how social media and internet makes it possible for people to create multiple identities or morph into different ones, which made me think of one of Amalia Ulman’s projects, where she created all these different Instagram accounts and amassed a ridiculous amount of followers pretending to be different people.
"That project you mentioned is so interesting because if you can have one account you can have two, you can have ten, you can be whoever you want to be. How to amass followers, I don’t know. But the possibility, the idea that we can have multiple identities, makes me wonder about dating websites, how many people are presenting an accurate picture of who they are. Or how many people actually know who they are in a true and accurate way. Or, is it possible to know yourself in a true and accurate way? If you’re looking for a partner, maybe the inclination would be not to put your true self out there, but to put your idealized self out there. The person you wish you were. There is so much to think about and it’s all happened so quickly culturally. I’m intrigued that people are starting to make art about it because it’s such a huge subject."

Your daughter Lena Dunham is one of the first women in my generation to be very open and upright about feminism, and have a variety of channels to help distribute her message. For lack of better wording, how do you raise a feminist child? 
"You know, my subject has always been women. And I don’t want to sound like preposterously idealistic, but I would like in my lifetime, to experience a world where women, all kind of women can connect and support each other. I think with my own daughters, rather than preaching a feminine agenda, I just really try to help them understand what it meant to be a woman in the late 20^th century and the consciousness of how to be a woman in the 21^st century: What is working for you and what is working against you. And what is going on with woman throughout the world. Keep your attention focused on that. I can’t even relate to the idea of raising a feminist. It sounds like we had classes and I lectured with a blackboard and chalk. But I know kids learn by example and I think our daughters were exposed to a whole range of women who had different kinds of struggles and different agendas, and different scores to settle, and different degrees of success."

Forget back to black—January Jones is back to pink. And, to no one's surprise, she looks really amazing.

This week, the Mad Men actress tinted her signature blonde locks a candy-floss pink. With lilac undertones, this cool shade is different from the rose-gold highlights she sported back in 2012. The hue adds the perfect amount of dimension to her look and makes her skin practically glow. Jones debuted her new 'do with an Instagram pic captioned "Call me 'Frenchie'," revealing that she was inspired by Grease's resident beauty school dropout.

You could say she's tickled pink or as elegant as a pink panther, but one thing's for sure: With a new television spot on The Last Man on Earth, everything's coming up roses for January Jones. 

Today is...

Lips Appreciation Day! Give your pucker some TLC with these lip oils.

News of the Day:

+ After dropping her first unreleased track "RealiTi" last week, Grimes is back with another new song. Listen to "Entropy," a collaboration with Bleachers' Jack Antonoff, below.

+ There's also a new Kendrick Lamar song, "King Kunta." Today is shaping up to be great.

+ Taylor Swift's sweet-looking cat Meredith scratched her legs—you know, the ones reportedly worth $40 million. As Swift indicated in her Instagram, her kitten is now in some serious debt.

+ Stylist Manuela Pavesi, best known for her stunning collaborations with Miuccia Prada, passed away at the age of 65 on Saturday. Our thoughts are with her family and friends.

+ The Jinx, HBO's true-crime documentary series, came to an unexpected end as last night's season finale coincided with Robert Durst's arrest. Durst, the heir to a $1 billion real estate fortune, was arrested on a capital murder warrant for the killing of his ex-wife, Kathleen Durst, and friend, Susan Berman. He was also previously shot and dismembered a neighbor while disguised as a mute woman, but was acquitted of all charges. The Jinx may very well have led to Durst's arrest, as he had evaded the FBI for decades. The show also uncovered an important piece of evidence, via a handwriting analysis. During one moment caught on a microphone during filming, Durst whispered to himself, "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course." Head over to New York Times to learn more.

Deal of the Day:

Get 15% off this AWESOME muscle tee at the NYLON Shop with code AINT15. Don't hate us cuz you ain't us.

Advice of the Day:

"Anyone should be able to post what they want. That's what I do and hope it catches on." - Taylor LaShae on Instagram posting

GIF of the Day:
 

South by Southwest got underway on Friday, with the heart of its film, fashion, and food components unfolding over the weekend. But there is still a ridiculous amount of stuff happening between now and the festival's end next weekend, so follow us as we guide you through some of the essential parties, panels, and performances going down this week in Austin. 

• The sheer quantity of panels and discussions at SXSW is completely overwhelming, and it's hard to say which ones will be better than others. But for our money, one of the most fascinating will be "The Celebrity Economy," featuring NY Times columnist Paul Krugman, Arcade Fire bros Win and Will Butler, and more. It will focus on the music industry's most vital question: How do artists support themselves in an industry that is nothing like what it looked like ten years ago? Grantland writer Rembert Browne moderates. 

• The Spotify House is a weeklong party and is one of the best places to hang during the festival. They've got a mind-blowing five-day lineup that includes acts like SZA, Twin Shadow, Joey Bada$$, and Run the Jewels, food provided by SUPPER, and daily SoulCycle classes. 

• L.A.-based filmmaker Eugene Kotlyarenko is a true eccentric who’s been making idiosyncratic short films and videos for years. A Wonderful Cloud, which had its world premiere at this past weekend and will be screening during the week, marks his first feature and stars indie darling Kate Lyn Sheil as a girl who returns to LA. and reconnects with her ex, played by Kotlyarenko. It might sound conventional, but one look at the film’s trailer shows otherwise. And for an extra layer of intrigue, the filmmaker and his star used to date IRL. Check here for screenings.

• At SXSW, the panels can get hyper-specific. Case in point, this one about becoming and being a female journalist in the hip-hop world. MTV News' Nadeska Alexis, writer Kathy Iandoli, and writer Georgette Cline, talk about what it's like to be a woman covering a male-dominated industry.

• Marina and the Diamonds has a new album on the horizon, so expect plenty of new material when she headlines the Friday night showcase at Stubb's, which also features Swedish star Laleh, and Jack Antonoff's pop explosion, Bleachers.  

• One of the great joys of SXSW is day drinking in the sun at a packed venue with great music. As always, the Pitchfork Parties, happening on Wednesday and Thursday, will be one of the best and most popular places to do this. They're free and open to the public, which means they'll be very crowded. Plan accordingly.  

• Some crafty entrepreneurs are capitalizing on the Health Goth craze by creating their version of what a Health Goth gym might actually look like. The pop-up will be up and running on Friday, followed by a party on Saturday. 

• Jimmy Kimmel is bringing his show down to Austin for a five-night stand, with guests like Kevin Hart, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the entire cast of The Walking Dead, and on Friday, none other than Kanye West. Tickets will not be easy to get, but it is possible.

• The keynote speech is one of the cornerstones of SXSW, and this year Snoop Dogg will be taking the stage on Friday to talk about his upcoming album BUSH, and singular career as a pop-culture icon. 

• As part of SXStyle, the festival's inaugural foray into the fashion industry, many panels explore the intersection of fashion, technology, and art. And while most of these events happened this weekend (NYLON will be hosting the official closing party on Tuesday), there are still a few left, like "Is There Still Room For Fashion Blogging?" and "How to Keep Your Social Media Game Sincere."

• Chicago rapper Vic Mensa has been on the brink of stardom for a while now. Then he appeared alongside Kanye West for a performance of "Wolves" on the SNL 40th anniversary special, and the prophecy was finally fulfilled. Mensa is playing a 1am set this Tuesday at The Main, and it's going to be bananas. 

• It wouldn't be SXSW without the annual Fader Fort, brought to you by Converse. The four-day, invite-only affair is always one of the best parties in Austin, and given that the lineup is curated by the Fader editors, it's consistently excellent and very, very hip. Standouts this year include Tink, Hudson Mohawke, Chance the Rapper, Wolf Alice, Dej Loaf, and Bleachers, and that's just scratching the surface. As is custom, special guests are promised, and since Kanye West will be in town, it's not insane to think he might show up. 

• Protein Journal  and Dazed are teaming up with Grey Goose for this Women in Tech panel that'll be held on Monday afternoon at the Soho House pop-up. Speakers will include Elizabeth Gore, Entrepreneur in Residence at technology giant Dell; Leslie Bradshaw, co-founder of product development group MadebyMany, Emma Sutton, marketing director at lifestyle bible Dazed Group, and more. Topics will include sexism in the tech industry, and gender politics in the start-up game. You won't want to miss it.

• You could argue that no act broke out bigger in 2014 than Mississippi rap duo Rae Sremmurd. That's why their midnight set this Wednesday at the Empire Garage will be one of the hottest tickets—and best parties—all week. Get there very, very early.  

• This is not an easy ticket—in fact you need an invite—but it's rad nonetheless. Gia Coppola and Dazed are hosting a dinner at Soho House in honor of Females First, an initiative launched by the British culture bible to "support emerging female directors and film talent." Later in the week, Dazed will be hosting a Females First panel at the W Hotel with Jenn Byrne, their head of video. 

• The Illmore is widely known as the best party at SXSW. It goes down in a mansion, is highly exclusive, and can get pretty bonkers. It's also not impossible to get in to. You can request an invite on the official website and cross your fingers. Last year, artists like Schoolboy Q, Skrillex, Bun B, Big Sean, Steve Aoki, A$AP Mob, Travis Scott, and Future all showed up to perform at one point. Expect this year to be no different.

• T Rex is the story 17-year-old female boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields and her quest to win gold against all odds at the 2012 Olympics. The doc premiered to raves on Saturday night, and will be showing again on Wednesday night.  

• At its core, SXSW is about discovering new talent. There are too many acts to choose from, but may we suggest the retro dream pop of Shura, the throwback soul of Leon Bridges, and the punky vibes of Girlpool as a good place to start.

• SPIN and Axe White Label are responsible for giving us John Legend's only SXSW performance at their party on Saturday at legendary Austin venue Cheer Up Charlies. He'll be headlining a diverse lineup that includes ASTR, YG, and the Zoe Kravitz-fronted rockers, Lolawolf. 

• The inaugural Tumblr IRL series at Ironwood Hall combines six musical acts with a different art to create a hybrid of live performance and installation. ODESZA—who seem to be everywhere this year—along with Twin Shadow and Travis Scott are among the performers. 

• Venerable rum brand Sailor Jerry is paying tribute to its namesake Norman "Sailor Jerry' Collins, considered by many to be The Godfather of the American Tattoo, by showing his entire collection of original flash, art, and sketches for the first time in the U.S. Find information on the event which runs from Thurs to Sat, here.

Although it doesn't air until March 30, Comedy Central's roast of Justin Bieber took place over the weekend, and according to reports from people who were in attendance, the pop star got what he had coming. The group that Comedy Central assembled to point out all of Bieber's flaws in joke form included comedians like Jeffrey Ross, Hannibal Burresss, and roastmaster Kevin Hart, along with some more unusual choices like Snoop Dogg, Will Ferrell dressed as Ron Burgundy, and for some reason, Martha Stewart.

For his part, Bieber ended the night on a humble note, basically apologizing for being the lord of all brats. "The things that I've done really don't define who I am. I'm a kind-hearted person who loves people, and through it all, I lost some of my best qualities. For that, I'm sorry," he told the crowd. "What I can say is I'm looking forward to being someone who you guys can look at and be proud of." Here are some of the best Bieber barbs of the night.

“Justin you have no idea what you're in for. I'm sure it's great to have 60 million followers on Twitter, but the only place people will be following you in jail is into the shower.”— Martha Stewart

"Justin's Canadian. He's actually considered American, because no Canadian has ever been this much of an asshole."— Kevin Hart

"Last year you were ranked the fifth most hated person of all time. Kim Jong-un didn't even score that low, and he uses your music to fuckin' torture people."— Shaquille O'Neal

"Justin Bieber wants to be black so bad, he’s actually seen Kevin Hart’s movies in theaters."— Ludacris 

"When you get to the county jail, hear me, you're gonna be the first dude who ever had a girlfriend and a boyfriend named Gomez." — Snoop Dogg

"You've become a cocky little shit. You are the King Joffrey of pop." — Jeffrey Ross

"I'm proud of you. You have it all. You literally are a guy who has it all—except for respect, love, friends, good parents, and a Grammy."— Chris D'Elia

"I hate your music more than Bill Cosby hates my comedy." — Hannibal Burress 

If you're looking to fall into an alternative folk trance, Lola Marsh has you covered. The dreamy Tel Aviv band's latest song, "Sirens," offers a twist on the typical sweet-yet-gritty indie sound. With an overarching Wild West feel, the track seems ready-made for Quentin Tarantino's next film score. And, as a great testament to any songwriters' abilities, the origin of the song is just as riveting as its melody.

“While recording 'Sirens,' our drummer got stuck in traffic and was really late," the duo, comprised of Gil Landau and Yael Shoshana Cohen, says. "But when he arrived he told us he made use of his time in traffic and wrote down the ending orchestral arrangement which made us totally forgive him for being late.”

Lola Marsh's debut project will be released later this year on Anova Music. Until then, listen to "Sirens" on loop to keep your daydreams going.

For the most part, every season of American Horror Story—in terms of plot, premise, and characters—has been clouded in secrecy basically until the season premiere. The upcoming season, however, has been extremely forthcoming: Last month, Lady Gaga revealed that she will be starring in the new hotel-centered season; yesterday, at the show's PaleyFest panel, Ryan Murphy revealed that Matt Bomer and Cheyenne Jackson will be joining the cast as well.

Bomer, as you may remember, briefly appeared in the previous season, Freak Show. In the season's fifth episode, he played a male prostitute who was brutally murdered by Dandy in his tighty whities. There are no concrete details about what his role will be in the new season, but IMDB does list Bomer as appearing in all 13 episodes.

As to whether or not Bomer's character will be romantically involved with Gaga's, Bomer said, "I can’t confirm or deny that there might be a love interest.”

During the panel, Jessica Lange also officially confirmed that she will not appear in the new season. Find out more about the upcoming season here. 

(via Deadline)

Traditionally speaking, ackee and saltfish is a dish from the Caribbean. Lately, though, the name has been rolling off everyone’s tongues thanks to the British-Jamaican filmmaker Cecile Emeke and her new London-based web series, Ackee & Saltfish. Following the release of the original short film last year, the first episode of the series launched on February 22.

So far, all three episodes have captured a different daily interaction between best friends Olivia (Michelle Tiwo) and Rachel (Vanessa Babirye). It has been compared to Broad City, mainly because it’s a comedy starring two single twenty-something women, but other than that, the shows are literally worlds apart. Women have made huge strides in mainstream television this past year, but there still aren’t enough shows that project posivites images of, healthy female friendships in the black community. Ackee & Saltfish fills that void while also drawing attention to important issues that tend to be ignored in both the U.S. and the UK like gentrification—it's also really entertaining.

Olivia and Rachel typically engage in witty banter about black celebrities, but sometimes their candid conversations get heated just wait until you watch the “backbread” episode. Through their conversations, Emeke touches on important elements of black culture, inspired by her own experiences. The filmmaker further elaborated on the concept of her series in an interview with The New York Times:

“‘It’s very conversational in style, and there are a lot of intertwined themes in there, from religion to race to gentrification to popular culture and so forth. That’s definitely a reflection of my reality. With my loved ones, our conversations might start off as a random debate about whether meat is bad for you or not, then somehow meander to outrage at the neocolonialism happening throughout the world...”

From the outside looking in, you’re not going to get every joke, but the authenticity in the delivery makes every conversation all the more relatable. In a world where we're limited to choosing between Black-ish and Empire, Ackee & Saltfish is the millennial voice of reason. There is no singular black experience—every black person has their own story to tell—but there are definitely instances that we can collectively identify with.

Whether you’re from East London, the east coast, or anywhere else, Ackee & Saltfish will feed your binge-watching cravings and teach you some new culture cues. (I mean, Dalston is kind of like our version of Bushwick, and we’ve all been there at some point...)

Watch the hilarious trailer for Ackee & Saltfish below and catch the rest of the episodes on YouTube. (There are only two more episodes left this season!)

St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow, and despite the tidal wave of inebriated people wearing bright green that’s about to engulf the streets, this holiday is about more than just alcohol. Watch our 60-second video to learn about Saint Patrick getting kidnapped from Ireland by pirates, and how that led to a day of shamrocks and drinking. 

In early February, Instagram gave us the glorious "Hot Dudes Reading," which involved two of our favorite things. This past week, the internet almost collapsed from the news that another account has gone viral: “Men And Coffee.” Since we’re more awake than ever from the visual caffeine, we thought we’d search for other accounts featuring hot people doing regular-yet-wonderful things. Because, Monday. 

Last night at SXSW, Amy Schumer and Judd Apatow premiered an unfinished version of their romantic comedy Trainwreck, before a ravenous crowd of journalists and regular folk with social media accounts. We know this because after the movie screened, the audience took to Twitter to inform the masses that Schumer is about to become a huge movie star. Also, apparently Bill Hader as the love interest is dreamy, LeBron James is hilarious, and this is basically the best movie of all time. See some of the fawning reactions below, and mark July 17 on your calendar, when Trainwreck barrels into theaters and makes all the money in the world. 

Judd Apatow's TRAINWRECK. Masterwork-in-progress? #SXSW

— Justin Chang (@JustinCChang) March 16, 2015

Trainwreck starts off dirty and ends up sweet. Don't want to start the hype but... it may be time to start the hype. #sxsw

— Meeta Agrawal (@meeta) March 16, 2015

Trainwreck was shown as a "work in progress." I hope @JuddApatow doesn't change a thing. Crowd was howling. Instant classic. #SXSW2015

— Kevin Polowy (@djkevlar) March 16, 2015

So I didn't expect this, but #Trainwreck just ended and I can't stop crying? #sxsw

— Amy Kaufman (@AmyKinLA) March 16, 2015

Bill Hader is so endearing in #Trainwreck. Everyone's gonna want to date him after seeing this. #sxsw

— Amy Kaufman (@AmyKinLA) March 16, 2015

Maybe it's the New York connection or the fact that it's non-stop friggin hilarious, but TRAINWRECK might be @JuddApatow's best movie #sxsw

— ErikDavis (@ErikDavis) March 16, 2015

Trainwreck: very funny, maybe a bit long, but I liked the gender swap of the usual roles- this time the woman is the commitment phobe #sxsw

— Alicia Malone (@aliciamalone) March 16, 2015

TRAINWRECK is extremely funny. Played huge. So many great moments. And who knew @KingJames could be so funny. Will be a big hit.

— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) March 16, 2015

Over the years, Shia LaBeouf has transformed from the affable Louis Stevens to a serious, enigmatic actor. And, yes, as it seems is the case with every former Disney star, there were some nefarious hiccups along the way: He fought with his cast mate Alec Baldwin while rehearsing for Orphans and was later fired from the project; he was arrested for disorderly conduct, criminal trespassing, and harassment; was outed as a plagiarist for his short film HowardCantour.com; and was accused of endorsing paedophilia for his performance in Sia's "Elastic Heart." But, as LaBeouf revealed at his SXSW discussion, it hasn't been for naught.

"I think you need a sprinkle of insanity to be a good artist," LaBeouf said. "Definitely to be a good actor. It's a bit insane what we're asked to do as actors, which is get up on stage and get naked and turn around really slow and be observed and judged. A bit of trouble is needed. Good actors are troublesome. For me, finding a way to liquidate that trouble into something I can manage and play with as material has created a certain idea of what I am in the public. We work with that here."

This sentiment, while still concerning, seems to signify LaBeouf's growth over the past few months. In his cover story for Interview's November issue, LaBeouf discussed how method acting had overtaken his life. "I'm trying to find a way to have some control over my actions, my behavior, my ideas, my thoughts, my path in life," he said. "But it's very new for me. There hasn't been much off time. And when your emotional state is based on whatever you've committed to for the next six, seven months of your life, you have to be careful about what you say yes to. There's a fucking price to some movies. Some movies you don't get back what you give. I'm an insecure person to begin with, but the only thing I've ever been good at is harnessing the negative in my life." While these two declarations have the same overarching theme, LaBeouf's latest displays some accountability—it is, after all, his decision to pursue an acting career. "I am blessed with the shit in my life. I'm blessed with pain. Actors have wells of pain so they can use it. It's the same with this work," he said.

(via Dazed)

Two hours east of San Francisco, buried under stacks of reference books and research documents, lit by the glow of half a dozen computer screens, emailing professors and methamphetamine users alike, Fire and Earth Erowid are frantically growing their 20-year-old labor of love. Launched in 1995, the donor-supported Erowid.org contains dense, invaluable information about psychoactive drugs, but unless you’re a chemist, advocate, or someone who likes to trip balls, you’ve probably never heard of it. Psychoactive drugs are typically the fun ones, but often the scary and illegal ones, too. This vast encyclopedia holds photographs, toxicology reports, dosage recommendations, and other vital information on substances including, but certainly not limited to: synthetic marijuana, cocaine, DMT, LSD, GHB, MDMA, 2C-B, heroin, and crack cocaine. Erowid is a name created by Fire and Earth, which roughly means “earth wisdom,” and the site hosts more than 60,000 pages and articles, and gets about 90,000 unique visitors a day—a massive number considering its content. Erowid is run by its four full-time employees, dozens of volunteer contributors, and tens of thousands of Good Samaritans whose first-person testimonials add just the right amount of glee and dread to keep the catalog entertaining and honest. It’s backbreaking work for Fire and Earth, but it’s a project they hope will guide drug reform and help people make safer decisions about psychoactives. 

The couple, now in their mid-40s, met in high school, but became romantic partners while at New College in Sarasota, Florida. “It’s definitely on the liberal end of liberal arts colleges,” Fire says. Earth finished school with a degree in Anthropology, though his title at Erowid is Technical Director and Chief Software Engineer. Fire graduated with a general liberal arts degree, and acts as the site’s Head Archivist and “primary information architect, designer, and editor.” It was in college, during the late ’80s and early ’90s, that the pair also began their professional partnership, first by taking note of fellow students’ use of psychedelics around campus. After witnessing some very bad trips, it became clear to them that without readily available, credible information about illicit substances—or at the very least a non-judgmental platform to discuss the drugs—young people would continue to have bad, dangerous, and potentially fatal experiences. “There were many students making choices for the first time about whether to try alcohol or cannabis, LSD or MDMA,” says Fire. “They ended up relying on the opinion of older students as ‘elders’ who would help guide them. It seemed like a tragedy of the drug war that the experiences, mistakes, and opinions of previous generations were not available to young adults making important health decisions.” After college, Fire researched and wrote about plant use in European witchcraft, while Earth worked at a technology company and grew his interest in psychoactives. Then in 1994, during the first gasp of the tech boom, the Erowids moved to the Bay Area excited to organize their ideas online. In April 1995, Erowid.org was a registered domain, and by 2000 the two had quit their day jobs to commit to the project full-time. 

What began as a research archive grew into a site with applications limited only by a user’s imagination. Erowid’s Basics pages, which enumerate the dose, price, chemistry, effects, etc., for over 100 different substances, became—and continue to be—a great place to get accurate information before a trip. For example, on the ketamine Basics page, under the sub-head “Problems,” it states: “Do not swim. Avoid bodies of water—at least two deaths have been recorded where an individual took a bath after using ketamine, and drowned.” 

Very soon after its launch, Erowid spawned a secondary function, or perhaps a side-effect, as a vast sharing network—one in which users trade hallucinatory trip descriptions in the Experience Vaults or solicit advice on consuming two or more substances together on communal message boards or directly with the site’s experts using its aptly named email portal, sage@erowid.org. To Fire, Erowid draws all kinds of people, but suits drug geeks best. “Drug geeks span the range from dreadlocked stoners who know their bud to the highest level of technical brain-scan experts in the National Institutes of Health (NIH),” she says. In just the past two years, Erowid has received 6,500 new reports submitted to the Experience Vaults. 

One man I spoke to for this article, a 29-year-old who works in the entertainment industry in New York (we’ll call him Tom), remembers being sent a link to Erowid.org over AIM as a sophomore in high school in Wisconsin. He and his friends had experimented once before with DXM, the active psychoactive ingredient in many over-the-counter cough suppressants. “We found out through Erowid that Coricidin was the one brand on the market that had the least amount of other…shit. DXM was what you wanted to overdose on, and any complications came from overdosing on the other things that were a part of the medicine,” says Tom. After two years, and perhaps in some way responding to online discourse about the drug, Coricidin boxes were moved behind glass in stores. For Tom, Erowid served a dual purpose—first as a source to maximize his high, but also a way to practice harm reduction. 

Illustration by Merijin Hos / Photo by Maria Del Rio

Today, many of the testimonials found in the Experience Vaults can be harrowing, the brain-bending stuff of nightmares, while others are hilarious, encouraging, or end in the equivocal “might do again.” One example, submitted by a woman whose handle is CrystalGoddess, chronicles a very bad DMT trip: “Space and time didn’t exist. And I realized that this was the space, in-between the spaces. The code behind the matrix. The stuff that everything is made of. And that is when the chaos sent me into hysterics…. I remember seeing the horror of the familiarness [sic] of not being in reality, seeing fractals in chaos, and the feelings of utter degradation of self, the power of feeling worthless in the eyes of everything. I can understand how people can experience this and say that they saw God. It is—absolutely mindfucking.”

Jonathan Taylor, a tenured professor and graduate advisor of geography at Cal State Fullerton, has been editing, fact checking, writing book reviews, and contributing content on synthetic stimulants and others for Erowid since 2008. He believes that Erowid’s Experience Vaults function as weapons in the fight for harm reduction in psychoactive drug use—one that he says is “frequently missing from scholarly work on drugs and drug consumption.” Taylor uses the section as the basis for one of his students’ favorite assignments, Virtual Drug Trip, in which they review dozens of Experience Vaults submissions on a single psychoactive substance, and then construct their own first-person essay about how it might feel to be on that drug. Here is a sample from professor Taylor’s assignment for his class, The Geography of Illegal Drugs:

Your job is to get a good idea of what the experience of using this substance may be subjectively. So you want to pay attention to what the users say are the main effects the compound had on them, physiologically and psychologically.

Here are some questions you can ask of the reports:

• Was the experience pleasant, frightening, depressing, sickening, euphoric, transcendental, emotional, spiritual, therapeutic, or otherwise notable?
• Did the user feel that the drug would be worth taking again, or was it an experience they would not want to repeat?
• Did the drug have significant side effects or unforeseen consequences?
• Did the dosage of the drug seem appropriate to the user?
• Did the user experience any lasting impacts, either negative or positive, from using this drug?
• Was the drug used alone or in combination with other drugs?

Many Americans do not embrace professor Taylor’s passion for drug reform. They do not consider CrystalGoddess’s experimentation a unique brand of bravery, or Tom’s online research a worthwhile pursuit. What Fire described earlier as “the tragedy of the drug war” might seem like a catchall term borrowed from a bygone, Reefer Madness era—especially when you consider 23 states now allow the use of medical marijuana. Prohibition on the whole, however, is still a sturdy pillar of American culture and politics. According to the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance, the U.S. spends more than $51 billion annually fighting this war, and in 2012 the country arrested over 1.5 million people on nonviolent drug charges. 

SB 1391, a law passed in Tennessee just last year, allows police to arrest a new mother in the hospital if her child is proven to be addicted to or harmed by the mother’s use of an illegal narcotic. On paper, a law like SB 1391 might seem like a good thing, keeping babies away from drug-addled parents, but given the country’s threadbare effort to counsel and rehabilitate low-income drug users, SB 1391 and other laws like it become more legislation that puts arrests before awareness, something that the Erowid team has been trying to change for nearly 20 years. “There are risks inherent in taking psychoactive substances. However, these risks are magnified with ignorance and conversely can be hugely reduced with accurate and unbiased information,” says Taylor. “We have decades of experience telling us that abstinence-based education—“Just Say No”—doesn’t work. If it worked, we would have reduced levels of psychoactive drug use.” 

None of the information Erowid posts is illegal. They have had very little contact with authorities, but according to Fire, the site does get “the occasional suspicious email.” Ten years ago, Fire received one out of the blue asking if she would be interested in buying bulk coca seeds. “We ignored it, as we often do for such emails,” she says. A couple of days later, Fire got another email asking if she knew where to buy bulk coca seeds. “We figure some of these are law enforcement checking up on us, or teens who don’t understand what it is that we do,” Fire tells me. 

Erowid’s mission statement reads: “We strive to ensure that these resources are maintained and preserved as a historical record for the future.” And this is key. Online drug databases have come and gone, but Erowid has never acquiesced. “We are able to track the rise in popularity and interest in a new drug through searches conducted on Erowid and the number of hits to a chemical’s pages,” says Fire. As it continues to grow and stockpile material, Erowid can provide a credible, centralized source of psychoactive drug information and documentation. “We also provide some of this type of information to researchers and medical providers to help them understand the current trends and provide better services,” adds Fire. Erowid is the bible for psychoactive drug specifications, but it’ll also guide you through a 50 mg trip on Methoxetamine, which for some is just as helpful.

Natalia Kills, who we've covered in the past, seemed like a pretty chill pop star who doesn't take things too seriously. But on X Factor New Zealand, the British singer showed an ugly side when she accused a contestant of copying her husband's style.  Natalia Kills' husband is a singer named Willy Moon, and like his wife, is a judge on X Factor New Zealand. That means that he was sitting next to her while this unfolded—even joining in at one point with a Norman Bates reference—making this video even more painfully aggravating. "As an artist who respects creative integrity and intellectual property, I am disgusted at much you've copied my husband," Kills tells contestant Joe Irvine. She also called him "disgusting" and "creepy" for emphasis. 

There's a lot to dislike in this clip, like the way Kills and her husband relentlessly skewer Irvine—who remains remarkably composed and gracious throughout—for wearing a generic black suit and gelling his hair a certain way. (Also, how about the hypocrisy of a pop star—who by definition is part of a derivative genre—criticizing someone for their lack of originality?) The producers of X Factor were just as disgusted by the couple's rant, calling it a "disgusting tirade," and they've both since been fired. You can watch the bonkers video below. 

And here is the full statement from the MediaWorks chief executive Mark Weldon:

“While the judges on X Factor are expected to provide critiques of the performances, we will not tolerate such destructive tirades from any of the judges. Contestants put their all into this competition and they should expect to receive feedback and criticism that is professional and constructive. We no longer have confidence that Kills and Moon are the right people to perform the role of X Factor judges and they will leave the show, effective immediately.”

Kills took to Twitter to thank her fans and remains surprisingly unapologetic:

I love you guys, thanks for your support & understanding my passionate opinions! You know what they say about me... https://t.co/DNBksvmYWM

— NATALIA KILLS (@NataliaKills) March 15, 2015

And Ed Sheernan did the same to encourage Irvine:

@jooe63_joe don't worry about what anyone else says man. Enjoy yourself with it, that's what singing is about, not what other people think

— Ed Sheeran (@edsheeran) March 16, 2015

And finally, Irvine himself posted a video to Twitter thanking everyone for their support:

Thank you all so much I'm so exhausted I've tried to read every1s messages you are all amazing pic.twitter.com/vCqoSN3fPJ

— joe irvine (@jooe63_joe) March 16, 2015

The phrase "you get what you pay for" doesn't always apply to beauty products. Sure, you could drop $50 on a luxury lipstick, but why—especially when there are equally fabulous products at the drugstore? Of course, finding those cheap-yet-amazing products takes skill, so it's always exciting to find an entire line that delivers on quality without wreaking havoc on our wallets. Such is the case with Nonie Creme's new line Nonie Creme Colour Prevails, which just debuted at Walgreens.

Nonie Creme was the former Founding Creative Director of butterLONDON, so I had high hopes for her new line—and I was not disappointed. The collection is impressive for a multitude of reasons: It seems to cover all the bases, from formula quality to color pigmentation to ease of application. Plus, the packaging is beautiful, and everything is under $20.

Most of the products in the line are multi-purpose or easy to apply. The lip and eye products are packaged as a duo, like the Eye Design Shadow and Liner Duo, which includes a cream eye shadow and liner. The two-in-one packaging makes these products a dream to carry around without overstuffing my make-up bag. When not multi-purpose, the products are highly ergonomic, like the Nail Lacquers and the Eye Shimmer Powders, which have an L-shaped hand paddle that fits snugly into the space between your thumb and index finger for a more stable application. I appreciated this detail in fuctionality as my unsteady hand tends to ruin what would have been a perfectly good manicure.

The formulas are worth mentioning, too. I was skeptical about the lip products because lipstick tends to dry out my lips. And I’ve never been a lip gloss kind of girl; the stickiness has always turned me off. But the lipstick from the Classic Lip Duo glided on smoothly, was pleasantly moisturizing, and as the brand's name suggests, the vibrant plum color lasted for a super-long time. The lip gloss wasn’t sticky at all, and it actually felt quite nice on my lips, like a moisturizing balm in a deep violet shade. For the nail lacquer, the formula was not too watery or too dense, and the stunning color made it easy to see why Creme is so acclaimed for her color mixology. Paired with the functional applicator, it definitely makes painting my nails much more enjoyable.

All in all, the Colour Prevails line delivers in all the categories, from functional packaging to beautifully colored, quality formulas. All this for the friendly price tag–it's certainly a winner in my book. Click through the gallery to see some of our picks from the collection. 

Rita Ora is the modern-day renaissance woman: The It-Brit musician/model/actress has been clawing her way to the top—with a flawless manicure, no less—and ultimately landing on our cover. We've loved her all along, of course. So with the release of her second album on the horizon, not to mention a high-profile cameo in a little movie called Fifty Shades of Grey, everything's coming up Rita. Behind the scenes at her cover shoot, makeup artist Kate Mellinger crafted the Rimmel London spokesgirl as a grungy-glam goddess, but still kept her classic beauty look intact (using Rimmel London's Stay Glossy Lip Gloss in "All Day Seduction"). "I used her iconic red lip look, but I kept the skin texture more real and added a pared-down depth to her eyes—not perfect-looking, but still gorgeous. It's hard to mess up that face!" Meanwhile, hair stylist Chris Appleton was inspired by "a '90s Kate Moss vibe," so he added a pink tone to her hair for extra edge, and then doused her strands with texturizing spray. But nothing made Ora squeal more than when nail artist Fleury Rose started shaping and painting her long, almond-shaped nails with deep metallic and iridescent polishes—set with deep blue Swarovski crystals for extra bling, of course.

Click through the gallery to get the look for yourself.

Sociologically speaking, human beings are attracted to things that are, well, bad for them—especially when it comes to love and lust. It oftentimes comes in stages—during your rebellious teenage years, after a traumatic event (like a breakup or death in the family), and after you realize you've been in a monotonous rut (or so the movies would lead us to believe)—but for some, it's a constant desire. And while there are certainly various psychological and physical reasons for the "bad boy/bad girl" allure, one thing is relatively certain: Popular culture has a deep-rooted fascination with Hollywood's baddest. Whether it's their "I don't give a f**k" attitude, or the fact that they seem so unattainably cool, we're not exactly sure—but who cares? When you're hot, you're hot. Click through the gallery to see our list of the hottest celebrity rebels of all time.

**Please note that when we say bad, we're referring to a certain attractive rebellious quality—not bad in the sense of committing violence against another person. In fact none of these hotties are known perpetrators of abuse.

Kim Kardashian had a big night yesterday. The tenth (!!!) season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians premiered on E! at a time when Kardashian's grip on the public consciousness has never been tighter. To celebrate the occasion, the biggest reason for Kim's terrifying level of fame—one Kanye Omari West—went on a tweeting spree that included proclamations of love and nude photos of his wife. West, who also announced that he'll be headlining Glastonbury this year, also congratulated her for reaching thirty million followers. He used the hashtag, #SWISH, which is a basketball term for when the ball goes through the hoop without touching the rim. Take from that what you will. 

SWISH!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/07ZjyPi2dh

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 16, 2015

SWISH!!! pic.twitter.com/QhEdqRIjb4

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 16, 2015

SWISH!!!! pic.twitter.com/qEyDXcN8Xj

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 16, 2015

CONGRATS BABY ON THE SHOW PREMIERE LAST NIGHT pic.twitter.com/wDrVgwnqZj

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 16, 2015

CONGRATS BABY ON 30 MILLION TWITTER FOLLOWERS pic.twitter.com/ev1g3MXxhG

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 16, 2015

Kim then acknowledged the tribute to her thirty million followers: 

Ummmm how cute is my husband?!?!?!?! Ugh I love him so much!!!

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 16, 2015

Kinda cute.