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Liquid hair is trending and here’s all the inspiration you need to get it

Source: Vogue

Move aside glass hair, you have smoother and shinier competition 

If you thought glass hair was the ultimate high-shine trend train to leave the station–you’re wrong. Enter: liquid hair. Spotted on runways, influencers and celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Dua Lipa, this viral hairstyle has overwhelmingly acquired our explore pages. Just in time for holiday season, take inspiration from these beauty looks to serve show-stopping glossy locks.

Think flawless straight hair, but elevated. Celebrities tend to get this syrupy look with in-salon keratin treatments which help in removing any and all of the frizz from your locks. The deep conditioning and smoothening process allows for a softer and shinier finish. 

What looks like it can be only achieved in salon, can swiftly be done at home with the right tools and products as well. Preparation of your mane is key– using the ideal shampoo and conditioner combination is crucial for healthy hair, especially during winter season. Hydrating masks can also make the job easier. 

To get this fluid look, use a hair oil on the length and brush it out. Follow up with a blow dry and then straightener on small sections of the hair at least 3-4 times each. Iron them out flat till you achieve a liquid texture. If you’re still not convinced, try it out yourself! 

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Business

Revolutionizing Women’s Relationship with Power using Avatars

Dr. Debbie Bayntun-Lees – Professor of Organisational Development & Leadership at Hult International Business School

The complexity of leadership power dynamics

Leadership power is the influence that leaders exert over their followers, rallying support for their initiatives and securing compliance with their directives. The intricate interplay of leadership power dynamics holds profound implications for workplace culture, employee motivation, and overall performance.

Effective leadership requires not only acknowledging power but also employing it with care and thoughtfulness. Leaders who can master this delicate dance positively influence their employees and colleagues, contributing to the overall success of the organization. However, how leaders use power effectively is a complex matter, demanding a nuanced understanding of its implications.

The truth is that many women grapple with recognizing themselves as powerful leaders. Leadership is an art of influence, guiding individuals toward greater accomplishments through the effective use of power. Frequently, women tend to associate power with manipulation or control, leading them to distance themselves from that type of leadership. Instead, they often embrace terms like ‘effective’ and ‘influential.’

Power, in its essence, is neither inherently good nor bad—it is the manner in which power is wielded that determines its ethics and impact. Our research used avatars to dive into the crucial question of how women can cultivate a positive relationship with their own power.

So, can the medium of avatars in a VR environment help women learn to appreciate the value of relational power in the workplace?

Harnessing Avatars to Probe Power Dynamics

Participating in a Women’s Leadership Program, female leaders engaged in a virtual session, assuming the identity of avatars within a confidential virtual reality realm. Leveraging innovative virtual reality technology, they crafted personal scenarios and underwent a guided reflective process to explore and gain insights into their personal power and voice within their professional spheres.

Post-exercise, participants engaged in guided reflection, journaling, and shared their experiences within small breakout groups. The research collected data from 70 women through an online survey and in-depth exploration in seven online discussion groups, aiming to unravel the impact of this experiential learning on their perspectives and actions in the world.

Transformational Learning: Paving the Way for Positive Change

Respondents overwhelmingly acknowledged the value of the avatar session in providing a dedicated space for reflection and in-depth analysis of work-related challenges. In particular they reported that the experience was beneficial when it came to:

  • Shifting perceptions of power: Avatars can serve as catalysts for shifting perspectives and instigating behavioral changes concerning how women perceive and wield power in the workplace. This immersive experience allowed leaders to gain a multidimensional understanding of their power, prompting a reframing of their view of ‘power’ in a more positive light.
  • Elevating Self-Awareness. The amalgamation of survey and focus group data underscored heightened levels of self-awareness among participants. This increased awareness of personal responsibilities for workplace challenges empowered these leaders to generate solutions and make tangible progress in their respective professional spheres. As one participant put it: “I feel more empowered…I was not aware that others may perceive me as a threat to them, or maybe a bit afraid of me (someone told me this). So yes, I feel empowered, but I also have to be aware of their and my position, I do not want to endanger them, so I must pay attention to how I behave and use my power”.
  • Heightening Empathy: The study’s findings suggested that virtual worlds, particularly those using avatars, effectively foster empathy and perspective-taking skills. Avatars in the ProReal virtual landscape empowered participants to recreate work situations, enabling guided exploration and encouraging the examination of challenges from diverse perspectives.  

The outcome was an increase in empathy, with participants expressing a deeper understanding of their team’s dynamics and challenges. One participant relayed how seeing things through other people’s eyes has made her more empathetic with her team: “It can be frustrating when people in my team are not achieving the dates we have set for example, for delivering a report. Then I am trying to guess what has been happening this week and so on. I would often imagine there is no explanation…so there was no empathy. Now I find out and try to see all the things that are going on, and if they have all the information they need.”                         

Avatars – an innovative medium for organizations

Our research not only affirms the potential of avatars in virtual reality as a tool for learning but also positions them as an innovative medium for female leaders.

This platform provides a unique opportunity for women to gain a nuanced understanding of their power dynamics and navigate the delicate balance between power and effective leadership.

Consequently, it make sense for organizations to create strategic opportunities for all leaders – but in particular women – to refine their power dynamics, harnessing the opportunities afforded by these kinds of technologies.

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Lifestyle

Ushering in a more personalised healthcare system

Subhro Malik, Senior Vice President & Head Life Science, Infosys

Millions of users across England are using the NHS App to quickly access various digital services such as scheduling doctor appointments, checking their records, referring to repeat prescriptions etc. The UK government wants to extend the app’s usage with ambitious plans to enrich its features over the next couple of years, and eventually accelerate the digital revolution in healthcare. By March 2024, the government hopes to have at least 75% of the adult population relying on the app for a wide array of healthcare services.

These ambitions clearly indicate the growing acceptance of technology as an enabler of healthcare on a massive scale. In the modern context, public healthcare needs to be patient-centric, holistic, anytime and anywhere, and stakeholders are increasingly depending on technology to deliver at scale. Digital interventions can truly transform the way healthcare services are delivered and bring these in line with end-user expectations.

Technologies such as the Internet of things, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, blockchain, and wearables can enable remote monitoring, exchange, and capture of relevant patient information. Studies show that healthcare providers harnessing such technologies and digital solutions are better placed to improve patient outcomes. The use of data enables more accurate diagnoses, better decision-making, self-management, and personalization of care. Medical device companies are also adding value by embedding digital assistants and apps into their products to enable a more personalised user experience.

For example, patients ailing from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, chronic pain, or spinal disorders are required to strictly following prescribed medication, exercise, and nutrition regimens to manage their condition. It calls for a high degree of health and nutrition literacy and support in tracking and monitoring regimens, while remaining mindful of ambiguities and consequences. Patients already grappling with chronic conditions often feel overwhelmed by the complexities involved. They tend to lean heavily on professional supervision and interventions, expecting support on-demand.

In such situations, digital health platforms can become their lifelines. By seamlessly integrating real-time data from medical devices, wearables, mobile apps as well as other digital devices, these platforms enable clinicians to remotely monitor each patient’s progress. Digital health platforms also aggregate and analyse data to produce insights tailored to help each patient. They focus on enabling self-management of chronic conditions, and forming positive habits, thus helping them work towards a better quality of life.

A host of digital tools such as virtual coaches and digital diaries are available today that make patient-centred care, a reality. Patients with chronic pain can record, monitor, and access their pain data, closely trace patterns. These insights that can inform and push them towards choosing a better diet, exercise routine, and lifestyle.

Patients want more accessibility to their healthcare provider and may require support anytime. However, this support can be hard to come by, especially at odd hours. On the other hand, one of the biggest advantages of virtual tools is that support is available anytime, anywhere. This makes them an ideal solution for patients with chronic pain to avail on-demand support. In the absence of a consistent in-person supervisor, they can use a virtual coach who remotely monitors and guides them through their medication and exercise regimens that are integral to pain management. They are also able to log their pain patterns, moods, sleep data, and activities and understand whether their coping strategies are effective or need improvement.

Undoubtedly, digital platforms are valuable in the management of patient care with their strong alignment to each patient’s expectation and needs of personalised care. They can play a key role in enabling easy access to reliable information, on-demand support, user-friendly navigation etc. There are challenges, however, that could derail the radical changes, which technology can bring to healthcare systems. For instance, research suggests that patients feel a natural reticence in sharing highly personal/confidential health data on an app or online tool. Patient sensitivities over data privacy and security breaches can override the advantages of any feature or functionality these apps promise.

After all, the success of personalised digital health systems depends on the extent to which patients can trust the healthcare provider with regards to: “Is my confidential data in safe hands? And is my care provider using the most relevant insights to deliver the care I need when it matters the most to me? Health care providers and medical device manufacturers investing in digital solutions need to address these concerns and plug systemic vulnerabilities, on priority. Some of the measures that have proved to be effective include implementing physical and digital access controls, electronic audit trails, and risk analyses. Of course, giving the patient the choice to share their personal information voluntarily and the choice to opt out is important too.

Ensuring the data safety and empowering patients with knowledge and choice will be key in shaping the future of digital healthcare.

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Business

Top 5 Retail Trends & Priorities 2024

Building agility and resilience in a recovering market – 2024 is the year to create new opportunities, stronger systems, and the ability to react fast to a market liable to change

Ed Betts, Retail Lead Europe, Retail Express

Recent headlines point to market improvement as the rate of inflation declines, but for most retailers the difficult times are not yet over. In many cases, retailers continue to suffer volume decline, with only discounters seeing any appreciable level of volume growth. The supermarket model is built on volume, so any amount of negative growth means a dip in turnover.

The challenge for 2024, as a sluggish market struggles to regain its footing, is to act to drive growth in volume, increase footfall, and expand market share, all while improving the agility and resilience of one’s business. The past few years have proven beyond doubt that anything can happen, and that retailers must ensure they carry the tools to react quickly when it does.

Top 5 retail trends and priorities for 2024:

1: Focus on automation

Retail margins are traditionally tight, and the pressing issue of recovery means 2023 has seen them getting tighter still. There is little wiggle room left to optimise margins under existing operational structures. It is time for change: streamlining processes through restructuring and automation will be a major shift in 2024, both on the shop floor and within head office.

The shift has already begun, and many more retailers will follow suit. 2024 will see new efficiencies found in the realignment of core functions, and a proliferation of automated systems which can adjust pricing, manage promotions, assist in media management, ensure stock assortment and create brand new innovations to improve efficiency and speed.

2: Exploiting AI opportunities

The rapid advancement of AI offers retailers new opportunities to strengthen, support and enhance inefficient processes – allowing staff the head space and breathing room to focus on driving business forward. While there’s pressure on retailers to simplify, they must be equally cognisant of the critical nature of innovation. Adopting the latest technology is the best way to be ahead of the curve and differentiate one’s offerings in a crowded market.

Used responsibly and transparently in line with the guidelines set out in the 2023 UK AI Summit, AI forms the basis for new ways of retailing. AI driven analytics tools offer the security of planning activity far in advance, the agility to work with suppliers quickly to meet sudden market demand, and the ability to respond confidently to rival activity.

AI’s labour-saving benefits support every core function: it frees buyers’ time to develop key relationships by negotiating automatically with regular suppliers; it can be a vital aid in marketing and merchandising, highlighting products which are eligible or suitable for promotion; its predictive models help on the shelf, pinpointing when a product should be launched or promoted.

3: Increased focus on loyalty schemes

Over the course of 2023 loyalty card promotions have become a crucial and successful driver of customer retention. Those retailers with the most established loyalty schemes have seen their customer base stay relatively steady, even against competition from discounters. A key focus of 2024, therefore, will be to build stronger loyalty schemes and foster a customer base which will not stray.

The powerful value of customer data, coupled with the proven retention benefits of such schemes, will make loyalty programmes a strategic essential in 2024. Driven by AI insights, these will spread their net further – retailers will implement deeper offers, linked cross-promotional sales, and a data-driven expansion of bespoke voucher programs targeted directly to individuals based on their buying habits.

4: Improved data mining

Data is king: it has become the most valuable resource any business has at its disposal. Retailers collect a huge amount of data, but to date this tends to have been improperly and inadequately mined. Less than half[1] of retailers benefit from a complete picture of their data inventory. The battle to gain market share cannot be fought for free. Investing in data, however, pays for itself.

In a changing market, strong data management will become even more essential. Deep data knowledge will reveal new ways for mainstream retailers to differentiate themselves from discounters.

Accessing the insights offered and unifying siloed sources into a single body of data intelligence are therefore a vital part of any 2024 improvement plan. The more data is processed, the more insights are discovered, and the more effective a retailer’s offers can be.

5: Targeted media spend

Retailers are not the only ones rebuilding. Cost pressures are showing signs of easing on suppliers, and they are now eager to boost sales by applying the funding to make it happen. Retailers must ensure that every penny of that potential promotional budget works hard, because an ineffective promotion is a waste.

Exploiting these opportunities in the most efficient and valuable way demands the creative application of data. Greater command of their data will see retailers finding new ways to maximise traditional media spend in 2024, providing brands with the ability to advertise in the moment, reaching customers at the point that they are willing and able to make a purchase.


[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1262066/data-usage-in-consumer-products-and-retail-industry/

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