October 18, 2018 at 12:47PM Burning a candle down to the wick is bittersweet. On one hand, it means you’re fully embracing peak hygge mode; on the other, it also means that your aromatic affair with particular (ahem) flame has come to end. But if the tiniest centimeter of wax is still lingering at the bottom of your candle, and your matchstick can’t quite reach without scorching your hand, you don’t need to say goodbye just yet. By crowdsourcing the Well+Good office, I came up with a laundry list of items that will work in a butane lighter’s stead should you want to enjoy every last ounce of your candle. And chances are, you have at least one of them at home. Palo santo: With just a few more inches than your average match, this wood will reach the candle wick and use its good juju to clear the air of any bad vibes as well. Who knows? Maybe the smoke from the palo santo might just combine with your candle’s scent to produce, like, the headiest night-in atmosphere ever. Sage: On that note, if you’re pulling triple duty with sage, palo santo, and a candle, you could use the smudge stick to light the candle, too. As an added bonus, every vampire and ghoul within miles will be deterred from interrupting your Netflix sesh. A strand of spaghetti: Alright, so you’re dealing with a tall and skinny candle-carrying vessel that’s fit to line dining tables in the middle ages. Do not panic. Instead, solve this conundrum the same way
Day: October 18, 2018
This strapless bra’s cups runneth over with the promise of comfort and style
October 18, 2018 at 12:26PM Of all the different styles of bras, it’s fair to say that strapless ones have the worse reputation. Years of ill-fitting design flaws and unnaturally firm cups are to blame for a lot of the ill will women have toward the undergarment. So, you’d be forgiven for passing over strapless styles in favor of more multi-functional options like stunt bras. Or, joining team no bra, even. You’re not alone, certainly. But, before you write off strapless bras entirely, you should know something. An online community of bra wearers (some 6,000 and counting) believe they’ve stumbled upon the strapless bra that’ll change everything you thought about strapless bras. The Flex strapless bra from Harper Wilde is apparently so good it’s like coffee or avocados. You know, able to make pretty much everyone happy. The Flex strapless bra from Harper Wilde is apparently so good it’s like coffee or avocados. You know, able to make pretty much everyone happy. Having first heard about it on Refinery29, its cups seemed to run over with so much promise that more investigation needed to take place to ensure this is, in fact, a strapless bra that won’t wind up somewhere around your belly button before the end of a night. So, I clicked through to the reviews for The Flex and started reading. People seem to really love its $35 price tag. They also seem to be fans of the fact that it comes up to a size 40 band
I tried anti-gravity yoga to fulfill my Cirque du Soleil dreams—here’s what happened
October 18, 2018 at 11:54AM Am I the only one who has harbored a deep yearning to hang elegantly upside-down from a pastel-hued hammock since seeing commercials for Cirque du Soleil? I don’t think so. And luckily, if you call New York, Miami, Los Angeles, or San Fran home, you can fulfill your desire to backbend in mid-air at your local Crunch Gym’s “AntiGravity” yoga class. Last week, I donned my bendiest threads to catch a happy hour-timed class at New York’s Crunch on 59th street to see if a literal new perspective on my asana practice would fulfill my aerial acrobatic itch, and let me tell you—it was ethereal. Not only did I leave the class feeling like Wendy in Peter Pan after experiencing pixie dust for the first time (“I can fly! I can fly!”), the practice also came with another benefit. Despite the fact that I roll out my mat four to five times a week to move through sun-salutations, handstands, and chair poses, I got to experience every pose anew (in mid-air). Photo: Stocksy/Rolfo This is what my anti-gravity yoga experience was like When I first enter the room, the instructor adjusts my hammock (kinda like a spin bike) so that the bottom of the loop hangs just at my hips. Already, my inner child dares me to hop on the fixture and start swinging, but I quickly remind myself that I’m an adult (*sigh*), and should probably behave myself. To warm up, all of us shimmy our seats into the the silky,
Patterned tights are the only thing your legs need to take your summer dress obsession in to fall
October 18, 2018 at 11:06AM I stopped wearing pants when I was 14, and ever since, cold weather dressing has been a special conundrum since it involves figuring out myriad ways to keep my legs warm under dresses and skirts. On a practical level, it requires learning how to layer without bulking myself up to look like the Michelin man. Style-wise, it’s pretty difficult to not feel like I’m in a rut or look like I’m repeating the same outfit over and over again (even if DVF says it okay) because all anyone can see are my black tights and winter coat. Recently a slew of well-dressed strangers on New York City sidewalks showed me the solution—patterned tights. As the temps have finally dipped, I’ve started to notice that every outfit that stops me in my tracks involves a pair of bold, patterned, and textured tights. And TBH, I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this sooner—a pair of bold tights might actually solve 80 percent of my winter wardrobe issues. That’s because they do three things: 1. Add an interesting element to an otherwise everyday coat. 2. Make you look put together with minimal effort. 3. Keep your legs warm, duh! So last week when I walked by an Urban Outfitters mannequin wearing plaid blue tights, I bit the fashion bullet and bought a pair. Once I got over my fear of bold prints and finally convinced myself that I could pull them off, I wore them with a plain black outfit (the
Ah, so *this* is the correct order to wash your hair
October 18, 2018 at 11:02AM When it comes down to basic self care practices, people pretty much have it all down to a science. But when you stop to really think about what you’re doing, questions get raised: should you actually wash your legs? How do you shave your legs, really? Then another question like that popped up when I met with Arnaud Plas, co-founder and CEO of hair company Prose this morning: Am I washing my hair in the right order? According to him, when using the brand’s highly potent hair masks, you should be using a hair mask before you shampoo. Welp, I’ve been doing it all wrong. Some masks have less-concentrated ingredients which make them totally fine to go on post-shampooed hair because they only need to be rinsed through, yet others that are often dubbed “pre-shampoo treatments” need to be applied ahead of sudsing up because the active ingredients should be washed out. “You want to use our hair mask before you shampoo, because then you’re able to reach 25 percent active ingredients, which is not something you can do if you use a mask after the shampoo,” says Plas. However, active ingredients aren’t the only reason that you might want to mask ahead of your shampoo. Conditioning agents can certainly help to repair hair and make it happy again, but the flip side is that they can also weigh it down and, in some cases, even make it look greasy or like you should go for another rinse.
So you’ve got knee, hip, or low back pain? Here’s how to modify your workout accordingly
October 18, 2018 at 10:49AM When your sweat-inducing endorphins rush gets interrupted by knee or hip pain, a satisfying workout can quickly turn into a game of 20 questions: What did I do wrong? Was my form off? Whyyy? But next time the compromised state of these two all-important joints threatens to sideline your training efforts, Tony Comella, a California-based physical therapist, suggests making a handful of modifications to reduce the stress you’re placing on them (rather than bailing on your training plan entirely). “When considering an athlete or individual with low-back, hip, or knee pain, we can potentially continue to train these patterns while reducing overall stress to a particular area,” the recovery expert writes in an Instagram post. To follow his rules, use his handy-dandy graphic representation of squat variations and deadlifts that place the most and least strain on your hips and knees. Here’s an example: If you’re experiencing knee pain, skip the overhead squats (located on the far right side of the chart) because that version of your favorite butt-burning move requires the most work from your knees. Instead, Comella recommends a low bar squat, in which the you hold the bar behind your back, rather than overhead. The opposite side of the chart works the same way, so a sumo deadlift will be the very best choice for anyone experiencing hip pain. View this post on Instagram . HOW TO MODIFY TRAINING — This graph shows a simple representation of how much relative hip and knee dominance
Plant-based protein battle: Tempeh versus tofu
October 18, 2018 at 09:25AM While food innovation has gifted plant-based, vegan, and vegetarian eaters with an array of meat-like options (looking at you, “bleeding” burger patty), there’s no denying that when it comes to plant-based protein options, tempeh and tofu still reign supreme as the most popular substitutes. While both meatless options are essentially super-versatile soy, there are key differences in texture, taste, and health benefits. Considering even meat-eaters could benefit from regularly eating meatless meals, I asked plant-based specialist Lori Zanini, RD, CDE and author of the Diabetes Cookbook and Meal Plan for the Newly Diagnosed and Reema Kanda, RDN at Hoag Orthopedic Institute, Irvine CA to break down health differences between the two vegan proteins that get the most love. Below, Zanini and Kanda explain these two meatless faves and then answer which ultimately wins out in the plant-based protein battle of tempeh vs. tofu. Photo: Twenty20/ @margueta What is tempeh, exactly? Tempeh is made from fermented soybeans that have been soaked, hulled, cooked, and then molded into a patty-like shape. Of course, there’s some variation in the shape the cooked soy beans get molded into, like tempeh sold in bacon-like strips. While fermented soybeans are the main ingredient, tempeh often contains any or all of the following: quinoa, barley millet, flax seed, brown rice, sesame seeds and spices. This means sometimes tempeh is gluten-free, but other times it is not; it ultimately comes down to the manufacturer. Most tempeh products will say either “gluten-free” or “contains wheat” on the package, so if you’re
Sex-positive healthcare is here to make doctors’ visits comfortable for all
October 18, 2018 at 09:21AM Despite the fact that a doctor can alleviate pain and even save lives, the sad truth is that many people will do just about anything to avoid visiting their healthcare provider. And it goes beyond the needles and speculums—a lot of people simply don’t feel comfortable being open and honest with a stranger in a white lab coat. This is especially true when it comes to the OB-GYN. Women of all genders have complicated feelings around going to the gynecologist: A 2003 study that surveyed women between the ages of 18-71 found that around two-thirds of women experience anxiety around visiting their OB-GYN. In some cases, this comes down to a straightforward issue, like shyness or the fear of receiving bad news. But it could also go deeper—think a previous sexual trauma or a not-so-great gynecologist who made them uncomfortable in the past. And a lot of patients just aren’t sure how a doctor will perceive them and their sexuality or gender. “I only date women, and I’ve avoided the gynecologist for a lot of my life because it makes me uncomfortable. Plus, I don’t need a birth-control prescription so it’s always felt like pointless misery,” says Lisa, a 31-year-old living in San Francisco. “When I have gone, the experiences haven’t exactly been pleasant. I live in a really liberal city, and it still feels like OB-GYNs have no idea what to make of me.” While the guidelines around how often we need to go
Everyone harbors implicit biases—here’s how to manually override yours
October 18, 2018 at 09:16AM No one wants to believe they have biases or are bigoted against other human beings. And yet, scientific research tells us that prejudice is built into who we are on a neurological level from the moment we begin interacting with the world, whether or not we’re aware of it. (To be clear though, this is not an excuse to discriminate. But more on that later.) Implicit bias is the preferred term for “unconscious bias” among psychologists, and in its most basic definition, the Perception Institute—whose mission is to create solutions to reduce discrimination—notes it occurs “when we have attitudes towards people or associate stereotypes with them without our conscious knowledge.” For example, studies show that white people tend to associate black individuals with criminality without being consciously aware of the link. And voters have been found to undervalue female candidates in elections (ugh). “Being socialized in American culture means that when people encounter a person from [a minority or marginalized] group, that association might spring to mind automatically.” —psychologist David Amodio, PhD “Even if a person doesn’t consciously endorse these ideas, the fact that they experience the associations by being socialized in American culture means that when they encounter a person from [a minority or marginalized] group, that association might spring to mind automatically in the head,” says David Amodio, PhD, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at New York University whose work focuses on behavioral regulation. “It can bias their judgment a little bit—even if they don’t realize
Moisturizers require this one ingredient to *really* benefit your skin
October 18, 2018 at 09:15AM Shopping for moisturizers can be seriously stressful. With an endless amount of options to choose from with all sorts of different ingredients that offer up a long list of promises—whether that’s watermelon juice or your own blood (seriously!)—how in the world are you supposed to figure out which is actually worthy of taking up prime space in your #shelfie? Well, one key component might be more important than the rest: good ol’ H2O. In a recent thread on Reddit, users were discussing what makes a moisturizer, and it turns out water is what you should be looking for on the ingredients list. It’s nothing fancy, but it makes a big difference when it comes to hydrating your skin. According to Lana Pinchasov, a dermatology-certified physician’s assistant in New York City, every moisturizer needs to have a base that the other ingredients are mixed into—and that’s usually water or oil. While oil-based moisturizers are great for anyone who needs to “replenish the oil that serves as a protection barrier of the skin,” it’s not going to be nearly as beneficial for your complexion as water. “Applying a water-based moisturizer helps your skin lock in moisture and replenish nutrients.” —Lana Pinchasov, dermatology-certified physician’s assistant “Oil-based moisturizers will still moisturize—you just wont get as many as the added benefits that a water base will give you,” she explains. “When you’re feeling dehydrated, you drink water so your body can rehydrate, and the skin uses water to rehydrate, too. Applying a