Month: October 2018

October 05, 2018 at 07:17AM I sincerely wish Accepting a Compliment: 101 were a high school subject, because now I’m a grown human woman and I’m still working to master this seemingly simple aspect of interpersonal communication. But I’ve made progress over the years, most notably when I befriended a gaggle of gay men and started spending an unusually large amount of time at drag-queen-hosted bingo events. These occasions, you see, basically doubled as compliment competitions. It was here where I first experienced the joy of being gassed: applauded and cheered on for doing anything, sometimes simply just showing up. These exchanges tended to skew seriously hyperbolic in nature (being told I look like a young Elizabeth Taylor because I have mascara on, for example), but they helped me feel confident during a time when I was fraught with insecurity. Man Repeller brilliantly coined the term “gassing up” to explain the over-the-top friendly greetings, compliments, or just unsolicited statements of support and encouragement that have finally—thankfully—become a normal mode of interaction between friends. And despite the issues I have with accepting compliments, I couldn’t be happier that gassing is a part of my life. I now commonly find myself on both the sending and receiving end of texts, Instagram comments, and Instagram Story replies with messages the read something like “biiiiiiitch,” with 12 heart emojis and a barrage of exclamation points (!!!!!!!!!). Screeching “OoOoOo, who is SHE?!?” at my friend as we approach each other in the park to gas her up is supposed

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October 05, 2018 at 06:33AM There’s a lot of thought and planning that goes into starting a business. Because your entire world revolves around it, it leads to a lot of excitement and build-up—you can already envision all your hard work turning it into a total success. The only problem is only thinking optimistically when working on your #girlboss dreams could actually set you up for failure. Sure, no one likes to be pessimistic—especially about something you’re putting all your time and money into. But a study published in the European Economic Review found optimistic thinking can be detrimental to your success. Researchers tracked 600 individuals ages 16 to 65 over nearly 18 years as they went from paid employees to business owners, and those with above-average optimism took in 30 percent less profit than those with below-average optimism. The reason why? Their overly-positive attitude basically blinded them from seeing the negatives of their business venture. “As a society, we celebrate optimism and entrepreneurial thinking, but when the two combine it pays to take a reality check.” —Chris Dawson, PhD People who are a little more pessimistic when starting a business, on the other hand, are better able to gauge if the venture is going to be a flop… and can be more open-minded to a better direction to go into. “As a society, we celebrate optimism and entrepreneurial thinking, but when the two combine it pays to take a reality check,” says study author Chris Dawson, PhD. “Optimists are more likely

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October 05, 2018 at 03:11AM Ever since I became afflicted (er, cursed) with hormonal acne, I’ve gone down many a rabbit hole on the Internet with the desperate hope of finding a solution for the skin woe. I’ve seen everything, from giving up dairy (which I have done) to using certain topicals to quash the pimples, but among the most bizarre—which I stumbled across in a Reddit Skincare Addiction thread—the idea of ingesting spearmint. According to the various skin-care devotees on the thread, drinking the herb in tea form or taking it as a supplement impacts your hormones, which consequently has an effect on your acne. “I have been drinking one cup of spearmint tea every evening for several months and the results are incredible,” one user writes. “I have not had a single zit which confirms that my acne is hormonal.” It seems too good to be true—something as simple as tea or a capsule works as a magical, hormonal acne-banishing elixir? Before guzzling the minty beverage or loading up on the supplement, I sought an expert’s opinion. “It’s theoretically possible that spearmint tea and/or supplements could be helpful for hormonal acne,” says Robert Anolik, MD, a New York-based dermatologist. “Studies performed in women have shown testosterone levels were significantly reduced over the 30-day period after drinking spearmint tea twice a day. These male-associated hormones are a driving force in some women’s acne, especially adult acne which appears along the jawline in women and which flares during periods.” The thing

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October 05, 2018 at 01:00AM It’s no secret that in the post-legalization (in some states) world, cannabis has become a darling of the wellness industry. The plant’s growing popularity as a therapy for premenstrual syndrome, low libido, anxiety, insomnia, and more has many people who would never have dreamed of “smoking weed” when their bad-influence friends were doing so in high school now spending *all their money* at dispensaries in order to feel better—whatever that may mean for them. It’s this customer, as well as those seeking medical treatment (for things like pain management) and those who just want to have fun, that MedMen seeks to service with a new line of luxury cannabis products called Statemade, which launches today at the company’s newest store in Las Vegas, Nevada. In fact, Daniel Yi, VP of Corporate Communications for MedMen, tells me that co-founder Andrew Modlin says the target demographic’s cannabis goals below in at least one of three buckets: health, wellness, and enjoyment. Courtesy of MedMen As such, Statemade’s products, Yi tells me, are named in order to highlight the effect of the plant rather than the plant itself (so instead of “OG Cush,” you’ve got “joy”). The line comprises seven different varieties, each one aimed at helping you achieve a certain state of mind—happiness, enlightenment, fluidity, activity, rest, balance, and wellness (the last is CBD-only). Right now, Statemade is only available in Nevada because that’s where it’s produced (by MedMen) and federal law prohibits cannabis from being moved between states. This means

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