December 10, 2018 at 01:35PM Gal Gadot—you know, the real-life Wonder Woman—is the kind of friend you want to do all of your workouts with. And no—not just because, judging by her super-toned muscles, they’re incredibly effective. She also just seems to be having so much fun while she’s doing them, from start to finish—especially when boxing is involved. In a video she posted to Instagram, Gadot showed off an arm-numbing boxing sequence that, despite being incredibly hard, also looks like the most badass and enjoyable way to work out, ever. Mostly because after effortlessly throwing all those punches, she finishes with a mini dance party at the gym. See? Just like I said. There’s no better workout buddy. View this post on Instagram My favorite kind of training Happy Friday A post shared by Gal Gadot (@gal_gadot) on Nov 9, 2018 at 6:51am PST //www.instagram.com/embed.js Since this lady’s schedule is pretty packed, there’s no reason you can’t just box it out solo, and Jennifer Aniston’s trainer Leyon Azubuike—the founder of the Cali-based boxing studio Gloveworx—has the ultimate line-up of moves that will leave you breathless. Oh, and sore. Definitely sore. “Boxing is the best way to get in shape because it incorporates so many body movements,” Azubuike says. “The core is always engaged and burning, and the arms are lengthening every time you throw a punch, so you’re getting a toning effect.” With a combination of traditional cardio to increase your heart rate and a handful of the most effective boxing moves,
Day: December 10, 2018
The derm-approved guide to getting rid of those pesky white dots underneath your eyes
December 10, 2018 at 01:15PM Let me be frank: The under-eye area can cause lots of drama. In the quest for a glowy complexion, that part of your face can come up with all sorts of unwanted issues, from under-eye bags to dark circles and puffiness. Like, puh-lease stop going rogue and disobeying my skin-care routine. Just when I thought my under-eyes couldn’t be more of a foe, I stumbled upon yet another way the skin there can rebel: with white bumps under eyes called “milia”. I was perusing the skin-care threads on Reddit when a post caught my attention—it was basically a user that was frustrated from tiny white bumps that appeared underneath her eyes. It’s something I’ve experienced too, and it’s even more frustrating because there’s less info out there on how to get rid of the pesky situation. Basically, the small but hugely annoying bumps show up when there isn’t enough exfoliation or when you’re using occlusive skin-care ingredients. “Milia are small accumulations of keratin under the skin,” says Purvisha Patel, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and founder of Visha Skincare. “They appear as small, light-colored hard balls under the skin, and commonly happen when the keratin gets a chance to accumulate.” AKA when it’s not exfoliated. Because the skin under your eyes is really thin and generally not scrubbed, it tends to be a more common spot for milia to form, she says. As far as occlusive ingredients go, Dr. Patel explains that petrolatum and thick moisturizers like coconut
I tried a holiday-themed beauty routine for a week and my small heart grew three sizes
December 10, 2018 at 12:41PM At this very moment, I smell like the inside of a gingerbread house. I’m no mind-reader, but I’m fairly certain that the person sitting next to me on my morning subway commute’s thoughts went something like: This chick smells like someone dipped her in cinnamon sugar. Like she just came strolling out of the Lincoln Tunnel arm-in-arm with Buddy the Elf. Like she’s the kind of person who queues up the Charlie Brown Christmas album on November 1st. And well, guilty as charged. For the past week, I have scrubbed, hydrated, deodorized, shampooed, exfoliated, lathered, and even bubble-bathed with *only* the beauty products scented to celebrate this glorious season, and truth be told, I have never felt more festive. There’s something about literally *wearing* Christmas on your skin that sparks a metamorphosis not unlike the one the Grinch has in the finale of the iconic film. (You know—when his “small heart grows three sizes” in, like, a hot second.) I’m already a pretty cheery person in general, but the new regimen makes me nothing short of Who-status. Some (shoutout to my roommate) might even say that I’m even being a tad bit obnoxious by making our entire bathroom smell like the holiday section of a department store. But, I protest! That’s only because those people have never felt the pure, childlike joy of swathing their armpits with candy cane deodorant, or massaging gingerbread and cappuccino body scrub into their skin, or multi-masking with both evergreen and eggnog-scented
The CDC can’t kill your holiday baking vibes if you make raw cookie dough the smart way
December 10, 2018 at 12:04PM Even though I’m not proud to admit it, I’ve risked my life many times in order to enjoy the pure goodness of raw cookie dough. Like, baked cookies are cool and all, but nothing beats the ooey gooey raw stuff. Unfortunately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) doesn’t agree and has made it a mission to kill joyful holiday-baking vibes nationwide with warnings about the foodborne-illness dangers associated with consuming such deliciousness. Buzzkill. Good news, though: There’s a way to have your no bake cookie dough and safely eat it, too. There are two main culprits behind the problems that come with eating raw cookie dough: eggs and flour. Because raw eggs can cause salmonella poisoning, and raw flour has been linked to e. coli infections, they’re basically a diarrhea, fever, and cramp-causing dynamic duo you really don’t want to mess with. Especially because both are responsible for multiple deaths each year (with salmonella to blame for an estimated 450 anually). While it’s easy to see why the CDC doesn’t want anyone putting their health at risk for the sake of a few minutes of sugary, doughy bliss, you don’t have to give up the good stuff—you’ve just gotta veganize it. You can ensure your holiday cheer stays at its peak this month using a couple of different methods. First of all, ditching eggs is a must. Period. And while most people think their vegan raw cookie dough is safe as long as they’re not using grain-based flour, that’s wrong:
Properly mastering the plank will give you a full-body workout in just one move
December 10, 2018 at 11:53AM Whether you’re a Pilates addict, a HIIT class devotee, or you happen to have tried the hardcore workout of Supreme Court Justice/fitness hero Ruth Bader Ginsburg, you’ve undoubtedly found yourself holding planks. There’s a reason why the move is a trainer favorite, regardless of the type of workout at hand: Planks are effective, can be done anywhere, and require nothing more than your own muscles (and willpower) to perfect. Based on the inevitable quaking in your abs that the poses induce, it’s clear that they get the job done, too. Aside from working your “rectus abdonimus” and “transverse abdominis” (or, as we like to call them…your abs), planks happen to offer more of a full-body workout than you probably realize. “The other muscles you will work during planks are in your back, hips, legs, shoulders, and chest,” explains Jo Gomez, director of training for solidcore. Side planks have their own array of benefits, and work your external and internal obliques along with the secondary planking muscles in your shoulders, hips, legs, and back. So yes: Planks are a full body workout, no equipment required. Photo: Stocksy/Studio Firma What are the benefits of planking? In addition to giving you arms, abs, and buns of steel, Gomez points out that there are plenty of other reasons why you might want to drop down into the muscle-making move on a regular basis. “Supporting your weight in planks will allow you to have a balanced body, since weight is equally distributed in both side of your body and through
10 show-stopping engagement rings that are an eco-friendly way to put a ring on it
December 10, 2018 at 11:53AM For a long time, wearing a family heirloom or shopping secondhand were the only options available to most people in search of sustainable engagement rings. Lately, though, fine jewelry brands have been changing the proposal game, utilizing everything from recycled metals to ethically sourced stones to lab-created diamonds (or LCDs—not to be confused with CZs, also known as cubic zirconias). These diamonds are brilliant. I mean that both literally and in the sense that because they’re created in an environment that replicates the conditions of mined ones—just at an accelerated rate—they have less of an environmental impact and often a more affordable price tag. “We no longer need to dig pits into the earth so large that some can be seen from space nor suck the seabed floor with giant vacuums to obtain diamonds.” The technology is so good, in fact, that it’s started to shift mindsets (and standards) in the jewelry industry. “The Federal Trade Commission recently ruled that lab grown diamonds are real diamonds and can no longer be called ‘synthetic,’ nor can mined diamonds be referred to as ‘natural’,” says Alexander Weindling, founder and chief operating officer of the ethical jewelry brand, Clean Origin, which uses LCDs to create classic engagement rings at a fraction of the cost you’d typically pay for similar styles. “We no longer need to dig pits into the earth so large that some can be seen from space nor suck the seabed floor with giant vacuums to
Lily-Rose Depp just used a clip-on earring as a hair accessory and I’m mad I never thought of it before
December 10, 2018 at 11:40AM Is it just me, or is it really easy to fall into a rut with your hairstyle? Sure, the low pony is universally flattering and such a timesaver for those days when you accidentally spend, like, 20 minutes on just your eyebrows. But if you want a little upgrade to your signature lewk for the holidays without trying too hard (because who has time for that), Lily-Rose Depp has the lazy-girl hack for you. In a recent Vogue video featuring the actress and model prepping for Chanel’s Métiers d’Art show in New York City, she skipped reaching for a barrette or bejeweled hairband in favor of (genius!) a clip-on earring. (Skip to around 1:00 in the video.) “I thought with this ’60s, half-up thing, it might be cute to have a little sparkle in the hair and something to kind of catch the eye,” Depp said. Her stylist simply clamped a Chanel Camélia earring around the elastic of the hair-tie. And voilà! Sparkle. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4UAfC53FDA?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281] Since dropping ten grand on a pair of earrings doesn’t exactly fit into the everywoman’s budget, remember that you could replicate this styling hack with any pair of clip-ons you have lying around (or any you shop on Etsy). Personally, I have a few pairs that I inherited when my grandmother passed away that I plan on removing from their velvet boxes and pinning them in pulled-back Dutch braids this holiday season. How have I not thought of this before?! Easy, right? If you’re curious about other ways to
This makeup-artist approved tip might *actually* keep red lipstick off of my teeth this holiday season
December 10, 2018 at 10:35AM In addition to spending every Sunday buried in Hallmark Christmas movies and finally having an excuse to wear all of the glittery outfits in my closet, to me, the holiday season is all about red lipstick. Whether I’m in jeans and a cozy sweater or full holiday party glam, my look is always accessorized with a crimson lip. There’s just something about painting my lips in the merry shade that makes me feel like a glitzy grownup, which I love (and which looks really cute in Instagram selfies). But there’s one problem: Whenever I put red lipstick on my lips, it also winds up all over my teeth, hands, face, and clothes… which is not exactly the way I like to accessorize all those sequin dresses. The internet has dozens of tricks for how to get lipstick that stays on, from priming your lips with lip liner, sucking on your finger, and dabbing them with blotting paper, to name a few—all of which I’ve tried to no avail. No matter what I do, within minutes of applying my lipstick I somehow go from chic and adult to looking like a sloppy vampire after a meal—and it ain’t cute. To find out if there was some magic hack that had been missing from my lipstick-coated life, I headed to Chanel’s (appropriately named) Le Rouge pop-up in New York City, where I grilled the brand’s artists about how to get my makeup to stay put once and for
Sure, kimchi can help you beat bloat—but did you know about these 5 other health benefits?
December 10, 2018 at 10:08AM Brain health, the immune system, mental health, and digestion may seem like totally different aspects of well-being, but they all seem to come back to one thing: the microbiome. (Gut health, so hot right now.) Since evidence is mounting that your overall health likely depends on how happy your gut is, it’s mega important to keep the good bacteria thriving—and the bad guys kept to a minimum. Eating fermented foods on the reg is one of the easiest ways to fuel your good gut bacteria. Pickles, kombucha, yogurt, and miso are all examples of foods that are fermented—which means the ingredients have been left to sit and steep until their sugars and carbs become bacteria-boosting agents—but one food you should be adding into your rotation? Kimchi. The traditional Korean dish, usually served as a condiment or a side, is made from fermented cabbage. At face value, it sounds very similar to sauerkraut (which is also made with fermented cabbage). But there are some key differences that make it stand apart. Kimchi is fermented at a lower temperature than sauerkraut, and for a shorter period of time. It also uses other vegetables like radishes and scallions along with cabbage, and is seasoned with fish sauce, chili pepper, and garlic. (Compare that to your standard sauerkraut, which is generally just cabbage, salt, and caraway seeds.) Besides bringing enough heat to tickle your tastebuds, kimchi is great for your gut (and all of your de-bloating needs) thanks to its probiotic properties. But the
20 beauty products that our editors used to the last drop in 2018
December 10, 2018 at 10:01AM The end of 2018 is near, which means it’s time to start looking back at some of the highlights of the year. In addition to celebrating our personal achievements (one of our editors ran a marathon; another learned to love her arm hair after years of being at odds), we’re also reflecting on some of the best new beauty products that came across our desks this year—and boy, were there a lot of them. The past 365 days have been some big ones for the beauty industry: From 40 foundation shades dominating the market (thanks to Rihanna, who technically made this happen in 2017) to hair tools that made our morning routines easier than ever to skin care specifically targeted to period skin, there has been a lot worth looking back on…especially now that it’s time to start picking out gifts for loved ones. Ahead of the New Year, we rounded up the best new beauty products of 2018. Read on to see why we love ’em. Photo: Dove Dove Exfoliating Body Polish, $6 Not to share TMI, but I credit this scrub entirely for helping me kick the blackheads that took hold on my back (and okay, butt) this summer. It comes in three different scents (my personal favorite is the Macadamia & Rice Milk), and exfoliates and moisturizes skin in one fell swoop. Photo: Cannuka Cannuka Lip Balm, $9 CBD found its way into everything this year, and our lip balms were no exception.