Month: December 2018

December 11, 2018 at 03:00PM It wasn’t too long ago that I read Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck. After getting through her all-too-real essay about what women deal with in terms of aging, I gazed at my décolletage in the mirror and, well, realized that there was one. more. thing. that needed “taking care of” on my bod. As a result, I started catering to my neck like it were a precious object, and the star of my skin-care routine. Like your under-eyes, your neck gets its own beauty products—and, according to dermatologists, for good reason. “The neck is easily exposed to the environment and gravity,” says Purvisha Patel, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and founder of Visha Skincare. “The skin there doesn’t have the same amount of sebaceous or oil glands that the face does, and it can age faster than the face.” Besides that, the good ol’ trunk is also susceptible to similar woes that can occur on your face. “The neck’s more susceptible to irritation and scarring, and, like the face, the neck skin can develop brown spots, fine lines, and wrinkles,” says Joyce Imahiyerobo-Ip, MD, a board-certified dermatologist. That’s why it’s pretty important to keep your neck nourished and moisturized. If you think about it, your neck’s a vulnerable place: Besides holding up your noggin, it’s turning all the time and—modern update—bending down so you can look at your phone (hello, tech neck). “With all the devices we use, the neck is sometimes a huge giveaway,”

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December 11, 2018 at 01:54PM Gender bias is certainly real, but women likely enjoy happy hour just as much as their guy friends. That’s why it’s infuriating to think about how the alcohol industry is so largely male-dominated—both in terms of who is working in it and who the products are being marketed to. It was literally a subplot in Netflix’s Nappily Ever After. Well, ready to hear something more refreshing than an ice-cold Kombrewcha? Constellation Brands, a major wine, beer, and spirits company, is putting $100 million into female start-ups, primarily in the alcohol space. The company—which owns Modelo, Svedka vodka, and High West whiskey, among other brands—hopes to usher in a change in the industry, that’ll start to help level the playing field, gender-wise at least. “This program is designed to make meaningful investments in female-founded and female-led businesses doing disruptive and innovative work across beverage alcohol,” Constellation Brands’s chief growth officer Mallika Monteiro tells Nasdaq. “Broadening our focus on this critical demographic will drive incremental growth for our business, enhance our relevance, deepen our consumer knowledge base, and broaden our pipeline of ideas and talent.” Constellation is committed to doling out the money by 2028, and has already signed on its first two companies: Austin Cocktails and Vivify Beverages. Constellation Brands, a major wine, beer, and spirits company, is putting $100 million into female-led start-ups, primarily in the alcohol space. To help support women working in the alcohol space, check this out: Minibar co-founders Lindsey Andrews and Lara Crystal (who, are two women working

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December 11, 2018 at 01:30PM I don’t know about you, but my mood changes the second the weather does. When it’s sunny outside, I’m energized, happy, and ready to take on the world…and when it’s dark and gloomy, I basically have to do everything in my power to make sure I don’t burrito myself up in a warm, fuzzy blanket and stay there all day. That’s why winter can be especially tough: Every single day has the same, miserable forecast—cold, wet, and dark. While there’s plenty of sunlight to go around the rest of the year, the lack thereof in the chillier months isn’t great—and not just because it’s harder to feel awake and lively during the day. That sunshine is also crucial for other areas of your health and well-being, too. The instant you see the sun peeking out from behind the clouds this winter, run like your life depends on it to soak some up—even if they’re less powerful!—because there are plenty of reasons why getting sunlight in the winter is an absolute must. Here are five reasons to jump at the opportunity to opportunity. 1. It boosts your immune system and prevents disease A study from Georgetown University found when your skin is exposed to the sun sans sunscreen, those rays increase the movement of your T cells, which help keep your immune system strong. Separately, the vitamin D your body produces through sunlight also does a lot of good for you overall health. “Vitamin D is synthesized in the skin with

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December 11, 2018 at 01:27PM One of my biggest guilty pleasures in life is cracking my neck and back. Pleasure because, well, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as feeling (and hearing) that cracking travel all the way up a stiff spine…but guilty because literally everyone says cracking your back and neck is so, so bad. Doesn’t that crazy popping sound mean something is breaking? Well, first things first: “The cracking is actually the sound a joint makes when pressure is put on on the joint, known as a synovial joint,” explains Dr. Ciara Cappo, DC, of Cappo Chiropractic & Sports Therapy. “That’s because there’s pockets of gas in these joints that burst and create a sharp noise commonly described as a ‘pop’ and ‘crack.’” The bursting of these little pockets—which are sometimes referred to as “vacuums,” says Dr. Jonathan Hyde, MD, board certified orthopedic surgeon with Miami Spine Specialist—is generally NBD. But that *doesn’t* mean you have free rein to crack away. “While it’s okay to crack your finger, manipulating your own back and neck is far riskier and more complex—for reasons that don’t have to do with these pockets,” says Noam Sadovnik, DC, a chiropractor and the founder and CEO of Clinicube Inc.  More on these ~complexities~ below. Photo: Stocksy/ Clique Images The case against cracking your back or neck Cracking your neck or back isn’t like popping a pimple or picking your nose (both generally harmless but not recommended). The habit is way worse, say most experts. “Usually when people crack their neck and back, they

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December 11, 2018 at 01:00PM At some point over the course of the past year, rolling your face with itty-bitty needles in the name of #selfcare has very much become a thing. Microneedling (AKA “derma rolling”) went from your dermatologist’s office to your Instagram feeds to your actual bathroom, and I personally can’t remember what life was like without my favorite spiky little tool (aside from being far, far less glowy). But this morning, after using mine religiously for the last 18 months, I found out that I’d been doing it wrong the entire time—which, understandably, left me with a whole lot of questions about how to actually use a dermaroller. Dermarollers—which admittedly look like some form of medieval torture device, but happen to feel amazing—use small, sharp points to stimulate tissue regeneration and help your topical products penetrate better. Because of this, I’d always assumed that sandwiching my prickly mini-facial in between my toner and serums made the most sense. As it turns out, though, in doing so I was actually putting my skin at risk for a rash. According to a new study, microneedling after you’ve put on any products can introduce “immunogenic particles” into the skin, which can cause allergic and hypersensitive reactions. Um, whoops. The right time to dermaroll is “after washing [and] before applying topical products onto clean skin.” —Rachel Nazarian, MD With that in mind, Dr. Rachel Nazarian of Schweiger Dermatology says that the right time to dermaroll is “after washing [and] before applying topical products

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December 11, 2018 at 12:12PM With its seemingly endless library of choices, Peloton is basically the Netflix of workouts. Not only can you reap its benefits from the comfort of your home (though, sadly, not directly from your couch), but no matter what your favorite genre is, with 10,000 different on-demand workouts from certified instructors you’ll never have to repeat a sweat sesh. Like, ever. In honor of the end of 2018, the cycling app (which recently expanded its influence into running and yoga) just tallied up its most popular rides of the year to see which reigned supreme. The most beloved? A cycling version of the Turkey trot, known as the Turkey Burn, which had a record-breaking 19,000 cyclists test it out. Spinning in at a hot second is Peloton’s All For One Ride, with 18,488 riders, which initially live-streamed on July 4 to commemorate the incredible growth of the community. But this wasn’t your every-day Peloton ride: For this workout, 11 of Peloton’s instructors came together to teach the 45-minute class, which had a curated playlist (a song by John Mellencamp started it off) and a ton of energy. “This was the first time that our incredible lineup of instructors created one ride, together,” says Hannah Marie Corbin, a Peloton instructor who was part of the class. “I think our riders loved the opportunity to celebrate the unity in Peloton’s unique community. It’s hard to explain the excitement as I watched the leaderboard explode with greatness—watching the community harness the energy of the riders

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