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Month: March 2019

2019 Health

Millions of butterflies are dancing among the wildflowers in California—and you need to see it to believe it

3 min read

March 15, 2019 at 11:11AM by CWC Okay, California, cool it with the spectacular natural phenomena! An overabundance of wildflowers has attracted millions of stunning painted lady butterflies en route to the Pacific Northwest. Sightings of painted lady butterflies have been scarce in recent years, but California’s rainy winter sparked a full-on Super Bloom in the desert this spring, providing the little caterpillars exactly what they needed to grow big and strong before metamorphosis. “Heavy rain in the deserts along the U.S.-Mexico border triggers ‘super blooms,’ and many of the annual plants involved are larval hosts of the painted Lady,” Arthur M. Shapiro, PhD, professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology at U.C. Davis, tells me. “With abundant hosts, they can build up huge numbers very rapidly. Females lay hundreds of eggs, and their parasites and predators can’t predict where and when and can’t possibly catch up.” Front row seats to the painted lady #butterflymigration! #butterflies #paintedladies #Irvine #OrangeCounty pic.twitter.com/4w55GfF8VT — South Coast Research (@UCSouthCoast) March 12, 2019 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js California hasn’t experienced such a remarkable migration of cosmopolitan butterflies since 2005, when nearly a billion painted ladies attempted the trek. Most don’t complete the journey; the offspring of the first generation usually picks up where the others left off. But thanks to the super bloom, it’s a lot easier this time around as their favorite plant is readily available. Butterfly in the skkkyyy… #paintedladies @WindwardSchool pic.twitter.com/4YYV107br0 — Dr. Melanie Arias (@20thC_Melanie) March 12, 2019 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js “Painted lady butterfly caterpillars feed on thistles.

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2019 Health

Poop tracking is your body’s form of bullet journaling—and this app makes it a cinch

3 min read

March 15, 2019 at 10:55AM by CWC Part of the rise of gamification in modern American culture is that we’re all really (and I mean, really) into tracking the data of our daily lives. “Let’s strap smart devices on our wrists to keep in-real-time stats about our 10,000 step-regimen,” we say. “Let’s keep up with every egg movement in our menstrual cycle.” And I’m sorry—yet strangely satisfied—to report that the state of your stools is no exception. Using the free app pithily called Poop Tracker (Toilet Log), anyone can kick off their journey toward bowel movement mindfulness. That is, knowing exactly how your stool is fairing, 24/7. The app earns 3.3 stars in the app store and allows you to log each number two, so you can keep up with the quality and quantity. By recording the color and texture of each movement using the bristol stool scale, the idea is you become intimately familiar with how your meals are making their way through your bod. “These metrics can be important to determine if you have any bowel problems such as diarrhea, constipation, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), colitis, Crohn’s or other bowel problems,” the description reads. “This can also help you figure out whether your diet is causing problems with your poop schedule, poop consistency, or poop urgency.” Much to my personal delight, PTTL also wants to know the urgency of each trip to the bathroom. Was it a run don’t walk kind of situation? Did you just casually meander to the

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2019 Health City

Grab a bigger spoon, because we found a Nutella dupe with way less sugar

3 min read

March 15, 2019 at 09:50AM by CWC Here’s an alternative theory that’ll rock your TRL-loving world: Back in 1997, when N’Sync first suggested that God must have spent a little more time on you, the group was not talking about you (or your middle-school crush, for that matter). Over twenty years later, I know now that they could only be talking about Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut & Almond Butter. This epiphany came to me yesterday—back when I thought my life was complete, I thought it was whole—when I tried said almond butter for the first time. Immediately I wondered, “Can this be true? Tell me, can this be real?” because the stuff tastes like a dead ringer for what I thought was my one true love: Nutella. Yet this new-to-me magic spread packs just over half of the sugar and way more protein than the stuff I’ve grown up loving. The Justin’s spread has been around for a few years, but certainly not as long as Nutella (which hit the shelves in 1964). So it stands to reason that Justin Timberlake was just prophesizing about the 21st-century miracle creation of a different brilliant Justin when he wondered, “How can it be that right here with me, there’s an angel? It’s a miracle.” Because, really, is there anything more worthy of a dedicated power ballad than a taste-worthy Nutella dupe that’s healthy to boot? Not in my book. (Sorry, Jessica Biel—it is what it is.) Even after adjusting for discrepancy in serving size,

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2019 Health Beauty

This $6 product saved my chapped and peeling lips when nothing else could

4 min read

March 15, 2019 at 09:04AM by CWC Earlier this week, my lips felt like they were on fire. Like I took a dive while playing beach volleyball, but instead of getting sand burn on my knees, it ended up on my face. And to add injury to injury, each time I’d smile, a rupture that makes the Marianas Trench look like a sidewalk crack would split my bottom lip in two. I had to adopt resting bitch face as my permanent look in order to avoid being confused with the Joker. And it’s not cute. There’s a chance that my current lip predicament was caused by my recent vacation to Mexico—12 cumulative hours in an airplane plus seven days of sun exposure isn’t a recipe for moisturized, kissable lips. But more likely the cause is four months of frigid temps in New York City, which I spent with my face wrapped in a flannel scarf I’ve washed approximately zero times since Thanksgiving. We may have already sprung forward for the season, but a few days ago, I found myself rummaging way into the back of my medicine cabinet for a remedy for my winter-ravaged mouth because neither my go-to cherry Chapstick nor the blue tub of medicated Blistex I’d been digging my finger into for years (what expiration date?) were cutting it. Within minutes, I felt relief. And within hours, my peeling lips were well on their way to smoothness. What is this witchcraft? And there it was. On the

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2019 Health Vegetarians

Get to know your sleep spirit animal to time your workouts, meals, and more

4 min read

March 15, 2019 at 08:54AM by CWC A few weekends ago, I learned that a raccoon is my spirit animal. No, I don’t dig through the trash! No, I don’t carry rabies! The ring-eyed forager supposedly symbolizes artistry, tenacity, and skillfulness. Not only do I now have a higher opinion of the nocturnal creature, I’ve since discovered that we all have sleep-specific spirit animals as well, according to Michael J. Breus, PhD, also known as “The Sleep Doctor.” Like the hidden depth of the raccoon, each eventide critter—bear, wolf, lion, dolphin—has many a hidden meaning for your personality. The chronotype quiz concocted by Dr. Breus identifies your unique biological clock, or chronotype in about 90 seconds (the website say 45, but I’m here to tell you it will take longer). You’ll answer questions about your favorite meal of the day, whether you sleep with an alarm, and your history with insomnia. Once you’re assigned to an animal chronotype group, the site directs you to a video of Dr. Breus explaining your super-secret sleep identity. I’m a shape-shifting raccoon by day and a bear by night. What are you? Are you a bear, lion, wolf, or dolphin? Take this quiz to find out Bear: About 50 percent of the population Personality: According to Dr. Breus, a bear is an outgoing, “team-player.” Their people skills are on-point, so they make great managers. Diet: Just like Winnie the Pooh—the most accurate cartoon portrayal of all bears—they like to graze for food throughout the day (with

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2019 Health

How nail polish gets named, according to the co-founder of O.P.I.

5 min read

March 15, 2019 at 08:26AM by CWC I love manicures for many reasons. That hour where I’m getting my nails cared for is my form of self care. I get to zone out while it’s happening and then stare down at the cool shade I’ve chosen all day once they’re finished. My fave part of the whole thing, though? Looking at the nail polish names when I’m picking out a color. Suzi Weiss-Fischmann agrees—and she should know. As the co-founder of O.P.I., the ubiquitous nail polish brand known for its tongue-in-cheek color names, those nail shades called I’m Sooo Swamped!  and Teal the Cows Come Home are all her. “Nail polish names are probably the most fun part of the whole business,” says Weiss-Fischmann, whose brand-new book I’m Not Really a Waitress explores O.P.I.’s beginnings. “Women always look forward to not only the fun shades, but the names. When I’m getting my nails done, people always look at the bottle at the name—so I thought it’d be so much fun to see how much women look forward to the shade names.” She contributed to that experience by helping to transform O.P.I.—which started out as a dental supply company, by the way—into a nail lacquer mega-brand in 1987. Fast forward thirty-ish years, and it’s catapulted to take the spot as one of the most popular polish brands ever. And since nail polish names bring such joy to everyone, I thought I’d pick Weiss-Fischmann’s brain on what it’s really like to invent those fun color

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