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Day: May 20, 2019

2019 Health

9 editor-approved shaving products to keep your legs smooth all summer long

2 min read

May 20, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC Everyone remembers their first leg-shaving experience. As middle-schooler, I decided on a whim to grab my mom’s razor in the shower. I thought I was doing a pretty decent job, too, until I got out and realized I had nicked myself pretty badly, pretty much everywhere. Let’s just say mom was none too pleased when I exited the bathroom with my legs covered in bits toilet paper to cover my battle wounds. Luckily, a lot has changed since the days of single-blade razors and depilatory creams that make your skin feel like it’s burning off. Now, it’s not just about getting a smooth shave—it’s about doing so with products that soothe your skin and prevent cuts and bumps at the same time. We can’t go back in time and give our teenage selves the gift of a flawless shave, but we can certainly take full advantage of all the new options at our fingertips. From mousses that help your razor glide like a hot knife through butter to products that prevent ingrown hairs, these are the best shaving buys according to Well+Good editors. The best leg shaving products Buy Now glee Summer Lily Shave Mousse $4 Buy Now Nair Nourish Renewing Swirls Body Cream $10 Buy Now Dove Exfoliating Body Polish Body Scrub, Pomegranate & Shea $5 Buy Now EUNON Electric Razor for Women $29 Buy Now Aveeno Therapeutic Shave Gel with Oat and Vitamin E $4 Buy Now Gillette Venus Extra Smooth

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2019 Health

This is the exact place to stretch if you’re dealing with lower back pain

3 min read

May 20, 2019 at 01:40PM by CWC Until this week, I knew exactly two things about fascia: It is somehow related to your muscles, and its BFF is the foam roller. But as I learned, it’s important to know a whole lot more about it than that, because it’s apparently a major component of tissue underneath your skin that plays a big role in your body mechanics. And if you don’t stay on top of having healthy, limber fascia, you may wind up with some much dreaded back pain. A little anatomy lesson: “Fascia is a type of connective tissue underneath the skin that surrounds and supports the muscles,” explains Jeff Brannigan, program director at New York’s Stretch*d studio. “It can be found both superficially closer to the skin and deeper throughout the muscular system.” The magical thing about fascia is that it’s bendy and flexible and can withstand all sorts of stress, whether it’s from a hardcore HIIT workout or a full-on marathon. As durable as it is, issues can arise when your fascia is tense or tight—which means “its ability to properly separate our muscles is hindered, which can lead to compromised blood flow and compensation throughout the muscular system during movement and activity,” says Brannigan. So if you’re dealing with back pain, it could be due to issues in your quadrates lumborum or “QL,” he says. “This is a deep abdominal muscle that’s often the culprit when experiencing back pain,” says Brannigan. “It will often compensate for

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2019 Health

I jade rolled my whole body, and it was better than any massage

3 min read

May 20, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC My jade rolling routine is the highlight of my day. I pull it out of the freezer, throw on an episode of Paradise Hotel, and get to work ridding my face of whatever puffiness it has. Not only do I think it works like a charm (I have before and after photos that would blow your mind, if you’re interested), but it’s a luxurious experience that has become an integral part of my self-care routine. So, when I found out that there was a full-body jade roller, meant to help with lymphatic drainage, I cancelled literally all of my plans and made a self-care appointment with myself to test it out. Before I treated myself to a full body roll-down, I checked in with board certified dermatologist Lily Talakoub, MD of McLean Dermatology and Skincare to find out if the practice was legit.  Her answer? An enthusiastic: “Yes!” We already know that jade rolling is purported to increase circulation and lymphatic drainage on your face, and Dr. Talakoub confirmed that it can have the same effects on your body—as long as you do it the right way. “If you feel bloated or feel like there are areas of the body where you retain fluid, like your legs, your lower belly, your jowls, the jade roller can work like a lymphatic massage,” she says. “The correct method is to follow the lymphatic channels, moving down in the linear pattern—never moving up—which can help increase

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2019 Health Yoga

How to trust your gut when you struggle with anxiety, according to mental health experts

5 min read

May 20, 2019 at 10:13AM by CWC As a society, we place quite a bit of importance on trusting our gut. Struggling with a big decision? Tune in to your gut. Not sure if the person you’re dating is “the one?” No worries, your gut will lead the way. While there are proven benefits of trusting gut feelings, in my experience as a person with anxiety, it’s hard to whether your intuition is doing the talking…or your anxiety. (Anyone else ever spent hours Googling symptoms, convincing yourself that you have a terminal disease, only to have the doctor break the news that it’s just a yeast infection? Or…just me?) Alison Stone, LCSW, a holistic psychotherapist based in New York, says that while anxiety can indeed throw our instincts for a loop, we shouldn’t ignore it entirely. “Remember that anxiety is our brain’s way of scanning for possible threats or danger,” she says. “Anxiety often comes up when we consciously or unconsciously are searching for meaning in a certain event.” Does that mean we should assume our brain’s anxious assessment is accurate? No way. “I like to think of anxiety as a reaction, not reality,” Stone says. “We are constantly reacting internally to what is being presented to us in the world, and anxiety is a common response to the stressors we encounter.” In other words, your anxiety is probably a reaction to something—but it doesn’t necessarily have much to do with the situation you’re feeling anxious about. And that disconnect

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2019 Health Beauty City

The drugstore serums prove you don’t need to drop over $25 to see big-time results

3 min read

May 20, 2019 at 09:47AM by CWC Whenever people used to ask me the one skin-care product worth splurging on, I would immediately tell them, “serum.” I’d always been down with $8 cleansers and toners and moisturizers, but was a big (and misinformed) believer that “effective” and “expensive” were two adjectives that went hand-in-hand when it came to a serum. Well, I was wrong, and would like to take this opportunity to formally apologize to any of my friends who I led astray into dropping major dollars on serums (my bad, guys!). Because as the drugstore aisle’s skin-care offerings become better in general, so too has their selection of serums. While serums as a category tend to be pricier than the other elements in your regimen because they’re made with more highly concentrated ingredients, you no longer need to break out the Benjamins in order to find one that truly works. On Monday, a new line of under-$20 products called VERSED joined the clean beauty ranks at Target. As of today, you’ll find its brightening, clarifying, and firming serums among other skin-care superheroes from new brands like Sweet Chef (the affordable off-shoot of K-Beauty favorite Glow Recipe) and ApotheCARE Essentials, and ones we’ve loved forever like L’Oreal and Neutrogena. The key to shopping for serums—drugstore or otherwise—is to have a keen eye for both buzzwords and ingredients. So if something is bragging about being “brightening,” be sure to check for vitamin C; if it’s meant to be hydrating, look out

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2019 Health Fashion

*This* is the perfect balance of squats and lunges to work your lower half

3 min read

May 20, 2019 at 08:35AM by CWC You know that scene in Clueless where Tai laments that even after hours of workout tapes, her buns “don’t feel nothin’ like steel”? Well, that is the exact opposite of how you will feel when you take this at-home lower body workout for a test drive. In this week’s edition of the Well+Good Trainer of the Month Club, Master SoulCycle Instructor and EmBody creator Emily Turner has put together a weighted lower body workout that will actually have you excited for leg (and butt) day. Think: Squats, lunges, and leg lifts, which will be a nice respite from the planks we’ve been powering through over the past few weeks. Grab a set of weights and give it a try, but be prepared for at least a day or two of butt-and-leg soreness induced waddling. View this post on Instagram TRAINER OF THE MONTH CLUB Week 3 is here! 🎉💪⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ This week, trainer @emilyhopeturner is teaching us 6 moves focused on the lower body. Swipe through for a breakdown of each exercise, then head to the link in our bio for a full breakdown of each move!⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ WEEK 3⠀⠀ Move 1: Weighted lunge with bicep & hammer curls (R)⠀⠀ Move 2: Weighted single leg lift (R)⠀⠀ Move 3: Wide second with weighted upper back & shoulder presses ⠀⠀ Move 4: Weighted lunge with bicep & hammer curls (L)⠀⠀ Move 5: Weighted single leg lift (L)⠀⠀ Move 6: small V with bicep curls#iamwellandgood #trainerofthemonthclub A

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