Day: September 29, 2019

September 29, 2019 at 11:00PM by CWC In the aftermath of the recent new moon in Libra, now’s the time to take an in-depth look at your relationships and initiate new habits or commitments. That’s because this Libra moon, specifically, offers fertile soil to sow new seeds of growth through the beginning of the week. One reason for this is atmospheric setting is the balance of life Libra season offers. It’s a time of the year when day and night briefly come into equal length with one another, inviting equanimity in our lives. As astrologer Rebecca Gordon teaches, the daytime energy correlates with our sense of productivity, responsibility, and action, while the nighttime correlates with our inner world of emotions, subconscious needs, and dreams. With the duration of both day and night in equal proportions this week, take time to find the balance between your outer world and your inner needs. Basically, be mindful of your overarching goals, priorities and relationships, but also, you do you because you need to nourish yourself. Consider this: Is your ego and drive to succeed dominating your life? Is there space for the softer, more gentle voice of your subconscious and your emotions in your life? Take a moment to tune in and decipher whether one force is more prevalent than the other, and if this is the case, consider what you need to do to adjust. With the duration of both day and night in equal proportions this week, take time to find

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September 29, 2019 at 09:00PM by CWC When my two daughters were young, and slowly and diligently working on their penmanship, I delighted in their keen interest in my own handwriting. “Mommy, you are a good writer,” my youngest, then 5, announced one day, nodding over a grocery list I’d left on the countertop. It was some years before she would distinguish writing from writing, but in the meantime, I took pains whenever drafting a family calendar to stick on the fridge, or a lunchbox note or birthday card, carefully configuring the cursive loops and whorls as I’d learned to do so long ago. It wasn’t calligraphy—I was never known for an elegant hand—but the script I used was appealingly deliberate, smooth, and simple. This year, however, with my eldest in middle school, more often than not our family conversation involves emojis, and I’ve found myself missing the act of taking that slow, rhythmic approach to communication. One evening, a friend, a professional modern dancer in New York, helped me breathe new life into my interest in writing by hand. “The best movement exercise I ever did in a dance class was one where we were asked to write our own names in cursive with our bodies,” she said. “I had a teacher who asked us to do that every year and it was profound.” There was structure to this exercise, a prompt: Write your name with your body. But there was also freedom to explore. I liked the idea

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September 29, 2019 at 07:00PM by CWC I may not wear foundation or eyeshadow or lipstick every day, but I always swipe on a blush as a way to look put together in a flash (and mascara, but, duh). I strongly feel that a pop of color on the apples of your cheeks is the easiest, quickest way to fake that you’re wearing a whole makeup ~lewk~ without actually having to put much effort in. And I’m not kidding about the effort thing. Lately, I’ve fallen in love with a handful of blushes that take a total of two seconds to apply, blend, and look incredible. They’re now staples in my makeup bag, and applying blush is newly my favorite step out of my entire beauty regimen, skin care included (no joke). Rocking a hint of pink or coral on my cheekbones makes me feel like Disney princess who just found out her prince has a crush on her (in the best possible way), and this cute look lasts all day long. “I love blush because it adds an instant aliveness to the skin,” says Jeannie Vincent, a Boston-based makeup artist. “And if you’re good about your sunscreen, blush can help you fake a sun-kissed glow. A true instant pick-me-up.” Her hot tip? Stick with cream formulas since they’re so easy to apply. They’re basically “goof-proof,” she says. Now let me share with you the best-of-the-best blushes to add to your bag, stat. Photo: Lancome Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Blush

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September 29, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC When I think of inflammation, images of swelled skin and rosy cystic acne-dotted cheeks come to mind. But our bodies are capable of producing signs of inflammation that many of us overlook. And given that inflammation is a protective response against cell injury, infection, trauma, stress and allergen exposure, according Cynthia Li, MD, board-certified internist and author of Brave New Medicine: A Doctor’s Unconventional Path to Healing Her Autoimmune Illness, keeping inflammation levels to a minimum is a great way to optimize your chances of living a long and healthy life. A new study from JAMA Pediatrics proves how important it is to think about inflammation in broader terms than, say, that recent infected paper cut. In the study, researchers from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center tracked 106,000 healthy adolescents free of any preexisting conditions, and noted that participants who had the highest levels of inflammation early in life were at a greater risk of contracting heart disease and cancer three decades later, and dying prematurely. Researchers measured their levels of inflammation by determining their erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)—the speed at which red blood cells settle at the bottom of the test tube. (The idea is that the quicker the cells fall, the more likely they are to be filled with dense proteins that indicate some form of inflammation). But there are far easier ways to identify inflammation that don’t necessarily require you put yourself on your family physician’s three-month waiting list.

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