December 27, 2019 at 10:16PM by CWC For some, it’s the exercise dress that made them converts. For others, the MegaFleece. And for the JOMO crowd, it’s softer-than-a-dream CloudKnit from head-to-toe that had them hooked. Piece after piece of instantly-sold-out releases prove that Tyler Haney’s cool-to-be-active brand Outdoor Voices has become a cult-fave factory. And while OV has been hard at work to become the sweat-positive brand of the past decade, these days, Haney (who is one of Well+Good’s 2020 Changemakers) is on a much more ambitious mission: She wants to change the way America moves. Five years ago, Haney founded OV to simplify the fitness uniform. The OG two-toned kits, which included a crop top and leggings, created a visual identity without needing to slap logos on clothing left, right, and center. Today, as legging imports soar well above those for blue jeans, it’s easy to forget that at the beginning of the decade, Haney’s tweaks to seaming (her brand’s leggings are sewn together with a signature diagonal paneling that helps them move with the body better), design (for all intents and purposes, she made the color-block cool), and cut (the high-rise legging paired with a crop top gave new ath-life to a silhouette that’s been beloved since the ’90s) created a new genre of activewear that wasn’t focused on sweat-wicking or compression, it aimed to “free fitness from the pressure of performance,” to borrow a phrase from Haney. “Our belief is that the future of athletics isn’t any
Day: December 27, 2019
Derms say “moisturizer layering” is the fastest way to hydrate skin that’s dry all the time
December 27, 2019 at 09:32PM by CWC Using a moisturizer is the most important step in any dry skin routine. It delivers hydration, seals important natural oils into the skin, and strengthens the barrier so that it can better defend itself from the (harsh! cold!) environment. But every once in a while, particularly when the weather gets extra cold and dry, your regular cream just won’t cut it on its own. In those cases, says board-certified dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD, you’re going to want to double down. “Just like you think about layering your clothes, you’re going to want to think about layering your moisturizer,” she says. To start, you’re going to want to look for products that have wide-ranging ingredients, like squalane, glycerin, hyaluronic acid, and ceramides that can benefit skin in different, yet complementary ways. If you’re finding skin to be particularly dry, make certain that whatever moisturizer you’re reaching for is a heavy cream versus a lighter lotion. To enhance the moisture in your skin even more, derms suggest “moisturizer layering” aka using a moisturizing ingredient in every skin-care step you complete. Start with a serum, then slather on a moisturizer, and finish with a facial oil as the final step in your routine. Topping everything off with an occlusive oil helps to seal all of that hydration in, and prevents any H2O from evaporating back into the environment. While in most cases, using too many products on your skin may not be the best idea, in the
4 posture-bettering shoulder exercises that are no match for a desk job
December 27, 2019 at 08:49PM by CWC Moms love to remind us to “put our shoulders back” in order to have good posture. Well, hate to break it to ya, mom, but according to a chiropractor, rounded, hunched shoulders often don’t just need to be pulled back, they actually need to be strengthened. Because of this, doing dynamic shoulder exercises can completely alter (and better!) your posture. “Dynamic shoulder exercises train proper movement patterns of the shoulder blade, and will help draw the shoulder blades down and wide,” says Emily Kiberd, DC, chiropractor and co-founder of Urban Wellness Clinic in New York City. These exercises, she says, help to stabilize the shoulder, which is key to maintaining proper posture. “General shoulder stability is essential for moving in the world. If a shoulder loses its range of motion or becomes stuck, then how we move through the world or carry things becomes limited.” Having strong, stable shoulder muscles is also tied to core strength, surprisingly enough. “Some of the shoulder stabilizing muscles like the serratus anterior crossover are intertwined with our core muscles, so a stable shoulder goes hand in hand with a strong core,” says Dr. Kiberd. The same goes for your grip strength. “There’s a direct correlation of grip strength to how well you stabilize your shoulders and vice versa, which helps with good posture,” she says. “If a shoulder loses its range of motion or becomes stuck, then how we move through the world or carry things becomes
5 gimmick-free online courses you can take from Harvard Health, financial experts, sleep doctors, and more
December 27, 2019 at 07:24PM by CWC With the decade coming to a close, we’re collectively moving into “get it done” mode. While the pressure to keep a New Year’s resolution can feel overwhelming, there’s something to be said about the promise of a fresh start. January is the adult version of back-to-school, a time to think about who you want to be in the coming year, and what will help you get there. To that end, whatever your wellness goal for 2020 is, chances are that a few online courses might help you get there. On January 1, Well+Good launches its own program: (Re)New Year—a 28-day challenge that includes tips for healthy eating, working out, mental wellbeing, and financial wellness. And we’re certainly not the only one offering tips to help you reach your wellness goals. The best online courses for the new year, taught by experts in their field 1. for eating healthier Harvard Health is offering a six-week online course focused solely on healthy eating—with no gimmicks that will have feeling defeated come February. Class-takers will learn seven practical, science-backed steps for phasing out unhealthy foods and replacing them with nourishing ones that are as delicious as they are good for you. You’ll also learn plenty of recipes along the way so you can try your newly learned tips first-hand. 2. for helping others Maybe you feel you’re already in a pretty good place wellness-wise and you want to help others take control of their health. If
2020 is just the beginning of ‘The Great Transformation’—here’s what that means for your sign
December 27, 2019 at 06:30PM by CWC As we turn the corner on a new decade, the cosmos are changing just as quickly as we are. The year 2020 kicks off a decade of an astrological cycle known as the Jupiter Saturn Pluto Transformation, or the Great Transformation, and intuitive astrologer and healer Rachel Lang says it could signal a tectonic shift in political, financial, and personal realms. According to Lang, the upcoming years will be extra special for you because of three “synodic cycles”—a time when two planets are in conjunction with one another. “When the outer planets aspect one another, they represent bigger shifts in our consciousness because the outer planets move more slowly and their aspect relationships last longer than the inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars,” says Lang. “The outer planet relationships symbolize changes we see manifest in our personal lives and in the world.” Throughout the course of this year, Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn will canoodle and flirt in various ways. Below, Lang breaks them down so you can mark your calendar accordingly. How the Jupiter Saturn Pluto Transformation (the Great Transformation) will affect your 2020 January 12: Saturn-pluto conjunction This particularly transit only happens every 34 years—and Lang says it’s going to be BIG. “Saturn’s the planet of authority, structure, and responsibility. Pluto transforms anything it comes into contact with. The two of these together represent structural changes in our lives and in the world,” says Lang. Both planets will be in the sign of
I spent $400 on an espresso machine to kick my daily latte-buying habit—and my god was it worth it
December 27, 2019 at 06:00PM by CWC At heart, I’m a deeply practical person. (Hello, Virgo!) As in, the kind of person who only invests in nice shoes if I’m certain I can wear them with multiple outfits and who likes to think through tons of possible outcomes before actually making a decision. Certainly not a person who would purchase an extremely expensive espresso maker and milk steamer. But the me of three months ago could have never fathomed how much better my life is (really!) with said espresso machine, the Breville Bambino Plus ($400), in it. My coffee woes started at the end of the summer, during the transition from cold brew season back into hot coffee season. (This can’t just be a food editor thing, right?) I took out my trusty coffee machine that I’d had since I first moved to New York from its resting place in the pantry. But when I plugged it in, nothing happened. It was officially kaput. I need coffee, but I didn’t feel like investing in a new machine less than a year before getting married, when I could just put a new, nicer coffee maker on my registry and have someone else get it for me. (See? Practical. Or…cheap. Your choice.) Instead, I started buying my daily coffee. That is far from practical given that I live in New York, a city where nothing comes cheap. Just a drip coffee with milk can cost $3; a latte is more like $5
Today is the best day of the year to stock up on shampoo—don’t miss out
December 27, 2019 at 05:30PM by CWC If you think all the best beauty deals arrived before the holidays, you’re wrong. When it comes to stocking up on your favorite shampoo, post-holiday is where it’s at. With Christmas shopping behind us, consumers rushes off to buy roll upon roll of discounted wrapping paper and holiday decor. But if you’re not also hitting up the salons at stores like Walmart and JCPenny, you’re seriously missing out on an epic shampoo sale. They sell their holiday kits—which include brand name shampoos—for up to half off, meaning you can get a solid supply for the entire year for a fraction of the cost. I mean, even Ulta is having a mega-shampoo sale. It’s a thing. To take advantage of the once-a-year shampoo sale before it’s too late, get your hands on some of these options. Take advantage of the post-holiday shampoo sale with these options 1. Joico K-PAK Color Therapy Shampoo, $16 (originally $34) If you color your hair, this shampoo will keep it healthy, shiny, and strong. 2. Matrix Biolage Volume Bloom Shampoo, $13 (originally $28) Fine, difficult-to-style hair will thrive with this shampoo that ups the volume and adds the perfect amount of shine. 3. KeraCare Natural Textures Cleansing Cream Shampoo, $9 (originally $14) Great for natural hair textures, this shampoo moisturizes, adds shine, and softens. It also helps detangle the hair and soothes the scalp. 4. Pureology Hydrate Shampoo, $58 (originally $68) If you want a sulfate-free shampoo that cleanses
The best thing I tried all year for recovery were these wacky compression sleeves
December 27, 2019 at 05:00PM by CWC I’ve done some wild things to save time, including but not limited to: eating soup on the subway, wearing my entire outfit for the next day to bed, and not washing my legs in the shower. So when I was introduced to the Normatec Pulse 2.0 Leg Recovery System, a fitness-gadget said to speed up recovery and help you get back on your feet after a tough workout, I was intrigued. If you’ve never heard of or seen Normatec, envision giant black floaties that zip up and sheath your legs from toe to crotch. Each of these components gets attached to a hose that attaches to a control system. The sleeves inflate and deflate at a tempo that’s designed to “mobilize fluids in the body to help you heal and recover faster after exercise,” says Gilad Jacobs, the CEO of NormaTec. “The device uses air compression technology to get the bad stuff out, and get the good stuff in.” To understand how this happens, I consulted top mobility pros to suss out how it works and if it’s really as good as its reputation. How Normatec works, exactly To understand the principles behind Normatec, you first have to understand what happens to muscles at the gym while you’re there and once you leave. “When you work out you’re actually creating little, tiny tears in your muscles,” explains physical therapist Grayson Wickham, DPT, founder of Movement Vault, a digital movement education platform. After you
5 sex subscription boxes that deliver orgasms (and intimacy) to your front door
December 27, 2019 at 04:30PM by CWC When things start to get a little stale in the bedroom, you have options. You can buy a new toy, play a sexy game, or even enlist common household objects to mix things up. But sex subscription boxes are so great because they do the hard part for you, delivering the sexual creativity you didn’t know you were lacking right to your front door. Candice Smith, sex educator and founder of Tango (previously the Kink Kit) says that her desire to design a sex-based subscription arose from her own lack of sex education. “I grew up without sex education and didn’t have any healthy intimacy modeled for me in my family,” says Smith. “Even though I went to Harvard for sexuality studies, it didn’t translate to success in relationships. I didn’t know how to talk about sex, pleasure, or what I wanted, and ended up struggling for years in a sexless relationship.” Intimacy research has found that couples who learn to talk about sex have better sex. “But the problem is that we aren’t taught how to keep intimacy healthy and passionate,” says Smith. “So I decided to create Tango to help start the intimate conversation and spark a playful passion for couples.” Other companies have done the same. 5 sex subscription boxes that keep things hot and steamy Photo: Tango 1. Tango’s KITS FOR CONNECTION and KITS FOR SEXPLORATION, $75 per quarter Tango offers two types of boxes: “connection” and “sexploration.” True
Why objectively bad reviews and negativity often pique our curiosity even more
December 27, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC To paraphrase a colleague, Cats reviews are becoming my favorite genre of journalism right now. The other night I stayed up until 2 am reading about how this monstrosity of a film—like watching the least appealing Snapchat face filters on a very bad acid trip—should not exist, let alone seen by human eyes. And naturally…I kind of want to see it. Not pay for it, but see it. This is because nothing gets our curiosity piqued high quite like a bad review. And the stronger the negativity that’s communicated from the outset, the likelier it is that people will subject themselves to enduring the torture. Take, for example, a case from a few months ago, when famed Brooklyn institution Peter Luger Steak House got decimated in a zero-star New York Times review. The effect? Not a shuttered business but rather even more five-stars reviews on the restaurant’s Yelp page that same week. Likewise, despite Well+Good’s recent communal loathing of SweetGreen 3.0, nearly the entire editorial staff still insisted on visiting the store to see what the deal with it is. And, psychologically speaking, it totally makes sense why. “When something notable happens, everyone wants a piece of it,” says psychotherapist Jennifer Silvershein, LCSW, adding that here, “notable” can certainly include “unsavory.” “Historically, when there’s a bad car accident on the side of the road, or a car is pulled over, it instantly begins [a stream of] traffic because people are slowing down to see