Year: 2019

July 29, 2019 at 12:53PM by CWC K-beauty has taught us a lot about skin care. Many of us owe our glow to sheet masks, multi-step routines, and “essences” that help other products sink into skin more deeply. In addition to giving us all the tools we need for a glowing complexion on repeat, we also have K-beauty to thank for the hero ingredient responsible for soothing redness and irritation… and that includes sunburns. Enter: cica. While K-Beauty may have been among the first to put the stuff into skin care, it was actually tigers (yup—the cute stripey cats) who first discovered the stuff. Centella asiatica—nicknamed “cica” because it’s a lot easier to say—is commonly known as “tiger grass,” because thousands of years ago people in China noticed tigers rolling around in the stuff to heal their wounds. And it turns out, they were onto something. Studies have shown that the stuff effective in mending small wounds, burns, and psoriasis, and it can also be used in the treatment of photoaging skin. If you’ve ever used tiger balm (…just typing that fills my nose with that nostalgic scent), you’ve already been introduced to the soothing prowess of cica. ad_intervals[‘410955_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘410955_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’);}); } }, 100); With all of that in mind, it’s no wonder that it’s found its way into our beauty cabinets of late. “The primary active constituents of centella asiatica are saponins, and saponins extracts have been used in wound healing,” explains Nava Greenfield,

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July 29, 2019 at 12:47PM by CWC It has come to my attention that something called the “Figure 8 Workout” is secretly all the rage in at-home fitness. If you’re not well-versed in it, it’s a cardio-dance-core hybrid exercise that’s kind of like dance cardio or Zumba, but also moonlights as standing ab exercises back to back (to back to back). Created by an actual Latin ballroom dancing professional, Laana Kunitz launched the Figure 8 workout years ago, and it’s still popular today (based on Google Trends). She dubs it a “treadmill for your abs.” How, you ask? It incorporates three-dimensional core exercises—working forward, backwards, rotational, and side-to-side—that target all of your core muscles, from your transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, internal oblique, external oblique, and your back… all while feeling fun and like you’re just dancing it out to some 2001 Britney Spears c. In her instructional video (which you can find on YouTube), Kunitz walks you through the basic moves that incorporate the “Figure 8” itself: working your hips side to side like a pendulum, going in a circle with your spine, then jutting your hips to invisible corners while rotating your core. “Use your obliques to pump your hip corner and take it back,” she demonstrates. It kind of, sort of feels like you’re belly dancing, but there’s a method behind it that makes it even more of a core workout. And once you nail the hip/ab/spine rotation moves, Kunitz adds in some foot work to pump up

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July 29, 2019 at 12:38PM by CWC A hairstylist once told me that sweat is one of nature’s very own styling products, and the sentiment has always stuck. Because when you think about it, it makes sense: Sweat’s basically just salt and water, which is what most of my favorite hair products are made out of, anyway. So over the last few months, I’ve taken to throwing my hair into a French braid before I workout, letting it get extra sweaty over the course of 50-minutes on a Megaformer, and then pulling it out to reveal the flawless beach waves that a curling iron simply could never. But even though I’ve gotten the professional stamp of approval for not washing my hair after the gym, now that it’s approximately a million degrees in New York City and my scalp gets sweaty the minute I step outside, I’ve gotta wonder: Are sweaty hair and dirty hair the same thing? And, uh, should I be washing my hair a whole lot more often in the summer? ad_intervals[‘411529_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘411529_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’);}); } }, 100); “No,” says celebrity hairstylist Paul Labrecque, owner of Paul Labrecque Salon and Spa, definitively calming my panic. “Sweat is mainly water and dirt is mainly oil. Grease comes from your sebaceous glands, and sweat comes out of your pores. When mixed together they can be messy, but sweat on its own isn’t an issue with the exception of maybe causing a little frizz.” Think

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July 29, 2019 at 12:23PM by CWC “I don’t know about you, but my air fryer was crusty,” reads an all-too-relatable Reddit thread. I, too, own (and love) an air fryer. I, too, have experienced that very real struggle of trying to coax Brussels sprout bits out of all its nooks and crannies. I too have taken to the internet to ensure my most treasured kitchen appliance gets the hygiene it needs and deserves. And, courtesy of the good users of Reddit, I’ve found a trick for how to clean an air fryer that’s so good, even stubborn cauliflower gnocchi remnants don’t stand a chance. This tale of air fryer triumph is akin to the moment King Arthur pulled his mighty sword from the stone. “So, today, after cooking fried chicken, I put some apple cider vinegar in the basket (the main one, not the insert) right after making the chicken. Scrubbed it with a dish brush and it’s as clean as it’s been since the first time I’ve used. Smells good, too,” writes a Redditor. Honestly, it’s no great shock that ACV turned out to be the solve(nt) for this issue. The vinegar’s uses are unending and varied: from hair care, to breakfast hacks, to keeping your reflection happy. ad_intervals[‘409716_div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘409716_div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’);}); } }, 100); Of course, there are air fryers on the market that are dishwasher safe. So definitely read the fine print on yours to see if you can save

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July 29, 2019 at 10:41AM by CWC Have you ever changed the filter in your air conditioner or, like, cleaned it? I haven’t (gulp), and apparently that is bad news bears for my health—especially as temperatures rise and I’m forced to keep my (dirty?) unit running 24/7 in order to, you know, survive. But really, what’s the worst that can happen if I don’t maintain my machine, which seems to be running just fine despite such gross neglect? When I looked into this myself, all I found were terrifying articles about something called “air-conditioner lung.” It’s a very rare and serious immune reaction to small airborne particles, but according to Raj Dasgupta, MD, a pulmonologist at USC’s Keck School of Medicine, it’s not the only problem caused by a dirty air conditioner. When you fail to maintain your air conditioner, it collects high concentrations of dust, pollen, and mold. At best, this could exacerbate allergies and asthma. At worst, it can cause infections. ad_intervals[‘410669_div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘410669_div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-7435403-3’);}); } }, 100); Dr. Dasgupta places these infections into three categories: “Number one is viruses, number two is bacteria, and number three is fungi or mold,” he explains. There’s a particular bacteria (legionella) that can cause a type of pneumonia known as Legionnaire’s disease which can easily land you in the ICU, he says. Certain populations, including those with existing respiratory disease or who have weakened immune systems, need to be especially wary of an unclean machine.

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