March 07, 2019 at 09:46AM by CWC I simply can’t resist a good candle. Every time I end up at Home Goods, I make a beeline to sniff out something add to my collection. But candle quality varies at every price point, so no matter where you’re buying, there’s a trick you should know to make sure you’re selecting a something top notch. Many candles are made from a blend of soy and paraffin wax, a petroleum byproduct. While burning something that’s mostly soy is A-okay, candles loaded with paraffin tend to emit toxic fumes, which can be damaging to your health. To make sure you’re not bringing something harmful into your space, do the touch test. “Some candles that state they’re soy blends contain considerable amounts of paraffin. An easy way to tell is by touching and inspecting the wax,” says Jon Bresler, founder and CEO of LAFCO, a fragrance and personal care products company based in New York. “With some limited exceptions for some hard paraffin waxes, generally paraffin candles are soft and have an oily, translucent feel. Soy wax, on the other hand, is hard and opaque. So as a general rule, the more soy in a soy blend candle, the harder the wax will feel.” To test out a candle for yourself, Bresler recommends tapping your finger on the surface of the candle. “If your finger sinks into the wax, that means the candle most likely doesn’t have a large amount of soy wax and conversely has a considerable
Year: 2019
Can You Actually Build Muscle While You Sleep? Science Says So
March 07, 2019 at 09:27AM A recent review sheds light on whether you can truly make gains while you snooze. Continue Reading… Author Elizabeth Gerson | Life by Daily Burn Selected by iversue
8 foods that make your pee smell other than asparagus
March 07, 2019 at 09:07AM by CWC Your daily diet makes a big difference in the way you feel, but it also plays a part when it comes to your body odor. In fact, the phrase “you are what you eat” is especially accurate when it comes to your pee. Without a doubt, certain foods impact the pungency of your urine more than others. (Hello, asparagus.) Some foods that make your pee smell are totally healthy. The odor has to do with how the body breaks it down. According to a 2010 study, the reason asparagus makes your pee smell is that it acts as a natural diuretic due to the high levels of asparagine, getting rid of any extra salt and fluids in the body and warding off urinary tract infections in the process. The subsequent odor is the only issue when you load up on the green stuff, according to the Mayo Clinic. But hey—it’s totally worth it. We’ve all take a trip to the loo only to be reminded that we ate asparagus earlier in the day, but there are some surprising foods that make your pee smell. 8 other foods that make your pee smell 1. Brussels sprouts If you’ve been snacking on Brussels sprouts wings lately, your pee is about to show it. When your body breaks down the veggie during digestion, it produces methyl mercaptan, a gas that’s well-known for making your urine smell less-than-stellar. 2. Onions Onions make you cry, and they also make
OK, TMI…Why do people fart so much more in their sleep?
March 07, 2019 at 09:00AM by CWC When I think of sleep farts (which is, to be clear, not so often) one story comes to mind from my friend Shiloh*, a chronic offender. She learned of her…skill years ago while talking with her college boyfriend about something toilet-humor related, when suddenly, the dude got real weird. “He was like, ‘actually you may be embarrassed by this,’ and then he proceeded to tell me how in a deep, post-sex slumber, I farted directly into his lap,” Shiloh recounts to me. “He described it as ‘Nagasaki in my lap.’” But, you know what, Shiloh’s college boyfriend? Just like everybody poops, everybody also farts—and it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. So for you, sir, wherever you are, I sought to answer why it is we seem to really let it go (let it go, can’t hold it back anymore!), flatulence-wise once we’re sleeping. And apparently, a big, stinky social construct is largely to blame. “When we are in public, we have to behave a certain way,” gastroenterologist Samantha Nazareth, MD, tells me. “Passing gas is not acceptable, and therefore we hold in the gas consciously. But, passing gas is part of digestion.” If you won’t let your body do it’s thing IRL, when you’re relaxed and asleep, your muscles give out, and your brain DGAF. And though we can clench and hope for the best in the daytime (which is not a healthy idea for your bod), the battle against the maple pecan Brussel sprouts you ate during
How to avoid a food fight when you and your S.O. have totally different eating habits
March 07, 2019 at 06:54AM by CWC Understatement of the year: Dating is tough. Are you a Capricorn and they’re an Aries? Do you actually like their friends? Does their sense of humor mesh with your own? It’s already challenging enough to merge two lives… and adding completely opposite eating habits into the mix might be a recipe for disaster. Or is it? “Dating these days is so much harder because things like going out for too many drinks or going to fast-casual, not-so-healthy places, especially at the beginning of a relationship, are the norm,” says Carolyn Brown, MS, RD, at Foodtrainers. “And people are trying out many different diets these days, from paleo to vegan—there’s an awareness that they didn’t have before. It’s part of the new dating landscape.” “People attach a lot of emotion and a lot of their identity to food,” adds Abby Langer, RD. “So if someone does decide to label themselves as paleo or vegan or whatever it may be, it really becomes a part of that person’s identity.” And thus an important part of your relationship together, too. While it might seem like your relationship is doomed to fail because you guys just can’t agree on where to go for dinner, the experts insist that there’s totally a way to date and be happy together, even if you don’t follow the same diet. Experts want you to remember a few things when you’re experiencing the dietary version of Romeo and Juliet. 1. Make some compromises
This artist will pay you $2,320 a month to do absolutely nothing (seriously)
March 07, 2019 at 08:20AM by CWC There are easy jobs and then there are easy jobs. But here’s something you’ll rarely—if ever—read in a job description: “Whatever the employee chooses to do constitutes the work.” No joke, the “eternal employment” position offered by Swedish artists Simon Goldin and Jakob Senneby requires little more than doing whatever you want. In 2026, the artists will begin accepting applications for a lifetime tenure in Korsvägen, Sweden, reports Atlas Obscura. The chosen employee will do, well, whatever they please for the equivalent of $2,320 a month, so long as they clock in each day to the art installation at the local train station. Why would anyone do this? Art, of course! “In the face of mass automation and artificial intelligence, the impending threat/promise is that we will all become productively superfluous,” write the artists in the job description. “Eternal Employment not only offers a different understanding of work and the worker, but questions the very notions of growth, productivity and progress which are at the core of modernity.” A sum of $650,000 has been set aside to pay the employee, courtesy of the Public Art Agency Sweden and the Swedish Transport Administration. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the job is that the employee is guaranteed a salary in perpetuity, with annual pay increases of 2.3 percent, according to The Washington Post. The eternal train station apprentice is expected show up regularly to a special booth and spend the workday reading, staring into space, meditating, studying rocket science, practicing yoga—literally anything
My manicures might seem like trivial, but they’re my form of meditation
March 07, 2019 at 07:56AM by CWC Although self-care is a part of everyday life and pop culture, there seems to be a noted difference between the way an infrared sauna is viewed compared to, say, a manicure. No one bats an eye when I tell them I spent the weekend doing face masks, but I can’t tell you the number of questions I’ve gotten about how much my intricate nail art costs and how long it takes. People may shrug it off as a superficial act, but in all honestly, having my nails done soothes my anxiety, and the two to three hour service (yes, really) is the closest I’ve ever gotten to meditating. My manicure habit started in high school. It was a difficult period for me to navigate, and in retrospect, was when my anxiety disorder first reared its ugly head. When I was especially anxious, I would compulsively pick at and bite my nails. My cuticle beds were raw and my fingernails were jagged and thin. I began trying to figure out how to deal with the situation, using those ointments and balms for nail biters and a handful of other techniques (none of which worked for me). Finally, my mom suggested that instead of using what were, in essence, punishment tactics, to be kind to myself and get a manicure. The idea was to practice self-care, even if that’s not what I was calling it at the time. I went for the manicure and sat there for
Spring’s freshest makeup trend is honestly so easy to wear
March 07, 2019 at 07:19AM by CWC Hold up, is that sunshine? Yes, spring is just around the corner (the groundhog said so) and the time to rethink your beauty routine for the warmer weather is now. Replace those muted tones of autumn and winter with something bright and cheery because if there’s one takeaway from Paris Fashion Week, it’s that pastel makeup looks are fully on trend in 2019. While the fantastical color combinations featured on the models walking the catwalk might be a little much for the sidewalk, a toned down pastel palette is effortlessly fresh. Pastel makeup dominates on the runway, but here’s how to wear it yourself. 9 pastel makeup looks for spring View this post on Instagram A post shared by Celia Burton (@celiaburtonmakeup) on Jan 30, 2019 at 3:19am PST //www.instagram.com/embed.js 1. Touch of purple Sometimes all you need is an eye-catching purple shadow to make a big difference in your look. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rachel Rebibo (@rachelrebibo) on Mar 5, 2019 at 10:13am PST //www.instagram.com/embed.js 2. Unicorn vibes This look perfectly mixes pinks and blues for daytime glamour. View this post on Instagram A post shared by davidkoppelaar (@davidkoppelaar) on Feb 20, 2019 at 12:06am PST //www.instagram.com/embed.js 3. Under-eye pop A quick way to master the pastel trend is adding a swipe of color to your lower lash line. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Taryn Rae-Lee (@tarynraeleephotography) on Mar 6, 2019
Work an office job? Memorize these yoga poses to balance yourself out
March 07, 2019 at 07:02AM by CWC Here’s a scary truth: Whether hunched over a laptop, trying to achieve inbox zero or double-tapping your Instagram feed at lightning speed, the average American adult spends *11 hours a day* staring at some sort of a screen. That’s almost double the amount of time they spend sleeping, and far, far more than on any other single activity in a given day. In addition to messing with our mental health, bedtime routines, and even our vision, all of those screen-front hours can have some seriously detrimental effects on our bodies. “When we spend a long time on the phone or computer, we tend to drop our neck, hunch our shoulders forward, and sink into our lower spine. Maintaining these bad postural habits throughout the day can cause prolonged neck pain, lower back pain, tight hips, shoulder pain and more,” says yoga instructor Claire Grieve. “Using technology constantly can also wreak havoc on our breathing patterns and mood, so it’s important to take breaks throughout the day to counterbalance all of this.” If you’ve been walking around for the better part of the past two years with some sort of crick in your shoulders or tweak in your lower back, your tech habits may be to blame. And while cute phrases like “text neck” have become part of the vernacular as a way to describe this phenomenon, there’s really nothing cute about it—especially if you, like me, are currently spending hundreds of dollars a month on
The Personality Type That Struggles With Finding Healthy Relationships (And What To Do About It)
March 07, 2019 at 06:08AM This explains a lot… Continue Reading… Author Andi Forness | Life by Daily Burn Selected by iversue