Author: CityWomen

November 07, 2018 at 02:00PM I may be diligent with my 10-step skin-care routine, but when it comes to my hair, I’m supremely lazy. Read: You’ll never see me touch a blow dryer—I’m all about letting my hair dry in the wind on my commute into the office. As the temperatures drop and a chill enters the air, however, this isn’t such a good idea. In fact, you know how your parents always told you never to go outside in the cold with wet hair because you’d get sick? Well, you might not actually get sick—but it turns out that damp strands plus cold temps could lead to serious hair damage. “When it’s cold outside, it’s very important not to leave the house with wet hair as it has a greater risk of damage,” says Anwar Zahar, principal technician for Aveda’s research and development claims and testing division. There’s science behind it—basically, your strands are much more vulnerable when they’re wet. “Water molecules in the hair can expand—or even solidify if it’s below freezing—which causes the hair shaft to swell, making it prone to breakage,” Zahar explains. To ensure your hair’s kept strong and healthy, it’s best to go the extra mile and make sure you don’t leave the house until it’s completely dry. “Blow drying is the quickest option to alleviate this risk, but it’s also important to keep your hair protected from heat damage, since there’s a whole season of blow drying and heat styling ahead,” explains Zahar,

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November 07, 2018 at 01:40PM Fun fact about me: I had to delete my phone’s Twitter app six months ago. Why? Because the constant influx of news notifications on my feed (mostly political, and mostly bad) was making me incredibly anxious all the time. And this isn’t just me being “overly sensitive.” Nearly 40 percent of Americans reported being more anxious this year than last year in a poll conducted by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). And yet, very few respondents reported seeking help at all (only 28 percent said they had seen a mental health professional.) That’s the catch-22 with stress and anxiety—they’re so common (40 million people suffer from anxiety disorders, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America) and yet so few people are able to seek help. We’re passionate about this issue at W+G, and that’s where you come in. Take a few minutes to fill out the stress and anxiety survey below to help us understand what you’re struggling with. You’ll be helping us better serve you and your needs—and hopefully together we can change a bit how people approach anxiety. (Pro tip: If the survey isn’t loading on your phone, click here.) (function(t,e,s,n){var o,a,c;t.SMCX=t.SMCX||[],e.getElementById(n)||(o=e.getElementsByTagName(s),a=o[o.length-1],c=e.createElement(s),c.type=”text/javascript”,c.async=!0,c.id=n,c.src=[“https:”===location.protocol?”https://”:”http://”,”widget.surveymonkey.com/collect/website/js/tRaiETqnLgj758hTBazgd5y1FGsgX0umGucEcY9Tv77bk2lrdle5lrzWKI3u_2BfAR.js”].join(“”),a.parentNode.insertBefore(c,a))})(window,document,”script”,”smcx-sdk”); Create your own user feedback survey If you want to hear a bunch of awesome, smart people talk about combatting the stigmas around anxiety, join us for our next Well+Good TALK. And find out one of the best ways to calm yourself down the next time a panic attack strikes.

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November 07, 2018 at 01:16PM Spending eight-plus hours a day staring at a screen is basically a one-way ticket to bad posture (as well as the back pain that comes along with it). And yet, for most (read: all??) of us, the screen-time is pretty much non-negotiable. With this in mind, Gelcream, a photography and creative direction company based out of Los Angeles, used Instagram’s question sticker to ask their 100,000 followers to share their very best tricks for practicing A+ posture. The tips range from instructive to inspirational, and almost every single is totally free. So if you’re ready to perk up, try these 15 super-simple good posture tips and put a stop to your slouching. 1. “I used to keep a sticky note on my computer that said ‘posture!!’ Surprisingly effective.” 2. “Set a daily phone alarm during a time you find yourself [getting] sleepy and slouching the most.” 3. “Don’t look at your phone all the time. Adjust level of computer to eye.” 4. “Make sure you have good bras! That helped me a lot.” 5. “Hold your chest high. It automatically straightens your back and adjusts your shoulders.” 6. “Hang off a high bar (arms overhead, body dangling) for a few minutes every day.” 7. “In ballet, we were told to pretend like you have a beautiful necklace on and you’re showing it off!!” 8. “Set your lock screen as a picture of the words ‘good posture.’” 9.  “[I] wear high-waisted jeans, because they dig in

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November 07, 2018 at 11:48AM After emerging from a bout of food poisoning, the first thing most people want (apart from plain, old saltine crackers and a breath mint) is to find the perpetrator of the foodborne crime. And although consumers won’t necessarily be able to play the blame game quite yet, a recent Google development designed specifically to find the guilty party provides promising hope. The Foodborne Illness Detector in Real time (or FINDER, for short) was tested out in Chicago and Las Vegas, and results—published in the NPJ Digital Medicine—show it’s 3.1 times more likely to locate unsafe restaurants than other health inspection methods, Quartz reports. By analyzing a combination of users’ search history and location services, FINDER tracks down restaurants that may be serving food poisoning as the unwanted special of the day, and then sends health department officials to take a closer look. For example, if someone searched “diarrhea,” then FINDER would comb their location services data over the past day or so to see where they might have caught the illness. 52 percent of restaurants flagged by FINDER were actually deemed unsafe upon inspection—and only 25 percent of restaurants are found unsafe via routine inspections. While yes, the tool does impose a Big Brother–esque vibe, the results of the study reveal that the privacy sacrifice might be worth it (for the sake of never upchucking your sushi roll again). Why? Well, 52 percent of the restaurants flagged by FINDER were actually deemed unsafe upon inspection—and only 25 percent of restaurants are found

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November 07, 2018 at 11:27AM You already know dark chocolate is a pretty solid way to give your health a boost, but lately there’ve been a slew of headlines that claim adding zinc to the treat can help you live longer. Well, don’t chase your chocolate bar with a supplement and expect miraculous results just yet—it turns out that statement might be a bit overblown. Here’s the backstory: In a study published in the journal Nature Chemistry, researchers looked at how the mineral zinc interacts with a type of polyphenol called hydroquinone. (Polyphenols are plant compounds with antioxidant properties, and you’ll find them in foods like chocolate, coffee, and wine.) When teamed up, zinc and hydroquinone appear to degrade superoxide, a substance that has been linked to oxidative stress if there’s too much of it in the body. Oxidative stress, of course, causes cell damage and has been linked to health issues including faster aging, cancer, heart disease, and neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s. So basically, this study shows promise that zinc could help boost the power of existing antioxidant compounds. “The study doesn’t make use of any of the polyphenols found in coffee or chocolate, so recommending that people add zinc to these would be a bit premature. From the work done so far, I could not guarantee that any benefit would result.” —Christian Goldsmith, PhD Here’s the deal, though: it’s WAY too premature to assume based on this study that eating chocolate and zinc will make you live longer. First of all, nothing has been tested

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November 07, 2018 at 11:26AM Move over, salsa and carrot sticks. Lately, it seems like everyone is making room in their refrigerators for their skin care—and, in some cases, even getting mini fridges that are solely dedicated to their go-to products. Sure, slathering on something fresh out of the fridge might feel a little more luxe than something at room temperature, but is there any real benefit to the craze? (Spoiler: the answer is yes. A lot of ’em) Now, first thing’s first: The whole skin care-in-the-fridge thing isn’t anything new. According to Lana Pinchasov, a dermatology-certified physician’s assistant in New York City, this is an old tactic that’s now making a comeback. “Years ago, there were some acne products that required refrigeration to prevent chemical breakdown, and interestingly enough, patients hated having to refrigerate them,” she tells me. Oh how times have changed. Today’s #shelfies are starting to involve the shelf of the refrigerator…and no one’s complaining about the many perks of the colder products. While room-temp skin-care products are still doing your complexion plenty of good, there are some items in particular that benefit from being refrigerated. And one of the biggest? Any sort of gel. “I love gel products to help cool, irritated skin. The skin doesn’t always need creams, so gel masks are a great way to maximize hydration without adding a thick layer on top of the skin,” New York City-based dermatologist Dendy Engelman, MD, tells me. “Throwing them in the fridge adds an extra cooling and

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