January 09, 2019 at 11:47AM by CWC One of the many myths about good skin care—thanks in large part to celebs touting hundreds of dollars worth of treatments and serums— is that more dollar signs equal better quality, and therefore glowier skin. And while there certainly are pricey beauty products out there worth their weight in active ingredients or formula integrity (higher cost can sometimes equate to higher potency), there’s one item in your routine that dermatologists agree isn’t worth shelling out for: Your facial cleanser. When you think about it, it actually makes sense. Out of all of your skin-care essentials, your face wash is the one that stays on your skin for the least amount of time. It’s on your face for, like, 30 seconds tops before it’s washed off and vanishes—essentially sending your money literally down the drain. Really, all that matters when it comes to selecting a cleanser is that you’re using something that does its job and won’t strip your skin. “A good cleanser will remove dirt, oil, makeup, and pollution without compromising the integrity of the skin barrier,” says Joshua Zeichner, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York. “True soaps have an alkaline pH that disrupts the naturally acidic pH of the skin, and harsh soaps and scrubs may strip the skin of essential oils, which leads to inflammation.” So that means it’s key to avoid ingredients like sulfates, which can dry out the skin and possibly irritate your complexion. Instead, select a gentle cleansing agent like coco
Category: 2019 Health
5 easy ways to hack your beauty routine to make it super relaxing
January 09, 2019 at 11:35AM by CWC As an introvert whose anxiety switch is always flipped on, I’m forever on the lookout for easy ways to unwind. In the morning, I rely on 10-minute meditations followed by quiet time with coffee (sans phone) before my day starts. At night, I take a soothing bath to bring on head-to-toe calm before bed. It’s an ideal setup—sure—that is, until my week fills up with early gym dates and after-work obligations. Now that I’m sitting at a desk 40-hours a week and taking coding classes in the evening (read: busier than ever), my chilled-out rituals have left the building. Thank u, next. As a result I’m dreaming about deadlines, waking up with clenched teeth, and furrowing my eyebrows at the computer for no reason at all. So, what’s a girl who’s pressed for time but in major need of some chilled-out moments to do? Flip everyday must-dos into moments of calm. That starts with my beauty routine, which has become a key element of how I approach de-stressing before I tackle my day and wind down for bed. “Reserving space for a beauty ritual in your day creates built-in time to turn your focus away from outside stressors and towards caring for yourself,” says Katie Sobelman, an aesthetician who writes about organic and chemical-free skin care at the Organic Esthetician. “Do what you can, when you can. As long as you’re cleansing every night and protecting your skin with SPF every morning, you’re already on
Unsure if you’ve made the right decision? Pull a Lady Macbeth and wash your hands
January 09, 2019 at 11:04AM by CWC It’s easy to confuse a simple decision with a life-or-death scenario. From choosing a career to choosing an avocado, no one wants to make a mistake! But you don’t have to let these forks in the road haunt you forever—or even for minutes after you’ve made your choice. More than 400 years ago, Shakespeare unknowingly proposed a solution now called the “Lady Macbeth effect.” You may remember from a high school reading of the play that the heroine makes a big decision of her own in Act V, Scene 1. Having pressured her husband to commit regicide, Lady MacBeth washes her hands with water—figuratively washing away King Duncan’s blood—in a bid for absolution. We’re not saying whether or not Lady Macbeth made the right decision, but she may have been onto something. Even though—spoiler alert!—Lady Macbeth’s ending isn’t a happy one, some research does suggest that a good scrub might help you move on with the rest of your life. As part of a study published in the journal Science, researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, set out to determine whether or not hand washing helps to calm oneself after a weighty decision, reports NPR. For the sake of the experiment, participants ranked 10 music CDs (I know, throwback). Then, researchers asked them to choose their fifth or sixth favorite album as a gift. They made their choices and some of the music-lovers were told to wash their hands while others were not. Later,
6 easy things you can do to feel better about yourself when you doubt how magic you are
January 09, 2019 at 09:56AM by CWC You can wake up on the wrong side of the bed at any time of the year. During winter, though, it seems easier to slip into bad moods and moments of self-doubt due to a combo of low temps that make you want to stay under the covers, short bouts of daylight, or the general malaise that often accompanies seasonal affective disorder. Having a day here or there where your self-esteem and confidence seem shot is a normal part of the human experience, according to Joseph Burgo, PhD, psychotherapist, and the author of Shame: Free Yourself, Find Joy, and Build True Self-Esteem. Such moments can actually help us build character he says: “When we consistently and repeatedly try to avoid potential blows to our self-esteem, it can inhibit us from growing and building pride.” The flipside of this, according to Dr. Burgo, is that not learning how to feel better about yourself can potentially limit and hinder you from achieving the things you want in life. So, part of living your best life is learning coping mechanisms for dealing with moments of doubt. Below he shares his expert advice on how to feel better about yourself when you need of a pep talk. 1. Set small goals and define your intentions You can become a person you’re proud of by setting and holding yourself accountable to realistic goals and expectations you set. “Begin every morning by clarifying what you’d like to accomplish that day,” Dr. Burgo
‘Squashbread’ is a delicious two-ingredient recipe my dad made up
January 09, 2019 at 09:17AM by CWC Each year, after spending the holidays in Charleston, I return to a tiny New York apartment with its empty refrigerator and my head full of new recipes ideas. You see, my dad is kind of an expert at inventing new dishes that require just a few ingredients. Each recipe is more mouth-watering than the last and I waste no time in recreating them. I drop my luggage and make a beeline for the grocery store, where I’m bound to do a little damage. This past Christmas season, I went downstairs each morning to the kitchen knowing delicious homemade treats would be waiting for me—sugar-crusted blueberry scones, trays of biscuits, and quiches that would make Julia Child proud. But I predict that only one recipe will be my meal-prep hero in 2019, and it only adds two items to your shopping list. Dad’s squashbread (feel free to @ me if you have a more creative name) calls for just two ingrediants: squash (of any variety) and eggs. Just this week, I chopped up a squashbread and mixed it into a salad; I used another as a pizza crust; I bought an avocado and made soft tacos; and since we’re all friends here, I’ll admit that I snacked on several fresh out of the oven along the way. I suspect that if you topped squashbread with a healthy hazelnut spread, you’d have something of a crêpe even the French would declare délicieux. Without further ado, I give you a versatile recipe
What to wear to watch sports when you’re more team fashion than anything else
January 09, 2019 at 09:10AM by CWC Celebrities like Emily Ratajkowski and Beyoncé show up to watch pro basketball games looking glamorous and amazing, which I will admit deeply appeals to me. But even I, a person prone to being the most, have a hard time wrapping my head around what to wear to watch sports. I’d feel really weird pulling on a team jersey because that honestly isn’t my personal style. (Also, those things are expensive!) So I’ve come up with a different game plan. After plenty of practice, I’ve narrowed the key to nailing sporting event style down to two basic formulas that say “yay team” without sacrificing my personal style. The goal is to look like I know just enough about sports to belong at a game or viewing party—yet not so much that random people try to have a conversation with me about how Philip Rivers has never won against Tom Brady in a head-to-head matchup. I know that sentence because I was wearing my Chargers shirt one day and that very scenario happened to me. Option one: Get a team shirt or sweatshirt and treat it the same way you would a plain white tee. Just know that I discovered through probably too much research that a lot of team’s women’s merch is terrible. I don’t want a fitted babydoll T-shirt that’s inexplicably light pink and white—even though those are not the team colors. The men’s section usually has a better selection of shirts that
The hardest reality of life for you to accept, based on your Myers-Briggs personality type
January 09, 2019 at 08:05AM by CWC Every Myers-Briggs personality type has strengths and weaknesses—but you probably already know your strengths. They’re the skills and areas that you lean into most often and with ease. But what about your Achilles’ heel—do you know yours? If not, no worries—it’s tougher to be aware of your weaknesses than strengths. In fact, many aren’t made aware of their flaws until they’re literally succumbing to them. And sometimes, you might struggle to accept certain areas of your life or certain traits you have. But seeing our vulnerabilities is the best path toward growth, so you can’t be afraid to acknowledge and work through—even if it’s scary. (Don’t know what your type is? Read this first!) Below, gain insight into what the hardest thing is for you to accept, based on your Myers-Briggs type, and then learn to grow from it. Everyone has weaknesses—here’s the hardest thing for you to accept, based on your Myers-Briggs personality type. Graphics by W+G Creative ISFJ: Perfect behavior doesn’t mean a perfect relationship You work hard to follow the rules and keep others happy. If only that were all it took to have great relationships with friends, family and partners, right? Sometimes though, you value peace too much and honesty too little. Speaking up and sharing your innermost beliefs can feel uncomfortable, but it’s the only way people can learn who you really are, after all. ESFJ: You can’t hurry love Though you just want to love, you skew
Schedule your next girls’ night, because friendship and community are indicators of mental health
January 09, 2019 at 05:30AM by CWC When 25-year-old Meghen Carpinelli moved back home to her parents’ place in Bridgewater, New Jersey, after leaving a toxic relationship, she felt heartbroken, confused, and lonely. Her high school friends had all since moved away, and she didn’t have anyone on call for even a casual hangout. “I knew that leaving the relationship was a positive thing for my life, but I didn’t realize it came with the negative of losing my inner circle, since I moved away from my group of girlfriends,” she recalls. “It was such a hard time in my life.” Meghen isn’t alone. Whether millennial women are acclimating to a new city after accepting a far-away job offer, or moving across the country—or even the whole globe!—to be with a significant other, or starting over somewhere fresh for some other reason, I hear from a different person every day who is struggling in the friend department. As the CEO and founder of Hey! VINA—the social-discovery app for women that aims to help members establish IRL friendships and offline connections—I know that Meghen is just one example of millions who just want a friend. In May 2018, a nationwide survey of 20,000 adults from health-insurance provider Cigna found that “most American adults are considered lonely.” A separate study, The Loneliness Experiment, from BBC Radio 4 and Wellcome Collection revealed that 40 percent of those between the ages of 16 to 24 say they feel lonely often or very often. And former
This is why trainers want you to ‘burn out’ your muscle groups
January 09, 2019 at 05:15AM by CWC Struggling to understand the terminology trainers throw down mid-workout feels like an exercise in and of itself. (HIIT? LIIT? EMOM? What?) During a recent treadmill workout, an instructor told me to hop off the machine and “burn my core out” with a round of burpees. Which got me thinking…what does that prompt actually mean? While a bad case of “burnout” can sideline your from your day job, done correctly it’s a boon to your strength-training regimen. “To ‘burn out a muscle group’ means to train a specific muscle to full fatigue, where even the simplest rep, or movement feels impossible,” says Aaptiv master trainer Ackeem Emmons. The method fast-tracks fitness goals by improving endurance and muscle tone. “Training breaks down the muscle fibers, nutrition builds them back up, and muscles become stronger. If you burn out a specific muscle group, with proper rest days in between, muscle growth is guaranteed,” says Emmons. To start incorporating the “burn out” into your next sweat sesh, first consider which group of muscles you want to suffer—rather, to get stronger. Instructions are quite simple: “Perform as many as reps as possible within a short amount of time, with minimal rest, for a certain number of sets,” says Emmons. If like me you’re into running in place lately, you might consider hopping off the treadmill and punishing your hamstrings and quads with a relentless round of weighted squats. But remember to mix it up. To avoid injury, don’t go hard on the same muscle
5 easy sauce recipes that will make literally everything you eat taste way better
January 09, 2019 at 04:30AM by CWC Sophia Roe is a beauty guru, healthy food chef, and frequent Well+Good contributor. This January, she’s here to arm you with tricks and tips to make healthy eating year-round a cinch—no dieting, juicing, or restrictions of any kind required. Every January, there’s a big collective goal of eating healthy all year. And that’s great. But here’s the thing: If your food doesn’t have flavor, it just isn’t going to happen. That’s where mastering an arsenal of go-to sauces comes in. Peek in my fridge on any given day and you’re bound to see a whole bunch of half-empty mason jars of homemade sauces. Dressings, marinades, vinaigrettes…you name it. Sauces are my favorite way to jazz up healthy staples that can otherwise get a bit boring, like a big ‘ol bowl of greens or 10-minute stir fry. They make basically everything taste way better. Included here are my hands-down five favorite sauces that I turn to again and again. Consider it my New Years gift to you. All of them are easy enough for even the most cooking-phobic person to master—I promise! 1. The tastes-good-on-everything vinaigrette This sauce tastes delish on greens, grains, or a bowl of veggies. You can store it in a glass mason jar, pretty glass container, or any of the empty vegan-aise, almond butter, or kombucha bottles you’re holding on to. Make use of whatever you already have! Ingredients: 1/2 cup high-quality olive oil 2 Tbsp champagne vinegar or lemon juice