December 18, 2018 at 07:06AM If your birthday falls during the holiday season, I have to wonder whether you pissed off someone important in your past life. Like, you weren’t necessarily a serial killer or anything, but maybe you committed some sort of old-timey, horrific fashion faux pas? Because it seems like having a holiday birthday would be the worst and, based on what my friends who were born between the end of November and January say (AKA my Sagittarius and Capricorn pals), that’s pretty accurate. When your special day of birth is eclipsed by the likes of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and the 1,456 holiday parties people are invited to, it’s easy to feel left in the festive dust. After all, everyone is already celebrating everyone else—giving gifts to all the people they know—so how do you make your birthday stand out and feel important? The doubled-up presents, couldn’t-be-more-belated birthday wishes, and general existence overshadowed by the holidays can be enough to make even the most practical and reserved of Capricorns want to scream. With that in mind, I tapped astrologer Juliana McCarthy, author of The Stars Within You, to share tips for keeping yourself and others psyched about your very special holiday birthday. If you’re a Sagittarius Poor Sags: Your birthday falls either around Thanksgiving, or when it seems like everyone you know has holiday-party plans basically every weekend. If you’re a Sagittarian (November 22 to December 21) whose bday is closer to the November end of the calendar, you may
Category: 2019 Health
Bakuchiol is the retinol alternative delivering mirror-finish skin, minus the burn
December 18, 2018 at 06:00AM Lounging in a locker room recently, fresh from the sauna and applying my post-gym skin-care routine, a curious yoga instructor approached me asking: “What’s the single product you’d recommend for my skin?” She admitted she was totally out of the loop in the beauty world, and was merely interested in a one-and-done cure. Stunned at the opportunity to actually talk about my passion, before I could breathe a word a passerby shouted: “Retinol! It’s all you need!” and began to regale her with tales of its youthful promises. I wondered to myself if I would ever choose the popular prescription-turned-over-the-counter vitamin-A derivative as my go-to complexion solution. Yes, many beauties like my former Vogue coworker Amanda Rodriguez, whose porcelain skin was as luminous as it was blemish-free, swore by its powers. But it was hard for me to forget a summer walk after trying out a new retinol-infused facial oil. With approximately 30 minutes of sun exposure under a generous layer of physical sunscreen, I procured a hyperpigmentation mustache that I could only attribute to the exact ingredient I’d been avoiding since high school, when it turned my acneic skin into a shallow scab. I caught wind of Ole Henriksen’s new skin-care launch with a retinol alternative the founder had stumbled across in India, a vegan plant extract called “bakuchiol” (which has become so buzzy, it’s even one of the 2019 Well+Good Trends) derived from the leaves and seeds of the Ayurvedic babchi herbal plant. So, I scooted
Don’t waste your $$$ on a “foot detox,” says this podiatrist
December 18, 2018 at 05:03AM If you’ve been to a spa or alternative health center lately, you may have seen something called a “foot detox” on the list of services. As intriguing/mysterious/totally bizarre as it sounds, you should def take a sec to learn more about the trend before forking over your cash. Foot detoxing claims to remove toxins from your body via the soles of the feet, usually by soaking the feet in an ionic foot bath, or by sticking special adhesive pads to the bottom of your feet before you go to sleep. Both methods are said to draw out the “toxins” and “heavy metals” that allegedly accumulate in the body while you’re busy living your life. Proponents of the practice (and manufacturers of foot detox products) say that the treatment supposedly helps with: High blood pressure Diabetes Depression Insomnia Disease prevention If that sounds too good to be true…that’s because it is, says Alan Bass, DPM, a board-certified podiatrist and spokesperson for the American Podiatric Medical Association. “I don’t use this term loosely, but [foot detoxes] are nothing more than a scam,” Dr. Bass says. “If these things worked, everybody would be doing them.” Ahead of our interview, Dr. Bass attempted to look into the medical literature around foot detoxes and found that there isn’t really any. “I tried to find [research] on the medical side—any types of studies, any real, double-blind studies that would prove something like this works. I’ve seen nothing,” he says. “There was one study
After scheduling time to worry in my Google Cal, I’m (about 50%) Bob Marley
December 18, 2018 at 05:30AM When one of my coworkers brought up the idea that scheduling time to worry has been scientifically proven to help you become the most chill, I was a nonbeliever. The notion seemed as ridiculous as scheduling time to, say, breathe. (Okay, fine—that’s basically meditation, but y’know…it sounded wildly unrealistic and impractical). And even if i tried it, surely I’d end up feeling way more worried after 30 minutes of scheduled worrying than I would otherwise, right? Despite my dubiousness, there is some science to back up the practice. For a 2012 study, 53 people with generalized anxiety disorder were split into two groups. Throughout two weeks, one group stuck to a normal worrying schedule (read: wherever, whenever), while the other set aside exactly 30 minutes per day for “focused worry” over the course of two weeks. And surprise, surprise—the latter group experienced a reduced sense of worry, anxiety, and insomnia. “Rather than ruminating (which involves dwelling on the problem), you’ll be more likely to look for a solution when you know there’s a clear time limit to how much time you can spend thinking about an issue.” —Amy Morin, psychotherapist But why does it actually work? According to psychotherapist Amy Morin, LCSW, it’s all about providing your worry a timeframe in which it can actually be productive. “Rather than ruminating (which involves dwelling on the problem), you’ll be more likely to look for a solution when you know there’s a clear time limit to how much time
If your sweat all of the sudden changes, it could be trying to tell you something
December 18, 2018 at 03:06AM Whether you’re dripping onto your yoga mat in a hot vinyasa flow class or sweating it out on the spin bike, at Well+Good, we’re firm believers that sweat is a good thing. Case in point: We have an entire section of the website that is literally dedicated to the stuff. But while we talk a lot about the best ways to work up a sweat and how to subsequently wash it off in the locker room (thank you, feminine wipes), it’s high time we start talking about the messages that our sweat could be sending us. First things first: All sweat is not created equal. As you likely know, some days your sweat is smellier, or saltier, or more intense than others, and that’s actually your body trying to tell you something. “Different types of sweat do mean different things,” explains Jeremy Fenton, MD, at Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York City, noting that there are two main types of sweat: One is from the apocrine glands and one is from the eccrine glands. “The eccrine glands are responsible for the large volumes of moisture when we sweat (like all over our bodies, for instance), whereas the apocrine glands produce less moisture, but can be blamed for the odor produced in the groin and armpits.” And, he confirms, excessive sweating or smellier-than-usual sweat can be a sign that something else is going on. If something is funky, don’t sweat it: Read on for exactly what your perspiration style is
Yes, you can channel your intense holiday anticipation and actually get work done this week
December 17, 2018 at 01:34PM This time of year, it’s all about chestnuts roasting and sleigh bells ringing. That is, until someone dares to slide into your email inbox with something pressing. For me, trying to meet deadlines just a week before I fall into a Christmas coma feels like running up a snow-covered hill rather than sledding down it. Recently, Shine Text (an app that sends its users an encouraging message each morning) told me to “close out 2018 using your voorpret,” a dutch word that basically means the ecstatic anticipation one feels before a momentous occasion (like Christmas!). I felt seen. But here’s the question: How do you keep your mind from drifting to visions of sugarplums when there’s work to be done? According to life coach and author Susie Moore, the key is to operate under a holiday activity reward system. Below, she offers five tips: 1. Turn off your notifications! (But seriously, this time): While this advice is valid in any season, Moore says this time of year is best spent decking the halls and decorating cookies. “Check your apps when you want to. This really helps with focus! Notifications are distractions from hell,” she says. Preach. 2. Pop your festive favorites right into your planner: “Schedule all the fun stuff you want and mark it clearly in your calendar. That way you’ll have no FOMO, and can enjoy work-time leading to evening (or weekend) time,” she recommends. 3. Don’t be afraid to turn on holiday-themed music at the office: Bouncy as it may be, “Rudolph
Take this 2-minute questionnaire to figure out if you’re lonely—and what to do about it
December 17, 2018 at 12:40PM From scrolling through Instagram the moment you wake up to the constant stream of work emails and texts from friends you field throughout the day, it might feel counterintuitive to ever feel, well, lonely. You’re interacting with humans nonstop, right? Actually, according to a national survey launched by global health service company Cigna earlier this year, not so much. “Technology has made it easier for people to not physically talk to other people,” says Doug Nemecek, MD, chief medical officer for behavioral health at Cigna. But that’s the catch: “Our survey showed it’s important that your interactions are in-person and meaningful.” And the findings weren’t small. In total, more than 20,000 U.S. adults responded and nearly half reported some feelings of loneliness. “Forty six percent of Americans adults reported always feeling alone, and two in five Americans said they sometimes or always feel their relationships are not meaningful and that they are isolated from others,” says Dr. Nemecek. So, Cigna decided to do something about it. That something is a new streamlined, 10-question survey based on the UCLA Loneliness Scale (regarded as the standard in the mental-health space), which helps you assess the loneliness you might be feeling (is it totally normal or more serious?) and suggests steps to help you curb it. “We found younger generations (Generation Z and Millennials) are lonelier.” Loneliness affects people of all ages, but some groups at higher rates, according to the survey. “We found younger generations (Generation Z and Millennials) are lonelier,”
Two hairstylists told me not to wash my hair after working out, and I am *thrilled*
December 17, 2018 at 12:31PM There are few things in this world that I am more passionate about than finding ways to save time in the gym locker room. Whether it’s faking my way to one more day with my blowout (thanks, dry shampoo), or skipping out on washing my face, I live for any hack that will buy me an extra 10 minutes between a 7 a.m. HIIT class and a 9 a.m. meeting. The latest stylist-approved, time-saving tip that I will be living by from here on out? Rinsing my hair post-workout instead of fully washing it. “People are like, ‘Oh my god, I worked out so I have to wash it!’ No, you just have to rinse it,” says celebrity stylist Riawna Capri of Los Angeles’ Nine Zero One Salon. “If you think about it, when you’re sweating, you’re creating salt water with sweat, and you hop in the shower and use water to just kind of rinse all that salt out. If you think about the beach sprays and all that stuff, that is salt water as well.” So not only will this no-wash give me time to stop for coffee between the gym and work, but it will also make me look like I stepped straight off of the set of Blue Crush? Sold. “If you can rinse your hair, you don’t have to shampoo it,” confirms Suave celebrity hairstylist Marcus Francis. “You’re just getting water, you’re getting the exfoliation of your hands in there, that’s going to help alleviate
How I reprogrammed my brain to stop seeing my cellulite as bad
December 17, 2018 at 12:22PM Cellulite! I have it. My ass-and-back-of-thigh area, specifically, has it. I have a thin frame that has always fit into the standards of beauty pushed forth by the media, fashion industry, and general celebrity culture industrial complex, and yet the cellulite-y part of my body is an area that has always refused to fit the silky-smooth body ideals we’re used to seeing in razor ads and reality TV. And, until I made a conscious change this year (thanks for the inspo, uplifting tweets and body-inclusive Instagram posts!), the voice in my head would automatically say “yuck” each time I’d look in the mirror and see cellulite. From an early age, I’ve been taught to think cellulite is something shame-inducing, a personal failure, an unpreventable thing that somehow women are still supposed to feel bad about not preventing. When I was 12 or 13, I remember there was a news item on a morning talk show about Howard Stern asking Ben Affleck if his then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez (Is it dating myself to remember Bennifer so vividly? Probably…) had cellulite on her very renowned backside. Affleck answered that question with a casual “no,” as if Stern’s question was a normal thing to be asked about one’s girlfriend, and as if cellulite was something that beautiful people weren’t supposed to have. (Also can we talk for a second about how the word “cellulite” has the worst mouthfeel ever? It feels like a crappy cleaning product from the ‘50s,
Deficient in vitamin D? Magnesium could be your new BFF
December 17, 2018 at 12:08PM When it comes to the long list of supplements out there, magnesium and vitamin D are both all-stars for their own specific uses. Not getting enough magnesium can lead to feeling sluggish and stressed out. And vitamin D does more than just keep bones strong—it’s also good for your gut. It turns out that they work better together, too: A new study found that magnesium helps to regulate vitamin D levels, not only improving absorption for those with deficiencies, but also tempering too-high levels. “We’ve known for a while that vitamin D deficiency is a problem. And recently, it’s also come to light that many people aren’t getting enough magnesium. So the fact that these two nutrients are connected—and that getting enough magnesium can help regulate vitamin D levels—serves as a reminder that many nutrients are interconnected and that overall nutrition, not just the intake of certain vitamins and minerals, is of high importance for maintaining optimal health,” Amy Gorin, MS, RDN, and owner of Amy Gorin Nutrition, tells me. “The enzymes that metabolize vitamin D within the body require magnesium. Additionally, magnesium helps activate vitamin D within the body.” “This serves as a reminder that many nutrients are interconnected and that overall nutrition, not just the intake of certain vitamins and minerals, is of high importance for maintaining optimal health.” —Amy Gorin, RDN, MS Being adept at improving the body’s absorption of vitamin D isn’t magnesium’s only trick, though. Last February, a different study found it’s