December 14, 2018 at 08:56AM I’ll use any possible excuse to put together a look, but in spite of ample opportunities to do so, the holiday season overwhelms me. It’s two months of non-stop holiday parties, familial obligations, and social outings and I am not creative enough (nor do I have the mental capacity) to create a distinctive ensemble for each occasion. So, this season I’m using one glowing and shimmering product to do all the heavy lifting on my face and body. So that I can make the most of my pre-party time rewatching The Office for the nine-thousandth time, I decided I needed a strategy. When I thought about the common thread all of my favorite (and easiest to replicate) makeup looks have in common, I realized it was glitter and glow. I smother my face in Fenty Soft Matte Longwear Foundation ($34) and then I just go to town with a highlighting or glitter product of choice. Recently I’ve been into the Milk Makeup Holographic Highlighting Powder ($25) and all of the Rituel De Fille Rare Light Crème Luminizers ($29). After covering my face I use my fingers to apply the stuff on the highlights of my cheekbones, all over my eyelids, dot it on my nose, the cupids bow of my mouth, and if I’m wearing something that reveals my collar bones, I slather it on there as well. It’s great for a few reasons: I don’t have to spend hours agonizing about what to do with my face, it’s
Category: 2019 Health
Steal these royal family decorating tips to deck your halls like a duchess
December 14, 2018 at 08:56AM There’s something so magical about the holidays—especially when it comes to all the sparkly, mood-boosting decorations. Everyone has their own traditions, from what goes on the tree to how to decorate the wreath—royals included. And this year you can bring some of their very festive touches into your own home, letting you deck your halls like a duchess. The British royal family’s social accounts have been lit up lately (literally), showcasing all the work that goes into those mesmerizing decorations you see all throughout the palaces. Now, let’s get one thing straight: Having dozens of helping hands (and, umm, actual cranes to reach the high places) definitely makes the process easier. But that doesn’t mean you can’t steal their style on a smaller scale. Here are 3 Royal family decorating tips to use yourself this year. View this post on Instagram Watch the 30ft Christmas tree being installed and decorated outside #KensingtonPalace! This Christmas at Kensington, meet Victoria & Albert and discover how the Victorians shaped Christmas – link in bio. . . #christmas #christmastree #christmasishere #victorianchristmas #kensington #royalchristmas #palace #christmastime # A post shared by Historic Royal Palaces (@historicroyalpalaces) on Dec 7, 2018 at 12:46am PST //www.instagram.com/embed.js 1. Add touches of gold to your Christmas tree. Not everyone can just put up a 30-foot Christmas tree and have it decorated beautifully within a few hours like the one in front of Kensington Palace, where Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle live. One
Costco has now jumped on the cauliflower tots bandwagon and I’m here for it
December 14, 2018 at 08:36AM At this point, you can make anything—no, really, anything—your heart desires out of cauliflower. Pizza, mashed potatoes, wings, rice, grilled cheese, bagels, enchiladas, hash browns, nachos…you name it. Out of all the things I’ve ever tried, though, cauli tots are by far one of the best. And the fact that Costco is now carrying them in bulk is basically a dream come true. The Instagram account @costcohiddengems recently shared one of the latest additions to the frozen food section of Costco: a 3-pound bag of organic cauli-tots from the brand Maas River Farms. And get this: You get all that goodness for under $10. There are 16 servings per bag, and each is just 140 calories, 290 mg of sodium, and 2 grams of sugar—none added. Not too shabby, huh? Also, extra bonus: Unlike Green Giant‘s version that can be found in most grocery stores, this version doesn’t contain any eggs or milk, making it a great, vegan-friendly option as well. Whether you like keeping things simple and dipping your plain tots in ketchup or want to get fancy and whip up a lower-carb casserole for the holidays, it’s safe to say this might just be the best gift Costco has #blessed us with so far. (You know, aside from the discounted gym memberships and natural beauty products.) Spoiled is an understatement. View this post on Instagram Maas River #Organic Cauli-Tots at #Costco for $9.69! Who doesn’t love #tatertots?! The only thing stopping me from eating it by the
8 infused water recipes for when plain H20 just won’t cut it
December 14, 2018 at 07:59AM The first rule of wellness: Hydration, hydration, hydration. Basically every healthy influencer swears by downing a glass of water first thing in the a.m. (with a nice slice of lemon, of course), dietitians preach about its importance in aiding digestion, and beauty experts swear it’s the key to having dewy, glow-y skin. But here’s the thing: Not everyone loves the taste of plain water, making drinking enough a bit of a struggle. And it probably means you’re more likely to reach for juice, soda, or kombucha than H20—making your hydration habit come with a sizable side of sugar. Womp, womp. But there’s no need to just be sad and basic with your water in the quest of good health. You can infuse your water with fruit, herbs, and spices to add flavor without any added sugars—so it’s really the best of both worlds. And a word to the wise: Infused waters are also clutch during holiday season when you’re trying to hydrate after a long night of nog and mulled wine. What’s not to love? Here are 8 infused water recipes to try—enough to keep things interesting. Photo: Simple Vegan Blog 1. Strawberry-orange mint water This combo of citrus and mint from Simple Vegan Blog creators Alberto Aragon and Iosune Robles is basically the definition of refreshing. Since winter isn’t exactly peak strawberry season, buy a bag of frozen ones, slice, and add a few after they de-thaw. Photo: The First Mess 2. Strawberry rosewater chia fresca The First
The right way to take care of your bras because your boobs deserve nice things
December 14, 2018 at 07:56AM After recently spending a small fortune on brand new, beautiful bras—a luxury I had always wanted to indulge in—I came to the realization that I had absolutely no idea how to take proper care of them. I’d always been less-than-gentle with my bras, tossing them in the washer and burning them up in the dryer. My justification? Spending next-to-nothing on my underthings meant I didn’t care if they got a little mangled in the wash. But now I’m an adult, and I’ve come to understand that to have nice things, you have to take care of them. So I chatted with Jane Fisher, co-founder and co-CEO of intimates brand Harper Wilde, about proper care for your bras. Follow this guide, and you’ll never prematurely ruin one in the wash again. Always, always check your labels Not all bras are created equal, it turns out. In much the same way as clothing, bras have specific care instructions on the label that have everything to do with what they’re made of. “It should say on the label if it’s machine-washable or if it should be hand washed,” Fisher says. But it should be intuitive. If it’s got a lot of embellishments, made with fragile-seeming fabric, like silk or lace, plan to hand wash it. But if it’s a cotton sports bra, it can probably withstand the washing machine. These labels will also let you know what kind of detergent you should be using if specified. Bottom line,
This is the very least amount of time to leave between your nighttime HIIT class and sleep
December 14, 2018 at 07:18AM For those who can’t deal with waking up at the crack of dawn for an early-morning workout (same), having the flexibility to sign up for a nighttime HIIT class is a true blessing—and seemingly the only way to stay on top of your fitness goals. There’s no snooze button getting in the way, and you get to unleash some of that pent-up tension accumulated from your long day at work. But are those pesky rumors about intense nighttime sweat seshes negatively affecting your sleep true? Not if you time them out right, according to awesome new research. In a meta-analysis of 23 studies published in the journal Sports Medicine, it was found that vigorous evening workouts—the ones that are so intense that they literally leave you speechless—were totally fine to do. The one caveat? Best practice for the workout not compromising your sleep game is to leave at least an hour between the end of your training sesh and the time you hit the sheets. Researchers hypothesize that completing an intense workout and going to sleep within an hour isn’t optimal because the body isn’t able to properly recover. Those who completed an intense workout and then essentially immediately tried to go to sleep had some trouble dozing off, and researchers hypothesize this happened because the workout warriors weren’t able to properly recover. Their hearts were still beating fast in those 60 minutes after—nearly “20 beats per minute faster than their resting heart rate,” explain the study authors. Moderate training shortly
Vitamin vapes are apparently now a thing—but are they good for you?
December 14, 2018 at 07:16AM Raise your hand if you’re taking a vitamin every single day (or, at least, you try to). You’re not alone—over 70 percent of adults in the U.S. take some kind of supplement. But while most of us are well-familiar with the capsules and gummies on the shelves at Whole Foods (and perhaps are willing to try the IV drips and shots popping up in spas and wellness boutiques), how would you feel about inhaling your vitamins instead of swallowing a pill? Enter vitamin vapes. The makers of these products, which have exploded onto the market recently, say they’re nixing all the “bad” chemicals like nicotine that traditionally go in vapes, and instead are filling the pens with vitamin compounds. Some examples: NutroVape (a line of 11 different blends meant to work in place of an oral supplement), Breathe (a vitamin B12 vape pen), and Nutriair (which formulates blends to promote benefits including more energy to better sleep). It certainly sounds promising, especially given how mainstream vaping has become. But are vitamin vapes truly the supplement of the future? George Michalopoulos, founder of Breathe, certainly thinks so. He came up with the idea of a vitamin B12 vape about five years ago, around the same time that vaping was starting to become popular. “I was trying to be vegan—although I no longer am—and when you’re vegan, you’re at greater risk for being deficient in vitamin B12,” he says. He started doing some research and found a study about inhaling vitamin B12. “The research
Karezza is basically hygge sex, and it’s the only kind we want to have this winter
December 14, 2018 at 05:30AM Winter is coming, which means that we’re about to enter full-on hygge territory. Think: plush socks, candles, and canceled plans whenever possible. Thanks to the Danish term, coziness abounds this time of year, but one thing that’s often excluded from ideal hygge visions is sex. In fact, hygge is just about as sexy as a belly full of macaroni and cheese and long underwear pulled up to your bralette. Well…at least that’s what I assumed until I became acquainted with the karezza method. Karezza (pronounced kar-RET-za) is, to put it simply, hygge sex. It focuses more on the journey than the destination. It’s when you’re more concerned about the means than the ends…if ya know what I’m saying. The premium here is on cuddling and eye-contact, not on HIIT-worthy moves and a heart rate to match. It turns out experts regard this kind of sex as positive for relationships. “One of the main things I do in my practice is help couples reframe their thinking about sex away from focusing on the orgasm or the finish,” says sex therapist Amie Harwick, PhD, MFT. Rather, she asks couples to focus on sex as a whole in order to reduce importance of an orgasm. “If sex were all about orgasm, why wouldn’t we just use a vibrator? It’s because great sex is about connection.” —Lila Darville, sex and intimacy coach Sex and intimacy coach Lila Darville, a Well+Good Council member, agrees—noting that karezza is totally the hygge-est sex ever. “It is
Can being buried in hot volcanic sand *really* help combat inflammation?
December 14, 2018 at 04:26AM Usually, the best thing that comes out of being buried in the sand at the beach is achieving your lifelong dream of turning into a mermaid, with a perfectly-sculpted sand tail and all. Here’s the thing, though: Would you spend 15 minutes covered in super-hot, 125-degree Japanese volcanic sand in order to reap a slew of potential benefits that go far beyond a great Instagram pic? Well+Good’s video producer Ella Dove would. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdfdK0UZDyw] In the very first episode of Well+Good’s new YouTube series What the Wellness? Dove explores the benefits of a volcanic sand bath at the SoJo Spa Club in Edgewater, New Jersey. For the treatment—which Dove says feels like “part sauna, part gravity blanket“—the spa transported 120 tons of black lava sand more than 7,000 miles from the Ibusuki area in Japan, making them the only spot outside of the country to have it. While being buried in a giant sandbox might sound, umm, interesting, it’s supposed to bring on some pretty impressive benefits, including detoxification, better circulation, and reduced inflammation…but does it really work? Check out her experience above to see how the sand bath checks out, and stay tuned for even more episodes, where Dove explores the most interesting treatments the wellness scene has to offer, from electro-current facials to CBD massages to tell you what to skip and what really works. Here’s why wellness spaces have become the social hangouts of choice. Or, learn how to dupe a 5-star hotel wellness room at home, vitamin C shower, included. Continue Reading… Author Tehrene
Why we need to stop conflating weight with self-worth
December 14, 2018 at 04:00AM When I was in my mid-20s, I was such a pro at tending to other people that my therapist diagnosed me with “stewardess syndrome”—not a real disorder, but I was certainly an expert at wheeling the metaphorical cart around my life and people-pleasing while completely abandoning my own needs. This changed when I realized that I was so unhappy—the pain of looking at myself in the mirror was so overwhelming—I would only glance at my reflection in a two-inch makeup compact case. A switch in my mind flipped, and, in the process of shedding over 75 pounds, I learned to offer myself the same care, attention, and respect I had shown others for so long. But this isn’t a story about “how I lost weight and finally learned to love myself.” This is a story about how you—the person shaking my hand for the first time or seeing my picture on Instagram—don’t know how I feel about myself and my body. On any doctor’s chart, I would still be considered overweight today. That’s why I cringe anytime I hear people say—as they often do—things like, “Being overweight is a reflection of how you feel about yourself.” Or, “Our bodies are an outward reflection of our inner selves.” As Amy Farrell, PhD, author of Fat Shame: Stigma and the Fat Body in American Culture, told Shape magazine last year: “We look at someone who’s fat and see someone who doesn’t take care of herself, and is