November 13, 2018 at 03:59AM Every woman has those power pieces that supercharge her personal style. And we’ve found, by walking up to enough strangers on the street (and women in our own office), that if you gas her up, she’ll share her best fashion advice with you. Starting today, we’re collecting these pearls of wisdom in a new series, Good Style. First up is our associate beauty editor Rachel Lapidos, who swears blazers are the key to living her best life. Keep reading to hear why and how they came to be her sartorial spirit animal. To me, blazers are kind of like a really good pair of jeans or a bold lip in that putting one on immediately makes me feel more confident. I started wearing them in high school in Texas, and I’m pretty sure it’s because of the Olsen Twins when they used to be on the cover of US Weekly all the time, rocking blazers in the coolest way possible. I got so lucky back then on my hunts while shopping at Goodwills and Salvation Army stores—even sometimes in the little boys’ sections. Lately though, I’ve been going to Etsy for my vintage shopping. I found my red blazer there—I like them a little longer, structured, and oversized; it makes them more interesting. Photo: Well+Good Creative At this point, I wear them literally everywhere, pretty much all year long. They look great with all different types of shirts: band T-shirts or just vintage T-shirts in
Category: 2019 Health
This partner variation on boat pose is a serious abs burner
November 13, 2018 at 02:21AM Thanks to bendy, uber-toned Insta-stars flaunting partner poses that are equal parts delicate-looking and strong-seeming, social feeds can become an infinite scroll of partner yoga FOMO… even if you’ve never done yoga before (or you know, barely). If you’re not a self-identified yogi, some one-on-one time with your mat could do your body and mind good, and sharing that first-time excitement with a workout buddy makes it all the more motivational. “Partner yoga can be a joy-filled, intimate way to exercise, and you don’t need to be as advanced in your practice as you probably think,” says yoga instructor Francesca Valarezo, who’s leading our next Well+Good Retreat in Miami. “It all comes down to communication.” To do so, Valarezo recommends starting with a partner yoga 101. “Partner boat pose is a beginner move that strengthens your core, hamstrings, and quads.” Of course, if you’re going it solo, you can totally use the wall as your BFF for the exercise or take the proper form of boat pose, and challenge yourself by alternating foot taps to the floor. Otherwise, sit facing your partner with your knees bent and feet pressed flat into the floor. Reach out for your partner’s wrists and hold onto them snugly. If you’re brand new to the movement, grab wrists between your legs; if you’re more advanced, you can hold wrists outside of your legs. Using your hold as leverage, lift your chests up and towards each other by engaging your core. Leaning
How one simple tweak to your email signature supports LGBTQ+ inclusivity
November 13, 2018 at 01:00AM Emails are a medium for sharing a message, and they’re not new (bear with me here). But something that is relatively new? The email signature—that often-automated inch at the very bottom of your message—holding the power to send a separate message. Like a tweet, the character-limited, easily-digestible space allows for concisely sharing a bit about who you are, what you do, and even where you’re from. So choosing what to disclose (or not!) sets a tone all its own. This is especially true at work, and especially if you want to share facets about yourself and your identity—like your pronoun of choice. You may have landed on a generic signature ages ago—full name, job title, workplace address, phone number, Instagram handle—without giving it a moment’s thought since. That was the case for me, at least. But the latest book from gender-diversity advocate Lee Airton, PhD, Gender: Your Guide, brought to my attention that something important and informative is missing. They say putting (“signposting”) your pronoun of choice in your email signature could help increase a vibe of inclusivity and ethic of LGBTQ+ allyship in your office and in the world at large. For basic background, here’s the SparkNotes breakdown of the pronoun issue: Gender exists on a spectrum. We’re no longer just cisgender women (she/her/hers) or men (he/him/his); we’re trans*, gender-fluid, genderqueer, nonbinary, and agender. Some trans* folks identify as either a man or a woman, and use the correlating pronouns. Others have a fluctuating gender identity, no gender at all,
Why playing an old-school phone game could help you de-stress
November 12, 2018 at 02:10PM There’s an old (scientifically proven!) trick for quelling your anxiety: Become totally immersed in something tedious that requires full concentration—a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, the New York Times crossword, some tricky embroidery. Now, new research adds an old-school arcade game to that list of centering activities: Yep, your phone—AKA a major cause of anxiety—can actually help make you feel better…if you’re using it to play Tetris. A review of three studies, published in the journal Emotion, found that adults who were anxiously awaiting news (in one study, Bar exam results; in another, a job offer) experienced greater well-being during this nerve-wracking time after entering a flow state. (The concept of flow was coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, PhD, who describes it as “the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.”) In the third study, 309 undergraduates were tasked with playing Tetris while they waited for their peers to rate their physical attractiveness (uhh, worst nightmare?). The game was shown to help the students to enter a state of flow and, just like in the first two studies, participants reported an increase in positive emotions and a decrease in negative emotions. While you might be rejoicing in a new justification for your Two Dots addiction (just me?), you do want to remain mindful of your screen time, which can have a negative impact on your health, including your sleep quality. So, switch up your flow-inducing activities by unplugging and
Less really *is* more: Skip-care is the simplified way to do K-beauty
November 12, 2018 at 01:00PM As much as I want pristine skin, I also want to stay up late watching an irresponsible amount of the Sabrina reboot on Netflix and sleep in the next morning for as long as humanly possible. The 10-step Korean skin-care routine has cult status and adoration for obvious reason (ahem: results) but it also feels like it requires you to be a very chipper morning person, with plenty of time at hand (which to be clear, I am not and do not). Thankfully young Korean skin-care gurus have heard the lazy girl’s cry for a routine that delivers the same results but with less of a time investment, and it’s cleverly been named “skip-care.” Skip-care, explains Byrdie, is all about streamlining your routine and removing steps without sacrificing any of the ingredients or properties that are imperative to your hydrated and supple skin goals. “Skip-care is a skincare method that allows you to identify the essential ingredients for your skin and avoid the use of unnecessary products for a simpler, yet proper, skincare routine,” a member of the Amore Pacific team told Byrdie. AKA: It’s about asking your products to do more so you can do less. Ahhhh, the lazy girl’s dream! To do this, beauty brands, especially those in the K-beauty space, are consolidating offerings: For example, they’re offering an essence (step 7) that is also a moisturizer (step 8), or a moisturizer that also has your vitamin C serum in it. This is a burgeoning part of the
6 skin-care habits to introduce into your routine once you turn 30
November 12, 2018 at 12:29PM Real talk: Things change once you reach your 30s (coming from someone who’s hit big 3-0 myself). Like hangover severity increases, and as a result, you might develop a fine appreciation for staying in rather than going out. Along with these also come gradual, yet noticeable, changes to the complexion. Sadly I’m not talking about the abrupt halting of pimples, because adult acne is real. But, as Joanna Czech, celebrity esthetician and founder of Czechlist.com, puts it: The results of good (and bad!) habits can start to reveal themselves on your face around this time. “That’s why you should take good care of your skin from as early an age as possible,” she tells me. So what exactly does this mean for your routine? “When you reach your 30s, your skin starts to become a little lazier than it used to be,” says Quenby Erickson, MD, a Chicago board-certified dermatologist. “The skin cell turnover rate slows down and your cells don’t renew as quickly as they used to. Collagen and elastin begin to break down, resulting in slight volume loss. The oil glands are less active and hyaluronic acid production slows down, resulting in drier skin. You may also start to see more dark spots and sun damage from previous years beginning to show.” Alas, when you know the challenges of the new decade, you can be better prepared to tackle them head on. “This is an important time to pay close attention to what your skin needs specifically,” says Czech.
Stress and anxiety are serious—why do we act like they’re NBD?
November 12, 2018 at 11:31AM Odds are, if you’re reading this right now, you’re probably really, really stressed. No, I’m not psychic, but I’ve got the receipts: Recently, Well+Good conducted a survey of nearly 2,500 readers about stress and anxiety and—spoiler alert—almost every single person who took it experiences both. Ninety-five percent of survey takers say they’re stressed out, and 91 percent say they experience anxiety. But here’s the thing: While a lot of people said that they talk about their stress and anxiety, a fair amount (nearly 20 percent!) said they did not. And of those people who choose to stay silent, one in five said it was because they felt their struggles weren’t “a big deal.” Many others said they were too “embarrassed” to talk about those issues as well. It seems that when stress and anxiety are talked in general, it’s obvious that they’re serious issues. (How many times have you heard that stress can literally kill you?) But when it comes to our own personal experiences, a lot of us just assume it’s something everyone just has to deal with on their own. What’s up with that? Photo: Stocksy/Lauren Naefe Fear of opening up “One reason why I think people minimize stress and anxiety is because it feels better—at least initially—to downplay it rather than acknowledge it,” says integrative psychotherapist Alison Stone, LCSW. “We have grown, collectively, to use avoidance and distraction as preferred coping mechanisms to actually sitting in our discomfort.” Another reason why many people
Maca is supposed to majorly help your energy and sex life…but does it have any side effects?
November 12, 2018 at 11:15AM What if I told you that there was a food that could help you fight stress and depression, boost your energy, and possibly make your sex life mind-blowing—with almost zero side effects? If you’re feeling a little skeptical…yeah, you should. That’s essentially what people are saying about the superfood maca (no, not matcha), a cruciferous vegetable native to Peru that’s classified as an adaptogen—one of those buzzy herbs that are said to help your body fight stress and achieve homeostasis. People roast it, add the powder to smoothies, or make it into a fermented beverage called “maca chicha.” But there’s one catch… There hasn’t been that much research on maca, period, including its benefits, and a 2014 review of maca benefits found that more clinical study is needed to definitively know and understand the root’s perks. Many of the studies that do exist have been really small (as in, only performed on a handful of people) or were only performed on mice or rats (meaning the results can’t necessarily directly relate to people, since our bodies are very different). So all of that is to say: While maca has some promising benefits, take all of the below with a grain of salt. Keeping reading for the purported benefits of maca—and to see how the science stacks up Getty Images/Solstock 1. It may boost your libido (and help with fertility) Maca shows a lot of promise in the bedroom. Researchers from the psychiatry department at Massachusetts General
The inflammation-busting ACV tonic Massy Arias blends up in the mornings
November 12, 2018 at 10:44AM Doing your skin-care regimen twice a day—once in the morning and once before bed—is pretty standard. But having a regular workout routine shakes everything up and adds more to the equation. After sweating for a full hour, you’re left figuring out how to keep your pores clean without over washing or over stripping skin. After dealing with the issue for ages, personal trainer and fitness guru, Massy Arias has some tricks under her belt—namely, keeping things clean from the inside-out for an everlasting glow. “I used to have acne-prone skin, and it wasn’t until I changed my entire nutrition plan until I saw a major change in my skin,” says Arias, who’s the face of CoverGirl’s new Active Collection, a line of sweat-proof makeup (the Lash Blast Active Mascara is out today while the rest of the products will launch in January). “I found that I got acne due to poor eating, so once I changed my eating habits everything changed and I just started glowing.” “I make this concoction every single day, which consists of 8 ounces of lukewarm water, ACV, a half lemon, quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a teaspoon of turmeric, and two teaspoons of raw honey.” —Massy Arias Besides stocking up on greens and other skin-friendly foods, Arias swears by a certain drink recipe that fights inflammation and feeds her complexion. I make this concoction every single day, which consists of 8 ounces of lukewarm water, ACV, a half lemon, quarter
The new federal exercise guidelines take your daily hustle into account
November 12, 2018 at 10:43AM Earlier this year, a data report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that only 23 percent of the population is compliant with the federal prescription for exercise benchmarks. (Yikes, right?) But in an attempt that seems designed to make these fitness #goals more widely accessible (*especially* for the crazy-busy among us), the recently released second edition of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion’s (ODPHP) Physical Activity Guidelines features a slightly tweaked exercise Rx. “Exercise snacking” (as it’s sometimes called) now totally counts toward your weekly workout gains. While the government still recommends that adults rack up 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (plus two sessions a week focused on strength training) each week, there’s no longer a mandate in place for doing so in increments of 10 minutes or greater. “The second edition removes this requirement to encourage Americans to move more frequently throughout the day as they work toward meeting the guidelines,” the report notes. “Exercise snacking” (as it’s sometimes called) totally counts, so go ahead and consider your lunchtime stretches a fraction of your weekly workout gains. Apart from this super freeing development, the second edition presents a few other need-to-know updates. First, the ODPHP really (like, really) wants you to stop sitting so much. “This recommendation is based on new evidence that shows a strong relationship between increased sedentary behavior and increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and all-cause mortality,” the guidelines read. And perhaps more significantly, the office now acknowledges a whole new body