June 04, 2019 at 01:07PM by CWC For years, I’ve toyed with the idea of getting eyelash extensions. The thought of lengthening my natural lashes to three times their normal size and never having to deal with mascara (and mascara-induced raccoon rings) is appealing for obvious reasons, but I’ve always been afraid of one thing in particular: Will lash extensions make my natural eyelashes fall out? To figure it out—and quell my fears—once and for all, I turned to the pros. “While people love the way eyelash extensions look, they can interfere with growth of your natural lashes,” says New York-based dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, MD. “Inflammation from inserting the extensions and the adhesive used to keep them in place can cause breakage of your real lashes and interfere with optimal growth. It’s very common to find your natural lashes short and sparse after the extensions are removed.” If not breakage, eyelash extensions “can definitely weaken [your lashes], and as we get older, this can lead to permanent loss,” says Mona Gohara, MD, a Connecticut-based dermatologist. However—according to celebrity lash expert Clementina Richardson, founder of Envious Lashes, this will only really happen if your lashes aren’t applied the right way. “Lash extensions alone will not ruin your lashes,” she says. “Damage to the natural lashes is the result of improper application, or the stylist not selecting the correct type of lash for an existing natural lash.” She notes that there are a few things that can contribute to this problem, including
Category: 2019 Health
Hate to break it to ya: Derms say lash extensions can permanently wreck your lashline
June 04, 2019 at 01:07PM by CWC For years, I’ve toyed with the idea of getting eyelash extensions. The thought of lengthening my natural lashes to three times their normal size and never having to deal with mascara (and mascara-induced raccoon rings) is appealing for obvious reasons, but I’ve always been afraid of one thing in particular: Will lash extensions make my natural eyelashes fall out? To figure it out—and quell my fears—once and for all, I turned to the pros. “While people love the way eyelash extensions look, they can interfere with growth of your natural lashes,” says New York-based dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, MD. “Inflammation from inserting the extensions and the adhesive used to keep them in place can cause breakage of your real lashes and interfere with optimal growth. It’s very common to find your natural lashes short and sparse after the extensions are removed.” If not breakage, eyelash extensions “can definitely weaken [your lashes], and as we get older, this can lead to permanent loss,” says Mona Gohara, MD, a Connecticut-based dermatologist. However—according to celebrity lash expert Clementina Richardson, founder of Envious Lashes, this will only really happen if your lashes aren’t applied the right way. “Lash extensions alone will not ruin your lashes,” she says. “Damage to the natural lashes is the result of improper application, or the stylist not selecting the correct type of lash for an existing natural lash.” She notes that there are a few things that can contribute to this problem, including
Stressing about “anti-nutrients” might sabotage your healthy diet
June 04, 2019 at 12:22PM by CWC Sometimes when I’m scanning a food label, I feel like I need a dietitian on speed dial who can tell me exactly what I should eat and what to avoid. Lately, a certain compound commonly found in foods like spinach, apples, oat milk, and coffee is causing causing widespread confusion. “Anti-nutrients are found in foods that block the absorption of nutrients like protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, and vitamins,” says registered dietitian and You Versus Food host Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, RD. “This label assumes that these foods are harmful to the human body, when in fact many of our most nutritious foods—vegetables, fruits—are full of anti-nutrients. These foods are what you should be eating!” In other words, the prefix “anti-” carries a negative connotation, giving anti-nutrients an undeserved bad reputation. Under the umbrella of anti-nutrients are specific compounds found in everything from nuts to cucumbers to french fries and beyond. More specifically, anti-nutrients include lectins (which interfere with absorption of calcium, iron, phosphorus, and zinc), phytates (which block iron, zinc, magnesium and calcium), tannins (which halt the absorption of iron), and protease inhibitors (which break down protein), among others. “This label assumes that these foods are harmful to the human body, when in fact many of our most nutritious foods—vegetables, fruits—are full of anti-nutrients.” —Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, RD At face value, all that info kind of sounds like the side effects listed in a pharmaceutical commercial. There’s a problem with thinking about these foods in such
Well+Good TALKS: One-Stop Wellness Is Putting Your Healthy Life Under One Roof
June 04, 2019 at 12:07PM by CWC Living your best life should NOT mean you spend your precious self-care time and energy zig-zagging all over town to go to the gym, the acupuncturist, the health coach, the beauty bar, the meditation studio, and healthy cafe. Phew! Now, both newcomers and bold-face brands are capturing the stress-reducing brilliance of a one-stop-shop approach by housing multiple aspects of your wellness routine under one roof. Less commuting, more wellness. EVENT DETAILS Wednesday, June 19, 2019 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Location: Made by We | 902 Broadway, New York, NY 10010 THE PANEL Melisse Gelula | Co-Founder of Well+Good Melisse is the Co-Founder of Well+Good, an award-winning media company, which reaches an audience of 12 million monthly, and an internationally recognized wellness expert. Recently Melisse spearheaded the curation of the first-ever Well+Good cookbook, Well+Good: 100 Healthy Recipes + Expert Advice for Better Living (Clarkson Potter, April 2019), which features the go-to recipes of 100 healthy luminaries from Venus Williams and Gabrielle Bernstein to Dr. Mark Hyman. Kate Flannery | Head of Community + Partnerships at Athleta Kate is a marketing and communications expert of 20+ years who leads Community and Partnerships at Athleta. She connects Athleta with the people and brands that embody Athleta’s mission to ignite a community of active, healthy, confident women and girls who uplift one another to reach their limitless potential. As part of the team that launched Wellness Collective, Kate is driven by Athleta’s ability to make wellness
There are 294 million yoga videos on YouTube—these are the best ones for lower back pain
June 04, 2019 at 11:50AM by CWC What is clear from hours spent hunched over my computer and doing some pro-level slouching while relaxing at night is this: My posture sucks for the majority of the day, resulting in pain and knots in my lower back. While the aches can be combated through certain exercises, my favorite way to help stretch things out involves nothing more than mat and a handful of yoga twists. “Twisting poses will help restore your spine’s natural range of motion and stimulate circulation,” writes Julie Gudmestad, physical therapist and yoga teacher. “Many people lose full spinal rotation in the course of living a sedentary lifestyle. If you don’t lengthen the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and connective tissues to their full length at least a few times a week, they will gradually shorten and limit the nearby joint’s mobility.” According to Gudmestad, practicing yoga twists regularly will help prevent these problems from occurring, as well as improve how your body feels and moves every day. Basically, they’re just as important as your workouts, and reaping the benefits doesn’t require nearly as much time. Whether you stick with simple spinal twists for a few minutes or follow along with in-depth restorative videos, these are the best options on YouTube to help you beat your back pain for good. Try these 6 yoga twist videos for the ultimate lower back pain relief: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgQaILIiyO0] 1. If you only have 10 minutes In this video, you’ll be taken through a series
The Navy SEAL secret to crushing your fitness goals
June 04, 2019 at 11:49AM by CWC I love (like, adore) whipping out my gel pens, grabbing a spare note pad, and color-coding the reps, sets, and circuits of my workouts. There are so many way to structure exercise regimens. I’ve tried the 5-4-3-2-1 method, ladder workouts, sprint interval training—the list goes on. But one look at a Navy SEAL workout routine reveals that pyramid training is yet another I need to add to my fitness to-do list. As the name suggests, this pattern for structuring your strength training involves reaching the pinnacle of your physical abilities. The blog A Shot of Adrenaline explains that Navy SEALs use pyramid training to get shredded with push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups, but it’s not strictly for the upper body. You can use it to work any—or every!—muscle group. Step one? Memorizing the ins and outs of the workout. Let’s DO this. How to build a pyramid training workout There are 10 levels in pyramid training. Each level dictates how many reps of push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups (or your move trio of choice) you need to do. You’ll need to assign either 1, 2, or 3 reps to each exercise, then multiply each one by the level (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) to see your prescribed number of reps. Eventually, the goal is to make it to level 10 then work your way back down to level one, but take it easy when you’re first getting started. As an
Why Vitamin B12 is essential for lifting your mood and energy
June 04, 2019 at 10:59AM by CWC The vitamin B12 craze has been around for years, which is no easy feat in the wellness world where there’s a hot new supplement launch every single week. (Borage oil, anyone?) But the B-vitamin has successfully held its ground as an elite-status ingredient thanks to its many researched-backed benefits. “B12 is involved in many critical processes in the body such as supporting nerve cell function, making DNA, metabolism, and the formation of red blood cells,” says Jillian Kubala, MS, RD. “And it can’t be made in the body, so it must be obtained through the foods that we eat.” Those foods include animal products like eggs, meat, poultry, and dairy. If you’re not getting enough from your diet (or you don’t eat animal foods), most experts recommend turning to a B12 supplement, since a deficiency (while rare) can be serious. “Symptoms of a chronic, severe B12 deficiency can include serious side effects such as neurological damage, memory loss, and depression,” Kubala says. “If B12 deficiency progresses, it may lead to neurological disturbances, difficulty balancing, dementia, confusion, and irreversible neurological damage in severe cases.” In the short term, having low levels of B12 could lead to a lack of energy, depressed feelings, anxiety, shortness of breath, and tingling hands and feet. In other words, if you have an inkling that you may be deficient in B12, make an appointment with your doctor to get your levels checked—stat. Folks who eat plant-based or vegan diets
The best investment you can make this summer is a $40 swimsuit from Target
June 04, 2019 at 09:59AM by CWC Listen: We’ve all seen the memes, and we all know it’s legitimately impossible to walk into Target and not walk out with like, 25 things you don’t need—I once hit the store for quick re-up of toilet paper and La Croix, and walked out with four new pairs of earrings and an entirely new set of bedding. But now that summer is here, I’d go so far as to argue that we all need (or at least, deserve?) to treat ourselves to a new bathing suit—especially when they cost under $40. My first real foray into Target’s incredible swimwear collection was in 2009, shortly before spring break my senior year of college (what up, Puerto Vallarta?!). My friends and I, dying for new bathing suits to wear on our trip, hauled out to the suburbs 45 minutes outside of our college town and went totally ham on everything the big box store had to offer. I wound up taking home three new bikinis for less than $100, and 10 years later I still wear two of them on the reg. So not only are Target’s bathing suits cute and wildly affordable, but they’re also durable as hell. In honor of the fact that beach-pool-rooftop season is here, we rounded up the best picks from Target’s swimwear selection—each of which you can get for under 430. Photo: Target Xhilaration Animal Print Women’s Lace-Up Back Bralette Bikini Top ($15) and Bottom ($15) The bathing suit equivalent
We’ve lost individuality in our beauty routines, and it’s time to reclaim it
June 04, 2019 at 09:26AM by CWC “This is what my face looks like.” It’s a phrase that had been spinning around in my head for the better part of the past year as I ponder the true job of beauty in our lives. It’s the opinion of this website, for example, that beauty is something that should inspire confidence via creative expression, that it should call you to try, test, play, and that whatever you swipe on should be in the spirit of feeling even more like yourself. But it shouldn’t make you feel bad. It shouldn’t be a chore. It shouldn’t feel as though you’re shedding natural-born signatures to become the ideal. And yet with an expanding empire of Instagram aesthetics (no longer confined to makeup alone, the wonder now extends to fitness, skin care, infinity), beauty inspiration can feel frozen in a FaceTuned, filtered lens that caters more to mass appeal than individual quirks. As we know, other cultures have actively lauded the latter for their ability to evoke emotion, like the French insouciance that seems so elusive on this side of the Atlantic. In Korea, the “escape the corset” movement has women risking their careers by rejecting restrictive beauty standards. In America, we laud foundation launches in dazzling 40-shade ranges and skin care with cleaner ingredients while the demand for Lolita-esque youth and robotic perfection has become such a streaming constant that it sneaks beneath the radar like white noise—until you’re hit with that fog horn
This abortion transportation service makes choice possible for hundreds of women
June 04, 2019 at 08:37AM by CWC A slew of state-level laws limiting access to reproductive health care have prompted devastating headlines in recent weeks. It’s 2019, and yet the concept of reproductive freedom is under attack. At the same time, organizations large and small have stepped forward with a counter punch. Together, they form a network with a unified agenda: To make sure everyone—no matter location, socio-economic status, race, or gender identity—can take ownership of their own reproductive health. Since August 2018, the New York-based staff at The Brigid Alliance has been working with organizations throughout the U.S. to provide travel support to anyone seeking abortions after the first trimester. Through a referral program, The Brigid Alliance provides transportation to those seeking treatment from providers who specialize in later abortion care in Washington, D.C.; Bethesda, Maryland; Boulder, Colorado; and Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Brigid Alliance shows solidarity and allegiance to its own mission, but the core of its strategy relies on collaboration with every reproductive health care organization in the United States. Odile Schalit, LMSW, serves as director of the nonprofit organization. I spoke with her on Friday to discuss the the gaps it seeks to fill in reproductive health care, and why abortion is—and always will be—a “necessary, life-saving, inextricable” human right. What is The Brigid Alliance? “The Brigid Alliance is a nonprofit organization that provides travel and logistical support to individuals who have to go long distances to access later abortion care. We provide this service to