April 18, 2019 at 02:00AM by CWC New York City’s Lower East Side isn’t exactly known for being calm and peaceful, but it’s also one of the best areas to stay if you want to experience the authentic culture, nightlife, and food scenes the city has to offer. So what’s a mindful traveler to do? Sister City, a new wellness-focused hotel in a former Salvation Army building on the Bowery—one of the LES’s most iconic thoroughfares—opens in May and wants to make your Big Apple visit way more Zen. The newest property from Ace Hotel Group, which offers rooms starting at $199, is designed to make you feel “energized by the present moment, calm, comfortable, and well cared for,” says Kelly Sawdon, chief brand officer of Atelier Ace, the company’s in-house creative studio. One way the space aims to make good on that promise is through its collab with meditation app Headspace, officially launching today, Well+Good exclusively reports. The idea is that by outfitting each room with a Bang & Olufsen Beoplay speaker offering the Sleep by Headspace programming (sound and visualizations called Sleepcasts), you’ll be able to clock in great, restorative sleep rather than falling victim to the stress and sounds of the city keeping you up. “It’s so easy to get stressed when traveling, and so tempting to get lost in thought,” Headspace founder and CEO Andy Puddicombe tells me. “Mindfulness helps us to be more present in our life, so we feel less stressed and less distracted.”
Category: Fashion
What we’re all getting wrong about child’s pose—and how to fix it
April 17, 2019 at 11:55AM by CWC Sit on your knees, lower your forehead to your mat, walk your finger tips forward and send your weight into your heels. Voilà, you’re in child’s pose. The magic of this asana is in its simplicity, which is why I always feel so dumb when I can’t do it right. No matter how hard I press, my butt kind of just hovers above my heels. And all that pushing diminishes the bliss. Turns out, you can make a tiny tweak to really sink into balasana. Stop worrying about it. We push ourselves in so many areas of our lives, and child’s pose is about reaping the benefits of the work you’ve already done. Positioning your body in this manner is an intentional call for rest, reflection, and relaxation. “We always say child’s pose hips to heels and it doesn’t have to be that,” says Beth Cooke, celebrity yoga instructor at Sky Ting. “I grew up as a dancer and still when I made it to my yoga mat I was still super uncomfortable in the shapes because I was constantly thinking I wasn’t doing it right. Isn’t it so much cooler if you can just pay attention to what feels good and what doesn’t?” Cooke says the inability to sit on your heels is often due to injury, tight hips, a tight low back, or tight calves, among other causes. With time and practice, you’ll be able to sit further back. Finding the
Put off laundry one more week with this $7 “dry shampoo” for clothes
April 17, 2019 at 05:00AM by CWC Confession time: The only thing I hate more than washing my hair is washing my clothes. I mean, wearing them once doesn’t warrant a full spin cycle, right? And don’t even get me started on dry cleaning, because that stuff is e-x-p-e-n-s-i-v-e. Because of this, at any given moment, approximately 50 percent of my already-worn wardrobe lives in what I like to call the “in-between pile” on a chair in the corner of my bedroom. Said pile exists because I can’t bring myself to actually suds up my clothes after a single use, but I also can’t totally justify putting them back into my closet after they’ve already been worn. Super gross? Yes, 100 percent. I might be a complete troll about this type of thing, but in fairness, you would be too if you didn’t have a washing machine and had to schlep your laundry six blocks any time you wanted clean clothes (anyone? anyone?). Luckily for me and anyone else out there who has this type of complicated relationship with their laundry (please, for the love of the Internet, I hope I’m not the only one), Love Home and Planet recently released a new Dry Wash Spray ($7) that will help you get at least one extra wear out of your favorite going-out top without feeling (or smelling) disgusting. Touted as “dry shampoo for your clothes,” the spray helps you delay washing by spritzing your clothes with something sweet. While it’s undoubtedly
Where, oh where, have all the capri leggings gone?
April 17, 2019 at 02:00AM by CWC We are gathered here today to say farewell to the world’s most unflattering workout bottom: the capri legging. For journalistic integrity, I must disclose that I used to wear capri leggings to work out. I was but a young, impressionable college student on the cusp of discovering fashionable activewear and I would dance my way through Zumba in cotton capris. (That sentence is completely antithetical to who I am now.) Capris seemed to be, as Hannah Montana once said, the best of both worlds—less revealing than shorts, but cooler than full-on pants. They are not the best of any world, though. And luckily, one good thing we’re doing as a society is phasing these short leggings out of style. In L.A., you’d be hard pressed to find women wearing capri leggings. Step into The Studio (MDR), Y7, or any other boutique facility, and you’ll see women wearing leggings or biker shorts—and I have it on good authority that it’s the same in New York. Flipping through the new arrivals sections of the trendiest brands in workout clothing (think Year of Ours, P.E. Nation, and Alala) in a journalistic process I call “research” and also “shopping for myself,” I’m hard pressed to find tights in this egregious limbo length. Capri leggings, I want to be clear, are not the same as cropped leggings. This is a very important distinction. Capri leggings hit somewhere between your knee and mid-calf. Cropped leggings typically hit a couple
Make room for 18 healthy foods you should always buy at Costco
April 16, 2019 at 04:00PM by CWC Costco is an amusement park for adults. Sky-high shelves stacked with anything and everything you could ever want in life—to call it magical would be an understatement. The food section in particular is where I like to spend my time pushing around that oversized shopping cart, but you can shop online for plenty of healthy foods at Cosco. Unlike a typical grocery store, Costco allows you to get everything in bulk. Many of the products are organic and non-GMO and countless options focus on specific dietary needs, with products catered to those who are gluten-free, vegan, and low-carb and keto. This includes huge cases of spaghetti squash, bags of cauliflower rice almost too heavy to carry, and avocados that last twice as long. Costco also has essentials on hand for a fraction of the cost. Instead of spending $40 on a tiny container of high-quality Japanese matcha for your lattes, you can get a bag quadruple the size. Make room in the pantry for huge containers of kosher ground turmeric or organic plant-based protein powders loaded. If you want to go on a shopping spree without even having to leave your home, you’re in luck. These are some of the best food deals you can score right this second. Healthy food finds to shop at Costco Buy Now Kirkland Signature Organic Almond Beverage, 6-count $8.99 Buy Now Quaker Oats Old Fashioned Oatmeal, 2-count $9.49 Buy Now Kirkland Signature Organic Quinoa, 4.5 lbs $9.99
Why sitting still in your workout is just as effective as your sweatiest moves
April 16, 2019 at 12:08PM by CWC Whenever I’m getting my sweat on, I undoubtedly aim to move myself harder/bester/faster/stronger. I like to feel like I’m truly kicking my own butt, and leave my workout exhausted sore. Hence why any workout class that’s meant to move slowly—or even not at all—is super challenging for me (sup SLT?!). In actuality though, fitness trainers don’t necessarily say that you need to be going so hard to get the best results out of your workout. Enter “still” exercises, like yoga’s boat poses and Pilates’ hollow holds, which can give your sweaty moves a run for their money. “A still exercise is also known as an isometric exercise in the fitness industry,” says Autumn Calabrese, Beachbody super trainer and creator of 21 Day Fix. “Isometric exercises are beneficial because they don’t add a lot of extra impact to your joints and can be performed without any equipment. They’re good for building strength without impact or full range of motion, which is great for someone who’s recovering from an injury or just wants to take it easy on their joints.” You can make these moves even harder by adding weights, too. “This puts the muscle under tension for a longer period of time, which is what’s needed for gains in strength,” she adds. Of course, these muscle-blasting moves do come with certain limitations. “Isometric contraction only increases muscular strength in the exact position you’re engaging,” Calabrese explains. “So you need to perform various isometric exercises to
These foundations are so nice to skin, you might as well call them skin care
April 16, 2019 at 09:23AM by CWC Foundation used to have a pretty bad rap. Sure, it can conceal blemishes and even your skin tone, but it can also clog your pores, big time. But over the years, formulas have become more skin friendly and arguably less likely to cake up on your face and cause acne. Recently though, brands have taken things one step further with formulas that aren’t just “not bad” for your skin—they’re actually good for it. “Skin-care foundation” products have become increasingly common on beauty shelves, combining the coverage abilities of foundation with the skin-enhancing ones you’d expect from your usual serums and moisturizers. They’re packed with antioxidants (like vitamin C) and hydrating ingredients (like hyaluronic acid) to add a little extra somethin-somethin to your usual routine. “If you can only do one step, it’s better than just putting on foundation,” says Virginia-based dermatologist Lily Talakoub MD, noting that they’re great for people who want to save time in their routine or are looking to get slightly more bang for their buck out of a single product. “These hybrids usually have antioxidants, some of them have vitamin C, some of them have peptides, and a lot of them have sunscreens.” However, it’s worth keeping in mind these products shouldn’t necessarily replace your skin-care regimen (especially SPF!), but rather be put on top of it for a little extra boost. Here, we rounded up some of our favorite skin-care and foundation hybrids, which will make your skin
If your feet are constantly cramping during a workout, this could be behind it
April 15, 2019 at 11:46AM by CWC You know the feeling—you’re in the middle of a HIIT class and your foot starts cramping up after a round of squat jumps. What gives, right? Not only is it pretty uncomfortable to have to deal with in the moment, there’s also the matter of needing to get through the rest of the workout without totally having the rest of your body overcompensate for you. And honestly, you wouldn’t be alone to question why exactly your feet cramp up in the first place. According to experts, there’s not just one blanket reason that it happens, so being well versed in its causes can help you think on your toes if the time ever arises. Here are a few reasons why it’s so common when training to get foot cramps and what you can do to get rid of it fast and get back to kicking butt in your workout. Your arches aren’t supported If you’re wearing worn-out sneakers that don’t work well for your feet and arches, you might be missing the support needed to roam around on your feet with ease. “Most cramping is from a functional problem. Usually the arch of the foot is not being supported enough and the small muscles and ligaments are being overworked,” says Dana Canuso, MD a pediatric surgeon. This causes fatigue and then cramping within the foot. No matter what type of arch you have, your shoes should have some sort of support to hold
6 AHA body exfoliants that will melt away even the most stubborn dead winter skin
April 15, 2019 at 10:46AM by CWC As spring starts to show its lovely face, I’m starting to take off my layers of clothing. And as I do so, one thing is very evident: My skin is covered with scales and flakes from the dry winter that’s behind us. You’d probably mistake me for a White Walker from Game of Thrones, which is precisely why I’m reaching for exfoliating body products immediately. More specifically, I’m piling on the AHA-infused body products, because these guys literally melt away the layers of dead skin cells that are just cozily nestling on my arms and legs. A little skin-care refresher: “AHAs—or alpha hydroxy-acids—are fruit acids that exfoliate the skin to reveal new, younger skin cells beneath,” says Purvisha Patel, MD, board-certified dermatologist and founder of Visha Skincare. It’s not just a key ingredient for the skin on your face, either. Dr. Patel—well, and a plethora of beauty brands—praise its powers for your body, too, for a number of reasons. “They are good for sun spots or skin discoloration, clogged pores, acne-prone skin, and a great anti-aging ingredient,” she explains. “As you exfoliate the skin, collagen gets produced, so it helps with fine lines and wrinkles.” Or, you know, it also just literally dissolves the buildup of dead skin cells that have taken up residency on your body throughout the harsh winter months. Either way, it’s a good thing that so many skin-care brands have concocted AHA-spiked body serums and wipes and creams to
Walk down the aisle with confidence in one of these size-inclusive wedding dresses under $700
April 15, 2019 at 09:03AM by CWC The extended-sized fashion movement is well on its way to getting the kudos it deserves. Activewear companies like Nike, Beyond Yoga, and Girlfriend Collective have taken steps toward inclusivity. Now wedding attire, too, is increasingly comprehensive with its sizing. Leading the charge is Torrid, a cult-favorite fashion brand for women sizes 10-40, which recently dropped a wedding capsule collection. Each piece is both completely gorgeous and under $200. The collection includes 14 sassy and chic styles, in sizes 10-30, including off-the-shoulder dresses, waterfall skirts, and even unique patterns. With a beautiful collection of bridesmaid dresses and accessories, your closest friends will look fabulous, too. Knowing you’ll want to shop around, we scoured the web’s garment purveyors for affordable wedding dresses that says “I do” to size-inclusivity and budget-friendliness. Torrid, Sizes 10-30 Buy Now Ivory Lace Capelet Formal Gown $169 Buy Now Special Occasion White Lace Mini Dress $149 Buy Now Special Occasion Ivory Woven Skater Dress $109 Torrid’s line is stylized and graceful—with a twist. For the love of tulle, take a look at these gowns. David’s Bridal, Sizes 16W-30W Buy Now Plunging Lace Halter Plus Size Wedding Dress $540 Buy Now Embroidered Floral Tulle Plus Size Wedding Dress Style $508 Buy Now Ruffled Organza Plus Size Mermaid Wedding Dress $674 Alright, alright, so David’s Bridal is notorious for its beyond-corny Saturday morning television commercials. But the stunning necklines on these graceful silhouettes will almost make you forget all the eye-roll worthy love