February 20, 2019 at 11:59AM by CWC While it may not generate as much buzz as the latest diet craze or workout, a big part of wellness is empowering yourself—and others. And when it comes to self-love and empowerment, no one does it quite like Rihanna. There may have been a time when Rihanna had the singular job description of pop star. Now, she’s a mogul (talk about work work work work work). Not only has she single-handedly sparked a revolution to make the beauty industry more inclusive, she’s doing the same with the fashion industry, too. (Plus, she’s gave us “Umbrella.” And “Pon de Replay.” And basically every great song ever.) On her birthday, let’s take a moment to celebrate this icon, shall we? 1. She made diversity in makeup a must for every brand. The launch of Fenty Beauty, which includes 40 different foundation colors, led to widespread change in the beauty industry—raising to bar to a higher, more inclusive standard. (Now, other brands like Smashbox and CoverGirl have joined the 40 shades club.) Rihanna didn’t just slap her name on a makeup line; she perfected it and made sure people with a very wide variety of skin tones were well-represented. 2. Her size-inclusive lingerie is empowering more women to feel sexy. Rihanna is sexy, plain and simple, so launching a lingerie line wasn’t exactly off-base for her. But what made the launch of Savage X Fenty so great was its wide range of sizes offered. The collection’s bra sizes range
Category: Fashion
Cork insoles made post-workout stiff legs a thing of the past for me
February 20, 2019 at 07:00AM by CWC I’ve always been jealous of people who can wear minimalist running sneakers. Not only do they look cool, they can add a myriad of benefits to your workout. And yet, because of the fun combo of high arches and super pronation that I was #blessed with, I’ve always believed that I need something with a lot more support when I head out for a run. Except maybe with the help of cork insoles, I actually don’t. When a pair of Tread and Butter Cork Insoles ($60) came across my desk, I started researching them, and as it happens these insoles are meant to help add stability to otherwise barely-there sneakers. But considering running in pared-down shoes has created calf pain for me in the past, I asked Priya Parthasarathy, DPM of the American Podiatric Medical Association for her opinion about wearing them on a run. “Cork insoles are naturally shock resistant and they provide cushioning while running. Cork is naturally breathable, they contour to your feet, they are lighter, and they absorb moisture,” she says. “As a runner you need increased shock absorption when your feet strike hard surfaces to prevent shin splints.” She also notes that cork can be a good option because they are sturdier than other insert materials, like gel or plastic, and the thickness can lift the heel and take pressure off of the achilles tendon. However, Dr. Parthasarathy explains, there are some cork-related cons worth pointing out. “Cork is thick and takes up a lot of
More fashion brands are jumping on the size inclusive bandwagon, here’s how to tell which ones are legit
February 19, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC Last September, online retailer Nasty Gal announced that it was “finally joining the party” and dropping its first ever extended-size capsule collection, offering its signature silk minidresses and high-waisted jeans in sizes 0-18. While this news did garner a lot of double-taps, many other women in the plus-size community quickly made it clear that they were not RSVP-ing “yes” to the retailer’s invite. That’s because, they argued, a line that’s truly made for every woman would go way beyond an 18. (That’s the size of the average American woman in 2019, FYI.) “A 25 piece collection that goes up to size 18 is not inclusive by any stretch of the imagination,” said Twitter user Casey McCormick. “Do better so you can take our money.” Another Twitter user, The Killerqueen, added: “Why isn’t the tagline ‘We’re finally jumping on a bandwagon we don’t actually care about’?” Nasty Gal quickly responded by saying that this collection was its “first step towards creating extended sizing options,” and it’s since started offering select pieces up to size 20. To be fair, going from straight sizing into plus sizes isn’t a simple endeavor for a brand—it requires specialized design and manufacturing expertise, not to mention lots of time spent getting the fit of each garment just right. It’d make sense for Nasty Gal to test the waters with a limited range of extended sizes before diving in head-first, if that’s what they were, indeed, doing. But the backlash against
It’s common to get headaches after your runs—here’s why
February 18, 2019 at 08:01AM by CWC After a particularly grueling run, soreness in your legs is pretty much a given, but every once in a while when I’m pounding the pavement, my head starts pounding too, and I wind up with a headache after running. A quick Google search confirms that I’m not the only one who this happens to. But…why? While there are a number of reasons your head might start hurting while you’re logging miles, you first need to understand what’s going on at a biological level. “The blood pressure will increase as you exercise and the tension within the narrowed blood vessels and arterial walls can cause headaches,” explains Rich Velazquez, COO and Coach at Mile High Run Club. And generally, it’s NBD, aside from the fact that a headache can really kill your post-run endorphins. “Acute headaches without any other symptoms are generally okay,” he says, “However if they consistently happen or are often accompanied with nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, or even congestion, a physician should be consulted.” Here, the pros lay out why you may have a headache after running, and what you can do to prevent it, and how you can keep it from totally killing your runner’s high. The cause: low blood sugar When you run, your body burns a lot of sugar—which is why carbo-loading before a marathon is such a common practice. But if your blood sugar levels get too low, you’ll start to feel the effects in your head. “Any time the body detects low
What this acupuncturist wants you to know before going all-in with medicinal herbs and mushrooms
February 18, 2019 at 07:00AM by CWC There’s this place in LA where you can literally drink the extract of a mountain ant, which has adaptogenic properties and can give you an energy boost. I know this, because I did a shot of mountain ant in the name of wellness. (And so I could post about it on Instagram. I am a monster. Let’s move on.) It didn’t actually taste bad, there was just kind of an ick factor. It made me feel a little tingly, like I’d just taken a scoop of pre-workout. TBH, I wasn’t really expecting it to do much. That’s one of the weird things about medicinal herbs and mushrooms (and, well, ant extracts): Because they’re not prescribed by a traditional doctor, it can feel like they’re safe and totally fine to take however we want. We treat them as a way to cure or help with ailments, but aren’t concerned about the side effects because they are “natural.” It’s a strange dichotomy. The natural wellness market has boomed in the last 20 years. My local coffee shop has even started selling medicinal mushroom elixirs. But before you go playing doctor and dabbling with these natural herbs and potions, there are a few things you should know. I enlisted the help of Elizabeth Trattner, A.P., L.Ac., Dipl. Ac., NCCAOM, a doctor of Chinese and integrative medicine. Consider this your primer on what to know before adding medicinal herbs and mushrooms into your wellness routine. “Natural” is still
BRB, I need these chic French sneakers that are made from corn (yes, corn)
February 18, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC I used to be aesthetically opposed to sneakers, which is weird because I had absolutely no qualms about wearing sequined Uggs. Thankfully, my tastes have evolved. At this point, it’s incredibly likely that I’m wearing sneakers on any given day. They’re comfortable, functional, and add a certain I’m-super-chill vibe to virtually any outfit. (Spoiler alert: I’m not, but I like to give the appearance that I am.) And while I love a chunky dad sneaker as much as the next person, I’ve been enamored with the sleek lines of French sneaker brand Veja ever since I saw Emma Watson wearing a pair a couple of years ago. (Also, Meghan Markle was seen wearing the brand. Hashtag need.) Now, the sustainable shoe company’s done the seemingly impossible: Made corn—a vegetable most known for getting stuck in your teeth—into a sleek, stylish sneaker. (That A-plus alliteration was deliberate.) So how did corn—again, a generally messy vegetable that our bodies can’t even properly digest—become such a chic shoe? I mean, look at these. Would you ever think corn? No. But corn, as it turns out, is a really durable and sustainable material for manufacturing shoes. “Campo is made from a canvas waxed with 50 percent corn waste from the food industry—the husks that humans do not eat—mixed with polyurethane,” explains Veja’s co-founder Sébastien Kopp, who started the brand with François Morillion. Polyurethane (or PU), in case you were wondering, is a leather alternative. Photo: Veja Together,
Yoga pants made Lululemon founder Chip Wilson a billionaire—why isn’t he more grateful to the women who wear them?
February 17, 2019 at 07:00AM by CWC Chip Wilson; Photo: Andrea Mestrovic (Very Polite Agency) Chip Wilson is his own employee of the month. Right there on his website, you can see a portrait of his smiling face, set within a cheap wooden frame and festooned with a gold star bearing the accolade. But in his colorful new memoir, Little Black Stretchy Pants: The Unauthorized Story of Lululemon (LBSP), the controversial Lululemon Athletica founder makes clear that, beyond ostensibly putting himself above his actual employees, he also feels superior to many of the women who wear the brand’s hundred-dollar yoga pants that have made him a multibillionaire. LBSP is dripping with contempt for the “non-athletic, smoking, Diet-Coke drinking woman in a New Jersey shopping mall wearing an unflattering pink velour track suit” who may now reach for a pair of Lulus. As he tells it, the irreverent Wilson is the star of Lululemon’s success story. And by extension, he also sees himself as the victim of what he understands to be the athleisure company’s fall from greatness to mass-market mediocrity since he resigned as chairman in 2013. If newer employees continue to find the culture refreshing, Wilson explains, it’s only because “Lululemon is living on the fumes” of its former glory. In this way, Wilson’s 400-plus-page volume often reads like a screed. It’s worth your time, however, because for all Wilson’s outrage at what the innovative company he created has become (and there’s a lot of outrage), he is still Lululemon’s largest individual shareholder,
What to wear to hot yoga so you don’t overheat (or recreate your slip ‘n’ slide days)
February 17, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC I am a generally sweaty person. (BRB gonna go update my Bumble profile with that sexy line.) I don’t know why, exactly, this is. I just know that all it takes is one inchworm and I’m leaving sweaty handprints everywhere. So, naturally, hot yoga is a particularly damp affair (Wet? Moist? There aren’t really any non-gross synonyms for sweaty.) Even if you’re not prone to sweat theatrics like I am, being confined in a heated room and doing chaturangas is bound to make you perspire. A lot. If you’re not wearing the right attire, there are two general outcomes. One, you feel like you’re on a slip ‘n’ slide of your own sweat, which is a terrible but accurate visual. Two, you get so overheated that you feel the urge to, and I’m paraphrasing the poet Nelly here, take off all your clothes because it’s so hot in here. So what is the right attire for hot yoga? Here are the insider recs from instructors with serious sweat cred. Photo: Getty Images/PeopleImages 1. Leggings If you only take one thing away from this article, let it be that you need moisture-wicking clothing for hot yoga. Bonus points if it’s also antimicrobial. “If you’re dripping in sweat, you want your workout clothes to absorb the moisture which will reduce the chance of sweat stains, dry quickly and decrease odor,” Ava Johanna, an international yoga and meditation instructor and breathwork facilitator, says. She’s a fan
How to make a chakra bracelet that will balance your look (and possibly, your energy)
February 16, 2019 at 10:00AM by CWC Sure, a solid-gold ring stack or a chunky chain necklace can bring balance to your outfit—making, say, your slouchiest sweatpants feel brunch-appropriate. But can they also harmonize your chakras? Doubt it, which is where crystal jewelry comes in. It’s thought that crystals’ molecules vibrate at restorative frequencies that our bodies can pick up on, which is why many people use them for energy healing purposes. “Much like tuning forks, crystals work with the principle of sympathetic resonance,” explains Mariah K. Lyons, the crystal healer, herbalist, and reiki master behind high-vibe gemstone footwear line Astara. “As they hold and radiate a specific harmonic frequency, the body responds and aligns itself to that healing frequency. When we wear or place crystals on our body, our energetic field is able to respond accordingly and realign with balance and harmony.” And since chakras are believed to be vortexes of concentrated energy within us—each one connected to certain aspects of our bodies and lives—crystals are considered a powerful tool in correcting imbalances within these chakras. Not sure if your chakras are out of whack? Hate to break it to you, but if you’re a human living in the world today, they almost definitely are. “Chakras can fall out of balance from stress, fear, neglect, stagnation, [past or present] trauma, accidents, emotional wounds, and environmental triggers,” says Lyons. One way to bring your chakras back into alignment, metaphysical experts claim, is to keep a crystal (or several) on you
7 bras for small breasts—and no, none of them are push-ups
February 16, 2019 at 04:00AM by CWC Things people with small boobs are sick of hearing: You’re so lucky, you can probably just go without a bra all the time. First of all, thanks for the reminder that your boobs are so full and dense that you simply must wear a breast cage to confine them. Second, yes, we are fully aware that having big boobs comes with its own set of issues. Third, all boobs are beautiful. Full stop. To help address some of the common issues women with smaller chests face when doing something as intimate (get it? ba-dum-cha) as bra shopping, I consulted Michelle Lam, founder of True&Co, and Helena Stuart, founder of Only Hearts, for their tips. “The most common issue small-breasted women have when bra shopping is the pressure to push up,” Stuart says. “Lots of brands think the best option for small breasts is to create volume, leaving women with few choices other than gaping cups or cups filled with foam padding.” Hear ye, hear ye. How many of you have been down that road before while bra shopping? Instead, she recommends avoiding a full-overage bra (which can make your breasts seem smaller and overwhelm a small frame), and opt for one with stretch in the cups or a strappy bralette in a triangle shape. “Lots of brands think the best option for small breasts is to create volume, leaving women with few choices other than gaping cups or cups filled with foam padding.”