February 28, 2020 at 02:00AM by CWC A lot of things have happened in the last 150 years: two turns of century, 28 presidents, and six Beyoncé albums, to name a few. And Vaseline has been a fixture in peoples bathrooms and beauty bags through all of it. The beauty balm was invented in 1872—which, to put it into perspective, was nine years before the advent of electricity—and has held a spot as a drugstore best-seller pretty much ever since. Even as recently as this week, sales of the mini Crème Brûleé-flavored version are up 3,000 percent on Amazon. As you might guess, there’s a good reason that it’s been so well-loved for so, so long. Dermatologists refer to Vaseline as the “Swiss Army Knife” of beauty products because of its vast number of uses. It’s made with pure petroleum jelly, an oil-based occlusive that helps seal in hydration—it’s what dry skin’s dreams are made of. “This non-irritating, barrier-sealing product is a great option for preventing chapped lips, soothing irritated skin, and even treating skin clean wounds,” board-certified dermatologist Tsippora Shainhouse, MD, previously told Well+Good.“With no potential for skin allergy, it protects the skin by creating an artificial (and protective) skin barrier that holds in moisture, allowing the skin to heal.” And though it might feel greasy when you apply, it’s miraculously been shown not to clog pores, which means it can be used on oil and acne-prone skin, too. Over the years, beauty pros have schooled us in dozens of different ways
Category: Beauty
If you’re not ‘descaling’ your coffee maker, prepare to be grossed out
February 28, 2020 at 01:00AM by CWC I hate to break it to you, but your coffee maker is probably pretty icky. From the outside, it looks nice and shiny sitting on your counter—but if you were to look inside, there’s a good chance you’d never want to sip your coffee ever again. According to microbiologist Jason Tetro, author of The Germ Code, if you don’t deep-clean your coffee machine, it’s going to be loaded with germs. There’s no doubt about it. “If they aren’t cleaned regularly, they quickly become gross,” he says. One survey found coffee reservoirs are one of the germiest places in a home, with 50 percent containing yeast and mold. Unfortunately, simply rinsing your machine with hot water isn’t going to cut it when it comes to cleaning. If you really want to ensure you’re cleaning the inside of the machine where mold and build-up forms, your best bet is learning how to descale a coffee maker, which removes the mineral build-up and coffee oil residue. It not only makes your coffee taste better, but also keeps your coffee maker top-notch for longer. The good news is there are products that can help you get the job done. One of the most highly-rated options on the market is the Urnex Coffee Machine Cleaning Powder ($8), which is dissolved in water then brewed like normal, allowing it to work its magic all throughout the inside of the coffee maker. You can also use something that’s already in your
Use the Gottman Institute’s Anger Iceberg to resolve conflict more quickly
February 27, 2020 at 05:00PM by CWC Anger in a relationship reduces us all to toddlers. You know what I mean—tantrums, tears, screaming, throwing clothes out the window, and then having nap. Anger isn’t an invalid feeling, but seeing the Anger Iceberg in time will keep your relationship from sinking faster than the Titanic. The Gottman Institute‘s Anger Iceberg suggests we visualize anger as—you guessed it—an iceberg. Above the water, all you can see is a small chunk of ice you’ll happily crash your relationship into (that’s anger). Below the surface, though, we hide more sensitive, vulnerable feelings like jealousy, fear, or sadness. “Almost always anger is a sign, a symptom, that underneath we really afraid, afraid that something has is threatening our well being and we feel vulnerable and scared,” says relationship therapist Tammy Nelson, PhD. “When someone cuts us off on the highway, we might flip them the bird or scream and yell or experience a flood of anger. Swear words we didn’t even know we knew tumbling out of our mouths. But the split second before all that road rage? We feel fear. Fear that we’ll smash into that car, that our safety will be at risk, that we would lose our physical well being, that we’ll be killed.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Gottman Institute (@gottmaninstitute) on Feb 25, 2020 at 8:01am PST //www.instagram.com/embed.js In essence, you can translate that toward getting angry at your partner. We use as a
Calm versus Headspace: The 3 best ways to use each leading meditation app
February 27, 2020 at 03:00PM by CWC A few years back, a close friend gifted me Yumi Sakugawa’s There Is No Right Way to Meditate: a doodle-filled love letter to meditation that’s basically a mindfulness picture book. As much as I love what’s inside its pages, the book’s title itself has always struck me as the most profound nugget it offers. That is, when it comes to meditation, there’s no single right way to go about it. I’ve taken that notion to heart as I’ve allowed myself to explore methods of mindfulness that don’t necessarily involve sitting on a cushion: Enter, the booming sector of meditation apps, where two specific apps—Calm and Headspace—have pulled ahead of the rest of the pack, as the only two top 10 apps in the Health & Fitness category of the AppStore focused on meditation. And while neither seems to be going anywhere, the question of deciding a winner between Calm versus Headspace is tricky to answer, especially for someone like me who swears by both for different reasons. Ten years after its 2010 founding, Headspace raised $93 million in new equity in February 2020. And as of February 2019, Calm (founded 2012) raised $88 million dollars. On paper, it would seem that the two are competitors, but it’s hard to classify one as “better” or more useful than the other. Doing so would be decidedly un-Zen, and—in the words of Sakugawa—there’s no right way to meditate. Furthermore, since both apps offer different but still-useful features,
Combine these two anti-inflammatory herbs to make the world’s most soothing face mask
February 27, 2020 at 01:00AM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDO5-cDa7jI] Whip up this soothing herbal face mask for soft skin in no time. Here’s how to make it. Whenever I get a facial (read: not as often as I should), the esthetician inevitably exclaims, “Wow, you have sensitive skin!” Meanwhile, my baby bro phrases the same sentiment another way: “Bahahah, you look like Rudolph!” (Siblings…amirite?) Both statements refer to the fact that my face is typically angry, inflamed, and as red as a stop sign. Fortunately, Supernatural founder Rachelle Robinett offers a solution to my woes in the latest episode of Well+Good’s video series Plant-Based: a DIY, skin-soothing face mask. As an herbalist, Robinett takes this home remedy far beyond the ubiquitous honey masks proliferating your YouTube feed by supercharging it with the legit healing powers of calendula, arnica, and more. “Calendula is known as a wound healer,” she says. “It helps to heal the epithelial lining, which is sort of a coating that goes around our skin and our glands and our organs and all these different parts of our body that are exposed to other surface or other environments.” Arnica, meanwhile, is an ingredient with which you might be familiar if you’re partial to natural remedies for aches and pains. “It’s a fantastic plant for topical use,” Robinett says. “The action of arnica comes from two different phytochemicals, which modify the action of immune cells, which in turn can kill bacteria and reduce inflammation.” This, she explains, can reduce swelling
Here’s how Sephora’s new CBD standards affect your skin-care regimen
February 26, 2020 at 10:25PM by CWC On Wednesday, makeup and skin-care distributor Sephora announced new standards for the CBD beauty products it sells in-store and online, making it the first national prestige retailer to do so. Certain CBD-specific retailers, like Standard Dose, spell out similar guidelines. “We’ve seen clients’ demand for transparency continue to grow, and it’s important to Sephora that we are a trusted resource,” Cindy Deily, vice president of merchandising and skin care at Sephora, tells Byrdie. “With the amount of products flooding the market, there can be confusion and mistrust.” Take a look at the Sephora CBD standards: Inclusion of only full- or broad-spectrum CBD from U.S. grown hemp CBD must be tested at least three times for quality and purity A Certificate of Analysis (COA) that verifies the CBD content matches any label claims must be available upon request All products must meet Sephora’s Clean at Sephora standards While these regulations are an important step in the right direction, it doesn’t guarantee that these products actually work, says Adam Friedman, MD, a dermatologist and professor of dermatology at George Washington University. “These are just quality assurance measures that you’re getting what you’re paying for,” he says. “We need science to prove that a certain concentration delivered in a certain way works.” CBD is often sought out in beauty products for its potential ability to fight inflammation. “CBD has been shown to have a soothing effect on the skin, and has been used in the treatment of
Wear foundation? Dermatologists don’t go a day without recommending this one
February 26, 2020 at 09:00AM by CWC The idea that foundation is inherently at odds with your skin is officially dead. We now know that most of the current offerings won’t do anything bad (or anything at all, really) to your pores, and that many modern formulas actually offer skin-care benefits. In other words, as long as you wash your makeup off at the end of the day, your skin will likely remain happy, healthy, and unbothered. But while there are plenty of “good” foundations on the market as far as skin is concerned, according to dermatologists there’s only one that’s earned a spot as “the best.” Dermablend Cover Creme ($39) currently holds the crown for the number one most dermatologist-recommended foundation, a title that makes sense given the brand’s history. It was developed in 1981 by dermatologist Craig Roberts, MD, and his wife, makeup artist Flori Roberts, as a way to provide people with high-performing, dermatologically-savvy cosmetic coverage that worked for all skin types, tones, and conditions. In the last three decades, the products have become known for their long-lasting, color-correcting capabilities. And just as the creators hoped, these have become the go-to choice for anyone looking to even out significant discoloration and textural concerns on their skin. Photo: Dermablend Dermablend Cover Creme, $39 Dermablend offers four different facial foundations—a cream, two liquids, and a powder—each of which gives high-impact coverage while still being kind to all skin types. “All our foundation formulas are non-comedogenic, and developed specifically to
The best sex hits all 4 phases of the sexual response cycle—not just orgasm
February 26, 2020 at 08:30PM by CWC My boyfriend doesn’t orgasm. He does this—or rather, doesn’t do it—by choice. At first, this was uncomfortable for me, as I thought it meant he wasn’t enjoying himself; however, he says it allows him to extend the other phases of the sexual experience, which enhances the whole situation for us both. After getting used to the whole no-finish thing, I’d have to say I’m now converted to his method. TMI, but often we cycle through the other three phases of sexual response multiple times in a night. (Well, I hit all four usually, but him only hitting three allows us to rinse and repeat until we fall asleep or die.) I know, I know… I picked a winner, as many men think there are at most two phases of sexual response: excitement and orgasm. You’d be forgiven for thinking that, too, as neither formal sex education nor porn features much else. Jess O’Reilly, PhD, host of the @SexWithDrJess Podcast, covers the phases of sexual response in her Mindful Sex E-Course. “Early sex researchers [William H.] Masters and [Virginia E.] Johnson divided the sexual response cycle into four sections: excitement, plateau, orgasm and resolution,” she explains. “Helen Singer-Kaplan [later] proposed a three-phase model (desire, excitement and orgasm), noting that sexual response is also cognitive and psychological.” Others, she said, have since added “anticipation” to this updated model. Before we delve into the details of each phase, Dr. O’Reilly notes that each sexual experience is
Well+Good TALKS: How Women are Advancing the Wellness Start-up Space
February 26, 2020 at 08:24PM by CWC Female entrepreneurs are leading the way in wellness—launching and scaling innovative, sustainable companies (and workplace cultures) that are disrupting conventional industries. Alexia Brue, Well+Good’s co-founder, will moderate this special conversation in honor of Women’s History Month. You will learn from three founders & CEOs at various stages of their entrepreneurial journeys—from early boot-strapped days to proof of concept to scaling quickly with venture funding. You’ll hear in-the-trenches stories from visionary founders about what it takes to build your own business, from tools and skills to temperament and funding. EVENT DETAILS Tuesday, March 24, 2020 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Location: WeWork Now | 902 Broadway, New York, NY 10010 THE PANEL Sarah Larson Levey | Founder + CEO, Y7 Studio Sarah Larson Levey is the founder and CEO of Y7 Studio, which she created at age 26 to answer her desire for a yoga experience other than the traditional practices available to her. Since launching in 2013, Y7 has been breaking down the barriers of yoga, making it accessible and inclusive (all while flowing to the latest beats), and it has expanded to a national business with studios across New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Her industry-disrupting efforts earned her a spot on Create & Cultivate’s 100 for 2020 and Entrepreneur’s 100 Most Powerful Women for 2019, among other honors and awards. Elisa Shankle | Co-Founder, HealHaus Elisa Shankle married her love for design (she holds an interior design degree from Pratt Institute) with her passion
The fittest Americans do 5 different workouts a week, because variety is the sporty spice of life
February 26, 2020 at 01:00PM by CWC Indulge me in a thought experiment, and pretend (just pretend!) that you had to eat the same meal every single day, three times a day. Even if it was, like, the best stir-fry in human history, you’d probably get sick of it—and fast. New research shows that the same logic goes for your exercise schedule. In fact, the fittest of them all find a way to do five different types of workouts per week. Published recently in the journal Translational Behavioral Medicine, the study analyzed the workout habits of more than 9,800 participants who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2003 and 2006. After parsing through all the data, Susan Malone, PhD, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of nursing at New York University, found that the more varieties of exercise participants enjoyed, the more they fulfilled the United States exercise recommendations and the fitter they were overall. “When encouraging their patients to exercise, clinicians should not just ask about frequency, but also what types of physical activities their patients do. They may even suggest engaging in a variety of activities,” Malone said in a news release,” said Dr. Malone in a news release shared by U.S. News and World Report. Like the lesson you learned from day-of-the-week underwear of your youth, it really is best to freshen things up every 24 hours or so. And thus, it’s time to start dabbling in modalities you thought