February 23, 2020 at 05:00PM by CWC Not gonna lie: My eyebrows have always been my favorite feature. Usually, I just zhuzh them in the mornings with some brow gel, and I’m off. But in the name of really trying out a full-on, full brow (without having to draw it on each morning), I decided to pair a brow tinting and brow lamination in a single service. If you’ve lusted after really strong boy brows while scrolling Instagram lately, it’s likely that you’ve been admiring the effects of brow lamination. To get brow hairs to stand up in place and look full, they’re combed and a chemical gel is applied to them, kind of like a perm. Once that step is complete, brows are dyed using a colorant that makes them look more pronounced. Photo: Rachel Lapidos | Graphic: Well+Good Creative “A brow tint combined with the lamination is a dynamic duo,” says Josh Beeler, lash and brow specialist with Shen Beauty in Brooklyn. “The brow lamination redirects the hairs and pushes them in whatever direction you want. In most cases, that’s up so that the brow looks fuller. The brow tint also fluffs up the individual hairs to make them look a little puffier.” Often, the people who need this treatment have brows that just need a little extra love, and this one-two punch treatment helps to deliver. “Brows can appear spotty sometimes, or not as full in some areas as others, but a tint fills in those holes
Category: Beauty
Boost your immunity for $1 with this super easy 2-ingredient recipe
February 23, 2020 at 04:00PM by CWC When you get sick, you’ll do just about anything to feel like yourself again. Even if that means eating a piece of toast topped with raw garlic for breakfast. Now, let’s be real—that doesn’t sound like the most appetizing way to start the day. But when it comes to boosting your immunity, it’s nothing short of a recipe for success. Liz Moody, a writer and healthy living expert, recently shared her go-to $1 immune booster on Instagram. She eats garlic on toast once a day whenever she’s sick. The recipe is simple: All you need to do is chop 4 to 5 cloves of garlic (make your life easier by using this peeler!) and put it on sourdough toast “with a bit of butter or olive oil, a pinch of salt, and whatever herbs I have around, just to make it taste good,” she writes. The result is an intense garlic bread that’s (somehow) easy to stomach when when you’re at the peak of your cold or flu. So, what’s the secret to this toast’s ability to heal? After chopping the garlic, Moody lets it sit for 20 minutes before putting it on the bread in order to activate the allicin—a powerful antiviral and antibacterial compound found in garlic. And the tactic checks out. While garlic has been shown to provide many health benefits on its own, its the chopping that really unleashes its cold-fighting powers. View this post on Instagram
This is why it’s so hard to escape the ‘daytime blemish blues’
February 23, 2020 at 02:00PM by CWC This might be your first time hearing about the “daytime blemish blues,” but you probably already know exactly what it is. After waking up in the morning, everything looks top-notch: all that redness is gone, the zit that showed up a couple days ago is barely rearing its ugly (white)head, and any bumpiness in the skin is hardly detectable. Then as the day goes on, those blemishes become increasingly more visible. So why does skin look best after waking up? The daytime blemish blues is a term coined by a Reddit user who couldn’t help but ask the masses if they, too, experience the problem. Not surprisingly, others also chimed in about the changes that pop up in the mirror midday, saying they’ve been on the hunt for answers. According to Marisa Garshick, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City, it checks out—and answers you will receive. “Our skin is busy repairing itself overnight with increased cell repair and regeneration occurring, so there’s truth to ‘beauty sleep’ and waking up with great skin,” she says. “Overnight is also a time when skincare products have a chance to set in, so the skin reflects those benefits when you wake up.” (Although, if you’re using more aggressive products like retinol that can cause irritation, even so-called beauty sleep can’t leave you feeling bright and shiny every day.) Unfortunately, those benefits only last so long. Dr. Garshick says during the day, any build-up of dead
I’m a corrective exercise specialist, and this is how I detect imbalance in the body
February 23, 2020 at 12:00PM by CWC New York City-based trainer Tatiana Lampa, NASM, is a different kind of fitness expert. As a certified corrective exercise specialist, she prides herself on helping clients train with injury prevention at front of mind. And, a lot of times, she says that means identifying any muscle imbalance in the body that come along as her trainees get stronger and stronger. Then, making a plan of action for restoring balance. “More often than not, people will notice their imbalances at the gym,” says Lampa. “Once they start to work out they’ll realize that one leg is stronger than the other, or one arm is significantly weaker. I hear a lot of people say, ‘I have really bad balance’ or ‘my right arm is so much stronger than my left because I carry my kid in my right side.’” You’ll always have an underactive and an overactive side. For example, if you find that your right arm can handle a 20-pound bicep curl, but your left arm isn’t strong enough yet, your right side is overactive while your left side is underactive. That’s where Lampa comes in. Lampa’s ultimate guide for tackling imbalance in the body Step 1: Identify the cause of the imbalance Once you identify the part of your body that feels wonky, Lampa says it’s time to do a bit of detective work. How did it get there? What movement patterns are throwing your body out of whack? “These imbalances form because
The biggest myth about exercise and immunity has endured for 40 years, but it’s time to stop believing it
February 22, 2020 at 06:00PM by CWC The rumor mill recently told me that certain workouts (low-intensity and moderate-intensity) outpace their higher impact counterparts when it comes to strengthening immunity. Since flu season is on the brain, and I silently curse anyone who dares sneeze in my direction, I needed to know the cold, hard fitness truth: do certain types of exercise boost immunity, and which ones make it worse? In search of the answer to that very question, researchers in the 1980s followed up with runners of the Los Angeles Marathon to see how their immune systems fared following 26.2 miles. Many reported having infections, leading scientists to believe that strenuous forms of exercise hinder the immune system. For 40 years, that belief persisted. That is, until 2018 research published in the journal Frontiers of Immunology debunked it, concluding: “We have critically reviewed related evidence, and conclude that regular physical activity and frequent exercise are beneficial, or at the very least, are not detrimental to immunological health.” What a wild ride, right? Research, it seems, has been wishy-washy when it comes to discerning whether yoga is better for your immune system than, say, going for a run. So I asked two different doctors to give their take. First, I asked immunologist Tania Elliott, MD, an attending physician at NYU Langone Health. “High-impact workouts are more taxing on our bodies overall within a shorter increment of time,” says Dr. Elliot. “This means higher chances of injury, and very high stress on
Skin patches do way more than just bust zits these days
February 22, 2020 at 02:00PM by CWC First came the pimple patch. In the early days, these were made exclusively of hydrocolloid, a material that dates back to the 1970s and is celebrated for its ability to form an occlusive barrier over skin, while drawing pus and gunk from deep within pores. At its advent, it became a novel way to treat breakouts without having to slather on ointments and serums. Fast forward to years later, and now facial skin patches are a common way to help to deal with skin concerns aplenty, including dark spots, fine lines, and yes, pimples. On beauty shelves now, you can find patches that use microneedling technology to deliver active ingredients deeper into the skin, fight dark spots, give skin-smoothing benefits to other body parts, and even patches that proudly display the fact that you’ve got a pimple (rather than just blur it on the sly). New York-based board-certified dermatologist Marnie Nussbaum, MD, is a fan of patches because they’re “very user-friendly” and give your skin a targeted, pre-measured dose of an active ingredient right to the spot in question. Keep scrolling for the low-down on this new generation of skin patches that you can pop on for healthier, happier skin. Graphic: Well+Good Creative Microdart acne patches Microdart-style patches have teeny, tiny dissolvable “darts” that work like microneedling to deliver acne-fighting or dark spot-brightening active ingredients beneath the skin’s surface. Jennifer Chwalek, MD, a board-certified dermatologist with Union Square Laser Dermatology, says that some
Make these 2 recipes now for a week’s worth of anti-inflammatory, plant-based dinners
February 22, 2020 at 12:00PM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNBjXk0c65I] Want to get in on two meal worth of anti-inflammatory eats? Watch Chef Sam Kass do it in under 30 minutes. The act of coming home after work and making dinner can feel like exactly the meditative wind-down you need after a day of playing tag with your to-do list. Keyword: sometimes. On other nights, the mere thought of having to chop an onion may prompt a single teardrop to fall dramatically down one cheek. In that case, you’re going to want to have something—or two things!—prepped and ready to feed your delicate soul. On the most recent episode of Well+Good’s shiny-new video series, Cook With Us, chef Sam Kass whipped up a duo of anti-inflammatory dinner recipes that stay crisp in the fridge for seven days. (Even when the week feels like it’s been about seven years long.)”We’re all super busy and stressed out, so if you can create one foundational dish… then you can use it multiple ways.” Kass’s foundational recipe is a golden, turmeric-infused dressing that works on both a warm and cold salad. After whipping up a dressing featuring olive oil, turmeric, ginger, garlic, dijon mustard, and lemon juice, Chef Kass gets down to the greens. A simple mix of kale, pecans, red onion, and fresh mint, the cold salad is an absolute breeze to make and to eat. Meanwhile, the warmer options calls for a p-a-r-t-y of healthy roasted vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and Brussels sprouts topped off
4 stretches that will give your skin an instant glow-up for $0
February 21, 2020 at 10:04PM by CWC The “yoga glow” has always seemed like one of those wellness-world scams, like six pack abs or 10,000 steps. The idea of being able to improve your skin as an accidental side-effect of your flow may sound too good to be true. But according to the pros, it actually does check out, and to some extent, you really *can* stretch your way to happier and healthier skin. “Stretching delivers extra blood flow to skin,” says Alain Saint-Dic, head of training and development at Stretch Relief. In the short term, that extra blood rush can give your face a nice, instant flush. With that same blood flow, you also add nutrients and hydration to help cleanse and strengthen skin, while also minimizing signs of aging. Over time, Saint-Dic says the stress-relieving effects of stretching regularly can also offer some more long-term benefits for skin. How? We know that the stress hormone, cortisol, is closely linked to skin health. When cortisol spikes, it can lead to acne. So it makes sense, then, that doing an activity to help balance stress levels—aka stretching—can benefit your skin. “Increased stress levels have a negative impact on overall skin health, so stretches that target high stress areas in the body—such as the neck, shoulders, and lower back—will have a positive effect on skin health,” explains Saint-Dic. But before you go tossing your serums in the trash, it’s worth noting that while these practices can help improve skin health, they’re not
The heart-healthy, plant-based breakfast a cardiologist eats every day
February 21, 2020 at 06:40PM by CWC When it comes to heart health, most of the advice from doctors is a long list of “don’ts.” (Don’t eat too much red meat. Don’t eat sugar. Don’t eat processed foods.) All good advice, of course, but it leaves me wondering what to eat for a heart-healthy breakfast. If you want to start your day off with a meal that’s working in your heart’s favor, cardiologist Ashok Mittal, MD, who works at Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute in Florida, has a heart-healthy breakfast recommendation: oatmeal. It’s full of cardiovascular benefits, he says. Need an easy go-to recipe? Try overnight oats: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQXOn_ConL0] Dr. Mittal tells the Miami Herald that he switched to a plant-based diet because of the benefits connected to cardiovascular and overall health. “The hardest thing for me to give up was milk in my coffee and eggs in the morning,” he says. Now, Dr. Mittal starts his day by eating oatmeal splashed with almond or soy milk and a side of fruit. One reason oatmeal is makes such a good choice for breakfast is that the beta-glucan in oats works in favor of blood pressure by helping to reduce cholesterol. Oats also have antioxidants. And of course another big benefit of oatmeal is that it’s high in fiber, which most specifically benefits the digestive system, but is connected to better overall health, including maintaining a healthy weight and metabolism. All fruits and vegetables have antioxidants, so Dr. Mittal’s
How a marketing manager making $125K snags free flights for her international vacays
February 21, 2020 at 02:00PM by CWC Do you know how much money your friends make? What about how much their rent is or how much is in their bank accounts right now? I’m guessing no. Even in a world where questions about menstrual cups and the ins and outs of sex are completely (and blessedly) normal to ask, somehow the ever-ubiquitous use of money remains a touchy subject for many. People want to live their healthiest life ever, but—#realtalk—it can add up. Have you ever wondered how your colleague who makes less than you do (or so you think) can afford to buy a $5 matcha and a $12 chopped salad every day? Or how your friend is able to hit up $34 fitness classes three times a week? It’s enough to make anyone want to ask, “Ummm, excuse me. How can you afford that?!?” That’s where Well+Good’s monthly series Checks+Balanced comes in. By lifting the thick, tightly drawn curtain to expose how much women of varying income brackets spend on wellness, we’re spreading transparency and hopefully providing some inspo that’s possible to copy. Because no matter how much you make, it’s possible to cultivate healthy habits that work within your budget. This month, meet Erin, a 32-year-old marketing manager living in San Diego, California, who prioritizes healthy eating, fitness, and using credit card points for flights. Here, she reveals her expenses and how she affords her wellness habits. Keep reading to see how Erin hacks her habits (like by using credit card points for flights). Graphic: W+G