September 12, 2019 at 07:01PM by CWC Rosacea is an extremely rude and disrespectful skin condition. I say this with authority because my diagnosis last year cleared up any confusion about my skin. So that’s why I get weird whitehead-looking breakouts if I’m out in the sun for too long. (Fun fact: rosacea can manifest as tiny pimples.) It’s also the reason why I turn beet red after a workout class or getting a facial, and why my makeup-free skin resembles a ripened heirloom tomato. My dermatologist has helped me overhaul my skin-care routine to avoid certain problematic ingredients that cause irritation, adding in some topical prescription treatments that have majorly improved the overall quality and health of my skin. But when it inevitably flares up, I often feel powerless to do anything about it. I’ve historically had very little luck with nearly every so-called “redness-reducing” product on the planet. Yes, I know that green technically cancels out red on the color wheel, but green concealers and creams and serums just leave me looking like the Grinch mid-blush. Not cute. After listening to my struggles (and seeing them written in red all over my face), beauty editor Zoe Weiner handed me a bottle of the Dr. Jart Cicapair Tiger Grass Camo Drops ($46). It’s a hybrid between a color-corrector and a serum to help reduce redness and soothe angry skin. “My sister has rosacea, too, and she loves this whole line,” Weiner told me. But my built-in trust issues with
Category: Beauty
Skin-care ampoules are like the harder-working sister of serums
September 09, 2019 at 06:06PM by CWC These days, beauty counters are piled high with stacks and stacks of the latest creams, serums, and SPFs that all promise to whisk skin concerns and prevent new ones from coming on. In no surprise to anyone, super-concentrated active ingredients are highly covetable, and that’s why ampoules, a Korean beauty staple, are now making their way to the United States. Ampoules are highly concentrated active serums that are specifically designed for one-time use. “The amount and container size are strategically for preserving the pureness of the product,” explains Julie E. Russak, MD, a New York City dermatologist. “There are no added fillers, the product often features one main star ingredient, and, because of the way it’s packaged—it’s usually for one single use—so it isn’t compromised by the effects of being exposed to the environment.” This is especially important for ingredients like retinol and vitamin C, which David Lortscher, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and CEO of Curology, says are unstable and easily degrade when exposed to light and air. Howard Sobel, MD, a New York dermatologist adds that ampoules, such as Dr. Barbara Sturm Hyaluronic Ampoules ($145) and Natura Bisse Diamond Instant Glow ($90), are of particularly high quality given not only their small, air-tight vials or capsules, but also the fact that they ensure that you’re applying the right amount of product to your face. What do ampoules do? Beyond the ingenious packaging, let’s talk about the benefits of actually adding them into
Here’s why the phrase ‘mutable square’ is on all your astro-savvy friends’ lips right now
September 09, 2019 at 02:33AM by CWC Last week, I broke down the influence of Pluto and Saturn’s proximity to one another in Capricorn. Given the fact that both Pluto and Saturn make a trine to the sun, Mercury, Mars, and Venus this month, it’s essential to know how to leverage this opportunity to stabilize your momentum as you continue to move in the direction of your dreams. Doing so will help you make the most of this year’s Virgo season. Yet, this month brings another defining astrological event of 2019: the mutable square between Neptune and Jupiter. We experienced this square throughout the year; however, it perfected on January 13, 2019, June 16, 2019, and will for the third time, again, on September 21, 2019. We feel it building now. Everything you need to know about this week’s mutable square Neptune in Pisces—a transit that spans from Neptune’s initial entrance into Pisces in April of 2011 until it reaches Aries in March of 2025—brings with it an expanded focus on spiritual development. While traveling in its domain, Neptune beckons the exploration of what it means to be emotionally healthy and spiritually aligned, and in sync with your creative expression and intuitive prowess. This month brings another defining astrological event of 2019: the mutable square between Neptune and Jupiter. Jupiter, on the other hand, is a much quicker-moving planet. Jupiter has traveled in Sagittarius (a sign it also rules) since November 8, 2018. It will continue to travel in the
Skin Care For The Neck Down: This Clean Oil Is like A High-Tech Serum
September 02, 2019 at 12:00PM You’re really going to want to check out the ingredient label. Continue Reading… Author Alexandra Engler | Life by Daily Burn Selected by CWC
Splash the patriarchy: Why the it-swimsuits of hot girl summer are sleek, sexy, and subversive
August 30, 2019 at 05:00PM by CWC Think back to the year 2004. Everyone was quoting Napoleon Dynamite, signing up for this new thing called Facebook (with their .edu email addresses), and working out in ratty shorts and t-shirts. Athleisure was, and I cannot emphasize this enough, not a thing. In the decade and a half since then, the activewear industry has made huge strides in creating functional performance wear that also looks on point, but one category has been left behind: the swimsuit. A scroll through Instagram is all the evidence you need to see that this year, swimwear designers finally figured it out. Thanks to female-founded brands like Left on Friday, Knix, Andie, and Summersalt, one-pieces haven’t been this hot since Pamela Anderson made her slow-mo run down the beach. But in a serious upgrade to Anderson’s revealing red maillot, the styles that dominated your feed—and likely your closet—this summer are sexy and supportive. ad_intervals[‘389298_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘389298_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’);}); } }, 100); “Nothing was solving for what we wanted, which was super-high-end, comfortable, beautiful swimwear you could wear while surfing, swimming laps, or lounging at the Four Seasons,” Left on Friday co-founder Laura Low Ah Kee says of the inspiration for her brand. Melanie Travis, the founder and CEO of Andie, agrees: “Women lead active lives and need swimsuits that can seamlessly work with them, not against them.” The notion that women would want a bathing suit that works as well in motion
A facialist, my mom, and I can’t get enough of this hydrating facial spritz
August 24, 2019 at 06:00PM by CWC When it comes to crowning my favorite beauty finds, one of the first factors I consider is smell. That’s because before I even apply a product, its scent informs my first impression. Like moth to aromatic flame, I shop to appease my nose, so when a facialist introduced me to Eminence Stone Crop Hydrating Mist ($38), my heart fluttered—and I may or may not have bought three bottles right on the spot (one of which I overnighted to my mother). The hydrating face mist has since found a permanent home on my desk. I spritz it on liberally any time I feel like the dry office air has drained all moisture from my skin, or whenever I need to hit the metaphorical refresh button to spark new creativity. And though describing the smell accurately in all its worthy glory using words alone seems like a Sisyphean task, here goes nothing: It smells like the first day of spring. It smells the way you feel in the most ooey-gooey yoga pose. It smells like falling face-first into the flower field in Twilight. It’s heady, but not overpowering and, um, I think “I can hear the bells” each time I spray it. ad_intervals[‘417338_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘417338_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’);}); } }, 100); Scent aside, the mist’s formula is also worthy of some serious adulation. A combination of stone crop, aloe (an anti-inflammatory), salicylic acid (which is both anti-inflammatory and antibacterial), and algae extract, the
What the heck is a microcurrent facial? One editor tried the sculpting, smoothing treatment to find out
August 23, 2019 at 12:00PM by CWC [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_D8x1H3TTU] The best—and arguably most WTF-worthy—way to lift your face and smooth your skin? With an electrical current-based workout. In the latest episode of What the Wellness, video producer Ella Dove visits SB Skin for a microcurrent facial to see if it will have her walking out sculpted and more radiant than when she walked in. “Microcurrent is electricity, and we use it to stimulate the muscles in your face,” says Shamara Bondaroff, founder of SB Skin. She explains that the current is super small (or, erm, “micro”), and mimic the current of your body so that you don’t really feel it while it’s happening. “It stimulates your muscles, stimulates collagen, elastin, amino acids, ATP, cell turnover—it does so many different things.” ad_intervals[‘417567_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘417567_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’);}); } }, 100); The cool thing about microcurrent is that it has both short and longterm benefits, so it can be used as both a treatment and for preventative measures. “It’s not just the contouring—it’s also re-educating the muscle,” says Bondaroff. She notes that she gives microcurrent facials to patients ranging from 18 to 80, all of whom have different skin needs that they’re looking for the treatment to help with. During the facial, an esthetician will slather your face in conductive gel and then gently massage it with a device that emits positive and negative charges to stimulate things under the surface. Though getting your face zapped with currents might sound
The Paleo diet may have been eclipsed by other eating plans, but it’s still a major player in the wellness world
August 22, 2019 at 02:00AM by CWC A few years back, the Paleo diet was the coolest thing since sliced bread. (Literally: You can’t eat grains, dairy products, or legumes on it.) But as far as Google Trends is concerned, the eating plan—which advocates consuming what humans supposedly ate way back in the day, before big agriculture and processed foods—reached its peak interest level at the beginning of 2014 and has been waning ever since—with interest spiking every January after the holiday season. Despite this seeming decline, Paleo is still a big part of the healthy eating world. Companies continue to make and market products for Paleo eaters, from Primal Kitchen’s Paleo mayonnaise to Purely Elizabeth’s grain-free granola. There’s a Paleo Magazine and dozens of Paleo-focused podcasts, all catering to the interests of caveman-imitating eaters. Many nutrition experts, such as Parsley Health founder Robin Berzin, MD, and science journalist Max Lugavere, continue to promote the eating plan and follow a version of it themselves. It begs the question: What’s going on with the former wunderkind of healthy eating plans? ad_intervals[‘417305_div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘417305_div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8891272-3’);}); } }, 100); Some of the flip-flopping around Paleo is part of the natural cycle of diet trends, says Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS, RDN, author of The Protein-Packed Breakfast Club: People try them, then move on. “I’m always skeptical of something that is a trendy, popular diet, because there’s a reason why it trends, and usually that’s because it’s just a new
The 4 most common skin-care mistakes that facialists see clients make all. the. time.
August 12, 2019 at 10:00AM by CWC I may have a consistent skin-care regimen now, but it’s taken years of trial, error, and hundreds of beauty products to get to this place. And lest we not forget: I’ve interviewed dozens upon dozens of the top estheticians in the world to get intel on what to do to my skin, and more importantly what not to do. Here’s the brief: Retinol is a must-have ingredient for pretty much everyone’s skin-care routine, add an acid toner to your routine (like, now), and applying hyaluronic acid to damp skin can make it work even better for you. As for the stuff to stop, well that will take a little more airing out. Here, I’ve rounded four pieces of advice to get your skin glowing. 1. Skin misdiagnosis People all think they know whether their skin is dry, oily, acne-prone, or—the most popular—sensitive. But if you’re not sure, you can be using an entirely wrong regimen. “The biggest issue I see is misdiagnosis—people think their skin is oily but their pores are just clogged, or they think their skin is sensitive but it’s actually dry and acting up because the skin barrier has been stripped,” says Angelina Umansky, facialist and founder of Spa Radiance. “By not analyzing your skin correctly, you end up treating it with the wrong products. When you’re sick, you go to a doctor for a diagnosis, so it’s best to leave your skin analysis to the estheticians and dermatologists.” ad_intervals[‘414334_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’]
This $15 vitamin C serum sells every 4 minutes, so I tried it to see what all the fuss is about
August 12, 2019 at 07:50AM by CWC Beneath the foundation I’ve been dutifully applying for many years lies a map of my past: acne scars from the time before my college best friend told me she’d stop hanging out with me unless I went on Accutane (yes, I did regretfully go on Accutane, and no, the friendship did not make it very far into adulthood); sun spots from the carefree days of a childhood spent under the not-so-watchful eye of a hippie mother who did not “believe” in sunscreen; and now, wrinkles that even the foundation can not cover from lots of subsequent sun, so many smiles, and a smattering of super aggressive sobs. I don’t dislike this map; however, I’m not evolved enough to display it for all the world to see on a regular basis and yet I do dislike being enslaved by foundation. So, I’ve been working hard to even out my skin tone in pursuit of the glow-y complexion mere non-model mortals like myself find it difficult to achieve. This endeavor led me to a serum which, according to the brand that makes it, sells every four minutes on Amazon. InstaNatural Vitamin C Serum (currently on sale for $15) includes hero ingredients like hyaluronic acid, ferulic acid, and sea buckthorn oil, alongside its star component. It promises to brighten the skin (yes, please), lighten dark spots (good luck), and reduce the appearance of fine lines (okay, show-off!). ad_intervals[‘414309_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’] = setInterval(function () { if (ads_ready) { clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘414309_div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’]); googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-7520022-3’);});