January 25, 2019 at 08:59AM by CWC Plant-based milks have never been more popular (or plentiful) in 2019—what a time to be alive!—but out of all the options, oat milk is currently queen bee. And while oat milk fans probably already know to avoid carrageenan and check the sugar content before adding it to their coffee, there’s an ingredient that pops up in many common oat milk brands that has people doing a double-take: rapeseed oil. The name alone is off-putting. If you take the time to whip out your phone and do a quick Google search while staring at the dairy-free case, you’ll find that it’s commonly talked about alongside canola oil. Here’s why: they’re basically the same thing. Some background: Rapeseed oil is made from the seeds of the rape plant (a relative of mustard). Rapeseed oil naturally contains high amounts of erucic acid (between 30-60 percent), which has been associated with heart problems in mice. In the 1970s, food scientists developed a rapeseed plant that had much lower levels of erucic acid through cross-breeding techniques (not to be confused with genetically-modifying the plants). They named the plant (and the oil created from it) canola. Per the FDA, in order for an oil to be called canola, no more than two percent of its fatty acid profile can come from erucic acid. So yeah, there are some slight differences, although outside of the US and Canada, people conflate the two things—likely because most “rapeseed oil” today is made with these lower-erucic
Category: City
I gave my home a woo-woo makeover and now the magic happens in every room
January 24, 2019 at 08:59AM by CWC The other night I found myself sitting in front of a dream analyst (long story), relaying to her a particularly terrible, vivid, and generally ew dream from a while ago in which my molars cracked and crumbled one by one inside my mouth. The dream was, in a word, horrifying. And I wanted to know WTF was going on. A year ago, I never would have considered anything quite so mystical. But ever since my long-term boyfriend and I broke up, I’ve been embracing my woo-woo side, which has manifested in a delightfully Urban Outfitters-meets–Magickal Bookstore vibe in my apartment. I realize now that my molar dream was a very apt metaphor for how I was feeling at the time—it was like the foundation of my life had crumbled away, and I was struggling to find a sense of control. (Not coincidentally, that’s what the dream analyst said that my weird tooth dream symbolized.) See, I moved into my new place with zero furniture or decor—seriously, I didn’t even have a bed. There was something both romantic and terrifying about this, but that’s like every experience for a Pisces, am I right? On the one hand, this is my first time living along and I got to start over from scratch and decorate my space however I wanted. Without any furnishings, my apartment felt like a new beginning, a wealth of possibilities… but as I began to add essentials like a bed and
Standard Dose navigates the confusing world of CBD products so you don’t have to
January 24, 2019 at 05:30AM by CWC For many of us, making the decision to try cannabidol (CBD) is easy. A natural substance that can supposedly reduce anxiety, improve sleep, soothe sore muscles, and illuminate skin—with basically no known side effects? Cool, take my credit card. The challenge, traditionally, has been getting our hands on the stuff. Since the CBD industry is still largely unregulated, most well-known retailers have shied away from stocking it. (Although that is changing thanks to the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill; retail giant Neiman Marcus recently added CBD beauty products to its shelves.) Plus, it’s hard to know if the product you’re getting is legitimate since so many aren’t. Budding e-commerce startups, like Miss Grass, Svn Space, Fleur Marché, and Poplar, have paved the way toward solving these problems, creating platforms that combine CBD products with educational content. And now, there’s a new entrant to the market that seeks to do the same—both online and off. Launching Thursday, Standard Dose is primed to do for CBD what Carbon38 did for the activewear industry. In other words, it’s a 360-degree platform that encompasses a trifecta of digital retail, brick-and-mortar stores, and product development. Founder Anthony Saniger, who also heads up his own creative agency, conceived of Standard Dose while working on a branding project for a new line of cannabidol-infused tonic waters. “I started digging around and doing an analysis of the space, and I realized everything’s very fragmented,” he says. “Products are scattered around everywhere, and there’s a
You’re not imagining it—so many cool, sustainable fashion lines are coming out of California right now
January 22, 2019 at 11:41AM by CWC Every city has its “thing” when it comes to fashion. Parisian designers deal in effortless glamour, New York’s the epicenter of individuality and personal expression, while Los Angeles and San Francisco—where so many healthy trends begin—are quickly gaining a reputation as hotbeds of crazy-covetable sustainable fashion labels. Perhaps the best-known of these brands is Reformation, an LA label that launched in 2009 and has since become a staple for cool girls around the globe. (Many of whom likely aren’t even aware that their slip dresses and cropped tees are made using eco-friendly fabrics, in a factory prioritizing fair labor practices.) “When I started Reformation 10 years ago, sustainability in fashion was not a priority in the industry,” says founder Yael Aflalo, who says she set out to be “a leader for that change.” And she more than achieved her goal—once she proved that environmentally-friendly, ethical clothing doesn’t have to be boring, tons of other newcomers followed suit. Interestingly enough, many of the ones getting the most attention are based in Reformation’s home city and state. According to Dechel Mckillian, owner of sustainable concept shop Galerie.LA, around 40 percent of the brands she carries are from Los Angeles alone. (The rest are sourced and manufactured around the world, from Lithuania to China.) Scroll through any style-conscious, West Coast wellness influencer’s Insta feed, and you’ll see tags for designers like Christy Dawn, who creates all of her Topanga Canyon-goddess sundresses in limited editions from deadstock fabrics;
Everything you need to know about the body-inclusivity debate rocking France right now
January 20, 2019 at 02:45PM by CWC Here’s a tip for everyone fortunate to have this as a choice: When you turn 30, do it in Paris. When I hit that milestone, I was surrounded by women who had figured out the ageless aesthetic. As in, not trying to look young—but each beaming with her own individual brand of sexy sunshine. And most had a (much) younger man in tow. My friends and I, who’d all been fixated on the big 3-0 for months, were smitten. And freed from the arbitrary tick-tock that the world constantly reminds you of. It seemed that, at least in France, ageism had taken a holiday that summer. So when I read Pamela Druckerman’s column in The New York Times today, “The Revenge of the Middle-Aged Frenchwomen,” it was like a pillar of the body-inclusivity house had been smashed. Because the ageless are agitated in France. What happened? In an interview in the French edition of Marie Claire, a prominent writer and intellectual sounded off about his lack of attraction to women his age (50)—and that fact that he prefers Asian women in their 20s. You do not eff with France’s legendarily ageless sex goddesses. Even in live-and-let-live, boys-will-be-boys France—where Catherine Deneuve famously thought the #MeToo revelations were pretty meh (though she later apologized to women who shared their stories of victimization)—this could not stand. Why? You do not eff with the nation’s legendarily ageless sex goddesses. Druckerman argues that the writer, Yann Moix, didn’t commit a
Why OKCupid is my new “Humans of New York”
January 20, 2019 at 06:03AM by CWC OKCupid gets no respect. Or at least, not that much. Back when it launched as a website in 2004, the fact that it was free (as opposed “serious relationship” sites like Match and eHarmony) gave it a Craigslist-light identity. While its raunch factor was nowhere near what you’d find on “Casual Encounters,” OKCupid’s audience definitely skewed younger—and finding a hookup or someone who shared your particular kink was part of the mix. Today, as a digital dating survivor that’s still in the cultural conversation (Match.com, where you at?) along with Bumble and Tinder, OKCupid is nevertheless still struggling to be the prettiest girl at the dance, so to speak. But it shouldn’t. As far as I’m concerned, OKCupid is the new Humans of New York. Remember that time, back in the day, when you first saw Humans of New York? Brandon Stanton’s portraiture of every day people, and the off-the-cuff comments he miraculously pulled out of them, suddenly made all the slumped shoulders and blank faces on the subway look like untapped potential: untold, poetic secrets to be revealed to the person who gave them a spotlight. With OKCupid, instead of shining a light on the humanity hidden beneath urban armor, the platform seems to be giving men a venue for expressing their hopes and dreams. I know, that’s a lot to say about an app where a grown man wearing a “Thank You for Being a Slut” trucker hat told me I had
How To Tap Into Your Divine Feminine Power Through Your Chakras
January 18, 2019 at 08:30PM Manifest more compassion, empathy, and warmth. Continue Reading… Author Erin Rachel Doppelt | Life by Daily Burn Selected by iversue Many women are experiencing their personal awakening. Sometimes it feels like a shiver through the spine as you read the morning news. Perhaps it’s the pride you feel when you’ve asked for a raise or made your first steps toward starting your own business. Statistically speaking, women now make up 47 percent of the U.S. workforce, are demanding equal pay, and are currently more likely than men to have a college degree, according to Pew Research Center. These measurements are tangible evidence of the rise of the female voice using her energy, her courage, and her power. More than perhaps ever before, right now is a divine time for every person to buckle down, double their study of self, and connect to this inner feminine energy—otherwise known as the Divine Feminine. The world desperately needs more compassion, empathy, and warmth, which are the natural skills and intentions of archetypal femininity. This call doesn’t only go out to women, of course: Every person holds both feminine and masculine energies and qualities, and while women have been culturally indoctrinated to feel a deep and internalized connection with femininity, people of all genders have access to it. The Divine Feminine is the healing feminine force that connects people to Mother Nature, other people, and all energy sources. It is an interwoven essence that speaks to authentic power. One
Want your home to feel more adult? Here’s the interior investment to make in every room that’ll get you there
January 18, 2019 at 11:46AM by CWC I so clearly remember the first apartment I ever lived in solo, without roommates. It was 2008 and I’d just moved back to the U.S. after spending several years (and every penny of my savings) in Europe. The space was a studio in East Hollywood, furnished with the cheapest sofa at IKEA, mismatched hand-me-down kitchenware from my dad’s house, and an air mattress shoved up against the exposed brick wall. If I ever did have extra money to spend on my home, I’d always throw it toward some kind of inexpensive impulse buy—a papier-mâché zebra head wall hanging from the Anthropologie sale section (why?!), or a ton of Target throw pillows that would inevitably be punctured by my cat’s claws within a few months. If I were smart, however, I would have done the responsible thing and saved my cash for high-quality pieces that I’d continue to love for the next decade and beyond. (Had I done that, I definitely wouldn’t have been sleeping on that air mattress for two years—0/10, would not recommend.) After all, this is what separates an adult apartment from a glorified college crash pad. “The design journey from a twenty-something purchasing something versus an ‘adult’ should be looked at as appreciating materials more and understanding the value in lasting and meaningful items,” says Olivia Stutz, a designer at interior design platform Homepolish. “It’s about being a smart consumer, both financially and ethically. In a culture of mass consumption and mass disposability,
What’s the deal with this rapeseed oil stuff in my oat milk?
January 18, 2019 at 10:27AM by CWC Plant-based milks have never been more popular (or plentiful) in 2019—what a time to be alive!—but out of all the options, oat milk is currently queen bee. And while oat milk fans probably already know to avoid carrageenan and check the sugar content before adding it to their coffee, there’s an ingredient that pops up in many common oat milk brands that has people doing a double-take: rapeseed oil. The name alone is off-putting. If you take the time to whip out your phone and do a quick Google search while staring at the dairy-free case, you’ll find that it’s commonly talked about alongside canola oil. Here’s why: they’re almost the same exact thing. Some background: Rapeseed oil is made from the seeds of the rape plant (a relative of mustard). Rapeseed oil naturally contains high amounts of erucic acid (between 30-60 percent), which has been associated with heart problems in mice. In the 1970s, food scientists developed a rapeseed plant that had much lower levels of erucic acid through cross-breeding techniques (not to be confused with genetically-modifying the plants). They named the plant (and the oil created from it) canola. Per the FDA, in order for an oil to be called canola, no more than two percent of its fatty acid profile can come from erucic acid. So yeah, there are some slight differences, although outside of the US and Canada, people conflate the two things—likely because most “rapeseed oil” today is made with these
Break out the Polaroids, because accessing happy memories could help stave off depression
January 17, 2019 at 02:33PM by CWC I have a pile of Instax snapshots I pull out when I’m down—little reference cards to remind me, “You are loved.” When you’re depressed, it’s a message that can easily get muffled in the mental din of unbearable negativity. So color me intrigued by a new study from the University of Cambridge and University College London, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, that showed recalling positive memories could decrease risk of depression in young people. The study asked nearly 500 adolescents (average age 14) who were at risk of depression to call up specific memories (both positive and negative) by responding to certain prompts. Then, with these happy thoughts fresh in their mind, they were interviewed about negative events they experienced in the past 12 months and reported any symptoms of depression or negative self-thoughts they’d had in the past two weeks. Their morning cortisol levels, which the researchers used to measure stress, were also collected. When the experiment was conducted again one year later, the researchers found that, after recalling positive memories, the teens had “lower morning cortisol and fewer negative self-cognitions during low mood.” “Our work suggests that ‘remembering the good times’ may help build resilience to stress and reduce vulnerability to depression in young people,” said Adrian Dahl Askelund, the study’s lead author. “This is important [because] we already know that it is possible to train people to come up with specific positive memories. This could be a beneficial way of