November 26, 2019 at 07:20PM by CWC Be honest: How many times have you thought that switching to a sustainable, clean skin-care routine means giving up on the next-level glow you’re chasing? Hold on to your jade roller—because according to Josie Maran, founder and CEO of Josie Maran Cosmetics, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. “We as beauty consumers have been taught that if you go green and clean you will have to sacrifice the performance of the products,” says Maran. “But this is not true anymore—people like me have committed their lives to finding better, healthier ways to create beauty with a conscience, and with quality and efficacy in mind so you can have what I call ‘chic-ological’ beauty.” (Add that to your beauty dictionary stat.) To help you kick off your earth-friendly skin-care regimen, Maran has a few sustainability tips to make the process as smooth as your future complexion. Keep scrolling for 3 skin-care sustainability tips to help give your routine a clean makeover. 1. Donate, send, or up-cycle your empty containers Before you get to the products to add to your collection, first rid yourself of the stuff you’ve already used. Through Josie Maran’s partnership with TerraCycle, you can send in your empties to be given a new life—which is crazy easy yet totally impactful. “You’re ensuring your waste will be properly recycled and that you’re doing your part to live a more conscious and sustainable lifestyle,” says Maran. But if you’d rather keep a few jars, Maran
Category: Travel
Get to know your zodiac sign on a whole new level using astrological houses
November 26, 2019 at 06:00PM by CWC So you’ve memorized all the attributes of your sun, moon, and rising signs—and maybe you’re even planning your workouts in accordance with your Mars sign and using your Venus sign to suss out potential partners. Ready for the next level of zodiac mastery? Then it might just be time to get to know the houses in astrology to provide you with a much deeper level of insight into your chart. Just as every zodiac chart is divided into 12 signs, it’s also divided into 12 houses that overlap those signs. Each house represents a different aspect of life, from travel and romance to career, and every planet in your chart is located in both a sign and a house. These two placements illustrate how a planet’s influence can appear in your life. It’s a lot wrap your head around, which is why astrologer Chani Nicholas, author of You Were Born For This: The Astrology of Radical Self-Acceptance, suggests imagining the mix of planets, signs, and houses in astrology as a theater production. “The planets are the characters, the signs are the costumes they’re wearing, and the houses are the stages, or areas of life, where they’re lived out,” she says. “Planets express their energy in the style of the sign they are in and show up prominently in whatever domain of life, or house, they are located [in].” Photo: Courtesy of HarperOne While you can look for the sign and house placements for
Airbnb Cooking Experiences give you a taste of local culture with a sustainable twist
November 25, 2019 at 09:00PM by CWC Traveling to a new country is an engraved invitation to try foods you’d never stock in your fridge at home. But Airbnb Cooking Experiences, launched Monday, adds a homey touch to your gastronomic adventures. In partnership with Slow Food—a non-profit organization with the mission of making nutrition more accessible and sustainable—travel is about to get the homemade treatment. By choosing from 3,000 unique recipes across more than 75 countries, tourists get hands-on cooking experiences with everyday chefs in far-flung locales. You can bake your own macarons in the heart of Paris, mix mojitos at a villa in Havana, or take an organic farming class in Ubud. Yes, you’ll be collecting stamps on your passport, but you’ll also be racking up recipes and inspiration that will help you return home a more sustainable cook. “To protect the personal nature of each recipe, each experience has been vetted against guidelines inspired by Slow Food, a grassroots organization whose mission is to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions,” writes Airbnb in a press release. “Through this vetting process, we have verified that each host of an Airbnb Experience communicates the unique essence of every dish through their personal stories and has proven a deep knowledge of the heritage of the cuisine that they share.” The non-profit also introduced 15 of its own Cooking experiences that align with its core values, including Walk and Eat the Amalfi Coast in Italy and Let’s Rescue Food in
This dreamy weighted eye mask has completely transformed my sleep routine—and my life
November 25, 2019 at 06:30PM by CWC Like all good things in my life, I was introduced to my beloved weighted eye mask by my mom. About five years ago, I first noticed I was having issues with shutting down after a long day at work. Until then, aside from occasionally waking up in the middle of the night, I never really had any serious sleep problems. But with a job that keeps my eyes glued to my phone or a computer screen, the near-constant stimulation meant that shutting off for the night felt impossible. That is, until I slipped on the IMAK Compression Pain Relief Mask and Eye Pillow ($14), which is “designed by an orthopedic surgeon to provide relief from migraine headaches, tension headaches, sinus pain and eyestrain,” but does so much more for me. When I told her that the room-darkening shades in my bedroom were no longer doing the trick, my mom reminded me that she and my sister had been using a weighted eye mask for years. I finally got one of my own, and slowly but seamlessly it became a part of my evening routine. Simply wearing it around my head as I brushed my teeth puts me on the right track to a good night’s sleep. Once under the covers, as I ready myself for bed, if I don’t have anything over my eyes, I’m be tempted to reach for my phone. But the weighted eye mask is something that signals to my
This week’s Neptune trine Mercury may make for an extra-emotional Thanksgiving
November 24, 2019 at 10:00PM by CWC The week begins with dynamic cosmic energy afoot. The moon wanes dark, as the new moon in Sagittarius quickly approaches. Happening on November 26 at 4 degrees of Sagittarius at 10:05 a.m. EST, this second-to-last new moon of the decade invites hope, optimism, and growth. To make the most of it, ask yourself this: What do you most desire to create at this time in your life? What is tugging at your heart? Here’s the deal: Jupiter in Sagittarius rules this new moon. He’s currently wrapping up his stay in his home domain—a place he’s traveled since November 2018—and this new moon provides a moment to conjure his support to catapult your growth. So get clear on your needs, wants, and longings. Looking ahead to December 2 when Jupiter moves into Capricorn, you can expect a major pivot from the changing tides. So capitalize on the opportunity of the present moment that this new moon provides to stake claim to your dreams. Take time on Tuesday to write down your new-moon wishes, and commit them to yourself. No retrogrades in sight—rather, Neptune trine Mercury Speaking of dreams, Neptune stations direct on Wednesday, awakening passions within. Neptune rules all things ephemeral and functions as a higher octave of Venus, meaning the direct station helps you access a deeper place of love within yourself. One effect of Neptune coming out of retrograde is that you may feel a bit more emotional than you’re used to.
This jacket blocks your cell service so you can truly unplug when you’re outdoors
November 23, 2019 at 12:00AM by CWC It can feel impossible to truly unplug these days without sending yourself to some far-flung destination selling restricted WiFi as a luxury. The internet is in your pocket until the day you die. Unless… Enter a new offering from The Arrivals called the AER Puffer, which is not only aesthetically enviable but also endowed with a surprising functionality: one of its pockets blocks all cellular, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, RFID and NFC, EMR, EMF and radiation signals. If you’re wondering, “but why,” think about, say, a hike (aka a sometimes-uphill walk). You want to lose yourself in thought and appreciation for the majesty of nature (while it lasts!), but you also don’t want to be SOL if you get lost, break an ankle, or get attacked by a mountain lion. In other words, you can’t leave your phone in the car, but you also don’t really want to die on—of all things—a hike. The puffer marries form with function in other ways, too. It’s water- and wind-repellent, has a removable suspender system, and can protect you when temperatures plummet below 30 degrees. (At that point, I feel like not wanting to freeze off your fingers is reason enough to keep your phone tucked away, but maybe that’s just me.) It’s also R.D.S. (Responsible Down Standard) certified, which means the goose down sourced for the jacket was done so humanely. This holiday wishlist no-brainer comes in four colorways—navy, black, army green, and a sort of
Travel trends predict your 2020 itinerary will include a lot of ‘celecations’
November 22, 2019 at 05:00PM by CWC Last month, I dreaded attending the big destination event that had been on my calendar for months. It was family wedding in Virginia with my parents and brother, and after a painful breakup, my plus-one had turned into a minus-one. While I got out of the weekend alive and well, I did still hope it would be the last ‘celecation’—or celebratory event requiring travel, and, thus, doubling as a vacation—for a while. Yet my 2020 calendar is already filled with destination events including a wedding in Wisconsin, a birthday in Michigan, a birthday in Mexico, and a wedding in New Paltz, New York, or San Francisco, or Maui (the bride-to-be is a Gemini who hasn’t yet decided on a coast, let alone venue). And this chaos isn’t limited to my personal experience; celecations are definitely on the rise. According to vacation-rental company VRBO‘s 2020 trend report, the term explains the event of families and friends from different places coming together to celebrate special occasions. And among people who traveled recently to celebrate a special occasion, 34 percent attended a birthday, anniversary, or other similar milestone; 31 percent went to a family reunion; and 16 percent went to a wedding. For people like me, who, to put it lightly, don’t love destination travel events to celebrate others because I prefer to have agency over my vacations plans, finances, and allocation of PTO, the ‘celecation’ rebrand is especially helpful. First, some insight into my grumblings:
Got a beauty sample hoarder in your life? These are the 12 skin-care gifts they’ll eagerly make room for
November 22, 2019 at 04:42PM by CWC Surprising a beauty obsessive with a skin-care present for the holidays is basically like gift-wrapping the coveted dewy glow. Because, after all, all a skin-care buff wants (at any point in the year) is a complexion that says, “Why yes, I do know how to take care of myself.” But how do you know what to get without logging hours online researching? Command-quit those tabs, because our editors curated this goldmine of skin-care essentials—from an argan oil to hydrate and glow courtesy of Josie Maran to an organizer for your aficionado’s growing collection—so you don’t have to. Keep scrolling to find the skin-care gifts to give the glow-chasers on your list. Josie Maran Peace, Love & CBD Set, $80 ($114 value) It’s winter, so your skin-care enthusiast is shifting to a different regimen in order to keep her skin at maximum dew. Help her lock in that much-needed moisture with Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter to feed skin with antioxidants and essential fatty acids, plus add a touch of soothing magic with CBD-rich Skin Dope Argan + 100 mg CBD. It’s just like gifting her skin a summer vacation. FaceTory Beauty Fridge, $100 In case you didn’t know, a mini fridge is the new skin-care it-item. Your jade-rolling BFF can now cool off her most-loved products to prolong their shelf life and give her sheet masks a de-puffing chill, so that they work double-time when she’s ready to slap one on
Loofahs are disgusting, so we found your next shower companion
November 21, 2019 at 02:54PM by CWC Recently I found an anemone-esque disk suctioned to a bathroom that I was occupying for a weekend away: red, precarious, and with little divets all around it. It seemed to be friendly, but I, stuck with my sad travel loofah, didn’t touch it. And then like a modern love story in the making, the Boie shower scrubber ($8) found its way back to me through a targeted ad. If you’ve not yet been acquainted, the disk is an exfoliating, antimicrobial, and delightfully flexible alternative to loofahs (boo) and washcloths (double boo). Oh right—I hate being very Bad News Bears about this, but loofahs are factually disgusting. Jason Tetro, a microbiologist and author of The Germ Files, previously told Well+Good that loofahs are a veritable bacteria fiesta (okay, my words, not his). And studies support this, adding an extra element of terror: After 10 short days bacteria tends to multiply and party hard. Not even a full two weeks! In conclusion: awful, gross, and I hate it. So back to me being naked with my sea creature scrubber. The disk is made of a rubberlike material called thermoplastic elastomer that makes it 100 percent recyclable and down to curve and bend on your body. And ooh! It can handle whatever your favorite body wash is for the ultimate sudsy experience. A fun and sexy running joke is that in my life is that I never feel thoroughly clean (nor do my bathroom surroundings), and
This on-the-go foam roller water bottle keeps your recovery drink cold and your muscles loose
November 19, 2019 at 10:47PM by CWC Every time a fitness enthusiast blinks, a new recovery tool enters the market. Or at least that’s the way it seems. Form muscle-stimulating instruments to percussive therapy devices and beyond, the trend just won’t quit. Now, it’s easier than ever to take your recovery routine on the road with Mobot: a water bottle-foam roller hybrid. The Mobot water bottle comes in three sizes: 18 ounces ($40), 27 ounces ($50), and 40 ounces ($60)—and several times as many colors. The bottle solves the problem of having to transport both a water and a trigger point foam roller so you never, ever have to ignore your aching muscles. And perhaps more importantly, having it in your vicinity reminds you to take a stretch break every once and a while. View this post on Instagram Interrupting your scroll to remind you to slow down, breathe, hydrate, and roll today. #rollmodel @dejariley showing us how it’s done. A post shared by MOBOT NATION (@mobotnation) on Jun 25, 2019 at 9:39am PDT //www.instagram.com/embed.js The Amazon reviews of the hydration-slash-recovery tool tell the story of endorphin-happy customers. “Does exactly what it’s supposed to. Kept my recovery drink cool and my muscles loose,” writes one purchaser. “I ordered this as a birthday gift for my sister, who is heavy into CrossFit. She LOVES it and gets compliments from other gym-goers all the time. If you’re worried that 40oz is too big, it’s definitely not,” says another. Your workout