October 31, 2019 at 09:24PM by CWC To me, the thought of plastering goopy foundation onto dry skin evokes the same response as the thought of nails on a chalkboard. The resulting cakey-ness of slicking one dry thing against another is downright unappealing, and leaves behind a complexion that is the complete opposite of the natural, dewy radiance that I’m trying to achieve. In order to avoid all of that drama, it’s really necessary to find formulas that will work with your skin—to hydrate it—instead of drying it out even more. While the general rule is that cream and liquid formulas tend to be more hydrating than powder foundation, that doesn’t always hold true 100 percent of the time. “A liquid foundation could have drying alcohols that might dehydrate the skin more than a powder foundation with nourishing ingredients,” cautions makeup artist Jeannie Vincent. And while labels might tout words like “hydrating,” “nourishing,” and “moisturizing,” the real story, says Vincent, is in the ingredients. Look for formulas with ingredients like aloe vera, shea butter, and good-for-skin oils like sweet almond and jojoba. Makeup artist Chauntal Lewis, from 901 Salon, adds that hyaluronic acid is the number one most hydrating ingredient to have in a foundation. If you’ve got a formula that you love but find a bit drying (or if it worked all summer and suddenly rebelled against you once cold weather came in), there are a few things you can do to amp up its hydration. First up, always
Category: Your Regeneration
This $30 ‘desert sweatshirt’ is the only companion your leggings need now and forever
October 31, 2019 at 09:00PM by CWC As soon as the temperature drops below 60 degrees here in New York City, I commence a lifestyle I like to call “cocooning.” There’s really only one rule: I have to be cozy at least 98 percent of the time to protect my spirit from Jack Frost’s bitter grip. Needless to say that this involves purchasing many sweaters. On an impromptu trip to Aerie, I stumbled upon the Oversized Desert Sweatshirt ($31). And, well, its cotton material makes me feel like I’m wondering the Sahara on nippy days. The silhouette of the crew neck sweatshirt practically begs you wear it with your favorite black or printed leggings. It comes in sizes range of XXS to XXL, and falls just under the butt with slits that run up the right and left side for a fashion-forward accent. Because a Pantone closet is a happy closet, the garment comes in 12 different hues and patterns to support you on your cheetah print days, when you’re vibing gray, and every Big Mood in between. Personally, I’m a fan of wearing my cobalt blue desert sweatshirt atop my sports bra and leggings on my trek to hot yoga, then I’ll change back into it once I’ve showered. Add a scarf and some cute sneakers, and what you end up with is a lounge outfit going undercover as a majorly chic athleisure play. To dress it up, you could go up a size and wear it with tights
Opening a ‘Fun and BS’ bank account is the best thing you can do for your weekend plans
October 31, 2019 at 08:36PM by CWC Budgeting sounds a like a sexy, stressful way to cut yourself off from having fun, right? No matter how many apps you’ve downloaded in order to make it simple, it’s so easy to throw caution to the wind with your credit card. But we want to be financially confident and intelligent— honest! That’s why everyone was fully elephant eared at the latest Well+Good TALK on how to have a healthy relationship with money, especially when Paco de Leon, founder of The Hell Yeah Group, shared her easy budgeting tip to open a separate checking account for the frivolous but joyous spending in your life. To get a handle on your finances, de Leon suggesting breaking everything down into three categories: Bills and Life, Future and Goals, and Fun and Bullsh*t. “I literally have a debit card on me right now that’s linked to a ‘Fun and BS’ account. When somebody’s like, ‘Hey, do you want to go out and have pizza and tequila shots?’ I’m like, ‘Okay, let me check my allowance. No, no. You can come over though, because there’s no money,’” says de Leon. “This is what I do to protect myself from myself. And I recommend bifurcating your spending to all my friends.’” “This is what I do to protect myself from myself.” —Paco de Leon, founder of The Hell Yeah Group Even if spreadsheets make you want to climb up the wall, you can definitely figure out the sum of your bills with
The science behind your wild food cravings on your period
October 31, 2019 at 07:00PM by CWC Even without a menstrual tracker, many people can tell when they’re a couple days away from getting their period. That flash of irrational anger when Starbucks is out of almond milk starts to make sense when it’s coupled with a craving for cookie dough ice-cream and a wave of fatigue. IMO, tampons should just come with a dark chocolate bar. While it may seem like the universe is rigged against you, there’s actually a purpose behind the types of foods people crave before and during their periods. In her new book The Better Period Food Solution, registered dietitian and You Versus Food host Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, RD, reveals not only the reason for craving carbs and fats instead of healthier foods, but also how menstruation affects hunger levels in general. Seriously, where was this intel in seventh grade health class? How your cycle affects how hungry you are There’s one specific time of the month where you’re more likely to be hungrier than normal. No, it’s not during your period—it’s in the first few days after ovulation (roughly halfway through your cycle if you have a 28-day cycle.) According to Beckerman, this period of your menstrual cycle is called the luteal phase, which is when your body’s main goal is to thicken and build up the uterine lining to prepare for a potential pregnancy. “If you don’t get pregnant, that uterine lining is ultimately what is going to be shed during your next
I found a cauliflower gnocchi that’s even better than Trader Joe’s—but there’s a big catch
October 31, 2019 at 06:00PM by CWC Anyone who knows me knows that I need a minute to come to terms with healthy food trends. I turned up my nose at kale for years until I was okay with it being in every salad I ate; I gave oat milk the side eye for months until I realized that it makes a mean latte; I am the first to admit that I still don’t enjoy matcha. I’m not a picky eater per se, I am just deeply skeptical of most trends. (Call me the Dana Scully to the wellness world’s Fox Mulder—I do not want to believe.) This is part of the reason why it took me a full year to try Trader Joe’s famous cauliflower gnocchi for myself. The other reason for the delay is that it was always sold out at my local TJ’s. I went to buy it and couldn’t. For 12 months. That’s how popular it is. The anticipation was so great, the wait was so long, the hype was so huge, that once I finally got my hands on it, I was a bit underwhelmed. It’s good, but not the mind-blowing food that Instagram made it out to be. I considered myself not into the trend, and moved on. Photo: W+G Creative But I kept hearing about cauliflower gnocchi everywhere—including from fellow staffers at Well+Good. Then in September, grocery store staple Green Giant (distributor of frozen peas and also my beloved broccoli tots) reached out
Why it’s actually a good thing to be just a little bit narcissistic
October 31, 2019 at 05:30PM by CWC If there’s one word for someone who’s just The Worst, it has to be “narcissist.” The Mayo Clinic defines the personality disorder as “a mental condition in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, troubled relationships, and a lack of empathy for others.” While it’s true that this particular type of human doesn’t make for a great partner, friend, or boss, new research suggest that having just a hint of narcissism in your personality could be a strength—not a weakness. In three independent studies of 700 total adults, Kostas Papageorgiou, PhD, director of the InteRRaCt Lab in the school of psychology at Queen’s University Belfast, found a correlation between narcissism and mental toughness. Dr. Papageorgiou’s team of researchers specifically looked at two types of narcissists: the vulnerable variety (who go on the defensive to protect themselves from others) and the grandiose kind (who have an inflated sense of self-importance). One type beat out the other when it came to experiencing lower stress levels and less vulnerability to depression. “The results from all the studies that we conducted show that grandiose narcissism correlates with very positive components of mental toughness, such as confidence and goal-orientation, protecting against symptoms of depression and perceived stress,” said Dr. Papageorgiou. Just to be clear, he’s not giving you carte blanche to lean into your “me, me, me” tendencies. Instead, Dr. Papageorgiou says it’s a first step in
How to best deal with the end of daylight saving time, according to your zodiac sign
October 31, 2019 at 05:00PM by CWC If you’ve been perusing your calendar lately, wondering, huh, when is daylight saving over this year? Guess what? The time has come. On the early morning of Sunday, November 3, we shift back our clocks an hour, granting us a glorious additional hour of sleep. Yet, the long-term effect can be troublesome for many of us, especially those who suffer from seasonal affective disorder, since the end of daylight saving means that nighttime skies overtake the light of day earlier and earlier. Sure, you’ve lived your whole life to this point just dealing with the change (and considering a move to Arizona, where daylight saving time isn’t acknowledged). And while it might seem easier to just handle with the effects this way until the days stretch longer again, why not consider leaning on the stars for help? Your zodiac sign can offer huge hints about your personality and coping style, and astrologer Kyle Thomas has some personal tips to help make the sting of darker days much easier for you to handle. Who knows? Armed with this intel, you may just emerge from the winter months feeling more energized than ever. Learn how to use your zodiac sign to handle the effects of daylight saving being over Aries (March 21 to April 19): Start a fitness routine As a bold fire sign that thrives on the outdoors, an Aries can get fairly down once the colder months arrive—which means a rush of endorphins is
I tried “resistance band leggings” and my bottom half is still sore
October 31, 2019 at 03:00PM by CWC No matter what type of workout you’re doing, add a resistance band to the mix, and it’s guaranteed to make it harder. But add eight of them at once? And, well, you should probably avoid making plans that involve walking for at least the next two days. This is exactly the principle behind Agogie Resistance Training Pants ($130), which feature no less than eight built-in resistance bands, and put every other pair of leggings I own to shame. The bands, which run vertically down the legs of the pants, are meant to add a layer of “active resistance” over your muscles, making your muscles have to work harder than usual to do everyday tasks. They look mostly look like regular black leggings, with bands positioned over your natural muscle and ligament lines to move comfortably with your body. The resistance bands in back run from the glutes, down the hamstrings to the ankle, and the front bands surround the knee to prevent any restrictions of mobility while also assisting in keeping your knee where it should be as you move. A set of stirrups go around your foot to stretch the bands into place. The pants come in two different resistance levels: +20, which is meant to be worn for smooth movements and longer duration exercises, and +40, which is best for shorter duration exercises and explosive movements. Here’s what my experience was like. What’s it like to work out in resistance band
The best brow hack for whatever arch you’re trying to achieve
October 31, 2019 at 02:00PM by CWC Since there’s no such thing as an eyebrow positivity movement (yet), I feel I can be frank: I hate my brows. They’re thin yet wild with a sharp arch that makes me look severe. So, I hide them with longer-than-I’d-like fringe while crossing my fingers that I’ll soon win the lottery so I can afford microblading or a private island and a pool boy who loves me no matter how my facial hair is groomed. It doesn’t have to be this way, brow experts tell me. While I can certainly work on acceptance, and hold onto fantasies of an impending windfall, it’s also not that difficult today to achieve the brows of your dreams. “Brows are the one thing that can completely change your features with just a few tweaks,” says Brooklyn-based Shen Beauty brow specialist Joshua Beeler, who makes it sound easy enough for even me to have new arch aspirations. Below, find four of the most popular brow shapes experts say are currently en vogue along with pro hacks on how to achieve them. 1. The soft angled classic “This is my personal favorite,” says Joey Healy, celebrity stylist and eyebrow specialist. “The arch is about two-thirds of the way out, and it’s well defined but gradual with a tapered tail and a relatively squared-off front.” When aiming for this look, Healy says it’s important to reveal just a modest portion of the brow bone to give the eye lift without over-arching.
I thought I was the worst meditator ever until I got Zen in a room with 499 strangers
October 31, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC I was almost late to The Big Quiet session I was set to attend, thanks to a pretty un-Zen Lyft experience. The other passenger in my shared ride was also headed to the mass group meditation, which is currently in the midst of a 10-city national tour. We were nervously laughing about not having time to visit the bathroom at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan before the centering session kicked off. And after discovering she had done the Big Quiet before and I had not, I used the traffic as an opportunity to conduct some serious investigative journalism. “Is it, like, fun?” I asked. She mulled it over and marked it as more of a powerful experience. To paraphrase, she said it’s fun, but not like, woo! fun. Hmmm, I thought. Unsettling, yet intriguing. For the uninitiated (like I was, until very recently), the Big Quiet is is a massive meditation movement that hosts events where hundreds of people gather in some of the most gorgeous places in the world to hopefully soothe their mind for 75 minutes. There aren’t harsh restrictions set in place at these events, either. Need to bend or stretch mid-meditation? Great. Bend or stretch. With The Big Quiet, comfort, unity, and the cultivation of community are paramount. And with 500 total attendees set to join the session at the Gugg along with me, I knew that I was going to get a lot of community. What