Wellness

Since I was a young girl, I’ve always loved shopping. Back in the day, I may have had more…extravagant takes (I gravitated toward everything pink, sequined handbags, feather boas and kitten heels…topped off with plastic clip-on earrings), but the love for style was already there, albeit it a little misguided. Nowadays I’ve updated a few things here and there, but I can’t say the road to the aesthetic I have now has always been smooth.

“Good design has the power to transform your mood,” says Jonathan Adler in reference to his new collaboration with Clinique. The ceramicist, designer, author (and now, beauty collaborator!) has lent his happy chic design eye to the iconic beauty company to create a limited-edition line of makeup that will look as good on your vanity as they will on you.

Want to be more mindful of your screen time and lead a more active lifestyle? There’s one simple formula to remember that can help you achieve both, and it’s called the 2/30 rule. It’s simple, really—the goal is to limit yourself to 2 hours of TV watching time per day, and to also get at least 30 minutes of exercise every day. It’s about spending less time sitting in front of a screen and spending a little more time working on your fitness.

For 125 years, Vogue has been the fashion magazine, setting and breaking trends as the ultimate authority on all things style. Over its century-plus of being published, it has spawned books and movies (some official like “The September Issue”—and some unofficial—::cough:: “The Devil Wears Prada” ::cough::), and launched the careers of many well-known faces.

Sometimes putting together a nice looking outfit can feel like calculus. What do you have to mix and match, layer together, or accessorize in order to come up with something chic? While some days it seems like outfits come together flawlessly, others you’re left with a bedroom floor cluttered with discarded clothes and a “meh” outfit you’re not all that excited about.

If you feel like you can stand to become more centered and relaxed throughout your day, then take a look at the guided meditations free on YouTube – there are hundreds of videos to choose from that take you from a stressed, anxious state, and back down to a zen attitude. No one’s weekday is an absolute breeze, and it’s easy to get caught up in stress when your responsibilities and to-do lists pile up mile high.

Reach out, reconnect, give thanks and appreciation to someone in your life who would love (and possibly be very surprised!) to hear from you.

While the thought of making it through a hot summer without any air conditioning might seem excruciating, it’s by no means impossible. So before you freak out and book a trip to Antarctica, consider all the ways you can cool down your place DIY-style. Thanks to all of the AC-less generations before us—shout-out to our grandparents!—there are plenty of trustworthy strategies for reducing heat inside your home; ones that won’t jack up your electricity bill either.

This just in: the data from your fitness tracker may not be as accurate as you think it is, new research shows. A study out of Stanford which looked into the accuracy of different wristband activity monitors found that, while fitness trackers tend to do a good job tracking heart rate, they’re not so good with measuring energy expenditure (AKA calories burned).

Does it feel like your sleep isn’t as restful as it could be? If quality sleep has been eluding you more than usual, a few simple science-backed lifestyle changes might be able to help—all you need to remember is the 6/30 rule. Avoid caffeine for 6 hours before bed, and avoid screen time for 30 minutes before bed.

Here’s the thing: I used to be a very productive person in the morning. I used to be a wake up early, make myself breakfast, get out the door and make it into the office before everyone else kind of person, but lately I’ve fallen into a very slow and tired routine. My recent mornings have been kind of a struggle, so I decided to try something new to get me out of my AM slump: getting up and going for a walk outside before doing anything else.

There’s pretty much a different, dominant bike share system in every metro area in America (Citi Bike in New York, GoBike in San Francisco, Metro in L.A., B-Cycle in Austin, Relay in Atlanta, Hubway in Boston, Divvy in Chicago, Capital Bikeshare in Washington D.C., Indego in Philly—the list goes on and on, and FYI many of these are identical imprints owned by the same top-level companies).

We’ve all read the studies—sitting all day, especially when combined with minimal exercise, can take a serious toll on your health. According to HuffPost, for example, long periods of sitting have been linked to diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and anxiety. Since the average American spends six to eight hours per day sitting, it’s important to find ways to move more throughout the day.

Being more mindful of your health doesn’t necessarily mean overhauling your entire diet or hitting the gym for an hour every day—there are a lot of little things you can do to help you feel like your happiest, healthiest self. Things like staying hydrated, getting in extra steps, trying new things and taking breaks are all important, and it all starts with challenging yourself to pay attention to them.

Using YouTube videos to lull yourself to sleep is one thing, but how about a visual production that simultaneously encourages you to snooze and shop for stuff to spruce up your place? Enter IKEA’s ASMR video. At 25 minutes, “Oddly IKEA” campaign features an intentionally soft-spoken narrator who guides viewers through a college dorm room outfitted with some of the brand’s latest back-to-school products.

There’s no faster way to look more put together and elegant than having a closet full of well-tailored clothes. But if you have a hard time finding pieces that fit you properly—from struggling with long pant hems or boxy blazers—know that there’s an easy fix for that: A tailor! Bringing your clothes into a trusted seamstress to be nipped and tucked can make all the difference, especially considering you can change the details that you don’t find flattering.

I’m currently reporting to you from the middle of my bedroom, surrounded by garment bags and flung open suitcases, tossed around shoes and a hodge-podge of pants, tops and torn-from-their-hangers sweaters. And in the center of this chaotic mess is me, sitting cross legged on the carpet with my head in my hands trying to hack the Rubik’s Cube that is not overpacking.

Thrift stores often get a bad rep, because when people think of charity shops, they envision moth-bitten sweaters and squeaky shopping cart wheels; ’80s razzle dazzle beading and broken old toasters. And to be fair, yes, a lot of that goes down in secondhand stores. But there is a lot of gold tucked in between all those shoulder padded blazers and hand-knit sweater vests. And with fall upon us, hitting those one dollar racks is a great way to update your wardrobe on a tight budget.

I am a person who is not good at drinking water—I have an admittedly unhealthy tendency to get so wrapped up in whatever I’m doing that I just forget to even think about staying hydrated. So, when I decided to do an experiment in which I lived according to Pinterest for a week, I made sure to incorporate tracking my water intake into it. I just wanted to try drinking eight glasses a day, and see if it changed anything for me.

Flying, okay traveling in general, is rarely fun. Cramped seats, bumpy rides, and anxious passengers aren’t really a recipe for a “good time.” That’s why the longer the trip, the harder we try to sleep through it—which unfortunately, is never easy. Luckily, we did our research, and found that there are still plenty of steps you can take to catch some quality ZZZs while you travel.

What was your introduction to podcasts? When I was in undergrad, a friend of mine told us we could download This American Life episodes to our phones so we could listen to David Sedaris’ Billie Holiday impression on demand, and our lives were changed. Since then, podcasts have an ubiquitous part of daily life for many, they help pass the time during commutes, chores and busy work. And they’re great! They teach us about so much and build worlds and make us laugh.

I’ve come to appreciate Harry Styles over the past year. Despite never being a particularly big fan of One Direction—I’m of the NKOTB/BSB/N*SYNC era of boy bandery—I am quite enamored with Harry’s solo album, shorter hair, wild wardrobe, and especially, his penchant for being a true plant lady. Don’t believe me on that last one? We have the receipts. Mr.

Before soon-to-be duchess Meghan Markle met Prince Harry, she was already a style icon. The American actor and humanitarian started lifestyle blog The Tig (named after her favorite red wine, Tignanello—which, if your keeping track, isn’t actually pronounced with a hard ‘g’) back in 2013. She shut the site down back in April 2017, but thanks to the wonderful internet archive, we can still sneak a peek at some of her timeless advice. Here are ten of her best tips.

It’s Sunday afternoon and the sun is setting on the weekend. It suddenly hits you: Tomorrow’s Monday. Dozens of emails, unwritten school papers, difficult colleagues, or household chores will be vying for your attention tomorrow. You’re anxious and overwhelmed… and it’s not even Monday. This experience is known as the Sunday Scaries. According to a 2015 survey from job site Monster.

It has been a year, so if you find yourself looking for new ways to relax, you’re not alone. Crafting has become a new form of stress relief for many people looking for a way to soothe their anxious souls. While crafting itself is nothing new, it’s use as a therapeutic activity is on the rise. Like adult coloring books before them, pottery, crochet and painting have become new go-tos for stressed out folks looking for new ways to wind down.

With the New Year right around the corner, now is the time to reflect on the past twelve months and contemplate resolutions for the future. Whether it’s eating more healthily, paying off credit card debt or flossing, setting goals helps you create a life filled with actions or accomplishments that reflect your values. If only it was that simple. Ever gone into January with the best of intentions, only to toss them aside or forget about them come February?

Ever since Pinterest has become the search engine of choice for people in need of creative ideas, we’ve been turning to the data there — like the annual Pinterest 100 list — for insight on what people are searching for in order to discover how to live their best lives. This year, there was a major uptick in searches for “self care” — up 537 percent over last year, which is, well… massive.

If you’re curious about the slick-looking wheel popping up on the Pinterest boards of your yoga friends (saves for this fitness prop were up 72 percent according to this year’s Pinterest 100), welcome: you’ve discovered the world of the yoga wheel.

If you’ve been obsessing over every detail of the recent royal engagement, the story behind Meghan Markle’s ring surely made you melt. According to their first joint interview with BBC, Prince Harry helped design using stones from Princess Diana’s collection. If you were hoping for a replica from the source, however, you won’t be getting your wish.

I set (what I thought was) an ambitious reading goal for myself in January 2017: I wanted to read 52 books. One book every week seemed challenging and exciting, but I was well through my quota by early summer. I pushed ahead, aiming for an even 100 but it’s looking like I will fall short of that renewed goal. Looking for a recommendation? Read Samatha’s picks here: I Read 75 Books in 2017 & These Were My Top 10 Still, a grand total of 75 books (and counting) is not too shabby.

Editor’s note: The writer of this piece describes her experience with the hair-pulling disorder trichotillomania. It was December 2015, and I needed a distraction. My anxiety had hit a peak, I was feeling lonely in a big city (New York), and it seemed my brain was rusting over. I am a creative person. I like being a creative person. But my 9-to-5 job working in social media, coupled with my hours-long Netflix binges after work and on weekends, wasn’t fueling that creativity.

People have tried to decipher what our dreams mean since the beginning of time, and now, researchers are taking a look at why we have them. A new study published last month takes a look at one particularly stressful dream pattern: the recurring nightmare. Occasional bad dreams are one thing, but recurring nightmares can signal something else, according to a study published in the journal Motivation and Emotion.

I want to read more. I really do. But it’s easy to let myself off the hook, with all the responsibilities that come from having a gaggle of young children, a house to care for and work to do. But I also know that reading — good, solid, offline reading — adds a dimension to our lives that only books (or e-books) can offer. Let’s determine to find a way to make more time for them in the coming year.

If you’ve ever tried to lose weigh,t you are probably familiar with the conventional wisdom of weighing yourself regularly. Some programs recommend weighing one’s self once a week; others every single day. It can be a frustrating process with the numbers going up or down depending on water retention, time of day and all sorts of little things that can make an already emotional experience slightly harder.

The holidays can be seriously disruptive to your sleep schedule. And getting your snooze habits back on track after the break isn’t always easy. So we called on sleep expert Nancy Rothstein, aka The Sleep Ambassador, for advice on how to remedy our holiday sleep-related sins — and fortunately, she had lots to share. Read ahead for some simple ways to score a good night’s sleep once the holidays are over.

After overindulging at a networking event in November (who thought it was a good idea to slip me those extra beer tickets?), I decided to swear off drinking until my birthday in January. It wasn’t until I posted my promise on Facebook that I realized I’d instated my ban in what is perhaps the booziest time of the year: the holiday season. Rather than deleting my post and giving up, I decided to go for it anyway.

Whether you’ve recently kickstarted a new workout plan for the New Year, you’re trying to exercise more, or you’re just trying to keep up with your current habits, one thing is certain: you cannot forget about recovery. In fact, physical therapist David Jou and co-owner of MOTIVNY, says that recovery is just as important as the exercise itself. A good way to get started is by being more aware of your body, your muscles, and how everything works together when you work out.

Don't let crowded gyms deter you from fitting in a workout.

When it comes to exercise, you’ve probably heard that doing something is better than doing nothing. Turns out, science supports that adage. People who did 150 minutes of moderate-intensity leisure activities (which could simply be walking) had a 14 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease, compared to those who reported no exercise or physical activity, according to a 2011 meta analysis of 33 studies published in the journal Circulation.

If only couch sitting and thinking about exercising burned calories—we’d all reach our fitness goals in no time. For me, turning the idea of working out into actually motivating myself to do it is a bigger challenge than the exercise itself. The fact is that sometimes finding the will to, well, move can be hard when the temps are subzero and the living room is wildly appealing—give yourself a break.

Dry January might have started easily enough. Chances are you were totally partied out after the holiday festivities, and made it through the first week or two without feeling like you sacrificed too much. But then the novelty wears off and temptation starts to creep up. Now you’re at the midway point and might be considering just one happy hour. With six sober months under my belt, I like to think I know a thing or two about how to make sobriety work while still living a great life.

We typically think of home—and the living room in particular—as the place where we avoid exercise: it’s the source of cozy blankets, squishy couches, and Netflix binges, after all. But when we spend so much of our time there, finding little ways to set up your space to reach your goals, rather than inhibit them, can make all the difference. That’s exactly what I did back in 2008.

Hello stranger! It’s time for another installment of Beauty Bucket List, a series in which we roll up our sleeves to do some hard and fast testing of cult beauty products, because just hearing about how great something is isn’t good enough for us.

If you’re like us, your work week is insanely busy; your to-do lists are overloaded and your inboxes are out of control. And then, the weekend arrives with the promise of redemption: This will be the weekend you do all the things that have been preventing your ascension to greatness. You will answer your emails. You will deep-clean the bathroom. You will make lasagna and freeze it for later, in practical, single-serving squares. Or, you know, you could not.

Wellness doesn’t have to mean an expensive membership, early wake-up call, or taking an hour out of your packed schedule. There are practical and simple ways to take care of your body and mind that effortlessly fit into your routine, budget, and environment. Chair yoga, for example, is a form of yoga that—you guessed it—can be done from a desk, kitchen, or living room chair—no gym, mat, funds, extra space or commute required.

Ever heard that it takes 21 days to form a habit? Turns out, it may require longer than just three weeks for your New Year’s resolution to become second nature. New research shows that it takes 66 days on average to form a habit — busting the old 21-day myth.

Everyone seems to be talking about “kids these days” and their addiction to technology. Yet, where’s the accountability for adults? With many of us checking our phones up to 85 times a day, it feels like we could all use a bit of an intervention. So this is exactly what I decided to do. I vowed to give up my phone for a week with just three simple rules: 1. No cell phone or social media for a week in any way. 2. No cheating. 3. Seriously, no cheating.

Oh how we love to track our steps and our health with our FitBits and other life-logging apps, but is actual wearable technology—like a new pair of underwear that connects to your Nest and adjusts your home temp according to your body temp—taking things a bit too far?

You might have planned to fit a workout in… but it’s freezing cold, pitch black outside, and The Bachelor is coming on. If the living room is looking a lot more appealing than the gym, the good news is that you don’t have to leave it. “What if told you that you could mesh training with your favorite television show?” says Chicago-based trainer, Liu Gross.

A few weeks ago, when I saw a promotion for a year of grocery deliveries for $49, I signed up for Shipt, and so far I love it. Both of the deliveries I’ve received so far were perfect. My shoppers were communicative, accurate, and on time. And ordering groceries online forced me to meal plan. I saved money, and I certainly saved energy; having someone else do my shopping while I worked made me feel on top of it and efficient.

Recent Pinterest data reveals that saves related to tai chi are up 189 percent. Initially created as a form of self-defense, today tai chi has evolved into a gentle and restorative form of fitness that’s often described as a “moving meditation” and an “art that embraces the mind, body, and spirit.” The Mayo Clinic lists stress reduction, increased energy, and improved flexibility, balance, and muscle strength as benefits of tai chi. Is tai chi the new yoga?

Travel, odd hours, long commutes, family time, and rough weather often makes heading to the gym or outside for a walk the last priority on your ever-growing to-do list. Plus, when you don’t have enough room to store gym equipment, let alone roll out a yoga mat, achieving your exercise goals can feel next to impossible. If you’re short on time and space, Mitzi Gaskins, the Global Brand Leader for JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, is here to help.

Even the most focused and organized people let their resolutions slip—it’s so common that a “holiday” has even been invented to let people ditch their resolutions without shame. But we want to challenge you to try something else: Restart Your Resolution Day. Now that you’re back in a normal routine, revisit that goal that’s starting to make you feel guilty and recommit.

Hey, pals. It pains me to break it to you, but I’ve got some bad news about our new national pastime: binge watching. Yes, it is still more enjoyable than most of the plans you could possibly make during winter, but it—like so many of the other simple joys that make life worth living—can be hazardous to your health if not employed with a certain amount of moderation.

U.S. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon is one of the 2018 games’ breakout stars, loved for his unwavering integrity, unmatched wit and, of course, his athleticism and artistry on the ice. Needless to say, we could all learn a thing or two from Adam on how to live well.

It’s a brutal winter. The world outside can be a horrible place. Can you blame anyone for wanting to cancel their plans, stay in, sleep late and watch TV all weekend? It’s self care, after all, and we can all get behind that. I mean, it feels good to get cozy and binge on, well, pretty much any shows out right now. And who among us doesn’t need some more shut-eye?

Let’s preface this by stating clearly that there is absolutely nothing wrong with sex or TV. They’re both fantastic when enjoyed with a loving partner (or by yourself). But whether your relationship is brand new or you’ve been together so long you’re inadvertently starting to dress the same, building intimacy as a couple is important. And real intimacy, well, that can sometimes take more than just a little Netflix and chill.

Are you a card-carrying member of Exfoliation Nation? Then you need to know about the Italy Towel, a sandpaper-esque mitt worshipped by skincare fanatics. If you’re one for falling down the rabbit hole that is internet skincare sites — Reddit’s Skincare Addiction is a personal fave — then you may have seen the abrasive and (often) electric green-colored towel before.