Life Style

I got into running after my dad passed away. He was an avid marathon runner and I decided it would be a cool way to honor him and get fit at the same time. What I didn't expect was how much I would enjoy it. Eleven years after I first laced up my running shoes - and with eight half-marathons, one full marathon, and more than two dozen 5Ks and 10Ks under my belt - running has become my most valued outlet when I'm feeling happy, sad, overwhelmed, or frustrated. I love the runner's high I get when my feet hit the pavement. I love the discipline it requires to train for a race. I love the community it's created for me, meeting up with other runners at expos and events. What I don't love is what running does to my 4A coils and curls. My hair does just fine when I keep my runs under four miles, but when I increase the mileage, my curl definition diminishes, the shine turns dry, and the soft touch becomes rougher. Because curls have a more elliptical S-shape, they grow in a curvy and winding pattern, which can lead to more breakage due to dryness - making them more susceptible to harm caused by wetness than other textures. "The moisture and salt in the sweat causes your hair to revert and draw up, shirk, or start to frizz," Broadway hair designer Nikiya Mathis tells PS. Because of this, I and many other Black women have specific hair for exercising - leaning into protective styles when we know it's an active season. Many of us plan our training schedule around our hair. "Pretty please don't ask me to work out this week," my sister captioned a recent selfie posted to Instagram after she had her hair styled in a silk press. Why? Braids, silk presses, wigs, weaves, and other natural styles are time-consuming and expensive - risking ruining them prematurely with exercise is not always a path we want to take. In a couple months, I'll complete my second full marathon. With my hair concerns in mind, I was determined to find a protective style that not only would stand up to the sweat of training, but doubled as a style I could wear throughout the week for work events, meetings, dates, and girl time. After much research, I decided to turn to my wig from Hairvivi. I have been wearing the Noelle style ($416) on and off for a year after seeing glowing TikTok reviews of the brand. I love how the wig complements my skin tone and how smooth the human hair is. I've worn the hair in multiple scenarios: bachelorettes, weddings, weekend brunches, date nights, sun-kissed holidays, and Zoom meetings. And with my next training schedule, I was very eager to see if I could add the gym to my list. Does the Hairvivi Wig Stand Up to Sweaty Workouts? Many naturals I know have a dedicated wig they wear during their workouts, and the friends I spoke with prior to taking my Hairvivi for a spin strongly advised me not to use the brand for my runs. They said the wig - which is made from 100 percent human hair and without glue and features a premade fake scalp and a pre-plucked hairline - is too good to get tangled up in a workout. However, the wig not only survived my sweaty workout, but streamlined my beauty routine. Prior to using the wig, I would wash and style my hair twice a week during the five to six training days - a task that would add up to two hours a week, with styling or a refresh every two days. It was extremely taxing. But with the wig, I simply plait my hair into six cornrows, pop on the brushed-out Noelle wig, and run my race. Like all protective styles, it preserves my real hair underneath so I don't have to manipulate it up to four times during the week. In order to avoid the tangles and mats my friends warned me about, I brush out the wig before and after every run and take the time to wash it once a week, letting it properly air-dry (heat should only be applied if you want to change the style's texture). According to Mathis, it's imperative that you take off glueless wigs before going to bed because the friction from sheets and pillowcases could cause shedding, breakage, and frizz - so I've been doing that as well. Since I've kept up with this routine over the last four months - as well as adding a couple drops of hair oil to add moisture back - the hair has not tangled and looks as shiny as when I first got it. My sweat doesn't disrupt the wig lace, either. An adjustable inner band and a nape comb piece keep the wig on tight when I'm in motion. I've worn the wig when training on a treadmill, pavement, beach sand, and gravel. The hair has never wavered, slipped off, or lost its way in tangles. As for my natural hair underneath, I make sure I let the roots dry properly after a workout by sitting under my hooded dryer. "When sweat dries on your scalp, it leaves a residue that can clog your hair follicles with damaging bacteria," says Hairvivi founder Claire Bao. Because my hair is in neat cornrows, I don't have to re-braid them after each run. Instead, I spritz them with a hair oil (current fave: Gisou's Honey Infused Hair Oil) to make sure my natural hair stays hydrated. It can be tough to maintain great textured hair with a physically active lifestyle. As a Black woman, I don't want to have to choose between fitness and my appearance - thankfully, Hairvivi helps me achieve the perfect happy medium. Natasha Marsh is a freelance writer who writes about fashion, beauty, and lifestyle. Prior to freelancing, she held styling staff positions at The Wall Street Journal, Burberry, Cosmopolitan Magazine, British GQ, and Harpers Bazaar.

There comes a day when you glance at your bathroom cabinet or vanity and realize that you have an overwhelming amount of skin-care products. And trust us, we understand completely - our own cabinets are brimming with buzzy new serums, moisturizers, and face masks. But a little bit of spring cleaning could bring new life to your beauty routine. Ready to embrace minimalism? Start by following these tips from dermatologists and an aesthetician for stripping your skin-care regimen down to its basics and using your products to the last drop - before they gather dust on your shelf. Skin-Care Decluttering Tip 1: Assess What Your Skin Needs According to Edyta Jarosz, a licensed aesthetician at Shafer Clinic Fifth Avenue in New York City, the first step in decluttering your skin-care collection is deciding which products are keepers. "Assess what your skin needs and what you want to achieve with your skin-care routine. Consider your skin type, concerns, and any specific issues you want to address," Jarosz tells PS. According to cosmetic surgeon and board-certified dermatologist Bertha Baum, DO, your skin-care capsule wardrobe should always include three core products: "No matter what type of skin you have, you should always have a basic cleanser, a quality moisturizer, and sunscreen as part of your skin-care regimen." Beyond that, keep the products that best suit your skin or your most persistent needs (such as acne or fine lines), and consider tossing the rest. Skin-Care Decluttering Tip 2: Check the Expiration Dates "Skin-care products have a shelf life, and using expired products can be ineffective or even harmful to your skin," Jarosz says. "Dispose of any products that are past their expiration date." Some products' expiration dates are on their outer packaging, which gets trashed as soon as you get home from Sephora. So aesthetician Elizabeth Grace Hand, the founder of Ställe Studios, says she writes the date she starts using a new product right on the label with a Sharpie. "This way, I know when something has been open for too long and should be replaced," she says. The expiration date is particularly important for natural products, which tend to be formulated without preservatives and thus expire quicker, Hand says. Skin-Care Decluttering Tip 3: Try the Rule of Threes Feeling like all your products spark joy? Hand limits herself to three products per category: three cleansers, serums, moisturizers, SPFs, exfoliants, lip products, toners, acne treatments, and masks. "Practically, I save space in my bathroom, and I'm also hyper-focused and ruthless about what products I keep as one of the three." Skin-Care Decluttering Tip 4: Store Everything Properly Dr. Baum emphasizes that storing skin-care products properly is essential for maintaining their efficacy, which will help you get the most of your product. (Be honest: how many half-full but neglected products are sitting on your vanity right now?) "Store your products in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight," she says. Dr. Baum recommends avoiding storage in humid environments to prevent bacterial growth and emphasizes the importance of keeping product lids tightly closed to prevent air from getting inside. "It's essential to seal containers tightly, refrain from using dirty fingers to apply products to your skin, and avoid diluting products with water, as these practices can potentially contaminate your skin-care products," adds Elizabeth Callahan, MD, a dermatologist at SkinSmart Dermatology in Sarasota, FL. Skin-Care Decluttering Tip 5: Play Favorites Now's the time for a little tough love. Dr. Baum recommends you identify a brand or specific products that suit your needs and use them consistently. "But this bottle is so pretty" is not a good enough reason to keep it sitting on your shelf if you're not using it on a regular basis. Happy decluttering!

All right, beauty-lovers, let's be real. We know you have cosmetics piling up everywhere. Whether it's your favorite skin-care items, the hair products you can't live without, or the mountain of lipsticks you swore you needed, it's time to get organized. While decluttering your ever-growing collection might seem like a daunting task, the key is starting small. Instead of attempting to get everything situated all in one go, divide everything into categories. Our favorite place to begin? With our makeup. After all, mascara takes up way less space than, say, hairspray, which makes for an easier starting point. And what better way to get organized and up the visual appeal than with a cute makeup organizer? Not only will these items make your collection look pretty, but it will also make everything much easier to find. You won't have an issue locating your favorite foundation brush or the blush that you've been recently obsessed with. So, let's get to it. Ahead, we curated a list of our favorite makeup-organizing products that will help you get your collection in order. Some even double as home decor, which is honestly the best of both worlds. Check out our favorite options, and buy a few for your beauty battle station. - Additional reporting by Renee Rodriguez Related: Sephora's Got a Ton of New Makeup - and Here's What We Can't Wait to Test First

A short list of things I learned this weekend: my nails are not infallible, and I suck at basketball. While on vacation in Arizona last weekend, I badly broke one of my beloved fingernails. I know, I know: first-world problems. But getting my natural nails to a good place has been a long and arduous process, and breaking one felt like a major setback. Last year, I was having trouble growing out my nails after too many months of back-to-back gel manicures. My nails were brittle, and even once I took the gel off, I couldn't get them to stop breaking. I tried nail cycling, which helped, but it wasn't until I was introduced to builder gel that I was able to get my nails back on track. Since trying it for the first time last year, I've had great results. I've been able to grow out my nails longer than ever before, and I've even been able to try out new shapes that accentuated my length. When I broke my right pointer fingernail during a heated game of "HORSE," I thought it was the end. Not only did it break all the way through my builder gel, but the break location was past my fingertip, which meant it was extremely painful. I couldn't get a good look at what was going on because part of the gel was still intact underneath the crack, so I booked an emergency appointment for the next day at my go-to nail salon in Los Angeles, My Little Boutique. At my appointment with nail artist Sherese the following morning, I was sure we were going to have to completely cut my fingernails down, and I figured my pointer finger would need to go in a bandaid for the foreseeable future. Once we filed down most of the gel, we realized that the break went all the way through the fingernail on one side, but on the other side, things were still intact. Since I had builder gel on, we left a thin layer of gel on top of the nail, so the break was never fully exposed. After taking a closer look, Sherese suggested we use a silk wrap to hold everything together. I had never tried one before, so I did a little Googling to make sure I was comfortable with what she was proposing. "A silk wrap manicure is given to a client when they need strength and durability added to their natural nails," manicurist and LeChat Nails educator Syreeta Aaron previously told PS. "This method of using silk fabric is excellent for repairing a chip or breakage to a natural nail for a client that does not want enhancements such as acrylic powders." After Sherese showed me the silk wrap and explained how it would work, I told her I was game to try it - and I'm so thankful I did. We ended up cutting down my natural nails to a more manageable length, and once everything was even, we started the process. Sherese manicured all of my other nails first, and then she focused on my pointer fingernail. She placed the silk wrap on my natural nail and then applied gel on top. Once it cured, she was able to go in on all of my nails with the color of my choosing. The silk wrap made my broken nail a bit thicker than the rest of my nails, but it was barely noticeable. I opted for a sheer color because I wanted to make sure I could monitor what was going on underneath the gel, and although you can see where it was broken (and bleeding), if you look really closely, overall, my nails look uniform. The pain has completely disappeared since getting the silk wrap and gel put on, and I'm able to go about my normal activities without any issues. Sherese did note that I should get my nails checked out after two weeks (rather than waiting for my usual three), but other than that, things are business as usual. I'm so happy I opted to get a silk wrap and that it worked to fix my first-world nail problem. Renee Rodriguez is a staff writer and social producer for POPSUGAR. She writes across all verticals, but her main areas of expertise focus on fashion and beauty content with an emphasis on reviews and editor experiments. She also produces social content for POPSUGAR's TikTok and Instagram accounts.

Tennis is a demanding sport, but for women in particular, balancing the pressures of motherhood can take it to a whole new level of pressure. That reality - as well as the joys of motherhood - has been on full display at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA, this week. Take Naomi Osaka, who is one of seven moms represented in the main draw of the tournament. This is the four-time Grand Slam champion's fifth tournament since giving birth to her daughter, Shai, in July 2023. "I was really inspired by the players I watched when I was pregnant, and I wanted to come back and I know I have to play well," she told the crowd after winning her first match on March 7. "I go immediately into mom mode, and I wouldn't want to be in any other mode." Osaka, who was the BNP Paribas champion in 2018, brought her daughter to this week's tournament. When asked how she manages it all, Osaka shared, "I go immediately into mom mode, and I wouldn't want to be in any other mode." The BNP Paribas Open is the second-largest tennis tournament in the Americas, behind the US Open, and it's a beloved tennis experience for players and fans alike. And this year, just as Osaka puts on display, mothers are embracing all of their roles: juggling demanding workouts and practices with their children's feeding and sleep schedules. It's clear through interviews that motherhood seems to have given these women a sense of purpose beyond remaining at the top of their game. Empowering moms has been a focus of the Women's Tennis Association, too: in 2018, the organization stepped up its efforts to support moms by protecting the rankings and seedings of players who give birth or adopt. The efforts were championed by former United States Tennis Association president Katrina Adams, who has been a strong voice in the fight for gender equity in sports. The hope is that these provisions will show women tennis players they won't be penalized for aspiring to motherhood. Angelique Kerber, a German player who has previously been ranked No. 1 in the world, gave birth to her daughter, Liana, in February 2023. She is also off to a strong start at this week's BNP tournament. When asked about her biggest inspiration within her sport at a press conference, Kerber responded, "Having my daughter by my side, it's even more inspiring for me. . . . It's not tennis anymore . . . it's her. And having the combination of doing something I love and having her on my side is the most inspiration for me. I'm really proud to be a mom now." American player Taylor Townsend also talked about the importance of having her son, AJ, who was born in 2021, at the tournament with her. "It's awesome. Having him here has made me relax a little bit and gives me an opportunity to disconnect from all of this when I leave the site, and I can turn off and focus on him," she told PS. "For me to be able to cherish these moments with him being here, and being able to play good tennis, it truly means a lot to me." In a sport that puts so much pressure on individual players, these stars are proving that they don't have to choose between motherhood and their careers. For Townsend, the visibility of being a mom is now also an important part of her role in tennis. Her son turns 3 years old this week - a prime opportunity to reflect on what being a working mother means to her. As she put it: "I hope it makes an impact, honestly. I hope that my actions are showing him the way to go." Ralinda Watts is an author, diversity expert, consultant, practitioner, speaker, and proven thought leader who works at the intersection of race, identity, culture, and justice. She has contributed to numerous publications, such as POPSUGAR, CBS Media, Medium, Yahoo Lifestyle, and the Los Angeles Times.

The thing I've started picking up on as I get older (I'm 34) is that once I notice something new about my skin, I can't unsee it. It doesn't matter if it's something tiny that only I will notice. Once it's been identified, the obsessing begins. That was the case for my neck wrinkles. I was just living my life, and then one day, seemingly out of the blue, I had developed relatively deep lines and wrinkles from the chin down. Apparently - to my great chagrin - I should have paid more attention to all that talk about ways to prevent tech neck and actually followed a skin-care routine for the area. Because I will now never not be able to look past those wrinkles, I took to the internet to figure out how to get rid of those pesky reminders of my scrolling habit. The solution was right in front of me: neck Botox injections. If it's good enough for Kim Kardashian, as she told People, it's good enough for me. I immediately made an appointment with Parvaneh Rafaeloff, MD, at her med spa Le Jolie, a celebrity favorite in Beverly Hills. Keep reading to see my results and get a sense of the neck Botox experience. What Is Neck Botox? Neck Botox is exactly what it sounds like: Botox injections in the neck area. Botox is a neurotoxin used to paralyze the muscles, helping to reduce fine lines and wrinkles. Your doctor will place the injections directly along those horizontal lines on your neck for a targeted approach. (This is not the same as traptox, which is Botox injected into your trapezius muscles.) It's worth noting that in this story, we're specifically talking about the Botox brand of neurotoxin, but you could also use other brands such as Dysport, Xeomin, or Daxxify. Dr. Rafaeloff notes that each brand has its own formulation and may have slightly different dosing and duration of effects. What Does Neck Botox Treat? According to Dr. Rafaeloff, Botox injections in the neck can effectively treat wrinkles, lines, and neck bands. Botox is not primarily used for treating significant sagging or laxity of the skin. "There are other procedures for sagging skin such as Forma, Emface, or Morpheus8," Dr. Rafaeloff says. While Botox is considered the gold standard for smoothing wrinkles, there are some other treatments you could opt for. However, those tend to have much more significant aftercare and downtime than Botox. Take Ultherapy for example. This procedure uses high-intensity focused ultrasound to target deeper levels of the dermis. It heats up and traumatizes cells in order to generate new collagen. I've done this procedure and can attest that it hurts. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, especially for cosmetic procedures, so trust me, it's not fun. Plus, it doesn't give the immediate results of Botox. You could also go the laser route, but then you're looking at significant downtime, scabbing, and no guarantee that deeper wrinkles will lessen. TLDR: if you want pretty much guaranteed results with little pain and no downtime, I recommend Botox. My Neck Botox Experience Like I mentioned, I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but Dr. Rafaeloff added some numbing cream to my neck just in case. This is because the skin on the neck is pretty thick, so pushing the needle through isn't as buttery as on the skin of the face. Once I was numbed, Dr. Rafaeloff hit the wrinkles on both sides of my neck with injections - I have three deep lines going across my neck that she targeted. She warned that it might be slightly painful since the skin on my neck was quite taut (a win for me, finally), but I found the pain to be pretty nonexistent. All in all, the appointment was around 20 minutes. There are a lot of procedures billed as "lunchtime treatments" - this one definitely falls under that. You're in and out in under an hour (sometimes under 30 minutes), and you look pretty normal afterward. I was slightly sore after the numbing cream wore off a few hours later, but nothing prohibitive. In terms of results, it takes anywhere from two to 14 days for the effects of Botox to kick in. For me, I usually start seeing it take effect in my face after about three or four days - it took a full seven days for my neck to smooth out, I'm guessing because the wrinkles were deeper there. Neck Botox Side Effects Like with any injections, common side effects of Botox injections in the neck include temporary bruising, swelling, or redness at the injection site. As you can see above, I had some minor redness immediately after, but by the next morning I was back to normal. I also tend to get a mild headache for the rest of the day after getting Botox. Neck Botox Aftercare Anytime you get a 'tox injection, you should make sure to stay upright for at least four hours after your appointment (no naps!) and avoid working out for 24 hours. Similarly, you'll want to wait a few days before any massaging of the area; make sure to schedule any facials at least three days after your Botox appointment (I give it a week just to be safe). This is all to help prevent the Botox migrating to other parts of your body. Dr. Rafaeloff also recommends slugging with Aquaphor for a few nights after your injection to keep everything hydrated and supple. Is Neck Botox Worth It? If you're like me and unable to stop obsessing over wrinkles once they appear, then yes, neck Botox is worth it. Keep in mind that Botox is not cheap and doesn't last forever - Dr. Rafaeloff says she injects anywhere from 30 to 60 units in the neck (at the standard $15 per unit, you're looking at a $450 to $900 bill every four months or so). If it's worth it to you to shell out some cash for a wrinkle-free existence, then Botox is the way to go.