Life Style

The olive oil sitting in your pantry has a lot of different benefits, and they're not all related to making your pasta taste good. In the same way that you'd use olive oil to cook some of your favorite dishes, you can also add it to your hair-care regimen in a multitude of ways. Using olive oil for hair can be super beneficial. The product is a moisturizing agent - not to be confused with a sealant - that can be used to hydrate your hair whenever it's in need of a little more love. Moisturizing oils are exactly what they sound like: they're oils that contain molecules small enough to penetrate the cuticle and hydrate the hair shaft. The product can be used for hair oiling, to heal split ends, and to hydrate your scalp when it's feeling extra dry. There are a handful of other popular oils that you can use as moisturizering agents, but if you're incorporating olive oil into your routine as a way to test out its benefits, you're not limited to the oil that you cook with. There is a long list of hair products with olive oil formulated specifically to help with damage and dryness. Read ahead to check out some of the best olive oil hair products you can shop right now.

What better way to celebrate the blossoming beauty of spring than with a May birth flower tattoo? In recent years, birth flower tattoos have garnered much adoration from tattoo lovers worldwide, much like astrology tattoos. They are an excellent option for those seeking a personalized design. For individuals born in May, the lily of the valley is the designated birth flower, with hawthorn blooms serving as the secondary alternative - each carrying its own rich symbolism and allure. Symbolizing purity, sincerity, and a return to happiness, the sweetly-scented, delicate white bells of the lily of the valley blooms offer endless inspiration for those looking to commemorate their May birthdays with a timeless piece of body art. So, whether you're a May baby looking to celebrate your special month or drawn to the rich symbolism behind this flower, a lily of the valley would translate into a perfect tattoo embodying positivity and joy. Meanwhile, the hawthorn flower emulates love, hope, and protection. The white- and pink-hued blossoms have medicinal benefits, but many mythical lores add to their undeniable charm. According to ancient beliefs in many cultures, fairies reside under a hawthorn tree, bringing good fortune and prosperity to its nurturer. So, a hawthorn tattoo also doubles as a good luck charm. From delicate wrist tattoos to intricate fine-line designs, there are countless irresistible tattoo options to channel your unique style and spirit through a May birth flower. Whether you're a first-timer or a seasoned tattoo enthusiast, we've rounded up a variety of unique and inspiring May birth flower tattoo ideas to help you find the perfect design of your dreams.

The leotards in women's sports are playing a dangerous game. As female athletes continue to break down barriers and rake in record-high ratings, their outfits seem to grow smaller and smaller. It's a trend that appears to affect several branches of women's sports - from swimming to track-and-field - but it's sparking the most conversation in women's college gymnastics. "Why do the college gymnastics girls not have to wear leotards that fit, and why don't they have to wear GK briefs under their leo?" asked content creator and former gymnastics coach BayouBrandi on TikTok, referring to the high-cut briefs often worn under leotards. Commenters said they'd also noticed this progressive sexualization in women's sports, noting that there's a difference between an outfit you pick out yourself (like a bikini at the beach), and an outfit designed for you. "I've literally opted out of certain sports [because] of how exposing the uniform is," one commenter wrote. In fact, a study published in the journal Sport, Education and Society found that 75 percent of the women surveyed had seen girls drop out of school sports due to concerns about uniforms or body image. While we support women in whatever they feel most comfortable wearing, personal autonomy is a component that seems to be missing here. In the NCAA, leotards are primarily designed by the individual coaches and their leotard reps, according to College Gym News. Assistant coaches keep an eye on trends and dig up inspiration on social media, possibly talking to the athletes about their preferences. But otherwise, NCAA leotard regulations are relatively vague, saying that "a student-athlete must wear a one-piece leotard and is allowed to wear any undergarments that are the same color of the leotard or are skin tone in color." When you consider that these young women athletes lack any significant agency over what they wear (beyond a casual conversation with their assistant coach), the discourse around their leotards feels especially one-sided. And as former college gymnast Natalie Wojcik pointed out in a recent TikTok, the leotards aren't the only issue. Her video highlighted a slew of comments she had received on social media, all of which discussed the skimpiness of her leotard rather than her athletic prowess. "Being a woman in sports is hard sometimes," she captioned the post. "I am a 23 year old woman. My body is different than when I was a kid," she replied to another comment, remarking that not all leotards have changed, but the bodies wearing them have. On an Olympic level, women's leotards have also been used as a political statement. In 2021, German gymnasts wore full-length unitards to the Tokyo Games in order to push against the rampant sexualization in women's gymnastics. "We want to make sure everyone feels comfortable and we [want to] show everyone that they can wear whatever they want and look amazing, feel amazing," said German gymnast Sarah Voss. This push for empowerment was especially powerful given gymnastics's history of sexual abuse, setting the tone for more female athletes to wear what they truly feel best in. Beyond gymnastics, in 2021, the Norwegian women's beach handball team was fined for refusing to play in bikinis, eventually causing the rule to change. And more recently, the US track-and-field world had a polarizing leotard moment after some of the kits for the 2024 Paris Olympics went viral. While the male uniform included a tank and briefs, the featured option for the women's uniform was essentially a leotard with little-to-no coverage around the gusset. "Wait my hoo haa is gonna be out," commented Olympian Tara Davis-Woodhall. The long jumper has since stated at the Team USA Media Summit that the leotards don't looks as drastic in person, plus there are other options for women athletes to wear, including shorts - but that doesn't take away from the larger conversation. "I've never been consulted in the design," Davis-Woodhall said during a roundtable interview including PS at the media summit in April. "For the next Olympics, let's go ask the athletes. How do you feel when you compete in our uniforms?" Davis-Woodhall added. "All women's bodies are different and I say the same thing for men. Let's make the uniforms for the people instead of for the views of 'Oh, this is gonna look cool on TV.' Well, that might not look cool on my body. So let's just adapt to the athletes instead of a show," she told the group. Whether or not you believe the outfits in women's sports are getting smaller, athletes are there to compete, and their uniforms should serve as an asset, not a point of discomfort. We can start by including athletes in the design process in a more meaningful way, listening to their preferences (be it tinier leos or full-on unitards), so that they can perform to the best of their ability. All women in sports deserve to be dressed like champions, but that can't happen until the athletes actually feel comfortable in the outfits they're competing in. And yes, for some athletes that might mean adding a little more coverage. - Additional reporting by Alexis Jones Chandler Plante is an assistant editor for POPSUGAR Health & Fitness. Previously, she worked as an editorial assistant for People magazine and contributed to Ladygunn, Millie, and Bustle Digital Group. In her free time, she overshares on the internet, creating content about chronic illness, beauty, and disability. Alexis Jones is the senior health and fitness editor at PS. Her areas of expertise include women's health and fitness, mental health, racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare, and chronic conditions. Prior to joining PS, she was the senior editor at Health magazine. Her other bylines can be found at Women's Health, Prevention, Marie Claire, and more. Related: The WNBA Deserves Pay Equity. Here's What That Actually Means.

A few years ago, a classmate in a non-fiction creative writing course I took in college turned in an essay that I've never quite forgotten: a 25-page piece all about her Finnish origin and her family's practice of daily sauna-ing. Until her piece was passed out for peer review, I assumed most folks' sauna routine mimicked mine; that is, they hit the sauna roughly once per year, during a visit to a trendy spa or bathhouse for a rare "self-care" day or for a friend's birthday or bridal shower. I was wrong. As I learned from my classmate's piece, in Finnish culture, sauni-ing is not just a thing you do, but rather, a way of life. Finns literally invented the sauna, over 2000 years ago, and it's truly at the core of their culture. As my classmate put it, sauna-ing is a practice of meditation, love, family, honoring your body and, of course, taking care of your own health and wellbeing. Oh, and one more thing that stuck with me from my classmate's essay: you may be pronouncing sauna - the only Finnish word you can find in the English dictionary, meaning "bath" or "bathhouse" - incorrectly. (I was!) It's pronounced SOW - rhymes with wow! - NAH, not SAW-NAH. And according to this classmate (who surely couldn't have imagined how often I'd think of their essay, or that I'd be writing about it now, years later), saying SAW-NAH vs. SOW-NAH would be enough to get yourself uninvited to her family sauna. Finally, after thinking about that 25-page essay and what it had taught me about the practice of sauna-ing for a few years, I decided to give it a real go. Sure, I could have visited a spa like Bathhouse more often, but some light online research led me to another option. I discovered that some people opt for installing an at-home sauna, too. This may sound extreme for someone who, until that point, had only spent about five minutes in a sauna once a year. The truth is, it was extreme. But I couldn't stop wondering what my day-to-day would look like if I took sauna-ing as seriously as my morning coffee. Would my body and mind feel much lighter? How would other areas of my life change if I accepted the sauna as a way of life? So, I did it. I installed an at-home sauna, and sat in it every day for one month straight. Here's what happened. Week One In case you're unfamiliar, the practice of sauna-ing involves sitting in a heated, wooden room. Saunas can be dry, meaning they use hot stones or an electric heater to raise the room temp, or wet, meaning they use some sort of steam generator to create humidity as well as heat. My sauna was dry and the thermostat hovered around 150 to 175 degrees Fahrenheit. . While some people really don't like the heat of saunas, as someone who opts for hot yoga over "regular" classes every time, I wasn't too intimidated; I expected that my first few days of sauna-ing would remind me of stepping into my yoga studio after taking a few weeks off. My inaugural visit to the sauna was a little more difficult than I expected, though. Stepping in, I felt immediately too hot and slightly winded. I sat on the wood stark nude - a nod to Finnish tradition. I managed to make it a whole five minutes, before feeling overheated enough that I had to step outside. While showering off, the afterglow set in. I felt tingly and refreshed, and that feeling stuck with me all day - then, as my experiment continued, all week. I started to look forward to my sauna session each morning, since it was such a reliable pick-me-up. Week Two When week two arrived, I was mostly excited to see if I could extend my sauna sessions past five minutes. While one small, older study published in the Medical Journal of Austria found that just three minutes of sauna-ing can improve cold symptoms, a review by RMIT University of 40 studies notes that Finnish sauna sessions mostly last from five to 20 minutes; much longer can put you at risk of issues like dehydration or blood pressure fluctuations, according to Harvard Health Publishing. With that goal in mind, I brought a big jug of water into the sauna with me, laid out a towel beneath me, and tried to settle in for the (relatively) long haul. Each day, I tried to add on a little more time, and by the end of the second week, I was good to sit for 15 minutes fully, which felt really good on the chillier mornings. Did I notice any big differences, though? I still felt tingly after my sauna sessions, but I'd say the biggest thing I noticed was a change in my skin texture. When I showered after, I could tell my skin was plumper and soaked up my skincare regime differently than when I didn't sauna. As a skincare junkie, this was an unexpected, but happily welcome side effect. Week Three They say it takes a person an average of 66 days to truly form a habit. But stepping into the sauna on week three, at day 15, I felt like sauna-ing could quickly become a daily ritual of mine. This week, my goal was to stay in for 20 minutes, and use this time to center myself. As someone who has suffered from anxiety and depression, I typically journal or use a meditation app for ten minutes at the start of my day, so I thought, "Why not meditate in the sauna?" Now, in addition to the water jug and towel, I brought with me a water-proof speaker so I could play my morning meditation guide. The combination of heat and mindfulness was really nice. Every day, I noticed that it felt good for me to have a space meant solely for my own relaxation and grounding. Instead of being distracted by the noise of my upstairs neighbor, or my computer calling to me, I was able to tell myself, "This is sauna time, nothing else." Week Four By day 22, I was really loving the daily sauna life. Every morning, I grabbed my water, towel, speaker, and of course, I had my birthday suit on just for the occasion, and sat in the sauna by myself. It was during week four that my classmate's sauna piece popped into my head yet again. I remembered how she said that for her, sauna-ing wasn't just about sweating, but about being with herself. I'd say that's how I felt this entire week. I already love alone time, but the sauna now felt like my very own sanctuary to do just that. By this time, I also felt like the actual benefits touted about sauna-ing - relaxed muscles, stress management, improved sleep - started to kick in, too. I'm super tense, especially around the shoulders and neck, but I found that I felt a little less tight in general. Plus, according to my OURA ring, my sleep score and resting heart rate had improved in comparison to my previous month. What Did I Learn From Sauna-ing? So, what did I learn from sauna-ing? Did it actually change my day-to-day? Could I follow along with the Finnish and adopt it as a ritual? After doing it every day for a whole month, I absolutely think so. While sometimes it's easy to say something has benefits and you should do it, we know it's not always the case, especially when it comes to health kicks. But with the sauna - a 2000-year-old invention - I had high hopes. And while different bodies will respond differently to lifestyle changes, I'm happy to say that I did enjoy some noticeable benefits: better sleep, improved mental health, less muscle tension. I can't speak to some of the other benefits, like improved heart health, but I was happy with what I experienced. For me, though, the biggest takeaway I had from my month-long sauna experience was this: it gave me a mental health routine I actually looked forward to. I was able to have a space that came to feel sacred, soft, and heart-opening. Even when I woke up not feeling my best, I could go to the sauna and reflect. I found that my classmate was right about what she had said: Sauna is not just about sweating out toxins or sitting naked in a wood box. It's about giving yourself the space and time to be with yourself. Would I recommend sauna? Yes. While I won't go so far as to say that everyone has to literally build a sauna in their house like I did, I think anyone could get at least some benefit from adding a regular sauna session into their routine, if they're able to. Would I consider it a new life hack? Honestly, it just might be. Do I refer to it as SOW-NAH vs. SAW-NAH now? You better believe it. Hayley Folk (she/her) is a freelance writer, editor, and podcast host based in New York City. She is the host of the "Naked Folk" podcast - a sexual wellness and relationships podcast - and she writes for major publications about the LGBTQ+ community, travel, lifestyle, sex, and wellness. In 2022, she received her master of fine arts in creative writing from The New School.