Lisa Hochstein’s Pink Ribbed Cutout Dress on Instastories

Real Housewives of Miami Instagram Fashion 2021

If there’s one thing we can recommend to all of you ladies reading this, it’s to get a friend with benefits. And no, not that kind, but someone like Lisa Hochestin who you can always rely on to provide great style inspa like with this pink ribbed cutout dress (and possibly access to free or discounted beauty services like we’re assuming she gave Larsa).

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Faryn

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Photos: @LisaHochstein

Originally posted at: Lisa Hochstein’s Pink Ribbed Cutout Dress

Heather Rae Young’s Grateful Dead Tie Dye Tee on Instastories

Selling Sunset Instagram Fashion 2021

Although we’re not sure which band Heather Rae Young is going with for her upcoming wedding to Tarek El Moussa, we do know which one she went with for the tie dye tee she wore to her wedding dress fitting the other day. And needless to say we’re just very Grateful that we found it still in stock and for under $100. 

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Faryn

Click Here to Shop Her Daydreamer Tee

Photo: @HeatherRaeYoung

Originally posted at: Heather Rae Young’s Grateful Dead Tie Dye Tee

Emily Simpson’s Black Shirt Dress on Instastories

Real Housewives of Orange County Instagram Fashion 2021

*Spoiler alert!* According to our Instagram sleuthing, Emily Simpson apparently wore this black shirt dress the other day en route to the RHOC cast trip to Cabo. *Another spoiler alert!* Come air time of the episode (as is the case for most cute things like this) it’ll likely be sold out, so you should probably scoop it up now before it officially bids adiós tres amigas. 

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Faryn

Click Here to Shop Her L*Space Dress in Black or White

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Photo & Info: @RHOC_EmilySimpson

Originally posted at: Emily Simpson’s Black Shirt Dress

Editor’s Note: Due to interest in a video demonstration, we are rerunning the updated article.

I often get asked about posture and osteoporosis exercises when we’re past menopause. Here are my answers to many burning questions.

What Is the Difference Between Posture and Alignment?

I prefer to use the term alignment because the word posture implies to me an aesthetic choice whereas I am focused on optimal functionality! You can use either word.

What Do You Mean by Optimal Alignment?

Your body is designed to have the path of weight from gravity fall through your head, evenly through your shoulders and spine, to your hips and then heels.

The heels are big and broad and strong for a reason. They were designed for impact and ground reaction force. Simply put, the muscle and bone targeting forces of “weight-bearing” exercise are activated by the ground reaction force of gravity.

Logically, if your hips are forward of your ankles, your weight is more in your toes, not great for your foot, but also the path of weight is now falling more through your knees than your backside. Hello, knee problems and weak gluteus muscles.

Not only do our glutes and hamstrings play an important role in hip bone building but they are key for sitting and getting out of a chair, a very important movement that we do not want to lose as we age.

Another less talked about area is the ribcage. We want the ribcage to be sitting above the hips and not tipped or tilted forward. Such a position makes it difficult to engage one’s core, and it also puts pressure on your low back. There is so much more to be said, but this is a good overview.

How Important Is It to Keep Your Shoulder Blades Together and Down Your Back So Your Shoulders Are Back? 

This is a very common question. And I would like to dispel the myth that pulling your shoulder blades down and back will actually improve your posture. What it may in fact do is just add more tension to an already sub optimal spinal alignment. The easiest way I can show this is with a photograph. 

As you can see in the first photograph, I have a kyphotic posture, or an upper spine that rounds forward. I can alter this by merely pulling my shoulder blades back and looking more upright (second photo). But in fact, I haven’t changed that forward posture.

Pulling the shoulder blades back via the rhomboid muscles when I’m standing doesn’t actually make my spine more elongated. Yet, I will suggest that you use your rhomboids in exercises.

The third photograph is standing more erect without so much forward shoulder and head. My shoulders are NOT pulled back, they are sitting easily. I have externally rotated my arms to find a bit more openness in my chest.

Here are some hints to follow:

1. Work on your shoulder blade mobility by doing rhomboid push-ups. The goal is to decrease the kyphotic curve. Getting more active movement in protraction and retraction will be a big help. 

2. Elongate your spine. Sometimes we talk about reaching the crown of your head more towards the ceiling. But we want to do that without extreme extension in the neck. 

3. Work on getting your hips back first, before worrying about your shoulder blades. You want to have a more stacked alignment from your heels to your hips. And then get to work on the stacked alignment in your upper body. 

4. You should be looking at doing more thoracic extension. It’s a slow process and the changes are small, maybe 1% at a time. Good exercises for encouraging more thoracic extension include baby cobra, gentle rotations from side to side, and cactus arms at the wall facing away from the wall. (You will work on getting your arms on the wall completely while also keeping the back of your ribs on the wall.)

What’s the Principle Behind Hip Hinge?

The principle behind the hip hinge is to keep your spine in neutral. This means that the natural curves of your spine are kept intact. A hinge is where you keep that neutral arrangement and move your torso, including your pelvis, over your legs.

A great tool here is a broomstick or a dowel. The 3 important points on the dowel are the head, the rib cage and the sacrum or the back of the pelvis. For some people, a forward head posture makes it difficult to get their head on the stick.

Try to keep the relationship of your head exactly the same vis a vis the stick. Keep your ribs and your sacrum on the stick. By doing so, you are protecting your lumbar spine and your thoracic spine. The biggest issue is unhinging or raising back up.

What you really need to have is a good core strategy. So even if your hamstrings are very flexible, you should only hinge over as far as you have the strength to bring yourself back up without changing your spine.

For people who don’t have a good core connection yet, start very small and progress to bigger hinges over time. A hip hinge, when done properly, is a great exercise to strengthen the entire back chain of your body.

Is It Better to Focus on Pilates and Yoga or Weights at the Gym?

This question requires breaking down.

How Often Should You Strength Train?

We all should strength train. I acknowledge up front that this does not mean heavy lifting and may need 1-pound weights for some individuals. We know that 2 to 3 days a week with a heavy for you weight is optimal for hypertrophy or building muscle.

How Often Should You Do More Endurance Based Exercises?

This type of work can be aerobic for heart health, or it can be longer, slower core work such as Pilates or yoga. Many people suggest 2 or 3 times a week for this kind of exercise for either your heart or your mobility and balance, or both.

I recently heard some scientific literature explained on a podcast that suggests a plan like this:

• Strength train 3 times a week, endurance train 2 times a week, and rest two days a week. You would do that for 10 weeks.
• Next, you start a new cycle where you endurance train for 3 days a week, strength train for 2, and rest for 2 during that cycle.

Of course, you may choose one day of rest with a more restorative practice on day 6. 

The most important thing is to listen to your own body. You should be able to determine your own level of fatigue. If you try strength training three days a week, do you still feel energetic on the 6th day?

I have clients who start out strength training with such light weights for safety reasons, that they really need three days a week. But other clients really push themselves and 2 days a week is optimal. These people may choose to not alter their training schedule every 10 weeks because they know what works for them.

As we age, we know our repair functions work more slowly than when we were younger, so we must be vigilant about listening to our own body and its signals. We must prioritize rest!

Why Should We Wear Minimalist Shoes?

I always stress the importance of wearing minimalist shoes. I’ve written an extensive article on my reasons why, and another on over 30 minimalist shoes suggestions.

What Is the Protocol for Weighted Vests? 

A weighted vest is not appropriate for everyone. In the end, it is your personal decision, and I am not a medical professional. When my clients ask me, I tell them it would be an informed decision if they know their bone quality as well as their bone density.

Additionally, you want to take your spinal conditions into account. If you have severe scoliosis or spondylothesis, or any number of other disc or spine deformities or degenerations, you must take these into account. It may be that you will choose to walk with a weighted belt and only add load to your hips and not your spine in the interest of safety.

Should you decide to use a vest, the protocol is to progressively load slowly. One would start with a half-pound, and if the first walk with a half-pound was successful, then one would load another half-pound each time one took a walk. As you get to a heavier load (the point that something is “heavy” is very individual), you would be wise to take more time to adjust to the load before increasing your weight.

It may well be that you would walk for a week with five pounds, for instance, and the following week, see if five and a half pounds is okay. So, your progression would slow down. The suggested maximum in the medical community is 10% of your body weight.

Have You Found a Vest That Places the Weight Near the Center of Gravity?

The assumption here is that a person has their center of gravity somewhere in front of the sacrum when standing. So, if you were looking to carry most of your weight in that spot, you would want to be able to wear a weighted belt that sits a little lower than your natural waist.

But I do think another good option is the hyper vest elite. It is made so that you can put two weights in any one pocket to redistribute the weight and get more of it near that theoretical center of gravity. From that perspective, I think the Ironwear Fitness Vest is not as good because it’s a much shorter vest. If you’re taller than 5’7”, the Ironwear Fitness Vest may be too short for you.

What Are Good Yoga Poses for Upright Posture? 

Tree, Chair, triangle if done with a neutral spine, Warrior I, II, III with a neutral spine.

When I Deadlift, My Knees Crack. Is That Okay? 

Consistent cracking is an indication of a hydrogen pop, a tendon moving over a bone, or two things rubbing together. I am not fond of letting that happen consistently over time as it seems like there would be a wear and tear event at some point.

However, I recently listened to a lecture where this notion was dispelled when it involves your Iliopsoas complex because that is a big strong muscle set that is unlikely to be eroded in this way.

Nonetheless, you might want to experiment with a lower weight and see if the knees still crack. Additionally, I would also suggest taking a slow motion video of yourself while performing the deadlift. You may discover that you are either hyperextending your knees or maybe they are drifting inwards or outwards.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice. Please consult with your doctor to get specific medical advice for your situation.

Do you think your body is well aligned? Do you do any exercises to correct your posture? What questions do you have regarding exercising for osteoporosis?

Today I want to share with you nine tips that are especially important for those of us over 50. These tips result from my experience over the past seven years as a professional makeup artist who specializes in helping older women.

I’ve worked with hundreds of older women during this time through in-person and Zoom classes, consultations and presentations to a variety of women’s groups, and I want to share with you today what I’ve seen and learned: the 9 biggest mistakes those of us over 50 make which prevent us from looking our very best.

#1: Disregarding Our Eyebrows

For most of us, except for the few genetically gifted out there, our eyebrows get lighter and sparser. So, filling them in by using eyebrow powders, pencils, pomades or brow pens truly makes an impact. Not using such a tool can make us look browless, and that’s not a flattering look on anyone.

In the accompanying video I make a point of removing my eyebrow makeup so you can really see the difference that using a good eyebrow product can make.

#2: Not Using an Eye Primer

Eye primer was designed to keep the natural oil in our eyelids from spoiling the look of our eyeshadow due to the creasing and smudging that it causes. And it does a fantastic job. But even more importantly, many of us can use primer in a different way.

If we have an eye primer that matches our skin or is just a little lighter, it will disguise the discoloration that many of us have on our eyelids.

Whether that discoloration comes from veins that show through the thin skin of our eyelids or darker spots, eye primer can create a uniform, clean canvas which makes our eyes look both bigger and brighter – with eyeshadow or without. I illustrate this difference in the video.

#3: Eyeshadow Doesn’t Reach Our Crease

If we have hooded eyes, it’s especially important to use eyeshadow high enough. In the video, I first use primer, then put the eyeshadow just in the crease. To make a comparison, I then bring the eyeshadow up higher than the crease so when I look straight into a mirror, the eyeshadow is actually visible. This is important because it makes our eyes look bigger than they actually are.

#4: Frowning at the Lash Curler

Curling our eyelashes is certainly not the easiest thing to do for many of us, but it’s definitely worth the effort. Why? Because it really makes our eyelashes far more visible and noticeable if we curl them first and then apply mascara.

Be sure to check out Elise’s YouTube channel which specifically focuses on makeup tips, techniques, and product reviews for those of us 50+. Don’t forget to subscribe!

#5: The Lipstick Sad Face

Because of gravity and the loss of collagen, a variety of body parts – as well as areas of our face – start to migrate south with age. Our lip area is not excluded. In fact, because of this downward movement, some of us start to look like we have a permanent frown on our face. Makeup can really help us here.

In order to create more of a smile than a frown, all we need to do is avoid bringing our lipstick and liner to the very outside edge of our lower lips. Instead, it’s a great idea to stop a little before we reach the edge of our lips. In the video, I demonstrate exactly how to do this and what difference this technique makes on our facial expression.

#6: Using the Wrong Tool for Blending Foundation

Some of us blend foundation with a sponge or whatever brush we have handy when it’s a buffing brush that we actually need. Using a buffing brush to blend in our foundation makes the product melt into our skin. This is because the soft buffing motion gently pushes the foundation further into the skin to make it look flawless. A buffing brush I particularly love is Eve Pearl’s #201 Dual Contour Brush.

#7: Using Powder Blush

Unless we have oily skin, cream or liquid blush looks the best on mature skin. Most of us grew up using powder blush, but as we get older and our skin gets drier, powder blush can look splotchy and highlight fine lines. Cream or liquid blushes, on the other hand, glide on and beautifully melt into the skin so they look more natural.

One of my favorites is this easy to apply blush from the new clean beauty brand Merit. And rather than apply it on the apples of our cheeks, as we’ve heard for years, it’s far more flattering to apply it upward from the middle of our cheekbone toward our temple to make our face look more lifted.

#8: Choosing the Wrong Lipstick Color and Formula

Because our lips get smaller as we get older, we want to attract light in that area to make them look larger. A great idea is choosing a formula that has some luminosity – a satin, pearl, frost or metallic look rather than a matte look.

There is one caveat, however. If we have a problem with lipstick feathering or migrating into the fine, vertical lines around our mouth, we want to first apply a matte lipstick along the edge of our lips since it’s less likely to migrate. Then we need to top with a more luminous formula lipstick or gloss – or both.

Now let’s tackle the question of lipstick color. Lipstick that’s too dark, especially if it’s matte, will look somewhat harsh and age us. And too light a color (more of the nude look) can wash us out and make our lips blend into our skin tone.

It’s been proven in research that the greater contrast we have, the more attractive we are so we need to create more contrast by wearing a brighter lip color. In the video I demonstrate a look with a lipstick that’s too light for me. It’s important to find that “just right” – or Goldilocks color – that provides some good contrast to our skin and isn’t too light or too dark.

In addition, we should never underestimate the influence of our skin undertone when it comes to choosing the right lipstick color. If our undertone is cool, we want to wear a pink, raspberry, plum or blue-red shade. If our undertone is warm, peaches, corals, oranges and red-oranges lipstick can be beautiful. And if our undertone is neutral, we can wear the lighter shades of either the cool or warm colors.

#9: Skipping Exfoliation

The most important thing we can do before applying any makeup is skin prep. And the step that most of us miss most often is exfoliating our skin. Getting rid of the dead skin cells (which dull our face) by exfoliating our skin is a very good investment in time, energy and money since it makes our skin look lighter and brighter. There are many great exfoliators on the market, and it’s also easy to make your own DIY version as well.

So this wraps up our nine mistakes to avoid. And if you need more information about some of the things mentioned in this article such as sparse eyebrows or hooded eyes or how to find the undertone of your skin so you can choose your best cheek and lip colors, be sure to check out these links for additional videos.

Which of these mistakes do you find yourself doing? Are there tips mentioned in this article that you might want to try? What makeup products do you feel help you look your best? What are some of your favorite products?