If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, STYLECASTER may receive an affiliate commission.

Retinol is the master ingredient when it comes to anti-aging, but why focus solely on the face? Our biggest organ, the skin, is all over our body too—we need to take good care of this area as well. One way you can do this is supplementing your facial retinol with a retinol cream for your body. I’ve done some research and found one with a ton of five-star reviews that promises to reverse anti-aging and have healthier, fuller skin. Plus, you can snag two of them for just $23, which is a pretty stand-out deal.

Deep wrinkles, fine lines, and sun damage be gone! Boost your collagen production and renew your skin. Made for dry, sensitive, and oily skin: you can use on all skin types. Sandwich this product in before body lotion to get the full effect—retinol is best to put on clean skin.

This retinol body cream and lotion is even great for hydrating dry skin. The best way to apply? Gently massage into skin using upward circular motions.

Amazon

Nuventin Retinol Cream Face & Body Moisturizer Lotion

Next level anti-aging ingredients inside this retinol body cream, including retinol or Vitamin A, hyaluronic acid, and green tea. Bonus points for the aloe vera that soothes and defends against irritation, plus the chamomile that protects against environmental damage and helps with puffiness.

Reviewers agree, saying not only is this item great for anti-aging, but great post-baby skin care. “Got this because I lost a lot of weight. This has been a lifesaver for my mommy apron! I was so self conscious about it after loosing so much weight. This stuff helped loads, and now my ‘apron’ is just about non existent.” Many users across the board are obsessed with the product—it has over 1,000 positive reviews.

Shop this retinol body cream now on Amazon before it sells out.

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, STYLECASTER may receive an affiliate commission.

I have a love/hate relationship with hair tools—I prefer to style my hair rather than embrace my natural texture, but leaning on heat to do so often leaves my strands dry and damaged. Throw in the fact that I bleach my hair several times a year, and we’re really walking a fine line. Not to mention, as an incredibly picky beauty editor, finding hair care products I love enough (and that effectively help my strands) to keep around long-term is a rare occurrence.

But after trying Remilia Hair’s The Cosmocap Serum earlier this year, I can truthfully say I’ve found one of my staples. I ran through my first jar of the serum-capsules at lightning speed, and promptly ordered more through Amazon. Here’s why: The serum instantly softens my dry locks, rejuvenates shine, calms frizz and protects against further heat damage like no other serum I’ve tried before. 

Amazon

Remilia Hair The Cosmocap

I pop open one of the biodegradable capsules after showering and apply the serum across the entirety of my towel-dried hair before styling as usual. The difference it makes is quite literally astonishing; my hair has far more bounce and vitality and far fewer tangles and flyaways when I apply it versus when I don’t. I can literally feel my hair softening as I distribute it across my head. It’s also lightweight enough that you won’t feel the product on your hair post-application, and can even spread it up towards your roots without them appearing greasy afterwards. 

Each bottle contains 30 individual applications (you can save half a capsule for future use if your hair is on the shorter side) full of keratin amino acids, silk protein and vitamin B5. All three of these strengthening ingredients penetrate each hair follicle to enhance its natural properties while hydrating even the finest strands and repair breakage from styling tools, UV rays and over-shampooing. What’s more, the cruelty-free serum is safe to use on color-treated and chemically treated hair, and is free of harmful additives, like sulfates and parabens.

RELATED: Even 70 Year-Olds Say This $25 Firming Body Lotion Leaves Their Skin ‘So Soft and Smooth’

Don’t just take my word for it. Look at the pages of glowing reviews from Amazon shoppers who have seen a “noticeable difference” from the very first use. 

“I usually avoid serum type leave in conditioners, because they leave a noticeable residue. This serum is very different, it doesn’t weigh my hair down and my hair feels smooth and clean even two days later,” said one person.

“I am usually such a slacker when it comes to leaving reviews on Amazon, but after using this product for the first time last night, I felt compelled to give this serum a glowing review. In fact, I have already subscribed to receive it every two months. In hindsight, I think I will have to change that to every month,” raved another who said the results they witnessed were “unbelievable” and referred to the product as a “miracle serum.”

The votes are in: Remilia Hair’s Keratin Serum Capsules are worth all $27, and then some.  

Estrangement, the widespread and stigmatized condition describing cutting off one family member from one or more family members, is becoming increasingly common. Estrangement can mean cutting ties completely with no contact or little contact with emotional distancing.

When an adult child cuts ties from one or both parents, they choose to disconnect from a relationship they believe is unmanageable. Estrangement is painful and usually talked about behind closed doors. But in recent decades, there are many resources for the adult child to recognize unhealthy patterns and choose to separate.

Parents confronted with losing the relationship status with their adult child go through grieving and finding a way to reconcile.

Estrangement is a grueling matter, complicated and ambiguous. The arrangement hurts all involved parties. Research studies have yet to catch up to the demand for information to illuminate and make sense of this harsh condition.

Types of Estranged Relationships

We know there is a great divide in perspectives between the estranged and their parents. Some estranged family members’ struggles involve addictions, mental illness, abuse, and toxic behaviors. Unraveling generational dysfunction and its impact on individuals requires professional support. Parents and adult children sometimes must remain estranged to preserve their well-being. 

On the other hand, some families have intense histories, including numerous contributors, and can move forward. Parents and willing adult children find their way to reconciliation, often with the help of a professional.

Then there are those parents and adult children who remain emotionally or physically distanced for years.

Within this range are parents and adult children who, regardless of the relationship status, come to acceptance and learn to live again. These individuals processed the emotions of grieving, invested in their well-being, exercised their empathy muscles, and intentionally stepped forward. They embraced alternative perspectives, including those of their kids.

When parents gain insight into the context in which their adult child cuts ties, it opens the door for parents to move forward. For parents, this means they move into the spectrum of acceptance, acknowledge their role in the estrangement, and grow their empathy muscle. 

Estrangement Contributors

Intrapersonal Issues

We define intrapersonal issues as those where the adult child severs ties with their parents because of crucial personality factors. For example, if the parent struggles with mental illness, it might cause unwanted strife in the relationship, finally pushing the adult child away so far as to become estranged.

A mentally ill parent might not notice how their behavior affects their relationships, but that might not be enough to keep the adult child in the connection. Personality traits that may push adult children away also include self-centeredness, narcissism, and immaturity.

If the parent is unsupportive and unaccepting of the adult child’s feelings, the latter will likely internalize the relationship as low value and choose to estrange.

A widespread intrapersonal issue is personality differences. Adult children who do not feel accepted in their sexuality, gender identity, and religious ideals are more likely to separate from parental relationships.

Interfamily Issues

Interfamily issues refer to forces outside the family – for example, objectionable relationships imposed upon the adult child by a divorced parent. The adult child can choose not to be a part of that new family dynamic if they wish.

Other reasons may include influence from a third party, such as a controlling or abusive spouse. The adult child’s spouse pressuring behaviors work to dismantle the family relationship, which may result in estrangement to keep the peace within the marriage. Alternatively, the adult child’s parents may not like the choice of spouse and therefore create distance and conflict.

Intrafamily Issues

Negative behavior, abuse during childhood, and sustained rigid or distant parenting styles can eventually cause the child to cut ties. Someone who has suffered mental, physical, sexual, or emotional abuse as a child can choose to separate from their parents in adulthood for self-preservation.

Other examples include:

• Family conflict and rivalries.
• Drug or alcohol abuse.
• Alienation from one parent caused by the other inadvertently damages the child’s perception.
• Parental favoritism of other siblings.

It is not unusual for an adult child to recognize these behavioral patterns as detrimental to their well-being and choose to cut ties in their adult life.

So Why Is Adult Child Estrangement More Common Now?

With the newfound loss of stigma surrounding therapy and mental health, adult children are becoming keen on their circumstances and how their environment has contributed to their lives. If the relationship stops benefiting them or never has, they can choose whether or not to stay.

They are not responsible for their parents’ happiness and decide to put themselves first. The bare minimum isn’t enough anymore. Some agree that family is not a permanent state; it can grow and expand as family members age or come to a complete halt if so chosen.

Parent and adult children relationships tend to thrive when there are no expectations. The adult child can feel loved with no conditions and supported without fear of judgment. Unfortunately, adult children report feeling disrespected by parents who disregard their agency and adulthood.

Dr. Joshua Coleman, in his book Rules of Estrangement, discusses the shift away from the obligation to parents towards honoring one’s needs to be happy. Adult children who find their parents difficult and disrespectful can distance themselves or cut ties entirely.

What intrapersonal, interfamily, and intrafamily contributors discussed in the Carr et al., 2015 study 

elaborates on the complicated nature of estrangement. Also, understanding that an adult child’s perspective can be highly different yet valid. Parents who hope to reconcile are willing to step away from their versions of the estrangement story and empathize with their adult child.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Do you think it is important to empathize with your adult child’s perspective? What resources have you found to be the most supportive? What do you do regularly that helps you nurture your wellbeing?

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, STYLECASTER may receive an affiliate commission.

While you’re not supposed to wash your hair everyday, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stock up on hair care products — think hair growth serums, sprays, and shampoos. For the next several days, shoppers can stock up bottles of their favorite beauty products at stellar prices, like the Rene Furterer Forticea Energizing Shampoo that’s 25 percent off during the brand’s Friends and Family sale.

Made from guarana extract, this vegan shampoo is designed to energize the scalp and improve hair strength leaving you with visibly improved strands. Not only will it strengthen hair from root to tip, but also leave your hair soft and smooth so you can say goodbye to knotted and broken ends for easy drying and styling. It’s also formulated with essential oils of orange, lavender, and rosemary which help purify the scalp and promote microcirculation when massaged into the scalp. 

Amazon

For best results, apply to damp hair in the shower and leave in for one to three minutes and then thoroughly rinse out. Need more convincing? Reviewers rave about the product’s ability to stimulate hair growth and prevent hair loss. One five-star reviewer said this paraben-free shampoo “really works” and is very “kind to the scalp.” While another fan of the product says it’s “great to give fullness and vitality to fine hair.” 

Normally, this dermatologist-tested shampoo is $34, so we’d recommend stocking up for the months to come while the price tag has dropped down to just $25.50.

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, STYLECASTER may receive an affiliate commission.

While you’re not supposed to wash your hair everyday, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stock up on hair care products — think hair growth serums, sprays, and shampoos. For the next several days, shoppers can stock up bottles of their favorite beauty products at stellar prices, like the Rene Furterer Forticea Energizing Shampoo that’s 25 percent off during the brand’s Friends and Family sale.

Made from guarana extract, this vegan shampoo is designed to energize the scalp and improve hair strength leaving you with visibly improved strands. Not only will it strengthen hair from root to tip, but also leave your hair soft and smooth so you can say goodbye to knotted and broken ends for easy drying and styling. It’s also formulated with essential oils of orange, lavender, and rosemary which help purify the scalp and promote microcirculation when massaged into the scalp. 

Amazon

For best results, apply to damp hair in the shower and leave in for one to three minutes and then thoroughly rinse out. Need more convincing? Reviewers rave about the product’s ability to stimulate hair growth and prevent hair loss. One five-star reviewer said this paraben-free shampoo “really works” and is very “kind to the scalp.” While another fan of the product says it’s “great to give fullness and vitality to fine hair.” 

Normally, this dermatologist-tested shampoo is $34, so we’d recommend stocking up for the months to come while the price tag has dropped down to just $25.50.