Ariana Grande fans have been waiting a long time for this one! The superstar’s God Is a Woman Eau de Parfum is finally here. In a partnership with Luxe Brands, Grande rolled out her first clean fragrance. “We have, of course, been cruelty-free but taking this next step moving into clean, with responsibly sourced materials and vegan ingredients, is something we are all very proud of,” she said in a statement. “I really adore this fragrance and hope it makes everyone wearing it feel beautiful and empowered.”

In addition to the cruelty-free and vegan ingredients, God Is a Woman comes in a recyclable carton, as well as a reusable base made from 60 percent plant-based/sustainable materials. The fragrance was crafted by Robertet’s Jerome Epinette, the perfumer and artisan behind Byredo and Atelier Cologne. “God is a Woman presents an unprecedented duality in fragrance — an incredibly simple perfume structure built around some of the most coveted and exquisite natural materials available to me as a perfumer – specifically ambrette and orris,” he said in a statement. “The way we crafted the scent represents what I feel is the future of perfumes; simplicity and luxury anchored to nature.”

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.

Luxe Brands.

God Is a Woman has top notes of ambrette and juicy pear, a heart of orris and Turkish rose petals and a drydown of Madagascar vanilla and creamy cedarwood. The flirty fragrance will take you right from summer to fall with ease. If you’re thinking of grabbing the new scent from Ulta (its inclusive retailer), there’s no better time. From now until August 11, the Ariana Grande Fragrance Brand will make a donation of $5 towards ocean clean-up initiatives with every God Is a Woman fragrance purchase (the 1.7 and 3.4 oz spray), with a minimum of $75,000.

There’s even a gift-with-purchase incentive. From now until August 21, grab a free duffel bag or backpack with a $60 fragrance purchase. There are some exclusions but don’t worry — this isn’t one of them. Apparently, quantities are limited so head over to Ulta to grab yours.

Khloe Kardashian may not immediately come to mind when you think of a caregiver. Yet, when her estranged husband had an unexpected life-threatening health crisis she became his full-time caregiver. Like many caregivers, Khloe dropped everything and literally did not leave his side for weeks.

Driven by worry, guilt, and the need to be selfless, Khloe resisted taking time to make sure her needs were met and instead focused all her energy on her husband’s recovery. Months into her caregiving experience, she hit a psychological brick wall and in a moment of emotional clarity Khloe said,

“I just want to care for him but I want someone to care about me too.”

Fortunately, when she was finally ready to admit that she was exhausted, burned out, and that she could no longer go at it alone, her mother and sisters were by her side to provide her with the emotional support she needed. Khloe learned that being a selfless caregiver is neither realistic nor healthy in the long run.

If you want to circumvent hitting an emotional brick wall, at full speed, it is important to avoid always making the needs of your loved one a priority over everything, without taking time to nurture your psychological well-being.

What Does It Mean to be Psychologically Distressed?

Psychological distress, in the context of caregiving, is a gradual process that is often the result of the unrelenting burden you may feel when it comes to providing care for a loved one.

When you are psychologically distressed you generally do not know where to start to address your needs or the needs of your loved one.

In fact, distress has been linked to increased mortality and deleterious health habits among caregivers (i.e., drinking, smoking, and eating an unhealthy diet).

What are the 5 signs of psychological distress? Let’s explore them.

Crying Without Knowing Why

There is nothing wrong with crying. In fact, a good cry can provide you with the opportunity to release your emotions. However, crying without knowing the reason behind your tears can be a sign that you are psychologically distressed.

Feeling Frustrated or Short-Tempered All the Time

Everyone experiences anger and feels frustrated from time to time. However, if you find that you are short-tempered or angry all the time, you are likely displacing your emotions. When you do not address how you are feeling, you increase the chance that you will burn out.

Ineffectively Communicating with Family and Friends

Ineffective communication is often the first sign that you are distressed. This is partially because when you are burned out your brain is overloaded. You need to have a clear mind if you want to have the opportunity to effectively express your feelings.

Feeling Hopeless or Thinking That You Have Little Control Over Your Life

Caring for a loved one can exacerbate feelings of isolation, hopelessness, and helplessness. The emotional demands of providing care can be tremendous, and you may end up feeling that you have less control over your life.

Not Sleeping Through the Night

One of the fastest ways to burn out is to get inadequate rest. Without proper sleep, you will soon find that your energy is depleted. Worry and sleep deprivation can also cloud your thoughts.

How Do You Avoid Burning Out?

So, how do you avoid burning out? One important step is to first recognize that you are psychologically distressed and then work towards taking action to improve your well-being.

Psychological wellness refers to your ability to cope with stress, depression, anger, grief, and anxiety; to problem solve; and to communicate effectively with family, friends, and the rest of the health care team.

The following four resources may help you to put the focus back on you so that you can improve your psychological wellness as a caregiver:

Assess Your Level of Well-Being

Download the latest Caregiver Wellness Empowering U to prevent Burnout booklet which includes tips to help you assess your current level of distress and provides you with tools to enhance your psychological well-being while caring for your loved one.

Practice Stress Release

Print out Your Portable Guide to Stress Relief, a valuable resource published by Harvard Health Publications.

Included in the guide are quick tips for managing your stress in the workplace. The suggested activities can be performed during your scheduled work breaks or at other times when you are feeling stressed.

Cultivate Empowerment

Listen to the pre-recorded Caregiver Wellness: Power of U web seminar designed to help family and professional caregivers manage stress associated with caring for a client or loved one. You will learn to use the “Caregiver Wellness: U Model.” This will help you to develop social, psychological, physical, intellectual, spiritual, occupational, and financial wellness and cultivate empowerment and resilience.

Focus on Helping, Not Rescuing

Create a caregiver action plan so that you can focus on helping your loved one rather than rescuing them.

One of the most important concepts you can grasp as a caregiver is the help rather than rescue model. Helping means that you provide assistance that is needed, yet you encourage your loved one to do the things that they can do for themselves. From a caregiving perspective, helping is a strategy for self-preservation.

For example, if your loved one needs assistance with getting to doctor’s appointments, meal preparation, and companionship perhaps you arrange those services. Then you encourage your loved one to do what they can do for themselves, and preserve your energy so that you are only performing pertinent tasks.

Don’t forget that psychological distress often leads to burnout.

Therefore, it is imperative that you care for yourself so that you can avoid the dark alley of distress. Remember that you cannot be everything to everyone else and nothing to yourself.

Are you a caregiver? How do you deal with stress? What do you do to prevent becoming psychologically distressed while caring for someone you love? Have you ever felt that you were on the verge of burning out? What strategies do you think are most effective when trying to avoid burning out? Please join the conversation.

Ariana Grande fans have been waiting a long time for this one! The superstar’s God Is a Woman Eau de Parfum is finally here. In a partnership with Luxe Brands, Grande rolled out her first clean fragrance. “We have, of course, been cruelty-free but taking this next step moving into clean, with responsibly sourced materials and vegan ingredients, is something we are all very proud of,” she said in a statement. “I really adore this fragrance and hope it makes everyone wearing it feel beautiful and empowered.”

In addition to the cruelty-free and vegan ingredients, God Is a Woman comes in a recyclable carton, as well as a reusable base made from 60 percent plant-based/sustainable materials. The fragrance was crafted by Robertet’s Jerome Epinette, the perfumer and artisan behind Byredo and Atelier Cologne. “God is a Woman presents an unprecedented duality in fragrance — an incredibly simple perfume structure built around some of the most coveted and exquisite natural materials available to me as a perfumer – specifically ambrette and orris,” he said in a statement. “The way we crafted the scent represents what I feel is the future of perfumes; simplicity and luxury anchored to nature.”

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.

Luxe Brands.

God Is a Woman has top notes of ambrette and juicy pear, a heart of orris and Turkish rose petals and a drydown of Madagascar vanilla and creamy cedarwood. The flirty fragrance will take you right from summer to fall with ease. If you’re thinking of grabbing the new scent from Ulta (its inclusive retailer), there’s no better time. From now until August 11, the Ariana Grande Fragrance Brand will make a donation of $5 towards ocean clean-up initiatives with every God Is a Woman fragrance purchase (the 1.7 and 3.4 oz spray), with a minimum of $75,000.

There’s even a gift-with-purchase incentive. From now until August 21, grab a free duffel bag or backpack with a $60 fragrance purchase. There are some exclusions but don’t worry — this isn’t one of them. Apparently, quantities are limited so head over to Ulta to grab yours.

Are you missing your regular exercise class or other activities? Have you tried exercising at home to keep fit and stay healthy? Perhaps you’d like to do more exercise at home?

Over the years, I’ve supported hundreds of people to exercise safely and successfully at home. I’ve seen the most common mistakes and helped them get past these and set themselves up for success with home exercise.

Read on to find out what the most common mistakes are and how to avoid them. Doing so will help you to prevent injury, stay motivated, and get more out of your exercise program. You’ll find it easier to exercise at home and see better results, sooner.

Mistake #1: Going It Alone

The first thing that people often do is to work out without any help or guidance. They try to remember exercises they’ve done in the past or learnt in classes.

However good your memory is, it’s hard to remember a full sequence of exercises. Without some technique reminders (whether written down or in a video), we don’t do the exercises so well (meaning we’re less likely to get results and likely to get injured).

Without some structure, you’ll find it harder to get started and easier to get distracted.

Solution for Success: Follow a Program

If it’s written down, whether on paper or screen, make sure it has good images to help you. Most people, however, find videos easier to do and more motivating.

Mistake #2: Jumping Straight In

The next step is to look for a programme or set of videos to follow.

When you’re motivated, you just want to get on with it! Many people end up doing the first videos they find on YouTube or committing to a programme they haven’t thoroughly researched.

If you do this, you may end up doing exercises that are too hard or too easy for you. The movements may be unsuitable for your medical conditions (arthritis, hip replacement, osteoporosis) or not safe for you (balance training that leaves you too unsteady).

Solution for Success: Do Your Research

Imagine you were considering joining a new gym or class or hiring a personal trainer. What research would you do? What questions would you ask? Now, think about asking these questions of an online trainer or program. You could:

• Ask friends, doctors, and health professionals for recommendations.
• Do background research (Is the instructor qualified? Do they demonstrate an understanding of your needs and conditions?).
• Do an initial sense check (fast forward through some videos, watch before you do the exercises), or take up a free trial, if they offer one.

If you would like exercises to improve your balance, take a look at our free, four-week Balance Boost video series.

Mistake #3: Not Knowing Your Stuff

When there’s no instructor or trainer in the room with you, you need to pay more attention to your technique. It will help to be more aware of your posture, breathing, how you do the exercise, and how hard you work.

At home, you can’t wait for an instructor to correct you or suggest alternatives – it’s up to you. To stay safe and get the most out of your workout, you need to learn what’s right for you and any conditions you may have.

Solution for Success: Become the Expert on You

If you have any medical conditions or have had any recent injuries or procedures, ask your doctor or physical therapist if there are any exercises you should avoid (as well as any that will be particularly helpful).

Take the time to learn what exercising at the right level for you should feel like.

Get comfortable with the fact that you might need to exercise differently from one day to the next (depending on how you feel, how well you have slept, and other factors).

Look for an instructor or programme that gives lots of technique pointers, so you feel confident you are doing the exercises well. A good instructor will offer alternatives to some of the exercises, and encourage you to work at your own pace.

Here’s a routine you can try at home now – this is one of the most popular videos in our online exercise studio. The exercises will help you to improve your posture, stand up taller, and reduce tension in your back, neck, and shoulders.

Mistake #4: Skipping the Setup

If you haven’t got your equipment close at hand and your tech set up right, it feels like such hard work to get started (even when you are super motivated). You’re also more likely to give up if you waste time looking for things or can’t get your tech or sound to work correctly.

Solution for Success: Set Up an Exercise Zone

Taking a bit of time to create your workout zone will make exercising at home stress-free and enjoyable.

Make sure you have the following:

• Space to move (without trip hazards on the floor)
• All the exercise equipment you need
• Any clothing or shoes you will need
• A bottle of water
• The device you use to watch any videos (with associated stand and chargers)
• Good speakers or wireless headphones to ensure optimum sound.

Mistake #5: Going in All Guns Blazing

When people start a new exercise program, their motivation levels are high. They want to go for it and start big. They might commit to doing an hour a day, or training for a big event.

If you’re over-enthusiastic, you’re more likely to overdo it. Going in hard from day one means you are more likely to get injured and to run out of steam.

Solution for Success: Start Small

As Confucius said, “The man that moves mountains begins by carrying small stones.”

From a physical perspective, it’s best to start with shorter, less intense workouts. When you build up gradually, your muscles and joints have time to get used to the exercises.

From a psychological perspective, it’s pretty much the same. If we make a big commitment (e.g., an hour a day), it will soon become too much. However, just doing 10 minutes is so much easier to cope with. Every time you do the 10 minutes, you’ll feel successful and build much-needed momentum.

So, temper your enthusiasm and don’t overdo it. Start small and remember, you’re in it for the long run!

I hope that everything I’ve learnt over the years will help you to exercise safely and successfully at home. Putting in a bit of time and effort to avoid these mistakes will help you to stay injury-free and make the most of the time you spend exercising at home.

If you want help and support to exercise at home, take a look at the Vida Wellness Studio. It’s an online exercise studio for people who want to improve their balance and posture, feel stronger, and move more easily.

Are you exercising at home? What exercises do you do and what do you find most challenging about it? Please join the conversation below and let us know!

Technology is all around us. There is no escaping it these days. But the longer you avoid it, the worse your apprehensions will get. In my experience of working with people and techie things, I’ve found that fear of looking or feeling stupid is the main issue. People at a certain age begin to believe they are “dumb about technology” because they didn’t learn about it in school.

Let’s start with this supposition: nothing about using a phone, working on a computer, or a tablet is intuitive. Therefore, you need to learn basic skills to establish a foundation to use technology.

Trying something new is definitely scary. But, if you can release your fear, believe that we all start with zero knowledge, and build on that, you will develop the confidence needed to get through the bumps.

Here are some tips to help you start to feel comfortable with technology.

Start Small

You don’t need to learn everything at once. You can’t. Be patient with yourself. Break it down and focus on one thing at a time to help you gain confidence and make the world of technology feel more manageable.

Concentrate on one aspect of your phone, such as texting, that you need to use every day. Nowadays, if you don’t know how to text, you’ll be the odd person out of fun and frequent “chats” between friends and family. Once you accomplish that, pick the next app or most-used feature, like the phone app.

Frequently, the features you use the most, but don’t understand, cause frustration and resistance because that’s when you feel “dumb.” Stop the negative self-talk: “I can’t use this phone.” Instead, try, “I really need to learn how to use [insert feature of choice] so I can stop having these issues.”

Pick one new social media or online platform that interests you, like YouTube. YouTube is a great place to start with learning because you can get tutorials about anything you need once you are skilled in using it.

Focus on Fun

Start with things you are interested in. For example, if you are a movie buff, focus on using Netflix. If you love photography, put your efforts into learning how to use your phone’s camera. Directing your energy into things that are fun will make the learning process feel less like a chore.

Ask for Help

Remember, not everyone has the patience to teach you. Find a reliable family member or friend who will take the time to answer a specific question. Just 10 minutes of their time can alleviate a lot of frustration.

One of the keys to seeking help is to make sure you have a specific set of questions or problems. Don’t approach your loved one and say, “I need you to teach me how to use the computer.” It will be less daunting for you and your person of choice if you say, “I don’t understand folders and documents. Do you have time to show me a few things?”

If you don’t feel comfortable asking someone you know, find an expert in your area or virtually. Senior Centers, extension classes, local community centers are all good resources for learning. Many such places offer ongoing classes you can take or a once-a-month help session, one-to-one, for specific issues you are dealing with.

Many tech-help gurus or small businesses, like The Tech Wizard, offer remote learning, online services, and online classes so that you can connect and learn from the convenience of your own home. These offerings have no doubt expanded given our past 18 months of “Covid life” and quarantine.

Trust Your Gut

Don’t be afraid to play around and learn as you go. You won’t break anything by touching an icon you are unfamiliar with. On the other hand, once you get over the mental block of thinking you don’t understand, you might be surprised by how much you can figure out on your own by just touching or clicking.

I often encourage my clients to “put their baby on.” Think about the two-year-old that grabs the parent’s phone and begins to tap and touch and take pics. They aren’t scared. They don’t have the verbal understanding we have, life experiences, or reasoning levels we do. But they aren’t afraid.

They react to the pictures, colors, icons, and cues given on the phone by touching, not freezing, or staring. They aren’t waiting for words to guide them.

Educate Yourself

Be proactive with reading booklets, articles, newsletters, or blogs. Watch video tutorials. Google your question. There is so much free content on the internet that spans all levels of knowledge. You also may want to consider paying for help. Buying lessons or enrolling in an actual class will pay dividends in the future.

Technology isn’t going anywhere. Giving in to your fears is going to put you in a deeper hole. Everything from your car, your oven, your phone is becoming a smart device. Being open to learning is the first step to getting comfortable with technology and using it in everyday life.

What is your biggest fear with technology? Have you overcome your fear? Do you have any tips to share on what worked for you?