However, there are some ventures that experts say you shouldn’t do yourself (find all of them here). One that particularly garners a groan: DIY pore strips. You may have seen them peppered among newsfeeds, before-and-after photos and all, but experts say you probably should hold off on this one. Nonetheless, we realize pore strips can temporarily remove the surface layer of blackheads, a short-term relief for those pesky plugs, which is why some people have taken matters into their own hands (especially now, when it’s a touch more difficult to take a trip to the drugstore as soon as you notice a cluster of blackheads) to create their own adhesive strips....

“Because caffeine is found in the cocoa solids, the more cocoa the chocolate contains, the more caffeine will be present,” registered dietitian Jenna Gorham, R.D., L.D., explains. In other words, the darker the chocolate, the higher the caffeine. “White chocolate, however, is only comprised of cocoa butter,” Ayanwola says. “Since it does not contain cocoa solids, it does not contain any caffeine.” The reason chocolate likely won’t affect coffee drinkers is that a standard cup of coffee contains 96 milligrams of caffeine4, which is four times more than a serving of dark chocolate, registered dietitian nutritionist Molly Knudsen, M....

This simple exercise requires only one dumbbell, and it’s as effective as it is quick—plus you can adjust the weight of the dumbbell to suit any skill level. Hug your elbows in, keeping them (and your wrists) shoulder distance apart. You can use a strap around the upper arms here to assist with that. If you want to make this move easier, decrease the weight of your dumbbells—and increase the weight to make it more challenging....

While both phases, or types, of exercise are valuable, most people tend to pay less attention to eccentric movement (be honest: You’ve let your arm drop at the end of a biceps curl rep)—which can lead to injury. To better understand the benefits and potential risks of improper eccentric muscle contraction, mbg reached out to fitness trainers and physical therapists. “Eccentrics, in a nutshell, is the art of lowering a weight as slowly as you can,” says Antonio Lombardo, P....

Since Sagittarius season has started, though, there’s been a fun, energizing feeling—almost like spring. It feels like we’re all getting the sleep out of our collective eyes and saying, “OK! I have the energy for my ideas now! I have ideas!” It’s felt refreshing. This will look different for everyone, but the energy could show up as something like plans not working out, for example, but actually having more fun than if things had gone the way you thought they would....

These people are also very independent and free-spirited at heart, relationship coach and Enneagram educator Julie Nguyen previously wrote for mbg. “Since their identity is generally composed of their feelings,” she says, “they are driven by what feels right in the moment, which can leave a trail of half-finished projects in their wake.” They can find it difficult or unnatural to follow a routine or schedule, and even to be organized....

Here, we’ll take a closer look at espresso vs. coffee, highlighting the similarities and differences and diving into the health benefits (and potential drawbacks) of each. There’s a common misconception that espresso is made from different types of beans, but all coffee is made from roasted coffee beans that come from the coffee plant—there is no espresso plant. The difference is in the roasting process: The beans used to make espresso are roasted at a higher temperature and pressure for longer periods, resulting in a very dark roast....

Here’s your detailed, expert-backed beginner’s guide to the fundamentals of finding the right essential oils and using them safely. Once you get to the crux of the issue you want to address, it’s much easier to whittle down the thousands of essential oils you can use. It’s easy to fall into the aforementioned “there’s an oil for that” mentality because many people use similar oils for common ailments. But with aromatherapy, it’s equally important to consider your personal smell preference....

When I saw an acquaintance go to get her eyebrows “micropigmented,” I raised a brow (sorry, not sorry). This is a sub-category of microblading that essentially requires making the equivalent of a paper cut in the skin to deposit semipermanent color for each hair, micropigmentation utilizes a single-needle tattooing machine to create fine, hairlike strokes. The result is softer and more natural than more traditional microblading marks and lasts for about a year—exactly what I was looking for....

Yes, you can get it as a supplement, but there are more effective ways to build this rock-star antioxidant. It’s called glutathione (pronounced “gloota-thigh-own”): the mother of all antioxidants, the master detoxifier, and maestro of your immune system. Normally your body can also recycle glutathione, except when your toxic load becomes too great3. That really becomes a problem because glutathione recycles other antioxidants. Free radicals get passed around from vitamin C to vitamin E to lipoic acid, and then finally to glutathione, which cools off those free radicals....

Your aura can change day to day, though certain colors may appear more often than others. And if it turns out your aura is gold, here’s what it means for you, according to experts. Generally speaking, folks with gold auras are people with “a clear understanding and grasp of their soul contract duties in this lifetime,” Firester says, adding they will have also secured a pathway for achieving what they’re meant to achieve in this lifetime....

The CDC does have a set of criteria about tending to hygiene in a health care setting1, but for us regular folk, what’s the best option? Well, we break down the benefits of using both, as well as our expert-approved tips. Of course, there will be times when you don’t have access to restrooms or a sink, so in those moments, feel free to rely on your hand sanitizer of choice (we recommend finding one with hydrating agents to lessen the dehydrating effects of the alcohol)....

Featured in our roundup of the best infrared sauna blankets, the HigherDose design is currently $120 off in the brand’s Black Friday sale. Although the well-being-focused tech company kicked things off early by dropping steep discounts on its entire lineup earlier this week, the deals are still live—and even extend to a few exclusive holiday bundles. And for shoppers preparing for a busy holiday season, it’s the perfect opportunity to start investing in a little self-care....

That said, collagen decline is a natural part of life. It will happen to all of us, and there’s no use in denying that fact. In fact, at some point in your late 20s, your collagen will start to decline at a rate of about 1% every year for every year thereafter1. This is why most folks start noticing signs of premature aging in their 30s—and why many people usually start focusing on preventive aging around this time....

Brittney isn’t alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 30 percent of women go off the pill because they feel dissatisfied, foremost because of side effects like depression. And while Brittney’s doctor never addressed them when he prescribed the pill, once she noticed changes in her mood, she promptly found it listed as a side effect in the fine print. The results of depression and other birth control side effects can be devastating....

Getting caught up in explaining why one person’s perspective is right and the other person is wrong is one of the most unhealthy communication dynamics that people can enter into in relationships. In his research on marriage and divorce, relationship psychologist John Gottman, Ph.D., found defensiveness to be one of the so-called “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” a list of four communication behaviors that signal the end of a relationship....

The long hours of my job, the late night pizza runs, the company cafeteria, and the constant barrage of baked goods in the office (not to mention solo midnight trips to the corner market for my favorite indulgences) had me quickly outgrowing my clothes and feeling increasingly moody and tired. For the first time in my life, I was truly overweight. Then one day, it dawned on me: the reason I couldn’t lose weight —or keep off the weight I did lose—stemmed from using programs that weren’t right for me....

Striking a moisturized middle ground usually isn’t too tough; it just takes some intuition and a dash of plant know-how. Here, two experts with a combined 275-plus houseplants between them explain how to decide when to water all your plant pals. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all for watering. It really depends on the need of the plant, how much light it’s getting, the type of soil, all that,” Thompson tells mbg....

To do this, I use a combination of smart skin care supplements, topicals, and a diligently consistent routine. Part of that routine is facial massage and gua sha, which I do almost daily. So when I spoke with skin care expert Debbie Kung, DAOM, LAc, in a recent episode of Clean Beauty School all about gua sha, I knew I had to ask about the area. (A nice bonus of having your own beauty podcast is you get to talk to all of the best experts about your personal beauty concerns and call it work....