One of the trickiest things about finding the right moisturizer for your skin is to find a product that actually tells the truth about its ingredients. The beauty product industry is loosely regulated—don’t trust claims on packaging. A study published in JAMA Dermatology looked at the actual ingredients of moisturizers compared to their package labeling. It found that close to half of the “fragrance-free” moisturizers they looked at actually had fragrances. It also found that more than 80 percent claiming to be hypoallergenic featured allergens. Your best bet: Even though it’s no guarantee, look for products that contain no additives, fragrances and perfumes.
Good relationships matter
Harvard University’s Grant and Glueck studies have focused on the physical and emotional well-being of more than 700 men over 75 years. One thing they’ve looked at: fulfillment. What keeps us happy? It’s not wealth or fame or career advancement. It’s good relationships. “The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period,” Harvard professor Robert Waldinger said in a TED Talk. As the initial studies are wrapping up, researchers are now studying the children of the original participants. The quest for happiness continues.
Want to look younger? Make your brows and lips pop
The fountain of youth can be found in facial contrast. Hear us out. A study in Frontiers of Psychology that analyzed the facial features of 763 women found that younger women tended to have more “facial contrast,” or how much the lips, eyes or eyebrows stand out from the rest of the face. As women age, the contrast tends to be less. The researchers theorized that the contrast, even across race and ethnicities, ended up being a primary driver of perception of age. That’s not saying a good lipstick will make you look like you’re 20 again. But heightening that facial contrast can be a “cross-cultural cue,” as the study puts it, for being perceived to be younger.
How we waste money in medicine
That feeling of expensive eye drops rolling down your face instead of resting in your eyes is enough to make anyone feel like crying. All kidding aside, it’s actually a serious example of waste in health care, according to a new ProPublica report. Eye medicine often comes in bottles that produce larger drops than necessary, making it almost impossible to avoid excess. This especially becomes a problem when it comes to costly meds for conditions like glaucoma. There are those seeking to make a difference, such as Dr. Alexander Eaton at Retina Health Center of Fort Myers and Naples, who’s come up with a camera mechanism that can help people monitor and improve how they put in their drops. However, until more drug companies use more efficient bottles, the cost for wasted medicine will fall on consumers.
A good sweat might lower blood pressure
A study in the American Journal of Hypertension found that middle-aged men who took two to three trips to the sauna per week were 24 percent less likely to develop hypertension.
The worst place to sit on an airplane
The aisle seat may seem great, what with more legroom and the chance to get up anytime. But it comes with a risk. It may make you more likely to get sick. A study in Clinical Infectious Diseases found that people who sat in the aisle seat were more likely to contract the highly infectious norovirus that often wreaks havoc on airplanes, cruises or other places with lots of people in a confined space. The best bet? Try to get the window seat. The study found that the people who got the view were also less likely to contract the virus.
We beg to differ
Colorado ranked No. 1 in “senior-friendly states,” according to a study by U.S. News & World Report. Florida came in 10th.
