Everything She Wants

April is Stress Awareness Month .  But strategies to reduce and manage stress are welcome any time of the year.   Studies show that women are more likely  than  men to report high levels of stress, and for African American women  chronic or daily stress is even more problematic.  While we tend to think of approaching stress management from an emotional wellbeing and physical health standpoint, we don't often associate making  dietary  changes with reducing stress and anxiety.   While scheduling an appointment with your  primary  care doctor and seeking help  from a therapist or spiritual advisor may still be necessary to help address the underlying reasons for why you're feeling stressed and the degree to which your  stress  affects your life, here are a few food for thought tips from  Constance Brown-Riggs, MSEd, RDN, CDCES, CDN, nutrition consultant and author Diabetes Guide to Enjoying Foods of the...

It's American Heart Month, sis.  Risk factors like obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking and physical inactivity put Black women at a higher risk for heart disease. These factors can be controlled by lifestyle and dietary changes. So it's time to literally take the necessary steps to protect your heart.  Other factors, like a family  history  of early heart disease can't be controlled. For women, heart disease becomes a risk factor at 55. That’s because, as the American Heart Association explains, after menopause, women are more likely to get heart disease. Partly, this is because their body no longer produces estrogen. Also, middle age is a time when women tend to develop other heart disease risk factors. That's  even  more incentive to take  care of ourselves, physically and emotionally.  Stress can also wreak havoc on our heart health. So make self-care a priority, whatever that looks like for you. Light some candl...

National Plan for Vacation Day was earlier this week.  But it's never too late to plan a vacation. Or given the current state of things, it's never too late to dream of planning a vacation.  Since we are very much still in the throes of a global pandemic, I haven't been on a flight and barely out of New York City for nearly a year. But with spring 2021 fast approaching, I've been reminiscing about the last trip I took.  It was in March 2020 and after attending a film festival in Miami, I arranged a day of pampering at the fabulous Carillon Miami Wellness Resort .  I miss spa days and tropical getaways.  Me at the  Carillon Miami spa. Photo credit: ESW The good news is that if you live in Miami or you're within driving distance (until we get this virus under control, I won't be flying the friendly skies for leisure travel), The Spa at Carillon Miami Wellness Resort is open for business.  But in compliance with CDC guidelines, the Thermal Hydrotherapy E...

A few years ago, I was gifted a Foreo LUNA Mini and Foreo UFO. But I was intimidated by the fab and intricate packaging and tech talk that an app connection was necessary for the devices to work. So they remained in my beauty supply closet, pondered but unopened. Fast forward to 2021 and nearly a year into the coronavirus pandemic. Maskne happened. My skin was breaking out around my mouth; not a surprise after wearing face masks daily since March 2020. But I also had a few unsightly blemishes on my forehead.  So I went back to the  battle-ready skincare hacks I've used -- salicylic acid cleansers to combat the acne and glycolic/alpha-hydroxy acid to brighten and banish the blemishes.  My adult skincare routine also includes daytime and nighttime moisturizers packed with ceramides and hyaluronic acid. Day and night, I also pamper my skin with different types of masks chocked full of holistic skin savers like aloe, charcoal, turmeric and black...

This  holiday  season, we want to show our sisters, sister friends and the cherished women in our families -- whom many of us haven't seen in a while -- that we are thinking of them.  We also want to delight them with a meaningful, healing and  joyful  gift that will inspire the recipient to  practice  self-care. To do that, Everything  She  Wants has curated a few last minute  positive  picks from Black female entrepreneurs to put on your virtual gift list.  Since this has been anything but a typical year (what an understatement) and we've lost all track of time, we're sure it's fine if your token of affection arrives after Christmas.  Designed by Kristin Farmer, C urly Contessa is "a series of hand-drawn illustrations that represent the matriarch of curly tresses." The cheerful collection celebrates Black Girl Magic and helps Farmer manage her bipolar disorder. Pick up the  Merry & Bright Mug ($12.50). Shaun ...

Supporting small-and-Black-owned businesses has never been more important. As strongly recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) , wearing a cloth face covering is also of the utmost importance to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.  Besides the public safety benefits, wearing an Afrocentric face mask is a bold fashion statement and can become a part of your signature style. I have a few to match my mood and to complement my summer wardrobe palettes. And here are a few of my picks for vibrant, African fabric face coverings from independent artisans and sellers. For even more options, check out the "fly face mask" roundup I wrote for  Sisters from AARP . D'IYANU  ($14.99) Tarbaby Hair Design by Janice Brown   ($20) PricelessCulture  ($19.95)

(Tracy E. Hopkins) I was thirteen when I took my first vacation alone with my Mom. We spent a week having fun in the sun in Freeport, Bahamas. On our way to dinner, I remember the fast moving cab ride along a winding road and the cabby blasting Jeffrey Osborne’s “Stay With Me Tonight.”  Tucked away in my jewelry box,  I still have a souvenir key chain with a beaming photo of us snapped that night. My Dad is a homebody content to recline with remote control in hand watching Westerns, tinkering in the  garden, and cooking and baking in the kitchen (his pumpkin breads and pound cakes are out of this world).  So after our Baha ma Mama fling, me and Ma became frequent flyer buddies, often accompanied by my Aunt -- passing the poi at a luau in Honolulu; breaking a sweat on Bourbon Street in hot and hazy summertime New Orleans; celebrity spotting in Hollywood; sharing rum raisin ice cream and taste buds burning ginger beer in Bermuda; shopping for flea market f...