Latest news with #RoseMauraLorre
New York Times
03-04-2025
- Health
- New York Times
We Tried the Nipple Cream Hack ‘White Lotus' Star Carrie Coon Swears By—and Loved It
Lanolin's thick consistency and ability to trap moisture make it a good option for all kinds of dry-skin issues, including chapped lips, rough elbows, and ragged cuticles. Rose Maura Lorre/NYT Wirecutter At the risk of alienating Carrie Coon and ejecting her from my (imaginary) friend group, I must fact-check her statement about lip and nipple tissues: They're not the same—underneath lip tissue, you'll find salivary glands, while underneath nipple tissue, there are milk ducts. But they are quite similar. 'They're both more sensitive compared to other parts of the skin, with thinner protective layers,' Pooja Rambhia, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at UnionDerm, based in New York and Greenwich, Connecticut, said in a phone interview. 'Both of them are also prone to getting dried out.' In fact, Lupo notes, 'the lips are even more delicate than the nipple.' That's because lip tissue is less keratinized—meaning, it has less of the fibrous protein keratin, which provides a barrier that protects against water loss. That's where lanolin comes in. 'Lanolin is a waxlike substance that mimics human sebum, allowing it to reinforce the skin barrier,' Rambhia explains. 'It's also able to hold up to twice its weight in water and reduce transepidermal water loss by 20% to 30%.' And because lanolin is thicker than plant-based oils and other common lip balm ingredients, it works similarly to an occlusive (basically, an extra-thick emollient that sits atop the skin instead of sinking into it). Compared with those oils, 'lanolin has a higher molecular weight and a complex ester and fatty-acid-based composition,' Rambhia says. 'Those large, complex molecules form a thicker, occlusive barrier that resists quick absorption and provides long-lasting moisture retention, which makes it particularly effective for prolonged protection, especially on dry or chapped lips.' Lip balms often contain plant-based oils that absorb quickly into skin, which may prompt frequent reapplication. Lanolin's thick consistency falls somewhere between those oils and petroleum jelly. Rose Maura Lorre/NYT Wirecutter Perhaps the only common skin-care product that beats lanolin in preventing transepidermal water loss, Rambhia adds, is petroleum jelly. However, she says, 'In my opinion, [lanolin] provides slightly longer-lasting protection compared to petroleum jelly, because its waxy texture simply provides longer-lasting staying power on the skin. A lot of people lick their lips constantly and don't realize it, and petroleum jelly is just easier to lick away compared to lanolin.' (Petroleum jelly is also derived from fossil fuels, so some folks may want to avoid it for environmental reasons.) In my testing, I was instantly impressed by how long the Lansinoh cream lasted atop my lips. Even when I applied what I considered to be a thin, non-goopy layer, I could still feel it 75-ish minutes later. (I tried not to lick my lips, but I did rub them together a whole lot.) Once the cream was fully absorbed, the resulting softness likewise lingered for much longer. I was reapplying only a few times a day, as opposed to the too-many-to-count reapplications I'd typically do with a lighter lip-care product. So score another one for Carrie Coon: She's right in that you probably don't have to apply it as often as you might need to apply other, slicker balms.
New York Times
14-03-2025
- General
- New York Times
The Key to Staying Organized? Prioritize Convenience.
In this edition of Clean Everything—day three of our organizing challenge—our experts talk through how to restore order in your messy, high-traffic spaces. Plus a 'genius' bathroom-organizing hack and a truly beautiful brush set. Some of the places most prone to disorganization are, unsurprisingly, those you visit the most—we're talking your fridge, pantry, and medicine cabinet. In these places, establishing a system that prioritizes convenience is paramount. Yes, everything should have a designated and discrete home—but the things you reach for frequently should also be very easy to find, take out, and most important, put back. Today your organizing challenge is to pick one high-traffic space and reorganize it. Make the things you use most often easier to access. You'll be more likely to actually put things back where they belong, instead of cluttering your countertops or floors. Here are five ways our journalists have applied this basic strategy: A 'genius' bathroom-organizing hack: Senior staff writer Rose Maura Lorre keeps her everyday bathroom essentials hanging on a magnetic knife rack (yes, the kind that goes in kitchens). It's on the inside of her medicine cabinet doors, so it's out of sight. But it keeps many daily essentials, like bobby pins and tweezers, in an easily accessible place. File your food storage container lids: If you find yourself sorting through a mismatched avalanche of lids for the containers you use everyday, consider using this $20 slotted organizer to file them standing up. That way, the lids are easy to see at a glance, take out, and file back in. Organize your pantry into themed zones: Instead of placing, say, all 14-ounce cans or 18-ounce jars together, group your pantry items into themed categories: snacks, baking supplies, condiments and spreads—almost like grocery store aisles. Keep the most-used 'aisles' at eye level. Clear storage containers can help keep everything in your pantry visible, which makes it easier to use up ingredients before buying more. Put a lazy Susan in your fridge: Since the fridge is an area that tends to be in flux, a spinning turntable can help keep your essentials within easy reach. Our kitchen experts offer a lot of advice in our full guide to taming a fridge, but a basic principle to follow is to put the things you use often (or want to finish first) front and center, and store ingredients you'll use only occasionally in corners that are harder to reach. What to do with those myriad bottles and cloths. For a tidier entryway: Our favorite shoe-racks are wobble-free and pretty-good looking. Including our expert's favorite way to organize pot lids. Connie Park/NYT Wirecutter This 5-inch dustpan-and-brush set is handsome enough to be left out nearly anywhere around the house (perhaps conveniently displayed for easy access, a la today's challenge). It's especially useful for mini everyday messes: coffee grounds, morning toast crumbs, and fallen petals. And because the brush nests neatly in a semicircle, it stays out of the way between uses.
