30 Aug 2024

Soothe and repair your skin with these after-sun lotions

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The best after-sun lotion

We’ve finally reached summer, a season alive with beach days, outdoor cookouts and drawn-out days in the sun. While sun protection is a must, even those most diligent about wearing sunscreen can find themselves with a sunburn. Unfortunately, people usually don’t notice sun-damaged skin until hours later.

Applying after-sun lotion is an excellent way to experience sunburn relief. The top choice is Amara Beauty Aloe Vera Gel due to its natural formula and quick absorption.

What to know before you buy after-sun lotion

Here are a few things you should know before purchasing an after-sun lotion.

What does after-sun lotion do?

Too much exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun or an artificial UV source, such as tanning beds, causes sunburns. It’s vital to wear sunscreen to reduce your UV exposure and the chance of sun-damaged skin. However, even if your skin doesn’t look burned, it could still be damaged and benefit from an after-sun lotion.

While after-sun lotions usually cool the skin, they should also reduce inflammation, redness or pain caused by sunburn. Some products may even minimize damage to your skin cells. One of the primary purposes of after-sun lotion is to hydrate your thirsty and sun-damaged skin.

How to use after-sun lotion

You always want to apply after-sun lotion to clean skin. It’s essential to wash off chlorine, saltwater and sand before applying. The sooner you apply your skin care products after sunburn, the sooner it can start soothing and repairing your sun-damaged skin. Unless expressly stated, you should be able to reapply after-sun lotion as soon as you feel any pain or your skin feels tight.

What to look for in a quality after-sun lotion

Here are some features to consider when buying an after-sun lotion.

Active ingredients

Here are some beneficial ingredients that have been researched and clinically shown to reduce skin damage or symptoms caused by sunburn.

Aloe vera is present in almost every after-sun lotion — and for a good reason. It’s cooling and provides immediate relief from sunburn pain. It also has anti-inflammatory and moisturizing benefits.
Capparis spinosa is known as the caper bush. Capers contain many antioxidants and vitamins, including vitamin A, vitamin E and niacin.
Witch hazel is known to have anti-inflammatory tannins, which can help soothe the pain caused by a sunburn.
The oils in pistachios and pistachio skin are very healing and can help reduce sunburn. They can even protect your skin against UV damage.
Hydrocortisone will decrease inflammation, pain and itching caused by sunburn.

Consistency

When caring for your sun-damaged skin, opt for a product with a thinner formula. Thicker consistencies create an emollient barrier on top of the skin, trapping in the heat and exacerbating the inflammation.

Many after-sun lotions will be thinner than your everyday moisturizers and provide hydration. Gels are light on the skin and also have an immediate cooling effect. Most gels will be high in aloe vera. You can even find after-sun lotions in a spray, which are easy to apply. All of these options are great, so pick a consistency that feels best on your skin.

How much you can expect to spend on after-sun lotion

You can find after-sun lotions ranging from $8 to $35. The price difference varies depending on the size of the bottle and the quality of the ingredients.

After sun-lotion FAQ

Can I use after-sun lotion on my face?

A. Unless expressly stated, after-sun lotions are not meant to be applied on your face. They could contain oils or comedogenic ingredients that could clog pores.

Will after-sun lotion stop me from peeling?

A. The skin peels from being too dry due to the sun or a lack of moisture. While a moisturizing after-sun lotion can help prevent peeling, sometimes the sun damage is too deep to repair.

What’s the best after-sun lotion to buy?

Top after-sun lotion

Amara Beauty Aloe Vera Gel

What you need to know: This is an excellent product to use on sun-damaged skin, as it’s formulated with pure, cold-pressed aloe vera and no artificial additives.

What you’ll love: Users love that it absorbs quickly and doesn’t feel sticky on the skin. You can also use this aloe vera gel as a leave-in conditioner, hair styling gel, aftershave or post-waxing treatment.

What you should consider: Some users don’t like the slightly watery formula.

Top after-sun lotion for the money

Australian Gold Moisture Lock Tan Extender Lotion

What you need to know: This lotion moisturizes dry, sun-exposed skin and helps you retain a tan.

What you’ll love: The large pump bottle is convenient and affordable for the amount of product included. Users love the scent.

What you should consider: It can feel a bit sticky on the skin directly after applying and contains parabens and alcohol.

Worth checking out

Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration After Sun Lotion

What you need to know: This after-sun product combines lotion and gel ribbons to create a smooth consistency that moisturizes and cools the skin.

What you’ll love: The main ingredients are shea butter, aloe and silk proteins to soothe the skin and offer sunburn relief. Many users love the coconut papaya scent.

What you should consider: It’s a small bottle and can feel sticky on the skin. It contains artificial ingredients and colors.

Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.

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30 Aug 2024

Master stir-frying with these top carbon steel woks

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Which carbon steel wok is best?

Woks cook food quickly and are great for stir-frying at high temperatures. Typically, they can use stainless steel, aluminum or cast iron. However, many professional chefs and food experts agree that a carbon steel wok is the best as it heats up quickly, stays hot for longer and is lightweight and highly durable.

Carbon steel woks range significantly in size, thickness and design. The Craft Wok Traditional Hand Hammered Pow Wok is an excellent example with a wooden handle and a nonslip base. Alternatively, there are plenty of other options to suit most cooking styles and budgets.

What to know before you buy a carbon steel wok

Are carbon steel woks safe?

Carbon steel is a mixture of iron and carbon. It is incredibly durable, and you can heat to extreme temperatures without producing toxic fumes. This makes it an excellent choice for cooking utensils, frying pans and woks alike.

Round- vs. flat-bottom woks

Deciding between a flat-bottom wok and a round-bottom wok will depend primarily on your heat source. A round-bottom wok is better for gas stoves and allows the heat to focus for intense frying. Flat-bottom woks are more stable on electric hobs but tend to heat food unevenly.

How to season a carbon steel wok

You will need to season a carbon steel wok before using it and periodically after that. This creates an impervious surface and stops food from sticking. To season a wok, you first need to clean it thoroughly with dish soap. Heat the wok to a high temperature for around 15 minutes, then cover the surface with a layer of high-temperature oil. Finally, heat the wok again until the oil starts to smoke and leave it to cool naturally.

What to look for in a quality carbon steel wok

Nonstick surface

Carbon steel woks can last a lifetime if looked after properly. However, nonstick surfaces can be toxic and usually have a lower heat threshold. This means it cannot handle the high heat necessary for a proper stir-fry and may peel off or leach into the food. A well-seasoned wok is more versatile and hardwearing than one with a nonstick surface.

Thickness

Look for a wok made from 14-gauge carbon steel as a minimum, about 1.6 millimeters thick. This balance prevents the metal from bending under heat yet still keeps the wok relatively lightweight.

Size

Woks can range in size from under 8 inches to over 3 feet in diameter. Deciding what size wok to buy will depend on how many people you usually cook for, with 12- to 14-inch being a good size for a family of four. Larger woks may not sit well on a regular kitchen gas burner and are more difficult to store.

How much you can expect to spend on a carbon steel wok

Carbon steel is not particularly expensive. Therefore, a high-quality wok should cost somewhere within the $20-$100 range, depending on its size and the handle’s material.

Carbon steel wok FAQ

Will a carbon steel wok rust?

A. Since carbon steel primarily uses iron, yes. If your wok starts to show signs of rust, it is usually time to re-season it. First, you should completely remove the old layer of seasoning using a wire scourer and dish soap.

How do I clean a carbon steel wok?

A. After seasoning a wok, it is crucial to protect its surface. Therefore, avoid washing it with soap or abrasive materials. Instead, soak it in warm water after use, clean it with a soft cloth and ensure it is completely dry before putting it away.

Is there anything I shouldn’t cook in a carbon steel wok?

A. Highly acidic foods and sauces, such as tomatoes, vinegar and wine, can strip away the protective seasoning, so you should avoid them if possible. For the same reason, carbon steel woks are not the best choice for simmering liquids for a long time.

What’s the best carbon steel wok to buy?

Top carbon steel wok

Craft Wok Traditional Hand Hammered Pow Wok

What you need to know: This 14-inch wok is handmade in China and has a rounded bottom and a wooden handle.

What you’ll love: It is durably made from 15-gauge carbon steel and has a secondary steel handle that remains cool even in high heat.

What you should consider: The screws that hold the wooden handle secure may come loose over time.

Worth checking out

Joyce Chen Classic Series Carbon Steel Wok

What you need to know: It has birch wood, stay-cool handles and uses 1.5-millimeter carbon steel.

What you’ll love: It is part of a set that includes a domed lid, a bamboo spatula and a recipe booklet.

What you should consider: It comes with a protective factory coating, which you must remove before first use.

Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.

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BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. BestReviews and its newspaper partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links.

30 Aug 2024

Other voices: Harris and Trump shouldn’t pander to the crypto crowd

by | posted in: Politics | 0

The good news is that business interests are getting support during an election year. The bad news is that the business is crypto. Less than two years after the industry’s highest-profile political donor was exposed as a criminal, the lure of campaign donations from the digital-money crowd is once again proving irresistible.

Last time, Sam Bankman-Fried lavished cash on candidates in hopes of laxer regulations (before he ended up in federal prison on fraud charges). This time, crypto advocates are raising some millions to oppose unfriendly politicians. That’s led some candidates to abandon common sense in pursuit of cash.

Although the industry is good at grabbing headlines, the stakes aren’t especially high. Not even the most skeptical U.S. politicians are proposing to ban Bitcoin and other such currencies, as China and about 20 other countries have done. Instead, the debate has mostly focused on whether digital tokens should be regulated like other types of investment products. (They should be.)

President Joe Biden’s administration has done a good job limiting the risks that crypto poses, including by taking legal action against several companies and individuals — Bankman-Fried among them — for violations of money-laundering requirements and securities laws. So far Vice President Kamala Harris hasn’t said whether her own approach would differ from Biden’s, but she’s under pressure to adopt a more lenient position. A policy adviser indicated this week that she wants to help the industry.

Her opponents have thrown caution to the wind. Former President Donald Trump rattled off a series of promises when he spoke to the Bitcoin 2024 conference in July. They included: appointing a council of “people who love your industry” to write crypto regulations; firing Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman (and crypto skeptic) Gary Gensler; banning the Federal Reserve from creating its own digital currency; establishing a strategic Bitcoin stockpile; and commuting the prison sentence of Ross Ulbricht, convicted in 2015 for creating a crypto marketplace for illegal goods. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent, has gone even further: Calling Bitcoin “the currency of hope,” he has pledged to direct the U.S. Treasury to invest hundreds of billions in crypto.

It’s hard to square this kind of thing with the broader national interest. In the 15 or so years since Bitcoin was invented, digital tokens have proved to be of essentially no practical value. Just 1% of Americans say they used them for a payment or money transfer last year. More often crypto is used to move money outside of government oversight. That’s helpful for criminals, terrorists and anyone under sanctions. But these are hardly the constituencies that a presidential candidate should be soliciting. Nor should policymakers be encouraging people to park their savings in digital wallets instead of stocks, bonds and other assets that support the real economy.

Instead, candidates should promise to work with Congress and regulators to ensure that the rules applied to cryptocurrencies are consistent with existing laws on fraud, money laundering and sanctions enforcement. If the technology is as innovative and useful as its advocates assert, then playing by the rules shouldn’t be a problem. No amount of campaign cash should lead candidates to think otherwise.

— The Bloomberg Opinion Editorial Board

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30 Aug 2024

Clive Crook: Harris should reflect on what liberalism means

by | posted in: Politics | 0

The U.S. has rarely seemed as divided by politics. The parties’ leaders and most energetic supporters see their opponents as enemies more than fellow citizens, and as a mortal threat to their hopes for the American project. Many Americans with lives beyond politics see this framing of what’s at stake — politics as a fight to the finish over the nation’s soul — as the real danger.

Hyperbolic divisiveness is one big reason why steady substantial majorities tell pollsters that the country is on the wrong track, regardless of who’s in power. Could the coming election make a difference? Division is second nature for Donald Trump; it’s hard to imagine him any other way. But there’s an opening here for Kamala Harris, if she chooses to grasp it.

This isn’t just about moving to the center, wise as that would be in many areas of policy. It’s about understanding that most Americans are liberal in the original sense of the term — and that the most committed political combatants are not. The disconnect that matters is between America’s fiercest political warriors, progressive and conservative alike, and the country they claim to stand for.

Western liberalism, as conceived in the U.S., says individuals are equal before the law. The new nation denied the full rights of citizenship to women and enslaved people, but this shouldn’t disguise the revolutionary character of liberalism at the outset. The idea that rights are pre-ordained according to social rank had ancient roots and through most of human history simply wasn’t questioned. The U.S. established itself in opposition to that creed. The great majority of Americans understand this and are rightly proud of it.

This idea of liberalism makes demands on day-to-day politics. Notice that “liberal” has two complementary meanings — one concerned with freedom (“liberty”) and the other with generosity (“liberality”). A system that insists on the equal rights of individuals breaks down without a measure of tolerance, open-mindedness and unselfishness toward one’s fellow citizens. “Equal rights” points to democracy as the only legitimate form of government, and by the same reasoning demands civility, mutual respect and a willingness to lose the argument — not because it’s nice to be polite, but because liberalism is a culture of equal standing.

Liberalism expects forthright disagreement on the proper role of state versus market, the scope of the safety net, the design of immigration laws and all the other hard questions that modern democracies must confront, and even on the values and beliefs people hold most dear. It doesn’t advance one true faith or hope to build the perfect society. Its overriding purpose is to let individuals disagree peacefully and productively as they pursue their own ideas of the good life, always respecting the rights of others to do the same.

Americans need no schooling on all this. They are instinctively liberal in the sense I’m invoking. As an immigrant, I can attest that these quintessentially liberal traits — freedom and fellowship — are also characteristically American. But the country’s political leaders and their most ardent supporters have other priorities. Progressive or conservative, they have a fight to win, and liberal restraint is often unhelpful.

Trump’s critics rightly draw attention to his illiberal or anti-liberal propensities — especially his efforts to overturn the election of 2020. His conduct over that was despicable and ought to be disqualifying. But which norm of liberal propriety calls for the Supreme Court to be packed if it renders judgments Democrats dislike? Why is it illiberal for Trump to contemplate firing hundreds of civil servants he deems to be obstructive but liberal for unelected regulators to act as legislators in all but name? “Lawfare,” celebrated by many Democrats as the remedy for Trump and his works, is a euphemism for selective prosecution and makes a mockery of equality before the law.

Trump’s angriest critics demand “liberal democracy” at any price while scorning the fathomless stupidity of roughly half their fellow citizens. So much for equal standing. The left’s most illiberal instincts have mirrored the right’s in a politics of competing catastrophisms, the death of democracy on one side and the death of freedom on the other. The watchword for responding to existential threats is always “by any means necessary” — the sentiment that crystallizes the illiberal worldview.

How might Harris respond? I wouldn’t have recommended “the politics of joy” as a campaign theme: It sounds slightly deranged. Still, it’s more appealing to liberals than the politics of rage or the politics of dread. Liberalism, I’m arguing, is as much about temperament as ideology, and the liberal temperament is optimistic.

On policy, to be sure, Harris is largely unformed and often uninformed. First a steely prosecutor, then a police defunder; in 2020 she was memorably in favor of “Medicare for All” until somebody explained what it meant; in 2024 she sees high food prices and thinks, “gouging.” For campaigning purposes, however, lack of conviction plus a sense of what most people want to hear could be a vote-winner. It was striking that “freedom” and “opportunity” figured so prominently at the Democratic Party’s convention. Both are impeccably liberal ideas, standing in marked contrast to the illiberal left’s preferred “equality” (of outcome) and “justice” (as in, “no justice, no peace”).

Whether Harris, if elected, would govern as the kind of liberal that voters want is another question. Barack Obama promised to unify the country but governed as if he wished to reinvent it. Biden cast himself as the right kind of liberal in 2020 then bowed to progressives who think “opportunity,” as opposed to “equity,” misses the point. The mere fact that Harris campaigned as a liberal would give voters no reason to believe she’d depart from this pattern once basking in the joy of victory.

On the other hand, as I say, Americans are optimists — and the alternative is Trump.

Clive Crook is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and member of the editorial board covering economics. Previously, he was deputy editor of the Economist and chief Washington commentator for the Financial Times.