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DSB Favorite Things & Photo Caption Contest

Happy March! I love March because it is my birthday month, so as far as I’m concerned, the countdown begins today.

I talk a lot about general themes, like exercise and health, but I rarely share the actual things I like. I think I might do this every now and then because, like Core Fusion and Refine Method, I just want people to benefit the way I do.

So, here are a few of my favorite things (yes):

Eucerin Aquaphor Healing Ointment as LIP BALM

I’ve had extremely dry, chapped lips my entire life. I’ve tried every lip balm, even really expensive ones and ones made from fancy, natural ingredients. Nothing in my life has ever worked for me — at all — except for Eucerin Aquaphor. I keep tubes of this in every bag I own. It is a miracle.

Eucerin Aquaphor

[Source]

Exercise Headbands

OK here’s the deal. I have this weird thing about things touching me. I don’t sleep with jewelry and unless I’m spending the night in an, ahem, strange bed, I always take off all my makeup before going to sleep. The second I get home from anywhere the first thing I do is take off all my jewelry and get into pajamas. The same goes for working out. I cannot have jewelry or makeup touching me, and I stare in curiosity at the women who wear their watches and necklaces and big earrings to exercise and wonder — how? And while I prefer to exercise in capri pants, sometimes I wear full-length pants. When I do this, I ALWAYS roll them up to my knees so the material doesn’t touch my legs. It makes me crazy it unravels and I feel it.

Another thing I don’t like touching me while I work out is sweat. I know, this sounds insane, because it is a WORKOUT. I do want to sweat! I just don’t want to feel the beads of sweat around my head, annoying and distracting me. Enter the headband.

The workout headband does a combination of (1) absorbing my sweat and (2) containing it. Once I feel the little droplets forming along my hairline, I get all bothered. With the headband, I don’t feel it, and I am able to continue my workout unencumbered.

[Me in my headband at Refine, photos by Erica Sara]

The two brands I currently own are from Lululemon and BondiBand. I am happy with both brands. I love the fun styles of the BondiBands you can find at race expos. I want to get more crazy patterns. My plain ones just seem boring. For Lululemon, I far prefer their regular headbands to their Slipless, which feel too tight and binding — another annoyance for me, because tight and binding = touching me.

Bondi Band Divas Dori & Erica
BondiBands.

Now that we all know I am neurotic, let’s move on to the next thing I love.

Lululemon 50 Rep Bra

In the past I’ve proclaimed my love for Lululemon’s TaTa Tamer. I thought it was the only sports bra that could support my “enemies,” aptly titled because they don’t like to be anywhere near each other. But I was wrong. A few months ago Lululemon introduced the 50 Rep Bra. I tried it on in the store after being disappointed by the ill-fit of the promising-sounding All Sport Bra. It seemed good and passed the jumping test, but the real test was out on a long run. I took it home and ran said long run — and then I regretted spending money on four TaTa Tamers. Not only is this bra extremely supportive, but it looks so much nicer and it is not visible under racerback tops, which is the TaTa Tamer’s major downfall (their cross back option makes it too tight to even wear). The back strap is made of mesh for extra wicking and comfort.

I own two of these now: one plain black and one a two-tone aqua/white mix, pictured below. And I hardly ever even wear them because I am so worried about “preserving” them. Yep, still neurotic.

50 Rep Bra Lululemon

[Source]

I want to own many more 50 Rep Bras. They are so comfortable AND they make me look like I have cleavage, which goes against everything my “enemies” stand for.

I hope Lululemon never discontinues this piece of boob-holding perfection. Or, if they do, I hope they clearly announce it and mark it down so I can buy all the bras.

Laura Mercier Bronzing Pressed Powder

Being extraordinarily pale, I have tried many bronzers to look like an actual live human being. Back in October I took Core Fusion with my friend Melissa and after class I realized that I forgot to bring any makeup with me. Since we planned on being ladies-who-lunch that day, I needed to look acceptable. Melissa let me use her bronzer and my face literally transformed into a pretty, natural looking glow — and I didn’t even use any foundation first!

That bronzer, my friends, was Laura Mercier Bronzing Pressed Powder in Golden Bronze. While I resisted buying it at first because I wasn’t completely crazy about the ingredients — though it thankfully IS oil-free — I eventually caved after too many bad experiences. I have not looked back. This stuff is amazing.  I always feel pretty when I have it on.

Laura Mercier Bronzing Pressed Powder

[Source]


Cold-EEZE

I explained my love for this ionized Zinc product back in October.  Just today Cold-EEZE named me their very first Fan of the Month! Very timely, as I am just getting over a cold that knocked me out for the weekend.

I really love when companies *get* social media and I am constantly impressed with Cold-EEZE in that respect. They are on top of it when it comes to engaging with their customers and fans. The first time they tweeted me to tell me they read my blog, I was flattered beyond words. THIS is how a large company should act if they want to gain loyal customers.

I was even more honored when they asked me to be the first Fan of the Month, a new series on their blog. Read the Q&A with me — I’m really excited about it!

Cold-EEZE

[Source]

 

Cadiveu Keratin Treatment

The only thing I don’t love about being a jew is my fro.

I don’t have pretty curls. I have frizzy, mixed-texture, out of control curls.

Dori jewfro 1 Dori jewfro 2

(DSB Theory: Jewfros are natural selection’s way of keeping Ashkenazi necks warm in frigid Eastern European winters)

I used to easily tame the fro with Liscio Japanese straightening, but over the summer my hair pattern changed (which it does every seven years — who knew!) and my curls became even more unmanageable by starting right at my root. Japanese straightening, which never fades, became impossible as my new curls were so close to the top I couldn’t blow dry/iron them straight to match the rest of my hair.

I turned to Brazilian keratin treatments because I know these slowly fade out, creating less of a dramatic difference between my curly and straight hair. Specifically, I turned to Cadiveu Professional because my lifelong hair stylist (20+ years), Maria, swears by it. There is also a lot of controversy about formaldehyde being used in some of these treatments, which Cadiveu does not contain.

Cadiveu

[Source]

I love this treatment so much that Maria agreed to give my readers 15% off if they want to try it out. She can even come to your home if you live in the NYC (or surrounding, like Long Island) areas. You can call Maria at (917) 331-3450 and use my name to get the discount. The treatment lasts about four months, and because it slowly fades out you don’t have to be nuts about getting it done all the time. Keep in mind it doesn’t totally straighten curls, but it makes them frizz-free and easy to blowdry and manage. It will make straighter hair look awesome as well.

It makes my hair shiny and strong. Here’s a picture of me with Missy shortly after I got it done over the summer:

(I did not touch a hair iron to this hair)

Funny Photo Captions

I took this picture of my family in the Seattles last weekend and it hilarious. There is just so much going on! It looks like one of those photos that gets put up on websites for a caption contest. And I love those! So, yes it is now one of my favorite things. Let’s have one of those contests now. Please caption the below photo. Winner will get a brand new exercise DVD: Dance Workout for Dummies. Best caption wins. Even if you don’t want the DVD, I’d love to hear your ideas!

Leave your entry in the comments. Be creative.

Have a question about any of these items? Leave a comment below or contact me!

 

Mat 57 at Physique 57

While it is no secret that Core Fusion is my preferred bar class of choice, I am always open to trying other studios out. In fact, Core Fusion was not the first class I tried. Prior to really getting involved in Core Fusion, I took two Physique 57 classes, one The Body class, two Nalini Method classes (not counting the third I recently tried). I reviewed those initial classes without having Core Fusion to even compare them to!

And while I enjoyed each of those experiences, I didn’t feel compelled to get memberships at the time. It wasn’t until I fell in love with the strength-in-stillness style and motivation teachers at Core Fusion that I knew this style of exercise was for me.

But just because I now know what I love doesn’t mean I’m not open to finding something else I love too. That is how I ended up at Refine after all, and I go there all the time now.

So when I met Physique 57’s social media manager at a Travelzoo blog event and she invited me in to try two more classes, of course I said yes!

With my hip injury, I can’t take a regular Physique 57 class right now, for the same reasons I can’t take Core Fusion. So I looked into my other options and found two classes that sounded like they could work for me: Mat 57 and Abs & Arms Booster. Mat 57 was offered at a time I could make it last week, and so I went.

From their website:

Mat 57® offers a:

Comprehensive workout. Mat 57® improves balance, posture, and alignment through targeted exercises that strengthen and lengthen every major muscle group. Mat 57® incorporates cardio, toning and stretching to intensify the workout and challenge each student.

Quick tempo. Mat 57® offers all of the proven benefits of Pilates while increasing stamina through a more athletic and high-energy routine.

Class was at the Spring Street location in SoHo. I had been to this location once before, and to the 57th street location once as well.

The Space

The good:

  • The retail shop had a gorgeous selection of workout and relaxation clothing from brands like Splits 59, Lululemon and more.
  • Locker room offers hair spray, hair dryers, deodorant, mouth wash, showers and hair brushes.
  • Everything was clean.

Could use improvement:

  • Locks are not built in to the lockers. For the price of these classes and a membership, I do think there should be locks. I was forced to leave my items in an unlocked locker. I had this same gripe about Pure Yoga.  I feel there are certain amenities that should come with the high cost of classes.
  • There is no sanitizer to hold the hair brushes. Use the brushes at your own risk.

The Class

The good:

  • Abs, abs, abs. This is a class for anyone who wants to get an intense abdominal workout. I wasn’t paying attention to the time, but we must have done about 15 minutes of devoted ab work in the beginning of class.
  • Use of light hand weights to do familiar arm exercises like bicep curls and lat pull-downs during the abdominal work.
  • Light weights are so difficult! When Natasha advised me to take 2s and 3s, I seriously doubted this and considered getting 4s. She told me not to. She was right. I was humbled. No more than 3 pounds are needed because it is hard work using the weights during abs.
  • A couple of nice plank sequences.
  • A long glutes section including foreram tabletop  and pretzel positions.
  • The hour literally flew by. When class was over, I couldn’t believe it.
  • The instructor was upbeat.
  • Easy to modify for injuries.

Could use improvement:

  • Instructor adjustments. Some of the positions we did on the floor for abs were unfamiliar to me, and the instructor did not correct or adjust me to ensure I was safely and effectively positioned. I had a feeling the entire time that I was not doing the exercise correctly, but I didn’t know how to fix myself.
  • We did about 15 pushups total: 10 regular and 5 yoga-style (elbows squeezed close to sides). I incorrectly assumed this was the first set of pushups that would appear multiple times throughout class. More pushups — an excellent full-body exercise –  would provide more intensity and opportunity for a higher heart-rate.
  • The squats and lunges sections seemed very short. I thought this class could have used a bit more thigh work.
  • The abdominal section to start the class dragged on a little too long.

Overall thoughts:

Throw everything you think you know out the window. In spite of the name, no mats actually make an appearance in Mat 57!

While Mat 57 was definitely a challenging workout that will tone your body, I didn’t feel the cardio intensity or increased heart rate that was advertised. It is a good change of pace and nice alternative to a regular bar-style class, and I would definitely do it again.

Keep in mind I only tried this class one time with one instructor, and every instructor has her own teaching style.

As for the space, it also comes down to personal preference. Physique 57’s environment is very much about the workout. Get in, work hard, get on with your day.  While I prefer a warmer environment, I know that this style would appeal to many people.

I am excited to go back for my second Physique 57 class in this two-class pack.


 

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