My Experience with Vibram (Toe) Shoes

I first encountered the idea of barefoot running in a TED talk by Christopher McDougall, which can be found here, on YouTube. He even wrote a book on the subject called “Born to Run.” That was not what convinced me, however, to purchase my first pair of Vibrams a few months later. It was not until then that I read Tim Ferris’ newly published book, “The Four Hour Body,” here on Amazon. For a little context, I have always been a huge Tim Ferris fan. His first book “The 4-Hour Workweek,” was very insightful and had a lot of creative business advice that was not only original but inspiring. The idea that any one of us could rise up and become… well, whatever we wanted, was a hit with most of us in the business community. Not only has this book sold over a million copies, nearly everyone I knew at the time I was in college had read it. So, when he released his next book, I was among the first to purchase it. I read it, and to be honest, a lot of the advice, for me, was difficult to follow. However, I thought, I can at least buy these shoes. It was one of the only things I did from the book that I still do. I tried the diet, and it wasn’t my cup of tea, but at least I bought the shoes. I was wearing them casually for the first little while, and slowly, over time, I found that they were more comfortable than my traditional sneakers. In sneakers, my toes felt squished in their little toe boxes, but with Vibrams I could wiggle my toes.

I have been wearing Vibrams for 3 years or so, almost every day. I’ve never had issues with my feet or legs before, nor do I now. However, the recent controversy has caused me to consider my reasons for wearing Vibrams. Why do I wear these silly-looking shoes? There are plenty of other brands that manufacture “barefoot” style shoes that have a minimal sole, with a full toe box and appear to be “normal” on the outside. Wearing these, only I would know that my feet are reaping the purported benefits of ‘minimalist running.’ Zappos.com has an entire section dedicated to minimalist running shoes. I could wear a less ostentatious version of my favorite shoe. I guess my first excuse would be that these silly little things are silly, like me. Then I remember how pragmatic and serious I am and I have to crumple that idea up and trash it. I think the reason I love the look of Vibrams is that they certainly are unique (which, I consider myself to be) and I do enjoy that the toes fit like a foot glove. I just like the way it feels. A secondary reason I like the look of these shoes is that they are a conversation starter. If I see someone else who has them, it’s like we’re on the same team and we can give each other one of those “knowing” glances. Then, there are the people who stop me and ask questions about them. I enjoy sharing my opinions on the things that I love. I even started this blog to talk about things I love.

The reasons why I wear Vibrams extend beyond the fact that they were recommended by Tim Ferris, who I respect, and that they’re a wacky-looking conversation starter. I also wear them because I find them comfortable. That’s the number one question I get, by the way. People often approach me, squish up their faces a little, point at my shoes and ask “Are those comfortable?” I cheerfully let them know that they are and answer any other questions they might have as I wait in line at Starbucks.

I like my shoes, and I don’t feel that they have harmed my health in any way. I will also say that I don’t believe that they’ve helped my health in any way, either. I am not overly disappointed by that, although that was the original reason why I purchased the shoes (Tim, having recommended them because of their purported health benefits), I am just glad to have found shoes that I find comfortable and I will continue to enjoy them.

I will leave you with two articles that I found especially useful in my decision about continuing to wear Vibram or any minimalist shoes. The first one is from the Huffington Post called “Why We Fell For ‘Barefoot’ Shoes“. This article, including rightfully comparing the Sketchers “Shape Up” debacle to the current Vibram Barefoot Running one, talks about personal responsibility- specifically knowing how run in Vibrams in order to avoid injury. The second article was written by physician Matt McCarthy and is called “The Scientific Case Against Vibram’s FiveFinger Running Shoe.” This one discusses specific studies on barefoot running. Some of the studies support the claims made by Vibram and other studies negate them. However, the length and number of participants in all of these studies are somewhat limiting factors, regardless of outcome.

Thanks for reading! I hope this was helpful! Have you worn or tried Vibrams? Love ’em or hate ’em? Let me know in the comments below!

 

The Winners of the Hey Lululemon “One More Time” Contest: the Savasana Wrap & the Stride Jacket

HeyLululemon.com had a vote on which styles they should bring back to life and I’m happy to report that BOTH the Savasana Wrap and the Stride Jacket will be making a comeback in 2014. What I particularly enjoyed about this contest is that it proves that Lululemon is listening and it was fun that they basically let us choose what we wanted. I REALLY wanted the Define jacket to come back, but, alas, it was not meant to be. The Define Jacket had made it to the final five, along with the Audrey Jacket, Wandering Yogi Crops and our two champions, but it only received 10% of the vote. The final tally can be viewed here. I hope that Lululemon brings back the other designs anyways, because I really want an Audrey Jacket too! I am writing this post because I recently heard that the Savasana Wrap will be back in stores by July. I LOVED the Savasana Wrap, but I was only ever able to get one online on eBay because I missed them when they were in stores. Here’s a preview:

This is the sneak peek at a new Savasana Wrap. I wonder if that's a new purple, Deep Zinfandel, Lolo Purple or maybe Dense Purple?
This is the sneak peek at the new Savasana Wrap. I wonder if that’s a new purple, Deep Zinfandel, Lolo Purple or maybe Dense Purple? What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!

 

Another little tidbit of awesomeness is that they’ll be incorporating yoga quotes into the Savasana Wraps somehow, which Lululemon also had a vote on. By the end of the voting, the quote “Breathe Deeply – Practice Kindness” received the most votes.

I’m really looking forward to the NEW Savasana wrap. I also recently wrote a new post “All About the Savasana Wrap!” Which one are you more excited about? The Savasana Wrap or the Stride Jacket?

UPDATE: HeyLululemon.com has been retired by Lululemon as of May 16, 2016

Because of the fact that HeyLululemon.com was being retired, I took photos of the relevant posts and will post them here to give this post the context it needs in order to replace the links that no longer work due to the closure of HeyLululemon.com

 

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Update to my 2014 New Year’s Resolution: Skin Care

Hello! It has been a few months since I updated my New Year’s resolution regarding skin care, so I thought it was time for a new post. In my last post, I talked about how my skin had gone from dry to oily and how crazy the change had been for me, so I had started looking for solutions. I have found quite a few solutions since then and I feel like I know exponentially more about skin and skin care than I used to and I’m so much more confident about where I spend my skin care dollars. I’m here to let you know what I’ve learned in the past 4 months. Going from knowing literally nothing about skin care, to knowing as much as I feel I know now.

I also want to say again that (obviously) I’m not an expert and that I think everybody’s skin is different and what works for me may not work for you and vice versa. And, as in my last post, I’ll just stop and remind you here about my post about Glam Glow, and also my first post where I initially talked about developing a regular skin care routine.

Moving along…

Last time I updated, I talked about what I did and which products I used; I think that format worked well, so I’m fixin’ to use it again!

Morning:

Cleanse: I use Liz Earle’s cleanser and natural muslin cloth, that I got absolutely addicted to after I sampled it through BirchBox. (BirchBox is a monthly subscription makeup sample service.) It is really pretty, and comes in a sort of Tiffany blue tube, and the muslin cloth is slightly exfoliating. I absolutely love the Eucalyptus smell of it, it reminds me of the spa. It also feels quite luxurious on the face. I really recommend it, and you can get a huge tube of it (the small sample size lasted me 30 uses or so) plus 2 large muslin cloths (the sample came with a small one) for $24.50.

I don’t exfoliate in the morning, as I consider the exfoliation I get from the muslin cloth to be sufficient, so I tone next. I usually use a mild toner, like The Body Shop’s Tea Tree Skin Clearing Toner, as that seems to be working well for me.

Next I apply a serum, usually The Body Shop’s Pomergranite Firming Serum, because it seems mild to me, no heavy acids (AHAs, for example). I’m probably going to try to find a different “mild” serum, because I don’t love this one, but it’s good, and I would recommend it.

Finally, I apply a layer of sunscreen. If I’m wearing makeup that day, I still apply sunscreen, it’s the one thing I won’t leave home without, and I keep some in my purse- always. One cannot overstate the importance of photo-aging prevention. As for which sunscreen, I’m currently testing out a few but I like The Body Shop’s Aloe Soothing Sunscreen, and Philosophy’s Take A Deep Breath SPF 30.

Night:

My nighttime routine is a little different from my daytime routine. I start with a basic cleanser, I have quite a number of them that I’m experimenting with right now, but I usually reach for either The Body Shop’s Seaweed Deep Cleansing Facial Wash or Purity by Philosophy and apply that to my Clarisonic.

I do a more intense exfoliating treatment in the evening, and after using my Clarisonic, I use a basic exfoliating gel or cream. I have been using The Body Shop’s  Tee Tree Blackhead Exfoliating Wash and Skin Clearing Lotion, but I am no longer enjoying it as I find the particles are too big to concentrate on exfoliating properly. The two I’m enjoying most right now are Aveeno’s Active Naturals’ Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Daily Scrub and Philosophy’s The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash. I prefer the Philosophy one because it has smaller particles that seem to last longer, so I have more time to exfoliate, but they’re both good and I would definitely recommend the Aveeno one to someone looking for a good drugstore product. The only thing I don’t really like about the Aveeno one is that it has Sodium Laureth Sulfate in it, which is, in my view, more of a shampoo ingredient than a face wash ingredient.

Then, once I’m out of the shower (did I mention that I Clarisonic in the shower?), I usually throw a mask on. Sometimes I Glam Glow, but most days I’ve been using Origins’ Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask. I really like the Origins mask because you can use it every day if you want I don’t think I’ll repurchase the white jar of Glam Glow again, but I do want to try the black jar next time, as I’ve heard it would be better for my skin type. On days that I don’t use masks, I use Biore pore strips to clear my pores, although it does say on the box not to use them more than once every three days. I also want to mention that the reason I do this after I shower is because it is when my pores are most open from the steam and how water, so my mask or pore strip will be most effective at that time.

Once my mask dries (or my Biore strip “paper maches”), and I remove it, I rinse off and dry my face. After that, I’m ready for toner. The evening is when I use a more intense toner. So, I usually apply my Clean & Clear Deep Cleaning Astringent, but once I run out of that, I’m switching to a Paula’s Choice one to see if I like it better. I’m happy I finally found a toner with a higher percentage of salicylic acid. I’ll let you know if I like it once I try it.

I usually wait about ten minutes after applying my toner to apply my serum and night cream. I don’t think I have to wait, it’s just something I like to do. My night serum is either the DDF sample I got (which I still have) or the same one I use in the morning.

My night cream is also in a state of flux. I know Philosophy’s Take A Deep Breath is not a night cream, but it’s so luxurious that I can’t resist using it sometimes. I also have some samples from Clinique and Origins I’m working through. I really haven’t made any significant development towards an evening cream, but I’m learning about what I like and what I don’t like. I enjoy a thick cream, but I don’t like ones that are strongly scented.

If y’all have any recommendations for a night cream I should try, let me know in the comments below. I’ll definitely update this post once I try out a few more things and develop a more concrete routine. This is really starting to become a hobby for me, as I feel I’ve learned a lot about proper skin care, even if I’m not 100% of the way there, it’s a long way from sunscreen and basic bar soap.

 

Thanks for reading!