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Author: Madeline Beard (page 1 of 3)

I&H Guides: Clear Skin

For the last ten years, I have struggled with moderate acne and sensitive, combination skin. Solving these skin problems has been one of my biggest recurring resolutions, with no lasting results… until now. After eight months on a strict, prescribed regimen, I can happily say that my skin is clearer and healthier than it has been since puberty.


#iwenttosleeplikethis

My goal for this post is to help others dealing with the same issues save some of the time (and money) I wasted (and avoid the mistakes I made along the way).

If you suffer from acne (or know of someone who does), here are my tips for clearer skin:

WALK OUT OF THE DRUGSTORE AND INTO THE DERMATOLOGIST’S OFFICE

I have spent hundreds of dollars on skincare products with hopes that I would land on that “miracle” treatment that would solve all my problems. For a long time, I foolishly believed that dermatologist visits were not affordable and would do little to cure my acne. It wasn’t until I found a dermatologist in New York (and visited her consistently) that I started seeing lasting results. I have pretty basic health insurance and each appointment costs me $40 out of pocket. She prescribed me two topical treatments (Aczone and Tazorac) that were a bit pricey, but have saved me so much in the long run. So step out of the drugstore aisle, click out of the millions of tabs open on your desktop, and stop trying to self-prescribe the perfect formula; there are professionals who will do that for you.

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I&H Spotlight: Rachel Koretsky

Meet Rachel Koretsky, 23, the Founder and CEO for her startup upace. We talked to Rachel about the exciting new fitness app, and what it’s like to be an entrepreneur and leader in her career.

rachel_imgMaddie: What is upace?
Rachel: upace is a management mobile and online app to help individuals find the optimal time and resources to live a healthier lifestyle. The software will allow the university to analyze data that will assist in meeting campus needs. Our mission is to help students find fitness resources on campus at the right time to fit within their individual needs. In fact, that is how we created our name – find your pace.

M: Describe your role.
R: I am the founder and CEO of upace.

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Wish List + Resolutions

I have had a lot of deep thoughts about mortality lately. Probably not the cheeriest way to kick off a post about the holidays, but I’ve promised authenticity on I&H, and that’s where my head has been these past several weeks. These thoughts started with the attacks in Paris, made worse by the threat on New York City, and the shootings in Colorado Springs and San Bernardino. I was taking my life for granted before these events. Now, my frame of mind is different.

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Get Inspired

A wise woman once told me “fake it ’til you make it”; I’ve found that one of the best ways to do this is through consistent study of other people’s work. When making a living in a creative field, it’s important to gather as many sources of inspiration as possible. While Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr can all be good starting points, I have compiled a handful of my favorite “alternative” inspiration sites. The need for visual inspiration isn’t exclusive to designers. The next time you’re stuck on a problem, idea or brainstorm, take a break and explore; designspiration.net has an incredible search function (type anything in — or search by color! — and you’ll get results). Friends of Type and Fonts in Use are amazing for the typography junkie and rookie alike (they’ll make you look at type differently). Oh Beautiful Beer has been a longtime favorite (and secret dream job) of mine. See the full list below:

What inspires you? How do you get “unstuck”? We want to know in the comments below!

Love at First Listen: Orla Gartland, JR JR & more

As the days get shorter, I am mentally preparing myself for the forthcoming New York City winter. I was unprepared for the last one (my first ever as a resident here), so I am doing everything I can to keep a good attitude about the fast approaching season of doom. This means creating a winter bucket list (concerts, movies and museums are all fun things you can do indoors) AND gearing up my Spotify with some happier, more upbeat tunes. Today’s Love at First Listen post is a collection of my favorite feel goods*, a proven antidote for weather/career/general life-related blues.

Kate Bush/Cyndi Lauper Mashup, Orla Gartland

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Tinder Ambiguity

A couple nights ago, I went to dinner with one of my closest friends in the city. Over a couple of amazing cocktails, we swapped stories of our current dating highs and lows. I shared my most recent dilemma with her: when meeting people through apps (especially on Tinder), it is really hard to know what someone is looking for. Rarely is it ever explicitly stated in a person’s profile, which makes every first date feel like some sort of psychological study; while chatting about our backgrounds, interests and lives in New York, I am constantly pulling for subtext. If he mentions an old girlfriend, does that mean he wants something more serious? If he picks a spot three blocks from his apartment, does that mean he’s only interested in the Netflix and chill part of the evening?

To be clear, I’m not looking for any sort of serious relationship right now, but I’m also not interested in a casual, one-time fling. I want to get to know someone to the point where I feel like I can trust them before anything physical happens; that’s just how I roll.

Sharing these thoughts with my friend, we realized we were in the same boat and came up with an interesting experiment. Rather than continuing to navigate this grey area, we decided to cut to the chase and see what happened. We each pulled out our phones, logged onto our respective apps (Bumble for her, Tinder for me), and typed the following to our most recent connections:

“Out of curiosity, what are you looking for on [name of app]?”

I blindly swiped right on at least twenty guys and asked them all the same question (maybe this will affect my Tinder karma… can someone tell me if Tinder karma exists and, if so, will I lose Super Likes because of this?)

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Wake Up Call

Yesterday, this (ironically) viral video caught my attention:

(If you’re looking for cliff notes of the video, click here for the back story and then keep reading).

I had never followed Essena O’Neill’s accounts, but was struck by the honesty, vulnerability and power in her message.

I’ve talked with a lot of friends in recent months about how isolating New York can feel. You walk onto any subway car during rush hour, and it’s as if we’re all cyborgs — glued to our smartphones, headphones in ears, doing everything we can to zone out the rest of the world. We’re together, but completely alone. And I’m guilty of this as much as the next person; it’s so much easier to engage in the virtual world than it is to engage in our physical world. But what kind of impact is this having? How is this shaping us as people?

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LA Trip

A couple weekends ago, I traveled to Los Angeles to see Aditi for the first time in over a year and a half! We put together a little recap video of the trip to commemorate our first reunion since the launch of Island & Hills. Thank you to all of our supporters who have helped Island & Hills grow over the past four months. This is only the beginning; more tales from our two cities to come, so stay tuned!

xx
Maddie

I&H Music Festival Survival Guide: First Timer vs. Seasoned Pro

LIST

A couple weekends ago, I traveled to Las Vegas for the Life Is Beautiful music festival. This was my first ever music festival, and I relied on Aditi a lot beforehand for suggestions and advice about the experience. Originally hailing from Tennessee, Aditi is practically an expert on the music fest scene (she first started attending Bonnaroo in high school). As a seasoned pro and a first timer, we teamed up to give you our top tips on making the most of your next festival experience.

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Confessions of a Closeted Romantic

I spent last weekend in Colorado attending a celebration of my late grandma’s life. One of the best parts about this weekend-long event was being able to discover even more about my grandparents through stories and memorabilia. One particular instance that stands out in my mind: my grandpa used to write my grandma beautiful love letters over the years (many of which were saved and I had the great fortune of reading). These weren’t your average “u complete me” high school love notes; they were “The Notebook” level confessions of love.

Now a lot of my close friends probably read the title of this post and thought in an exasperated voice “Closeted romantic? YEAH, OKAY.” *insert eye roll here*. My friend Hallie always jokes that I’m going to meet my soulmate while carrying bags of groceries; the bottoms of the bags will give out all at once, and as I frantically try to pick up the contents, a dashing man will come to my aid. The rest is history *cue wedding bells*.

Whenever I hear her talk about this scenario, I give a laugh, respond with a wistful “yeah, wouldn’t that be nice?” and then we move on. The truth is, that thought lingers in my head much longer than I am ever willing to admit — that is, until now.

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