MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Montgomery, Alabama native and Oscar-winning actress, Octavia Spencer agreed to donate respiratory monitors to nursing and medical facilities in Alabama and New York.
Partnered with baby monitor company, Miku, Spencer says the monitors are to provide relief to nurses while they care for COVID-19 patients.
Montgomery based healthcare system, Baptist Health, was selected for its facilities to receive some of the monitors.
Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer has donated contactless baby monitors and iPads to hospitals in New York and her native Alabama to help nurses monitor coronavirus patients’ crucial respiratory functions more safely.
“I, like many of you, have felt helpless in knowing how to help during this time,” wrote the 47-year-old actress on Instagram Tuesday. “Seeing what is happening in the communities that I love, I have teamed up with @Mikucare to donate monitors to nursing and medical facilities … to provide much needed relief to nurses as they navigate care for COVID-19 patients.”
The Los Angeles-based Miku makes a baby-monitor that uses wireless sensors to track changes in sleep and breathing patterns, and transmits that data to smartphones and other devices, such as iPads. Nurses, including those at the Bronx-based Montefiore Health System of 10 hospitals, have adapted them as contact-free patient monitors.
“With the understanding that respiration is one of the earliest indicators of illness, Miku’s breathing monitoring can indicate potential onset before other symptoms present” themselves, continued Spencer, who most recently starred in the Netflix miniseries “Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker.” “Miku’s two-way talk and video functionality also provides patients and medical personnel a method to communicate safely and effectively with those who have contracted the highly contagious virus.”
The “Ma” star urged, “Please everyone do your part to stay safe and stay home in order to protect yourself and the ones you love most and I hope we can all find ways — small and large — to give back to our neighbors, family, and those on the frontlines.”
A second post contained photos of Montefiore staff familiarizing themselves with the device, which Spencer said “can monitor respiratory and communicate with 10 patients at a time. I wish I could afford to put these in every palliative care convalescent home and hospitals all across the world.”
One Montefiore nurse was so appreciative that she tweeted a video of a line of medical personnel each doing dance moves. “Thank you #MIKU #OctaviaSpencer for allowing staff to complete assessments without entering the room,” posted the account Neuro RN Leader. “Montefiore medical center neuroscience department so happy to receive #MIKU we decided to dance. … Thank you for your very generous gift. We at Montefiore Medical Center love you.”
In addition to her Oscar for “The Help” (2011), Spencer was nominated for “Hidden Figures” (2016) and “The Shape of Water” (2017).
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many big names are joining forces for “The Call to Unite,” a 24-hour global livestream event that starts on Friday, May 1, at 8 p.m. EDT.
Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts, President George W. Bush, Deepak Chopra, Eva Longoria, Common, Jennifer Garner, Mandy Moore, Maria Shriver, Martin Luther King III and Alanis Morissette are just some of the famous figures to participate in the event, which aims to unite people across the world to celebrate acts of humanity.
The livestream will feature performances, conversations, life lessons, and more to combat the challenges of the crisis.
“The Call to Unite” will be livestreamed at unite.us, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and SiriusXM Stars Channel 109.
Aside from the livestream, Oprah also recently donated $10 million to COVID-19 relief efforts. Beyoncé, Kevin Hart, Rihanna and Charlize Theron have also pulled out their wallets to combat the crisis, which has taken over 211,000 lives worldwide.
“Extra’s” Billy Bush recently FaceTimed with “Modern Family” star Julie Bowen, who is participating in a live online table read of the TV comedy “Half-Assed” to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bowen shared, “This is just strictly for charity… every dollar you give will be matched up to $200,000 so there’s no such thing as too much. We’re encouraged it’s going to raise money for the first responders.”
Billy recently spoke with “Shark Tank” star Lori Grenier, who also showed her appreciation for first responders by donating meals.
Octavia Spencer has joined forces with Miku, the ultra-smart, contact-free baby monitor, to donate Miku monitors to ICUs and Emergency Wards in hospitals from her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, through Baptist Healthcare Systems.
In a statement, Octavia said, “It was incredibly important to find a way to help my communities during this pandemic, and I was lucky enough to find and team up with the founders of Miku to provide state-of-the-art monitors to the most vulnerable people affected by COVID-19.”
Tonight, Aisha Tyler is teaming up with Verizon to host members of the FaZe Clan as they go head-to-head in a gaming livestream on Twitter @Verizon, @Teeqo on Twitch, Yahoo, Verizon’s Facebook page, Fios Channel 501, YouTube, and XBOX. Verizon will also donate $10, up to $2.5 million, to support small businesses when the hashtag #PayItForwardLIVE is used.
When you get a blemish on your face, you typically have a few treatment options. You can reach for an acne spot treatment, spend 10 to 15 minutes masking, or stay the course with your skin-care routine and let your skin do its thing. But another option that has quickly become a favorite among us here at Allure is using pimple patches.
Pimple patches are adhesives that are filled with different acne-fighting ingredients, like salicylic acid or tea tree oil, that you place on top of blemishes. “These acne patches offer an air-tight seal from the environment and its contaminants, while drawing out impurities from the skin and suspending it in the gel-like matrix of the patch,” says California-based and board-certified dermatologist Melanie Palm. “Some of the patches offer the power-packed punch of active ingredients such as anti-inflammatories, antioxidants, or anti-acne ingredients to soothe and treat acne blemishes.”
They are pretty simple to use and you can just follow the instructions listed on the packaging. Palm says the “stealthiest” way to apply an acne patch is overnight; it will work to treat spots for seven to eight hours while your skin is in its restoration period. But you can also wear them during the day to help prevent you from picking. She says regardless of which acne patch you decide to use, always apply it to dry and freshly-cleansed skin.
Most people are able to use acne patches, though Marisa Garshick, a board-certified dermatologist based in New York City, warns those with sensitive skin to be cautious when choosing which to use; having too much exposure to an ingredient such as salicylic acid can be irritating and drying. Garshick also says deep breakouts may not respond at all to these. She’d normally recommend visiting a dermatologist for a cortisone shot. But until we are no longer under quarantine, your safest and best option for this type of acne is to turn to teledermatology and virtually consult with a dermatologist.
Another thing to consider before using an acne patch is that different types of acne require specific types of pimple patches. To figure out which one is best for you, we asked dermatologists to break down which types of patches (and ingredients) are most effective for every type of acne. Scroll through to see what they had to say.
These four American start-ups see their focus on health, wellness and functionality as being increasingly important: with immunity naturally taking coming to the forefront of consumers’ minds.
And while bricks and mortar stores are in constant need of restocking, these brands have ensured that their online stores are primed and ready to respond to an increase in orders. They want to see consumers explore new brands and support smaller businesses as availability of other products decrease.
We asked the entrepreneurs behind plant-based energy shot GO BIG; dandelion-based LION Tea; apple cider vinegar shots Ethan’s; and organic brand Buddha Teas what business is like during the crisis.
Having just debuted in February in NYC gyms and online, Go Big has been dealt a curve ball very early on in start-up business life. This plant-powered energy shot is made from natural ingredients such as guarana to provide clean energy without the jittery spike or slump associated with coffee and energy shots.
BD: How is the coronavirus crisis affecting your business?
Ben Koren, co-founder and co-CEO: We were partnering with a number of gyms and had plans to expand that channel significantly before all of the lockdowns. Our hearts go out to our partners who have been affected by this. For our business, gyms clearly are not going to be a viable channel until lockdowns are lifted.
But we’ve seen about a 50% rise in our online sales. We think that a big part of that is because while we are an energy shot, we have a lot of the same ingredients as the wellness shots that help to boost immunity. People are really focused on wellness right now.
We’re offering 15% of purchases with the code STOCKUP15 via our website
BD: How will the coronavirus crisis change your goals for 2020?
BK: A new goal of ours for this year is to help first responders to the crisis. We announced an initiative to donate 10,000 GO BIG energy shots to hospital workers that are on the front lines of the fight.
BD: Are there any positives you can pull from this situation?
BK: There’s always a positive side. We do think that in the aftermath of this, people will focus more on the parts of their life that are most meaningful – friends, family, their health. These trends were already there, but this will accelerate them.
As an all-natural, wellness-focused energy shot, we are competing in an industry dominated by artificial ingredients and high-sugar. As the world comes out of this, we’re excited to be part of people’s shift towards better-for-you products and a healthier lifestyle.
LION Tea launched in 2017 and is available on Amazon and in the Fresh Market, Erewhon and natural food stores across the US. Positioning itself as the first-ever USDA certified organic bottled dandelion tea, it is packed with dandelions which ‘may improve digestion, clear skin, reduce bloating and provide an immune boost.’
BD: How worried are you, as a business, about the coronavirus crisis?
Ray DeRosa, Founder: Luckily, our product isn’t perishable and we just completed a production run right before the situation got bad, so we feel that we’re in a good position right now. In terms of getting our product out into the world, we’re facing the same challenges that everyone is: retail sales.
BD: Have your online sales changed in the last two weeks?
RD: Our online sales are up tremendously, and as a drink with health benefits we’re here to support however we can. Right now, it’s all hands on deck for us to support customer inquiries and the increased sales volume that has come with everyone being at home.
We’re offering 20% off all orders with the code IMMUNEBOOST via our website.
BD: How will the coronavirus crisis change your goals for 2020?
RD: Our number one goal is to help keep our customers and employees healthy! Besides that our financial/revenue goals haven’t changed significantly, we are just focusing on e-commerce.
BD: Are there any positives you can pull from the situation?
RD: I think it’s been really great to see how communities have come together to help each other out. We’ve recently had major influencers posting about LION Tea just to get the word out about dandelion tea and help people feel better in these trying times, so it’s been great to see people lending a helping hand where they can.
As for our strategy moving forward, we’ve since built a plan and quickly pivoted into direct to consumer-only.
Ethan’s launched in 2017 and is currently available in retailers such as Whole Foods, Sprouts, Walmart, Wegman’s and more across the U.S. The brands’ age-old brew Original & Citrus Fire Shots are made with ACV, spices and a drop of organic honey, containing immunity boosting properties.
BD: How worried are you, as a business, about the coronavirus crisis?
Ethan Hirshberg, founder: The biggest challenge we’re facing is as a young brand is having new distribution cancelled. Stores are understandably focused on keeping essentials in stock and have deprioritized new product launches, which is detrimental to young and ascendant brands. We were set to double our total retail store count in April 2020 alone, so we’ve had to adjust our expectations a bit and focus on what’s within our control.
However, we have seen an influx in demand both at current retail and online. There is huge demand in these channels, so we’re focused on executing and optimizing online and in current retail distribution.
More specific to us, we’ve pivoted marketing and production efforts towards our products for which there is specific need and demand at this time. In our case, that’s manifested with an emphasis on our immunity and wellness items, instead of our energy products. We have a unique opportunity to provide something that people really need and want, so we want to lean into that as much as possible in the coming weeks.
BD: How will the coronavirus crisis change your goals for 2020?
EH: As I mentioned, we’ve had to adjust our expectations on our retail count and focus on what’s within our control for the time being.
Buddha Teas was founded in 2009 with a focus on natural, quality and sustainable products. Its wide range of products includes herbal teas, green teas, specialty teas, and caffeine-free teas. Buddha Teas now has a presence in every state, in stores such as Sprouts, Ralphs, Wegmans, Moms Organic, Publix GreenWise and Chamberlains.
BD: How have your online sales changed over the last two weeks?
John Boyd, Founder: We’ve increased by 500% at Buddhateas.com; 300% similar increase with Amazon sales.
BD: How worried are you, as a business, about the coronavirus crisis?
JB: Naturally, we’re worried about the health and safety of our employees, the country, the world, but we’re trying to stay positive. As we’re in the food and beverage space, we’re classified as an essential business.
We also consider ourselves herbal medicine, and we know the importance of our immune boosting, respiratory teas for our customers. We’d like to stay selling teas as long as possible. Like Eckhart Tolle says, “Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.”
BD: How will the coronavirus crisis change your goals for 2020?
JB: One of our big goals for 2020 was to launch a profit share program for all of our employees. The increase in sales has obviously made that goal a reality, and all employees will be thrilled receive a healthy profit share bonus this summer.
The fact that shows like TLC’s Dr. Pimple Popper have such a huge following is proof that there’s a shift in the public perception of acne, even if some of us still feel a little embarrassed when we wake up to a fresh blemish settling in on our face. Pimple patches were really hyped last year, particularly the Chrissy Teigen-approved KILLA kit from ZitSticka.
Since launching in 2019, the brand has made it clear that acne is perfectly normal; the real issue is the shame and stigma that comes attached. ZitSticka gained even more recognition post-launch from its ZSA ambassador campaign starring models Munroe Bergdorf and Shaun Ross. Today, the brand is changing up its format with a brand-new product called Skin Discipline. If you thought that the self-dissolving microdart patches were discreet, this supplement is even better since nobody has to ever see it.
Skin Discipline was created specifically for people with “disobedient skin” at any stage of an acne breakout. Each capsule is loaded with a blend of nutrients that include, selenium, vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, niacin, omega 3, chromium, and probiotics. As a result, the product helps with alleviating inflammation, regulating the production of sebum and acne-causing hormones, optimizing and detoxing microbiomes, and balancing out bacteria that supports overall skin health.
ZitSticka co-founder and director Daniel Kaplan’s mission for the skin-tech company is to “revolutionize the way people resolve their breakouts with efficacy and innovation.” Transitioning from a patch to a supplement is a major part of the brand’s strategy to “offer products for every stage of a zit’s life cycle” which consumers will see more of as they roll-out an official “comprehensive clear-skin tool kit” throughout 2020.
“Topical beauty products and inner health go hand-in-hand, and beating breakouts is more than just washing your face and calling it a day,” he says. “We’re fortunate to have been able to leverage some longstanding skincare experts as well as world-class manufacturing processes to engineer a breakout-specific supplement that addresses the root causes of zits.”
ZitSticka claims that consumers should start noticing a difference within the first 8 weeks of consistent use. Maximum results can be expected after passing 12 weeks. Skin Discipline is available to order now for a flat rate of $44 or $36 for subscribers.
It’s not every day you and your favorite celebrity use the same skincare. But that’s what GlamGlow fans found out when Queen of Twitter Chrissy Teigen shared a selfie wearing her favorite GlamGlow mask. “Not an ad. I’m obsessed with every GlamGlow mask ever,” Teigen said in a video she posted to her Instagram Stories. “Not an ad. I just love them.” Over the post, she wrote, “@glamglow I love u.”
The face mask Teigen loves is GlamGlow’s GravityMud Firming Treatment Mask ($59 at Sephora), a favorite for the way it goes on silver and peels off for an Insta-friendly look. But that’s not all it does. The mask promises to lift, tighten and plump skin thanks to active ingredients such as Marine Algae plasma, Soy Isoflavone Liposome, hyaluronic acid and Glacial clay. It comes with a little brush to spread the mask all over the face, neck and chest as it turns from white to chrome.
Teigen is on a skincare kick and trying other cult-favorite products to clear up her breakouts. Last night, she popped on two ZitSticka Killa pimple patches ($29 at Amazon). These feature self-dissolving microdarts full of niacinamide to reduce redness and salicylic acid to smooth and exfoliate dead skin cells. They can help reduce the size and color of a cystic pimple overnight.
Image: Instagram.com/chrissyteigen.
We know Teigen started a website and YouTuber channel for her cooking but is she the next beauty blogger? Time will tell and we’ll be watching.
Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.
There are few things as annoying as waking up to a brand-new blemish. There are definitely ways you can embrace the unexpected breakout — including some space-inspired stickers or colorful makeup — but that doesn’t make an overnight guest taking up space on your face any less ugh-inducing. Zitsticka wants to change all that, and has announced a temporary giveaway that celebrates surprise acne.
The brand behind a set of pimple stickers recently unveiled its We Got You ad campaign. The campaign features an adorable series of acne-positivity ads that highlight how sometimes pimples can just happen, and that acne is something everyone deals with. Whether it’s a pimple caused by a late-night craving for something sweet or a blemish induced by the stress of literally everything you have to do in a day, Zitsticka’s campaign sends an encouraging message that yes, acne happens, and it’s okay.
If you don’t happen to live in NYC, the company does have an online store, and as the Teen Vogue Acne Awards demonstrated, there are plenty of products available, including patches, to possibly use in your skin-care routine.
Ultimately, as much as we try to prevent acne from happening, sometimes a pimple will just pop up, and whether you cover it with a sticker or choose to follow in the footsteps of your fave celebs and embrace the zit remains up to you. Skin care is all about finding the product and routine that makes you feel comfortable in your skin.
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Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: You Can Now Cover Your Breakouts With Star Stickers, Thanks to This New Skin-Care Brand
In the past week alone, every single human in the U.S. has gotten a pimple, according to very scientific data I just made up. But seriously, if I’m basing this solely off a dozen frantic, late-night text messages from friends and coworkers, then yeah, virtually everyone I know—including yours truly—has been inducted into the Big-Ass Breakout Club this summer, and we’re all asking the same thing: What the f*ck is happening right now?? Are we under attack? Is this the second (puberty) coming? WILL WE EVER BE OKAY?!
So, with a ZitSticka patch covering the throbbing cystic zit on my jaw and salicylic acid globbed onto the mysterious little whiteheads sprinkling my nose, I begged for answers from dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD, associate clinical professor at Yale University and OG calmer of my skin anxieties. And according to Dr. Gohara, there very much is a reason why you’re breaking out right now. Actually, there are three:
REASON #1:
It’s this g’damn stupid heat wave.
Right now, around the country (and even in Europe), record-high temperatures are basically signaling the apocalypse. I mean, the freaking Washington Post is calling it “the hottest month that humans have ever recorded,” and guess what? None of this bodes well for your skin (or for the planet, but more on civilization-ending global warming later).
“When it’s really hot, people tend to sweat significantly more,” says Dr. Gohara. “That sweat then sits on your face, mixing with all the sticky gunk and grime and pollution in the air to create the perfect environment for pores to clog and acne-causing bacteria to grow.” Yay! I love summer!
But the heat and humidity are only half of the problem. You’re the other half. “When we notice, Holy shit, my face is a Crisco pad, we tend to touch our skin more—blotting with shirts or towels or sheets, wiping or fixing makeup with fingers, dusting on more powder to mattify the shine, and feeling for new or growing zits,” says Dr. Gohara. “So not only are you introducing new bacteria and oils to your face, but you’re also irritating your skin barrier with all the wiping and touching.” And an irritated barrier is an angry barrier—one that’ll start breaking out even harder from the disruption.
Hands. Off. Your. Face. Seriously—get your hands off your skin, stop rubbing at it, don’t triple-cleanse during the day, don’t pack on the makeup to cover the grease. Instead, gently soak up the shine once or twice a day with fragrance-free oil blotting sheets (my favorite: Clean & Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets), wash your face once or twice a day with a creamy, non-foaming cleanser (see below), and keep your makeup to a minimum on the areas where you tend to break out most. And maybe move to Alaska.
REASON #2:
You’re blasting the A/C.
This goes hand in hand with the hellacious heat wave (is it fall yet?), but if you’ve been sitting in front of your air conditioner for three weeks or blasting your car’s A/C or existing only in frigid coffee shops, classrooms, planes, or offices, it could actually be breaking you out.
“Air-conditioning usually removes moisture from the air, making it incredibly drying, especially if it’s blasting you right in the face,” says Dr. Gohara. “So it ends up sucking the moisture from your face, which causes your skin to overproduce oil to compensate for the dryness.”
The result? Extra-oily skin (yup, even if your skin looks matte and dry; your pores produce oil from within, and too much too quickly can clog the pore before it reaches the surface). So while the A/C is kicking your oil production into overdrive, the heat wave is cranking out the sweat and the humidity is mixing it all together and sticking it to your skin.
Adopt an electricity-free life—maybe move to a remote shack on the beaches of Bali? Just kidding. There’s not much you can do when A/C is virtually everywhere in the summer, except try to redirect the air from blowing on your face as much as possible. If you’re traveling, push the air vents in your car away from your face or twist the airplane’s vent above your seat closed. And try adding a portable humidifier (the Hey Dewy Portable Facial Humidifier is honestly great) to your life—keep it on your desk, in the cupholder in your car, wherever. That bit of moisture can help offset some of the A/C’s drying effects.
REASON #3:
You’re going crazy trying to fix your zits.
So you got a few zits (and then a few more), and you went bat-shit nuclear on your skin, trying to fix it fast. I get it—the panic is real. But changing up your entire routine, or even adding one new acne-fighting formula, can break the space-time continuum/your face.
“When people break out, they start reaching for more heavy-duty, acid-filled formulas, over-exfoliating their face, loading on the retinol and spot treatments, and basically flip to the extremes in the course of a week or a few days,” says Dr. Gohara. “And all that change creates a disruption in your skin’s equilibrium, causing it to freak out, dry out, and break out.” Think of your skin like a temperamental toddler—change its nap schedule and, IDK, dump some salicylic acid on it, and it’s going to be very pissed.
Also, if you do what I did—which was slather an acne-fighting serum all over my T-zone in a ~genius~ attempt at preventing more breakouts—you could inadvertently be causing the worst freaking breakout of your life: purging. “Purging is definitely a real thing,” says Dr. Gohara. “It’s when skin-resurfacing products, like retinoids and acids, bring your future zits to the surface of your skin all at once.”
It isn’t a surefire thing (you’re more likely to purge if you’re already acne prone or if you’re using a way stronger formula than usual), but it’s something to be aware of and ideally avoid. I knew all these things and yet I, the local idiot, still forged ahead, slapping acids on my face and waking up to whiteheads 48 hours later.
Just…wait. Do nothing. I know, this sounds absolutely insane, but trying to radically alter your routine will bring you nothing but skin sadness. “Resist the compulsion to do anything differently, and try to avoid disrupting your skin as much as possible,” says Dr. Gohara.
That doesn’t mean you can’t use a gentle spot treatment on the zits you already have (try a salicylic-based spot treatment—I’ve been using Murad Rapid Relief Spot Treatment—for red, inflamed bumps or a gentle benzoyl peroxide spot treatment, like Neutrogena On-The-Spot Acne Spot Treatment, for whiteheads), but make sure to apply sparingly just once a day.
The Takeaway
Ultimately, your skin is under Mother Nature’s cruel, cruel thumb, so know that there’s only so much you can do this summer. “Just be cognizant of not deviating from what you normally do and also resist the compulsion to wipe, scrub, or touch your skin more than normal this summer,” says Dr. Gohara. Yeah, it sucks, but hey—fall is just a few weeks away, and if you’re really concerned (like you need that cystic zit gone now), you can head to your dermatologist for a cortisone injection or an extraction.
So next time (tonight) you’re staring at your new crop of zits in the mirror, take a few deep breaths, remember that breakouts are totally normal, and they’ll probs die a quick, painless death in a few weeks anyway.