Table of contents for July/August 2019 in Shape

ARM CANDY GALORE Find out which 15 gym bags made our editors’ most-coveted list at shape.com/gymbags. Then shop away! Meet Our Cover Star Catch the summer vibes at our SoCal photo shoot with It girl Dakota Fanning—go behind the scenes at shape.com/dakota. BIG HIIT, LOW IMPACT You asked us for HIIT that’s easy on the joints, so we delivered. Watch trainer Hannah Davis demo a killer low-impact circuit at shape.com/powercircuit. A FRESH GREEN FOR SUMMER Nutrient-packed kiwifruit is more deliciously versatile than ever, thanks to the 10 creative takes at shape.com/kiwirecipes. Sleeping Beauties From soothing scents to soft sheets, the key products at shape.com/bestsleep are made to lull you into sweet z’s.…

THE LAST hour of the sun setting in the evening is straight-up magic for your complexion. “You get a dewiness from the reflection, a pinky cast from the sunset, and a golden tone from the subdued sun,” says makeup artist and Elemis glow expert Katie Jane Hughes. But the moment is fleeting, so re-create this flattering filter with a few easy skin-care and makeup steps. In fact, simplicity is key here: “What’s so beautiful about this look is that it celebrates skin—you can see pores and freckles, not cakey makeup. It’s casual and real,” says makeup artist Nick Barose. Create a Dewy Reflection There’s a fine line between glowy and sweaty: Your skin-care selections will help you find the sweet spot. To get the glow, limit washing your face…

WE DON’T wash moisturizer off our faces a minute after applying it, so why do we rinse out hair conditioner? “We shouldn’t,” says Mairi Scott-Dickins, a global product development manager at Unilever. “That sends most of the hydrating ingredients down the drain.” The latest conditioning method is to use only shampoo in the shower, towel-dry hair but leave it damp, then apply a conditioner that’s designed to stay. Just like traditional conditioner, these no-rinse versions rely on silicones, ingredients that coat the hair to keep it silky, protected, and tangle-free. But because you apply them on halfway-dry hair and don’t wash them off, all the formula stays on your hair, Scott-Dickins says. They’re also lightweight, so the conditioner doesn’t build up, which can make strands dull and flat. Another…

A BOOT CAMP BASIC GOES BIG Celeb trainer Jen Widerstrom created this rotating iron burpee just for Shape, and it’s the total package: a strength exercise with heart-pumping plyo and heavy lifting built in. “It’s brain training too, with level changes and rotation coordination,” she says. Widerstrom has taken the crouch-plank-jump of the classic burpee and raised the stakes by adding a 90-degree midair twist and a dumbbell—a heavy one. “You’ll want to go for 20 pounds or heavier because body changing happens only with enough stimulus,” she says. “But you can start with a 12-pounder to get your form down.” To nail that form, picture doing a dead lift from the crouch—dumbbell close to the leg as it travels up—rather than just a jump. Now, about that quarter…

Best Curated Experiences YO1; Monticello, New York This wellness center assesses your dosha (your body’s metabolic type) and wellness goals, from detox to pain management. Your meals and treatments, which include acupuncture, yoga, and Ayurvedic techniques like podikizhi massage, are then tailored to your needs. (Rooms from $800 a night, yo1.com) Austin Adventures; Worldwide In addition to its outstanding prebuilt itineraries, Austin Adventures offers custom small-group trips. Share the activities you enjoy, what you want to spend, and how many days you have, and a team will help you craft the perfect adventure vacation. (From $2,700 per person for six days, austinadventures.com) Pack up + Go; U.S. “Mystery trips” are this year’s biggest travel trend, and Pack Up + Go is a leading surprise-travel agency. Submit your budget and…

WHEN YOU NEED A CHOCOLATE FIX Bars are going dairy-free too. Magnum’s new frozen dessert bars are made with nondairy Belgian chocolate and come in classic and almond varieties. The creamy vanilla inside is a blend of coconut oil and pea protein.…

Sparkling Strawberry Hibiscus The bold, zesty hibiscus complements the fruitiness of strawberry and the fresh pop of mint. Swap the sparkling water for sparkling wine to make it a happy hour drink. Bring 4 ounces water to a boil. Stir in 1 tablespoon dried hibiscus flowers and steep for 5 minutes. Strain the flowers and remove. Stir in 1 tablespoon honey until it dissolves. Place the hibiscus infusion in the freezer for 5 minutes. Put 1 cup chopped strawberries and ¼ cup fresh mint in a cocktail shaker and muddle thoroughly. Add a handful of ice to the cocktail shaker, pour in the hibiscus infusion, and shake vigorously for 2 minutes to blend all the flavors. Fill a glass with strawberry ice cubes (see below) and strain the hibiscus-strawberry-mint…

Melon Platter With Dried Olive, Sesame, and Sumac Salt START TO FINISH: 1 HOUR 5 MINUTES (INCLUDES 1 HOUR COOKING/DRYING TIME FOR OLIVES) 1 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted2 teaspoons sumac½ cantaloupe, sliced into wedges½ honeydew, sliced into wedges¼ watermelon, sliced into wedges 1. Preheat oven to 300°. Pat the olives dry with paper towels and arrange in a single layer on a small parchment-lined baking sheet. Cook until dried and crisp, about 1 hour. Let cool completely. 2. Scrape the olives into a medium bowl. Using your fingers, break up the dried olives into small powdery bits. Stir in the sesame seeds and sumac. 3. Arrange all the melon on a platter and serve with the olive mixture, for sprinkling. Serves: 8 to 10 Chilled…

“Playing volleyball in the sun and sand—it just FEEDS YOUR SOUL.”—Grace Marlowe, 23, Los Angeles On weekends my friends and I head to a Santa Monica beach, with Wilson volleyballs and canvas strips to outline our court. It may look as if we randomly lunge at the ball, but there’s a lot of strategy in volleyball, and every game is different. The scenery takes your mind off all that running in the sand. Key skill to perfect? Your arm positioning—what’s called the passing platform—has to be completely even. When you clasp your hands, the thumbs should be pressing down and forward; rotate your elbows out, so your forearms form a cushion for the ball. What got you hooked? I started playing at age 3 with my dad, who announced…

Your Body, Redefined AS FAR AS TRIGGER WORDS GO, body is a biggie. The terms it’s often paired with—think positivity or the dreaded bikini—tend to spark strong feelings, both good and bad. Instead, let’s focus on body in its own right. What comes to mind? Maybe it’s the anatomical aspects—organs, bones, muscles, and joints. Or simply the image of yours as it moves and navigates through space. The point is, by untethering any judgments attached to the word, you can redefine what your body means to you—and harness its full potential. To help you do that, we’ve dedicated this issue to the body. We’re introducing new sections and features that support your full-body health and wellness journey, so you can be the best version of yourself that you want…

LED THERAPY for issues like wrinkles and acne is making dermatologists very excited. The light-emitting-diode treatments are nonaggressive, so you can see improvement without any downtime. Plus, the emergence of high-tech, at-home devices that are effective makes the power of light accessible to anyone. “We are beginning to realize that skin treatments don’t need to be harsh to achieve real, lasting results,” says Shape Brain Trust member Ellen Marmur, M.D., a dermatologist in New York who is at the forefront of LED therapy. “In addition, LEDs don’t trigger inflammation. In fact, some LED lights quell it. And we now know inflammation can accelerate skin aging.” The benefits don’t stop there. “LED is a game changer because it communicates with the skin in a way that’s different from typical skin-care…

MAKE MORE MUSCLE With only the weight of your body, you can get a killer strength-HIIT session—not to mention a fierce physique. In fact, new research finds that body-weight training can boost muscle strength as well as hoisting weights can. In a four-week study at North Dakota State University, one group of exercisers did progressively harder push-up variations (from wall push-ups to modified single-arm reps); another did barbell bench presses, gradually adding pounds. “The results showed that the push-up was just as good at increasing upper-body strength as the bench press,” lead researcher Christopher J. Kotarsky says. The push-up group may also have strengthened their core more. Ready to sculpt all over with no tools? We’ve got the info—and all-new Shape Studio video—you need. Q: What’s the Best Way…

Allyl Sulfide Found in garlic, this compound can keep your brain sharp by helping prevent age-related changes in the gut bacteria that are linked to memory problems, according to a new study at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. “The diversity of our gut’s good microbiome wanes as we get older,” says Neetu Tyagi, Ph.D., the study’s principal investigator. As that happens, our memory diminishes. In an animal study, Tyagi and her team found that mice that had received allyl sulfide had better long- and short-term memory and healthier gut bacteria than those that didn’t receive the substance. To reap the benefits, it’s best to eat garlic raw, studies show. Chop it and let it sit for 10 minutes; this will lead to allyl sulfide production. Then throw…

“After I finish a hard workout, I feel very strong, as if I can do anything.” “I Just Want to Drive My Own Car.” That’s Dakota Fanning’s way of saying that she needs to be in control of her life. “I’m very goal oriented,” says the actor, 25. “I have a lot I want to accomplish.” She has already proved to be a master achiever. Dakota started acting professionally at age 5, when she landed a national commercial. Two years later she starred in the movie I Am Sam, becoming the youngest person ever nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award. More than 40 films later, Dakota is in one of the summer’s most anticipated movies, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a crime thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad…

SHOP THIS SECTION! Turn the page to find out how The New Sunblock Whether by seashore or via Instagram, you’ve likely noticed visors with a welder’s-mask effect and thought, Really? Yes, really! “Truth: These can protect your skin from skin cancer,” says derm Ellen Marmur, M.D., a Shape Brain Trust member. “Worn up, they are an XL visor. Flipped down, they protect your face and cool your skin.” Dr. Marmur swears by these Bluestone Sunshields ($38 each, bluestonesunshields.com). TIME TO CHILL It may look low-tech, but this Samsung Galaxy Watch Active ($200, amazon.com/shop/shape) acts like your own personal health coach, continuously tracking your heart rate, calorie burn, and blood pressure (via the My BP Lab app). Tap the built-in breathing exercises to de-stress, and swap out the customizable watch faces…

MIND POWER What do you recommend for some-one who exercises and eats pretty well but wants to boost her baseline health? Start a meditation practice. Really? Yes, because most of us are stressed out. Meditation teaches us to relax the nervous system. It lowers blood pressure, improves focus, and helps us be less reactive to stress. Meditation can be somewhat intimidating, though. And it still feels a little woo-woo. That’s why it’s important to tell people that meditation is not about sitting on a cushion and chanting. It’s about improving the performance of the mind. Just as we exercise our bodies to perform better, meditation exercises our brains to train them to be more focused and sharper. Find what works best for you: breathing exercises, a mindfulness practice, a…

When you’re lifting, Spinning, boxing, or doing HIIT or yoga, there’s a certain level of physical exertion involved—any wrist tracker that keeps tabs on your heart rate can measure it. But your perceived exertion is another story. That’s a more squishy mental reading that can override the reality of how much you’re working. Tweak this perception, and you can go harder, happier, and longer. First, prepare your playlist. You already know how music helps you power through a long routine by amusing your brain. In fact, with the right tunes, a treadmill run can feel 10 to 12 percent easier, research from Brunel University London shows. But music can also lift your load postworkout. In another Brunel study, when people listened to slow instrumental music (about 71 beats per…

Better together—that’s the number-one rule for making a truly great salad, says Allison Day, the author of the new cookbook Modern Lunch. “What you want in every bite is a mix of creamy, crispy, crunchy, tender, salty, tangy, chewy, and sweet,” she says. “Being creative and experimenting with ingredients that have a variety of tastes and textures adds depth to your salad and makes it multidimensional, delicious, and truly satisfying.” Dress for Success “The right dressing will add a balance of bright, sweet, and salty flavors to your salad,” Day says. “My go-to is a mix of vinegar and/or lemon juice, olive oil, tamari, maple syrup, garlic, and Dijon mustard.” Here, Day gives her four key rules to shaking up your dressing game. TASTE IT on a piece of lettuce,…

YOUR WORKOUTS WORK HARDER There are big benefits to exercising in the heat. You’ll sweat a ton, but that improves your body’s ability to regulate its temperature, says José González-Alonso, Ph.D., a professor of exercise and cardiovascular physiology at Brunel University London. Hot workouts may increase the volume of plasma—a solution that transports nutrients throughout the body—in your blood. The more plasma you have, the better your cardiovascular fitness. In addition, your skeletal muscles work harder as you get used to exercising in the heat, which is an indication of the body’s capacity to adapt to stressful environmental and exercise conditions, González-Alonso says. Heat also makes you more flexible, which may reduce your risk of injury, says Shape Brain Trust member Michele Olson, Ph.D., a sport scientist. That said,…