

xoGift Guide 2019: Gifts For The Tech Guru In Your Life
For this rendention of our xoNecole Gift Guide, this list is comprised of some of the hottest technology out right now. It doesn't matter if you're the tech lover or you're in love with one, there's a contraption to catch your attention. Please don't be intimidated by all of the options out there. We tried to narrow down the catalog with some feasible, entertaining alternatives.
From self-rolling yoga mats to digital pens, you don't want to miss out on these shockingly fabulous products.
MotoChic Rose Keychain With Charging Cords
This is for the friend who loves technology but always needs a charger. We love when an item is fashionable and functional. Whether you decide to hang it on your work tote or simply use it as a keychain, you'll be styling and profiling.
Eone Bradley Mesh Black 36mm
Eone
Time is of the essence and so is this watch. There are still some souls who prefer not to have a digital watch. The most impressive feature on this watch is the raised markers that allow you to feel the time by touch. It includes a triangular marker for twelve, elongated line segments for three, six, and nine, and shorter line segments for the other markers.
Tile Mate (2020) - 1 Pack
Amazon
We all have that one friend that loses everything. They would lose their head if it weren't attached to their body. Tiles were specifically made for them. They can use their smartphone to make the Tile ring when they misplace something within 200 feet.
NAPATEK Digital Photo Frame 1920x1080
Amazon
Make it last forever with this digital photo frame. Your favorite person or photographer will enjoy this gift with its customizable, easy plug and play features. When you give this gift, you could even load the frame with some photos of you and them for a sentimental touch.
NeoLab Smartpen M1 With Pink Hardcover Notebook
Amazon
When I found out that this pen has a built-in camera that captures your handwriting and converts it to digitized text, I was sold. It would be a match made in heaven for the artists or writers in your life because they will have a collection of their doodles, stories and so much more.
Fujifilm Instax Mini 9 Instant Camera - Ice Blue
Amazon
Nostalgia is a great holiday gift and we think gifting your tech master with an instant camera will fulfill that sentimentality. It snaps a perfect picture every time and we know that's no small feat. It also has a selfie mirror so you can get yourself together and capture the perfect selfie photo every time.
Backslash Fit Smart Yoga Mat
Amazon
The techie who also does trap yoga will live for this smart yoga mat. This mat just may be smarter than all of us. Powered by Women's Health, you can access bonus yoga routines using a smart speaker; it's self-rolling and it has a soft but silky and grippy texture.
Bandai Americia Pac-Man Connect and Play 12 Classic Games
Game lovers can fight til the death with this old-school joystick. Help them bring back their childhood with this gift. It can be paired with almost any TV.
Campark X20 4K Action Camera 20MP
Amazon
We live in a world where seizing the moment via forms of media is a must. That's why copping the Campark Action Camera is a great choice. With crystal clear resolution and an anti-shaking feature, you can take the perfect shot and create beautiful content.
Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker
Amazon
Cooking has been made easier over this last decade and boy are we thankful. Treat your loved one with this nano precision cooker to cook like a pro. Word on the street is that it delivers perfect results every time. It makes it easy to cook, control, and keep track of your recipe from your mobile device with a super-fast Bluetooth connection.
Want more stories like this? Sign up for our newsletter here and check out the related reads below:
xoGift Guide 2019: Gifts For The Fashion Fiend
xoGift Guide 2019: Gifts For The Self-Care Enthusiast
xoGift Guide 2019: Gifts For The Beauty Lover In Your Life
11 Places To Buy Black This Holiday Season
Featured image by Shutterstock
Joce Blake is a womanist who loves fashion, Beyonce and Hot Cheetos. The sophistiratchet enthusiast is based in Brooklyn, NY but has southern belle roots as she was born and raised in Memphis, TN. Keep up with her on Instagram @joce_blake and on Twitter @SaraJessicaBee.
Smile, Sis! These Five Improvements Can Upgrade Your Oral Hygiene Instantly
This article is in partnership with Sensodyne.
Our teeth are connected to so many things - our nutrition, our confidence, and our overall mood. We often take for granted how important healthy teeth are, until issues like tooth sensitivity or gum recession come to remind us. Like most things related to our bodies, prevention is the best medicine. Here are five things you can do immediately to improve your oral hygiene, prevent tooth sensitivity, and avoid dental issues down the road.
1) Go Easy On the Rough Brushing: Brushing your teeth is and always will be priority number one in the oral hygiene department. No surprises there! However, there is such a thing as applying too much pressure when brushing…and that can lead to problems over time. Use a toothbrush with soft bristles and brush in smooth, circular motions. It may seem counterintuitive, but a gentle approach to brushing is the most effective way to clean those pearly whites without wearing away enamel and exposing sensitive areas of the teeth.
2) Use A Desensitizing Toothpaste: As everyone knows, mouth pain can be highly uncomfortable; but tooth sensitivity is a whole different beast. Hot weather favorites like ice cream and popsicles have the ability to trigger tooth sensitivity, which might make you want to stay away from icy foods altogether. But as always, prevention is the best medicine here. Switching to a toothpaste like Sensodyne’s Sensitivity & Gum toothpaste specifically designed for sensitive teeth will help build a protective layer over sensitive areas of the tooth. Over time, those sharp sensations that occur with extremely cold foods will subside, and you’ll be back to treating yourself to your icy faves like this one!
3) Floss, Rinse, Brush. (And In That Order!): Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you do, but how you do it”? Well, the same thing applies to taking care of your teeth. Even if you are flossing and brushing religiously, you could be missing out on some of the benefits simply because you aren’t doing so in the right order. Flossing is best to do before brushing because it removes food particles and plaque from places your toothbrush can’t reach. After a proper flossing sesh, it is important to rinse out your mouth with water after. Finally, you can whip out your toothbrush and get to brushing. Though many of us commonly rinse with water after brushing to remove excess toothpaste, it may not be the best thing for our teeth. That’s because fluoride, the active ingredient in toothpaste that protects your enamel, works best when it gets to sit on the teeth and continue working its magic. Rinsing with water after brushing doesn’t let the toothpaste go to work like it really can. Changing up your order may take some getting used to, but over time, you’ll see the difference.
4) Stay Hydrated: Upping your water supply is a no-fail way to level up your health overall, and your teeth are no exception to this rule. Drinking water not only helps maintain a healthy pH balance in your mouth, but it also washes away residue and acids that can cause enamel erosion. It also helps you steer clear of dry mouth, which is a gateway to bad breath. And who needs that?
5) Show Your Gums Some Love: When it comes to improving your smile, you may be laser-focused on getting your teeth whiter, straighter, and overall healthier. Rightfully so, as these are all attributes of a megawatt smile; but you certainly don’t want to leave gum health out of the equation. If you neglect your gums, you’ll start to notice the effects of plaque buildup, which can irritate the gums and cause gingivitis, the earliest stage of gum disease. Seeing blood while brushing and flossing is a tell-tale sign that your gums are suffering. You may also experience gum recession — a condition where the gum tissue surrounding your teeth pulls back, exposing more of your tooth. Brushing at least twice a day with a gum-protecting toothpaste like Sensodyne Sensitivity and Gum, coupled with regular dentist visits, will keep your gums shining as bright as those pearly whites.
Why Do Millennials & Gen-Zers Still Feel Like Teenagers? The Pandemic Might Be The Reason.
There’s nothing quite as humbling as navigating adulthood with no instruction manual. Since the turn of the decade, it seems like everything in our society that could go wrong has, inevitably, gone wrong. From the global pandemic, our crippling student debt problem, the loneliness crisis, layoffs, global warming, recession, and not to mention figuring out what to eat for dinner every night. This constant state of uncertainty has many of us wondering, when are the grown-ups coming to fix all of this?
But the catch is, we are the new grown-ups.
As if it happened without our permission, we became the new adults. We are the members of society who are paying taxes, having children, getting married, and keeping our communities afloat, one iced latte at a time. Still, there’s something about doing all these grown-up duties that feel unnaturally grown-up. Enter the #teenagegirlinher20s.
If there’s one hashtag to give you the state of the next cohort of adults, it’s this one. Of the videos that have garnered over 3.9M views, you’ll find a collection of users who are overwhelmed by life’s pressing existential responsibilities, clung to nostalgia, and reminiscent of the days when their mom and dad took care of their insurance plans.
@charlies444ngel no like i cant explain to her why i had to buy multiple tank air dupes from aritzia #teenagegirlinher20s #fyp
The concept of being a 20-something or 30-something teenager is linked to the sentiment of not feeling “grown up enough” to do grown-up things while feeling underprepared and even nihilistic about whether that preparation even matters.
It’s our generation’s version of when we ask our grandmothers how old they are and they simply reply with, “I still feel 45,” all while being every bit of 76 years old. In this, we share a warped concept of time while clinging to a desire for infantilization.
Granted, the pandemic did a number on our concept of time. Many of us who started the pandemic in our early or mid-20s missed out on three fundamental years of socialization, career development, and personal milestones that traditionally help to mark our growth.
Our time to figure out and plan our next steps through fumbling yet active participation was put on pause indefinitely and then resumed provisionally. This in turn has left many of us hanging in the balance of uncertainty as we try to make sense of the disconnect between our minds and bodies in this missing gap of time.
Because we’re all still figuring out what the ramifications of being locked away and frozen in time by a global pandemic will have on us as a society, there really is no “right” way of making up for lost time. Feeling unprepared for any new chapter of life is a natural rite of passage, pandemic or not. However, it’s important to not stay stuck in the last age or period of life that made sense to us because self-growth is the truest evidence of personal progress.
So whether you’re leaning on your inner child, teenager, or 20-something for guidance as you fill the gap between your real age and pandemic age, know that it’s okay to grieve the person you thought you would be and the milestones you thought you’d hit before you ever knew what a pandemic was. If there’s anything that the pandemic taught us, it’s that we have the power to reimagine a better world and life for ourselves. And if we tap into our inner teenager as a compass, we can piece together our next chapter with a fresh outlook.
Sure, we’ve lost a couple of years, but there are still some really amazing ones ahead.
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Featured image by Stephen Zeigler/Getty Images