Shapewear

No matter how much extra weight you carry, losing it can seem like the key to everything you want in life. You tell yourself that, if you can only lose some weight, and keep it off, you’ll look better; feel better; be more confident; healthier; fit; full of energy; make your cellulite look better; get that promotion; wear all the outfits you shy away from; start getting out more; and be happier. Despite all that, here’s the first reason why you can’t seem to lose weight. With all those amazing potential benefits on the line, why would you only give yourself 30, 60 or 90 days, or however long your fad diet promises to deliver the desired results, to reach your target weight? 4 Reasons Why You Can’t Lose Weight You’re Oversimplifying Weight Loss - Straight up, it's highly unlikely that any pill, diet, detox or exercise program will, by itself, trigger healthy, sustained weight loss. Your body is a powerful, complex organism. Its single focus is to keep you alive. If you interfere with its energy source (food) or workload (exercise) without doing so properly, your body will actually fight your efforts. It will slow your metabolism as you reduce calorie intake, and make you feel tired, not energized, if you exercise excessively. Successful, sustained weight loss, and all the benefits that come with it, is a life-long dedication to living a healthier lifestyle and losing weight at a healthy pace with a balanced diet, increased activity and healthy habits.  Your Life Revolves Around the Numbers on the Weigh Scale - When you step on the scale today, the numbers tell you you’re overweight. If you try to lose weight tomorrow and the number doesn’t change, you feel like a failure. If someone told you that you were overweight and a failure, would you stand for it? So why do you let the weight scale make you feel that way?Things aren't going to change overnight. Take one step at a time. Instead of going out and getting an expensive gym membership on day one. Just try an activity you can do, like take a walk. Or make a meal you like from scratch. Or start reducing sugar in your diet. But, whatever you do, don’t take any backtalk from the weight scale. You Don’t Get Support - Again, living life at a healthier weight isn’t easy and takes an ongoing commitment. You need the support of family, friends and partners. It's not about them making any changes or helping you. It's about them not unknowingly making it more difficult for you by asking why you’re not having another helping or eating dessert. You Don’t See the Good in Every Effort You Make - What if you can’t tear yourself away from the scale, and you find you only lost five pounds this month, and you were hoping to lose 10? Failure, right? Wrong. You lost five pounds!!! That’s amazing! You’ll give it a good effort next month! There’s nothing wrong with celebrating even the easy wins. If you took a short walk tonight, but can’t remember ever walking further than from the car to the mall, that’s fabulous! And if slipping on a pair of anti-cellulite leggings makes you instantly look and feel better, it could be the trigger you need to start making changes or stay on track. If you liked this post, check out our recent article “Why Compression Shapewear is Ideal for Reducing Inches”.

There’s nothing worse than feeling frustrated when you can’t find anything to wear or you don’t feel confident with your outfit choices especially if what you really want to wear, is that stunning bodycon dress you have parked and ready to go in the closet. Bodycon dresses, those that cling to every curve, are just about the ultimate party dress.  After five months of the COVID quarantine and settling for outdoor get-togethers, you’re ready for some real socializing (safely physical distanced, of course!) on the patio of your favourite restaurant or nightspot, with your favourite bodycon dress perhaps? Bodycon dresses, those that cling to every curve, are just about the ultimate party dress. Worn well, they are sexy, give off an air of confidence and are always in fashion. But many women avoid bodycon dresses because they don’t feel they have the right body size or proportions to carry off the look. If you’ve never gotten up enough courage to show up in a bodycon, even though you’d love to, figure-enhancing shapewear can give you the spark of confidence you need. As the name implies, shapewear, like the Mass & Slim Waist Shaper, improves your shape as soon as you put it on. How to Choose the Best Shapewear for All Body Types (Source) You don’t have to be slim to be the hit of the party in a bodycon dress. Well-proportioned curves can be just as appealing. And shapewear adds attractive shape and balance to every body type. From the moment you put it on, shapewear instantly adds flattering shape to every body type. You just need to know which shapewear is best for your body. 1. The Hourglass Figure If you’re curvy all over, it can be a real plus. Except, as we said, if you let things go a little too far. Suddenly ‘curvaceous’ can turn into, well, ‘meh’. If you need shape and support through your entire torso, waist hips and thighs, try a combination of the Sankom Posture-Correcting Shapewear Bra and Posture Correcting Shapewear Shorts. In addition to support for your bust, the bra contours the transition from your upper body into your waist. The high-waisted shapewear shorts take over from there to keep everything in great shape; from your waist, through your buttocks and into your upper thighs. 2. The Straight Figure Everyone always tells you how slim you are. That’s great, but sometimes you wish you weren’t. If you would like to add a little more variety to your dimensions, we recommend the Mass & Slim Waist Shaper.  It adds definition from below your bust to your hips, making both that much more noticeable. 3. The Apple Figure Also known as the inverted triangle body shape, you’re well proportioned, but wider at the shoulders than you are at the hips. This is yet another body type that will benefit from the waist-shaping benefits of the Mass & Slim Waist Shaper. 4. Pear Figure It's sort of the opposite of the apple-shaped body where your hips are distinctly wider than your upper body. The answer is to bring in your lower proportions with Secret-Slim Compression Shorts, which will firm up your hips and thighs. More Benefits to Shapewear Helping you look great in your bodycon dress isn’t the only benefit of wearing shapewear. Reduce the Appearance of Cellulite - Shapewear exerts a gentle massaging effect on the areas of the body it covers while you wear it. That stimulates circulation and can help minimize the appearance of your cellulite. All-Day Comfort -  Made with innovative fabrics, shapewear is remarkably comfortable to wear all day, considering everything it can do for your shape, cellulite, and your mood! So get that bodycon fired up, you’re going out in style now! If you enjoyed this article, check out the results of this “30-Day Clinical Shapewear Study”. Shop TheBlackPurple Compression Shapewear 

You’ve got leggings. Probably lots of them. And they’re your favourite for working or relaxing at home, quick shopping trips or even wearing under a skirt or dress. But you’ve been hearing a lot about the benefits of compression leggings recently and wondering if you should switch. Except you’re probably wondering  what are compression leggings good for anyway. 5 Benefits of Compression Leggings First, while they offer more support, they are just as comfortable as regular leggings for all the uses we mentioned above. So you can still wear them all day in lots of different situations. But compression leggings offer many more benefits. Gets Rid of Sweat - Wearing compression clothing all day is possible, unless it's really hot or you’re really active. Sweat can make the most comfortable clothing intolerable. One of the reasons that athletes wear compression garments is because they wick away sweat to reduce chafing and other discomforts of sweating. Reduces Swelling - Edema, or swelling, particularly in the legs, can be an occasional problem for some people, or a chronic condition for others.  One of the effects of compression leggings is to help reduce the amount of fluids that build up in your legs to minimize edema and it's symptoms.  Increases Circulation - Compression wear, like Active Slim Compression Leggings, that’s made with biometric fibre delivers a light massaging effect as you wear them. This brings more oxygen and nutrients to your legs and skin. Helps You Be More Active - Increased blood flow helps reduce muscle soreness, remove impurities and lactic acid, and lower your perceived exertion. In other words, your legs won’t feel sore or tired as quickly when you wear compression tights, so you can be more active throughout the day. Improves the Appearance of Cellulite - The extra nutrients and oxygen that increased blood circulation brings helps tone the muscles supported by the leggings, strengthen your skin and make it more elastic. It all combines to improve the appearance of cellulite in the areas covered by the leggings. To find out more about how better circulation from compression leggings can help you, check out our article “The Benefits of Improved Circulation from Compression Garments”.

The COVID-19 crisis has affected us as individuals and as a society in many different ways. One outcome may be the renewed focus on taking care of ourselves in the midst of the worst health crisis of our lifetime. And to help you improve your health and fitness, we’ve assembled our top 3 websites offering free virtual fitness classes, online workouts and training programs.   Do Yoga With Me If there’s still a veil of mystique around yoga for you, it's time to drop it. And get into a downward dog. Do Yoga With Me is the web’s leading provider of free streaming yoga videos. Their YouTube channel offers videos for practitioners of all levels, including absolute beginners, kids and for those who want to explore specialized areas like Japa meditation.  You can try a single short class, or get into an ongoing program over days or weeks. Fitness By Sarah Taylor Just in case you’re still using your body type or size as an excuse to not stay active, there are award-winning, body-positive, virtual group fitness classes offered by fitness instructor and plus-size model, Sarah Taylor. Here you’ll find live-streamed classes of full-body workouts and strength training, using little or no equipment.  And you can try it all out with a free trial virtual class. Planet Fitness The popular real-world gym and fitness studio, with locations across the U.S. and Canada, Planet Fitness launched their “Home Work-In” series in response to not being able to welcome people in person during COVID.  Each live class is 20 minutes or less, doesn’t require any equipment and is streamed on their Facebook page daily at 7:00 pm. Come Prepared While these are all free classes that mean you don’t need to buy expensive memberships or equipment, you should approach them as a serious way for you to get fit, and stay fit.  That means coming prepared with the right mindset, open to all the challenges and rewards of yoga. And if you dress properly, including  Active Slim Compression Leggings, which will support you as you workout, you’ll get more from every fitness program you choose. To learn more about the advantages of compression wear, check out our article “Benefits To Wearing Compression Leggings While Working From Home.”

There are many benefits of using compression leggings for venous insufficiency and other venous diseases, including varicose veins.   Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) happens when the vein walls and valves in your legs do not work well enough to return blood to your heart. To get blood from your legs to your heart, muscle contraction in your legs squeeze the veins and push the blood up. The valves in your veins let the blood flow upward, but prevent it from running back down. Weak vein walls and valves interrupt this normal upward flow of blood. CVI can be caused by venous leg ulcers, blood clots and even for unknown reasons. The pooling of blood can cause swelling in the legs, tightness and/or pain in the legs, especially when walking, and varicose veins.  3 Ways Compression Leggings Help CVI Compression leggings can help relieve many of the symptoms of CVI and varicose veins. One of the great advantages of compression wear as a treatment for venous symptoms is that they can be worn comfortably all day. Better Blood Circulation - The gentle pressure that compression stockings apply along the entire length of your leg can help support leg muscles and veins. The added support helps the vein walls and valves do their job and reduces the workload they face to move blood back to the heart. Less Swelling - Compression also makes it more difficult for blood to pool in your legs, which, in turn, makes it easier for your circulatory system to pump it out of your legs. Improves Lymph Flow & Removes Lactic Acid - Compression wear promotes the flow of lymph fluid through your legs to remove many impurities in your blood, and helps remove lactic acid from your leg muscles. Both of these can help to reduce symptoms of pain and discomfort.  If you found this post helpful, check out our article “How Compression Garments Help Manage Restless Legs Syndrome”.

If you regularly go to work outside the house, one of the few bonuses of the COVID-19 quarantine is that you get a break from your office and the routine of getting there and back every day. At least it's a bonus until you realize there’s a kitchen full of food and drinks just steps away, and you’re not even getting the exercise of walking to the car every morning! Fortunately, if you’re starting to feel sluggish and restless,  there are many ways to stay fit at home, at your own pace and without any fancy equipment.  Work Out in Shapewear One of the best ways to get more from a workout, or any activity you do at home throughout the day, is to wear shapewear while you do it. Anti-cellulite shapewear, like compression leggings, boost your workout results in many ways. Compression wear supports your legs and muscles to help improve your workout performance, which can increase calorie burning  Bio-ceramic fibers help reduce muscle soreness and speed up recovery after your workout 3D knitted honeycomb fabric delivers a massaging effect as you move. That promotes more circulation, makes your skin more elastic and reduces the appearance of cellulite Maybe best of all, compression leggings give you an instant slimming effect, and they are comfortable enough to wear all day.  Make it a Habit Once you have the right workout gear, getting into the habit of working out is the next step to success. While many tout the benefits of working out in the morning, you can choose a time that works best for you. Whatever time you pick, the important thing is to turn your workout into a habit. To help make that happen, make a commitment to yourself to do your workout for at least a week, if not two. Use Bodyweight Stretches & Exercises Whether you’re working out for weight loss, or to maintain your muscle tone, you don’t need to use added weights, bands or any other equipment. There are many yoga moves that can both stretch and strengthen your muscles.One of the best parts of bodyweight exercises is that you can do them just about anywhere, including outside. Don’t Let Excuses Get in Your Way The easiest thing to do with any exercise routine is to find a reason not to do it. From “I don’t like to exercise”, and “I can’t do push-ups”, to “I don’t have the time to workout”, excuses are plentiful. So let’s just shoot those three down right now. Almost every day, there are new exercises available designed to not feel like you are exercising. Many of the moves are so simple, you might wonder if they are doing any good. And even 5 minutes a day of exercising at your desk can make a difference to your health and well-being. Anything you do is better than finding an excuse to do nothing at all. If you found this post helpful, check out our recent article “5 Health Benefits of Good Posture”.

TheBlackPurple was created with one goal in mind: to help women feel confident. We are committed to providing high-quality shapewear for women through all walks of life, helping them feel balanced and supported, on their own terms. Every product we create is meticulously inspected and tested at all levels of production to bring you the best results that will leave you feeling great, no matter where you go. Why Choose TheBlackPurple? There is isn’t a booming industry quite like the health industry.  With countless diet plans, supplements, and workout regimens, we sought to make a positive impact.  Creating a solution that was non-invasive and cost-effective, we spent resources on careful laboratory testing to ensure that our shapewear would finally achieve the results women were looking for.  That’s how our Lanaform shapewear product line was born. High-quality compression shapewear with next-level comfort, empowering women with the support they need to get through the day. Our 30-day Clinical Shapewear Study We stand by our compression shapewear. Which is why we put them to the test to ensure that they garner the results our customers are looking for.   Enlisting the thorough research of Farcoderm, an independent laboratory testing facility within Europe, we put our Mass & Slim Shapewear line to the test.  In a 30-day clinical trial carried out by a third-party among 30 participants aged between 18 and 55 years old, users saw the following results when wearing our shapewear: Users who used our Mass & Slim Shapewear Shorts saw: Up to 3.2cm reduction in hip circumference Up to 2.3cm reduction around thighs Users who used our Mass & Slim Waist Shaper saw: Up to 4.5cm reduction in waist circumference Up to 3.5cm reduction in hip circumference Users who used our Mass & Slim Shapewear Leggings saw: Up to 3.2cm reduction in hip circumference Up to 2.3cm reduction around thighs The innovation behind our compression shapewear was designed to give women complete confidence while working behind the scenes to provide slimming, toning, and re-shaping effects so they can run through their days like a breeze.  At TheBlackPurple, we’re committed to providing affordable shapewear to all women who want to feel amazing and love the skin they’re in. Read the entire Clinical Shapewear Study on our Mass & Slim Shapewear Line here.

Ever since the coronavirus emerged late last year, there’s been no shortage of advice on how to “boost your immune system”. Eager to cash in on reader interest, it seems like every online media outlet had one or more articles about how to optimize the health of your immune system to help safeguard yourself against the virus. Interestingly, the advice also reads like a “how-to” for boosting your overall health. And, taken just a step further, it’s all great advice for minimizing the appearance of your cellulite too. Immune-System-Boosting Advice to Help Reduce Cellulite This is just a cross-section of the advice for boosting your immune system that will also help your cellulite look it's best. Lower Your Stress - The reason stress is bad for your immune system is because it produces a hormone, cortisol, which increases inflammation in your body. It's part of the reason you just want to flop on the couch after a rough day. That inflammation and lethargy it produces also means you’re probably going to eat something fast, and not be too active. Both of which will do nothing to help your cellulite. Eat Lots Of Fruits & Vegetables - Chock full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, fruits and veggies are powerful weapons in the fight against a weak immune system. And the more of them you eat, the less processed and fast food you’ll eat, which will make it easier to improve the appearance of your cellulite. Get Enough Sleep - When your body gets the rest and recovery time it needs from a good night’s sleep, it's in better shape to support your immune system. Good sleep also helps maintain the health of your skin, reduce symptoms of depression, increase your energy levels, and make you feel healthier. All of which can make your cellulite less obvious too. While living a healthier lifestyle sets the stage for cellulite reduction, you can get instant shape-flattering results from anti-cellulite shapewear, like Mass & Slim Shapewear Leggings. The micro-massage your skin as you wear them for even more cellulite-reducing benefits. To find out more ways to improve the way your cellulite looks, check out our post “3 Customized Ways to Reduce Cellulite According to Your Body”.

Media imagery and commentary is probably far more responsible for how we feel about ourselves than we think. From social media posts by rail-thin celebrities living fabulous lives to news headlines about someone “flaunting a bikini bod”, you can’t log on or pick up a magazine without being confronted by unrealistic words and pictures. When you get specific about cellulite news, things go from unrealistic to blatantly untrue. When we first started busting cellulite headlines four years ago, it was easy. Just about every headline was false, sensationalist or otherwise misleading. Fortunately, some things have changed. But, unfortunately, some things haven’t. The Good, Bad & Ugly of Cellulite Headlines We took a look at some recent headlines for news stories related to cellulite. Some were very encouraging, some were not, and some were potentially dangerous.  The Good What is the #normalizenormalbodies movement, and why do we need it? If there is one thing that’s prevalent today that was nowhere to be found four years ago, it's the changing attitudes towards cellulite on social media. We told you about body positivity and Demi Lovato getting #celluLIT. The good news today is that the wave of more realistic body images keeps rolling across social media, this time with yet another trending hashtag. The Bad This Small Massaging Device Is Like a Vacuum for Cellulite - Whether it’s anti-cellulite creams, brushes or other devices, there’s a multi-billion industry around selling products to help you get rid of, or “vacuum”, your cellulite. You can’t get rid of cellulite. It's perfectly natural and is not a sign of anything wrong with you. But this article says that, if you buy this massager, “with daily and regular use, you might even see your cellulite totally disappear!” The Ugly 4 Easy Ways to Get Rid of Cellulite Before Summer - Where do we begin? The offensive imagery? The “say goodbye to those pesky bumps” subheadline? The fact that medical websites recommend that you consult your doctor before taking one of the recommended solutions, gotu kola? Yes, we could start with any of those. But here’s what's really dangerous about headlines like this. They create unrealistic expectations that could cause readers to adopt unhealthy habits, including their diet. You can’t get rid of cellulite. Trying to do so in three months can be unhealthy. Want to find out about reducing cellulite the right way? Check out our article “The 3 Most Important Things You Can Do to Reduce Cellulite”.

From sitting at computer terminals all day long at work to Netflix binging all night long at home, it's like there’s a war going on against good posture. But doing what you can to improve your posture, even while sitting at your desk or lying on the couch, delivers lots of benefits beyond just looking better. Although that’s not a bad one! How Good Posture Improves Your Health Good posture really comes down to keeping your body properly aligned. Starting with your spine, when you keep everything balanced and aligned, you can improve your health in so many ways. Less Joint Pain - If you notice more aches and pains when you sit or stand for extended periods, it isn’t necessarily a sign of age. If you hunch over at your desk, or stand with more weight on one leg, you’re putting added stress on your neck, hips and knees. A sign of that is the pain you feel when you get up or change positions. Fewer Tension Headaches - The added stress on your neck and shoulders can cause or exacerbate tension headaches. Sitting or standing with your head and spine properly aligned reduces the tension and the headaches. More Energy - The added stress on your joints and muscles due to poor posture also saps your energy. When they are properly aligned, they have less work to do, and you have more energy to do things to improve your posture. Better Lung Function - When you are slouched, your body is curved forward, which compresses your lungs and reduces their capacity. Sitting and standing straighter gives your lungs the space they need to handle more air, which increases the amount of oxygen that gets delivered throughout your body. Better Circulation & Digestion - Your lungs aren't the only thing that gets bunched up when you slouch. All of your abdominal organs and your digestive system get crowded too. That reduces blood circulation and makes it more difficult for your digestive system to do its job.  It's not always easy for you to practice good posture in the midst of a busy day. Posture-correcting shapewear shorts use a patented design to help restore balance to your body and improve your posture. And they’re comfortable enough to wear all day and night. Want to learn more about the advantages of better circulation? Check out our post “The Benefits of Improved Circulation from Compression Garments”.

We’ve told you before about the body positive movement and body positivity, which seek to change the stereotypes and stigma around negative body images and encourage people to accept themselves, and their bodies, for who they are. Social media has turned into a bit of a battleground for body positivity. On one side, they are platforms to promote healthier attitudes around body sizes, shapes, abilities and conditions. But, at the same time, the ability to remain virtually anonymous in social media allows detractors and haters to body shame people without consequence. A Review of Body Positivity on 3 Social Media Platforms While the discussion takes place on all popular social media, (yes, including LinkedIn!), we’ve reviewed hashtags and trends on the following platforms because they are the leading image-based social media. Instagram - It’s the social platform where the first wave of body positive images were promoted. Ashley Graham used Instagram to famously post untouched images of herself, particularly her cellulite. Demi Lovato not only revealed her cellulite, but she got #celluLIT about it too!  But maybe being early to the game has made the body positive movement too popular on Instagram, and not necessarily in a good way. A recent search for the hashtag #bodypostive showed it was being used by more coaches and fitness enthusiasts who were looking to promote their posts with the popular hashtag, versus people celebrating their normal bodies. YouTube - As always, YouTube has something for everyone. We found a playlist of body-positive songs, a mini-documentary on body positivity, and a debate trying to answer the question “can body-positive & fitness enthusiasts find a middle ground?”. TikTok - The relative newcomer in the social media crowd, TikTok may be the best place to see and hear regular people, the kind of people that the body positive movement tries to encourage. Yes, TikTok’s demographic is a little younger than most, but our search for #bodypositivity brought results from males and females in their teens and their 40s and 50s, and more ethnic diversity than we notice on any of the other social media we looked at. Being body positive and unashamed of your cellulite doesn't mean you have to stop wanting to improve its appearance. Compression shapewear, like Active Slim Compression Leggings, are clinically-proven to help reduce the appearance of cellulite and reduce inches in targeted areas of your body. To learn more about compression shapewear, check out our post “The Difference Between Compression Leggings And Regular Leggings”.

Don’t let the name fool you. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) isn’t about your legs being restless or moving involuntarily. In fact, if you have RLS, you feel the need to move your legs to relieve the real symptoms of the condition. What is Restless Leg Syndrome? RLS is a nervous system disorder also known as Willis-Ekbom disease. The term “syndrome” is applied to medical conditions that have a range of symptoms that are not necessarily related to each other. Symptoms - Common symptoms of RLS range from mild to unbearable and include itching, crawling skin, discomfort and other uncomfortable sensations in the legs that trigger a strong urge to move the legs to relieve the symptoms. When it Happens - RLS is often called a sleep disorder because symptoms commonly occur at night or when sufferers are at rest. Symptoms can make it difficult to fall asleep and/or stay asleep. Who Suffers Most - RLS affects about 10% of the population. It can happen to anyone at almost any time of life, but is more common in women, often during pregnancy.    How to Manage Restless Leg Syndrome There is no cure for RLS, but many ways to treat RLS symptoms. Talk to Your Doctor - RLS often results from other conditions, like an iron deficiency, which your doctor may be able to identify. Try Moderate Exercise - RLS symptoms are less prevalent during the day, when you are more active. Many sufferers reduce RLS symptoms with regular exercise and leg massages to help overactive muscles relax. Compression Garments - Compression shapewear, including Mass & Slim’s Secret Slim Compression Shorts, helps in relieving RLS symptoms by gently massaging your legs as you wear them. The massaging action promotes blood flow and higher skin temperatures, both of which can help your legs relax. To learn more about restless leg syndrome and how to treat it, check out our article “Restless Legs? Here’s How to Stop It”.

“If only I could lose a couple of inches”. It's not like you’re asking for much. You’ve tried everything, but your body seems to want to stay just how it is. Still, you wouldn’t mind just once putting on your cocktail dress, or a pair of shorts, without thinking “if only I could lose a couple of inches!”    Why It's Difficult to Burn Fat & Reduce Inches  There are some unfortunate truths about everyone’s weight loss efforts. You might have tried it all, fad diets, aerobic exercises and strength training, and still couldn’t get the tape measure to budge.  Just being a woman is the first fact that’s working against you. Women generally store more fat than men, and they tend to store a higher percentage of that fat in the gluteal femoral region (in simpler terms, the buttocks and upper thighs) than men. The second issue around reducing your body weight is that your body likes to keep things the way they are. It's called homeostasis and it means your body actually works against your efforts at losing fat. How Compression Shapewear Helps in Losing Inches In addition to instantly improving your figure due to their shaping effect, compression shapewear, like Mass & Slim’s Active Slim Compression Leggings, is infused with thousands of tiny ceramic beads that help to promote fat loss. The ceramic beads produce a gentle massaging effect, targeted to your buttocks and thighs, as you move throughout the day. The beads absorb the heat produced by the massaging effect on your body and returns it in the form of infrared radiation. The resulting increase in your skin temperature improves your blood and lymphatic circulation, which helps your body eliminate fat cells.  Perhaps best of all, the fat-burning effect has been proven in clinical trials conducted by an independent consumer products test lab. In a 28-day study carried out on 25 women over the age of 25, who wore Mass & Slim shapewear for at least eight hours a day, the average reduction in hip circumference was 3.5 cm and the average reduction in thigh circumference was 2.8 cm. The Results Get Even Better. In addition to reducing inches around their hips and thighs, 73% of the study’s participants reported a noticeable improvement in the appearance of cellulite on their skin in the target areas. If you want to learn about even more benefits of compression shapewear, check out our article “4 Reasons Why You Should Wear Compression Leggings”.

You might be hearing a lot about the toll the COVID-19 crisis is taking on the physical, emotional and mental health of our front-line healthcare workers. But enough can’t be said. We all face challenges due to COVID. But imagine being asked to do 12-hour shifts or longer, at the very place where anyone with symptoms will go.  And you say “yes!”. Without hesitation.  And you walk into the face of fear, uncertainty and danger. Day after day. With no end in sight.  And that’s just the start of your ordeal. Healthcare Workers Face Higher Rates of Anxiety & Depression During COVID Crisis As difficult as it is for many of us to imagine doing what doctors, nurses and every front-line healthcare worker is being asked to do during the crisis, the physical toll is just the beginning. Imagine you put in long hours in a stressful environment. Then you must witness first-hand the toll of the virus on those who take the hit. What happens after everything you do, after all the years of education and training, after a lifetime of experience, it isn’t enough to save someone? Can you imagine? What You Can Do the Help Front-Line Healthcare Workers You can help reduce the burden that all front-line healthcare workers must carry during the crisis. Here’s how. STAY HOME - The best way to take the strain off those who are in the trenches battling the virus is to not become one of their patients. And the best way to do that is to stay home. The more we do that one, simple thing, the fewer of us will be infected and need medical attention. Stay home, quarantine yourself if you’ve been travelling and practice social distancing when you do go out for absolute necessities, like food.Just in case you need more encouragement to stay home, get it from the frontliners themselves in this video. Stay Healthy - It’s tough to stay active while you’re locked in your house or apartment. Make a point of regularly getting out into an open space, maintaining appropriate distances from others, for some fresh air and exercise. Donate - If you have anything that could help please give. Check with local hospitals, healthcare facilities and emergency shelter. Here’s a list of just some of what you can give. Masks  Hand soap  Hand sanitizer  Sanitizing wipes  Clothing Laundry soap Menstrual products Food Money It all helps and it is all greatly appreciated. What Healthcare Workers Can Do to Help Themselves Yes. After all you do to take care of others, you need to take care of yourself. First, always properly wear any personal protective equipment that goes with the job. Getting your rest is key. And if you manage to do that, and find some time to yourself, try to find a diversion to take your mind off your work. Don’t be afraid to find someone to help you if you’re finding it all too much to bear. Taking care of your physical fitness that best you can will help you physically and mentally. Being active and on your feet for an entire shift is very stressful on your body, especially on you legs and feet.  Here’s a quick list of things you can do yourself at the end of a shift to help relieve your legs and feet. Stretch Your Legs & Feet - Not just at the end of your shift, but, if you can, every hour while you’re working. Apply Ice - Medical professionals know better than most how icing stiff and sore legs can reduce swelling and inflammation. Give it a Massage - Massaging your leg muscles helps in two ways. It opens up the muscles to help get rid of lactic acid and it improves blood flow to bring in more oxygen and nutrients. Elevate Your Feet - Taking the load off is the best rest you can give your legs and feet. It also helps to reduce swelling. Wear Compression Wear - This is another one you can do during your shift to reduce the strain on your legs and feet. Compression leggings help support your legs and improve circulation while you work. There aren't words to express how much we appreciate front-line healthcare workers during this unprecedented emergency.  We hope you all are able to take care of yourselves and, through your efforts, we find a way back to normalcy sooner than later. Curious to find out more about Topic? Check out our last blog post on How Shapewear Offers Nurses Compression Support

First, we hope all our customers, suppliers and other partners are getting through this crisis as safely and healthily as possible. With all the isolation and uncertainty, we thought we’d take this opportunity to reach out, let you know how we’re doing, and hopefully hear back from you in the comments. We’re Open for Business Considering the challenges faced by many businesses, we are very lucky. As an online, ecommerce business, our operations have not been affected as much as many other companies.  In remaining open during the crisis, our first priority is to protect the health and safety of our employees and their families.  We have kept a close watch on the guidelines and regulations put in place by local, national and international governments and healthcare authorities, and we put all the best practices in place. We’re Ready to Help You Keep Looking Great! While we all have far more important priorities right now than how we look, we think it’s important to maintain as much normalcy in our lives as possible to help us get through this thing, as long as we can do so safely.  If putting on one of our anti-cellulite shapewear garments helps you look and feel better, then we feel that’s really helpful. You might not have washed your hair for a couple days, but you can still look fabulous! We are well-stocked and continue to ship all our products, including Mass & Slim Anti-Cellulite Shapewear, Premium Compression Shapewear, and Sankom Posture-Correcting Shapewear.  Free Shipping Too! (But it May Take a Little Longer to Get There) As always, you get free standard shipping to the U.S. and Canada on every purchase. But, while we ship your orders as fast as we can, the USPS is experiencing slight delays and you may receive your package a few days late.  If you have any delays in receiving your orders, please let us know by email at info@theblackpurple.com.  You can also visit the official USPS website for Coronavirus updates on their service delivery. Until next time, please stay safe & healthy. Again, if you’d like to, please let us know how you’re doing in the comments.

While it sounds complicated, the word ‘lymphedema’ clearly describes the condition that it names. “Edema” is the medical term for swelling. “Lymph” refers to the lymphatic system, through which lymph fluid helps drain away impurities from your body. So lymphedema is swelling in parts of your body, usually in your arms or legs, that is due to a problem with your lymphatic system and its ability to drain away fluids.  Lymphedema can be caused by a genetic condition but is most often an unexpected, uncomfortable and long-term symptom of cancer surgery, radiation therapy, infections, arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, or bodily injuries and trauma.  For those who suffer from it, reducing their lymphedema and the associated pain and discomfort, can be a constant pursuit. More Ways That Compression Leggings help Reduce Lymphedema We’ve already told you about some of the direct benefits of compression leggings for treating lymphedema.  Compression wear like Active Slim Compression Leggings can help reduce swelling, support the affected limb and offer longer treatment times, versus medical-grade compression garments. But there are extended benefits that sufferers should consider too. Less Discomfort - If there is one issue that may be tougher to deal with than others, it is the constant discomfort from the swelling, which can affect everything you do, from your mobility to getting a good night's sleep. With the reduction in swelling they offer and the support they provide, the leggings reduce the discomfort of lymphedema. Faster Recovery - While lymphedema can be a permanent condition, there are treatments to reduce the swelling and help sufferers lead a relatively normal life. Compression leggings can speed-up the process. More Activity - Exercise is one of the main forms of treatment for lymphedema. But it can be difficult and painful due to the swelling. By supporting the added weight in your legs, not only will the leggings reduce the swelling, but they will help you be more active to lower it even more. To learn more about how to reduce lymphedema swelling, check out our article “How To Treat Lymphedema At Home”.

Yes, just about every woman has cellulite. Yes, you know it's normal and it doesn’t mean anything is wrong with you. Yes, you can see through all the “get rid of cellulite” hype. But none of that means you wouldn’t mind if you could at least reduce the appearance of your cellulite. Cellulite appears when the layer of fat beneath your skin pushes up around strands of your skin’s connective tissue to produce the dimpling of your skin, variously known as the ‘orange peel effect’, ‘cottage cheese’ and ‘hail damage’.  2 Ways Compression Garments Help Reduce Cellulite So, if cellulite happens because of the interaction of your skin with the layer of fat below it, improving either one will help reduce the appearance of cellulite. And compression wear, like Secret Slim Compression Shorts, are clinically-proven to reduce inches around the areas they cover and improve the appearance of cellulite on your skin. Here’s how. Anti-Cellulite Effect - You get an anti-cellulite effect from a combination of the seaweed-based 3D ceramic fiber and cosmetics-infused microcapsules. The active ingredients in the microcapsules are released as you move and the ceramic fibers help generate heat. The result is better-looking skin and increased fat loss. Micro-Massage Affect - As you move, the 3D knit fiber of Secret Slim creates a massaging effect. The massaging effect, in turn, stimulates your blood and lymphatic flow. Your blood brings healthy oxygen and nutrients to help strengthen your skin and make it more elastic, which makes it look smoother, and your lymphatic system takes away impurities that can slow down fat loss. Another bonus of Secret Slim shorts is the instant body contouring reshaping effect you get the moment you put them on. And that does wonders for how you feel about yourself too. To find out more about reducing your cellulite, check out our article “3 Customized Ways to Reduce Cellulite According to Your Body”.

There will be no other time in her life when a woman will experience the same emotional and physical roller coaster of giving birth. At once, it's an indescribably amazing sense of excitement, joy and love to actually hold and meet the person you conceived and carried for nine months. But you can also have some concerns about the days to come and parenting. And you may be relieved to be free of the physical burden, but still worried about if you’ll ever lose the “baby weight” and get back to normal. 4 Ways Compression Leggings Helps New Moms Get Back into Shape Fortunately, there is one thing that can help you get back into your pre-pregnancy shape, both emotionally and physically. Compression wear, including Active Slim Compression Leggings, helps you look and feel better in a number of ways. Supports Stressed Muscles - From your abdomen to your legs, your body has just endured incredible stress. Your abdominal and pelvic muscles and skin have been extended way beyond their normal range of motion; to the point where they won’t “bounce back” like normal. By tightening your belly, hips and waist, compression wear stabilizes your muscles and skin, and reduces the discomfort that can accompany your recovery. Improves Posture - By helping support your lower back and hips, compression wear also helps you maintain better posture, which can further reduce muscle and joint stress. Helps You Look & Feel Better - In addition to adding flattering shape the moment you slip them on, and keeping everything “in place”, compression garments also help reduce the swelling that can occur after you deliver your baby. You won’t be afraid to look in the mirror and you’ll feel better about yourself. Speeds Up Your Recovery - The combination of support for your body, reduced swelling and an improved look adds up to faster recovery times after the baby is born. If you want to find out more about the benefits of compression leggings, check out our post “4 Reasons Why You Should Wear Compression Leggings”.

You hear it touted as a benefit of everything from acupuncture and massage therapy to strength training and jogging. Improved circulation, including blood and lymph flow, can deliver lots of benefits too.  But what if you don’t want someone to stick tiny needles in you; or you don’t have the time for regular massages, or the idea of working out is out of the question, and don’t even mention jogging? Fortunately, there is one easy, comfortable way to improve your blood and lymph flow. Compression garments, including Secret Slim Compression Shorts, use a bi-ceramic fiber and unique 3D honeycomb fabric structure to exert a gentle massaging effect on targeted areas of your body as you wear them.  Comfortable enough to be worn for eight hours or more, compression shorts are like getting an all-day massage. Benefits of Improved Blood Flow It's no secret that your heart pumps blood through your lungs to carry oxygen all over your body. But how does the increased blood flow from compression shorts help you? Can Reduce Cellulite - Oxygen itself is important for your skin. The more it has, the stronger it gets, which makes your cellulite less noticeable. More Skin Elasticity - In addition to the variety of nutrients brought to the skin by your blood, it also stimulates the production of the hormone collagen, which gives your skin more wrinkle-reducing elasticity Benefits of Improved Lymph Flow  Not as well-known as blood circulation, lymph flow works in much the same way. But instead of bringing healthy nutrients to your skin, lymph fluid removes toxins, lactic acid and other waste materials, while also fighting infections. Better lymph flow paves the way for the nutrients brought to the skin in your blood to do their work in making your skin look better, instead of having to deal with all the nasty stuff that’s removed by your lymph system. To learn more about the benefits of compression wear, check out our article “4 Reasons Why You Should Wear Compression Leggings”.

If you’ve never had them before, leg swelling can make you think you're putting on weight because your pants, stockings and socks seem to be fitting tighter than usual. If you’ve had swollen legs for a long time, you may avoid some activities, even walking, because of discomfort, or you might not like to wear anything that shows your legs. In any case, you have edema, or fluid buildup, in your legs. Swollen legs can have a variety of causes, including damaged lymph nodes (lymphedema), some medications, eating too many salty foods, pregnancy, damaged veins in your legs, or kidney damage.    How to Reduce and Prevent Swollen Legs You should always talk to your doctor if you notice your legs swelling. They may recommend one or more of the following things that you can do to help prevent leg swelling and/or reduce its symptoms Activity - Keeping active, especially with the muscles in the area of your body affected by the edema, can help move the excess fluids. Elevate Your Legs - You can put gravity to work by elevating your legs above the level of your heart to help drain the fluid. Wear Compression Leggings - Compression wear, like Active Slim Compression Leggings, helps reduce swollen legs in many ways. They help to improve circulation and remove the existing fluid buildup while helping to prevent more fluids from entering the affected areas. Reduce Your Salt Consumption - When you eat too much salt, your body produces more fluids to counteract its effect. While some sources of salt in your diet are obvious, like if you can’t imagine dinner without a salt shaker in front of you, others are not. Most of us don’t realize how much salt we get from things like processed foods (check the nutrition label on your next can of soup), and even ice cream.   If you’d like to find out more about lymphedema, check out our article “The Benefits of Compression Leggings for Lymphedema”.