Blog Posts by Oprah.com

Photo: William AbranowiczBy Jenny Bailly

Lisa Hallowell, 50

What She's Done
Botox, microdermabrasion, chemical peels, skin-toning laser, highlights

What She'll Never Do
"Never say never."

What She'd Consider
Anything with a proven result (and preferably no cutting)

Why she tried Botox last year: "I had lines across my forehead, and they were starting to bother me."

Why she'll do it again: "I love the softening effect. My gaze doesn't zero in on my forehead anymore when I look in the mirror."

What else she does a couple of times a year: "My dermatologist--who happens to be my brother--gives me a treatment that combines microdermabrasion and a light chemical peel to exfoliate my skin, and a gentle laser that helps shrink pores and calm redness, without any downtime."

How her beauty routine has changed over the past ten years: "When I was 40, I could put on lip gloss and mascara and walk out the door feeling great. Now to feel that confident I also need concealer. And lip liner. And the Botox

Photo: Michael McNamaraBy Lara Spencer

Hang It if You Love It

Flea markets and estate sales are terrific places to find oil paintings, vintage signs, old maps--even beautiful pieces of wallpaper that can be framed. For example, there's a large chartreuse midcentury oil painting anchoring my living room that provides the inspiration for the color pops I use throughout the first floor. I got it at a garage sale, which means I have a one-of-a-kind, original painting that looks like a million bucks--for the same amount of money as a reproduction.

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Photo: Aimee HerringGive Objects New Life

Almost anything can be used for a different purpose: I turned a vintage champagne bucket I bought for $10 at a yard sale into a planter by potting a gorgeous orchid in it.

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Photo: Michael McNamaraSee Past the Plaid

When it comes to seating, don't judge. Club chairs can break the bank, but I found a great

Photo: ThinkstockMobile Market Vendor

Government Watchdog

In 2003, Melanie Sloan left her job as assistant U.S. attorney to start a government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Since then, CREW has exposed the dirty little secrets of Tom DeLay, lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Rep. John Murtha, and many others.

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Rescue Dog Crusader

Zach Skow's passion for pooches inspired him to found Marley's Mutts, a nonprofit shelter that specializes in large rescue dogs. The shelter has since found good

Photo: ThinkstockBy Mehmet Oz

Has your energy level been low? Have you felt exhausted, despite regulating your sleep and stress? If so, you're not alone. Nearly one-third of US primary care patients report significant fatigue, accounting for 7 million office visits every year. Learn four surprising reasons that could account for your exhaustion, along with Dr. Oz's unusual-but effective-cures. Of course, if your energy level is unusually low, get your blood checked by your physician.

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Bad Bacteria in Your Gut Prevent Deep Sleep

Photo: Courtesy of Bffl Co.By Corrie Pikul

When your mom, sister, aunt or friend goes into the hospital for a mastectomy, it can be hard to know what to say to her, never mind what to get her. You want to give her exactly what she needs, but...you're not sure what that would be. One clever idea would be to talk to her doctor and get a list of must-haves, and make a care package, like the kind that radiation oncologist Elizabeth Chabner Thompson, MD, used to put together for her patients. Another, even more clever (and easier) idea would be to order one of the Breast Bffl Bags that Dr. Thompson sells through her new company Bffl Co ("Best Friends for Life").

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Each nylon duffel has beachy stripes and comes packed with supplies that Thompson, who also had a preventative double mastectomy, deems essential to a comfortable recovery. For example, Thompson explains that after a procedure involving tissue removal, some fluid accumulates at the surgical site, and patients are sent

Photo: ThinkstockBy Amy Shearn

Who knows why it's so hard to see things about ourselves? It's like how you can't really hear the sound of your own voice, because it sounds so different from inside (literally) your own head. But if you want to really rock out in life--or what Danielle LaPorte, author of The Fire-Starter Sessions: A Soulful and Practical Guide for Creating Success on Your Own Terms, puts a bit more precisely, "move into your zone of mastery"--know yourself you must.

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LaPorte asks, are you a maven, a connector, a visionary, a promoter, or an identifier? How to pick? They all sound so good, and each is a way I'd like to describe myself, if I ever described myself in a way other than "kinda short bookish lady" or "those kids' mom" (pointing to the toddlers eating sand in the sandbox).

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LaPorte acknowledges that each of these personality types are "cousins in talent," and that it can be hard

Photo: ThinkstockBy Amy Shearn

Personally, my puny mind can scarcely comprehend that such a thing even happens: that parents lose custody of their babies, and there are foster mothers take in the wee ones while their parents get straightened out. But it happens, and Daffodil Campbell is one of these foster mothers. She writes on her blog, Adventures in Paradise, about her experiences fostering babies, and attempts to answer the question she says she gets all the time: "How do you give them back?"

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Already a mother of two, Campbell breezily writes about how these babies are an antidote to her periodical bouts of baby fever, during which she forgets about the sleepless nights and endless diapers and starts thinking up names. And she writes about how she loves those babies, while she has them, with all the love she has to give. "Every child deserves to be someone's priority. Being a foster parent is being the one person in the world who puts this child first...I

Photo: ThinkstockBy Rachel Mount

While politicians debate regulations for labeling and researchers explore the safety issues, there are a few things you can do now if you want to reduce your exposure to GMOs.

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Buy organic. Certified organic producers are not allowed to use GM seeds. (Bear in mind, though, that there are no guarantees: There is a slight possibility that organic crops may have been contaminated by nearby GM crops through cross-fertilization.)

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Look for the "Non-GMO Project Verified" seal. This stamp means that the producer uses best practices to avoid GMO ingredients. Nearly 6,000 products already carry the seal, and Whole Foods has committed to certifying all its store-brand products (called 365 Everyday Value) with the Non-GMO Project.

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Check supplement and vitamin labels. Coatings and fillers are often sourced from GM