Blog Posts by GALTime.com

By Anastasia Nam for GalTime.com

Fading Hair ColorHair color is one of the most popular services offered in a salon. But have you ever had your hair colored, and loved the vibrant, rich shade, only to be disappointed when it starts to fade weeks later? Hair color services don't come cheap, so you want your color to last until your next touch-up appointment!

• One of the reasons hair color fades is the use of cleansing and styling products that aren't made to protect color-treated hair. These products contain sodium laurel sulfate and other ingredients which can strip your mane.

• Exposure to the sun is another culprit. The sun reacts with your hair hue and can cause oxidation, leaving you with unwanted gold and brassy highlights. Today, you can find a slew of hair products with UV protectants built right in.

• Chlorine can also cause hair color drama. If you've ever seen a blonde come out of the pool with a green cast to her hair, you know exactly

By Author and Type-A Mommy Emily Liebert for GalTime

Type A MommyBefore our first child arrived on the scene, the scene was neat. Everything had its place. Everything. Countertops were clean and sparsely decorated with items that were either necessary (microwave) or decorative (picture frame) and there was nothing-not one thing anywhere-that didn't have a reason for being exactly where it was. To the inch. My husband is a bit of a hoarder and it took me years to purge the stuff he considered "memorabilia" and I considered junk.

Then Jaxsyn was born. And, being the ignorant first-time parents that we were, we bought out the entire baby store. Then the gifts started arriving-both stuff we'd registered for and stuff people decided that we had to have. (Why thank you for the life-size stuffed elephant. I'm sure it'll help my kid sleep through the night.)

This is when my Type A Mommy personality kicked in and-by the time baby number two made an appearance-it was in full swing. I was

By GalTime's Consumer Watchdog Mary Schwager

Hidden Rental Car FeesHave you ever shopped for a rental car online and thought you found a great deal... but at checkout realized that the initial rate somehow became much higher?

Here's an example from a major rental car company's website: "Small SUV for $47 a day." But when all the fees are added in, that price jumps to more than $73 a day!

From another car rental website: "Compact car for $14 a day." But when you go to reserve it, the real price appears and jumps to more than $26, nearly doubling the advertised price of the car.

Frequent car renter Barry Maher says that comparison-shopping for the cheapest car rental deal online, and then finding scenarios like these-- can be frustrating. "The prices are very often quite deceiving and it can be very difficult."

Related: Peer-to-Peer Car Rentals Revving Up

The president of the ACRA (American Car Rental Association), Bob Barton, agrees. Those extra fees upset them too. "This is one of

By Erin Palinski RD, CDE, LDN, CPT for GalTime.com

Does your child need to lose weight?

Childhood obesity is on the rise, with more than 17% of all American children being classified as clinically obese and many more well on their way. But how can you as a parent identify if your child is at an unhealthy weight? And when, if ever, is it right for your child to lose weight?

We asked child obesity expert and registered dietitian Alison Massey MS, RD, LDN, CDE of Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore to find out the answers.

"If you are concerned about your child's weight, it is important to discuss it with a healthcare professional," states Massey.

Your child's pediatrician or dietitian can help assess their body mass index (BMI), which is a measurement of their height in proportion to their weight.

BMI can then be plotted on a growth chart. If your child's BMI is above the 85th percentile, they are considered at risk of becoming overweight. Above the 95th percentile is where your child would be

By Romance Recovery's Johanna Lyman for GalTime.com

It's possible to reclaim your sexual satisfaction. When you've been in a relationship for more than a few months, things start to settle down into a reasonably predictable routine. That's great for scheduling your life, but it's not so great for your sex life.

Routines tend to kill the spark of spontaneity that makes sex so hot in the beginning of a relationship. The good news is this: if the sex was hot and steamy at the beginning of the relationship, I have some suggestions for keeping (or returning) it that way.

Here are 6 Ways to Reclaim Your Sexual Satisfaction

1. Have more oral. I'm not talking about oral sex; I'm talking about talking. Have more conversations about what you like, want and need. Take time when you and your partner are relaxed and tell him that you want to have more sex, or more variety, or whatever it is that you want. Trust me, he's not going to complain about better sex.


2. Show and tell. When you're in bed, show and tell him exactly

By GalTime Teen Expert Jennifer A. Powell-Lunder, Psy.D.

What are kids getting from 'Red Carpet Rants'?I admit, full-willing that I watched a portion of the "Red Carpet" Extravaganza on television with my daughter--truth is she's brighter than I am, more intuitive than I am, and frankly more in-the-know.--Tara

I remember standing in front of my mirror as a young teen practicing my acceptance speech to 'the academy.' I imagined I was wearing that 'just right dress' that everyone would talk about for days after the ceremony.

One of the most exciting parts of Academy Awards and other 'Red Carpet' events is watching how the stars glitter. Nothing is more exciting than watching the beautiful men and women flutter down the carpet dressed in fashion's finest. The Oscars is often a night of taking chances whether it is due to a unique color or a special cut that glittering gown can be a young starlet's claim to fame whether due to a fabulous flawless success or a fatal fashion faux pas.

The red carpet remarks are

By GalTime Teen Parenting Expert, Barbara Greenberg, PhD.

Do we have ANY influence on our teen's decisions?This just in. Rarely does a topic have equal appeal to publicists and parents but I think that I have just stumbled upon one. Hear me out on this one so that you can weigh in.

Celebrities may not be as powerful in the lives of teens as their publicists may think. Likewise, they may not be as powerful as the parents of teens have been led to believe. In fact, studies show that although teens' behavior may be influenced by their celebs of choice -think Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus, among others--they are with all due respect not the only important role models in the lives of our impressionable teens.

Related: Getting Your Kids to Open Up and Talk

A survey presented at the 2011 Canadian Pediatric Society's Annual Conference found that among 1,200 teens between the ages of 14-17, the majority named their parents as their primary role models in the area of-get this-SEXUALITY. Next on the list were their peers.

By GalTime.com

Is your co-worker With today's fast paced lifestyle, it can be tough to find the time to meet a man. That's why so many women end up peering over their office cubicle to see if a co-worker might be "Mr. Right."

But workplace romance can be fraught with complications. GalTime checked in with an expert-- Michael Crom, Executive Vice President of Dale Carnegie Training, to see what the "right" way is to conduct an office romance.

5 Office Romance Do's and Don'ts

1. Do Check Company Policy: If your company policy forbids dating inside of the office, ask yourself if it's worth potentially losing your job. If your professional life is more important than your personal life, it probably isn't worth the risk and anxiety that will accompany your relationship.

2. Do Save Gifts and Romance for Outside of the Office: Don't send flowers or chocolates to your partner's desk. There should be absolutely no PDA at work.

Related: Are You Guilty of Facebook PDA?

3. Do