Blog Posts by Oprah.com

Photo: ThinkstockBy Candace Braun Davison

Whether You Value Your Time More Than Anyone Else's
You think you'll show how eager and prepared you are by arriving 15 or more minutes early, but the manager--who's usually notified of your arrival shortly after you check in with the front desk--suddenly feels pressured to meet with you, and the receptionist has to figure out what to do with you in the meantime, explains Jenny Blake, Life After College author and former career development manager at Google. Most hiring managers are overworked, overstressed and overscheduled. By showing up five to 10 minutes before the interview, you're demonstrating not only that you understand that, but also that you're doing your part to be one less thing for him or her to worry about.

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Whether You Know How to Pass the Test
You've scanned the company's mission statement and "About" page on the website, but have you translated those vague messages about the importance of "teamwork"

Photo: ThinkstockBy Corrie Pikul

The Breakfast That's Better (and More Filling) Than Midol
A large Columbia University study found that PMS sufferers who took 1,200 mg of calcium per day noted an almost 50 percent reduction in symptoms like cramps, bloating, cravings and irritability. (This study supported earlier research suggesting calcium may be an effective treatment for PMS.) Our bodies can only absorb about 500 to 600 mg of calcium at a time, so take your first dose early in the day. 



Best bet: Low-fat milk (8 ounces has 300 mg calcium) with bran cereal. Look for a brand fortified with stress-reducing magnesium and folic acid as well as iron, which was recently found to be associated with a 30 to 40 percent lower likelihood of PMS by a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

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The Lunch That Will Level Out Your Mood
Snapping at your coworkers? Break for a lunch high in omega-3s. These polyunsaturated fatty acids are one of your best defenses

Photo:Coral Von Zumwalt

By Jenny Bailly

A surprising palette goes into building a solid foundation.

When the beauty brand Prescriptives went online, only three years ago, its phenomenal custom-blended-foundation service was discontinued. You can't perfectly match a foundation to a woman's complexion without seeing that complexion in the flesh. Or can you? Prescriptives has revived its Custom Blend program by allowing customers to video conference with its makeup artists. Intrigued (and dubious), I scheduled an appointment, logged on at prescriptives.com, and watched a "Beauty Genius" pop up on my screen.

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My genius, Nikki, wasted no time in probing my foundation history: When and how do I usually wear foundation? What foundations, and in what shades? What do I like, and dislike, about those products? Her knowledge of foundation varieties rivaled James Watson's command of DNA structure. Then she wanted more

Photo: Adam VoorhesBy Amanda Schupak

Polar bears and beach dwellers aren't the only ones who should be worried about global warming: It turns out the 35 million Americans who suffer from seasonal allergies are in harm's way. "There are clear projections that, as atmospheric temperatures and levels of greenhouse gases continue to rise, the pollen season will start sooner, last longer, and hit harder," says immunologist Leonard Bielory, MD, who's heading up a program funded partly by the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the impact of climate change on allergies. In fact, according to Bielory's research, pollen counts may double by 2040 as higher levels of carbon dioxide trigger plants to produce more of the airborne particles. And with elevated temperatures bringing earlier thaws (witness 2012, the hottest year on record in the United States), conditions are ripe for a prolonged sneezing season. But take heart: These five science-based strategies can help stifle the symptoms.

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Photo: ThinkstockBy Lynn Andriani

The "What Is This Stuff, Anyway?" Laundry Supply
Not only do dryer sheets contain toxic chemicals (this Scientific American post explains just what's so bad about them), but they're also an unnecessary laundry expense. There are cheaper, safer alternatives, depending on why you use the sheets. If you just like the scent, toss a lavender sachet into the dryer with your clothes or linens. If you use them to soften your laundry, pour a half-cup of vinegar into the fabric-softener compartment of the machine. And if static is your issue, throw a tennis ball in with a load--it'll help keep the pieces of clothing from clinging to each other.

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The Phone You Never Use
A landline can cost between $180 and $480 every year, so it isn't surprising that more people are dropping the service. As of June 2012, 34 percent of U.S. households had gone wireless-only, according to the U.S. National Health Information Study, and the

Photo: ThinkstockBy Jenny Bailly

The Cause: Puffiness

The Cure: Undereye bags cast shadows that make you look exhausted no matter how well-rested you are. First, cut out salt and alcohol, which lead to water retention and exacerbate swelling. Sleep on an extra pillow to drain the fluid that can accumulate around the eyes when you're lying down, and if you still notice puffiness in the morning, try a cold compress. Many of Wechsler's model patients--as in, the frequently photographed (not necessarily perfectly compliant) women who fill her waiting room--chill a teaspoon in ice water, then use it to firmly massage the fluid down and away from their undereye area before their fashion shoots. If the puffiness is present all the time, no matter what you do to reduce it, you are probably dealing with fat pads that protrude with age; unfortunately, they can only be removed by a plastic surgeon through a procedure called a lower blepharoplasty.

The Quick Fix: Trace an

Photo: Marcel ter Bekke/Getty ImagesBy Nancy Kalish

We'd never get between a java lover and her favorite pick-me-up. But for all the potential benefits of coffee--from decreasing your diabetes risk to protecting against Parkinson's--research shows that the brew isn't without its dangers. Luckily, there are simple ways to avoid them. Read this before you pour your next cup.

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If you have high cholesterol...use a paper filter.
Every cup of unfiltered coffee (think French press) contains cafestol--"the most potent cholesterol-elevating substance we know of in the human diet," according to researcher Marie-Louise Ricketts, PhD, of the University of Nevada, Reno. One study found that drinking roughly four eight-ounce cups of French press coffee every day for four weeks could increase your cholesterol by about 8 percent. To remove most of the cafestol, brew your coffee with paper filters (single-serve options, like Keurig K-Cups, already have them built in), because they're more effective at

Photo: ThinkstockBy Valerie Ross

Breakable Rule #1: Use "I" statements, not "you" statements, when talking about a complaint.
Sticking to emotion-focused "I" statements rather than accusatory "you" statements ("I feel upset" rather than "You make me so mad") has helped couples communicate more clearly and calmly for decades now. But there's a third option that may be even better, a 2009 study found: "we" statements, like "We need to find time" or "We should give it a shot." When longtime couples were discussing a sticking point in their relationship, those who used more "we" words (we, us, ours, and so on) acted more positively toward each other, showed fewer physical signs of stress, and were happier in their marriages overall. "You can use your language as an indicator of the current state of your relationship, like a gas gauge on your car," says Robert Levenson, a social psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, who co-authored the study: Lots of "we" words and you're likely doing