Blog Posts by Allure Daily Beauty Reporter

We've compiled a list of our favorite remedies for keeping lips shiny and moisturized all season long.

"Mission Skincare Amanda Beard's Lip Balmer SPF 15 is my new favorite. It's from a company that works with different athletes-hence, the Amanda Beard connection. It's got lots of moisturizing oils and has a great texture-not too watery nor too waxy-that feels soothing. And the broad-spectrum protection is key because sun damage just dries out your lips more." -Amy Keller Laird, beauty director

"I love Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15. The stick is the perfect consistency-moisturizing, but not too oily-and the lemon scent is amazing." -Alyssa Kolsky Hertzig, beauty news editor

"I prefer squeeze-tube balms over hard, waxy ones, but many tube formulas are gloppy and sticky. Not Clark's Botanicals Ultra Rich Lip Balm-it's lighter and not at all syrupy. It's also got great moisturizers such as shea butter, jojoba, and sweet almond oil." -Victoria Kirby, beauty editor

Winter

We asked Essie Weingarten, founder of Essie Cosmetics, how to get perfectly groomed nails in a flash-and without a smudge.

• Skip the soak and ask your manicurist to apply a lightweight lotion, which hydrates your hands and cuticles just as effectively-but shortens the treatment time by 5 minutes.
• Push back your cuticles instead of trimming them. "This is a smart move in terms of time and safety," says Weingarten.
• Request a single coat of polish to reduce drying time. "Two coats are ideal," says Weingarten, "but one will suffice, provided you secure it with a basecoat and topcoat." Just remember to choose a light, almost translucent shade, not a dark one. "You won't get the dramatic effect of a deep polish in just one coat." More Tips: How to Do a Dark Manicure
• If you don't have time to sit under the dryer, apply a few drops of dry oil after the topcoat to help prevent smudges and dents. "You'll be out the door in 15 minutes, as opposed to 50," says Weingarten.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF BLOW NYCThe look is having a moment. Proof: At the spring 2010 shows, Versace showed rumpled curls, while the hair at Proenza Schouler had a beachy texture. More proof: In the October issue of Allure, hairstylist Luigi Murenu-a runway regular-created six different versions of waves and curls in the story "Making Waves." Allure editors are no exception when it comes to wave love. These are our current product faves:

Privé Curl Activating Créme plus L'Oréal Professionnel Textureline Infinium Hairspray 2: "I scrunch two squirts of this product into wet, clean hair, and then air-dry. The cream has a bit of tackiness to it, so it gives my waves texture and hold. Once my hair is mostly dry, I mist the L'Oréal Professionnel around the crown, lifting and tossing the roots with my fingers as I spray for nice, non-helmet-head volume." -Amy Keller Laird, beauty director

Top 11 Tricks for Gorgeous Hair Everyday.

Bumble and Bumble Calming Creme for Coarse Curls: "It gets rid of the ugly flyaways

In a classic case of good news/bad news, a group of doctors may have proven the old adage that every woman eventually turns into her mother. A study that was just presented at the annual conference of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons concluded that mothers and daughters age in remarkably similar ways.

The 13 Biggest Skin Myths Debunked

Researches used state-of-the-art three-dimensional modeling to analyze how 10 mother-daughter pairs, ranging in age from 15 to 90, had hollowing in the inner corners of their eyes and lower eyelids, two classic areas that show the signs of aging.

Turns out, if the mother had a pattern of sagging under her eyes, her daughter was bound to as well. (Of course, this doesn't mean you're going to look exactly like Mom: regular SPF use will help you ward off the sun's harmful rays and cut back on the risk of fine lines and sun spots.)

The 10 Beauty Mistakes That Add 10 Years

More from Allure:

• 10 Hairstyles That Make You Look 10 Years Younger

Cabbage soup. Grapefruit. Agave lemonade with cayenne pepper. We all know the foods of the fad diets. The latest dieting trend, however, doesn't involve a specific food, but rather the social networking site, Twitter. Tweet What You Eat (TWYE) is, in simple terms, an online food diary that uses Twitter to publish your every snack attack. You log everything you eat and drink (and the program logs your calories), in an attempt to shame yourself out of downing mounds of molten chocolate cake and motivate yourself to dine on steamed veggies-all the while having the support of other TWYE-ers.

Eating more of these foods will help you shed pounds.

It makes sense that it could work: Research shows that group dieting leads to less stress and better long-term weight-loss success; it also shows that women eat less when they think they're being watched-by a man, at least; and Allure's own collection of diet secrets from skinny women revealed that they keep track of everything they ingest. And

We guess this one was inevitable: dating expert Rich Gosse has established the "world's first Cougar School." The School-really more of a seminar taught at the end of the California Cougar Convention-will teach women the skills they need to date younger men. A self-described "cougar expert" named Lucia is the program's first instructor. She'll dole out etiquette lessons ("don't get in the habit of paying for everything or you'll turn into a sugar mama instead of a lover") as well as fashion and beauty tips.

10 Beauty Mistakes that Add 10 Years

She advocates an age-appropriate sexy look that would be right at home in a Mad Men episode: "The things you want to keep long and full are your hair and your eyelashes," she says. Lucia also recommends sticking with a side part; "middle parts are harsh and split your face." As for style, her rule is to divide your body into four quadrants: legs, back, chest, and waist. "Show only two out of four parts at any time and you'll avoid looking

Not since Kitty Wigs have we been this excited about a hair-related picture book. (Okay, so that wasn't so long ago. Still, we're excited.) Hairy Hunks dubs itself "a celebration of shaggy stallions" and features the hirsute looks of Brad Pitt, David Beckham, and the heartthrob whose thick, shoulder-length 'do puts them both to shame, Yanni.

What do you think about "manscaping?"

The book also honors great facial hair, from Jake Gyllenhaal's stubble to Colin Farrell's caterpillar eyebrows. And of course, no photo series on man hair is complete without a shot of Tom Jones's famous chest. What do you think: Does long hair make a man look hot? And how much scruff do you like on a guy?

For your man who loves grooming: Get him hooked on the best guy products of the year.

More from Allure:

• 10 Hairstyles That Make You Look 10 Years Younger
• The 15 Sexiest Makeup Looks of All Time
• Cheap Thrills: The Year's Best Affordable Beauty Products
• The 10

A new study finds that one in four food nutrition labels (not necessarily the ones shown above!) lists incorrect information. That's unsettling for anyone trying to eat healthfully (and could be dangerous for anyone with conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure.) Recently, several consumer groups, including walletpop.com, conducted lab tests on hundreds of well-known products and discovered that, for many, the results conflicted with what is listed on the labels. Even more alarming, products which were labeled as low in sodium, low in carbs, and low in fat proved to have the most inaccurate labels. (An independent study conducted by the GAO-an investigative branch of Congress-confirmed that one in four nutrition labels is inaccurate).

Find out which foods you should eat to help you lose weight.

The Food and Drug Administration, which is in charge of overseeing these labels and making sure that the food companies list accurate information, hasn't done any testing in