Blog Posts by Allure Daily Beauty Reporter

Obviously there's more (a lot more) to finding gainful employment than great looks. But you'd be surprised how much appearance can count when it comes to making a spectacular first impression in an interview. For example, let's see....a Chinese company insists that its hires have gorgeous ears. (The firm says they want to make sure a worker's appearance won't have a negative effect on customers. What?!) But back to normalcy, when we also came across the news that Prive salons in LA and NYC are now offering a $95 Interview Prep package [that includes beauty services in addition to career placement assistance, we started thinking about professional grooming, if you will. Here are five tips to keep in mind.

1. Leave the blue eyeshadow back in the 80's where it belongs. We know that nods to this decade were all over Fashion Week, but unless you're applying for a runway gig at Ford (the modeling agency, not the car company), do not attempt trendy, distracting makeup. Neutrals applied

We love Bravo's Make Me a Supermodel for all the sick reasons you do, but mostly because unlike America's Next Top Model, these mannequins look like they could actually score a real modeling gig. Why, the fact that they measure the contestants in their underwear is alarmingly(!) realistic in itself. That's why we were a tad disappointed with last night's season premiere, which was more like an episode of Zoolander: The Show. Clearly, it had to be intentional that the mediocre-looking chicks they cast meant the real action was in the XY chromosomes. Maybe it's male supermodel-in-real-life Tyson's influence, or perhaps it's just plain zeitgeisty. After all, we're having a metrosexual renaissance moment of sorts, what with all the talk of man-Spanx and The New York Times waxing philosophic about how men's butts look in pants. Still, male models are so, I don't know, laughable at best, and "meh" at worst.

Look like a model: Learn how to re-create the hottest beauty looks from the pages of

Next time you're getting a mind-blowing massage, ask the aesthetician to stop for a minute-and it might get even better. We're not crazy: New research claims that pleasure is enhanced by simply taking time out. In a recent paper titled "Interrupted Consumption: Disrupting Adaptation to Hedonic Experiences" (really), six studies demonstrated that breaking up a good experience can intensify the enjoyment. Subjects got to have luxurious indulgences like massages or listening to beautiful music, and after they were interrupted, their bliss increased.

Five things you need to know to give a good massage.

The researchers theorize it's partly because of the human preoccupation with new and novel experiences. Besides wondering how the heck one qualifies for the job of massage study guinea pig, we noticed another finding: The theory applied to television commercials. People reviewed programs broken up by ads more favorably than ones that ran straight through. DVR addicts, though, may be

You get your hair cut at a salon so why not brighten up your teeth there, too? Makes sense to salon owners. But according to a recent article, dental boards in some states are trying to ban salons from offering teeth whitening services, claiming that the procedure should only be performed by licensed dentists. Kelly Markos, a salon owner in Montgomery, Ala., was accused of practicing illegal dentistry by offering teeth whitening to her customers-but she maintains the service is entirely cosmetic.

Related: 4 tips for a gorgeous smile.

Salon owners like Markos, as well as White Smile USA, a leader in the teeth whitening industry, argue that customers have the right to whiten their teeth when and where they choose, and by regulating the service, dentists are just trying to grab the potential profits (teeth whitening can cost up to $200 at a salon, and up to $400 at a dentist's office). And the fact that many of the products offered at the salons are also available over-the-counter seems

Talk about your leggy blondes: Kiehl's has thought of a creative way to hype their relaunch of Close-Shaverettes Simply Mahvelous Legs Shave Cream, ($15.50). They've enlisted the help of vertically-gifted Svetlana Pankratova, the woman who holds the record for having the longest legs in the world. (They're a whopping 4'4"-that's her legs alone. Keep in mind that the average woman is only about 5'3" from head to toe!) If you're in the New York area tomorrow, you can see those gams for yourself at Kiehl's East Village flagship store, where Pankratova will be on hand from 12 PM to 5PM to demonstrate the product and donate $44 per razor stroke to the Lower Eastside Girls Club.

More Kiehl's products we love.

If you're devastated about missing this crucial event, don't fret. Until March 15th, you can go to kiehls.com and enter to win a year's supply of the cream by guessing exactly how many minutes and seconds it takes Pankratova to shave her legs. We wonder if the attendees tomorrow

Like most people my age who grew up in suburbia, I spent a lot of time loitering at the mall with friends. Around the age of twelve, one of our favorite activities was sneaking into the back of Spencer's Gifts, where they sold stuff like racy greeting cards, posters of firemen, "erotic" pasta, and pens that, when you flipped them upside down, went from showing a fully dressed woman to a shot of her in lingerie. We'd stand in the aisle giggling and stealing a few quick peeks before running out squealing.

Total flashback the other day, when a new collection of Urban Decay lip glosses crossed my desk. Not because there's a photo of a guy in the cap of each gloss, but because when you flick the gloss back and forth-just like one of those pens-his clothes come off, and all that's left is a shot of him in his skivvies. Immediately, I ran squealing into the office of the editor next door.

Urban Decay products we get excited about.

The, ahem, Pocket Rocket Lip Glosses come in eight

For anyone who's ever stressed over a gray hair or five, you might be interested to know what really causes them. A new breakthrough study has gotten to the root of the problem (sorry, had to). A team of European scientists found that hydrogen peroxide-ironically, the same stuff that we use to lighten our hair from the outside-builds up on hair follicles and bleaches the color as hairs grow out of the scalp. We all have trace amounts of H2O2 in our hair cells, but it turns out, as we age, these levels increase as the enzymes that help break it down decrease. Ok, so now you know, what can you do about it? Researchers are already speculating that the surprise new findings may open the door for preventing or even reversing the graying process. In fact, we're pretty sure the folks over at Clairol and Garnier have their science people all up on this right this second, so you know…we'll keep ya posted.

Related: Top 5 tips for gorgeous hair.

--Erin Flaherty

More from Allure's Daily Beauty

It's true that men can be just as self-conscious about their bodies as women can, but this news seems to walk on the absurd side somehow: Starting next month, London department store Selfridges will start selling control-top tops for men-shirts that offer not just sucking-in, but sculpting-up. We had to go check out the Equmen web site, and sure enough, the hilarity ensued. I mean, do the models in this photo (taken from the site) look like they need to be reshaped?

Bodies of Work: Celebrity trainers spill their body-sculpting secrets.

Then again, maybe it's sexist to make fun of guys who would feel the need. I turned to my boyfriend for his take on the subject, but even he agreed that it was ridiculous. "It's like a girl who wears a padded bra, then you get her home and it's a disappointment," he said. After racking my brain to try and remember if I had worn a padded bra during our early days of courtship, I decided that maybe it's a don't knock it 'til ya try it situation: While