Blog Posts by Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine

Mariam tells ITV that she's learned to love the way she looks, facial hair and all. (Photo: ITV/This Morning)Many women spend a fortune—and put up with a lot of pain—plucking, threading, and waxing away unwanted facial hair. Not Mariam.

VIDEO: Get Rid of Pesky Facial Hair

The German-born mom, who goes only by her first name, is making headlines for embracing her significant goatee. 

Also on Shine: Sikh Woman with Facial Hair Turns Cyber Bullying Incident into Inspiration

Mariam's thick beard is all natural. "It really grows as a goatee, as you can see," she said during an interview with the UK's ITV Network. Instead of shaving, she simply "shortens" the ends to keep herself looking well-groomed, because "If it gets too long, it's a bit frizzy."

Mariam—who is of German and Iranian decent—didn't immediately embrace her facial hair. She says that it began growing in soon after the birth of her son, when she was about 21 years old. Ten years later, it was so thick that she would have a full beard if she didn't tweeze each hair out every morning. It would take her hours to get ready to leave the

Read More »from Bearded Mom: When Women Grow Full-Blown Facial Hair

Black is definitely slimming: We barely see the bump in this April 6 photo, but Halle Berry's rep confirmed to Yahoo! that the actress, 46, is definitely pregnant. (Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)Halle Berry is as shocked about her pregnancy as everyone else.

"This has been the biggest surprise of my life to tell you the truth," Berry told CNN on Monday. She added: "I feel fantastic." 

Berry, who confirmed her pregnancy to press on Friday, revealed that it just, well, happened the old fashioned-way—no planning involved. Have we mentioned she's 46? 

"I thought I was kind of past the point where this could be a reality for me," said explained. "So it's been a big surprise and the most wonderful."

Berry already has a 5-year-old daughter, Nahla, with her ex-boyfriend, Canadian model Gabriel Aubry. This baby-on-the-way is her first with fiance Olivier Martinez, 47, whom Berry has been dating since 2010.

Considering how much pressure women face to beat their own body clocks, it's shocking to learn that we can still get pregnant late into our 40s without even trying. Then again, this is Halle Berry—a woman who defies all logic of aging. 

So what are the odds? Late-in-life pregnancies

Read More »from Halle Berry's pregnancy was a "surprise." What are the odds?

Ethan Clos, 5, was suspended from kindergarten after he showed up with this hairstyle last week. (Photo: WHIO-TV)When 5-year-old Ethan Clos showed up at school with a short, spiky mohawk last week, his fellow kindergarteners thought it was cool. But administrators at Reid Primary and Middle School in Springfield, Ohio, deemed the edgy cut too disruptive, and ordered him home until he adopted a tamer style.

Also on Shine: Utah Teen Kicked Out of Class for Dyeing Her Hair… Auburn?

His mom, Keshia Castle, said that school officials suspended her son on Wednesday. After he begged her for the hairstyle, she finally let him get it over spring break.

Australian Kids Banned from Birthday Tradition at School

"They seen his hair like it was," she told WHIO-TV on Friday. "All the little kids were going over and feeling on it and everything."

Superintendent Gregg Morris says that's exactly why they had to send little Ethan home.

"Our dress and grooming policies are designed to ensure that clothing and hairstyles do not cause a distraction to the learning environment," Morris said in a statement.

The

Read More »from Kindergarten Boy Suspended for His 'Distracting' Mohawk

Norwegian artist Ida Skivenes takes playing with food to a whole new level. The 29-year-old artist has never attended art or culinary school, but was inspired by her love of food, art, and photography to start recreating famous paintings on her breakfast toast. "It was a great chance to exercise my creative side while also engaging people in eating healthy fun food," she says. She posts pictures of her Art Toast Project, as well as snapshots of other art she makes from food, on Instagram, where she has more than 94,000 followers. Then she eats her creations. "This isn't a art project as such," she explained to Yahoo! Shine. "I make actual breakfasts and am very carefully when it comes to reducing unnecessary waste." Here's a look at some of her most popular pieces of edible art. -- By Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine

Read More »from Ida Skivenes: The Artist Who Recreates Famous Paintings on Toast

Adolf Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun in the early 1940s, dining on food that was probably tested for poison by young women like Margot Wolk. (Photo: Express Newspapers/Getty Images)Margot Wölk was a 24-year-old secretary when she fled to what is now Poland, in 1941. She had refused to join the League of German Girls -- the female version of Hitler Youth -- and her father had been taken away for refusing to join the Nazi party. Her parents apartment had been bombed. Her husband was at war, and she hadn't heard from him in two years. She thought she'd be safe with her mother-in-law, so she left Berlin and made her way to the small East Prussian village of Gross-Partsh.

But instead of escaping from the Nazis, whom she despised, she had practically stumbled right into the heart of Hitler's Eastern Front headquarters, known as the Wolf's Lair. His soldiers found her immediately.

"The mayor of the little nest was an old Nazi," Wölk, now 95 years old, told Spiegel Online. "I'd hardly arrived when the SS showed up at the door and demanded, 'Come with us!'"

Wölk hasn't spoken about the horrors she experienced during World War II until recently, when a local reporter

Read More »from The Woman Forced to Risk Her Life Tasting Hitler's Food

First Lady Michelle Obama accidentally described herself as a single mom. Other moms whose husbands travel a lot say they can relate.It's a pretty easy slip to make, as any mom married to someone who travels a lot can tell you. During a TV interview yesterday, while talking about the need to improve access to nutritious foods for time-crunched urban families, First Lady Michelle Obama accidentally described herself as a single mom.

Also on Shine: How to Survive a Traveling Spouse

"Believe me, as a busy single mother—or, I shouldn't say single! As a busy mother… sometimes, you know, when you've got a husband who's president, it can feel a little single, but he's there!" she said during the interview with CBS News affiliate WCAX in Burlington, Vermont.

Related: Students Help Michelle Obama Plant the White House Vegetable Garden

Some people call it being a "sometimes single mom," and while plenty of actual single moms bristle at the idea, moms who are solo parenting part of the time say it comes with its own set of challenges.

"I can see how she feels that way," Kristen Chase, a columnist at Cafe Mom, told Yahoo!

Read More »from Michelle Obama Accidentally Calls Herself a 'Busy Single Mother.' Can You Relate?

This white Versus dress, which Brittany Murphy wore to a charity auction in 2005, is among the clothes being auctioned on Sunday. (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)Best known for her breakthrough role as Alicia Silverstone's awkward friend in "Clueless" and as the voice of Luanne in the animated TV show "King of the Hill," actress Brittany Murphy has reached Marilyn Monroe status in the pop culture world. This weekend, items from her estate -- clothes, shoes, and jewelry -- are going up for auction alongside the iconic "Superman" cape and blue-knit leotard, the leopard-print outfit that Maureen O'Sullivan wore in "Tarzan," and a strappy brown cocktail dress worn by Marilyn Monroe.

Also on Shine: 'Wizard of Oz' Dress Up for Auction?

Michael Doyle, consignment director for Julien's Auctions, told Yahoo! Shine that he spent about two years working with Murphy's mother, Sharon Murphy, to decide which items to sell. Online bidders can view the 500 or so pieces at the Julien's Auctions site; the starting prices for each lot range from $50 to $500.

While no clothes from "Clueless" will be on the auction block, Doyle said that some items from "Just

Read More »from Brittany Murphy's Clothes Go Up for Auction

As Kid President, the adorable "self-appointed voice of a generation," 9-year-old Robby Novak has inspired adults and kids across the country with his enthusiastic YouTube addresses to the nation. But although he's chatted with President Barack Obama via his string-and-can Kid Telephone, he's never met the real-life President of the United States—until now.

Also on Shine: 10-Year-Old Girl Writes to President Obama About Gay Marriage -- And He Writes Back

The two leaders got together at the White House recently to discuss how adults and kids can work together to make the world a better place. But first, Kid President needed to make himself comfortable in the Oval Office.

“I think you should try to sit behind the desk so you look a little more efficient,” Obama told Novak, who happily climbed into the chair at the historic Resolute desk and picked up the phone. Looking amused and maybe a little worried, Obama warned him to put it down. "Let’s make sure not to cause an international

Read More »from WATCH: Kid President Meets President Obama, Asks How to Change the World