Blog Posts by Redbook

by Amy Sohn, REDBOOK

Ah, the post-baby sex life - rumors of its death have been greatly exaggerated, finds writer Amy Sohn. That said, a temporary tailspin is to be expected. Read her 100-percent honest report.

"What do you plan to do for birth control?" my midwife asked. It was my six-week postpartum checkup, and she had just pronounced that it was safe for me to have sex.

Related: Bethenny Frankel After Baby: "Sex isn't the Same."

"Birth control?" I said, like she was speaking a foreign language. I was hormonal and emotionally fragile after a difficult birth, and now I was nursing a newborn. I was thinking about having sex again the same way I was planning to lose my baby weight - sometime in the future, but certainly not right now. "There's a pill that's safe to take when you're breast-feeding," she told me, and scribbled down the name. I stuck it in my wallet, just like I once took guys' numbers knowing I'd never call.

Related: 15 Ways to Blow Him Away in Bed: Oral Sex Tips

In

Read More »from The Real Deal About Sex After Kids

by Jessica Smith, REDBOOK

Most diet pill advertisements, these drugs can do everything from give you more energy to help you drop pounds in record time. And we're buying it - according to a recent CBS News report, Americans are spending over $35 billion a year on weight loss products. But what these supplement companies don't tell you is that most of their "success stories" are actually paid participants whose job it is to lose weight on a strict diet and exercise plan. (And believe it or not, a recent FTC investigation found that one popular diet pill brand had evidence from a study that found subjects lost more weight taking a placebo than the actual diet pill.)

Related: "I Went Undercover on America's Cheating Website"

So why not save some money, and potential health risks, and lose weight without the pills? Here are five ways to get the power of a pill (sans supplements) and speed up your weight loss naturally:

1. The Diet Pill Claim: Curbs your appetite.

Get

Read More »from 5 Ways to Lose Weight without Diet Pills

By Jenna Mahoney, REDBOOK

Crisis #1: The Forecast is 100% Humidity
Avoid crazy-expansive curls with a cocktail of equal parts leave-in conditioner and frizz-fighting cream, says New York City-based stylist Danielle Irene. Try Redken Smooth Down Detangling Cream, $15, and L'Oréal Paris EverSleek Sulfate-Free Smoothing System Humidity Defying Leave-In Crème, $8.99. "While hair is still damp, section it into four pieces and apply the mixture from roots to tips, raking your hands through to coat each strand," she says. Got straight hair? Avoid flyaways by coating it (while it's dry) with John Frieda Frizz-Ease Hair Serum, Original Formula, $8.99.

Related: REDBOOK'S Top Beauty Products for 2011

Crisis #2: You Got an Awful (Sob!) Haircut
After pin-poking a voodoo doll that vaguely resembles your stylist, do this: "Whatever length the bad cut, wear your hair wavy, which obscures all sorts of flaws, from choppy layers to unevenness," Sebbag says. Using a one-inch-barrel curling iron, wrap

Read More »from Hair 911: Fixes for Your Top 3 Hair Emergencies

by Justin Rocket Silverman, REDBOOK
A third of the cheating website's members are women. Our male reporter met up with one of them.

It's not easy to meet a married woman on Ashley Madison. I learn this after dropping $20 to sign up (unlike female members, guys have to pay) and then another $150 on "credits" that I use to send messages to women on the site.

I am honest enough: single guy, (mostly) normal, (mostly) open.

I get zero responses. Turns out, the bulk of women on the site are looking only for cybersex, wanting to fill an emotional void.

Related: The 18 Most Annoying Male Habits Explained

Then the message finally comes: L., 42, an attractive mother of two. She's slightly older than many of the women on Ashley Madison - the average age of female members is 35 - and is atypical in the fact that she prefers single men. (She tried dating some of the married men but found them too paranoid. She also likes that unattached guys have apartments to go to instead of hotel Read More »from Women Cheat, Too: The Other Side of Ashley Madison

by Rory Evans, REDBOOK

We've all got a shopping weak spot, one place we lose all budgetary control. Discover yours here and get a grip.

We used to dream of time spent alone on a beach somewhere. Alone in the tranquil oasis of a fancy spa. As time goes on (and reality sets in), the dream evolves: Alone, pushing a shopping cart through the local big-box store. Alone, luxuriating in mascara choices in the drugstore makeup aisle. For women with full houses and fuller schedules, shopping offers a precious opportunity for purposeful aimlessness, a place to be solitary for a delicious hour or more. The only drawback: You walk out lugging a ton of purchases you didn't intend to make while "browsing." Sound familiar? Here's how to get the retail therapy you need without the sticker shock.

Related: The 18 Most Annoying Male Habits Explained

The QVC MVP

Her Habitat: The comfort of her own home, possibly even the comfort of her memory-foam pillow-top mattress (bought in three easy Read More »from Your Secret Shopping Addictions and How to Curb Them

by Sunny Sea Gold , REDBOOK

The daughter of a former bikini model, Sunny Sea Gold ended up battling binge eating disorder. Now she's written a book, Food: The Good Girl's Drug, and vows never to pressure her kids about weight.

My sophomore year in high school, I was nominated for homecoming princess, and my mom bought me a red satin dress at a secondhand shop. I loved the sweetheart neckline, the spaghetti straps, and the very '90s rhinestones on the bodice. The dress fit but was a teeny bit snug around my belly. My mom could've taken it to the dry cleaners for alterations, but instead, she took me to the gym. I still remember one of the trainers looking at us like we were crazy when my mom said she just wanted me to lose three or four pounds before homecoming.

My mother was naturally thin - in fact, she modeled bikinis when she was 21 - but I remember her going on salad-and-bread-only diets or drinking shakes to drop a few pounds before beach season when I was a kid. And we Read More »from "I Was 'Fat' in a Thin Family"

by Gizem Ozcelik, REDBOOK

Health and beauty experts everywhere have recently been raving about the numerous benefits of antioxidant-rich berries. Not only are they yummy to eat, but extracts from berries of allkinds have also been proven to help a majority of skin problems-and even slow down the aging process! All berries have antioxidants to counteract the damaging effects of free radicals, whether it's blueberries and raspberries or more exotic berries like acai and goji. They help to visibly brighten, smooth, firm, and tone skin. Try a handful of these superfruit-infused beauty products. Below, some of our berry-good picks for you to slather on.

Related: REDBOOK'S Top Beauty Products for 2011

1. So-Good Serum. The antioxidant from the blueberry and pomegranate extracts in Goldfaden Blueberry & Pomegranate Hydrating Serum ($65, goldfaden.com) work together to repair damaged skin and help to minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

2. Pore-fect Oil.

Read More »from Ripe off the Vine: 5 Berry Beauty Boosters

by Erin Zammett Ruddy, REDBOOK

"Have you tried IVF/acupuncture/headstands?"
"So often, the instinct is to fix things. What's more important is to listen," explains Barbara Collura, executive director of Resolve, the national infertility association. "'If you want to talk, I'm here' - that's all I wanted my friends to tell me," says Colleen Dippel, 39, who struggled with infertility for years before giving birth to her son and adopting her daughter. "Each infertility case is unique, so advice doesn't help. Knowing there's someone to talk to is what friendship is really about."

Related: 5 Dresses Every Woman Should Own

"Just relax and it will happen."
"There are so many myths about fertility issues," says Kristin Foristall, 34, who used IVF to have her daughter. "I tried relaxing. I stopped drinking coffee. I meditated. Sorry, that didn't fix my problem. Science did!" In fact, a recent study found that stress does not compromise a woman's chance of getting pregnant. Plus, such

Read More »from 3 Things NOT to Say to a Friend Who's Struggling with Infertility