Blog Posts by Redbook

By Charlotte Hilton Anderson, REDBOOK
tooth fairy
Paying money for the privilege of filching blood-spattered corn niblets from under my kids' pillows for the sole purpose of perpetuating a myth about a fairy who collects baby teeth (Where do they go? And for what purpose?) has always seemed to me to be one of the stranger rituals of childhood.

Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a momentous occasion when each of my children lost their first tooth. Pictures were taken. Grandparents were called. And yes, the Toothy Fairy came that night and left each newly minted Alfred P. Newman a dollar. But kids have a lot of teeth and the entertainment factor wore off quickly, both for me and for them. After a while, the Tooth Fairy got forgetful and a little resentful at our house. She started leaving IOU notes. And flossing tips.

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Until the day disaster struck. You know those "It happened to me!" motherhood cautionary tales? I lived one. My two sons found

By Devin Toth,

Valentine's Day hair should be both romantic and sexy. It's should be really done up and special, but not intimidating or perfect. It's what I call approachable Hollywood glam! Here are some ideas to achieve the look.

1) Apply moose and blow it out with a round brush to give your hair some fullness-some oomph. Once it's blown out prep it with beautiful hold hairspray. This will help the hair hold the curl we're about to create.

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2) After it's prepped, take a small curling iron and wrap small horizontal sections around it (TIP--you can leave the ends out of the iron to make it more modern).

3) Once you're done curling, spray a flat brush with more hairspray and brush those curls out. This will combine the curls, creating a beautiful S-wave. After that, repeat spraying and brushing spraying and brushing; that's the key to this style.

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By Charlotte Hilton Anderson, REDBOOK

Whitney Houston lived in my bathroom in the early '90s. Not officially of course, but thanks to a greater-than-average amount of pre-teen angst and a less-than-average voice, I spent a lot of time in my bathroom very earnestly belting Whitney tunes. With her huge, clear voice and poignant lyrics, I felt like she really got me. Even if I was too young to really understand her.

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"The Greatest Love of All" was her first song to really impact me. I remember being 10 and jumping on the trampoline for hours singing it over and over again with my friends. "I believe the children are our future..." I'm not sure if it was because we already identified with the adult sentiment or because we thought we were the children of the future. Or maybe it was just because it was so fun to sing.

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Whitney and I had a passing relationship for the next few years but then I

By REDBOOK

This might ring a bell: "You only get the healthy rays in tanning beds," or "Tanning beds give you a 'base tan' to keep you from burning." The tanning-salon industry wooed many of us with these marketing claims when UVA rays--the ones tanning machines mainly use--were thought to be safe and only UVB rays from the sun were believed to be harmful.

Since then, we've grown wiser. Definitive research has now proven that both UVA and UVB rays can cause skin cancer. (UVA rays have been specifically linked to melanoma.) Still, about 30 million people go tanning every year, about 70 percent of whom are young women. Tanning salons outnumber even Starbucks and McDonalds in some of the largest U.S. cities, according to a San Diego State University study.

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Still don't want to kick the habit? Here's why you must kiss the bed good-bye:

1. Your risk of melanoma increases by 75 percent when you use tanning beds before the age of 35.

2. Last

By Aviva Patz, REDBOOK

Spring is just around the corner, and you're eyeing those halter tops and sandals with gleeful anticipation. But is your skin ready to be bared? Use this troubleshooting guide to get clear and glowing from head to toe.

Dry Spots: Rough, flaky, scaly spots are remnants of winter's dry indoor heat, which evaporates the water in skin -- especially if you take long, hot showers and don't moisturize regularly.
The Fix:
After bathing, towel off gently, then moisturize using about a shot glass's worth of a lotion that contains urea, a skin softener, and glycolic acid, which sloughs off dead skin cells and helps water stay absorbed in your skin (try Eucerin Dry Skin Therapy Plus Intensive Repair Lotion, $10, drugstore.com). Light weekly exfoliation using a loofah will also help skin retain moisture.

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Razor Bumps: When your hair starts to grow back after shaving, waxing, or using a depilatory, the tip may catch the wall of the hair

By Charlotte Hilton Anderson, REDBOOK
pediatrician
Dr. X's office was great. It was clean. They had lots of toys and books. The staff was kind. It even had a massive fish tank right in the middle which as every parent knows is the seminal hallmark of an excellent pediatrician. And I really liked Dr. X. When I saw him, that is. Well-child check-ups earned us five whole minutes with the good doctor, but no time for questions. Sick visits, shockingly, were even shorter. I clocked one at a paltry 30 seconds before he threw a prescription at us and ran out the door to the next tot. Sure it was like my son's 10th ear infection and we knew the symptoms as well as my son knows Thomas the Tank engines, but still.

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The final straw came when my 9-month-old baby came down with a fever of 107. Yes, 107. It was during office hours and in a panic I called my pediatrician only to be told by him that he had absolutely no time to see us and to book an appointment for the

By Ayren Jackson-Cannady, REDBOOK

Before you Botox, try these five easy at-home tricks to fight aging naturally.

1. Wash With Oil: Sounds terrifying, right? But you should relax and try it if you have dry, weary skin, says Miami Beach dermatologist Leslie Baumann, M.D.: "Many natural oils contain linoleic acid, which helps skin retain water." Start with 10 ml of olive oil, says natural skin-care expert Sharon Gnatt Epel, then mix in 2 drops of one of these oils: carrot seed to boost elasticity, frankincense to restore skin tone, or lavender to calm redness. Massage it in for thirty seconds, then rinse with warm water. We promise, no morning-after acne.

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2. Rub These In: Meet the latest crop of natural time-busters from around the globe. African Anogeissus, found in Origins Plantscription antiaging serum, $55, stimulates production of fibrillin (a protein responsible for skin's "bounce back"). Kiehl's Rosa Arctica Youth Regenerating

By Perri O. Blumberg, REDBOOK

Mornings can be hectic, and anything but romantic. Here are three sweet ways you can strengthen your marriage before you both walk out the door.

1. Get in sync. Instead of shouting reminders while you're both getting ready, link up your schedules with Google Calendar. "The app coordinates and instantly updates your days," says Amy Spencer, author of Bright Side Up: 100 Ways to Be Happier Right Now. Say you book an after-work haircut; he'll automatically see that he needs to cover soccer pick-up. Create one for your carpool gang and your older kids to keep everyone sane - and nobody stranded.

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2. Make cozy plans for later. Morning is actually the perfect time to buy movie tickets online or grab a dinner rez. (Try sites like savored.com or dinetonite.com, where you can book a table and get a discount.) In a few clicks, you'll both have something to look forward to all day.

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