Blog Posts by Glamour Magazine

Dear Dr. Kate,

I was just wondering if all vaginas smell the same. It sounds really weird but I am so insecure about the smell/taste of mine. My boyfriend does not seem to mine going down there, so I figure it must not be bad, but I can't help but think mine smells wrong or different from other women's. I can smell mine after I wipe and on my dirty underwear...I'm just not sure if that is normal or not. I have been tested for STD's and everything, so why does mine have such a distinct scent/taste? Can other people smell it too?

Thanks so much for helping me with this. I've always wondered but didn't know who to ask.

Odorific Down Under

Dear Odorific,

No, all vaginas don't smell, or taste, the same...but they do all smell. Every woman has a different musky scent, and we tend to be very attuned to our own smell, even when no one else is aware of it. No one smells you through your clothes; I will occasionally notice a patient's scent when she's undressed (and I'm doing her Pap smear),

Read More »from Ask Dr. Kate: Do all vaginas smell the same?

Can we please talk about those quirky individuals who practically live at the gym doing the same thing over and over again? You know the ones I mean: they're always there anytime you are, perpetually doing the same, tired exercise.

At my gym there this woman who always wears blue shorts and a baseball cap and looks to be in her early thirties. She is always on this elliptical-like machine that works the outer thighs--you move your legs outwards in a way that resembles roller blading. Here's what we know: when my friend Lee and I first started hitting the gym in the morning, we saw her every Monday and Wednesday at 6:45 a.m. She was on the machine before we arrived and still on it after we left an hour later. Recently, we switched up our gym routine and went on a Thursday morning. Blue Shorts was there. Then we went on a Tuesday morning, getting to the gym at 6:00 a.m. She was already there! On the same machine!

Are you in an exercise rut? SELF went to experts for ideas to revive any

Read More »from What crazy people at the gym can teach you about life

Dade Hayes, the author of Anytime Playdate (Free Press, $25), a behind-the-scenes look at the children's-entertainment industry, told us what TV shows he watches with his daughter, Margot, 5.

SUPER WHY!
"This show doesn't teach kids to read, but it makes reading cool. It takes books out of the musty library and turns them into magical, superpower-bestowing objects." PBS.

CURIOUS GEORGE
"It has a sneaky, really unexpected way of integrating math--"its writers fit the lessons into the stories organically." PBS.

THE BACKYARDIGANS
"It doesn't have as many vitamins and minerals, in terms of educational precepts, but it's the best show ever at combining music with imaginative story lines. And the music is so inventive--not dumbed down at all." Nick Jr.

IN THE NIGHT GARDEN
"This British show is worth tracking down. It teaches kids about something any parent would agree is essential: learning to soothe yourself and go to sleep." Selected clips available on YouTube.

HIP HOP HARRY
"Our Read More »from Five TV shows that are great for kids

Oy vey, the economy. Are you guys feeling the crunch too? The slow creep of inflation has totally affected my buying habits.

For instance, last summer, I got a pedicure every other week, but so far, I've had exactly two since January '08. And I used to go to Target practically every Saturday, ending up buying extra things that I absolutely didn't need, but now I'm avoiding it until I'm totally out of crucials like laundry soap, girly products and allergy meds. And forget about buying a new It Bag, I'm reusing every one of last year's purse lineup.

We're making a concerted effort to make more meals at home rather than eating at restaurants. The industry is finding that I'm not the only one: stocks in non-essentials like Starbucks and higher-end casual restaurants are tanking while fast-food chains are taking a nice upturn in sales. Hey, it doesn't matter which bank is folding, people still have to eat! So if the average TGI Fridays diner is now taking the fam to McDonald's, where does

Read More »from Squeezing the most out of your food dollar: How are you doing it?

Backstage at one of the New York runway shows, I spotted a manicurist doing something I had never seen before: Taking dark black nail polish off a model's hands in just one clean swipe! As someone who spends over a half hour--and uses almost an entire bag of cotton balls--each time I remove dark polish off my nails, I just had to stop and ask for the manicurist for her secret. What she told me was eye-opening--and time-saving! The steps for speedy dark-polish removal...

Remove nail polish wherever you might be with these great polish remover towelettes.

Step 1: The CND manicurist put a bit of CND SolarOil right around the cuticles and just under the nail tips. The key here is the oil keeps the dark stuff from creeping into those little crevices and leaving that dreaded "I washed my hands in ink"-like stain.

Step 2: Save the cotton balls for your eye makeup removal. Instead, and a plastic-backed cotton pad (available at beauty supply stores) which soaks in remover without totally

Read More »from The Secret To Taking Off Dark Nail Polish

I've never flown with my infant son, so could you tell me the latest rules on traveling with breast milk and formula? --Blair Welser, Indianapolis, Indiana

No more chucking your hard-earned breast milk or expensive formula--moms can now carry on these items so long as you declare them to TSA prior to going through security screening. Oh, and you or your infant or toddler will not be asked to test or taste breast milk, formula, or juice. Here are TSA's rules on transporting more than three ounces of formula, breast milk, and juice:

• Separate these items from the liquids, gels, and aerosols in your quart-size and zip-top bag.
• Declare you have the items to one of our Security Officers at the security checkpoint. Present these items for additional inspection once reaching the X-ray. These items are subject to additional screening.
• You are encouraged to travel with only as much formula, breast milk, or juice in your carry-on needed to reach your destination.
• You can also

Read More »from What are the rules for flying with breast milk and formula?

Certainly, we'd all love to live in a magical Star Trek world where a computer could replicate all of our favorite treats yet pump them full of all the health components of your average field of broccoli, but it's time to put the magical thinking to rest. That stupid cabbage soup diet? It's not a "free diet food," it's a really badly contrived, kind of disgusting vegetable soup. That's it! Seriously, it's easy to understand why people would think that something like lettuce would be something you could eat in unlimited quantities without having calories, but in truth, 100 calories of lettuce is exactly the same as 100 calories of corn or one of those little 100-calorie packs of fake Oreos. It's just that 100 calories of lettuce is a much larger volume of food than 100 calories of a Starbucks Mocha.

Are 100-calorie packs the root of all evil? Some scientists think so.

It's this kind of crazy thinking that we're all susceptible to. I mean, I recently realized that I could follow my

Read More »from The revolution of food sanity

It's not as if I was sitting around thinking, "You know what might be good? Combining the awesome powers of chocolate and corn chips into one super-charged snack food." But while browsing the giant chip aisle at Fairway, I saw this fancy bag of FoodShouldTasteGood chocolate tortilla chips, and they practically flew into my basket on their own, daring me to love them. And I do.

Get grocery shopping tips with this so-simple shopping list.

These chips are made with Dutch cocoa, but they're not very sweet, though they are distinctly chocolatey. If you're craving something sugary then this is not your chip; they still have a strong corn chip flavor and a light saltiness. They have a nice thick texture that's perfect for a hearty salsa, but I preferred them with the hot cheese sauce--I didn't love the interplay of chocolate and tomato. They're definitely a welcome diversion from the hint of lime Tostitos I'm always munching on, and they're probably healthier as well. These chips have no

Read More »from Chocolate and corn together make an amazing tortilla chip you didn't know you were waiting for