Blog Posts by YouBeauty.com

Married or just cohabitating?Thinking of moving in with your partner but hearing an earful from your mother?

Meet your ammunition: A new study in the February issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family found that cohabitating couples are happier than married ones.

Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, the researchers looked at wellbeing among 2,737 single men and women, 896 of whom married or moved in with a partner over a six-year period. (Singles weren't always partner-less, just unmarried and living separately.)

Shortly after marrying or moving in together, couples were happier and showed fewer depressive symptoms than singles-but the benefits faded quickly. And single people kept closer ties with parents and friends, which can buffer mental health and lower stress.

QUIZ: Are You Feeling Stressed?

Married couples' health improved (possibly due to joint health insurance), but those who opted to live together in unwedded bliss experienced bigger boosts in happiness

Did you get through breakup season?If you're coming out of breakup season with a broken heart and a half-eaten pint of ice cream, no need for a pity party. Relationship counselor Rachel Sussman's new book, "The Breakup Bible," is here to get you back on your feet.

Based on her experience counseling thousands of men and women through breakups, Sussman offers her perspective on how to heal from the breakup, understand why it happened and transform your life to get ready for love again.

Phase 1: Healing

If someone just stomped all over your heart, start by giving yourself a little TLC. "You've got to take time to take care of yourself," says Sussman. "Healing takes time. You can't rush through it." Read: a rebound relationship is great revenge but it's really not the best medicine.

A breakup is an adjustment-it won't happen overnight. "You're really settling into your new life, which can be upsetting and scary," she explains. "Don't hide from your feelings. Sit with the grief, the fear, the anger."

Find the best mascara for you.Mascara is undeniably the magic wand of makeup. "It instantly enhances lashes, creating a wide-eyed, fresh appearance that can be completely personalized to look natural or dramatic," says Gina Brooke, artistic director for Hourglass cosmetics in Los Angeles, who is responsible for getting celebrities such as Madonna and Anne Hathaway camera-ready.

QUIZ: What's the best mascara for your lashes?

But it's also one of those beauty staples that women go mad for, trying to land the perfect mascara that truly has the power to make all of their lash wishes come true. Some crave length while others dream of lift, curl, darkening, definition and volume in a single swipe. And everyone can relate to the never-ending story of mascara trial and error: buying a new mascara that you hope will be your very own mascara-in-shining armor, only to be left disappointed and immediately tossing it into a seemingly black hole of a drawer.

Don't give up just yet. The truth is, there's a basic

Afraid of getting those awkward relationship questions?It's like Groundhog Day every holiday: Your mom or a friend of the family opens his or her trap and asks you a highly personal, probing question ("When are you finally getting married?") and you're left fuming and causing a holiday-halting shouting match or else embarrassed and sullen. Now if that doesn't say "the holidays," we don't know what does.

So why do people launch into these off-putting inquisitions year after year? "Sometimes people feel obligated to say something and they are not always sure how to say it," explains Larry Kubiak, Ph.D., director of psychological services at the Tallahassee Memorial Behavioral Health Center in Florida. "You feel like you should say something, but rather than thinking it through, you regret it as soon as you say it."

Other people know exactly what they're doing when they ask you a rude question. Adds YouBeauty Relationship Expert David A. Sbarra, Ph.D., "Families often say mean things couched in a nice way."

Unless you plan on

Joseph Chi Lin/YouBeautyWe all want to appear as effortlessly beautiful as the models and celebrities we see in beauty ads on television and magazines. Check out just how easy it can be to do it at home before you head off to work each morning!

Step 1: Be awakened by your publicist at 6 am to begin prepping for the day ahead. Don't even bother to wash your face because all of that will be taken care of for you. Seriously, your makeup artist's assistant will take more time removing any vestiges of oil and makeup from your skin than you ever have.

While this is going on a small army made up of the makeup artist, hairstylist, fashion stylist, photographer, and all of their assistants will stare at you as they discuss your look for the day, even though in all likelihood there have been five to seven conference calls on this topic already.

Step 2: Prepare to have your hair doubled in length and volume by your hairstylist. That's right, no longer should you feel insecure about what you feel are

ThinkstockWhen Europe first enacted Daylight Savings Time in 1916, the goal was not more or less sleep, or longer farming days as is popularly believed; it was to conserve expensive coal burning during World War I by maximizing daylight during laboring hours.

After much of the rest of the world followed suite with the twice yearly clock change that became known as "Spring forward, Fall back," effects began to emerge-among them, factors that can even affect how you look and feel.

Beauty Advantages When You Fall Back:

Circadian Rhythms - Your Body Clock

When Daylight Savings Time ends in the fall, experts say the body returns to its intrinsic circadian rhythm, which synchs up with natural sunlight changes throughout the year. As a result, we're more likely to sleep soundly during the fall and winter, but are less likely to do so in the leap forward during spring and summer.

In short, our bodies aren't fooled by the artificial change in time. Car crash statistics support the

ThinkstockA groundbreaking new field of science reveals how we can dodge bad genes that lead to obesity and chronic disease, and pass along better genes to our kids. Learn how.

The common refrain, "She must have good genes," is, for all intents and purposes, an expression of surrender. After all, when it comes to our genetic makeup, the reigning wisdom is that our DNA structure arrives with the stork and there's not a damn thing we can do about it.

Every school kid learns the principles of Darwin's natural selection theory, which explains that major evolutionary changes occur over millions of years. In other words, when it comes to genes, you're pretty much stuck with what you get.

MORE: Experience, Not Genetics, Shapes Mood

But what if we did have control over these complex blueprints, the factors that are seemingly set in stone and yet responsible for our predetermined likelihood of getting certain diseases, how we'll age, and what exactly we'll pass on to our children? The

ThinkstockManicures, pedicures and haircuts are supposed to be all about pampering and relaxation, but these beauty treatments may leave you with some nail-biting health problems.

According to a new report released at the American College of Gastroenterology's 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, D.C., there is a potential risk of transmitting hepatitis via some of the common instruments used for manicures, pedicures and haircuts. Of particular concern are nail files, nail brushes, finger bowls, foot basins, buffers, razors, clippers and scissors. Not only can they harbor germs if not cleaned and disinfected properly, they have the potential to transmit blood-borne diseases like hepatitis B and C. Eww.

MORE: Non-Toxic Nail Polish Guide

David A. Johnson, M.D., a professor of internal medicine and chief of the division of gastroenterology at Eastern Virginia Medical School who presented the findings, explained in his report that, as scary-and gross-as this might appear,