Blog Posts by YouBeauty.com

ThinkstockThe popular game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" offers an intriguing question.

Of course, virtually everyone wants to be rich. But why? As Americans, we place a high value on money and physical possessions because we believe such things will make us happy. Have we always believed this? If not, when did money and happiness become so closely connected?

Recent data show that materialism has risen in the last four decades. A 2005 study of American college freshmen revealed that 71 percent of those polled believed that it's very important to be "very well off financially." In 1967, only 42 percent of participants agreed with this sentiment. When participants were asked if it is very important to develop a meaningful philosophy of life, the results were quite the opposite. Although 86 percent of participants in 1967 agreed with this statement, just 52 percent of the 2005 participants felt that meaning in life was very important 1 .

MORE: Is Peer Pressure a Good Thing?

ABCABC's "Pan Am" TV show isn't just bringing the airline back, it's also bringing workplace-sexy back, and reminding us about the power of good grooming.

In the golden age of jetting, Pan Am stewardesses were admired for their beauty and their equally glamorous career.

Now, nearly fifty years later, ABC's new Sunday night show "Pan Am" is taking off! With stars like Christina Ricci donning the infamous blue suits, hats, and white gloves, the idyllic era of polished style and career girl chic is getting another glossy moment.

In real life, it was no easy task to land the coveted job with Pan Am. Only one in one hundred applicants were chosen to join the elite team and Ms. Ricci herself wouldn't have made the cut due to the height restriction. In addition to speaking a foreign language, you had to be over 21, over 5'3" (Ricci is 5'1"), have short bobbed hair, be slim (for example, between 116 an 128 lbs. if you were 5'5"), and most importantly, be unmarried. No doubt that

Do you love drinking an afternoon soda, or put sugar in your morning coffee? Policy-makers want you to stop.

New York City is currently running an advertising campaign featuring a man drinking a glass of fat, and a soda bottle overflowing with liquid fat. It's part of an aggressive effort-happening across the country-to reduce people's consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).

Americans guzzle an average of 50 gallons of sugar-sweetened beverages-including sodas, fruit juices with added sugar, sports and energy drinks, flavored waters and sweetened milk, tea or coffee-per person every year.

That's not doing our figures any favors.

Researchers blame SSBs, at least in part, for the ballooning obesity crisis, as well as higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer. Not to mention that soft drink lovers are less likely to get the calcium and other nutrients they need to keep their bodies healthy.

MORE: Expert Tips For a Sugar-Free

Jane Goodall, right, with Angelina JolieWhen you think of chimpanzees, it's nearly impossible to not think of Jane Goodall.

The famed primate researcher-whose social contributions often draw peace-bearing comparisons to names like Gandhi, Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela-is the embodiment of inner and outer beauty. Goodall was 29, when, in 1960, she began living alone in the jungle with chimps. With no formal scientific education, she made discoveries that forever changed the relationship between humans and animals.

Now 77 years of age and maintaining a strenuous schedule that includes 300 days of travel a year, Goodall still delights at the opportunity to share expertise on her life's passion-chimps. We asked the British native-who is busy preparing for Jane Goodall Live, a one-night-only event in movie theaters nationwide on September 27th (more on that at end of the article)-what, we as humans, can learn from our ape "cousins."

Goodall says it is the emotional and relationship connections between chimps

Mulberry Alexa in Oak Light Patent Leather, $1,200. It's not your fault that you can't resist lusting after this season's most buzzed about "it" bag. A new study says that baby, you were born this way.

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed how we're strongly influenced by social environments and the ways in which we alter our behavior to fit in and elevate our ranking within the group. (This is most obvious when it comes to sexual competition, where the incentive to be perceived as the alpha male results in-ding, ding, ding!-winning a mate.)

RESEARCH: You Can Buy Happiness, Depending On What You Buy

In the study, the researchers found that people were more likely to take risks and engage in competitive behavior when all of their friends were watching rather than when they were flying solo.

So we wondered, does this apply to fashion and beauty risks as well? Pressure to look a certain way and compare yourself to others is certainly a result of this biological behavior, according

ThinkstockYour best friend could be your waistline's worst enemy: An obese buddy can increase your chances of becoming obese by 57 percent, and when your bestie becomes obese, your risk shoots up to 171 percent. The domino-effect data is harsh but makes sense: You live, laugh and love together? Surely you eat and exercise (or not) together too.

About one-third of all American adults (that's 33.8 percent!) are obese.

Consider these stats: The number of so-called "fat states" with an obesity prevalence of 30 percent or more has increased to 12 states in 2010. (Thirty-six states had a prevalence of 25 percent or more.) That's compared to 2009, when only nine states had obesity rates of 30 percent or more. Back in 2000, no state had an obesity prevalence of 30 percent or more.
Translation: America's obesity epidemic is steadily getting worse. Much worse.

MORE: Southern States Link with Memory Loss, from Food?

What's the Deal?

We hate to name names, but we'd be remiss if we

Thinkstock"Oh. My. God. Becky, look at her butt. It is so BIG."

If you were of club dancing age in the past twenty years, then you've probably backed up your rump-o'-smooth-skin while shouting (from memory) Sir Mix-A-Lot's notorious anthem to big butts and killer curves.

While those butt-bashing opening lines-spoken by two skinny mean girls-have become a rallying cry for women of every size to stick out their butts and dance, many of us have probably been those mean girls at one time or another too.

Unfortunately, criticizing other women's bodies is par for the course among women. The practice even has its own term: body snarking.

MORE: Are You a Fat Talker?

"We think body snarking is the most common form of body talk," says Denise Martz, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Appalachian State University. Women of all ages sneer at other women walking by ("She should not be wearing that"), at schoolmates or co-workers ("She totally has cankles"), at family members,