Blog Posts by YouBeauty.com

Pilates and fitness instructor Cassey Ho-a YouTube sensation with nearly 340,000 subscribers and more than 32 million video views on her "Blogilates" channel-knows that exercise is only part of the equation when it comes to trimming down. Here, she shares her favorite healthy dishes (including dessert!) so you can make these tasty, good-for-you meals at home.

- by YouBeauty Editors

More From YouBeauty:

Low-Calorie Snacks, From Daphne Oz

Get Glowing Skin With a Kohlrabi And Apple Salad

5 Beautifying Smoothie Recipes

Why your hair just never seems to grow.

You have begged, you have pleaded, wondered what kind of voodoo magic Demi Moore is up to and finally, given up. But there's no question that countless middle-aged women share the same lament: "Why-really, why?-won't my hair grow any faster? And is it just me, or does it seem to get slower each year?"

In a world of Blake Livelys and Giseles (not to mention plenty of more mature leading ladies), it can seem like everyone is sporting insanely long locks. But keep in mind two things. One, natural, mid-back hair growth is not as common as Hollywood would have you think. While there's no statistic measuring the overall population's varying hair lengths, consider a Los Angeles hair expert's very educated guess. "Oh please, it's so rare! So many women have extensions. It's very, very unusual to see naturally long hair. I'd roughly estimate it's not even 10 percent of women," says Christophe Belkacemi, a top stylist at the Serge Normant at John Frieda salon in LA.

MORE: Take These

One step closer to clearer complexions!

For decades, scientists have puzzled over the main mystery of acne: If the zit-causing bacteria known as P. acnes lives on everyone's skin, why do some people react to it with relentless breakouts, while others get to enjoy clear, resilient complexions?

Now, a new study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology has discovered a possible answer. Researchers from UCLA lifted P. acnes bacteria from the pores of 49 acne-prone and 52 clear-complexioned volunteers. What they found were more than 1,000 strains of the bacteria, from which they were able to identify genes unique to each strain.

And it turns out that all P. acnes was not created equal.

MORE: Blemish-Masking Makeup Tricks

"We were extremely excited to uncover a strain of P. acnes that's common in healthy skin, yet rarely found when acne is present," said principal investigator Huiying Li, an assistant professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

We all get 'em (unfortunately).

We Asked: Barry Goldman, M.D., a practicing dermatologist in New York City and Chief of Dermatology at New York Downtown Hospital.

The Answer: First, let us blow your mind: Hangnails aren't nails. They're made of damaged skin.

MORE: Is Your Nail Salon a Hotbed of Disease?

The backs of our hands have some of the most fragile, delicate skin anywhere on the body. That means they're particularly susceptible to getting cut when we do pretty much anything, from reaching into a gunked-up garbage disposal to getting our keys out of our handbags. A nick in the soft skin immediately around the cuticle (that semi-translucent curve of skin that hugs your nail) quickly dries out, becoming a hard protrusion-a hangnail that snags on stuff constantly and hurts like the dickens. Fingers have tons of nerve endings, which is what makes hangnails so exquisitely painful.

MORE: Your Ultimate Guide to Non-toxic Nail Polish

The best thing to prevent hangnails is keeping your skin

Eat less by eating these foods.Everyone is searching for that magic bullet when it comes to weight loss, but adding an exotic ingredient to your pasta carbonara won't miraculously melt away the fat. That said, there are certain foods and eating strategies that, when used together, can naturally help dial down your appetite. Take a look at what works-and why.

Eat an Apple a Day
If you do one thing to regulate your appetite, eat a high-fiber diet, notes Judy Caplan, R.D., spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "Fiber-rich foods break down slowly and turn off your brain's response to food," she explains. Plus, fiber stabilizes blood sugar levels, which determines how hungry you get. Adding 14 extra grams of fiber to your daily menu can reduce calorie intake by 10 percent. The fiber in apples and citrus are especially effective in helping the stomach feel full. For a snack that will tide you over until dinnertime, Keri Glassman, R.D., nutrition expert and author of "The New You and

The secret to their effortless beauty.

Pernille Sporon-Boving, a Danish artist based in State College, Penn., has never done anything special to take care of her skin. She doesn't use expensive creams, she doesn't get facials and she doesn't wear any makeup.

And yet in her mid-40s, she needs no enhancing. The skin on her face is tight and glowing, with enviable smoothness and sheen. She is fit and healthy and a living example of the no-frills approach to beauty that's common to almost all Scandinavian and Nordic women, from Copenhagen to Reykjavik, and from Stockhlom to Helsinki.

Theirs is a seemingly effortless and natural look that's admired and coveted by women the world over. But ask an expert like Annica Joensuu, head of the Swedish Organization of Skin Therapy (Sveriges Hudterapeuters Riksorganisation), a trade association for beauty schools and skin therapists in Sweden, what the secret is, and she'll laughingly chalk it up to just a thick moisturizer and "good genes."

Those good genes, though, are

A great way to eat this juicy, good-for-you fruit!

There is nothing better than eating tasty foods we know are good for us. They not only satisfy our hunger, but they also enhance our mindfulness to be healthy, make us smile and provide us with some remarkable health and beauty benefits. The Kohlrabi and Fuji Apple Salad recipe is so easy to make with only six ingredients. Plus, it costs under a dollar per serving and is nutritious and delicious!

COLUMN: 15 Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget

Everything Old Is New Again
Kohlrabi is a member of the cabbage family that has an affinity with turnips, but unlike the bitterness of white turnips, kohlrabi ends on a sweet note that makes it a fabulous backdrop food to pair with apples. So not only does it win an award for flavor and texture, it also contains 140 percent of the RDA for vitamin C-that is vital in the prevention of diseases, from the common cold to cancer. This old world vegetable contributes to a healthy immune system and studies associate it with a better skin-aging

ThinkstockEvery so-called healthy snack has had its time in the spotlight-remember rice cakes? Even though they tasted like cardboard, they were the "it" healthy snack for a while. But are rice cakes and other similar munchies actually good for you-or are they more like treats?

MORE: Trick Yourself Into Eating Less

Strictly speaking, a snack should be a mini-meal that offers a nutritious pick-me-up, while a treat is often high in fat, sugar and/or calories and has little nutritional benefits to speak of. In some cases, "a snack may be no better for you than a cookie or candy bar," says Paula Meyer, R.D., a dietitian in Westport, C.T.

Read on as we rate eight popular snacks and whether you should stick with them or ditch them.

Snack #1: Rice cakes
This once uber-popular "diet" snack has a mere 35 calories, but consists of high-glycemic, puffed-up white rice with a low nutritional profile. "They're mostly made of air," says Sharon Palmer, R.D., a dietician and author of "The