Blog Posts by YouBeauty.com

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

It's easy to feel trapped in a relationship where one person is footing the bill.

At 41, Emily badly wanted a baby, so much so that she gave her boyfriend an ultimatum, and they started trying to conceive.

Her boyfriend, a scientist, traveled a lot and kept an emotional distance. "I weighed the pros and cons and decided to go ahead," she says, "even though I doubted I could ever be happy with him."

Her reasoning: He made $300,000.

"I focused on the fact that I would be a good mother and he'd be the provider." She herself earned about $90,000 as an editor, but the job was too demanding to combine with single motherhood. "It was way too scary to do it on my own," she says.

Some would call her a "gold-digger." Others might see themselves in her and recognize her fear.

MORE: Should You Marry Him?

Why People Dig
Not so long ago, it was considered sensible for a woman to seek a good provider. Nowadays, we're all expected to pride ourselves on our independence and choose (or mostly choose) someone for love. Any interest in a man's prospects

Eat your way to a slimmer silhouette.

When trying to trim down, it's easy to focus on all of the foods you can't eat. The good news? There are tons of tasty foods you can add to your plate that help fend off unhealthy cravings and decrease belly fat, taking your dreaded muffin top down a notch.

MORE: What's Causing Your Sugar Cravings?

Along with eating belly-busting foods, it also helps to step away from the salt shaker and get your stress levels under control, which can sabotage your efforts to eat healthfully. "High levels of sodium cause excess fluid retention, which is when your body holds on to too much liquid, making you look puffy all over," says Keri Glassman, R.D., author of "The New You and Improved Diet: 8 Rules to Lose Weight and Change Your Life Forever". "Even if you're eating healthy, you may still be getting added salt from foods you wouldn't think of, like cottage cheese and olives."

So always check labels for sodium content. And check in with yourself. "Paying attention to stress is

Dear Women,Sorry, Ladies

First of all, we're sorry. We're sorry that although we look like men, we often act like boys. We're not even sure what it means to be men anymore. As we grow up, we learn that to be happy is to be self-indulgent and self-centered. We try to make enough money so that we can have the right TV with the right video games in the right home. We want to date you and maybe even marry you but we are scared to focus on someone else instead of ourselves. Isn't it sad that we see committing to you as a potential threat to our happiness instead of a wonderful opportunity?

Here's what we don't understand: True happiness comes from being true men. We think and act like boys who don't want their toys taken away. We look up to "role models" in the media who teach us to get as much gratification out of life as possible. We may claim to be spiritual, or even firm atheists, but pleasure is the god that we worship, whether we realize it or not. Unfortunately, women tend to be just another

It's true: Your emotions are written right across your face.

Pimples. Limp hair. Bloating. Not looking your best can definitely put a damper on your mood. But, there's a twist. Science indicates our attitudes could be the cause of these annoying flaws in the first place.

"Stress causes inflammation, which can both break down collagen to cause wrinkles or inflame acne," says Amy Wechsler, M.D., a New York City dermatologist and YouBeauty Skin Advisor. On the flipside, "happiness helps skin to heal and glow."

In a funk? Pleased as punch? Science explains how your feelings might be written all over your face. And body. And hair.

QUIZ: Get in the Mood for Beauty

The Blues: Proven Beauty Bummer
No matter the situation it arises from-something serious like unemployment or something mild like a busy day at work-stress and depression can have major impacts on your beauty.

One of the biggest drivers in the bad mood-beauty connection are feelings of anxiety and depression triggering the release of cortisol, a hormone produced

Sandra Bullock and her husband split 10 days after she won Best Actress in 2010.

An Academy Award for Best Actress might seem like a blessing, but the women who win might think it's more of a curse.

Why? Because most of them find themselves sitting in divorce courts after their affairs with Oscar.

In 2011, researchers at the University of Toronto looked at every Best Actress and Best Actor nominee from 1936 to 2010. A whopping 60 percent divorced at least once after earning the nomination. (I guess it's really NOT an honor just to be nominated.)

QUIZ: What Kind of Love Are You In?

Sadly, the marriages of Best Actress winners were the least likely to last. Of the leading ladies, winners were over one and a half times more likely to divorce than non-winners-a difference that didn't hold true for leading men.

"Winning an Oscar would shift the status balance in favor of the woman," says lead author Colleen Stuart, Ph.D. "That can be a source of relationship strain, especially because it violates the cultural norm that women are subordinate to