Blog Posts by The Frisky

iStockphotoiStockphoto

The outside world is more like a Hooters restaurant than you previously thought: a new study says that men are more likely to tip a waitress if she looks pretty wearing makeup.

Researchers studied the tips received by two waitresses from 186 male and 98 female customers. Only one third of the dudes left a tip if the waitress wore a bare, makeup-less face. (Cheap b------ s!) But after a beautician applied makeup to the servers, the number of men who tipped flew up to 51 percent. Not to mention that the size of the tips rose 25 percent. Hmm, it brings new meaning to the term "makeup tips," doesn't it?

Since the number of tips and the tip size from female customers didn't increase much at all, it's fair to assume men tipped the ladies more when they looked quote-un-quote prettier. However, this notion confused us ladies in the Frisky offices. "But men don't like makeup!" insisted one Frisk-ette. "They do, but only if it doesn't look like she's wearing makeup,"

Jacob White/FHSD.com
Jacob White/FHSD.com

No girl ever wants to show up to her prom wearing the exact same dress as someone else. Aimee Kick, a senior at Francis Howell North High School in Missouri, wanted to wear a creative prom dress that would not only be elegant and fashionable, but also one-of-a-kind. So she decided to make her own, but not out of fabric. She ruled out tea bags, stamps, bubble wrap, and aluminum foil, and settled on coffee filters when she realized the other materials were either perishable or not durable enough for a night of dancing. Aimee had become known as "the girl with the coffee cup" around school, so it was fitting that coffee filters served as inspiration. Movement and breathability were other important factors in deciding on the material. Aimee also wanted to be able to make and complete the dress on her own in a reasonable amount of time. Although she has three AP courses, an online college course, and a part-time job, Aimee folded, cut, stained, dyed, sewed, and

iStockphotoiStockphoto

My grandparents are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary this summer with a big party of family and long-time friends. I'll be flying to St. Louis with my fiancé, my sister's flying in from Austin, and my parents will be visiting from their home in Germany. It'll be as much a family reunion as a celebration of my grandparents' long marriage - a testament, really, to the bonds they've helped create and nurture over the last six decades. As a gift, one of my aunts wants to make a family tree, which seems like a nice enough idea. But when another family member alerted me that my fiancé won't be included on the tree because our wedding isn't until several weeks after my grandparents' anniversary, it got me thinking: when does a couple become a "family"?

In an era when so many couples live together before they marry - or never marry at all - is a marriage license the main indicator that a couple is fully committed? In a time when so many marriages end in divorce,

iStockphotoiStockphoto

When most girls (or guys) hear the phrase "long distance relationship," the words that come to mind are: miserable, horrific, sad, heartbreaking, not worth it-did I mention miserable? Permanent long distance relationships can be difficult and painful, but I can tell you from experience, a little separation isn't always a bad thing. As long as you and your guy can get together every few weeks, long distance can absolutely rock. After the jump-20 reasons why it does.

1. You always have something to look forward to
2. You can schedule in lots of "me" time
3. You can avoid "girlfriends feel neglected" syndrome by spending more time with the ladies
4. Hot phone sex
5. You don't have to be constantly worrying about shaving/waxing/looking perfect down south
6. There's much less to fight about
7. You have time to plan fun dates, and get super pumped for them
8. You have plenty of time to shop for, and put together, cute outfits to wear on your spaced-out dates

G.V.G.V. Neon has completely dominated nail polish colors for the last couple summers. This year is no different. While we're glad Essie is back with another bright collection this year, we're on the lookout for new ways to infuse punchy colors into our makeup bag. During Spring 2009 Japan Fashion Week, the label G.V.G.V., which is sold in the U.S. at cool-depot Opening Ceremony, sent models wearing neon pink eyeliner and lipstick down the runway. Hot pink on nails looks cute, but on your face, well, it makes a statement. Would you wear such a bold color on your face?

--By Catherine Strawn at The Frisky


More on The Frisky:

• You Need This In Your Life: The Eyebrow Weave

• Nike Does Gladiator Sandals, And We Actually Like Them

Toys 'R' Us

I like pink. Exhibit A: My bubble gum-colored toe nail polish. Exhibit B: My favorite pink mug. But even I am a taken aback by the onslaught of board games lately that have gotten girly, pinkified makeovers. Take for example Designer's Edition Scrabble, which comes in a powder pink box, complete with the word F-A-S-H-I-O-N spelled out on the cover. As the Toys 'R' Us website describes, it has "style, taste and elegant accessories like a pastel rotating gameboard, pearlescent letter tiles and embroidered fabric pouch. All the fashionable game pieces are designed with a woman in mind, but with the same Scrabble challenge you know and love." Uh, I don't care if the letters are pearlized. In Scrabble, the only aesthetic thing I notice is the look on your face when I beat your ass with a killer seven letter word like X-I-P-H-O-I-D.

Sadly, Scrabble isn't the only classic game that's been pinkified in an attempt to lure in "girly" consumers. Check out the others, after the jump…

Though there's still a certain inexplicable stigma attached to it, I am a huge proponent of online dating. I met my long-term boyfriend that way and the majority of weddings I've been to over the past couple years have been for couples who've met via the internet.

So whenever I hear a friend whine about how they never meet anyone, I give them the online spiel. Heck, Nerve.com should be paying me commission because I've talked so many people into joining.

But as awesome as online dating is for expanding your dating pool, there are also some negatives. The biggest being that it can bring out the worst in people. And by people, I mean you.

"Depending on what site you use, it can be all too easy to check up on your latest fling online. I dated a guy who would regularly leave my house and be home, updating his profile, before I'd even had time to brush my teeth! "

Stalk much?

When you hook up with a guy through friends or at a party, you might Google or Facebook

While Rachel Bilson was out of town recently, her LA home was burgled. The thief raided the star's closet, taking designer clothes, shoes, handbags, and jewelry, including items given to her by her grandmother. While the loss of her Chanel collection is certainly unfortunate, it's the stealing of the jewelry Rachel's grandma gave her that is most heart-wrenching, because it can't be replaced.

This got me thinking: What clothing or accessory would I be most upset about if it got stolen? For me, it would probably be a bracelet my parents gave me. While the item itself is still available for sale, I would always know that it isn't the one they gave me if it needed to be replaced.

For a brief second, I considered a pair of shoes I had bought in South Africa when I lived their in college as my one item. Then I realized that even though they're irreplaceable, I haven't even worn them in two years! They're like a souvenir from that period in my life, and I keep holding onto