10 Date Night Ideas That Won’t Break The Bank

… because romance doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.

-YourTango.com

If you’re looking to impress, dinner and a movie will make more of an impact on your wallet than your date. With a little bit of creativity inspired by these date night ideas, it’s easy to score big even on a little budget.

These five are free:

1. Beach blanket bingo. Whether you are near a beach or not, you can find a romantic place to gaze at the stars and one another. Take a board game or the Would You Rather book with you and watch the sparks fly.

2. Hey good lookin’, what ya got cookin’? It doesn’t matter what’s being served. If you heat things up in the kitchen and cook for your partner or make a meal together, you’ll leave feeling satisfied.

Read 25 Date Night Ideas That Aren’t Cheesy

3. Match point. Find love by squaring off on the tennis court, bike path, hiking trail, basketball hoop or first base. Playing a sport together will charge up your endorphins and get you ready for the other games you’ll be playing later on. Plus, there’s nothing sexier than a hot shower together.

4. Free your mind. Bookstores and college campuses often host free events with authors. Although it’s encouraged, you’re not required to buy the author’s book, but you can get an hour of great entertainment and culture (and often a free glass of wine) just for swinging by with your date.

5. Toys for hots. If you’re at a point when you feel comfortable in your relationship but possibly a little bored too, it’s time to shake things up. Luckily you don’t have to go to a sex shop to change your bedroom experience. Start out with a strategically placed ice cube or scarf as a blindfold. Once you get comfortable you can work up to more adventurous tools and techniques.

Read the rest here!

How to Vacation Like an Oscar Winner: Unwind on the Caribbean Island of Anguilla

Get away from it all just like the stars do post-awards season on the beautiful Caribbean island of Anguilla!

-Courtney Cachet

Ever wonder where the stars go to relax after awards season is over? It has to be somewhere relaxing, fabulous, luxurious and private.

For an A-lister caliber beach vacation, just follow in the footsteps of Oscar winners like Sandra Bullock, Robert DeNiro, and Denzel Washington, to name a few. Grab your LV luggage and your swimsuit and head over to the Caribbean island of Anguilla!

Because of its abundance of private villas, 33 pristine beaches and friendly hospitality, it’s become the island of choice for the Hollywood set when it comes to recharging post-awards season. When my family and I recently visited Anguilla, instead of staying in a hotel, we stayed in the ultra luxurious Sea Villa in Long Bay. From the moment we arrived, we felt as if we were staying in our own home—if, that is, our home consisted of 8,000 square feet perched on a bluff overlooking a half mile of beach just for us. Yeah, that kind of wow!

Read A Vacation, Once and For All

Sea Villa has four master suites with oceanfront balconies, and one bedroom with a private courtyard. There was no shortage of luxurious amenities: A gorgeous granite kitchen, laid back furnishings, an infinity pool and jacuzzi, a library, outdoor showers, bathrooms the size of a one-bedroom apartment, three tennis courts, a workout room… you name it, it had it. There was even half a mile of beach, complete with chairs, umbrellas and enough toys to keep my children busy for hours. This villa has been inhabited by some of the world’s biggest stars, and when you see the complete privacy of the beach, you can immediately understand why.

Up next: Where to eat, what to do, who you’ll see, and more!

How to Fight With Your Partner (Without Ruining Your Relationship)

Try these expert tips to prevent a marriage meltdown and keep your partnership in healthy, fighting shape.

-Rachel Grumman Bender, YouBeauty.com

Every couple—even the blissful ones who seem madly and annoyingly in love—argue now and then. But how you fight—and recover from an argument—can make all of the difference when it comes to having a happy, healthy relationship.

By identifying fighting styles that can wreck your relationship over time (stonewalling, anyone?) and learning better ways to communicate even in the heat of the moment, you can maintain a stronger, better partnership.

Fighting Styles That Do Damage

Arguing in a destructive rather than a constructive, communicative way not only makes marriage more stressful and frustrating, but it can also lead to divorce. One of the biggest predictors of divorce is having one partner who deals with conflict in a constructive way while the other partner completely withdraws, according to a 2010 study in the Journal of Marriage and Family, which observed 373 couples across 16 years to determine how conflict patterns determine divorce.

“‘Shutting down’ is actually one of the worst relationship killers,” says Cheryl Burke, a licensed mental health therapist in Winter Park, Florida. “Many intimate relationships are destroyed by an inability to communicate. When one partner or both has developed a pattern of shutting down when they’re uncomfortable, it is because they do not trust the other person enough to share their thoughts and feelings. In fact, in many cases the person does not even know that it is a trust issue.”

Read How to Prevent a Breakup

Another deadly weapon some couples wield in a fight is putting each other down. “Belittling communication is also extremely detrimental to any intimate relationship because over time it causes emotional resentment between the couple,” explains Dr. Burke. In fact, according to the leading marital conflict researcher, John Gottman, Ph.D., contempt (such as rolling your eyes at your partner or calling him an idiot) is the number one predictor of divorce.

Adds Burke, “when resentment begins to build it contaminates the couple’s desire for intimacy, especially with the female.” And—no surprise here—research shows that intimacy is a key component of marital satisfaction.

Even in communicative couples, one or both partners may have a hard time letting go of the idea of “You’re wrong, I’m right.” Instead, they stubbornly fight to be right rather than working on actually resolving the problem.

“A rigid communication style is harmful to intimacy because usually when one person digs in, the other also becomes inflexible; ergo, progress is halted,” says Burke. “At this point, couples tend to focus only on their perspective of the problems, instead of focusing on resolution.”

But it’s not just your fighting style that’s important—your ability to move on once the spat is over can also affect the health of your marriage. When it comes to how well you bounce back from a fight, your attachment style often comes into play. According to a 2011 study published in the journal Psychological Science, couples’ abilities to recover from a quarrel may depend on the type of care of they received as infants.

Ok, peeps! Before you can scarf down the last of those pink- and blue-wrapped chocolate eggs, it’ll be picnic time, gardening time, and did someone say Cinco de Mayo? Yep! While winter drags on at a snail’s pace, spring whizzes by faster than LiLo’s prison sentences.

As such, I spied a few gorge picks for your outdoor spaces that’ll have you upstaging that Martha Stewart wannabe neighbor of yours in no time. I wanted to keep it chic, spring-like and simple with a palette that works with most homes (including apartment balconies). I also got everything from Overstock.com, so you don’t have to wait on line or drive anywhere. Besides, we need all that time to shop for the fabulous outfits we’ve been dying to wear since December!

Happy Spring! We are definitely off to a fabulous start!

Hey, Beautiful! The Secrets to Preventing and Dealing with Dry Skin

Keep your skin soft, supple and sexy with these top tips.

-April Daniels Hussar, sponsored by Simple® Skincare

As someone with sensitive skin, I know that keeping the right balance of moisture in your skin can be tricky, because with the wrong products or treatment, skin can get overly dry or overly oily. Like Goldilocks, we’re looking for “just right” — here are the top 5 things that help me!

1. Apply lotion or moisturizer after your wash your face or bathe.

Hitting your bod with a lotion of some sort right after you step out of the shower can help lock in moisture. Just pat yourself dry and apply at will! For your face, stick with a sensitive skin moisturizer (I’ve been using Simple Skincare’s Replenishing Rich Moisturizer (that offers 12-hour moisturization!) and it works great — click here to read my full review).

2. But, avoid OVERwashing.

Obviously it’s important to wash your hands and body, and cleanse your face, but be careful — too much soaping up can cause your skin to dry out, leading to flakiness and itchiness. I never use actual soap on my face; instead go for a nice, gentle cleanser. I’ve been using the Simple Skincare Moisturizing Facial Wash for a few months now and it has become of one of my all-time favorite facial skincare products — it really does cleanse and nourish my skin without stripping it dry OR leaving an annoying film. LOVE.

3. Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate!

Sloughing away dead skin is essential to keeping the new skin underneath nice and healthy. I use a body wash with an exfoliant in it about once a week (this really helps with getting a smooth shave, too) and a different exfoliating product on my face once or twice a week.

4. Don’t forget your beauty sleep.

Nighttime is one of the skin’s best times to heal itself. I use a heavier night cream in the winter than in the summer because I feel like my skin is oiler in the hot months. One of the tricks to dealing with dry skin is not trying to over-moisturize it — that tends to make my own skin feel like it’s dry and oily at the same time!

5. Drink up!

Staying hydrated is really one of the keys to great skin. I’m not talking about overdoing it — I personally have never noticed that loading up on water has any affect on my skin, but I sure can see it in my face when I’m dehydrated! Alcohol especially can be really drying — a good rule of thumb, for more reasons than one, is to make sure that for every cocktail or glass of wine you have, drink a glass of water or a club soda.

FTC Full Disclosure: April Daniels Hussar is BettyConfidential’s Executive Editor and in that role she is a brand ambassador for Simple® Skincare. The views and opinions in this post are her own; visit www.facebook.com/SimpleSkincare to share your story on sensitive skin.

10 Top Tips for Great Online Photos

It’s surprisingly easy to look your best in a photo that’ll stand out from the rest online.

-Kate Houston

Whether you’re online dating, on Facebook, or Instagram your photo has to compete against millions of others. So how can you stand out? By taking tips from people who know how to get noticed–-advertisers. Oops, were you expecting advice from supermodels? Let’s face it, it doesn’t take an expert to make you look hot.

10. Let friends call the shots

Though I recommend at least one professional headshot, enlisting friends has several advantages. Friends are fun, free, and game for helping you pick different clothes for different settings. A good camera and a good friend go a long way in making fabulous online dating photos. Don’t have a good camera? Rent one and ask for a tripod to prevent shaking.

9. Boost your confidence

Trying to look hot, wholesome and smart is hard enough, but while a camera is pointed at you? Talk about pressure. So how do you inhibit your inhibitions? Take a good look at yourself before the camera does. Practice in front of a mirror. Smile big, smile small, turn, tilt, put a foot forward: try it all. Soon, you’ll be ready to strike a pose faster than toddlers in tiaras.

8. Have a seat

Still too coy for a Kodak moment? Then sit on a stool and relax. While you’re at it, cross your legs. Put your elbow on your knee. Lean forward into your hand. Have your friend take a shot looking down as you look up. Sit on a log, on the ground, or on a boulder. For that matter, be unique – sit atop a car! Every advertising expert knows that the best way to stand out is by doing the unexpected (but keep it natural).

7. Pose like a pro

If you follow every tip on how to pose, you can end up looking as relaxed as Madonna’s face (could it get any tighter?). So remember these few: Always turn slightly to the side. This minimizes the focus on shoulders and can be slimming. Look slightly above the camera so that your eyes are wide open. Lastly, keep from looking stiff by bending an elbow or knee. Chill is hot!

Read 10 Online Dating Safety Tips Every Woman Needs to Know

6. Do it on the side

Have the light fall on your good side. Side lighting makes everyone’s features pop out well than front lighting (which is made even worse with a flash). Light is easy enough to control when shooting indoors. However, for outdoor photoshoots, try to schedule time in the morning or afternoon so you can avoid the glare of a noonday sun.

5. Smile, yes smile!

Recent research suggests that women should smile and make eye contact, while men should look away and not smile. Be warned, just because something has been researched, doesn’t mean it’s been researched scientifically and results are often hypotheses. Fact is, advertisers spend millions trying to make their products likeable and trustworthy (also key in online dating). That’s why, with the exception of phonily-foreign cologne ads, most models smile.

4. Show a bit of skin

I’ve seen dating profile pictures that showed more cleavage than a Girl’s Gone Wild video. I’ve also seen guys lifting their shirts to show off their abs. A little cleavage is sexy. It’s also fabulously flirty and less typical to wear something slightly off-shoulder. For men who want to show abs, do so naturally with a shot of you playing beach volleyball or surfing.

3. Pay attention to detail

In online dating, it’s important to look your best, yet still look natural. So try these touches for cyber stardom: use eye drops to clear redness; use face powder (dudes too!) to minimize shine; keep gel on hand to tone down flyaway hair; and bring clear gloss (again, men too). Women might want to touch up with some makeup, just don’t overdo it.

2. Consider your environment

Make sure all visual elements in your shot work well together. Though clothes need to enhance your body and complexion, they also have to complement the backdrop. For instance, if you’re by a colorful garden, then wear a strong, solid color so that you’re not overshadowed. Any time I’ve had a photoshoot or TV appearance, I deliberately chose clothes that stood out within the setting. Never let a background (or a shared shot with people and pets) dominate. Go Kardashian and make the world revolve around you.

1. Use subtle messaging

Though you want to keep the focus on you, secondary elements can reveal subtle aspects of your personality that, in turn, can attract the eye of someone liked-minded. If you like to hike, take a photo of yourself hiking through a mountain. If you love sports, have a friend capture you cheering for your favorite team. Advertisers do this all the time to maximize the message. The caveat? Go light on party pix. Snooki is mesmerizing for all the wrong reasons.

On a final note, I’m always asked how many photos to post. My personal ideal is four to six head and body shots. That way you don’t seem to by shying from the camera and hiding something. Nor do you appear conceited or desperate.

On another final note (I mean it this time, I promise), it’s been said that every picture tells a story. However, to make that story come alive, you need to complete your self-summary. Take it from an advertising expert – if you treat every element of your online dating profile like a marketing opportunity, your competition won’t stand a chance.

Kate Houston has been an ad writer and marketing expert for 20 plus years. She also founded trysweettalk.com, the only service in North America to use ad techniques so that dating profiles, LinkedIn profiles and professional bios stand out and get noticed. Check out her blog and follow her on Twitter or check out her Facebook page.

3 Steps to Ready Your Closet for Your New Spring Wardrobe!

The stores may be tempting you with their gorgeous new spring clothes, but make room in your closets first!

-Harvey Helms

I love the middle of February! Spring fashion and cosmetics are arriving! All my favorite mags weigh about 20 pounds each because they are stuffed with all the new deliciousness soon to arrive at a store near you. Or just a click away digitally depending on which shopping fix you need to satisfy.

But girls, it is also that time of year to go into your closet[s] and take a long hard look at what has to go. If you want to take a martini shaker and your favorite glass, be my guest. That will make it more fun. Just don’t start shopping until you make room for what’s coming. Still have items with tags hanging in there because you didn’t find the thing to wear with it? I love InStyle magazine because it tells you which trends and what goes with what if your fashion challenged in this area. But! Back to your closet!

Here are my three practical tips to get the job done!

1. Take trash bags with you into the closet

When you’ve finished stuffing them with things to go–put the bags immediately in your car and set the GPS for Goodwill or your fave thrift store. If you leave piles on the floor somehow they’ll end up back in your closet. NO! They must go!

Read Get Sexy Skin for Just Pennies A Day!

2. If you haven’t worn it in a 2 years get rid of it

Seriously. If you hear yourself saying, “But I might wear it again,” ignore that thought ‘cause you know deep in your heart you are not going to wear it again. Sentimental clothes like wedding gowns and your first prom dress belong in storage. Not in your everyday closets!

3. If you have some crazy pieces

You purchased these things that look retro or just strange really–create a Halloween costume box that can be stored in the garage or basement. You know, the 50s skirt you thought was so cute? Or the black netted top for the disco? You can go as a 1950′s vampire this year! Fabulous.

Okay my lazy princesses! Get those martinis shaken but not stirred and do what you have to do!

Happy Cleaning!

xo

Harvey

Harvey Helms is a beauty culturist and writer, drawing on 30 years of experience in cosmetics,fashion and design. Harvey has held positions ranging from Global Director of Beauty for Revlon Cosmetics to Executive Director of Special Events for Donna Karan Beauty. Harvey currently lives and works in Silicon Valley, where he just finished writing his first book in a trilogy of three: an engaging tell-all on the fashion industry. Follow Harvey on Twitter.com/HarveyHelms.

Read all of Harvey’s columns here.

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NY Chic City Style vs. LA Cool Style

Both cities are hot, which city’s style is cooler? You be the judge.

-Brittany Johnson, NewYorkGirlStyle.com

New Yorkers are fast paced and loud, while Los Anglinos are laid back and relaxed. New Yorkers take cabs, subways and trains to get to where they are going. In Los Angeles, dwellers hop in their convertibles and drive. New York residents embody a style of classy chic, while Los Angeles denizens pull their looks from the ideal of bohemian comfort.

The differing fashion trends and styles of New York and Los Angeles stem from the climate differences. New Yorkers experience the harsh highs and lows of each season, whereas Los Angles dwellers thrive in warm sunny weather almost year round.

New York style

NYC style is chic: effortless sophistication, with fashionistas bundled up in enough layers to face the fickle elements. The city’s style is an amalgam of Wall Street business, Upper-West Side prep, Lower-East side hip, and various degrees of punk. Black is the color of choice for these trendsetters from their heels to their fingernails. New York style is everything but comfortable.

When constructing a NY chic look, pair an embellished top with dark designer denim. Finish with a structured blazer or leather jacket and sky-high stilettos. This outfit can be used to wear to work, and then out to play. New Yorkers have to think about these kinds of things, because there is simply not enough time to make it home after a day in the office to change before going out.

LA style

The California cool look is all about styling yourself by instinct rather than trends. There is less emphasis on appearing polished–-undone hair and makeup can look amazing. The emphasis on L.A. style is placed on comfort. Maxi-dresses, loose tops, fitted jeans, and a pair of leather flip flops are the standard for the area.

To create an outfit with a Cali vibe, I’d suggest that you pair a flowy bohemian  dress with espadrilles or wooden heels. This outfit can be worn through out the day. When you hit the town at night,  trade the loose dress with a more form fitting one. Finish your L.A. look with minimal makeup and natural hair spritzed with salt water to create beachy waves.

NewYorkGirlStyle.com is a website that covers the latest trends, fashion news, celebrity style and more. More from NewYorkGirlStyle.com:

• How to Style Trendy Chic Geometric Patterns
• How to Get Smooth Healthy Sexy Feet
• Jennifer Aniston Healthy Lifestyle Tips

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Why Your “Friendship” With Your Favorite TV Character Is a Good Thing

This type of special friendship has a name—a parasocial relationship—and it could even be good for you. Here’s why.

-Nadia Goodman, YouBeauty.com

When Laura Moore, a business school student in Toronto, first “met” Liz Lemon on 30 Rock, she thought, “I’ve found my soul mate and she is on TV.” The clincher: A season one episode when Liz, explaining to Jenna how her new relationship is going, said “Terrible. I just want to go home and watch that show about midgets and eat a block of cheese.”

For Laura, the line was a revelation. “I’ve thought that exact same thing!” she says. She’s been a fan ever since, relieved by the thought that someone else thinks like she does.

Television has returned after its summer hiatus, but if you’re a little too excited to hear about your favorite characters’ adventures and heartbreaks (and maybe caught a few reruns just to “hang out” with them over their agonizingly long vacations), rest assured: You are not insane.

Feeling like you’re friends with a fictional character is a common phenomenon—one that psychologists call “parasocial interaction”—and it can even be good for you.

Parasocial interaction is psych-speak for relationships that, unlike real friendships, only go one way. (As in, Friends’ Rachel Green has no idea that you exist even though you know that she once owed fifteen dollars in a poker game and watched her daughter’s birth.) These fictional friendships are surprisingly similar to real-life friendships and go from first meeting to intimacy to breakup, just like any real-world affair.

Read 9 Pop Culture Love Lessons to Unlearn

Stage 1: The “Getting To Know You” Phase

When Chris Basler, a screenwriter in Los Angeles, was in high school, he had what he calls “an intense personal connection” with David Fisher of Six Feet Under. David’s plot line in the first season centered around coming out to his family—something Chris had yet to do—so watching the show every week with his parents hit very close to home. “It was really painful,” he says. “I knew that his struggle was the same struggle I was going through.”

Seeing ourselves in a character can help us establish a bond, explains Dara Greenwood, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at Vassar College. That connection can feel intensely personal, especially since we get to witness their inner struggles.

Since Chris works behind the scenes, he knows that fictional struggles come from somewhere real. “Writers write what they know. If they’re writing a gay couple dealing with adoption, that’s coming from a real place,” he says. “Watching it on TV lets you know what’s normal and what other people are dealing with.”

While some characters show us the person we are, others show us who we aspire to be, and can even help us get there. (Don’t we all want our conversations to be as punchy and witty as Seinfeld?)

“Some research suggests that individuals with lower self-esteem may benefit from feeling connected to a character who is more in line with their ‘ideal self.’ It can help them internalize that perspective,” says Greenwood. Ultimately, it may come down to whether the qualities you admire are healthy and achievable. If they are, idealization can be good for you.

Tween girls are a species of their own, right? Still little enough to sort of be able to “believe” in the Easter Bunny, but too big for really getting into the egg hunt. (Or at least admit to really getting into it!) We’ve rounded up some super sweet treats that will make a splash in any Tween basket .. dare we say, they’re all totally Instagrammable?

She’ll want one of these TONY MOLY Petite Bunny Lip Gloss Bars in every color! Can you blame her? ($8 each at RickysNYC.com)

She’ll still want a chocolate bunny, but make it a fancy chocolate bunny! (The better for you steal the ears…) Godiva Solid Milk Chocolate Easter Bunny with Foil Eggs is a sweet treat for a not-yet-too-sopisticated girl. ($15 at Godiva.com)

Taylor Swift’s Champion Eyelet Berry Keds. Taylor. Swift. Keds. ($55 at Keds.com)

This You Are Loved boxed set is beautifully packaged, and contains one 2 oz spray bottle each of Olivine Atelier sprays. Love + Salt is a vegan, volume-enhancing mist to give hair prety, beachy waves.  Made with  hydrating salts like Himalayan Pink Salt, you can also use it as a body mist. Love + Roses is a gorgeous blend of beautifiers, essential oils, sacred flower essences, and waters to soften skin and hair. ($24 at ShopOlivine.com)

You will want to steal this one. A favorite of the Royal Family across several generations and served at every state banquet, Prestat has held a second Royal Warrant for over 35 years – awarded by  Her Majesty The Queen (the first Warrant was awarded by The Queen Mother). YES FANCY. The Prestat Red Velvet Easter Egg  is wrapped in gold foil and packaged in Prestat’s hand-crafted box designed by famous British Artist Kitty Arden. And inside of THAT, are the truffles: Creamy Red Velvet icing is piped into a milk chocolate shell & rolled in fresh crushed raspberries.  ($26.95 at Central Market Baskets)

Cool Easter bunnies bring cool egg-shaped Korean soaps. Right? Right. TONY MOLY Egg Pore Shiny Skin Soap Pack works for for all skin types — they’re deep cleansing to lessen the appearance of pores and get rid skin of excess sebum and dirt. ($14 at RickysNYC.com)

Olay Fresh Outlast Body Wash, Cooling White Strawberry & Mint. Brand new from Olay, this special formula is one of the very first U.S. products to use the white strawberry scent. Plus, they new body washes are lower in sulfates and contain 3X more mild cleansers than in the past. ($4.34 at Drugstore.com)

Harry & David  Hand-Dipped Chocolate-Covered Strawberries and Cheesecake Pops. Out of this world, right? And yes, Mr. Easter Bunny, they overnight deliver. ($49.95 at HarryandDavid.com)

Bethany Mota Fiesta Fringe Bucket Bag … the perfect “bucket” to use as a basket! ($24 at Aeropostale.com)

1. Ball Fresh Tech $299
The makers of Ball Jars really want Mom to can her tomatoes! This new to market gadget takes out all the guesswork (and work!)

2. Bactrack Mobile Breathalyzer $149.99
The Bactrack is a mobile breathlyzer syncs to an app on your smartphone and tells you when your blood alcohol level will return to zero. The device is small enough to fit in a wristlet for Mom’s night out on the town. Safety first!

3. The Creative Station $34.99
Mom craft much? It’s a label maker, a laminator, a magnet maker..even business cards!
Available nationwide at Michael’s.

4. D-Link Wi-Fi Baby Camera with Night Vision $179.99
New moms will love this! High res night vision, two-way audio, and motion, sound and temperature detection..It also has on-board recording, customizable color rings to match the nursery, and it even plays lullabies for baby.

5. Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb $147.19
Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb is a great women’s perfume. It’s modern with hints of tea, freesia, jasmine, and rose orchid that create a lovely flowery scent that is sweet and sophisticated.

6. Floating Flower Frame $19.95
From Papyrus Online, this borderless frame is lovely and sweet and under twenty bucks! J’adore!

Laughter is a bold declaration of happiness.

We’re all familiar with its contagious effect, and attempts to stifle it often result in uncontrollable giggles. Professional comedians claim that there is humor to be found in virtually any situation, given enough time. We all know that laughing feels good, but what impact does it have on our daily wellbeing? Let’s turn to the research to find out.

Recent studies suggest that laughter enhances the quality of romantic relationships. One experiment found that couples instructed to reminisce about occasions where they laughed together reported being more satisfied with their relationships, compared to couples that remembered times when they laughed apart from one another or times when they shared positive (but not funny) experiences1.

Interestingly, the occasions on which couples laughed together were not always positive. This suggests that the ability to laugh about neutral or even negative experiences together enhances relationship satisfaction, which is highly related to feeling happy.

Read Live Simply: Unclutter Your Daily Health Routine

How can you make this work for your relationship? Next time you and your significant other are caught in traffic or dine at a mediocre restaurant, help each other find the humor in the situation.

Each time you do this, you create one more memory for the both of you to fondly remember.

Research also indicates that laughter is powerful enough to enhance our physical health. A recent experiment found that mothers who watched and laughed at a Charlie Chaplin movie, “Modern Times,” had higher levels of melatonin in their breast milk, which helped reduce allergic responses and promoted better sleep in their infant children. Another group of mothers that watched a video about weather information did not experience this change2.

Another experiment revealed that women who watched a humorous movie reported lower stress levels and experienced greater immune system functionality, relative to a control group that watched a tourism video3. Finally, laughing has been associated with decreased levels of prorenin in the blood, which is involved in the onset of diabetic complications4.

Laughter may not be the best medicine, but it does seem to have a legitimate medicinal value.

Being a mom is awesome, but it also, at times involves an awful lot of stress and guilt. That’s no big newsflash — entire books are dedicated to the topic, and oh about a zillionkatrillion blog posts. But still, as Mother’s Day rolls around, it’s a good time to concentrate a little bit on the positive. As an antidote to all that angst, sometimes it’s good to just treat yourself, whether with some precious “me time” (not involving hiding in the bathroom with the book you’ve been trying to read for 8 years) or an actual present involving the exchange of cold, hard cash.

Here are 6 indulgent gifts to give yourself as a reminder that you deserve all the best this Mother’s Day, and that you appreciate yourself. Trust me — you’ll thank yourself for it!

What’s the Best Beauty Advice Your Mom Ever Gave You?

Beauty expert Rebekah George shares the top beauty tips her mother shared with her.

My sister and I usually make fun of my mom when we go to the beach — she wears long-sleeve t-shirts with pants and hides from the sun underneath her giant umbrella. But, thanks to her unusual beach habits, her skin is gorgeous and smooth.

It’s one of the many beauty tips I’ve learned from my mother — you may love the sun, but it’s not your skin’s BFF, so protection is key. She’s also taught me that less is more when it comes to makeup, and that red lipstick is classic, timeless and sexy. Thanks, mom.

Read 5 Celeb Moms Who Deserve Mother’s Day Awards

I’m not the only one who heeds my mother’s beauty advice. Rebekah George, fashion & beauty expert and host of Total Look on TotalBeauty.com, has never forgotten the beauty lessons her own mother has taught her.

After Mother’s Day earlier this month, we caught up with Rebekah, who was eager to share her mom’s important beauty tips with us. We’re curious, is that one of your mother’s beauty tips that she taught you? What else did you learn from her?

Ever pee when you sneeze? You’re not alone. You probably have weak pelvic floor muscles, which are caused by pregnancy, childbirth, aging and being overweight. The solution is to perform Kegel exercises, which help strengthen those muscles. But not everyone digs doing Kegel exercises. They can feel weird, and even though you’ve been told 100 times to clench the same muscle you squeeze when stopping the flow of urine, it’s hard not to wonder if you’re actually doing them correctly.

Read 5 Things to Know About Barefoot Running

The good news? There are other exercises that can help tighten your pelvic floor muscles. “Pilates and other core exercises do help the pelvic floor,” notes Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., author of The Yale Guide to Women’s Reproductive Health: From Menarche to Menopause. “I still encourage Kegels, too, but these other exercises are excellent and helpful.”

Want to head off those embarrassing accidents? Try these exercises recommended and performed by Pilates and fitness instructor Cassey Ho.

If you’ve spent one too many hours attempting to master Candy Crush Saga, it’s time for a new guilty pleasure –one that’ll deliver on-trend styles without breaking the bank! Enter Little Black Bag, an ingenious website that brings the Japanese tradition of Fukubukuro to the online community right here in the United States. What exactly is Fukubukuro, you ask? Also known as the “Lucky Bag Sale”, it’s an event where retailers sell mystery bags filled with goodies that customers then trade amongst friends and fellow shoppers.

Here’s how Little Black Bag works: Visit the website, where you’ll have the opportunity to take a quiz to determine your style personality. You’ll also be given the chance to pick your first item. Then, Little Black Back’s stylists will get to work choosing one to three additional pieces that match your personal style.

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Too much of a gamble for you? Not to worry! After checkout, you’ll have the opportunity to swap items with fashion-loving site members. Once you’ve made those key trades, Little Black Bag will ship your goodies to your door. And you’ll even have the opportunity to send items back for exchange or refund within 30 days, just in case. Brilliant!

Participating brands include Badgley Mischka, Kenneth Cole, BCBGeneration, Betsey Johnson, and Dolce and Gabbana, so you know you’re shelling out for stuff you’ll actually want to wear. Pricing for members is $29 for the intro tier ($50-$75 value) and $49 for the mid-tier ($100-$150 value).

Learn more about Little Black Bag by visiting their Facebook page and taking the personal style quiz. See you there!

Photos courtesy of Little Black Bag

Good news if you’re in a long-term relationship: Those annoying arguments about whose turn it is to clean the bathroom or who spent too much on new shoes will likely diminish over time, but not because you’ve discovered the secret to marital bliss. According to a study published in the July 2013 issue of Journal of Marriage and Family, relationships often evolve to avoiding or ignoring conflict—and that can be a good or bad. We’ll explain.

Sarah Holley, Ph.D., San Francisco State University assistant professor of psychology, interviewed 127 long-term married couples several times over 13 years. During that time, she and her colleagues noted how they communicated about everyday conflicts from housework to finances.

What the researchers found was something many couples can relate to: the classic demand-withdraw pattern increased over time. This pattern typically happens when one person blames or pressures a partner to engage (“Why don’t you ever take out the garbage?”), while the other tries to simply avoid the discussion (“Honey, have you seen my keys?”).

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“Over time, both husbands and wives showed a significant increase in their avoidance behaviors,” Holley explains, “meaning that both spouses were increasingly more likely to avoid conflict discussions in later life stages by doing things like diverting attention from the topic or changing the subject altogether.”

This “avoidance trend” doesn’t just apply to married couples either.

Holley says she previously compared demand-withdraw behaviors in gay and lesbian couples in committed relationships (before any states allowed them to marry) to heterosexual married couples and noted similar patterns.

“I found no differences in the amount of demand-withdraw behaviors any of these groups demonstrated during conflict discussions,” she says. “Therefore, I don’t think the findings of this study are unique to married couples. I would expect that any long-term committed couples would be likely to show a similar pattern of change as they move into later life stages.”

Married or not, conflict avoidance almost always stems from a lack of communication know-how, according to Jane Greer, Ph.D., relationship expert and author of What About Me? Stop Selfishness From Ruining Your Relationship. “Couples fall into this pattern because they lack the tools and verbal skills they need in order to successfully negotiate conflict resolution,” she says.