A new study reveals that women feel least attractive between the hours of 7a.m. and 12p.m., making us more susceptible to marketing and advertising that promises to give a boost to our beauty.

The study also showed that we feel ugliest on Mondays and most attractive on Thursdays. Also, there’s a short, sacred window between 12pm-3pm when we feel our best-looking.

I don’t know about you, but this all sounds about right to me. I certainly do not feel comfortable putting my face first in the early morning. For me, that’s any time before 11am. I have never, ever been a morning person. Even after a good night’s sleep. Apparently, beauty companies are using this information to calculate their marketing and advertising strategies toward women. Idea being, the worse we feel about our appearance, the more vulnerable we are to making a purchase through “encouraging” beauty marketing. (Noted. Because I’d probably buy anything anyone convincing tried to sell me that promised to banish my “morning face.”) On the flip side, when we feel our best, say on Thursday at 1p.m., marketers will appeal to us in a different way, with “empowering “advertising hooks.

Bottom line, beware of impulsive cosmetic purchases before noon and ahead of the weekend. (And know you’re not alone feeling ugly at morning drop-off.)

You’re welcome.

Without my brows filled in, I look the facial equivalent of bald. My face is like a sentence without punctuation.

In some cruel twist of follicle fate, I was blessed with an ungodly amount of thick hair and cursed with sparse, anemic eyebrows. You know how women are often asked what beauty product they can’t leave the house without? Usually it’s lipstick or mascara. And I get that. But for me, it’s my eyebrow makeup. I won’t leave the house without my brows on. If I had more guts and a better camera, I would show you some before-brows photos, but I’m really not that brave. Those defining arches are the absolute bane of my existence. Sometimes it’s a good brow day and sometimes it isn’t. It just is what it is. I’ve often considered trying my own experiment with Rogaine, but at the end of the day, I’m just thankful for great products and my steady hand.

Whether you need to tame or tweeze, fill-in or shape, these are the eyebrow products I swear by:

1: Benefit Gimme Brow is a light gel that fills in brows really well because it adheres nicely to fine hairs and the skin. The wonderful precision brush enables you to create shape, too. (I use Light/Medium)

2: Anastastia Brow Pen  has a fine, felt tip that makes it easy to make hair-like strokes and really draw in brows where there are none. (I use Universal Light)

3: Laura Mercier Brow Powder: If you’re more comfortable with powder and a good angled brow brush, this is the best in class. The colors blend well to create your perfect shade.

4. Tom Ford Brow Sculptor is simply the best: bold, blendable, soft yet slightly waxy pencil. Stays on through my spin class.

5: Tweezerman slanted tweezer: Gold standard. I like mine mini, and in bright pink.

6: Joey Healy Brow Structure in Clear provides great hold without being too shiny or stiff.

7: Anastasia Mini Duo Angled/Spooley #7: Genius. I use the spooley end to blend and soften after I draw in my brows with multiple products. The angled brush is the ideal stiffness for applying brow powder.

8: Anastasia Brow Duality: I don’t leave the house without applying a hint of the shimmer end to the inside corners of my eyes and the matte end under my brows. At night, I use the shimmer side in my cupid’s bow and a touch down the center of my nose.

Photo ©Depositphotos/subbotina

The Big Apple recently became the first city ever to make the self esteem of young girls an official initiative. In a striking ad campaign across the city, on the sides of buses and in subway stations, NYC’s “I’m a Girl” campaign tells young girls they are smart, funny, curious, and beautiful just the way they are. Featuring 21 of the city’s lovely and diverse girls ages 7-12, the ads show a spectrum of races, body types and shapes, in the hope that spotlighting real girls in the media will help real girls feel good about themselves.

I love the idea of this campaign. I do believe the media plays a role in the evolution of a young girl’s self confidence. After all, the media can factor into our own sense of self if we let it. And as we all know, the self-esteem of a young girl is everything. It is the seed from which her belief system grows: what she believe she deserves, what she believes she can achieve. Or wear. Or eat. Or love.  I commend the city for this love letter to girls.

“I’m a Girl” got me thinking about my own first grader’s self confidence. Julia’s Dad and I try to be thoughtful about the messages we send about her mind and body. We tell her how clever she is when she makes up a new joke, how smart she is when she applies what she learns. We praise her strong body for learning how to do the monkey bars, after weeks of blisters and falls. We acknowledge how hard she works in school and how kind she is to people way more than we praise her looks. I think, right now, Julia believes she can do whatever she sets her mind to if she works hard enough.

But so help me, every day I set her out into the world I wonder what forces, what tiny details might be tugging at the steely fabric of my precious girl.  Read more

It’s called Size Matters, by Essie. It’s an oldie but goodie.

The color makes me think of farmstand-fresh triple berry pie.

Just wanted to share.

(How do you think you get a job as a nail polish namer? I want that job.)

Both my girls have dry skin prone to redness and dermatitis. I have to be so careful about the products I put on their sensitive little bodies.

Mustela’s Stelatopia No-Rinse Cleansing Water has been a staple in my house since my big girl was a baby, almost seven years ago—which means this might be one of the most enduring beauty products I’ve ever owned!

This magical mulit-tasker can be used on a baby’s diaper area, especially useful if you’re dealing with diaper rash. I like to use it on my toddler’s body on days we skip a bath. And I use it every morning on both my girls to wipe away sleepy faces. It’s so much gentler than any baby wipe and truly nourishing for young skin.

Think of it like water, with a boost.