There’s nothing I love more than summer, and sometimes my hair agrees.  I love the waves that salt water puts in my hair, and the fact that I can just throw it up and go out.  But what I don’t love is the greasiness and frizziness that accompanies the excessive heat.  If I’m not looking over-gelled like Danny in Grease, then I have a minor fro going on comparable to a clown.

Shockingly, neither of these are good looks.

But what am I supposed to do? If I let my hair go naturally, it blows up Monica-Gellar-goes-to-Hawaii-style. But if I add product, my hair becomes a slick, oily mess.  One summer problem would be enough; dealing with both of these can be tricky.  Luckily, I’ve devoted lots of time to fixing this problem before the heat sets in this summer and I’ve found some products that can help tame these heinous summer looks.

Control the Oil:

Shampoo: Oily hair is actually caused by an oily scalp.  Your scalp produces sebum (oil) and it transfers to your locks.  So when you are looking for a shampoo to combat the oil, you want one that will control the root of the problem.  Shampoos labeled “Sebo-control” are designed to remove the oil from your scalp, like this shampoo from L’Oreal. After lather/rinse/repeating with it, I’ve noticed that the grease stays away longer, especially when hair is straight.

To Condition or Not to Condition: If your hair is only mildly oily and you want to condition, make sure you don’t condition the roots of your hair.  If your hair is especially oily, condition only twice a week and just apply a small amount of conditioner to the ends. Read More »

Forbes names the most powerful celebrities.

The fat free trend of the 90′s.

7 things I learned from Adam Lambert.

Traditional marriage defined.

Europe doesn’t love Britney.

Are you Tweeting too hard?

I have nine months to grapple with my disbelief over dating a 30-year-old before my boyfriend actually celebrates his third decade of life. At 21, I’m young enough to lack the proper shame for being broke, have neither a bachelor’s degree nor any discernible expertise, and occasionally cheat the public transportation system by paying youth fare. My boyfriend shares none of these qualities and certainly couldn’t pull off the latter, but we are remarkably compatible despite a seven-and-a-half-year age difference.

I could list a litany of reasons why we’re an amazing couple (and alienate a large portion of readers while I’m at it), but the ultimate factor in the success of our relationship is not communication, trust, or any other idealized attribute. What it comes down to is something quite practical: similar expectations. It might not seem romantic, but if you’re going to date a 30-year-old at 21, it matters a great deal if he wants to 1) get married, 2) have children, or 3) do anything requiring more than six-months commitment at a time. Communication goes out the window when he’s communicating his desire for you to bear his first child.

In my personal experience, I’ve also found that an age difference matters far less than a difference in lifestyle. Granted, my boyfriend and I share plenty of commonalities — similarly subversive viewpoints, a deep affection for his bulldog, a disdain for abstinence in any form — but our relationship is also aided by the fact that neither of us has 9-to-5 aspirations for the immediate future. The same can’t be said for other guys I’ve dated, plenty who were younger than my boyfriend and eager to complete 100-hour work weeks in the pursuit of corporate glory. It never would’ve worked with any of them — not just because I won’t stand for scheduling dates via personal assistants, but also because a man who interacts with Excel all day can’t possibly have anything interesting to say to me over dinner. Read More »

Now that Kate’s not around, he has a chance to say something.

Whose high school pics are these?

Best and worst schools for a kegger.

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Sandra Bullock looks super fine on the cover of Glamour.

WTF is Joe Jonas doing?

I’m going to preface this with a disclaimer.  My version of airplane etiquette is a bit skewed since I require massive amounts of drugs to fly.  All I do is  make sure to take enough to avoid the projectile vomiting (yeah, I’m dead serious), but not too much so I end up drooling on my neighbor.  It’s a good flight if I’m unconscious the entire time.

For those of you who spend their flights on iPods, reading, or trying desperately to occupy themselves while stuck in a metal tube for a few hours with a hundred strangers, there are a some rules you should observe. So, sit back, relax, and listen up. Here comes the airplane etiquette:

Chatting With Your Neighbor:
If you happen to be a very social person, remember that your neighbor is not required to talk to you.  Just because someone happens to be sitting next to you (and your thighs may be touching) doesn’t mean that you two need to share your life stories and become BFFs.  And if this is something they don’t quite seem to understand, it is perfectly acceptable to tell them (politely) that you are too busy/sick/tired or whatever to talk. Or just put your earphone in (with or without the music playing) so they get the hint.

Arm Rest Possession:
I am pretty sure there is nothing more uncomfortable than sharing a 3-inch armrest with a large, hairy man. Wait, I take that back. Wrestling a large, hairy man for the armrest might take the cake. Common courtesy on arm rest possession is as follows: If you are on the aisle, take the outer-most armrest. If you are in the window, take the outer-most armrest. Let the poor sucker in the middle have both of the inside guys. After all, poor guy has the worst seat on the plane, let him have something. Read More »

Abortion is not something I like to think about all the time. In my mind, if I’m careful enough, it’s not something I really need to worry about. But just because I block it out and pretend that I’m invincible doesn’t mean that it’s not a huge issue in relationships (both serious and limited engagements).

I don’t really know where I stand on abortion. Well, that’s not entirely true. I know that every woman deserves to have one if she so chooses, but I really don’t know what I’d choose. Either way, it’s a choice that would impact me for the rest of my life.

It would also impact someone else – the father – though that is not something I’d really thought about before, either. I’ve always considered abortion a personal decision, but is it? Does the guy get a say in things? Should he? Does he even want one? So many questions, so I turned to my favorite guy to see what he thought about the whole thing. For the first time in a long time, he really got me thinking. Read More »

Who likes Oreos? Me!
Who likes HBO? Me!

But, if I had to choose?  Yeah, I’d go for the food.  Oddly enough, more and more people are choosing the opposite route and plunging their money into cable boxes rather than their grocery budget.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, in this time of deep financial distress, people are cutting back on food purchases in order to hold onto their cable TV subscriptions.  In fact, grocery bills are being cut faster than even cell phone services!  Is there something wrong with this picture?

I guess I get it. If you don’t have a job or money to hit the town, what else is there to do besides watch TV? You aren’t going to sit in the dark staring at the wall…. but cutting back on food – most likely the nutritious kind – just so you can catch a little MTV? Well, it all just seems so backwards.

To each their own, I guess. I mean, people probably think I’m crazy for refusing to go store-brand on my Oreos (sorry, but they do NOT taste the same) or giving up my Starbucks addiction, but those are things I just can’t live without.  Who am I to judge?

What about you? What do you refuse to give up when faced with a budget crunch?

The time is not yet ripe for incoming college freshmen to begin shopping for their dorm rooms, as many of us don’t even have our room assignments yet. But since I’m suffering from acute Senioritis and have nothing else better to do, I’ve taken to scouring the Internet for the best dorm buys.

Some of the things I’ve found have made me laugh from their sheer absurdity, while others have made me cry, usually because they’re either too expensive or they violate my university’s safety policy. Whether they’re indulgent or utterly necessary, here are some of the items that have set my heart a-flutter with desire: Read More »

It’s (finally) June, which means shorts weather is fast approaching! I personally find it hard to spend a lot of money on shorts. I mean, they’re like 1/3 of a pair of pants for a similar price. Scam? I think so. Plus, they can only be worn for a few months a year. I’d rather invest in jeans or tops I can layer that work year-round.

This year, instead of hitting the mall in search of the latest trendy pair of shorts, stick with the pairs you already own and update them with other items that won’t spend 9 months of the year in storage. Read More »

Men are tricky creatures. As much as we may wish we could read their minds, it just isn’t possible (yet… come on, science!). But don’t worry, I have discovered a trick to help us understand them a little more.

We all know guys that have picked up Cosmo from time-to-time (or have a monthly subscription) to help them figure out what their women are thinking. Hell, I bet a bunch of guys are reading CollegeCandy right now to try and figure something out about their girlfriends. Well ladies, we can do the same thing! Taking a peek at the kind of dating and relationship advice guys are being fed is a great way to get into the mind of a dude and see why he acts the way he does. Every Wednesday I’ll be doing just that. Hopefully, this will explain a few things…

This Week’s Article: “Open Up to Her?” from askmen.com.

A reader writes to Doc Love (really? Doc Love?) because he has been having problems with the woman he has been dating for 21 months. He writes: “Caprice is now saying she doesn’t know if we’re compatible. She still says she loves me and is still touchy with me (so I don’t think it’s just Womanese). One of her specific complaints is that I don’t communicate, and that she doesn’t really know me. In your book you say not to talk too much about yourself and only tell her things that will raise her Interest Level. I shut my mouth and make sure I listen, but if she asks what I think about something and I think my answer will lower Interest Level, I don’t say anything. Should I open up more?”

Doc Love’s first move is to remind the writer that he is always right. He says: “”The System” works all the time on everything. If you missed something in the Dating Dictionary or misinterpreted my techniques, then it’s not a problem with my book; it’s a problem with you. So please don’t say it only works ‘up to a point.’” Wow, way to hit that cocky ball out of the park, Doc Love. You really think you have all the dating answers? There isn’t one single situation in the whole world that the Doc Love “system” might not work for?

I’m really hating this guy already. Read More »