You know how it feels when you’ve come across the PERFECT perfume you’d love to wear day in day out for the next year at least, and wanting to keep it a secret, for fear of smelling like the next person you bump into at the mall? Well that’s how I feel every time I evaluate each season’s batch of fragrance launches: I wish it were all mine.

I do get to keep most of what is sent my way. But as beauty editor, I am not allowed to suppress (nor sell!) products. Much as I would like to keep the season’s top scents a secret (who doesn’t want to be the best smelling person in the room right?) my job requires me to divulge every single note, flower, and essential oil found in a spritz.

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If there’s two things I don’t mind spending for, it’s food and athletic equipment.

A few months ago, I was scouring around for a yoga mat to replace my generic, non-branded trusty purple one from Toby’s. After a year and a half, my poor mat had gotten a good beating from my practice in the gym, at home, and on my trips abroad and out of town. I needed a substitute. Pronto.

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I’m a beauty editor and if there’s one thing I love about my job, it’s testing new products before they hit the store shelves. This preview gives me the chance to make sure a product works before people ask me about it.

This summer, I received a whole load of sun protection products but for some reason, there was one new product that I didn’t get to try out before its retail launch—Beach Hut’s Clear Spray Sunblock. I missed their press launch because I had a shoot that day and didn’t pay much attention to it. Then, I noticed it making an appearance on store shelves…I never had a chance to buy a bottle to test it myself because it kept skipping my mind.

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Listen up, picky eaters. Is your idea of adventurous a brownie…with nuts? Branch out and let your taste buds explore tasty, new dishes the next time you’re out. You won’t regret it!

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Despite what mammary-obsessed guys might think, the biological reason a girl grows breasts is to prepare her body to feed a baby. No worries: Small breasts make as much milk as big breasts do!

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