It’s been about a year since I posted on one of the numerous blog carnivals taking place in the blogosphere, as it seems like they have lost their popularity with all of the election coverage and other news that has been grabbing our attention. Either that or I am simply not paying too much attention.....

In NYC where nail salons exist two to a corner and a pedicure can cost less than what some people spend at Starbucks in a day, professionally groomed tootsies are practically a requisite for resident status along with a love for chocolate egg creams and the ability to talk an off-duty cabbie into taking you home in the rain. The economy being what it is however, I've broken down and *gasp* gone far longer without Dashing Diva attention than in summers past. Don't tell the mayor.

Do you hate your body?  Do you avoid looking in the mirror for fear of what you'll see?  Well Kelly Park and Carson Kressley of Lifetime Television's "How To Look Good Naked" may be able to help.  And without liposuction, facelifts, butt lifts or tummy tucks. As part of BlogHer's "Letter To My Body" campaign which tries to help women improve their body image, I'm going to have the pleasure of doing a podcast interview with Kelly Park who starred in the premiere of this season's "How To Look Good Naked."

My husband and I will celebrate our fourteenth wedding anniversary very soon. After all these years, people on both sides of our family still talk fondly about our wedding, about how simple and lovely it was, and about how much fun they had. No one talks about what the bridesmaids wore, or about who had the best boobs or the fewest wrinkles. I promise. Apparently, though, that is no longer the case.

Have you ever gone through the summer issues of beauty/fashion magazines and noticed that for every photo of a sunkissed girl happily playing volleyball, there is a sidenote on how to protect skin from the harmful UVA/UVB rays of the hot, hot sun?Then have you ever noticed how editors like to divide these sections up by age brackets and then like to point out the aversion that most 20-somethings have to skin protection because they are invincible to the suns powerful rays and hot damn, a tan just looks good?

Over the weekend, I lead a Fashion, Shopping, and Beauty Birds of a Feather session at BlogHer '08. Because I learn as much from you all as you learn from me (more, I suspect) I wanted to share what I see as the take-away from this session, the three trends in beauty, fashion, and style that are looming on the horizon (and in your closet and bathroom).

Hello! My name is Roxanna. I think it's important that we get one thing out of the way: I love beauty products - fiercely. I like them so much that I spent my marketing career in the beauty industry and enjoyed every minute of it. You probably should also know that I use it all: High-end to drugstore brands, I don't discriminate. I just care that it works.

I have pretty normal skin. It’s not too dry most of the time (as long as I use some sort of lotion on it), nor is it oily. Fortunately, I’m not prone to major breakouts or allergic reactions (although I do get the occasional evil zit that I just want to squeeze the bejeezus out of, but that’s probably another post).

Last week, BlogHer CE Lanaid's post raised the issue of racial biases among ethnic minorities in America: A former  professor of Indian-origin, who was unhappy that his son (then 19 years old with no college degree) had married an African-American woman, allegedly ordered his daughter-in-law to be killed. Lanaid's post has details about the case, so I'll skip those.

Silly me. Just when I was getting comfortable with my body as it is, the blessed Style section of New York Times reminds me that if I don't engage in "pelvic fitness," my vagina could "become almost scrotal, very wrinkly and lax." Who knew?

I would never argue that anyone NEEDS makeup; I know so many women who are stunning barefaced and natural. But I also hear women talk about how they wish they could tweak this or that small imperfection in their faces, and recently I've been hearing a lot of you say that you're tired of the dark circles under your eyes. I can help with that.Start with some simple strategies: get enough sleep and drink enough water. Not helping? Then let's move on to the Big Guns: let's talk about how to apply concealer. It's easier than you think, and if you do it right, it will change your entire look.

What won't Fox News do for ratings? Clearly, there is nothing they won't do. I was sick last night when I briefly flipped to Fox News, to find them using the suicide of a young model for nothing more than ratings. What I saw was not news, it was a tabloid. I wasn't the only one who was outraged by the disrespectful coverage... This is from a post at Bubblegum Culture...