Sure, there are some great cheap beauty products out there (like these), but for some of us, a few bucks are still too much to spend on beauty. I hear ya, in these times beauty can easily take a back seat to more important things -- like, uh, food and keeping a roof over your head.

A new development has been made in science's never-ending quest to determine whether blondes really have more fun (seriously, do they really have nothing more pressing to investigate?). A study determined that blondes on average spend six more minutes getting ready than brunettes.

Yes, yes, I know that looks shouldn't matter and it's what on the inside that counts, all that good stuff, but let's be honest: who here would not like to be with an attractive partner? Obviously, attractive means different things to different people (one woman's George Clooney is another's Steve Buscemi, am I right?). But there are some traits that (almost) all of us are looking for.

Tinted moisturizer is a must for me -- one product takes the place of moisturizer, sunscreen and foundation, how awesome is that?!

Oh joy, as if we didn't have enough to worry about already, studies are showing that smog and pollution can damage skin cells and deplete them of nutrients. It's enough to make me want to move out of Los Angeles to a farm! (Well, maybe not quite. My memories of my first and only trip to my aunt's ranch in North Dakota consist of multiple bug bites and being chased around by stray cattle. Plus, I'm allergic to hay, it would never work out.)

Confession: I'm a total Halloween slacker. Every year I wait until the absolute last minute to think of a costume and then I wind up either frantically buying fairy wings and applying sparkly makeup (which can be cute, like this, but not very original) or being really lazy and wearing my scrub pajamas and going as a doctor (yawn).

October 1 marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness month. During October, tons of brands have special deals and products to raise money -- and awareness, of course -- for the cause. Check out some of our favorites below, not only will you be supporting a good cause but you'll be getting some fun beauty goodies too!

After being backstage at Fashion Week, I learned something: models are not as pretty as you might think they are. Sure, they've got great bone structure and most are above average in the looks department, but if it weren't for the hair and makeup artists' magic you would not be all that impressed (no offense to any models out there).

There are a lot of good mascaras out there (and plenty of bad ones too, like these), but there are only a few great ones. So which are they? That's what we asked TotalBeauty.com readers. And boy, did they respond! From their reviews we put together this list of the best mascaras of all time.

It's an on-going debate: are drugstore skin care products just as good (or better) than fancy department store products? Since I'm one of those people who are constantly tempted by pretty packaging (a.k.a. over-priced products), I'd like to believe that the more you spend, the better the results will be. However, I know this isn't always true (as this research shows).