The day General Hospital fans have been waiting for is almost here! Mark your calendars, because Tuesday, Sept. 19 is the big day for Steve Burton’s return to the show.

More: Lisa Rinna Is Going to Shake Things Up on Days of Our Lives

ABC went all out for the promo by creating a smoldering look for Burton — just as GH fans remember him when he was last seen on the show in 2012. TVLine exclusively ran the new promo on Friday.

The video is shot entirely in black and white as Burton rides toward the camera lens on a motorcycle. The smoky look creates an air of mystery for fans who are wondering if he’s the real Jason Morgan or if it’s Billy Miller, who’s been playing the role since 2014.

Burton’s return marks the beginning of a huge storyline for GH. The impact of what is going to happen will reverberate through many of the show’s beloved characters.

More: Eileen Davidson Left RHOBH to Focus on Her Scripted Soap Roles

“Jason’s life affects, like, 30 people on the show. There is almost nobody who won’t be affected by his return,” GH’s executive producer Frank Valentini told TVLine in August. “That whole paradigm — ‘Who’s the real Jason? How will people react to him?’ — I find to be very interesting, and it will be fun for the audience.”

The GH storyline has been in the works since early spring after Valentini discovered that Burton was not only interested in returning, but he was available at a time when GH writers could work him into the plot.

More: DOOL's Camila Banus Responds to Cyberbullies Who Won't Leave Her Alone

For fans, this marks a long awaited return to Port Charles after Burton did a four-year stint on The Young and the Restless.

How long Burton stays remains to be seen, but Valentini promised that this big story will play into 2018. Brace yourself, GH fans, this is going to be a wild ride.

Even early in her career, Oprah Winfrey had things figured out. The champion/queen/talk show host is featured in Time Firsts, a series about groundbreaking women, and in her interview with the magazine, she told a story about how she stood up for all her female producers in a way that was basically unheard of at the time.

More: Oprah Says She Wasn't Built to Be a Traditional Wife

It was the 1980s, and The Oprah Winfrey Show was already popular. Even though she was young and new to the game, Winfrey was successful, and as her viewership increased, so did her salary. There was just one problem: Her female producers weren't getting paid more, even though the show was making more and more money all the time.

"I went to my boss at the time and I said everybody needs a raise," Winfrey told Time. "And he said, 'Why?' He actually said to me, 'They're only girls. They're a bunch of girls — what do they need more money for?' I go, 'Well, either they're going to get raises, or I'm going to sit down. I will not work unless they get paid.' And so they did."

More: Why Oprah's Involvement With the Henrietta Lacks Movie Was Destiny

In 1985, women on average made 64 cents for every dollar a man made. Income inequality has improved slightly since then, but today, women still only make about 80 cents for every dollar a man makes across all industries. Those figures only help illustrate what a groundbreaking move Winfrey was making by demanding raises for female employees.

"I built this show around myself and the producers," she explained to Time. "We were young women in our 30s trying to figure it out and find our own way."

More: Jamie Foxx Credits an Intervention by Oprah for Saving His Career

Thirty years later, and Winfrey is still helping women find their way. What an inspiration she is.

The first time I watched a film that was similar to The Story of Menstruation — which was produced by Disney and Kotex — I was in the fifth grade, and the conversation was as gendered as it could get. Girls and boys were escorted by teachers into separate rooms — in the girls room we were effectively taught that our periods were life events we should do our best to hide. Tips were given on how to hide your pad in a purse, in a pouch, tucked up in your sleeve, and then we were given a bright little pink bag to take back to our classroom. The bag, while small, called attention to the fact that the pads, panty liners and vaginal wipes within it made us different from the rest of the class.

More: The No-Brainer Way You Can Help Women’s Causes Tomorrow

It was an uncomfortable moment and one that defined the tone of how we talked about menstruation.

That's honestly why it’s hard to want to erase or dismiss the existence of The Story of Menstruation. It makes sense that it’s archived and preserved because the short film itself was both revolutionary for its time and the best example of why breaking down taboos around menstruation is important.

In 1946, when Disney and Kotex came together to produce The Story of Menstruation, the goal was to use the educational short film in health education classes to have a more honest discussion about periods. Yes, there are many ways the conversation fell short, but the fact that it used science to debunk many of the myths around periods was noteworthy. It also, maybe like nothing else had at that time, walked viewers through exactly what happens when a person is going through their period.

The film did fail to give greater context to menstruation by avoiding the topics of intercourse, sexuality and reproduction. The closest statement the narrator makes regarding these topics — “If the egg is impregnated, which happens when a woman is going to have a child” — cleverly skirts around the connection between menstruation and pregnancy.

More: Why "Vagina" Is Not a Dirty Word

The Story of Menstruation is credited as being one of many firsts — one of the first commercially sponsored films to be distributed to high schools and the first film to include the word “vagina” in its screenplay.

Nearly 70 years later, the word “vagina” is still largely considered to be vulgar, and some women are still discouraged from using tampons if they are virgins. Today, menstrual education sessions are still just as much about marketing a specific brand of menstrual products as they are about informing preteens of the changes happening to their bodies. We just barely tell young women what a menstrual pad is, let alone what it is made out of, and we are only beginning to draw attention to the “other” types of menstrual products, like reusables and menstrual cups. The fact that not all people who menstruate are women and not all women menstruate has yet to be accepted by the mainstream or included in the conversations had about menstruation.

More: Jane Fonda Uses Her Rape & Abuse Experiences to Fuel Change

So, how far have we come since The Story of Menstruation? The answer to that question is complex. There are still so many taboos surrounding menstruation and so many people who would rather keep those taboos in place. But I do believe that this generation has the power and the determination to dispel those myths once and for all. And we won’t stop advocating until menstruation is viewed as an empowering, natural process rather than something to hide.

By Shaye DiPasquale

Originally published on HelloFlo.

Lady Gaga fans, we have some bad news. It could be a while before we have any new music from Mother Monster because she just announced that she's taking some time off from music to focus on other projects. The bright side here is, obviously, that she's not disappearing completely, but just pursuing some new passions.

More: Lady Gaga Will Defend Kesha in Court Against Dr. Luke's Defamation Case

"I'm going to take a rest," Gaga said during a Toronto International Film Festival press conference promoting her Netflix documentary, Gaga: Five Foot Two. She declined to say how long that rest period would last, but added, "It doesn't mean I won't be creating. It doesn't mean I don't have some things up my sleeve."

But for now, Gaga will "slow down for a moment for some healing. Because that's important," as she put it in the interview. Her Super Bowl performance in early 2017 marked a high point in her career, and she said she's happy with leaving the music side of her endeavors with that performance for now. "This is my most important and favorite thing I do, is to entertain people and to make them happy," she said.

More: The World Is So Thirsty for a Lady Gaga-Bradley Cooper Romance

On Friday evening, the documentary, which was was filmed while Gaga was recording Joanne, will debut at TIFF. It follows Gaga as she grapples with the mixed reviews that Artpop received and also as she faces a struggle many people don't even know about: her chronic pain. It was part of what inspired the documentary. "There's an element and a very strong piece of me that believes pain is a microphone," she said. "My pain does me no good unless I transform it into something that is."

More: Lady Gaga's New Starbucks Drinks Caffeinate for a Good Cause

Before she takes her music break, Gaga is scheduled for at least one last performance — she'll perform at TIFF after the first-ever screening of Gaga Five Foot Two.

By Alex Wilson

We love kids. Not just because they’re adorable, but also because they put the big and little moments of life into perspective. Like, for example, preschool.

While noshing on a bag of popcorn, 2-year-old Mila gave us the scoop on everything that bugs her about her school situation. Her sassy reaction to having to attend pre-K — instead of, say, law school — is priceless, and it went super-viral.

More: Why Pre-K is the Most Important Year

In the video, Mila immediately dishes the dirt: “My mom had some news for me. She signed me up for preschool. I told her I want to go to law school.” This girl's got her eye on the prize, and we love her for it.

After a dramatic eye roll and heavy sigh, she adds: “She was like, ‘No Mila, you’re only 2.’”

Upon launching into a tirade about her first day at school, Mila says that it left her “shook.” She dismissed everyone there, saying that “the teacher is shady” and the “kids are insane.” We know how it feels when our co-workers don’t live up to our standards, but we can’t say it’s quite the same as preschoolers throwing staplers and “pooping everywhere.”

More: Not a Baby, Not Yet School-Age — Being 4 Years Old Is a Tricky Stage in Life

Showing the camera her shocked reaction to being in her classroom for the first time, Mila says, “It was a mess! I had to do something.”

And what better way to stop the chaos than what Mila did? Right after she grabs a fresh bag of chips to retell the story, Mila says, “I yelled ‘naptime!’ Checkmate.”

If only calming the workplace were that easy. You can view the whole video below.

Originally published on Fairygodboss.

If you're anything like me, you're too bleary-eyed before your morning coffee to really look closely at how much you're being charged at Starbucks. I order the same thing every day and pay with the app too, so I'm even more removed from how much the transaction actually costs. That's probably why so many of us don't notice when the coffee giant raises its prices, as Starbucks recently did this week.

More: The Starbucks Mermaid Frappuccino Is the Perfect Excuse to Go to Mexico

The chain raised prices on about 10 percent of their menu items at many locations nationwide, though they haven't specified exactly how many stores are affected. In general, these items — including certain brewed coffee and espresso drinks, bacon-gouda breakfast sandwiches and cookies — saw a 10- to 30-cent increase. It doesn't seem like a lot, but if your usual weekday order went up 30 cents, that means you'll be shelling out an extra $78 or so over the course of the year.

The move comes as Starbucks struggles to improve business. Customer traffic in stores has been flat or declining for the past year, so the chain has been trying to boost profits by getting customers to spend more per visit, which they've done by increasing their product offerings (especially food items) and, yes, raising prices.

More: Starbucks Now Has a Turmeric Latte, but There's a Catch

Starbucks is already notorious for its pricey coffee, so this might not help its reputation. But honestly, without my morning coffee, I'm total garbage, so even if prices at my local outpost of the chain go up, I'll still drag myself there every day. I guess that's the benefit of shilling a (completely addictive) product everyone is desperate to have in order to function.

Let's get really real for a minute. Being a mom is hard. You know those people who say it's the toughest job in the world? Well, they're right. In fact, most days just making it through one entire adult conversation without losing your train of thought is pretty much a win — and that's without the added challenge of being a mom with ADHD.

I have a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old, and even without ADHD, every day is a struggle to maintain my focus long enough to handle the barrage of responsibility flying at me from every angle... including shaping the lives of two tiny humans.

Yep, motherhood is basically just one big pressure cooker.

More: Why My Daughter Needs to See Me Fail at Managing My ADHD

So you, Mama? You're a rock star in my book. A warrior. And likely a woman who could stand for life to cut her a little slack. To help you get a beat on some much-needed peace of mind, I tapped Terry Matlen, an expert in the field of ADHD with a focus on women and moms. In addition to serving as the director of ADD Consults, Matlen is the author of two ADHD-related books: The Queen of Distraction, and Survival Tips for Women with ADHD.

Here's what she had to say about making things easier on yourself as a mom with ADHD.

Don't be ashamed to seek treatment

Make sure your ADHD is adequately treated. Being a mom with ADHD adds many layers of difficulties for women with ADHD and without getting the help you need, it will make parenting much, much harder.

Change your expectations

Don’t compare your home, your family with your sister, girlfriend or neighbor — the challenges are very real and often debilitating. So stop trying to keep your home as clutter-free as them, especially since we know that when a parent has ADHD, there a good chance one or more of their children will have ADHD (it’s highly genetic).

More: How ADHD Impacts Women, & Why Support Communities Matter

Get outside help

Women are notoriously hard on themselves about reaching out for help. We have this mindset that we should be able to juggle everything on our own, but with ADHD in the mix, it’s a necessity, not a luxury, to get help such as house cleaning, tutoring for the kids (even if just helping them get their homework done), etc.

More: 37 Instagram Accounts That'll Make You Feel Better About #MomLife

Join a support network

Find other moms with ADHD so you don’t feel so alone. The big CHADD conference is coming to Atlanta, Georgia, in November. You’d meet a lot of moms with ADHD there and also learn from top experts in the field. [Note: Matlen will be one of the experts presenting at the 2017 Annual International Conference on ADHD, aka CHADD, in Atlanta, Georgia to be held between Nov. 9 and 12.]

This post is part of a sponsored advertising collaboration.

Taking my little dog outside is an exercise in patience. She’s a walking pooper, which means she only poops if she can walk around. Try to hold her still with a leash, and she’ll hold her poop 'til her eyes turn brown.

Once she finally finishes up her business, it is time for the next ritual: the poopy dance. She attacks the lawn with her back legs, kicking so hard that she actually jumps backward in a spray of grass, dirt and, if I don’t intervene, sometimes the poop itself.

Why?

I ask her this question every morning, as they're about the only words I feel like muttering at 5 a.m.

So why do dogs kick their feet after they poop?

The experts weigh in on the poopy dance

Since my dog wasn't willing to provide any answers, I decided to do a little research about this bizarre habit.

More: Is Your Dog Eating Its Own Poop? Here's How to Stop the Nasty Habit

Dr. Patty Khuly, a veterinarian writing for VetStreet, suggests that dogs kick after they poop for two reasons.

First, they could be covering the poop for sanitary reasons.

Second, and perhaps more convincingly, she argues that dogs kick after they urinate and defecate to mark their territory.

Dog paws have scent glands that release pheromones. Scratching releases a larger amount of these pheromones, helping your dog mark her territory. In other words, the poopy dance is really your dog’s way of leaving her calling card for the other dogs in the area.

More: The scoop on bringing dog poop to the vet

Other experts, including the American Kennel Club, disagree with Khuly about her first theory. They argue that domestic dogs could not care less about covering up their poop (which I suspect my dog would agree with, seeing as she leaves it all over the lawn), and instead reassert that the real reason dogs kick after pooping is to mark their territory.

Can you stop it?

Knowing that my dog is marking her territory doesn’t make getting sprayed with grass and gravel any more pleasant.

Luckily, if your dog’s kicking bothers you, there are a few things you can do.

More: What to Do If Your House-Trained Dog Starts Peeing Indoors

Sometimes, I distract my dog by calling her name. This tends to break her concentration, and we continue on our walk. If your dog is destroying your yard, consider putting him on a leash when you know he is going to poop to prevent excessive kicking or take him for a walk around the block to do his business.

Or you could be like me and simply accept your dog’s kicking for what it is — the poopy dance — and a cause for much celebration regardless of how early it is in the morning.

Whatever Jennifer Aniston is preaching, we’re listening. As someone who ruled the hair game for an entire decade in the ’90s, the 48-year-old actress is a certified beauty expert in our eyes. So, when we heard that the Friends star has been using the same $3 face wash for the past 30-something years, our ears perked up.

More: Jennifer Aniston Shows Up on the Red Carpet in Leather Dress

In a recent interview with Refinery29, the Emmy winner dished on the beauty products she buys in bulk. In addition to her love for L’Oreal’s Lash Out Mascara, the rom-com veteran fawned over a particular Neutrogena face soap. “I love the L’Oréal Lash Out Mascara. And Neutrogena soap. I switch up my hair products a little bit, though,” Aniston told the mag.

This isn’t the first time the star has gushed over Neutrogena’s face soap. In a 2010 interview with the Daily Mail, the actress revealed that she has been using the product as her go-to morning face wash since high school. (If you calculate it, that’s 30-plus years of Neutrogena love.)

“I’ve been using it since high school. I wake up and wash my face with Neutrogena face soap. I use a serum and then a Dr. Hauschka day cream — that’s it!” she said.

More: Jennifer Aniston: ‘For the Record, I Am Not Pregnant. What I Am Is Fed Up’

Though the soap comes in both liquid and bar form, the Daily Mail confirmed that Aniston’s favorite is the transparent facial bar. As far as specifics, the product is fairly basic. It’s fragrance-free and its main component is glycerin, a common product in soap that comes with anti-aging and hydrating qualities.

Clearly, less is more for Aniston — in both price and ingredients. BRB as we head to the drugstore immediately.

Originally posted on StyleCaster.com

The first time I got my period, I was 11 years old and furious at Mother Nature. I was supposed to be spending a day with my little sister at a family friend’s pool, but when I went into the bathroom to change into my bathing suit, my plans were immediately spoiled by the sight of blood.

A combination of confusion, fear and denial about what was going on with my body led me to burst into tears and continue to cry uncontrollably until my mom came home from work to comfort me. After she explained that getting my period was natural and that it meant I was growing up, she showed me where we kept the menstrual products in the house and gave me a pad to use. This just made me cry harder. I didn’t want to get my period, I didn’t want to grow up and I definitely didn’t want to be told that I couldn’t go swimming with the rest of the kids.

Flash forward a few years. I’m 13 and stuck sitting with all of the adults under a tent on someone’s porch, watching all of the other kids splashing around happily in the pool in the middle of summer. Needless to say, I was dying to go swimming with everyone else, but at this point, I was already used to my period coming at the most inconvenient times — when one of my friends was having a pool party or when my aunt was trying to plan a beach day. I loved being in the water, and I resented my body’s poor timing for ruining yet another summer day for me.

More: 6 Reasons to Love Your Period (Yes, Seriously)

By the time the night was over, I had decided that I was through letting my period stop me from going in the water. I was going to try using a tampon.

I had always dismissed the idea of using a tampon. Something about shoving a foreign object up there just didn’t sound pleasant to me, especially after my middle school health ed teacher warned us of toxic shock syndrome and the other potential consequences of leaving a tampon in for too long. But this time, I was ready to give it a shot.

I followed every instruction on the brochure inside the box, but no matter what I did, I could feel that it wasn’t in place and I got freaked out. I went through three or four tampons, unable to maneuver it to where it needed to be, before I finally gave up, shoved the box of tampons into the far back corner of the bathroom closet and swore I would never use a tampon.

For the next few years, I was perfectly content to use pads. Contrary to popular belief, anything that you can do when you are not on your period, you can do while wearing a pad. From soccer practices to dance rehearsals to track meets, I silently proved wrong anyone who thought menstruation and sports didn’t mix. For the most part, I had no real motivation to try tampons again.

More: What’s the Deal With Menstrual Suppression?

It did make me feel self-conscious when other women I talked to would bash the use of pads in conversation, wrongfully assuming that everyone in the group was just as against using them. I heard girls commenting on how they were offended that they could see the slight outline of another girl’s pad through her pants. I watched as women asked each other for menstrual products and then turned away disgustedly when someone tried to offer them a pad, as if it was below them to use it. "Adult diapers," wads of cotton, "no better than balled-up rags" — these were the phrases I heard other women use to describe pads.

It took nearly four years before I felt comfortable trying to use a tampon again. During those four years, I lied to friends when we talked about menstruation and the products we used. I was ashamed to admit that using tampons freaked me out because it seemed like that was everyone’s product of choice. I didn’t want to have to deal with being on the receiving end of pad shaming.

It wasn’t until recently, when I talked to some of my college friends, that I realized how many of them had also felt like they needed to lie to their friends about their aversion to tampons, be it now or in the past. I took a lot of comfort in the fact that people were not only willing to talk openly about periods but that they were also willing to talk openly about the personal shame they had felt in regards to menstruation.

I guess you could say that I’ve outgrown my aversion to tampons. Now I use them just as often, if not more frequently, than I do pads. Looking back, I realize that I had the same logical fears that most people had as teens. We were afraid that it might get stuck up there, that it would hurt to put in or take out or that we would do something wrong and manage to disrupt our whole reproductive system. I also acknowledge that society conditioned me to think a certain way and to feel ashamed about my period, particularly about my choice of menstrual products.

But that’s just it — it is my choice to decide what to do with my body. It is my choice to choose what menstrual products I want to use, and no one else’s opinions have any business playing into my decision.

More: How Scotland Is Putting Women’s Reproductive Health First

My body. My rules. My choice.

Period.

By Shaye DiPasquale

Originally published on HelloFlo

Kristen Bell came to Josh Gad's rescue when his family was in danger of getting caught in the midst of Hurricane Irma.

Gad shared the heartwarming story on his Instagram, thanking Bell for getting his family to safety.

More: Dax Shepard & Kristen Bell Prove Their Love for GoT Is Strong

"So @kristenanniebell literally saved my parents and my entire family tonight from #hurricaneirma," he wrote. "When they were stranded in Florida, she got them a hotel room at her hotel in Orlando and saved them, my brothers, my sister-in-law and niece and nephew."

He added, "They don't make them like this girl. Thank you Kristin. You are truly an angel sent from above."

Bell just happened to be in Florida shooting her upcoming film Like Father. She is "bracing down in Orlando" during the storm, according to her Instagram.

We always knew Bell was one of the best gals in Hollywood. The way she has openly talked about her marriage to Dax Shepherd and parenting and feminism and all that good stuff, there was already no questions about her character. But there is something very humbling about this story. It had nothing to do with Hollywood bravado or celebrity. Bell helped a family in need.

More: Kristen Bell Understands Why Chris Pratt & Anna Faris Split

Gad had been vocal about the hurricane prior to his post about Bell. Two days ago, he urged those in the area to evacuate, writing, "As a South Floridian, I am deeply concerned for everyone's safety. Please don't try to brave this thing. It's not worth it."

Hurricane Irma is expected to hit the coast of Florida beginning at daybreak Sunday morning. Over 7 million people have been ordered to evacuate, according to the latest information.

Being a celebrity is tough. George Clooney knows this better than maybe anyone on the planet. Which is exactly why he didn't want to make it even more difficult on his twins then he knew it would already be.

More: Amal and George and Bey and Jay — what's with all the twins?

For the new dad, this even extended to his naming strategy when he and his wife Amal Clooney were picking first names for the two little ones.

They ended up with Ella and Alexander, but it wasn't without plenty of forethought.

According to a new interview with Paris March, which People shared, Clooney explained, "We didn’t want to give them one of those ridiculous Hollywood names that don’t mean anything. They’ll already have enough difficulty bearing the weight of their celebrity."

More: George & Amal Clooney & Twins Jet to Milan on Private Plane

He previously expanded on this comment in a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, "We figured these kids are going to be looked at a lot and watched and [have their] every move sort of judged, and we wanted them to at least have a break with the names."

Hollywood A-listers do generally err on the side of, well, unique in their baby naming. Beyoncé and Jay-Z named their twins Rumi and Sir Carter. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West named their daughter North West while opting for Saint West for their son. Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin named their daughter Apple. And on and on the list goes.

As for the twins' dispositions, Clooney joked with Paris Match that Alexander is a "moose."

"Literally, he just sits and he eats," he said.

More: Amal and George and Bey and Jay — what's with all the twins?

As for Ella? "She looks like Amal, thank God." Clooney added that his daughter is "very elegant and all eyes."

Awe!

You can laugh all you want at some of the stories on TLC’s show Sex Sent Me to the ER, but the truth is most of us could fall victim to similar scenarios. Let's take a look at a few and learn from their mistakes.

The sex fail chronicles

Consider these women, whose good intentions turned… well, sticky.

Soon after Leslie Elia and her husband took a couples class on how to improve female orgasms, they wanted to test out some of the strategies from the course. See? Good intentions.

More: Women are airing out their dirty sex stories on Twitter, & men are pissed

“One night we tried the recipe of an erotic edible chocolate concoction to put on your various parts and eat off,” recalls Elia, who resides in Ohio. “Sounds delicious, but honestly, we were laughing at first at the absurdity of trying something so different.”

But laughter turned to frustration as soon there was a sticky, chocolate mess all over the sheets, the nightstand — and even the floor.

“I don’t even remember if we finished the act or got out the soap,” she said.

Kat Thomas has a similar story. Her ex-boyfriend was a foodie who wanted to cover her in honey.

“One day I said yes,” recalls Thomas, who said her beau sprang into the kitchen to grab the sweet stuff. Good intentions.

“I know it’s honey. It’s a given… but you don’t realize how sticky it is 'til it’s getting spread over your body and you’re trying to do the hanky-panky, but you're getting stuck together,” she explained. “Also, we had forgotten he had down pillows and comforter. Yeah, we were pretty much tarred and feathered by the end of this experiment.”

Kitty Stryker thought her plans for something sweet were brilliant until they backfired as well.

“I had read about using peppermint breath strips for a fun blowjob experience, and I noticed that they were sturdy enough to stick to wet skin before dissolving,” recalls Stryker, who hails from California. “I also had used warming lubricant before, so when I saw cinnamon breath strips, I thought I had a clever idea.” More good intentions.

She let her boyfriend choose from one flavor in each of her hands (she had peppermint in one, and cinnamon in the other).

“He picked cinnamon,” Stryker explained. Upon licking the strip and sticking it to his penis, he instantly felt intense pain.

While they didn’t head to the ER, they chose to solve their sex fail by heading back to the kitchen. He dipped his entire penis into a container of Greek yogurt for some relief. Luckily, it worked.

Is the lesson learned not to incorporate food into your bedroom activities? Not necessarily, but be smart about it. Also, think beyond the kitchen when you want to play it up in the bedroom.

Dr. Carolyn Thompson, an obstetrician-gynecologist from Nashville, said many women avoid warming gels and lubricants as they contain capsaicin — the same thing that makes habanero peppers hot. (Here we go with the food again!)

“Quite literally spicy and typically not something you want in the genital region,” Thompson noted.

Play it up — safely

Another way to liven up sex is via sex toys, but be mindful of following the cleaning instructions. And choose the gadgets you plan to use together before you buy.

“I have had patients whose partners wanted to use dildos that were too large and were painful for the women,” Thompson added.

More: 6 embarrassing sex stories that will make you die a little inside

Dr. Fran Walfish, a family and relationship psychotherapist from California, says something as simple as sexting can be a relatively safe way to turn on your partner. Or enjoy the foreplay that can come by showering or bathing together.

“The visual stimulation, as well as having your partner wash, soap, rub, massage and titillate you, is excitatory stuff,” she said.

Women should be open about asking for their needs to be fulfilled, but men need to be more comfortable to ask for what they want as well.

“They are too quick to look elsewhere if they’re not getting what they need,” she said.

You don’t have to share all of your grand plans and fantasies either — just act them out, Walfish noted. “All telling does is stimulate rivalry, jealousy and low self-esteem in the other partner,” she added.

Dr. Carol Queen, a sexologist and author of The Sex & Pleasure Book: Good Vibrations Guide to Great Sex for Everyone, said it’s vital to be in sync with your partner when you’re thinking of ways to liven up sex — however you choose to do it.

“Most kinds of sex can turn out wrong — or right — based on the people involved and their compatibility, attitude, knowledge and ability to communicate,” she said.

Having the right information is often crucial because a lot of sex fails happen because one or both partners don’t know enough about safety, arousal, etc. She said that what works for some people might not work for others.

More: 6 Facts about sex that will make you want to be more adventurous

If you do have an awkward encounter, fear not.

“If one of us experiences a sex fail, it’s always a good idea to try to figure out what went wrong and why! Live and learn, or maybe that should be love and learn,” Queen added.

By Kristen Fischer

Originally published on HelloFlo.

As Halloween approaches and it becomes time, once again, for all of us to consider that some costumes are just not ever appropriate to wear, Great British Bake Off host Paul Hollywood has given us the perfect example. Recently, a photo of the reserved, tough GBBO judge was published in UK newspaper The Sun showing him dressed in a Nazi officer costume.

More: 21 Fabulous Gifts for Great British Bake Off Superfans

One would think dressing like a Nazi would be pretty clearly off limits, and yet, here we are. Hollywood has since explained that it was a themed New Year's Eve party in 2003, and he was dressed not as an actual Nazi but as General Von Klinkerhoffen, a Nazi character on the BBC comedy series 'Allo 'Allo.

Hollywood also posted a statement on Twitter that is a classic non-apology. "I'm absolutely devastated if this caused offence to anyone," Hollywood wrote. "Everyone who knows me, knows I am incredibly proud of the efforts of those, including my own grandfather, who fought against the Nazis during the war."

More: Great British Bake Off's Sue Perkins Considered Ditching the Show Years Ago

What Hollywood doesn't acknowledge in his apology is how dressing in that sort of costume, regardless of the occasion, makes light of the tragedies that arose at the hands of the Nazis, most notably the Holocaust. It's incredibly damaging to the people who survived that horrible time, some of whom are still alive today. Furthermore, Hollywood's comment that the photo was taken 14 years ago is a bit odd because even then, all the way back in 2003, we as a society still regarded dressing as a Nazi in any context a bad thing.

More: Princes William & Harry Almost Received Completely Different Names at Birth

Hollywood needs to make a genuine apology that shows he recognizes those facts, and not just that he feels bad that people on the internet are mad at him. For now, his reputation as a respected cook and TV show host hangs in the balance.

Actor, singer and now TV director, Emmy Rossum (real name Emmanuelle Grey Rossum), turns 31 on Sept. 12. She has appeared in popular films and television shows like The Phantom of the Opera, Shameless, and Beautiful Creatures. She has demanded equal pay with her Shameless co-star and she has given her time to charitable causes. On top of all this, she manages to find ways to inspire her fans and make us strive to be better ourselves.

Beautiful, wickedly talented and articulate, she's a role model for young women everywhere. To celebrate her special day, we came up with these key reasons why Rossum is clearly best friend material.

1. Rossum sings for a hot dog

Famous for her opera-singing skills, Rossum told Conan O'Brien that she would walk past a butcher on the way home from rehearsals when she was 7 or 8 years old. If she could sing an aria, the butcher would give her a hot dog. In this clip, O'Brien tests her skills — hot dog included.

2. She's inspired by kindness

On the talk show Chelsea, Rossum responds to the trolls who didn't like her tweet from election night in which she said, "I am a woman. I am Jewish. I am marrying an Arab American. My sister in law is handicapped. I'm a victim of sexual violence. It's personal." She told Chelsea Handler, "There's a need to come together... it's not about who you voted for or what you believe, it's about common decency. It's about decorum. It's about correctness and kindness."

More: Emmy Rossum Really, Really Loves Birthday Cake

3. Rossum fights for animal adoption

Rossum has rescued her four pets: Fiona, a cat she named after her amazing character on Shameless; Pepper, a terrier-Havanese mixture she describes as her best friend; Cinnamon, a teacup Yorkshire terrier; and a sweet pup named Sugar. Her partnership with the Best Friends Animal Society's Save Them All campaign has inspired many others to adopt pets that would otherwise be euthanized by animal shelters.

4. She served up food for the homeless

Some stars merely donate money to their favorite charities, but Rossum actually donned an apron and chef's hat to serve up mashed potatoes for Los Angeles' homeless on skid row.

More: Taylor Swift & Emmy Rossum Get Ladylike in Stunning Dresses

5. Rossum served as a Pinkitude spokesperson

According to Variety, "MGM has inked thesp Emmy Rossum to serve as the spokeswoman for its new Pinkitude line of apparel inspired by MGM's Pink Panther franchise. Lion is donating 5% of Pinkitude sales to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer research org." We love that Rossum is speaking out about this terrible disease.

More: Emmy Rossum Talks Sex on the First Date & Dirty Texting

6. She's an actor & a director

Rossum says she felt familiar enough with the tone of Shameless to feel comfortable directing two episodes of the show. But it wasn't a walk in the park. "There were so many challenges. Everything from the scheduling, to the duality of being in front of the camera and being behind the camera at the same time." She took her new endeavor seriously and prepared by taking cinematography classes at NYU. She's also directed an episode of Animal Kingdom.

7. She stands up for herself when it comes to pay

Though Showtime hasn't officially announced that Shameless will return for Season 8, it seems pretty likely since Rossum’s tweeted that she was able to work out her salary dispute after being paid less than her co-star, William H. Macy, for seven seasons. According to Variety, Showtime finally offered to pay her the same salary as Macy, but she wanted more since she felt she had been underpaid all those seasons. We don't know what figure the lawyers settled on, but we're glad they decided to pay her more. She's a great actor and deserves equal pay.

We were saddened to hear that Mara Lane, actor and wife of Jonathan Rhys Meyers, recently endured a miscarriage — and that Meyers, who has battled alcoholism in the past, has suffered a relapse after the loss of their baby.

Lane and Meyers — who share son Wolf, born in December 2016 — acknowledged both the miscarriage and the Irish actor's struggle in a deeply moving Instagram post on Sept. 10.

Lane captioned the post, "With much sadness, we open our hearts to share that J and I lost our second child, who was baking in the oven. Child was very very much wanted (right now especially by J, so he took the news particularly not so well) and we are still working with coping skills over here... when life throws us curve balls such as these."

More: These Celebs Bravely Shared Their Miscarriage Pain

Lane wrote poignantly about their family's experiences:

"Depression is a real concern from past abuse as well as alcoholism which he was born with. He has been able to turn any ugliness and hurt in his life into art and is the strongest person I know," she said of Meyers. "I do not know anyone who has been through what he has been through and reached his level of successes. It does seem though that every time we seem to be making so much progress... sometimes it's like two steps forward, one step back."

Meyers, a Golden Globe winner, was forcibly removed from Dublin Airport recently when he was too intoxicated to fly. Lane acknowledged the paparazzi photos of the incident in her Instagram post.

"My husband is an Irishman who battles alcoholism and depression and drank between jobs to try to cope with the sadness of this news. I am trying to and still learning/adjusting to living with the public, like one would as a concerned mother-in-law," she said. "I feel that whomever took photos of my husband was slightly in the wrong and was concerned for the wrong reasons but... it's ok. It's ok. Maybe you have/had a family to feed and need/needed money? I don't know. We forgive you."

We are utterly in awe of Lane's eloquent, compassionate response to paparazzi photos during such an excruciatingly painful time for her family.

Where is Meyers right now? Lane wrote that he's getting help by residing with a bodyguard and a sober friend. He was unable to be admitted to a hospital, as there was a two-month waiting period in place.

Lane ended her post, "Life is life. Life is beautiful. Life is tough sometimes though so let's try not looking down at someone unless we intend on helping them up."

Beautifully said.

When you think of the rap genre, your mind might automatically scream, "My kids are not listening to that crap!" But if you vet the lyrics to some rap songs, you learn that some of them are totally appropriate for children to listen to.

Not all rap songs are about sex and violence. In fact, some songs have pretty positive messages. And at this point, almost anything beats the mind-numbing madness that is listening to the Frozen soundtrack on repeat.

We went on a mission to create a playlist of new and old hip-hop and rap you can listen to with your kids. These aren't radio-censored versions — they're original songs squeaky clean enough that they won’t leave you completely humiliated when your kid decides to belt out the lyrics in public.

Don't let some of the videos fool you. The songs are kid-friendly.

1. Lecrae — "I'll Find You" featuring Tori Kelly

Lecrae's 2014 album Anomaly made history when it became the first to be on the Billboard Top 200 and top gospel charts at the same time. Needless to say, all of his songs are good, clean music.

2. Gym Class Heroes — "Stereo Hearts" featuring Adam Levine

Clean, cute and Adam Levine... the trifecta.

3. Rihanna — "We Found Love" featuring Calvin Harris

Two words: Dance party. Probably the cleanest song ever from one of the baddest divas around, and while the video is not really kid-safe, the song definitely is.

More: 20 Clean Pop Songs Your Kids Can Listen to That Won't Make You Squirm

4. Flo Rida — "Good Feeling"

The title of this song really should just be #goals.

5. Arrested Development — "Tennessee"

Give it two or three plays and your kids will be singing every word to this awesome throwback. Why is that awesome? Because there will be nothing better for your temperament than watching your kid coloring while singing, "Lord, I've really been real stressed, down and out, losing friends..."

6. B.o.B. — "Magic" featuring Rivers Cuomo

Slip in a little alt-rock on your kids to keep it fresh.

7. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince — "Parents Just Don't Understand"

Most of this duo's songs are kid-friendly, as is the majority of Will Smith's music. Can't go wrong with The Fresh Prince theme, either. This is one your kids will definitely relate to.

8. Kris Kross — "Jump"

Have fun explaining this one to your kids, but it is sure to get them out of their chairs.

Next up: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis — "Same Love" featuring Mary Lambert

Originally published December 2015. Updated September 2017.

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9. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis — "Same Love" featuring Mary Lambert

A song with a beat and a message: Macklemore advocating for marriage equality with a catchy beat. You'll feel good about sharing this one with your kids. Maybe it will even spark a much-needed conversation with your children, yet one that's hard to segue into, about some very important subjects.

More: Will Smith Released a New Song, & It's the Best Way to End Summer TBH

10. Vanilla Ice — "Ice Ice Baby"

Word to your mother. Good luck keeping your son from wanting a flattop now.

11. Estelle — "1980"

Our girl Estelle, generally an R&B artist, brings her coming-of-age tale into the rap category with this great track that has passion, intimacy and some pretty great lyrics.

12. Lupe Fiasco — "Kick Push"

This Grammy-nominated song has all the trademarks of Lupe Fiasco's easily recognizable sound and tells the tale of a lovesick skater who gets quite the surprise when he realizes his love interest is a better skater than he is.

13. Common — "Come Close" featuring Mary J. Blige

Common always has a place in our hearts, but there's no way you can't love the twist at the end of this video. It's also a great song to share with your kids — as are many of Common's songs, if you've got older tweens and teens.

14. TLC — "What About Your Friends"

Always a crowd-pleaser. We dare you to try not to sing along with this oldie but goodie. Hairbrush karaoke material right here.

15. Dessa — "Fighting Fish"

Probably one you've never heard of. With a few adult words right at the beginning, this might be tween and up, but it is definitely still one you can feel safe sharing with your kids.

More: 22 Pop Songs Little Kids Can Dance To (Oh, & Parents Can Hang Too)

16. Estelle — "American Boy" featuring Kanye West

Didn't think you could listen to Kayne with your kids?

17. De La Soul — "Me, Myself and I"

This was the jam back in the '90s, and it will make you wonder why you ever stopped listening to old-school hip-hop.

18. The Black Eyed Peas — "I Gotta Feeling"

Another toe-tapper you're gonna love to share. Upbeat, and it might just be the perfect thing to get you and your kids up and out the door in the morning.

We could go on and on, especially with a lot of old-school songs, but what did we miss?

If we had a dollar for every time someone asked us what we’d do with a million dollars, we’re pretty sure we’d have that million already. If we did have a milli lying around, we’d probably spend a lot of our disposable income at Sephora to be honest. But unfortunately, we’re somewhat responsible adults with things like rent and cable bills to pay, which leaves little to set aside toward our makeup obsession, because (spoiler alert) fairy godmothers who grant us our every makeup wish don’t exist. *Sigh*

More: A Simple Guide to Selling Your Clothes (& Making Big Money) on Instagram

Not all fairy tales are dead, though, because magic lives on in the form of a Reddit community called MakeupRehab, where real-life wizards grace us with money-saving beauty hacks that won’t leave us feeling left out from the latest palette craze. And yes, their tips are worlds better than the ones you’ve already heard, like signing up for every newsletter or insider reward program — we’ll assume you did that years ago. Ahead, we rounded up our favorite tips and tricks from Reddit to help you save money.

Go through your entire makeup collection

No, seriously. Do it. We know it’ll likely put a major dent in your weekend, but block it off; it needs to be done. Once you have your entire collection laid out on whatever surface was big enough to hold it all — try doing it on an old top sheet to keep any glitter residue from staining your carpet — we recommend organizing according to the type of product. And if you’re really feeling the new organized you, it might even help to separate what you use regularly from what you don’t, which will come in handy for some of the tips to follow.

Put together a grab bag

You know all that makeup that you just determined could use a little more attention? Throw it all in a grab bag, hide it out of sight, and absolutely do not open it until Christmas. Just kidding. But whenever you’re feeling bored with your usual routine, instead of heading to the store, pull out your grab bag and shop what you have. (Just make sure you don’t hold onto anything that’ll expire — trust us on this one.) We recommend only taking out one product at a time, but that really depends on your willpower.

De-pot your eye shadows and make new palettes

Instead of splurging on that new palette you’ve been eyeing, recreate it with what you already have. If you’re anything like us, you have a ridiculous number of barely touched eye shadow lying around, and the likelihood of having the exact colors you need to recreate the palette of your dreams is pretty high.

Repurpose your makeup

Honestly, makeup is so magical for the sole fact that one product can be used in more ways than one. So instead of throwing away products you don’t like, give them a new purpose. The experts on MakeupRehab shared all their favorite repurposing secrets, such as melting down lipsticks and mixing them with Vaseline to create a tinted lip balm, or mixing a highlighter you weren’t feeling with body lotion to make a body shimmer.

More: These 10 Primers Will Get You the Dramatic Eyelashes of Your Dreams

Research before you buy

We all know what happens when we walk down the makeup aisle without a game plan. It’s like walking into Target and expecting to come out with the one thing you went in there for — yeah, that’s not going to happen. Before heading to the store, research what products are best for your skin type and tone, and you’ll avoid wasting money on products that aren’t a good fit. Know which questions you need to ask, and then let any aggressive salespeople know that you’re there for a single reason — and you’ll ask for help when you need it. That way, you can’t be talked into buying $150 of lipstick and nail polish that’ll never see the light of day again.

Originally posted on StyleCaster.

If there's one celebrity couple we always hoped would get back together and go the distance, it was Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney. They were so adorably in love, and when they broke up, we had questions about why that were never answered. Until now, that is. In her Netflix documentary, Gaga 5'2", which just debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival, Gaga finally reveals what went wrong with her seemingly perfect romance with Kinney.

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At the beginning of the film, which gives fans a never-before-seen look into the behind-the-scenes parts of Gaga's life, she reveals in front of the cameras that she and Kinney are having some struggles.

"Me and Taylor are fighting, so that sucks," she says. "My threshold for bullshit with men is just — I don’t have one anymore. In relationships, you have to move together."

Later on, as she's appearing in Bradley Cooper's film A Star Is Born, the breakup happens and she tearfully talks about the effect her career has had on her relationships. "My love life has just imploded," she says. "I sold 10 million [records] and lost Matt. I sold 30 million and lost Luke. I did a movie and lose Taylor. It's like a turnover. This is the third time I’ve had my heart broken like this."

More: The World Is So Thirsty for a Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper Romance

Gaga and Kinney were together five years before they broke up by announcing on Instagram that they were soulmates but taking a break.

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We now know the breakup was actually permanent, but Gaga seems pretty happy now with her manager-turned-boyfriend, Christian Carino, so we're willing to finally let it go.