I read, write, and research beauty, skincare and health articles on a daily basis, yet I still have some really bad beauty habits. I can partially blame the fact that I'm your average, super busy working mom, but I have to own up that it's also down to plain old laziness. I've never had a lot of trouble with my skin, so I've always been able to get away with a certain amount of laxness. However, as I get older, I know my laziness will catch up with me, for the better you take care of your skin, the happier it is, and the happier your skin is, the better you look! Right?

So, perhaps by confessing my three biggest, truly awful beauty habits, I will be shamed into stopping them, and maybe inspire you to do a better job than me! Ready?

Confession: I often wear makeup to the pool. Does that mean I'm totally shallow and vain? Well, so be it -- I feel a little better with a little makeup on in most situations. However, I do try to avoid the overdone, Real Housewife of Anywhere / Tammy Faye Baker "full face on" look, which means just a few products to, shall we say, emphasize my natural beauty. You with me?

Here are a few excellent, low-key essentials that will help you feel just a bit glam at the pool this summer:

Blonde 21-year-old Dana Adiva says life is tough -- because she is just too pretty. She says that her sister hates her because she gets all of the attention, she dropped out of school because jealous peers bullied her, and having people staring at her all of the time has actually caused panic attacks. "It sucks being pretty," Dana told MTV. "People will stare at me no matter what, and it’s the most irritating thing in the world." It's easy to make fun of Dana -- and don't worry, I will -- but I empathize with her too.

We all have one. The single beauty product we just can't live without. Maybe we started using it when we were in eighth grade (Cetaphil, anyone?). Or maybe some lady at a makeup counter convinced us to buy it (despite it being way out of our price range), and now we're hooked. It's the beauty product that makes us break out into a cold sweat when we think for a nanosecond that it ever may be discontinued. It's part of us. And you'll have to pry it out of our cold, dead hands.

I polled some of the prettiest, dewiest, silkyest-haired women I know (the ladies of The Stir, natch) to find out what the one beauty item they could never go without was. And all I can say is: Get a pen handy. You're going to want to take notes.

More celebrities and models are coming out and saying how much they hate Photoshop -- that very tool that give them slimmer hips, flatter bellies, and tinier waists. The fact is, actresses and models are getting a lot of flack for being whittled away in their ads and magazine covers, and the public is getting tired of having to look at a beauty ideal that is so unrealistic that even the beauties themselves don't remotely live up to it. So it's refreshing when the occasional celebrity speaks up about her displeasure with Photoshopping. The latest is Beyonce, who reportedly demanded that her new ad campaign for H&M be nothing but the real thing.

Ahhh. Summer. It's finally (almost) here, and you know what that means. It's time to hang up our coats, put our sweaters in storage, and bust out the dresses, skirts, shorts, bathing suits, flip-flops, and everything in between.

But it also means we need to switch up our beauty routines a bit since we can't hide under sweatshirts and baggy jeans anymore. And when it comes to looking good in the summertime, there are a few rules that no woman should ever, ever break -- for her own sake, as well as that of the general population.

We may not all be beautiful young Dancing With the Stars runner-ups like Shake It Up's Zendaya Coleman, but we can ALL steal the gorgeous, bright pink lips she wore on a recent TODAY show appearance. Don't be scared -- pink lipstick can actually be really flattering and will totally brighten up your look (and your day)!

Hot pink lips are very in right now -- but many women shy away from the trend, thinking it just wouldn't work with their coloring or wardrobe.

They're wrong! Here are 7 bold pink lipstick options, even for the faint of heart!

Would you ever dare to wear bright pink lipstick?

Image via HollywoodBranded/Flickr

Let me start by giving you all my excuses: I work from home. I rarely go anywhere other than the bus stop, the grocery store, the playground, and the gym. I live in the rainy Pacific Northwest. I spent the majority of my day sitting in front of a computer, schlepping laundry to and fro, pulling weeds, or sprawled on the carpet playing Old Maid with my 5-year-old for the millionth time. (Sidenote: Jesus, I hate Old Maid.)

What I'm leading up to is the confession that pretty much every single day of my life, I look like a complete and total slob. I embody nearly every mom fashion cliché there is, from the hastily-scraped-back ponytail to the stretched-out yoga pants. I live in hoodies, ill-fitting t-shirts, jeans that make my butt look like the visual equivalent of this noise, and flip-flops.