Hot site: Cosmetics Cop

Now hear this: Paula Begoun does not want you to go shopping.

Not without her, that is. Or at least her advice.

Long before chat rooms and instant customer recommendations became de rigeur, Ms. Begoun made it her mission to cut through the marketing hype and offer clear, easy-to-understand reviews of the most popular beauty products. Her tome Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me is now on its seventh edition, and its counterpart Don't Go Shopping for Hair-Care Products Without Me is on its third go-round.

To keep her readers posted between book-writings, Ms. Begoun also hosts a hot little resource known as the Cosmetics Cop website. There you can find free reviews of hundreds of products in a searchable database; for more in-depth information, special reports, and other goodies, you can subscribe to her companion site, Beautypedia, for just $25 a year.

Who says beauty and brains don't mix?

Hot site: TotalBeauty.com

There are a few things in life you can never really get enough of. Diamonds. Shoes. Compliments. "Just-because" flowers. Solid, unbiased beauty advice.

Let's face it: navigating our way through the many mazes that comprise the vast beauty product market is no easy task. We're busy enough trying to balance career, family, and personal life without having to devote countless hours per week (and dollars per month) to finding out which products are boffo and which ones are bust.

If you've been craving a one-stop shop for unsponsored product reviews, detailed how-to videos, streamlined 101-level explanations, and your very own personalized product-hunting "beauty scout," then your prayers have been answered. Check out TotalBeauty.com, the brainchild of former beauty-industry executives Emrah Kovacoglu and Beth Mayall-Traglia. As Kovacoglu puts it, "This category is so emotional to consumers, I had to help them find answers even if it meant doing some pretty unorthodox things in the beauty industry."

Unorthodox, yes. But also brilliant. Check it out now.

YouTube's Best of 2007

As the year draws to a close, it seems you can't swing a Gucci wristlet without hitting a somber "year in review" retrospective. Leave it to Glamour to lighten the mood by counting down their favorite YouTube moments of 2007. The list starts with Melissa Lamb's hilarious "Box in a Box" video—which has scored over 3.5 million hits since it first appeared—and continues with nods to "Cubegirl," "Paris in Jail," and "I Got a Crush on Obama."

Click on over if you could use a laugh to ease the winter doldrums.