He’s great, but he has no ambition. She’s wonderful, but she’s not very witty. New research says in choosing partners, we tend to weigh the negative far more than the positive. This sounds like kind of a bummer—but is it?

First things first: yes, this brush is $25. BUT! I’ve had mine for years now. Like, oh god, if I really think about it, maybe over five years? And I use it a ton and wash it as often as it occurs to me, so it holds up. It is MAC’s number 217 Blending Brush and it is my very favorite brush.

Life is chaotic; outcomes are uncertain; worrying is inevitable. In spite of knowing this intuitively, we tend to think of worrying types as ill-suited to endure the stress of living. New research suggests the opposite.

Today in tragic news: another man has been hoodwinked by his malicious wife into participating in what some might call Adult Domestic Life.

According to professional makeup artists, brushes should be cleaned with soap and water at least once a month, at most once a week. According to me, I mean, do what you can? Life is short. There are dishes and children and teeth in need of cleansing. Brushes are pretty far down on my list of shit to take care of, you…

Dating offers a handful of compatibility milestones once attraction and chemistry have been established: does he talk with his mouth full? Can she make you laugh in line at the DMV? And arguably most important: Do his/her friends like you, and vice-versa?

According to the New York Times, one fallout of the Ashley Madison leak is that some online daters are now hiring private investigators to look into the marital status of their online prospects. That’s bleak, guys.

The physical embrace, in my humble view, comes with one simple rule: when in doubt, don’t.

Although creating a brand new surname after marrying is a rare choice, it’s viewed by some as the most equal, romantic, and kid-friendly solution in an antiquated patriarchal system. But it’s also a very easy way to anger your loved ones.

On a macro-level, maybe not so much.

A groom is a man who does nothing to help with the wedding besides show up. A “groomzilla,” at least according to a new GQ essay, is apparently a man who has ideas about his wedding at all, or maybe even (gasp) plans it.

Surely it has happened to most of us, at some point or another: after the rush of coital bliss comes, inexplicably, sadness. Melancholy. Fear. Tears, even. What is it, and why does it happen?

Over the course of a human life, while many of us remain true to form in an astonishing number of ways, we also grow and change.

Anyone who has embarked on a first-time hookup with a man knows the following: it can be terrible, just OK, or great, but it’s highly unlikely you will get off. Is this a fixed truth of casual sex, or is there something we can do to change it?

Two recent essays reveal the challenge in living honestly while searching for true love: we are all afraid of being rejected for our deepest personal beliefs and thoughts.

Making friends with other parents can be a strange, often terrible, and unfortunately necessary—and, at least at first, you’re basically looking around for other people who seem a lot like you, because that’s the easiest thing to do. But that’s okay, as long as you’re not a total fascist about it.

Accusations from Rosie O’Donnell’s adopted daughter Chelsea calling out her mom’s alleged phoniness are uncomfortably lurid, but more interesting is Chelsea’s plea that O’Donnell “should be her real self, who she really is.” What, exactly, is your real self? Do any of us achieve it?

This is Etiquette Monster, Jezebel’s advice column where senior writer Madeleine Davies gets worked up and starts screaming about manners. Have a question about etiquette? Email Madeleine at your own risk.

The world is full of bad advice—don’t save any money in your twenties! Buy gaucho pants!—but one piece of advice you should really never heed is to tell someone if they’re a bad kisser, especially at the beginning of a relationship. No good can come of it.

If you want to test your limits as a parent—or a person—visit any Internet parenting group. Nowhere is there a more reassuring hive mind of intel; however, there is also no better place to see all your worst fears and missteps laid bare, and to feel the heat of mommy vigilante justice.