Our looks are the first thing people (especially guys) see. It�s OK to want to look your best. What�s not OK is to get so wrapped up in it that we forget all the other great things about ourselves --- or we start judging and competing with other girls.

"A friend of mine was always competing with me," says Gaby, 17. "She would put me down and then copy me. She would say things like, �That shirt doesn�t look good on you.� Then she would wear the same shirt the next day. She would always try to make me look bad. We stopped being close because of that."

Everyone has been jealous at one time or another. We sometimes show it when we say things without thinking. It can be as offensive as "Have you gained weight?" or as innocent as "That haircut doesn�t look right on you."

Unfortunately, we get too many messages that tell us that looks matter way too much.

"Appearance has become so important," says Bernice Humphrey, director of the Healthy Girls Initiative at Girls Inc. in New York City. "Girls seem to think whoever is pretty or thinner is better. They compare and compete with others who seem to have it all, but really don�t. 

"To move past this problem, we can start by facing the biggest competition --- ourselves. Girls need to build self-confidence and discover their own uniqueness. They have so many choices --- sports, the arts, the sciences. Once they find what they love to do, they�ll pay less attention to others."

"Of course there will be prettier people than you," says Lyndsay, 17, "but you have to believe in yourself."