My latest silly eBay purchases

My guy says I’m always buying weird things on eBay. He’s right. These are my latest eBay purchases, Waist & Tummy slimming shaper and Arm slimming shaper. I didn’t need them, but I was curious, I just bought them for shits and giggles. These are said to slim the tummy and arms because they contain Capsicum Tincture, which I understand is hot pepper extract. I don’t even know if these work. Apparently they are popular in Asia. I’m willing to give them a shot since I’ll be in my bikini a lot soon. Hope the hot pepper doesn’t burn my skin. I’ll report back with news of either slimmer arms or rashy tummy soon.

dr. brandt Anti-Oxidant Water Booster - Blueberry

If you want to get a ton of anti-oxidants into your body instantly, you might want to try Dr. Brandt Skincare Anti-Oxidant Water Booster - Blueberry 2 oz ($35). You add a drop of this blueberry flavored water booster to your water and get the same amount of anti-oxidants from 15 cups of green tea! I am a green tea fiend. But I have yet to drink 15 cups of green tea in a day! Believe me I have tried, I ended up going to the bathroom a LOT, lol. If you are already drinking green (or black, red, white) tea daily and taking multi-vitamin pills, this is a convenient way to add more anti-oxidants. A girl can never have enough anti-oxidants to have youthful-looking skin, a stronger immune system, and overall body health. This is also available in the original and pomegranate flavors.

Clarins Summer Slimming Program

Even though we are still having so much snow here, but summer’s not that far away if I really think about it. Wanna get a jump on getting your body bikini ready? Join the Clarins Summer Slimming Program! I haven’t worked out one bit this winter. Like my guy says, I have been hibernating. I plan on dusting off my sneakers and stepper soon after we move into our new house. But I’m a lazy bum, if there’s a lotion out there that I can rub on myself in hopes of smooth tight legs, I will do it. Clarins’ anti-cellulite lotions have dominated the market for many years now. My best friend at work used it the whole time she was pregnant and a year after she had the baby. Her legs are dimple free. I suspect her healthy diet had a lot to do with that too. But hey, if you can get extra help from this, why not? Don’t expect to lose weight or inches using these. But if you are looking to tighten, tone, and smooth out the orange-peel thighs, definitely try them. In addition, I have a secret weapon too, drink loads of green tea, the loose leaf kind (I don’t trust the tea bag variety, you don’t know what kind of quality of tea was used to put in the bag). Green tea’s like the garage cleaner for your body.

Total Body Lift Double Edition $81 for two tubes!

With Bamboo Powders - Softens, Smoothes, Firms $34

Firming, Toning - 100% Pure Plant Extracts $47

Streamlines, Reshapes Waistline, Tightens Skin $87

New Year’s resolutions

Happy New Year everybody!! A new year for a new beginning! Do you have any new year’s resolutions? I have a few every year and they are pretty much the same ones that I need to work on.

- Eat healthier for my overall health, especially for my skin and hair. Listen to my parents and follow Chinese food therapy, and eat things like goji berries, bird’s nest soup, royal jelly and many other weird-sounding things. They don’t taste good but they give you plump smooth skin and shiny hair over time.

- Exercise more. God knows I have enough fitness equipment and exercise videos at home to use.

- Be more diligent about my beauty routine. Get facials, manis and pedis or do my own facials regularly, stay on top of throughout the year, not just once in a while when I feel like it and then let it lag behind.

- Shop more! I mean, shop more discriminatingly and less impulsively, especially when it comes to sales. This one rule — if you can’t wear it with anything in your closet, don’t buy it — I should apply more.

- Spend less time on eBay and more time with my family.

What are your new year’s resolutions? Please share.

Adorable Humidifiers

So I was complaining about how dry my office is now that the heat is on full blast, and look what I found. Adorable humidifiers! These cool mist ultrasonic humidifiers offer refreshing air to dry rooms, which will help make the air much more comfortable to breathe, and help your skin retain the moisture better. I know moms are probably buying these for their children’s rooms, but they are so cute I really want one, it’s gong to look great on my desk All available at drugstore.com

Crane Adorable Humidifiers, 1 Gallon Ultrasonic, Cow $39.99

Crane Adorable Humidifiers, 1 Gallon Ultrasonic, Pig $39.99

Crane Adorable Humidifiers, 1 Gallon Ultrasonic, Frog $39.99

Crane Adorable Humidifiers, 1 Gallon Ultrasonic, Penguin $39.99

Crane Adorable Humidifiers, 1 Gallon Ultrasonic, Hello Kitty $44.99

UPDATE: Buy One Crane Humidifier Get Another for Only $10!

Uber comfy foot cushions by Apara - life savers!!

While we are talking about gorgeous heels…

Gel Heel Appeal by Apara (2 pair pack) $10.

This awesome foot cushion for your heels is the answer to keeping our feet comfortably planted in our heels all day and preventing them from slipping out. I have this exact problem! With some pumps my feet constantly slip out. I’ve given away many a pair pumps because of this. These cushions are made of silicone and uber comfortable, and machine-washable. This is really a small investment to make.

Apara also has Gel Fete des Feet (1 pair pack) $15 and Gel Steppies (1 pair pack) $10. The Fete des Feet are for heel and arch cushioning and support. These are incredibly important if you’re on your feet all day in your heels. Your poor arch and heel need help relieve the huge amount of pressure they endure all day long. The Steppies are for ball of the foot cushioning and to prevent feet from sliding forward, which is equally important, ’cause you know that makes excrutiatingly painful toes at the end of the day.

Darlings, get these and you’ll look and feel sexy and confident in your heels

Get sexy gams

Who doesn’t want to show off a pair of sexy lean gams in the summer? All of us, right, ladies? Expert Dr. John Berardi, exercise biochemist and certified strength and conditioning specialist, says you should do these exercises to get your legs in shape. I’ve been doing them at home. I absolutely hate going to the gym. It’s really good for lazy people like me. It doesn’t take long at all.

SITTING SQUATS. Stand up straight and hold two 10-pound hand weights; lift and keep at chest level. With your legs shoulder-width apart and your back straight, squat down, keeping our feet flat on the floor, until the backs of your thighs meet the backs of your calves. “It’s like you’re bending down to light a fire,” says Berardi. Stand back up and repeat six sets of six times each. “This works the hamstrings and buttocks.”

TOE LIFTS. Stand on the edge of a stair (as if you were on a diving board). Rise up on your toes, squeeze your calf muscle and hold for two seconds, then come back down. Repeat the movement until you feel the burn. Not only does this exercise sculpt the lower legs, but it also prevents spider veins, according to Kellett. “The muscles act like a pump, squeezing the leg veins and getting that blood back to the heart so it doesn’t pool in the calves.”

For Berardi’s complete exercise-video database, go to www.precisionnutrition.com/members.

(Source: Elle Canada July 2007)

Diet pills no-no

Read this in the Fashion Magazine’s (one of Canada’s fashion mags) April issue. I hope you dolls are not taking any of the diet pills mentioned below. Now that the weather’s warming up, and bikini season’s not far away, we want to get in shape. But don’t be tempted to take any diet pills. Healthy eating and exercise is always the right way to go.

Glowing testinmonials, claims of clinically proven success, and promises of painless, life-altering results–it’s enough to make even a cynic wonder if diet pills could work. But this January, the marketers of four major supplements in the States were slapped with US$25 million in penalties to settle charges of deceptive advertising. CortiSlim, Xenadrine EFX, TrimSpa and One-a-Day WeightSmart–the last three are still sold in Canada, with the last one as One-a-Day with Non-Medicinal Green Tea–where slammed by the Federal Trade Commission for making false and/or unsubstantiated claims. “You won’t find weightloss in a bottle of pills that claims it has the latest scientific breakthrough or miracle ingredient” explained FTC chairman Deborah Platt Majoras in an official statement. “Paying for fad science is a good way to lose cash, not pounds.”