This story category covers skincare, makeup, hair and nails—plus treatments, procedures, products and supplies.

Feet On Scale - iStock

Lose Extra Pounds With Help From Fitday.com

Fitday.com is a fab, free website that can help you lose weight, get fitter and more.

Feet On Scale - iStock

 

FREE & FABULOUS | I’ve been trying on a quasi-casual level to lose “those last five pounds” for the last five years, but haven’t been able to. Now I know why and what to do about it, thanks to Fitday.com. Fitday, for the uninitiated—and there are still one or two of us out there—is a free, superbly organized weight loss website that allows its five million members to easily set a weight loss goal that will trigger an action plan that includes daily food consumption and physical activity requirements.

All of this is great, of course, but the best thing about Fitday in my view, and in the view of Innovative Fitness trainer Josh Allen who introduced me to the program, is the way it tracks the nutrient values in the foods you consume—and nutrient values, as I’m coming to learn, are at the root of my problem.

Carbs and Fat and Protein, Oh My! Read more

Arch Angels: Bombay Brow Bar Is Heavenly

Nicely shaped eyebrows are heavenly, and Bombay Brow Bar is divine.

 

The finest gift of beauty I could give another woman would  have to be the golden arches—not fast food but the perfect eyebrow. A nicely sculpted brow can open up the entire face. Even a woman who doesn’t wear makeup would find that a well-groomed eyebrow can enhance her beauty with very little effort. Read more

Gifts Wrapped By Brendan Power - Clinton Hussey

2 Great Little Gifts For Beauty & Fitness Types

Inexpensive little items for beauty and fitness types.

Gifts Wrapped By Brendan Power - Clinton Hussey

JUST A LITTLE SOMETHING | We love all the products we feature on Frugalbits, but these stand out as perfect “just a little something” gifts that will appeal to beauty and fitness types.

Read more

Hairspray Nikki Blonsky

3 Hairspray Products You Need To Try

Here’s why little bit of hairspray in your life is a very good thing—plus top products to try.

Hairspray Nikki BlonskyBUY RIGHT | Hairspray is often associated with our yucky prom ‘do or wedding hair. But every chic girl should have some on hand, and you won’t find a stylist willing to work without it because after you’ve laboured to create a great look, often the most difficult part is to keep it in place. Men can also use hairspray to hold their styles in a natural, relaxed way—especially good for photos or film.

Nowadays hairspray is not so much for stiffening your coif as it is for perfecting your locks, to rapidly remedy a bad hair day or to tame unruly bangs. Ever had lots of static in your hair and a halo of frizz floating above your head? Or have trouble recreating those perfectly relaxed flatiron curls your stylist showed you or that ultrasmooth blowout? Hairspray is the key. Read more

Dentist Examining Mouth

Dentists Go Off The Record On White Strips

What dentists told us off the record about teeth whiteners + a product to think about.

Dentist Examining MouthCHEAP + EFFECTIVE | While our own jury of dentists gave a thumbs down to repeated, long term brushing with baking soda as a safe way to whiten teeth (CLICK HERE for our story), every one of them we spoke to on the topic sought fit to add—on the condition of anonymity—that white strips really were as effective a bleaching agent as the bleaching gel dentists provide with their custom-made application trays for in-home teeth bleaching kits. Read more

Ilia Pure Lip Care

Ilia Pure Lip Care Is Definitely The Bomb!

Somewhere between a lipstick and a lip balm, this product looks rich and feels richer.

Ilia Pure Lip CareMONEY WELL SPENT | It’s not every day that Daily Candy, the U.S.-based email newsletter that reports on the latest of everything its three million trend-conscious female subscribers could possibly want to buy, anoints a barely launched product available in just 20 boutiques as the “Holy Grail.” But that’s exactly what happened last week when the online behemoth’s L.A. editor reported that Vancouver’s own Ilia Pure Lip Care was the be-all and end-all of lip conditioners. Read more

Great Teeth, Beautiful Smiles

Forget Mexico: Get Dental Work Done Here

Mexico isn’t the only place where dental work costs less. Here’s where to get high-quality, lower-priced work done locally.

Great Teeth, Beautiful SmilesSPENDING SMARTER | With the high cost of specialty dental work in North America, it’s no wonder Canadians, especially those without dental insurance, flock to Mexico when they need multiple crowns or bridges. Whole communities like Los Algodones, which is minutes over the Arizona border and boasts 350 dentists, have grown up all along the U.S.-Mexico divide to churn out crowns priced as low as $150 to $350 (in Vancouver a metal-ceramic crown costs on average between $900 and $1,000). Read more

The Bar Method Fitness

Reshape Your Body With The Bar Method

Turn your body into a tight, little package in a relatively short period of time with this intense shape-shifting workout program.

The Bar Method FitnessMONEY WELL SPENT | Ever heard the term “Bar butt” before? No, it’s not something disastrous that happens to your bottom when you spend too much lounging around quaffing cocktails. Bar butt is actually desirable, a high, tight, sculpted backside that comes from doing the glute recruitment exercises in the killer workout known as The Bar Method. Read more

Bioderma

Skincare Diamonds From The Drugstore

These three less-expensive skincare products perform so well they’ve acquired legions of loyal fans.

BiodermaCULT PRODUCTS ALERT | Getting gorgeous isn’t inexpensive, which is why we get excited when we find fabulous beauty and skincare products that get stellar reviews, have legions of satisfied users and don’t cost an arm and a leg. We’re lucky in Vancouver that drugstores like Shoppers Drug Mart have a beauty pipeline to Europe where dermatological skincare, products with strong science behind them, is thriving and more thoughtfully priced than a lot of cosmetic skincare lines. Read more

Blow Dry

Get A Solid Blow Dry Quick & Super Cheap

Having your hair blown dry and styled professionally is expensive. Here’s where to get a solid job done quick and cheap.

Blow DryCHEAP + GOOD | While the newly minted Duchess of Cambridge was confident enough (after a few private lessons) to do her own makeup on her wedding day, she left her hair in the hands of professionals. That’s because she knows, as do celebrities who globetrot with hairdressers in tow, that it’s downright impossible to DIY a salon-calibre hairstyle without plenty of time and considerable schooling—and even then, most tresses will still look better if they’ve been styled by a pro. Read more