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.
BUY 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
CHEAP + 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
MONEY 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
SPENDING 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
MONEY 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
CULT 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
CHEAP + 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
If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it dozens of times: “My eyeliner smudges all over my face and by the end of the day I look like a raccoon.” These women have confessed to me that they would love to be able to use an eye pencil but are intimidated by the application or worried that they won’t be able to make a straight line. Fear the eye pencil no longer! I’m going to let you in on a secret to applying an eye pencil:
STOP—trying to draw the perfect line.
START—applying the pencil in the centre of the upper lash line. Starting the line at the centre of the lash line as opposed to the outer or inner corner allows you complete control over how thick you want your line to be, and it’s much easier to ensure symmetry. Read more
BEAUTY SMART | Recently I ran into Christina Tanti, the great friend of a friend of mine, someone I hadn’t seen for several months, and the first thing I noticed about her were her knockout eyelashes. Admittedly I’ve been on eyelash jag of late, what with the ongoing buzz about eyelash enhancement that includes everything from extensions and growth products to Katy Perry–style falsies. “I never noticed your eyelashes before; they look gorgeous,” I cooed.
“That’s because I didn’t have many before,” Tanti replied, uttering the magic word you hear everywhere in beauty circles these days: “Latisse.” Read more