Lose Weight With Easy Grapefruit Or Banana Diet

Okay, you have a choice. It's either a grapefruit or banana.

Choose the one that tastes better to you, because you are going to be seeing that lovely piece of fruit for quite a time now, if you choose to follow one of these proven weight loss diet plans.

It's already the beginning of 2009. It's a new year, and so many women and men have high hopes of shedding pounds.

Sure, there are tons of diet plans out there. Some work, and sadly, some do not.

We are offering you 2 weight loss plans. There are no gimmicks here. Both diets are safe and healthy.

Grapefruit Diet
Eat a little grapefruit before every meal. Very simple diet plan.
According to the Journal of Medicine Food, half a grapefruit before meals can help you lose about 4 lbs. in 12 weeks.

A grapefruit is full of fiber, only 100 Calories, about 23 Carbs. and low in sodium, and high in potassium.
A grapefruit has a 65% water content.
The fruit's fiber and water helps fill you up, so you eat less.
So rather than indulging in a soup or salad, try eating half a grapefruit before your main course.

Morning Banana Diet
We shared this diet with you here, a few months ago. It began in Japan, and everyone's gone crazy over bananas and shedding pounds. Even Time Magazine got the scoop on it:

"The Morning Banana Diet consists of one or more bananas with room-temperature water for breakfast; an optional snack at 3 p.m.; and anything you want for lunch and dinner. The catch: You can't eat desserts after meals, dinner has to be consumed by 8 p.m. , and you have to go to bed by midnight."

Bananas are rich in potassium. But the yellow, creamy 100 Calorie treat is much more than that. Packed with fiber, iron, and protein, Vitamins B6 and C.
And Bananas also stop your craving for sugar. And the fruit is high in minerals that reduce cholesterol.
And they are great for pregnant women, because they contain good things that help keep blood sugars up.

There you have it---two intelligent weight loss plans for the new year. Healthy and safe.

Happy weight loss!

Britney To Launch Own Hair Extension Line In 2009

If there's an expert on fake tresses, well, Britney Spears could probably write a book about all kinds of hair---the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The 27-year-old pop princess is ready to launch a 're-extension' of her recent fabulous comeback with her own line of hair extensions. Ever since the pretty performer shaved her head in February 2007, she's been sporting weaves, wigs, and extensions in just about every color, style, and length. And we hear she's been consulting with celebrity stylist Kim Vo on how to market the perfect faux tresses this year in 2009.

It's been a long 2 years of trying to grow out her almost bald buzz cut. And in that time, Britney Spears has become an expert in everything hair. And if she decides to launch her own hair extension line, we applaud her. It's been a tough road trying to regain her gorgeous, long blonde locks. As you can see in the photo above, taken just a few weeks ago, the platinum and perfect tresses are back. Okay, those are partly extensions, but what Hollywood hottie doesn't wear them at least once in a while.


Jessica Simpson. Paris Hilton. Raquel Welch. These famous celebrities all market their own hair extension lines, and they are proud users as well. And so many women opt for fake tresses these days, even the girl-next-door.

What's not to love? With hair extensions, a girl can go instantly from short, fine hair to thick, wavy or curly long locks. You want the perfect hair shade, you can get it with extensions.

Of course, human hair extensions are better than synthetic hair extensions because they look most natural and blend in better with your own real hair.

With human hair extensions, you can curl them with heat, flat-iron them, and even chemically-treat these real, fake tresses with hair color, bleach, and perms.

With synthetic hair extensions, you are more limited in what you can do, however, when it comes to bad weather like rain and high humidity, the synthetic extensions hold up better. These strands have memory. Human hair extensions will droop like real hair in the bad weather.

We think hair extensions are a clever creation for women everywhere. And the sky's the limit on colors, textures, and lengths. What woman hasn't had a bad hair day?! It's nice to know that women next door can achieve a beautiful, crowning glory just like the women who walk the red carpet in Hollywood.

We'll be looking out for Britney Spears' own hair extension line. It's been the buzz around salons.

Mrs. Howard Stern Adores Sally Hansen For Stocking-Free Legs

We like Beth Ostrosky.

She's kind to animals and recently wed radio superstar Howard Stern.

Beth O. also revealed one of her favorite beauty tips. One that leaves you stocking-free all year round!!!

Everyone's heard of Sally Hansen's Airbrush Legs ($13.99, at drugstores).

Yes. Spray-on stockings, pantyhose.

We have many girlfriends who detest wearing pantyhose, even in the cold and brutal winter air of the northeast. But ladies, why not try Mrs. Howard Stern's method?

Beth Ostrosky applies Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs for an instant glow and silky smooth legs. The spray-on pantyhose comes in 4 blendable shades: light glow. medium glow. tan glow. deep glow.

The spray won't cover imperfections like spider veins completely, but the beauty product does minimize bothersome leg issues. Plus the formula is water-resistant, weightless, and moisturizing with Vitamin K.

We have used the spray in medium glow. It gives a lovely sheen with a nice shade of a light tan. The color is pretty. It isn't an orange streaky hue. The only advice we will give---spray the formula directly into your hands and apply to your legs, and take a cosmetic sponge to blend quickly. And then, don't sit on anything for about 5 minutes. Let it dry completely.

A lot of women have been complaining to Sally Hansen to fix the current nozzle on the Airbrush Legs can. It gets stuck after just a few uses, and it's sometimes hard to get the spray to, er, spray again.

Beth O. likes the Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs beauty product because the formula delivers a flawless and healthy look to legs. Also makes legs look slimmer. And consider the feeling of absolute freedom from pantyhose!!

Easy to remove with soap and water and a washcloth.

Thanks for the beauty tip, Beth O. Happy New Year!

Maybe Ebay Isn't The Best Place To Buy Perfume

We got taken. Snowed. Fooled. Ripped off. You name it.

Plain and simple.

That got us to thinking.....Maybe Ebay isn't the best place to buy perfume.

And this is our beauty tip today: When it comes to a special and costly beauty product like fragrance, it might be best to purchase it in a real department store.

Another little lesson here: If it sounds too good to be true, well, it probably is.

Let's examine what happened. Don't get us wrong----we love Ebay! We have been both a satified buyer and seller. A few weeks before Christmas, we set out to buy some fragrance, namely, Estee Lauder's Beautiful. It's a favorite of ours. We have included the appealing scent in our perfume repertoire for about 10 years now. Believe us. We know the scent of Beautiful like the back of our hand.

We were so excited to find Beautiful all over the Ebay website. We were especially beside ourselves when we found one seller who was peddling the fragrance in a big 2 1/2 oz. bottle for only the auction starting price of $24.99. Plus $5.99 shipping. A total of $30.98. A 'real' bottle of Beautiful in a 2 1/2 oz. bottle would run us about $70 or more.

We were lucky to get our hands on two big bottles of Beautiful for only $61.96. Sealed and wrapped in the original box.

The seller had a high positive feedback rating, about 285. But there was one buyer who was really upset with what he called, 'a fake, bogus bottle of Acqua di Gio Pour Homme fragrance' he had purchased on Ebay from this seller. Other buyers had simply given the thumbs up to the seller, because they had not opened the nicely shrink-wrapped bottles of fragrance they had bought from this alleged phoney seller. Most were going to give their fragrance to friends and loved ones for Christmas and Hanukkah.

Well, we got curious when the two bottles arrived. We removed the packaging, just to settle our nerves. When we opened the first box, the scent coming from the bottle was not that of Estee Lauder's Beautiful. We spritzed some on us. Yuck!!! This was certainly not our beloved scent! We were stunned. We had been swindled.

We got back on to Ebay immediately, and saw that our dear seller was no longer a registered Ebay seller. Poof----he was gone!

Now we are working with PayPal to try and retrieve our losses.

Look, fragrance is expensive. It never goes on sale, at least not that low. Wearing perfume is a luxury. And we have learned our lesson. It pays to shop in a real department store for real fragrance.

We should have heeded the angry warnings from the ripped off soul who had purchased the sexy Armani Acqua di Gio fragrance. He was right---fake, bogus, all the way.

Benetint Lip Balm Instead Of Lip Gloss Lipstick

Think of the shade as a very sheer cherry red. Lots of women have described the color as the stain left behind from enjoying a cherry popsicle.

When you're running out the door and you don't want to be caught alive with a plain, bare face, take a quick dip into this little pot of Benefit Cosmetics' Benetint Lip Balm. Your lips will thank you.

Okay, maybe the price is a wee steep---$20 for a small pot of rosy tinted lip balm, www.sephora.com.

We saw an acquaintance of ours, dipping into a small pot to refresh her lips. We asked her what she was dabbing on, and she showed us. Benetint Lip Balm. Yes, almost like the legendary Benefit Cosmetics' Benetint formula they put out, that is applied to both cheeks and lips. But this little cutie lip balm is just for your smacker.

It's a soft, rosy pink shade that can be layered and layered for a deeper cherry hue. It's hydrating with Vitamin E and an SPF of 15. And it comes with a tiny lip brush for applying, but most women we know, just dip their finger into the pot and apply.

When you want just a hint of color, this Benetint Lip Balm comes to the rescue. Soft and pretty.

Cosmetic Surgery Bigger Than Ever In 2009

You can look up the statistics anywhere.

Cosmetic surgery is performed around the globe, and popular procedures like breast augmentation, tummy tucks, and nose re-shaping, are taking place in record numbers.

The art of making people more attractive is not a fad. In fact, cosmetic surgery will be bigger than ever in 2009.

And these procedures are not just common in the United States. Canada is building its own solid reputation for beautiful work and highly skilled surgeons, namely, plastic surgery Toronto.

Take a look at Brampton Cosmetic. The cosmetic and laser surgery clinic is located only 30 minutes from Toronto and Oakville, and just 90 minutes from Niagara Falls.

There you will find the skilled artistry of Director of Surgery, Robert Sleightholm.

Dedication and experience define Dr. Sleightholm. And with more than 18 years of running his practice, and some 200 cosmetic procedures performed annually, the patient can be assured, that he or she, is in very good hands.

If you desire a more attractive you in 2009, Brampton Cosmetic can take you there with:

Breast Augmentation
Breast Lift
Female Breast Reduction
Male Breast Reduction
Fat Transplant
Liposuction
Tummy Tuck
Face Lift
Eyebrows & Eyelids
Nose Re-Shaping
Ear Re-Shaping

This fully accredited cosmetic surgery clinic also offers a sophisticated line of skin health non-invasive procedures:

Botox
Photo Rejuvenation
Microdermabrasion
Cellulite Treatments

To better understand how good a cosmetic surgeon is, and how organized his or her practice is, you would be smart to do your homework. In other words, check out their website. Look at 'before & after photos.' And read some testimonials, like this one, to Dr. Sleightholm:

To Dr. Sleightholm,
Words cannot express the gratitude and the wonderful feeling of utter beauty, self confidence and poise that I feel after the magnificent surgery you have performed. Truly, your work and you are “MAGIC”.
God Bless, C.K.

Cosmetic surgeons like Dr. Sleightholm of Brampton Cosmetic are not super-human, but they are gifted with a special eye towards beauty, and understand how unique we all are as individuals. Whether it's liposuction or any other desire, highly skilled artists like them, can help us achieve our personal beauty best in 2009.

Walnuts Wonderful For Plump And Soft Lips

Our beauty tip today-----

Munch on some walnuts. Your body will thank you.

This delicious nut encased in a big, hard shell,
packs a lot of punch. Walnuts are a super food. For five years now, the FDA, or Food & Drug Administration, has approved a qualified health claim for walnuts---the first ever for a whole food.

The magic ingredients in walnuts are omega-3 fatty acids, and in large amounts.

That means extra protection for your heart. Healthier arteries. Balanced cholesterol levels. And high anti-oxidant levels to care for your skin.

And strangely enough, our research shows that eating walnuts gives you plumper and softer lips!!

The omega-3 fats do many good things, as we mentioned above. And what we like about them, is their ability to shed old skin cells and bring in new ones. Omega-3 fats are able to regulate this cell turnover, so that it happens all the time. And that results in softer, moister, plump lips. Say good-bye to chapped lips.

To get in on the cell turnover action, doctors advise that you eat an ounce of walnuts every day. That's about 14 shelled halves.

The good news---walnuts are quite tasty. It's a delightful way to do something good for your heart and your kissable lips.