At the risk of sounding egomaniacal, lately I have been catching myself staring at my reflection a lot more than I am used to. Sure, I have always liked to look nice when the occasion warrants it, but I have never been one of those ladies who insists upon mascara and gloss before taking out the garbage…

Oh French women, they just make me so envious. If the book is correct, they don’t get fat no matter how much cheese and wine they consume and they just ooze that effortless French flare by nature. I suppose we call it je ne sais quoi, but whatever it is it’s really unfair! I guess it would be silly to expect anything less from the women of the country that brought us the likes of Dior and Lanvin, it’s just that they make us all look so darn blasé in comparison…

Though it’s likely not something that a beauty editor should admit to, I am not really a hair product enthusiast. Perhaps it’s because my hair is so baby fine, but in the past I have usually found that most products leave my hair in a terrible state of either sticky or crunchy—neither of which really scream out touchable, if you know what I mean. Recently, however, I took a major hair risk and let a guy friend of mine cut some seriously thick bangs for me....

We've all been there: We walk into the salon armed with a picture of a stunning celebrity whose hair we have been coveting, ready to take the plunge and have the stylist (hopefully) transform our locks into some reasonable facsimile of the look. Whether we are visiting a new stylist or our tried-and-true coiffure, we enter the salon with this glimmer of hope that somehow, someway, having aspirational hair will improve our quality of life. Unfortunately, in certain instances we end up leaving the salon not only without that hope, but also with the feeling that our hair has been brutally butchered.

I have made no secret of my high regard for the retail landscape citizens south of our border get to enjoy. In the past, there may have even been moments when I questioned why Canada even bothered having department stores when in comparison to the nirvana that is the Nordstrom shoe department—throngs of well-suited handsome men ready and willing to fulfill your every footwear need—we had The Bay with approximately 20 pairs of orthopedic shoes to choose from and nary a sales clerk in sight if you wanted to try a pair. While HBC has certainly been stepping up its game in recent months, it seems that it might be a case of too little too late as the Americans are coming. And frankly, I think I’m happy about it…

Anyone that knows me will tell you I am not the biggest fan of chores. Yeah sure, the laundry gets done, but sometimes it takes a while and most of the time there is no folding at the end of the process. Wash and wear straight out of the dryer I say—or better yet, the dry cleaner takes care of all the important things. In certain instances, however, people end up taking not washing to an entirely new level…

When Oprah declares a “favourite thing” people sit up and take note. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why all the time. Seriously, how many years in a row can a cable-knit Ralph Lauren sweater and Ugg boots be two of the best things available in the retail world!? But hey, it’s a fact that Oprah’s endorsement does big things for a company and the lady does come across some pretty awesome products that are well deserving of praise from time to time.

Let me be the first to admit that at the ripe old age of 26, I have contemplated the idea of “preventative” Botox. I have yet to subject myself to the pros or cons of minor doses of botulism being injected into my facial muscles, but I haven’t ruled it out either. I think I’ve told you lovelies before that I am concerned about the fine lines that are developing as a result of my extremely expressive facial expressions. I just can’t decide whether or not I should be more concerned about those, or how I would look if I could no longer move my face all of a sudden?

I like makeup; I truly do. Nothing is better escapism to me than a trip through Sephora or another beauty apothecary searching out the latest and greatest the industry has to offer my face and skin. Having said that, there are days—a lot of days, in fact—during which I don’t even touch a cosmetic. I never realized just how out of the ordinary that is for an adult woman in a professional field until I stumbled across a new piece of research out of the UK…

Here at styleswept, we are used to seeing a lot of skin on the red carpet. While there have been instances during the year of no pants (also known as 2010) in which we have questioned whether or not certain celebrities have been over-exposed, for the most part, we like a slightly racy number—no one would accuse us of being prudes. So when I suddenly found myself startled by the skin being shown by two of my favourite leading ladies at recent events, I knew I had to sit up and take notice.