Weekly gross out: Urine found in counterfeit fragrances

Last week I told you feces might be lurking in your new clothes.

Allow me to ruin your lunch once again. Valerie Salembier, senior vice president and publisher of Harper's Bazaar, told Good Morning America today that counterfeit perfumes are full of horrible surprises.

Among other things found in knock-off perfumes, Salembier's team discovered some active ingredients found in fake fragrances like Red Door and Chanel No. 5 included urine, antifreeze and bacteria.

Salembier said her magazine is dedicated to uncovering these health risks because perfume sprayed on your face, neck and arms is often absorbed into the skin.

It will make you think twice before celebrating again your $14 purchase of a fake Dolce & Gabana.

Save lots with printable Big Lots coupon

Crawfish season is upon us ... well, almost. If you want to refit your patio before the first big boil of the season, check out Big Lots' weekly deals here.
I have found a number of good outdoor finds at the Groves store in recent years. Most for less than $30.

For you Big Lots shoppers out there, this week you can save 20 percent off your entire purchase with this printable coupon.

Hair only Cruella de Vile could love

I knew a girl in high school who liked to "Kool Aid" her hair - essentially dyeing her blond locks fire engine-cherry red. It was an awful look I hope she left in the '90s.

Sadly, Haute Corture models could be ushering in an even worse trend. Models took to the runway this week with bi-polar threads in frightening shades of yellow, blue and even gray.

Honestly, I think Cruella de Vile did it best. No one can top the Queen of Mean.


What do you think? Will this look be a hit?

The BK king wants to get you wasted...and hungry

After a rough night of heavy drinking, where's the first place you head?

Besides The Waffle House!

That's right, kiddies. You either run for the border or try to find the warm comfort of a cheeseburger.

Well, what if you could have both the burger and the booze in one convenient location?

Enter The King.

Burger King in February will open a bar in Miami Beach, where you can pair a Whooper and fries with a Miller Light. The combo runs you $7.99.

Eat that McDonald's. If this bar-fast food hybrid takes off, Burger King might finally pass the home of the golden arches in sales.

10 ways restaurant menus lie to customers

I pick out restaurants I want to eat at before going on any vacation.

It's an odd habit, but I look at dining out as a form of entertainment.

Sushi, Thai fusion and Korean barbecue top my list when heading to New York to visit my sister.

If you're like me, you study a menu (online, outside a restaurant's door or at the hostess' stand) before committing to a meal. It turns out, this is a good practice.

Excelle, a women's networking site, released a list Friday about the top 10 ways menus lie to customers.

Here's a sample of what to be on the lookout for:
1. No dollar sign - Restaurants will leave off dollar signs in front of numbers to make you focus on the dish, not the price. For some reason, your brain feels more comfortable seeing appetizers advertised as costing 8 over $8.

2. Centered text - If menu columns are centered, the dish prices will not match up with the line above and below. By keeping numbers out of one easy column, it's more difficult for diners to quickly and easily compare prices.

3.Excessive adjectives - Broiled Gulf shrimp served on a bed of creamy Alfredo pasta. Sounds good, yes? What if the menu read: Shrimp on a bed of pasta. Yup. Less enticing. Watch out for the adjective traps when ordering.

4.Bacon - Why order a cheeseburger when you can get a bacon cheeseburger. What about a bacon wrapped pork loin? Sounds just a bit sexier than plain old pork loin. Bacon, according to Excelle, is a diner's buzz word for 2010. Watch out for it on menus this weekend. You'd be surprised how many dishes are coming with a little bacon these days.

5. Momma Mia - It's the easiest trap of all. We all fall for Momma's Meatloaf or Grandmother So-and-So's homemade pasta sauce. Why? We love comfort food. We love eating something that reminds of home and our loved ones. Take the Momma out of the mix, and you've likely got just plain old chicken fried steak.

Beer bellies lose jiggle with male corset

Got a jelly belly? Check out the corset for men. It will leave you "breathless."

Target offering personalized coupons online

Attention shoppers:

Target is now offering personalized coupons. You just select the ones you want and print them. It's that easy!

This week's available savings total $116 and include deals on Lean Cuisine meals and Special K.

Happy shopping.

Healing powers found in Cleopatra's makeup

It turns out having what my sister likes to call 'whore eyes' has its benefits. (For those who aren't familiar with the term, 'whore eyes' is the signature mark found on some women the morning after a long night out at the club. The sightings of smudged mascara and eye shadow are most common on a walk of shame home.)

A French study has found Cleopatra's eye makeup had medicinal benefits. The Egyptian makeup, which took up to a month to make, contained lead salts which produced nitrous oxide. The lead salts, something we consider dangerous now, actually boosted immune systems and fought off bacteria that could cause eye infections, according to the study.

So, will we be caking on lead makeup anytime soon? It's doubtful. But, maybe the trend will at least make a come back. (Hopefully with a better name than whore eyes)

Commenter shares 'entertaining' review site

Most of you Trendy readers already spotted my earlier post on Consumer Reports' ratings of 'As Seen on TV' products.

Yes, the Snuggie (my fashion nemesis) failed. Huzzah!

But, a Trendy reader shared this insightful tip for those of you who have your credit card handy while channel surfing.

chanaR said...
Promoted products are often not as good as advertised on. But I've found that some of them are pretty useful...I usually check with infonotmercials.com to see if they've done a review on a product I'm interested in. Basically, the site also tests out products, does video reviews. Might be similar to the consumer reports, or maybe you'll find some new information. I find them pretty entertaining. Hope this helps!

Feces, vaginal secretions could be lurking in your new clothes

I learned a lot about people while working at a major department store during college. A lot:

1. A grown woman will urinate in a changing room if she "can't find a bathroom."

2. If a man wants to try on panties in the ladies lingerie department, you have to let him.

AND

3. People will hide clothes in dark, GROSS places when they try to steal.

A shoplifter was nabbed by a store manager on my second day at work. The man had stolen a number of Tommy Hilfiger shirts, concealing several in his pants. After sending the thief to the pokey, my manager brought the shirts back to me and instructed me to hang them back up. That's right, I had to hang butt-flavored shirts back up on a Tommy Hilfiger rack like nothing ever happened. (And people wonder why I am a germaphobe now.)

Anyway. Good Morning America recently tested 14 clothing samples from low- and high-end stores. Their results were nasty, to say the least. They found feces, vaginal secretions and germs that cause diarrhea on the samples.

So please, take it from me and Good Morning America: Wash your new clothes before you wear them! (And wash your hands after trying them on.)

Get your 'walkability' rating from where you live

I am car dependent.

At least that's what my Walk Score said. The Web site scores your "walkability" from your home, office or wherever by calculating your proximity to grocery stores, entertainment destinations and restaurants. (It should come as no surprise that San Francisco and New York are the best cities for walkers, according to Walk Score.)

Considering the closest place to my house that sells food (of any kind) is an Exxon station, I scored a fairly poor "walkability" rating.

Find out what you scored, here.

Panties to make yo' Booty Pop

If you have a sagging derriere, padded help is on the way.

These new Booty Pop panties promise to "give you a lift to create sexy curves."

(I love how the commercial shows a man staring at a woman's rear as she passes by. You know, because that never happens without the Booty Pop. Imagine his surprise once he gets her home and her butt is nothing more than a pair of 1980s shoulder pads. I am sure the disappointment will be fleeting.)

If you don't have the money for Booty Pop panties, you might try a trick a girl I knew in high school used. She would layer on the panties to add a little junk in her trunk. (I never got the appeal. I wanted to be size 0 at the time and have as tiny a rear as possible.)

I digress.

So, without further adieu ... I present the Booty Pop.



(Thanks S.)

I paid $19 for a sandwich bag of lint?

Sandwich bags of Snuggie lint? GROSS!

Been dying to buy one of the 'As Seen on TV' darlings like the ShamWow, Ped Egg or the Ab Circle Pro?

Consumer Reports recently tested 15 'As Seen on TV' products, listing the pros and cons of all. The Snuggie scored for keeping you toasty, but shed enough lint in the washing machine to fill a sandwich bag, according to the report. The Ab Circle is going to require more than 3 minutes a day to effectively engage your core muscles and a sponge holds more soda than a ShamWow.

For more results, click here.

Too stupid to work a scarf? Meet the Necky

Hey guys and gals! Feeling chilly today?

Well here is the latest, greatest fashion failure that will make millions. It's the Necky, a Snuggie/Dickie hybrid for your neck.

I have a better name for this, but you know, this is a family blog.

Tiger shows you what dozens of women have already seen

That's right. Tiger Woods wants you to see his 'raw' side. (Trust us Tiger, we've seen more of your 'raw' side recently then we care to ever see again.)

Famed photographer, Annie Leibovitz (she took the 'scandalous' shots of a topless Miley Cyrus last year), captured a topless Tiger for his pre-trainwreck spread in Vanity Fair. Tiger's bod and "unguarded" interview hits shelves in February.

I predict record sales.

Baby-Sitters Club makes a modern comeback

It's time to dust off your slouch socks and pull your hair up in a Scrunchie. We're heading back to Stoneybrook.

The New York Times is reporting Scholastic Inc. will publish Ann M. Martin's prequel this year to "The Baby-sitters Club." That's right ladies (ages 20s to 30s), we will soon know what like was like before Kristy, Claudia and Mary Ann dreamed up their all girls club. (Dawn was my favorite. She had divorced parents, just like me.)

So here's my only concern: "The Baby-sitters Club" got its start in 1986 - a decade without cell phones, Wiis and DVD players. How is this prequel going to be relevant to girls now?

I really hope Martin can jazz up "The Summer Before" without losing the simple charms and wholesome storylines found in the pages of dozens of "BSC" books.

Thousands of "BSC" fans will stroke out if Martin makes David Michael (Kristy's brother) a vampire or gives Mallory Pike a drug problem.

Does your dog have the most popular name of '09?

"Twilight" fans usurped more than good cinema in 2009.

Bella, the name of the "Twilight" heroine, is the top dog name for the year, according to Veterinary Pet Insurance. Max, the most popular dog name for the past 6 years, was bested by more than 400 Bellas. (The VPI insures more than 475,000 pets and drew from their data to rank the top and most unique pet names of the year.)

Check out the list below and share your pets names in the comments section. (I have three dogs: Max (Beagle, age 8), Riley (Beagle, age 8) and Gus (Lab-mix, age 3). I clearly fell in the Max trap! The above photo is of Bella, my boyfriend's dog. Bella is 5 and apparently a name trendsetter.)

Top Dog Names
1. Bella
2. Max
3. Bailey
4. Lucy
5. Molly
6. Buddy
7. Maggie
8. Daisy
9. Chloe
10. Sophie

Most Unusual Dog Names
1. Doogie Schnauzer Md
2. Sargent Sausage
3. I Am Sparticus
4. Lunchbox
5. Angus Sir Loin
6. Bam-Bam Noodle Butt
7. Mouse Meat
8. Fluffernutter
9. Kanye East
10. Inspector Foo Foo

Top Cat Names
1. Max
2. Chloe
3. Bella
4. Oliver
5. Tiger
6. Smokey
7. Tigger
8. Lucy
9. Shadow
10. Angel
Most Unusual Cat Names
1. Snag L. Tooth
2. Clawed Monet
3. Velvet Elvis
4. Eartha Kitty
5. Blue Man Chew
6. Catzilla
7. Thurston Picklesworth III
8. Yardsale
9. Dishwasher
10. Polly Prissypants