Ab Art Project

Geez, why am I getting up at 5am for a fitness bootcamp when I could just create abs of steel in a few minutes with this Abs in a Box kit? Evidently countless other women have had the same lightbulb flash; the kit's sold out for now, and there's a waiting list.

The kit, by IT Cosmetics, provides stencils, stains, shadows and highlighters, contouring brushes, a "Library of Secrets Manual" (very Harry Potterish!), a setting spray, and more. The kit seems to work best if you're at least slenderish, as shown in the photo at right. The results seem pretty impressive, but it's hard to assess difficulty level. Perhaps it's something friends could help each other out with -- a new spa party option!

If you're taut and toned but your man isn't, put the man's version under the tree this year. (You could always soften the blow by buying tix for an island vacation.)

Getting My Glow On

I mentioned last week that I love pale skin. But ... now that it's little-dress-with-sandals season again, there's no denying that my legs could use a serious dose of color to mask a few, ahem, blemishes (unsightly dimples and spider veins). Real tanning is out--there's no way I'd risk getting skin cancer by soaking up the sun on the beach or in a booth. Which means it's time for some serious self-tanner.

I like Aveeno's Continuous Radiance lotion; of all the self-tanning moisturizers I've tried, it smells the best and streaks the least. But before I turn to that old standard, I'm going to give Peter Thomas Roth's Natural Looking Self Tanner a try. Any other tanners I should look into?