Say hello to the low-maintenance (and cheap) exfoliator. If you can’t be bothered with buying a slightly different grainy scrub for each body part, or polishing your entire body until your skin comes off like scales, the Australian-designed Le Edge full body exfoliating tool is a one-product-fits-all exfoliating device.

Le Edge is described as a handheld ergonomic tool that removes dry layers of skin:

“The Le Edge tool has a patented ‘higher than surgical grade’ stainless steel gentle edge that removes the top layer of dead skin revealing the younger vibrant living skin beneath.”

A stainless steel edge might sound a lot scarier than using a pumice stone or loofah, but it is actually gentle enough that it can be used on your entire body, including your face.

In addition to dry, flaky skin, Le Edge is designed to remove oil, dirt and pollutants. It removes ingrown hairs and it naturally helps to reduce the size of your pores, while restoring your skin’s texture. Sweet.

And the best part is that you don’t need to buy any special scrubs. So you can save some money, and help save the planet too. Le Edge is to be used on wet skin, ideally while you’re in the shower. You just run the device along your skin and it removes all the dry, scaly bits. Think of it like shaving, but without the need for shaving cream, and with an “edge”, as opposed to a traditional blade.

The Le Edge has many uses, but the best one would be using it before applying fake tan, for a streak-free finish. How many of us can really be bothered to thoroughly scrub every pore before we apply self tan? That would be no one. The Le Edge is also recommended for using a few days before waxing, to loosen ingrown hairs. Simiarly, it makes a good pre-shave treatment for guys.

And I did mention it was cheap. You can buy the Le Edge on Amazon for only $8.59, which is the equivalent of one foot scrub. While the Le Edge might sound like a weird beauty invention, it is the easiest and most mess-free exfoliator I have come across, and at less than $10, it may even convince the laziest of girls to exfoliate–at least once in a blue moon.

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Face it: summer is almost halfway over. If you haven’t quite achieved that summer tan you’ve been looking for, now is not the time to give in to tanning beds or — almost just as bad — self-tanning products. You may think you’re doing your skin a favor by faking a bake with bronzing lotions and creams, but the sad truth is, you’re not. While it may not cause cancer the same way UV rays would, self-tanning products can really dry out your skin, leaving you with a “tan” that not only looks artificial, but makes you look wrinkly and dry, too.

Besides, aren’t we over looking super, super tan, anyways? The Emma Stones and Kristen Stewarts of the world are proving that having a paler complexion beats the hell out of an orange mystic tan. In my eyes, the most important thing when it comes to our skin is to achieve that all natural glow, not some crispy, rust-colored facade that either fades over time or worse, stains our clothes and furniture.

So, what’s the solution? How does one exchange bad, fake tans for a natural glow? Here are five simple ways to be positively radiant all year round.

1. EXFOLIATE YOUR SKIN

Getting rid of of that layer of dry, dead skin will help expose your younger looking complexion underneath. This is especially important as you grow older. In your twenties, your skin sheds naturally every month or so, but as you grow older, your skin doesn’t shed cells as quickly as it used to. Use a gentle exfoliating product or a natural alternative (brown sugar, lemon, honey) to help your skin glow and look as young as possible.

2. MOISTURIZE, MOISTURIZE, MOISTURIZE

Keeping your skin hydrated is one of the essential ways to get your skin glowing. Whether you use a store-bought moisturizer or at-home product like olive oil, make sure you’re slathering it all over your skin daily. Don’t forget your hands, neck and feet!

3. TAKE SHORT, COLD SHOWERS

Hot showers may feel good and open your pores, but it can strip your skin of its moisture and wash away its natural oils. Avoid this by taking quick, cool showers isntead. Not only will it help reduce swelling in your skin, but it’ll result in a nice, healthy glow.

4. GET YOUR VITAMINS

There’s no question that vitamins are crucial for fighting aging skin. There’s no end to what they can do: Vitamin C helps brighten your complexion and reduces the amount of sun spots; Vitamin A helps reduce wrinkles, remove dark spots and smooth out rough skin; Vitamin B3 can help reduce redness;last, but not least, vitamin E can help your skin say soft and smooth. You can take your vitamins in pill form or opt for skin products reinforced with these nutrients — take your pick. Plus, eating healthy fruits and veggies help, too.

5. USE A HUMIDIFIER IN YOUR ROOM

If the air conditioner is leaving your skin dry and itchy at night, run a humidifier at night to keep the air moist.

6. HYDRATE WITH WATER AND COLORFUL FRUIT AND VEGGIES

It’s a glowing celebrity’s favorite answer to the age-old “how do you get such flawless skin?” question: Water, water, water. Drinking eight glasses of water a day and eating nutrient-rich fruit and vegetables will flush out toxins in your body and help you get that highly sought-after glow.

7. GET A LITTLE HELP FROM SOME BRONZER

If you’re not feeling “glowy” enough, that’s totally fine. That’s what bronzers are for. The most important thing to remember is to find one that looks most natural. Look for a bronzer that matches your skin tone the best. It’s also a good idea to avoid bronzers with shimmer or shine — matte bronzers will give you the realest-looking glow.

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If the many media reports are to be believed: "Sunshine can be addictive like heroin." The claim comes via a study published in Cell based on an experiment carried out on mice at Harvard Medical School. Researchers found that ultraviolet light exposure leads to elevated endorphin levels - the body's own 'feel good' internal morphine - that mice experience withdrawal effects after exposure and that chronic ultraviolet light exposure causes dependency and 'addiction-like' behaviour.

Although the study was carried out on animals, the authors speculated that their findings may help to explain why we love lying in the sun and that in addition to topping up our tans, sunbathing may be the most natural way to satisfy our cravings for a 'sunshine fix' in the same way that drug addicts yearn for their drug of choice.

Reading the findings of this study took me back to 1998, when I appeared as a 'behavioural addiction expert' on a daytime BBC television show alongside people who said they were addicted to tanning (dubbed by the researchers on the programme as 'tanorexia'). I have to admit that none of the case studies on the show appeared to be addicted to tanning - at least based on my six behavioural addiction criteria: salience (being the most important and preoccupying activity in the person's life), mood modifying, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict and relapse. But it did at least alert me to the fact that some people thought sunbathing and tanning were addictive.

On the show, people likened their excessive tanning to nicotine addiction, and there certainly appeared to be some similarities between the people interviewed and nicotine addiction, in the sense that the 'tanorexics' knew they were significantly increasing their chances of getting skin cancer as a direct result of their risky behaviour but felt they were unable to stop doing it, which you could argue is very similar to smoking despite knowing the health warnings.

Since then, tanorexia has become a topic for scientific investigation. A 2005 study published in the Archives of Dermatology claimed that a quarter of the sample of 145 'sun worshippers' would qualify as having a substance-related disorder if ultraviolet light was classed as the substance they craved. The paper also reported that frequent tanners experienced a "loss of control" over their tanning schedule and displayed a pattern of addiction similar to smokers and alcoholics.

A 2006 study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, reported that frequent tanners (those who tanned eight to 15 times a month) who took naltrexone, an endorphin blocker normally used to treat drug addictions, significantly reduced the amount of time spent tanning compared with a control group of light tanners.

Two years later, a study published in the American Journal of Health Behaviour reported that 27 per cent of 400 surveyed students were classified as "tanning dependent." The authors claimed that those classed as being tanning dependent had a number of similarities to substance users, including a higher prevalence among youths; an initial perception that the behaviour was image-enhancing; high health risks and disregard for warnings about those risks; and the activity being mood-enhancing.

A just-published study in the American Journal of Health Promotion surveyed 306 female students and classed 25 per cent of the respondents as "tanning dependent" based upon a self-devised tanning-dependence questionnaire.

But the problem with this and most of the psychological research on tanorexia is that almost all of it is carried out on relatively small convenience samples using self-reporting and non-psychometrically validated 'tanning addiction' measurement scales.

Although some studies suggest that some of my addiction criteria appear to have been met, I have yet to be convinced that any of the published studies show that all of them have been met. In short, empirical research evidence demonstrating a genuine addiction to tanning that encompasses all the known and expected physical and psychological consequences of addiction has yet to be proven.

I’ve been shaving under my arms for almost two decades and the Dove commercials are correct. I treat my underarms like shit; I don’t exfoliate, I shave dry, and I certainly don’t take any precautions for things like UV radiation or harmful rays from the sun. One would think I hated my underarms, but in my defense, I feel as if I have such a large area of body to cover in my beauty regimen that clearly something has to suffer. My underarms may be the part of my body that I pay the least attention to, but it’s also the part of my body that is less likely to be seen by the public…or so I thought.

I’m sure you feel me on this example: You shower and get dressed, only to find out that it’s going to be a tad bit hotter than you expected. So, you ditch that shirt you’re sure to get sweat stains in for a tank top. Then, of course, you grab a razor to quickly dry shave before running out the door. On one of these days, I caught my reflection and thought to myself, “Wait…I definitely shaved today, right” Right. It’s just the dark coloring of my underarms from years of shaving and never moisturizing that has given my pits a darker color than the rest of my body. The worst part? The darkness will only deepen with time making it harder to fix.

Turns out, although more prominent in darker skinned ladies, the dark underarm drama is not just specific to skin color. Loads of shavers out there are starting to fear that they’ll have to stop hailing cabs or limit elaborate dance moves if they don’t get that underarm game under control. Even Beyonce is no stranger to the dark underarm plague! Fortunately, I’ve got it covered now and these natural remedies will def up your confidence on the dance floor this summer.

Lemon Juice & Raw Honey

Mmmm, lemons. They freshen up tap water, act as a natural skin toner for your face, get rid of hiccups AND lighten underarms like a BOSS. Each day, take a lemon wedge and rub onto your underarms before bathing. Afterwards, use equal parts raw honey and lemon juice to put under your arms. The raw honey is great at eliminating dark spots and is an antibacterial that has a natural pH level of about 4.5 — something your underarms will thank you for in the long run by getting smoother. Add a moisturizer after you’ve rinsed your paste off to protect your underarms from UV radiation and keep that dryness at bay.

Potatoes

It seems that whenever I need one potato, I end up buying a dozen potatoes only to find them months later growing horrifying eyes all over their once clear skin. Fortunately, these potatoes that I’ve discovered in the back of my cabinet don’t have to go in the trash. Instead, slice those bad boys open for clear underarm skin. I recommend slicing the potato thick and rubbing directly under your arms daily — ones that are a little juicy works best, since potato juice is a natural skin lightener. Who’da thunk. Potatoes brighten dull skin and increase skin’s elasticity for smooth even skin tones. Do this daily for maximum results. Be sure to apply a moisturizer when you are taking your pits out into the world or you’ll be slicing potatoes for nothing.

Baking Soda

Now, this is my personal favorite method. I exfoliate my bikini line with baking soda to keep razor burn at an ultimate low, and it works to lighten underarms as well by removing dead skin cells.

Ready to start treating your underarms like real skin? Check out some great DIY natural deodorants on Wellness Mama’s website; don’t be scurred, nature can kill even the most advanced body odor!

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In today’s supremely disappointing news for feminists, studies show that men leave higher tips for waitresses who wear more makeup. Some gender stereotypes just won’t die, will they?

According to Laura Shin in her two-part “Ultimate Guide to Living on Tips” at Forbes, wearing makeup comes with a serious payoff for female waitstaff.

Ladies, wear makeup. While the feminist in me hates to break this news, a study in France showed that 50% more men left tips if the waitress wore makeup, and the average amount was 26% higher. Another study, also in France, found that red lipstick, when compared to pink and brown shades or au naturale, brought in the bucks.

Shin also cited a 2012 study by Nicolas Guéguen and Céline Jacob of the Université de Bretagne-Sud, who found that red lipstick specifically has an effect on tips from men. The particular shade of red is of no consequence. Plus, it’s just guys with this percentage prejudice — female diners are not influenced to tip better or more frequently based on the makeup their waitresses wear.

I commend Shin for providing a comprehensive guide to making a living wage from a restaurant job, and while I understand that she is simply presenting the unfortunate truth here, encouraging women to accept this as fact is an issue. Women should not have to live with the fact that they are held to a different physical standard than their male counterparts.

While we may assume that male servers are also tipped higher based on physical attractiveness, this may not be the case. According to “Predictors of Male and Female Severs’ Average Tip Earnings,” a study published in Journal of Applied Social Psychology found that ”physical attractiveness was a much better predictor of waitresses’ average tips than of waiters’ average tips.” In short, being pretty had a much greater impact on female tips.

Female waitstaff are notoriously objectified by men that they serve. In fact, women restaurant workers report sexual harassment at five times the rate of employees in other professions. Encouraging waitresses to wear makeup and lightly touch their customers for higher tips tells them that just being good at your job is not enough. You need to be sexually desirable and flirtatious as well. Equivalent suggestions are not given to men.

Even if good looking guys did receive significantly higher tips than less attractive men, there is still a double standard at play here. A woman, no matter how naturally beautiful, is expected to go above and beyond to enhance that beauty with makeup in order to increase her income. She is being asked to alter her appearance.

As Stylite’s Ashley Hoffman says, “People who live off their looks are accustomed to piling a boatload of makeup on, but the thing is, waitresses aren’t models or actresses. They’re not there for viewing pleasure. They serve food.”

Gender discrimination is a reality that female workers face in any profession, and we’re not saying that being a feminist requires tossing all your bold lippy in the trash. But what’s especially interesting about the correlation between tips and makeup is that, besides being gross, it’s counterintuitive. In fact, a report released earlier this week found, once again, that men much prefer a natural, barefaced look.

So why, if less is more, do men prefer their waitresses all gussied up? My guess would be that it feeds the fantasy. Female waitstaff are often treated like a side of entertainment that comes with your entree. If men expect to view waitresses the same way they view models in a Victoria’s Secret catalog, then of course they’ll place importance on attractiveness and makeup.

Until the day that I can insist to be served by a shirtless Channing Tatum lookalike, I maintain that we should tip all servers based on, you know, actual service and not gender, lipstick, or amount of carefully timed shoulder grazes administered throughout the meal.

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