Our friends over at Edward’s Hair Solutions have pointed us in the direction of a very disturbing trend: counterfeit GHD hair straighteners. In recent months, fake straighteners from the Far East have caused household fires in the United Kingdom and Canada. These deceptive knock-offs lack the safety features that have made GHDs so popular in the first place, and are of a lower build quality that helps to keep the prices down.

Edward’s offers a handy guide on how to spot fake GHD hair straighteners and the comments on that article point to this being a worldwide problem.

It’s a shame that consumers and shops alike (not to mention GHD) are suffering from these knockoff products. Shops like Edward’s Hair Solutions, which is an authorised seller of GHD hair straighteners, not only have to compete against the prices of counterfeit products but must convince informed consumers that they’re the real deal. It’s a conundrum - you either have people shopping on price alone who would much rather pay £50 than £85, or you have saavy consumers who are skeptical that a non-High Street store could be legit. (Worth noting that fakes have even been reported on Amazon, so nobody is immune to this criticism.)

What are you doing this holiday season? Are you even going to try to buy straighteners with all the confusion in the marketplace?

San Diego Padres reliever Heath Bell went through something this offseason that tons of armchair managers have also experienced. He stepped on the Wii Fit board and the game labelled him “obese” (which, in turn, makes your character look like David Wells).

And, like many of the Wii Fit’s biggest - and less famous - fans, he did something about it. Bell lost 25lbs this offseason in a workout regimen that included playing games on the Wii Fit. It’s now being reported that he looks “svelte” and better than ever, with his coaches even asking him not to lose more weight in order to keep his velocity up.

Heath Bell may be the first athlete to unofficially endorse the Wii Fit. How about the rest of us? Have you lost weight using the Wii Fit, or did you throw the balance board back into the box when the game called you fat?

Giving Jason Shankey and his fabulous hair a run for his money is Edward’s Hair Solutions, a new UK hair products site.

Edward’s is based around a quaint Southampton salon of the same name and offers GHD and Wella hair products direct to consumers. Visitors can also get hair advice from Edward’s head stylist (pun intended) via the “Ask Giles” feature. This looks like a great idea; and Giles seems to know his way around a head of hair too! I wonder what he’d do with my ever-present ponytail?

Stores like Edward’s that focus on one or two brands can be a blessing or a curse; on one hand, you aren’t getting the extensive selection you might find on the high street. On the other hand, you’re not getting the crazy-extensive selection you’d find on the high street! As long as you’re buying quality brands (like Wella and GHD), it’s okay to shop at a specialty store. Not only can they steer you in the right direction with how to use their products, but they’ll often have deals that far surpass what you’d find at Boots or other high street retailers.

Case in point: Edward’s Hair currently has the UK’s best price on the super-popular GHD IV styler. They actually manage to beat Amazon! That makes Edward’s the place to go for GHD hair straighteners (well, maybe not the obnoxious pink one) and lots of other GHD and Wella products. Add to that the advice they offer - what does Amazon know about hair anyway? - and Edward’s Hair Solutions looks like a winner.

Watch out, Jason Shankey!

Despite having lots of experience in sales and marketing and therefore knowing exactly how things work, I’ve been stuck in the marketing machine for years. For the past decade, I’ve been purchasing “whitening” toothpastes - the foaming crystals, the blue strips of cleanliness, added ingredients, this and that - and I continue, to this day, to do so, knowing full well that it’s never made a bit of difference for my teeth.

I don’t even entertain the possibility that the whitening toothpaste has canceled anything out - i.e. that I’d be much worse without it. I know I wouldn’t. Moreso, I’m not your average adult; I don’t drink a lot of coffee, I don’t smoke, and sugar is probably my only weakness. So, why the crutch? Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, you’ve decided to spring for those 34DD breasts you’ve always wanted, or maybe you’ve lost a lot of weight and are in need of a tummy tuck to remove loose skin. With so many plastic surgeons out there, how do you find a good one?

Let’s say, for example, that you want to find a cosmetic surgeon in Los Angeles. Google brings back over a million results! What now? Read the rest of this entry »