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?

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!

In America, Easter is a neo-Christmas holiday that serves as another gift giving opportunity (not so much in the United Kingdom, where presents are limited to pre-packaged chocolate eggs and candy bars). So we figured: there are tons of “must have” lists at Christmastime; why not Easter?

Here are the Top 5 “must have” items in our household (but before you go shopping, don’t forget the coupons). Read the rest of this entry »

Spring is on it’s way and we can’t wait. The days are getting longer and warmer and we’re excited to get back outside and active again. It’s time to put away the XBox and get spring started off right. What’s your sport of choice?

Aside from traditional sports, paintball is a rapidly emerging activity for all ages, played by over 10 million people in the United States every year. There are paintball centres and leagues for every skill level.

But whether you’re just getting started or have been competing for years, you’ll need to get the right gear to keep yourself safe and in top form.

Ultimate Paintball is an online retailer offering the best prices on paintball gear, with FREE shipping. They stock all the major paintball brands – Tippman, Spyder, Smart Parts, Draxxus and many more – at a fraction of the price you’d find in regular shops. Even some of the most popular guns, such as the Smart Parts Ion, are available at huge discounts. Read the rest of this entry »

Being an Internet professional who is immersed in online content for at least 12 hours every day, it’s hard to remember a time when knowledge wasn’t a click away, you had to pick up the (corded!) phone to call someone, and you shopped in actual stores.

Of all the boons of the Internet, online shopping is one of the largest and most profitable of all the industries. Shopping is no longer about one price or one retailer – even for the most obscure items, shoppers have options.

Settling nicely into this niche is the new Secret Wholesale Info website (Click here), which offers weekly updates of wholesale and drop shipping merchants selling mostly high-end and name brand products. More importantly the site provides a rating system, so visitors can track where the best deals are (and those that should be avoided). Read the rest of this entry »