Stretch marks are certainly no fun, so I empathize with Shelia’s beach fashion dilemma. Below, check out two hot swimsuits – an asymmetrical black suit and a classic suit in minty teal  – on sale on Gap.com that will conceal Sheila’s tummy and help her get her sexy back.  

Rickrack asymmetrical one-piece, $49.99

Essential one-piece in minty teal, $19.99

Click here to read more about “Swimsuits that Flatter Your Figure.”

I also want input from Sheila’s fellow Hot Mama Daily readers.  So please respond to this post with your tips on where to find more stylish, one-piece swimsuit options.

 Image credit:  Gap.com

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Here’s the latest question from Keith, a good boyfriend who sure knows a lot about hair products and wants to buy the best flatiron for his girlfriend. Can you Hot Mamas help him?  If so, please respond to this post with your hair straightening (or hair-raising) advice.

Question from Keith:

I’m about to buy the Sedu Revolution for my girlfriend who has the CHI. We did a Corioliss test in a mall kiosk and like it because the plates were rounded. The new Sedu Revolution plates are rounded for curls AND they do not touch so they don’t PULL the hair. Does anyone know if the Solia plates are rounded and don’t PULL the hair? The Solia is $50 cheaper. Not that I’m cheap. I am getting this strictly for when she’s at my house!

Image credit: Hot Mama Daily

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Answer: Hey Laurie!  It looks like it could be from Balenciaga. They had released a verrrry similar pair S/S ‘05.  I’m not sure if they re-released a revamped model last year… But my money’s on Balenciaga.

(Image: Shoewawa)

Hope that helps!

-P

p.s. If any of my fashionistas in the know know who the sandal designer is, please feel free to share the knowledge with us!

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What’s this I’m hearing that Garnier discontinued their Soft Curl Creme?  My sharp Hot Mama Daily readers put me on to this heartbreaking news and commenters have said the same on Drugstore.com too (however, at “post time”, Drugstore.com allows you to place the item in your shopping cart.  I’m tempted to buy them all out if I can!)

In my post last September I’d mentioned that I couldn’t find it at the time, but I did eventually find it on a visit home to NYC and can I tell you, I am in love!

WHAT GIVES?!?  Garnier has some ’splainin to do! *Crossing arms in defiance!*

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I didn’t have much luck but I did something close at none other than Old Navy for $7.50

They’re thinner than Rihanna’s pair, but it’s still the same idea? I guess?

If you don’t care if they’re gold or not but want a very similar pair in shape, Anthropologie has a great pair:

They’re a bit steep in price though: $138.00 USD

Hope that helps!

(Rihanna pic courtesy of Hollywood Rag)

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Faithful reader Yaya wrote asking for a ‘Same Look for Less‘ feature on J. Lo’s (didn’t she ask for people to stop calling her that? Oh well!) platform pumps that she wore to her baby shower recently.

Funny thing was I was going to do a Same Look for Less on the shoes when I was originally writing the post, but nixed the idea thinking that most of my readers look at their monitors like I lost my mind b/c of the height of the heel. Apparently, you gals are more brave than I realized when it comes to your shoes! That said, Yaya honey, you know I got you, right? *Wink*

I’m not sure what your budget is, but I think I found 2 options at a decent prices:

First up is the trusty source for scandalously high heel pumps, Victoria’s Secret. I found some velvet T-strap platforms for a GREAT price:

There’s a 2/$80.00 sale going on right now on these at Vickie’s (yeah yeah, I’m so ‘cool’ with Victoria’s Secret that I get to call them ‘Vickie’s. That’s right.) Or, you can just get a single pair and pay $49.00. Yes. $49.00. I think they’re a great alternative.

If your budget is a bit um, healthier, you can go for the Report Signature ‘Guarda’ pump, but, they are not peep toe. They do, however, have the T-strap and platform.

The price is a bit steeper though: $194.95 USD (with Endless.com). Eek. But if you love ‘em and can afford ‘em, by ALL means, go for it.

Let us know what you decide Yaya! And as a matter of fact, I’m gonna have to start asking you ladies for pics to show off your buys, dammit!

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I’ve received a few requests on where one can find the gorgeous “Liatris” platform pumps by Nine West that I talked about a few months ago and unfortunately, I’m not having any luck finding them either–and I’ve been looking everyyywhere (even eBay!) The sale price when I found them back in June was pretty great too ($59.99 USD).

Nine West had a few generations of the Liatris pump, but I’m not quite sure why are no longer selling/making the classic red/black model. This style is timeless. I just don’t get why they’re discontinued.

They also had the super sexy Lace version

The lace model seems to be discontinued also.

Now, Nine West is carrying the faux-croc skin model (in various colors) and a non-croc one in pewter:

and an animal print model:

They’re around $89.00 – $92.00 USD depending on where you purchase them from.

The Hot Mama Daily Hot Deal of the Day hands down goes to Newport News. They have a faux-calfhair pump in Expresso

How much? $25.00 USD!!!! (Um, no! That is NOT a typo!!!) You girls better run to buy these before they run out!!

“But Pascalle,” you say, “I don’t care for the various print Liatris-style models. I just want SIMPLE BLACK ones.” OK, OK…I did my best to find very similar pumps… Here’s what I came up with (they’re all in the $100.00-$140.00 USD price range, unfortunately… BUT you know all the post-Xmas and New Years Sales are coming so keep checking those sites often…):

The closest copy I could find is from ABS by Allen Schwartz “Arson” – $119.00 USD

Here’s a few others:

Steve Madden “Lesson” – $99.95 USD

Steve Madden “Laveda” – $129.95 USD

ASOS Premium Brooch Leather Peep Toe Shoe – appx. $137.00 USD

Again, I’d say wait another week before buying any shoes anywhere (unless it’s too good a price to pass up) because most retailers are banking on New Years Eve parties so most dresses and shoes are still marked up. Once Jan 1st hits, shop, shop, shop away! *Whispering* and let me know what you find!

Happy Shopping!

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No no, get your mind outta the gutter. He made a delivery–er, um.. damn, that sounds bad, too. I meant, he delivered a package–um… *stuttering* I-mean.. Damn. Ok. Let me start over. *Clearing throat*

I received my scarf from The Pashmina Store in the mail yesterday. There. That’s better.

And I must say I’m delighted with my purchase.

This is the 12″x60″ scarf I was telling you all about in a recent Same Look for Less feature I did with Sarah Jessica Parker. It was only $39.99 USD. I wasn’t looking for a huge shawl/wrap, however if that’s what you’re looking for there is a the 28″X80″ pashmina wrap (which is better if you want a fuller look like SJP has here) for $69.99 USD

The packaging was excellent:

Very neat and tidy.

Here I am with the scarf. I tried a few different ‘looks’, if we can call ‘em that…(faithful HMD reader YaYa, this is for you! *wink*)

Loves it!

All in all, it was a great purchase, for a great price and I would DEFINITELY buy from The Pashmina Store again. Hey, there’s an idea for Christmas (meh, who cares that Christmas is in 5 days…Ugh. I’m such a procrastinator…)

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Ah… The UGGs question. Yes, yes, they are UGG-ly (tell me that joke hasn’t been run to the flippin’ ground!) but I think I’m gonna take the plunge soon. I really do.

Hot Mama Daily reader Tbabe wrote a comment yesterday asking the question:

“Hey everyonee…
alright..so, I was thinking of purchaseing the UGGS knockoff from gojane.com..I was just wondering if its worth it?”

Well Tbabe, there’s a few things you need to ask yourself. First off, I don’t have a pair either real or knockoff, so I’m noooo UGG expert (there’s my disclaimer!) so I can’t answer your GoJane question, but the one question you should ask yourself is this:

“Do I want the pair for FASHION or WINTER/WARMTH purposes?”

That is what it boils down to. If you want a pair to do a Celeb Same Look for Less type of thing, then at $12.99 @ GoJane.com for a knockoff pair, totally go for it (keep in mind the quality you’ll be getting at the price though b/c truth be told, that’s the best price I’ve seen anywhere).

However, for those of us (like me) who live in areas where the temperature goes to below freezing every damn day in the winter, and you have snow to fight with, then it’s probably a good idea to invest in a real pair (attention Montreal, Canada residents!! An UGG Australia boutique store just opened up last month downtown! It’s the only boutique in Canada at the present time. What perfect timing, huh? Just in time for winter and Christmas. How. Convenient.)

Whether it’s on-line or retail, a real pair of UGG Australia boots will cost you anywhere from $99.00 USD – $300.00 USD plus. Ouch. I know. Yeah, yeah, sure, you can find you a pair of UGG Australia boots on eBay, but if you are hellbent on getting a real pair, BEWARE OF FAKES. I found an absolutely wonderful real vs. fake guide (click here). Read it. Thoroughly. I learned sooo much from it.

The difference in price for a real pair comes with the style/height of the boot. I’ll stick to the classic versions for our discussion:

Classic Mini (around $100.00)

Classic Short (around $120.00)

Classic Tall (around $150.00-$200.00)

The one I have my eye on is the Ugg Ultra Tall in Chocolate (this color is sold out almost everywhere though!!!

Zappos is selling these $203.95 USD. Ouch.

If you look at the sole, you can see the difference between this one and the Classic Tall is the molded rubber outsole. If I’m spending that much for a boot, I’d like for it to have a sturdy snow and slush resistant sole b/c these Canadian winters are NO JOKE! I’m a chick from New York City, so while I’m used to snow, I had no idea how brutal the winters are up here in O Canada (am I looking for excuses to validate my possible upcoming UGG purchase??? Me thinks, yes…But I digress…)

The good thing about the real boots, from what I’ve learned, they can be worn in ALL seasons. They keep your feet warm in winter in cool and the warmer months. Hence the reason so many celebs in Cali wear them all year round.

Pamela Anderson was actually the celeb who made them super popular after being photographed wearing them on the Baywatch set back in the day, but she apologized for wearing them (earlier this year) since finding out they are sheepSKIN and we all know she’s a hardcore PETA rep. To be fair though, according to People mag, UGG responded saying,

“Sheepskin is a natural byproduct of the food industry. There is no animal abuse in our production.”

Anyway, if you want more information to make your decision (geez like what I provided wasn’t enough?!) SheFinds.com has a detailed UGG Australia buying guide complete with the newer styles and all. Be sure to check that out too.

So, in conclusion (dammit I feel like I’m back in college and wrote a dissertation on UGGs!), I say think of the purposes your boots will serve for you before making your final decision.

Tbabe, hope this helped! Let us know what you decide!

Edited to Add: As my blogging sister Wass’hot pointed out in the comments below, if you opt to buy real UGGs, you should buy a size DOWN from your regular shoe size. The shoes stretch quite a bit and you want them to stay snug.

C’mon tell me: real or knockoff (for UGGs)?

(Celeb pics courtesy of ASOS and SheFinds.com)

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…or ‘Gumboots‘ as my dear Hot Mama Daily reader, Rebecca from Australia calls ‘em! Rebecca loved the boots in a post I put up back in May about ‘em.

Rebecca, believe me when I tell you that it simply PAINS me that my FAVORITE U.S. discount retailer, Target (or Tarjé as my friends and I call it) does not deliver outside of the States. And that’s where they sell the ones you wanted–at the PRICE you probably wanted. (They’re adorable and only $19.99 USD!!!) *Le sigh*

But in the meantime, I did my very best to find an online retailer that sold gumboots in some cute polka dot styles, and those that deliver to Australia. I found boots in the range of $25.00- $60.00 USD (which is almost the same $ in AUD dollars from what I understand).

Anyhoo, here they are!

ShoeBuy.com

dll Rainwear.com

Here’s the boot I found with the best price:

Capelli – Women’s Added Dots Rain Boots – only $24.95 USD (appx $28.40 AUD)

Hope I was able to help some, Rebecca! Let me (us) know what you decided upon (if any)!

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