Pick up this Mystic Tan Sunless Face and Body Tanning Spray that not only gives your skin that sun-kissed look, but also hydrates so that your skin looks healthy immediately. It’s a great stand-by product any time of year.

Give your legs, arms and chest a quick brush-up with this antioxidant-infused self-tanning spray from Bliss. The 360-degree nozzle makes it super-easy to get that even tan you crave.

Finally, give your makeup bag a quick summer makeover by adding the Too faced Bronzed and Beautiful Bronzing Powder to the mix. The eye colors will warm up your skin tone and accentuate your eyes, while the bronzing cheek powder will warm up your entire face and neck area. Just wear a layer of these glowing shades over your foundation for an instant goddess-inspired look.

Maintaining your tan look is easy with self-tanning spray and the right makeup. Add these products to your daily regimen so you can play sun goddess without compromising the health of your skin.

There’s a fine line between saving time in the morning and being downright disgusting and rude to your fellow commuters on the bus and train. 

Personally, I think I’ve seen it all. Just the other morning, I was taking the commuter train into work.  The car I was riding in was filled with the A-typical people for an early morning commute.  Gentlemen in business attire were frantically typing away on their laptops, desperate to finish whatever work they we doing on time.  Newspaper pages were rustling, creating the infamous, “Don’t Bother with Me” privacy shield utilized by so many of the morning’s passengers.  And a few the ladies on board were touching up their makeup, as the heat and humidity of a typical July Boston morning was adding a bit too much shine to their faces for their liking.

Yup, it certainly seemed that a typical a.m. ride into work was in the process of unfolding. Then it happened. The subway doors opened at the next stop.  A woman, probably in her mid-twenties, jumped on board as if she were escaping the clutches of some ferocious beast.  She was panting like she just finished a triathlon, and she looked like it, too.  I probably wouldn’t have noticed her, even though I’m an avid fan of “people-watching”, but when she sat down, she let out a yelp like the ferocious beast chasing her had bit off her leg. 

I’m not sure why she did this, as it was something that I would have half-expected if she were with a traveling companion, but she was alone.  She was wearing capri-type leggings and a tank top, running shoes upon her feet.  Her hair was up in a clip. She carried two travel bags- one of the hanging garment type, and one that was more of a personal size.  My mind then wandered out the window, but I could still see her reflection, and therefore I could see what she was doing. 

She stood up, hung the garment bag on the handrail, and unzipped the carrier to reveal a nicely pressed skirt and jacket- pale yellow in color. She proceeded to put the skirt over her capris, then remove the short pants and toss them in a ball onto the empty seat next to her.  (This was nothing new to me, as I’ve seen pretty much everything on the train.) She finished putting on her business attire and I continued to look out the window as we approached our next stop.  That’s when things got disturbing.   

She took off her jacket and begun to spray an aerosol deodorant under her arms.  Okay, that was a bit much—roll on or solid is fine, but aerosol? I didn’t even know that they made that kind anymore.  Anyways, she pulled the clip out of her hair and began brushing a knotted mess of tresses, hair flying everywhere which I only noticed because a newly arrived, gentleman passenger, who was sitting very close to her, took out a lint brush from his briefcase and began to brush the hair off of his navy, pin-striped blazer.

Hairspray followed her hair brushing, and of course, it was an aerosol container, leaving a ferocious smell of deodorant and hairspray lingering in the sardine container known as a subway car.   As if this wasn’t enough, the train had begun to slow, taking significantly longer to make it’s way through the underground city than usual. 

This was, of course, noticed by the female passenger of the day, who grunted uncontrollably, as her day was obviously being altered by this unfortunate set of delays.  She then opened up her personal-sized travel bag and took out nail polish remover and nail polish.  She then took off her sneakers and socks (now remember, she just looked like she had ran, swam and biked in them) and began to remove the nail polish on her toes with a large ball of cotton and enough of the remover to take the paint off of the Golden Gate Bridge.   

Now the train reeked of aerosol deodorant and hairspray, sweaty feet, plus nail polish remover.  When she finished removing the polish, she took out an emery board and began filing her toenails.  Ew. The dust created by such a personal task was floating everywhere, and the new smell just added nicely to the ones already permeating the air. 

Next, she painted her toenails…  a hideous, bright-pink that couldn’t even be seen hidden under the pale yellow pumps she put on afterwards, but could be seen from space if her toes exposed to the air. So now we had the combined smells of deodorant, hairspray, sweaty feet, filed toenails,  nail polish remover and nail polish.  No windows could be opened.  I told myself that if she added some cheap perfume to the mix that I would get off at the next stop, go home and call into work sick because I definitely was going to be. 

Low and behold, it seems that nearly every passenger had the same idea, for before the next stop, an unnamable bottle of the “$6.95-Special” perfume was pulled out of her travel bag.  I saw newspapers fold up, laptops get put back into their bags, and people gathering their belongings- having had just about enough and ready to make a break for it.

I got off at the next stop, and so did the majority of other passengers that morning. Some of these folks ran up the stairs and escalators of the subway station, eager to repay their fare after getting just a few moments of toxic-free air.  Others simply waited for the next train, as the smell of the subway was obviously clean enough for them. 

The next morning on the train, the same commuters sat in their regular seats in the midst of their regular routine.  One woman in the back of the car spoke- a bit loudly, about the morning before and attempted to create a pact with the passengers that if the “smelly girl” attempted to get back on the train, the passengers should hold some sort of revolt. 

Many of that morning’s commuters laughed, and came up with some ideas of their own as to what to do with the “smelly girl”.  I myself just sat back and laughed to myself, and gazed out the window yet again. 

All I have to say is this:  If you’re running late, or simply need a bit of extra time in the morning, by all means, apply some of your makeup or whatever on the train.  In fact, enjoy it! We could all use an extra few minutes in the morning, and as long as you’re not bothering fellow commuters, I don’t have a problem with anything that anyone does.  But when you create noxious fumes that leave co-passengers in an enclosed area gasping for air or near a coma-like state, then you have some serious issues.   

5. The Accessories: Adding a “bit of bling” to your ensemble goes a long way in your quest for Divahood.  Over-doing it is something that the traditional Diva’s would be ridiculed for in the press.  “Maybe she’s trying to flag down the mother ship and get back to her planet of origin” would be a likely comment from the entertainment media, so our respected Diva’s have professional help when it comes to this area.  Yes, many of them hire someone specifically for this purpose.  Unless you have a few thousand dollars hanging around and nothing else to do with it, you’re on your own.  Here’s a bit of advice. 

·     While “simple” sells, it doesn’t exactly put you into the status of Divaness.  Think Scarlett Johansson on the Red Carpet when you think “Un-Diva” and Britney Spears, Diana Ross and/or Mariah Carey on it when you think of “Diva”.  No matter if you can’t stand a melodic note that pours out of Mariah’s mouth, you have to admit that “all eyes are on her” when she walks into a room. 

·     If you’re going for colossal, rhinestone earrings, keep the necklace of choice in good taste.  The same goes for the opposite. If you have a chain of bling that you just need to drape around your neck, the earrings shouldn’t be “over the top”, especially if your hair is short or in an up-do.  Longer hair that covers earrings gives a little extra leeway on wearing diamond-studded dangles or huge hoops.

·     Shoes are considered by many to be more than something that keeps your feet enclosed and safe from stepping on glass and other unmentionables.  The perfect pair of shoes can be the final accessory to tying together your outfit of choice.  Think about that when picking out your bling.

If you don’t know how to walk in high heels, learn.  Practice for hours before going out for the evening, for no Diva would be caught walking in a pair of shoes that they can’t walk up and down stairs in.  Shoes of choice can have a bit of bling on them, but you don’t want them to be the center of your ensemble.  “Oh my God, I love those (well thought out, complimenting to your outfit) shoes!” is a compliment and should be taken as one.  “How can you walk in those?” is not really a compliment, but it can be if you’ve managed to walk gracefully throughout the evening.  You just need to figure out if the person stating the comment is jealous or in disgust.  It can be tough to tell with females, so good luck.   

The general rule is this: If your top is considered to be “tight-fitting”, you might want to go along the lines of a “flowy” bottom. The same is true on the reverse- a tighter bottom will probably look better with a bit of a roomier top. Remember, no Diva looks like a fool. 

1. The Top: If you’re wearing a dress, you’ve just eliminated a step in the process of Diva Dressing, as #2 and #3 are combined for you.  “Tight” and “Low-cut” are two words traditionally associated with our term, but this isn’t always the case.  The painted on items of clothing that these women wear is sometimes created just for them and/sewn for this purpose (sometimes sewn directly onto them).  One word that can describe the top of choice of nearly all Diva’s is “seductive”.  But this term typically means something completely different to everyone, for it’s more of a subconscious feeling than an actual description. The color and the style can vary immensely, but the bottom line is this: Nothing has the same affect on everyone. To be safe, a solid color top works best.  Red is a power color that grabs attention, while black is considered mysterious.  White triggers thoughts of purity (and is why so many Diva’s don’t wear it a lot, as they usually get ridiculed by the press).  Purple is a color of royalty, while pink in all of it’s wondrous shades is considered to be very feminine. Blue can make onlookers feel depressed or saddened.  Green makes people think of hospitals. But no color will look Divaesque if the top chosen is completely wrong for your body shape.  Be open to many different style options, as no Diva would go out looking like a fool.  

Anyways, this got me thinking about my own sugar intake, so I did a little research. I came across a great list from iVillage with 10 ways to cut back on sugar :

1. Don’t add it to foods. This is the easiest and most basic way to immediately reduce the amount of sugar you’re eating. Biggest targets: cereal, coffee and tea.

2. Don’t be fooled by “healthy sugar” disguises. Brown sugar, turbinado sugar, raw sugar … it’s all pretty much the same thing as far as your body is concerned.

3. Make a real effort to reduce or eliminate processed carbohydrates. Most processed carbs — breads, bagels, most pastas and snacks — are loaded with flour and other ingredients that convert to sugar in the body almost as fast as pure glucose. That sugar gets stored as triglycerides, which is a fancy way of saying fat.

4. Watch out for “fat-free” snacks. One of the biggest myths is that if a food is fat-free it doesn’t make you fat. Fat-free doesn’t mean calorie-free, and most fat-free snacks are loaded with sugar.

5. Shop for color. The more your grocery basket looks like a cornucopia of color, the better. It usually means you’re getting more fresh vegetables and low-glycemic fruits such as berries and cherries.

6. Become a food detective. This tip is from the wonderful author and nutritionist Anne Louise Gittleman, who adds that “To reduce sugar, you have to know where it is first.” Start reading labels.

7. Beware of artificial sweeteners. Unfortunately, they can increase cravings for sugar and carbohydrates. According to Gittleman, they also deplete the body’s stores of chromium, a nutrient crucial for blood-sugar metabolism.

8. Do the math. Look at the label where it says “total sugars” and divide the number of grams by four. That’s the number of teaspoons of sugar you are ingesting. This exercise alone should scare the pants off you.

9. Limit fruit. (Notice I didn’t say “eliminate.”) Fruit has sugar, but it also has fiber and good nutrients. Just don’t overdo it. For weight-loss purposes, two servings a day maximum.

10. Eliminate fruit juice. It’s a pure sugar hit with none of the fiber and less of the nutrients that are found in the fruit itself.

The way I figure it, if you follow this list, you should always be able to see your shoes!