Jun 4, 2015 etc
Get your significant other into sexier underpants
For women
Don’t just leave a T-string under her pillow: she’ll think it’s someone else’s. Start at the back, where changes will not induce pubic-hair panic. If she wears briefs, buy her something with a Brazilian cut, riding high on the buttocks and flattering even the droopiest of derrieres. Next, some lace. If you still have the urge to floss her bottom, move to a thong, then a G-string and then a T-string. But beware: only the bravest booty feels confident enough for a G or T.
For men
Keep it tight and, unless he manscapes, make sure it stretches a few centimetres down the thigh. Satin, boxers, novelty designs, anything with a visible fluoro waistband: nope. They’re all for 14-year-olds. Yes, even the ones with “Sexy Beast” written on them.
Look really good
• Spend as much as you can on the wardrobe items you regard as the basic essentials. Every time you say to yourself, “I wish I had a great black blazer,” it means you can spend more on it when you find the perfect one.
• Good shoes. They say more about you than any other item of clothing: they establish you. People always notice shoes. Besides, they last and they’re likely to be more comfortable over time.
• Keep up, but don’t feel the need to keep up with everything.
• Wear the right fit. Cheaper clothes that fit well look better than expensive items that are two sizes too small.
• Enough already with the logos.
• Spend money on skincare. Cure the problems, don’t try to hide them.
• Yellow teeth are a bad look. No need to go Tom Cruise white, but if you’ve been resisting this, you may want to know teeth-whitening is now what city dental practices do most of
the time.
• Find a great hair stylist or barber. Ask people you know whose hair always looks great. Once you find the right one, don’t be rude to them and don’t go cheating on them for someone who charges less. You want them to value your custom, so you can follow them when they move.
• Recycle. When you buy something new, recycle something old.
• Jandals? Actually, we love that they cause such a fuss. There’s a time and a place, and it’s neither never nor always.
• Smile. It is not stylish to frown, it just makes you look like you hate your life.
More for women
• Avoid contouring and the Kylie Jenner lip liner look. What’s passable at 100m turns you into a freak up close.
• Neutral colours are chic not cheap. Strange but true: no one looks awesome in neon or cobalt blue. And at the wedding, do not be the woman in the red dress: it says desperate.
• Clever patterns on your fingernails: yep, why not? But the most essential on-trend beauty treatment right now is… eyebrows.
More for men
• Auckland has a really good men’s clothing precinct: Shortland/High/O’Connell Sts.
• If you wear a watch, make it one you really like, because as with your shoes, it says a lot about you.
• Men under a certain age (45? 40? 35?) roll their trouser legs; older men don’t. But is this a rule or is age is a state of mind?
• Beards. It’s not that they’re out. But they are no longer required.
Find the coolest way to shift fat
Lunchtime lipo? So last week. “Chillsculpt” uses a new, non-invasive technology to freeze and reduce fat cells on places like your waist, hips, thighs and tummy. You lie on your back while a vacuum-like machine is placed over your unwanted flab, cooling the fat below body temperature, which effectively crystallises the fat cells. Over time the affected cells are eliminated through normal metabolic processes. Takes less than an hour per session, doesn’t hurt, doesn’t guarantee you won’t put the fat back on.
Get fit
When the spirit is willing it doesn’t matter if the flesh is weak.
Personal trainer, radio dude, vegetariangelist, Muay Thai godfather and all-round superhero Richie Hardcore says the trick is to find something you like doing and stick at it. “Half an hour of something that makes you sweat, every day.” Richie also prescribes sleeping regularly and well, reducing alcohol and, most of all, eating better: fresh fruit and veges and unprocessed food. He’s cool, though, that Richie: “Be a bit gentle on yourself. A good guide is the 80/20 rule: if you’re eating well 80 per cent of the time, give yourself 20 per cent to be less restrictive, else you go crazy. Moderation in all things, including moderation.”
Train for the Auckland marathon
You need at least 16 weeks. The Auckland Marathon website has a training section for beginners, covering everything from shoes to breakfast. They also offer coaching programmes for all levels with Get Running (aucklandmarathon.co.nz). The secret to success? Do it with a friend whose willpower is stronger than yours — and make like you’re the strong-willed one.
A girl’s guide to diamonds
• It’s about the three Cs: clarity, colour and carat weight. Some diamonds are cut to maximise carat weight, others (such as Tiffany diamonds) are cut to maximise sparkle. What do you value more?
• Engagement rings are deeply personal. You might love the idea of being surprised with a ring, but you probably also care deeply what you wear on your fingers, so find a way to let him know that if the pop-the-question day arises, you want to be in on the choice. Maybe tell his mum.
• Think outside the box. You don’t have to buy brand new or from a company that specialises in engagement rings. A vintage Cartier ring might be far better for the right woman than a brand-spanking new one.
• You don’t have to choose from set designs. Buying a loose diamond and having a ring designed by a family jeweller or by you and your fiancé can be very special.
• Buy from a reputable jeweller or auction house. Ask for the valuation and check out the company or individual who valued it. People can and do get scammed by dodgy valuations.
• If you think you can buy fabulous genuine diamonds for amazingly low prices from dealers in hotel lobbies, you deserve to be scammed. Though you may take some comfort from the fact that, throughout history, many people far brighter than you have been diamond dazed.
More ways to make your dreams come true in Auckland:
Photo by Karen Inderbitzen-Waller.
