Blog Posts by The_Stir

Salon NFuseQuestion: Do you think Ellen, pictured above, will kill me for using this as her 'before' photo?

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Sorry, Ellen, but it's the only photo I had of your hair in its natural, pixie-esque state ... besides, y'all, this girl is so beautiful that she even looks good making this face!

The point is that you'd think that with hair this short, she's pretty limited when it comes to fixing her hair for the holidays, right?

Think again ...

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This cut is pretty new for Ellen, and I absolutely love it. Had she told me she was getting a pixie cut when her hair was longer, I would have had misgivings, but now, it looks like she was MADE for this haircut.

But look what happens when you take a teasing brush (I'm getting this teasing brush for Christmas) and gently tease the top, smooth it over with the brush, and add a sparkly headband, as stylist Stephanie did for Ellen at Salon Nfuse

wedding bandsWith the country's finances in the dumper, it's no surprise to hear the news that more and more people are putting off tying the knot. The reality is that one in four say they have delayed getting married, because of the economy. The average age for a woman to get hitched is 26, up from 22 in 1980. For men, it's 28, up from 25 thirty years ago. Those ages still sound pretty young to me, but then again, I live in Greater NYC -- an area where it's even harder to keep up with the Joneses.

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This may be the trend, but there are still those who think waiting as a result of financial woes is ridiculous. Who believe finances shouldn't influence the timing of tying the knot. That money and marriage don't necessarily go hand-in-hand. While it's sweet to be so idealistic, I personally prefer reality and hard facts over fantasy.

Facts like ... you know you're going to have to pay for your own wedding, so you'd

wrap a catI come from a long line of gift wrapping phenoms. My grandmother could gift wrap a present wearing a blindfold, standing on one leg, drunk as a skunk, without using any tape. My sister's got some mad skills, too. I think she was an elf in a past life; her wrapping is so flawless that you never want to rip into it, you just want to put it on your shelf and admire the craftsmanship. I, on the other hand, shove a gift in a recycled bag from Whole Foods, throw in some crinkled tissue paper I dug out of the trash at the office holiday party, and toss it into the recipient's lap like a lead football.

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So if you're wrapping-challenged like me, maybe this year we can turn things around and actually be proud of our presentations. I think we all know how to wrap the normal box (even though we suck at it), so let's focus on a higher level of difficulty. Let's really test ourselves. With that in mind, here are

tattoo on footA friend of mine recently asked what to get his girlfriend who has everything for Christmas. We threw out suggestions. Pajamas. Lingerie. A trip to the spa. Jewelry. Nothing was clicking for him. Then I thought about it, and what his girlfriend really likes. What about a tattoo? I asked him. That was it. The perfect gift for a gal who loves tattoos.

Of course this gift would be perfect for a guy who has been wanting to visit a tattoo shop but just didn't scrape enough money together. And we all know how pricey tattoos can be, so instead of buying that sweater that might get returned or lingerie that will be worn once, why not get something really memorable.

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I have some ideas on how to present this gift and how to make it even more special ....

Obviously you can't wrap a tattoo. (Though how cool would it be to have a tattoo artist pop out of a box ready to give you a tattoo?!) Since

Jon Stewart Stephen ColbertHanukkah is only a few days away, can you believe it? People all around the world will soon be lighting up their menorahs and spinning dreidels and making latkes and handing out gelt, celebrating and spending some QT with their loved ones.

Even though Christmas carols tend to take over this time of year, there are plenty of sweet, moving, and, let's face it, totally hilarious Hanukkah songs out there to help get you into the spirit. Have a listen to some of our favorites -- and then be inspired to fry up some sufganiyah.

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Adam Sandler, "Hanukkah Song": Let's start off with a requisite. Sandler's little diddy perhaps one of the best known Hanukkah songs out there -- I know you've heard it before, and you simply can't have a list of Hanukkah songs without including this one.

The Maccabeats, "Miracle": I think most of us heard The Maccabeats' song "Candlelight" last year. Here's one of their

LakesideThank God there's no ceiling on tacky -- otherwise, we might never have the opportunity to buy a pair of 'pajama jeans' for the fashionably clueless men in our lives!

And in my opinion, with their "rips" and creative shading, these are even better than the real thing!

Even better, they're only $12.95 at Lakeside.com!

WOOOOOOOOOOOT!

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But if you think these are laughable, wait until you see the other version for men that's available.

You won't BELIEVE this pair ...

Ladies, check THESE out:

LakesideNo, those are not separate boxers peeping out from beneath this man's pajama jeans -- THEY ARE PART OF HIS PAJAMA JEANS! It's an optical illusion!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

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(Razor and oil for your man's chest not included.)

I'm tempted to get these pants for my husband as a joke, but I won't because I know he'd totally wear

When you're a teenager or a young adult in a relationship who has never had sex, you wait months, sometimes even years before consummating a relationship. By the time you're 30 or so, all that has changed. Those people I know who were dating when they reached that age were having sex well before the one-month mark, sometimes as early as on the first date.

As someone who never dated past the age of 23, I can't imagine how I would be now. Back then I was still waiting at least one month, if not longer. But at my current age, it's hard to imagine waiting so long.

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So how long is the right amount of time to wait between when you meet someone and when you first have sex with them?

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. It's a bit of a relative question. I know people who had one-night stands that turned into marriage and people who waited years before having sex who still broke up. There is no

deodorantsIt's really bad when your deodorant doesn't work. Especially if you finally have that 15 minutes with your husband. Or holding a subway pole in summer. Or getting a mammogram. Unfortunately for me, deodorant often fails my pits. Or really, I should say it's unfortunate for my husband, my fellow subway riders, and my doctor. So I dreamed up this deodorant test where five women -- with and without the BO issue I often encounter -- try out some of the common drugstore brands for a few days and record the results.

Tom's, Secret Mineral Deodorant, Dove Ultimate Go-Fresh, Degree Invisible Solid, Secret Unscented, and Crystal Body Deodorant Roll-on were what we tested. We rated scent, effectiveness, and ingredients, and shared if it stained our clothes or not, on a scale of 1 through 5; 5 being the best.

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You will not be able to turn your nose up at what we discovered. Here are the overall results.

dove deodorantDove Ultimate