The other night, Mr. Bella and I were watching TV when we came across a hilarious ad for Kinoki foot pads. These pads promise to rid your body of toxins and cellulite with "tree extracts and powerful negative ions." You just tape them on the soles of your feet, go to sleep, and wake up to see brown crud on the pads. Here's the commercial:

Kinoki is based on an "Ancient Japanese secret," which (of course) is followed by the sound of a gong. (On Kinoki's website, it's apparently all about "ancient Chinese reflexology" — China, Japan, same thing, right? Sigh.) It should be needless to say, but I agree with Fit — this is a load of bunk. If you still aren't convinced, read more

This is definitely not the age of Tammy Faye Bakker — and although long, lush, and voluminous lashes are sought after, so is a clean, defined, no-makeup makeup look. These contrasting worlds have no room for clumpy, lumpy lashes. With these relatively inexpensive and super-small lash combs, you won't have to worry about your lashes being a beauty faux pas.

Tweezerman Folding Eye Lash Comb ($6.99) is a thin and tapered gold-plated comb that has been designed to painlessly glide through your mascara-coated lashes and remove anything that is stuck together or clumpy. Use it when your lashes are still a little wet in gentle, upward motions (away from your eyes).

Eco Tools Bamboo Lash and Brow Groomer (on sale for $2.99) is a long and slender environmentally-friendly eyelash comb and eyebrow brush. It is made from synthetic bristles and the ferule is made from recycled aluminum. Check out the cost, too. At $2.99 a pop, you can keep one stashed in all of your primping locations.

For one more eyelash comb, read more

If you haven't been paying attention, Mother's Day is coming up quickly. (May 11 — mark your calendars!) It's time to start thinking about what sort of gifts to give to your mama, and to enter our contest if you want to win some sophisticated swag.

I always think it's fun to get your mom some beauty goodies that you know she would never buy for herself. But with the economy down, it's tough to spend big right now. So here is my challenge for you! I want to know your ideas for great beauty gifts for moms, all under $25. For instance, I think this blackberry and vanilla scented Trish McEvoy Soap Set ($20), which comes in a pretty gift box with a bow, is just the sort of pampering product any mom would love.

Share your choices by bookmarking items from around the web and tagging them with the phrase gifts for mom. I'll feature your favorites here next Tuesday.

To learn about Beauty Mark It challenges and how to add your picks, check out this how-to. To see some of my favorite online beauty stores, read more

I always have to giggle when a product has a name this long. That's a lot of name to live up to. This Neutrogena MoistureShine Lip Soother Cooling Hydragel ($7) caught my eye because of the pleasant yet not-too-intense pink color. Another gloss reels me in, hook, line and sinker.

The Cooling Hydragel Gloss uses glycerin to moisturize, soothe, and provide a high-sheen gloss. This little guy packs quite the punch: it's thick and gooey, smells overwhelmingly sweet, and made my lips feel tingly and cool. The appearance is super-shiny with little to no detectable color (admittedly I chose the pink shade closest to my own lip color). In fact, the product is so incredibly thick and shiny that it ends up being also really sticky — so much so that I found myself avoiding pursing my lips just to avoid the discomfort of them sticking together.

I like the slick feeling of lip gloss, but this was just too sticky for me. It also has an annoying tropical fruit punch flavor that's strikingly similar to the super-sweet stuff you drank as a kid. I can't tell if this is an '80s throwback, or just a really poorly executed marketing decision. In all fairness, when I gave a friend a sniff, she loved it. To each their own, I guess. See what it looks like for yourself when you read more

Although Lancôme's Cabana Bronze collection isn't due in stores for a couple of weeks, the new Cherub Star Bronzer ($50) and Star Eye Shadow Palettes ($43) are already available online — goodie! Last Summer, they stunned us with the launch of a huge face and body-bronzer compact embellished with a bamboo and sunset image. This year they've decided to bring back the popular over-sized bronzer but instead of a glittery sunset, it features a more subdued cherub imprint.

Leave the glimmering golds and bronzes up to the new quad eye-shadow palettes. The first, Cabana Sunset, contains champagne, true gold, taupe, and deep brown shadows. Its counterpart, Cabana Sunrise, contains a pale shimmery shell pink, a sparkling mauve, a neutral taupe (which I also use on my brows) and a dark brownish-aubergine (which can double as a liner). I'm pretty hooked on Cabana Sunrise — I think it's all I'll need on my next tropical vacay. Which item interests you the most?