If you’ve never bought or sold anything on eBay, it can seem a bit overwhelming. I have so many friends who have closets packed with stuff, but who refuse to take the time to try to sell their once-loved-items on eBay on the pretext that eBay is too complicated and too tedious to learn.

Most of them have told me they have no intentions on sitting down and figuring out eBay and they’d just rather take their once-loved-items to GoodWill. Now, don’t get me wrong, taking items you no longer wear or use to Salvation Army or GoodWill is very important. It’s a truly kind and necessary gesture, but there are a number of items that you own that are worth some good money and this might be a little extra cash that you could use to offset the coming season’s purchases.

The Toronto Film Festival has taken over the city and there are Hollywood Celebrities everywhere you look and there are exclusive parties every single night.

If you are invited to one of these parties, the first thing that comes to mind is the dreaded question: “what do I wear”? Dressing up for a red carpet event or a party that will be star-studded can add a lot of pressure on your wallet if you don’t know where to shop.

When was the last time you said to yourself: “I look incredible”? What about: “Man, I look hot”? Perhaps: “I love the way I look”?

If you cannot remember, if you think you look ordinary, if you wish you could look like a movie star, you might want to drop what you are doing and take a good look at what celebrities (and some of the most beautiful women) look like when they don’t have the help of stylists, makeup artists and hair magicians.

We might think celebrities always look sooooooo p-e-r-f-e-c-t, but what if they looked just like you and I when they weren’t being prepped for three hours by some of the top stylists in the beauty industry?

Have you noticed there are more and more shows on celebrity plastic surgeries on TV lately?

The other day I was watching a show called “Vanity Insanity”.

The new generation of plastic-surgery-TV-shows does more than just point the finger at which celebrity got some work done and which didn’t.

These shows actually give celebrity beauty tips that allows the “normal” person to get ideas of what is possible in the world of cosmetic enhancement and in many cases they are also a good platform to warn the public of what excessive plastic surgery can look like (think of the cat lady).

I’ll be honest, before Shania started singing “Any Man of Mine” (from The Woman in Me album) back in 1995, I truly knew very little about country music.

Some might argue that Shania is not truly country, but one thing for sure is that this Canadian from Timmins, Ont. has opened the door to allow a lot of non-country music lovers to actually appreciate it.

I won’t go into details on Shania’s groundbreaking career that includes over 75 million country albums sold worldwide (including 48 million sold in the U.S. alone), countless awards and critical acclaim, but I will say that Shania (42, born in August 1965) has broken some major records.

Do you remember Canadian ex-Supermodel Monika Schnarre? Yes, you do … the name may not instantly ring a bell, but her face is unforgettable.

Monika became one of Ford Models’ youngest models to win the ‘Supermodel of the World’ competition in 1985 when she was only 14! And to top that, by 15, Monika was the youngest ever to have appeared on the cover of American Vogue and in the pages of the coveted Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

I had a chance encounter with Monika during Toronto Fashion Week and I could not resist approaching her and asking for an interview. I was thrilled beyond belief when she responded!

I don’t know if you watched the rerun of Robin McGraw and Dr. Phil’s beauty makeover show with stylish and fashion critic Cojo (Steven Cojocaru) a few days ago? Remember the one where Robin McGraw, Dr. Phil and Cojo gave full makeover to a number of women who had been taking care of everyone in their lives expect for themselves?

I have no doubt that they decided to feature this show because it was one of the most popular shows they did.

Why am I featuring the soon-to-be smash hit “Mamma Mia” the movie on a beauty site? A number of very good reasons justify this post:

* I love ABBA music!

* I absolutely loved “Mamma Mia” when I saw it on stage and I too was standing and singing ABBA songs out loud (happiness helps you age better)!

* Celebrity Beauty Match Pick Pierce Brosnan will be part of the leading cast.

Vogue Italy did something extremely bold for July 2008: they featured a black model on the cover and on top of that they created a fold out cover that feature three other black models photographed by Steven Meisel.

These models are the top black models in the industry at present and it’s quite the homage that Vogue Italy would feature Liya Kebede, Sesilee Lopez, Jourdan Dunn and Naomi Campbell. Liya Kebede made the front cover while the other three black beauties graced the pages of the rest of the fold out.

Last week was a week where I met so many great people: Candace Bushnell, makeup artist and TV host Paul Venoit and gossip girl Elaine Lui (aka Lainey Gossip).

I had interviewed Elaine for two different posts and a third one for my Yahoo! Site.

I find meeting people in person after seeing them for so long on TV always very fascinating because you either like them or hate them.

During the interview portion of the “meet and greet” event orchestrated last week by P & G Beauty featuring Candace Bushnell … the über successful author answered a lot of questions and I thought it would be really insightful to actually find out more about what she has to say on certain life questions.

The following questions and answers with Candace Bushnell are based on the answers she gave to Danielle Bibas’ (head of P & G Beauty Canada) questions.

1. Why do you think women have such an obsession with shoes?

Candace Bushnell: “Throughout history, shoes have been a status symbol for women. Shoes represent wealth and until recently they were a symbol of luxury … something only the very rich could afford”.

Last week I attended a “meet and greet” event orchestrated by P & G Beauty featuring Candace Bushnell, creator of Sex and the City and Lipstick Jungle.

As you may already know, I L-O-V-E Lipstick Jungle as much as I L-O-V-E Sex and the City and the idea that I would actually be in the same room as Candace Bushnell was overwhelming.

On the day of the event, I had butterflies in my stomach, but I managed to put on my makeup, choose a designer suit appropriate for the occasion, put on my Italian patent leather peep toe flats (purchased in Florence), grabbed my Italian handbag and made my way to the Bata Shoe Museum to meet the author of the most successful female TV series and the most popular female comedy movie.

I’m not one for tanning. First off, I sport a year-round tan and second off these statistics about skin cancer just scare me. That said, if you are determined to tan in order to get that bronzed look, then you should at least consider somewhat protecting yourself.

Imedeen Tan Optimizer capsules “optimize” your tan by helping you to get more out of your time in the sun. Just one capsule per day helps prepare your skin for the sun by increasing melanin production and by supporting your skin’s own natural tanning mechanism. Imedeen Tan Optimizer will also prolong your tan.

A few months ago, I interviewed Pat Browne, vice-president marketing for Nordic Selfcare Institute®, to learn more about Imedeen Time Perfection.

Since I had already interviewed Pat on Imedeen Time Renewal (for post menopausal women), I thought it would logical to talk about the product designed for women in their 30s, 40s, and early 50s. You will soon be able to listen to the Imedeen Time Perfection podcast, but I wanted to share my personal experience with the product.

I have to say that until doing research for Imedeen Time Perfection, I really didn’t realize how deficient my diet was in Omega-3.

I love salmon and I do eat it often, but I don’t eat it everyday and I certainly don’t eat it in quantities that would provide me with the amount of Omega-3 my body needs to repair my skin, hair and nails.

This is one of the topics that I knew Elaine discussed a lot on her own site and I wanted to get her take on this trend that in my opinion is turning gorgeous women into doll-like-creatures.

According to Elaine, of laineygossip.com and CTV’s eTalk, many Hollywood celebs are getting injected because in their minds they will look more relevant and will be able to ensure they get casted for the next big role (and the one after that … and the one after that).

I recently interview Elaine (Lainey) Lui, of laineygossip.com and CTV’s eTalk, for my Beauty Redefined site on Yahoo! Canada Lifestyles.

After a quick conversation about her personal beauty secrets, I asked Elaine for her opinion on a post I had written that generated a lot of buzz and introduced so many new readers to Beauty Match.

In January, I talked about an article that was published in Radar magazine that revealed just how much cosmetic enhancement was actually taking place in Hollywood: Hollywood over 35: are they obsessed with perfection?