As spring teases and winter taunts, we’re getting tired of our sweater dresses and have started eyeing our sweet summer frocks. But since it’s too cold to go bare legged, we’re pairing our short skirts and spaghetti straps with a cardigan and a cute pair of tights.

Wearing actual thigh-highs can get a little draughty in the cold weather, so we wear Dim Trompe l’Oeil tight ($21), with a knee-length skirt (so we can feel cheeky but not chilly when the wind blows it up). At The Bay, 585 St. Catherine St W., Montreal, 514-281-4422, www.hbc.com

Soon the spring blooms will burst through the snow, but until then we’ll bring the garden to the party with Mondor’s Floral Lace Fishnet Tights ($18.50). P.S. They’re made in Quebec. www.mondor.com

We love Secret’s white lace tights ($9.50) for when we want to look our most sweet and innocent. But we’ll wear them with a black leather shorts just to maintain our mystique. At The Bay, 585 St. Catherine St W., Montreal, 514-281-4422, www.hbc.com —JN

We’d love to be one of those practically perfect types, with a Mary Poppins-style purse filled with all the supplies one needs to survive in the daily grind. But we can’t even be bothered to carry a cosmetics case.

So once we’ve applied our makeup in the morning, we’re done. And by the end of the day, there’s barely a trace to wash away.

We tried Lise Watier’s Teint Parfait 12 Hrs Glam foundation and concealer ($45) and the Duo Glam Rouge Infini Lipstick ($27), a single wand including a liquid formulation to stain your lips and a high pigment lipstick for a bolder look. Our face remained flawless and our pout perfectly pink for a full day, no touch-ups required.

No gigantic purse required, either.

At Pharmaprix, Brunet, Jean Coutu, and The Bay.

The first time we saw those iconic interlocking Cs, we were just a little girl sneaking a spritz of our mother’s Chanel #5.

Even though we’re all grown up, we still like to play dress-up at the new 900 square-foot Chanel Fragrance and Beauty Space at the Bay Downtown Montreal. Decorated the brand’s signature beige and gold, this stunning boutique offers shoppers the opportunity to consult with experts to find the perfect Chanel scent and try different looks at one of several play stations at the large Makeup Table. Feeling oh-so-Coco (Chanel, that is)? You can book a VIP consultation to get individualized skin care and fragrance advice in complete privacy.

As the lady herself once said “Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.”

Chanel at The Bay, 585 St. Catherine St. W., Montreal, www.hbc.com

We’ve been obsessed with NARS makeup ever since we discovered that their bestselling Orgasm blush really did create a cheeky post-coital glow.

Now we’re coveting the moisturizing Velvet Gloss lip pencils ($30), launching tomorrow. We’ll be skipping lunch to head to the brand new 1000 square-foot NARS counter at The Bay downtown to pick up the easy-to-apply pencil in New Lover, a golden pink shade that will make your lips look like you’ve been engaging in some heavy make-out sessions with a new man.

Wear the blush with the lip gloss and let the office gossip fly!

The Bay, 585 Ste. Catherine W., Montreal, 514-281-4422, www.narscosmetics.com

With so many ways to find the time (check your phone, ask a handsome stranger, etc.), are watches anything more than functional jewellery?

Toywatch’s new styles give us a reason to check our wrists instead of our phones. We love the Jelly Looped with mix ‘n match wristbands to create fun colour combinations, the chic Heavy Metal and the sparkling Gem watches.

You can count down the minutes until handsome strangers start asking you the time. Now that’s functional.

At The Bay, 585 Ste Catherine St. W., Montreal, 514-281-4422, www.toywatchcanada.com

With 26 consecutive Vogue covers (and being the make-up artist for Marc Jacobs), François Nars certainly carries weight.

Thankfully his new summer collection is anything but heavy. The limited-edition Multiple Tints ($46) are water-based, giving us subtle, dewy hints of color on cheeks, eyes and lips (we love the bright pink Cadaqués shade). And we just adore his matte and oh-so-airy Skin Smoothing Face Prep ($36) for filling lines without leaving a heavy mess.

We sure light that.

At Sephora.

See photos of Montreal editor Marianne Wisenthal’s NARS experience on today’s Editors' Diary.

We walk to work and take the stairs but we’ve still got jiggle in our wiggle.

For that extra push we’re turning to ShāToBu, fat-burning shapewear (from $50) that lifts, tightens and tones all at once. Invented by a Quebec-born chiropractor, the shapers have built-in bands that promise to burn 12 per cent more calories with each outing. We wore the High Waist to Knee model faithfully for a week. It didn’t bulge or pinch, but did we lose any poundage? 

Who cares when we look this svelte under our DVF wrap dress.

Available in June at the Bay, 585 Ste-Catherine St. W., Montreal, 514-281-4422, www.thebay.com

This party season we’re packing more than just glitter-gloss in our Bottega Veneta clutch.

The Ila Dusk is a stylish little personal alarm ($29.99) that emits a high-decimal, up-to-two-mile scream when you pull its chain.  Small and discrete, it hooks onto your purse or keychain for easy access. Better still, there’s no need to sacrifice style for safety—it comes in pretty prints like black-and-white, blue floral and stars.

Too bad it won’t protect us from bad pick-up lines.

At the Bay, 585 Ste-Catherine St. W., Montreal, 514-281-4422, www.thebay.com

Bare legs were all over spring 2010 runways, but bold tights were the front-row thing at fashion week.

Paired with a simple black dress, patterned hosiery is a great way to add shazam to an otherwise risk-free wardrobe and we’ve gone mad for Dim’s new line of art-inspired tights. Wrap your columns in a pair of painterly Indian Ink sheers ($22) or layer art deco-style black Unstructured Fishnets ($10) over red or ultraviolet ($10) opaques.

Your legs will be your greatest masterpiece (no art classes or gym membership required).

At the Bay, 585 St-Catherine St. W., Montreal, 514-281-4422, www.thebay.com

Lately we’re having sordid fantasies about being kidnapped by a hot Australian. Throw in a spot of dinner and we’re in seventh heaven.

While we can’t actually take TV host/chef Curtis Stone home with us, we have found ways to add a little hot Stone action into our kitchen. His slick new line of cooking supplies ranges from handy basics like the Juicy carving board ($120), to plating dazzlers like Showtime presentation rings ($85) that let you stack your food like a star.

Our personal fave is the Bump & Grind ($200, pictured), Stone’s sexy version of the mortar and pestle. Do you really need to ask why?

At the Bay, 585 Ste-Catherine St. W, Montreal, 514-281-4422, www.thebay.com