And you thought Monday was a downer. Not this one: to celebrate the opening of its new Denman location, Pure Nail Bar is offering free manis and pedis all day today, first come, first served.

Now ditch those Michael Kors wedges and run.

Pure Nail Bar, 991 Denman St., 604-688-1866, www.purenailbar.com

Dear vitamin v... vitamin v was referred to me last year—and I've been hooked ever since. :)

I've tried several shops at your recommendation, some include (and yes, one of my favorites) the Lululemon Warehouse, that new little Mexican Restaurant on the edge of Gastown, (La Casita) and Hapa Izakaya — fantastic! Plus a couple places on Main Street that just rock, and I've put several of the Maui/Hawaii websites on my favorites list.

I am a very busy mother of five (yikes! How did I end up here?). THANK YOU for all the great recommendations, fashion tips and all that you guys do. We love it out here in cyber land, and we appreciate the fun and interesting ways in which you report!!

Marcia

A friend has been forwarding me some of her favourite emails from you and I would like to be put on your list! I can’t wait to do the cherry blossom painting in the park! Keep up the great sleuthing, I've enjoyed so many of your ideas.

Melissa

I absolutely love coming into work in the morning and getting my daily dose of goodness! I used to live the shopper friendly, lazy days of a Vancouver waitress; now that I’ve graduated, I’m enjoying a career that I love and working with clients that are fantastic. Where’s the problem you ask? It seems as if this city is made for people with afternoons off and time for the weeknight martini at midnight. My major fear is that this summer I’ll be a single, pasty white girl in last year’s look, too late to score a seat on one of our gorgeous patios.

Nicole

Thank you for sending this dose on etsy.com!! For a while I have been sewing my own purses and selling them to my friends and their friends. I work a full-time government job and find it impossible to sew all the ideas I have for purses, but I am slowly working up to it. This website brings new light on options for selling my products. And I've always hoped that one day, my purses and handbags will be featured on vitamin v.

Happy Spring!

Grace

If you think Jessica Simpson was born with that million-dollar smile, well we’ve got some great real estate on Burns Bog to sell you.

They are called veneers, and they’re a super costly way to achieve that picture perfect set of identically shaped and coloured teeth (though the effect is somewhat Chicklet-like if you ask us).

But if a mouth that even the orthodontist couldn’t save has been your lot in life, here’s a new option that could leave you grinning wide.

New to Vancouver, the New York-designed Snap on Smile is a set of removable veneers that you can wear for a big night out, important photographs, your wedding (or your Jessica Simpson Halloween costume) without being committed to the look forever.

At $1,500 for the entire arch, they’re priced around the same as a single veneer.

And that’s something to smile about.

The Snap On Smile is available at West Coast Denture Clinic, 370-6091 Gilbert Rd., Richmond, 604-278-5447, www.westcoastdentureclinic.com

Read more about the product at www.manhattandentalarts.com

If schlepping to the drugstore to battle line-ups of people buying discounted cans of tuna just doesn’t fit your image of the chic apothecary, you’ll love the new online store www.pharmacymix.com from a Vancouver-based female pharmacist.

The carefully selected merchandise includes classics you may already be addicted to (Alba lavender deodorant, Sisus vitamins, Smith’s Rosebud Salve, La Roche Posay sun care, Dr. Bach’s Rescue Remedy for stress) as well as new names to add to your natural medicine cabinet.

The John Masters Organics hair range includes a zinc-and-sage conditioner for dry scalp ($28) and a rosemary-peppermint detangler ($22.50) and the California Baby calming diaper rash cream ($16) really does work.

Top off the basket with fun items like Breath Palette toothpaste in flavours like White Peach and Darjeeling Tea ($6.45) and Accoutrements Band-aids printed with kisses, skulls, or sushi ($6.95).

Items are delivered within two days in biodegradable packaging.

So easy, you may never need those Dr. Bach’s stress drops again.

Shop online (click the flag for Canadian currency) at www.pharmacymix.com

The boutique hair salon is the wave of the future, but discovering these little gems can be like finding that pale peach Cosabella thong at the bottom of your underwear drawer: difficult, but worth it.

Take A Salon, housed on the second floor of the Century Plaza Hotel & Spa.

Who would suspect that down the well-worn hotel carpet and past the conference facilities would be a gorgeous salon designed by Inform Interior’s Neils Bendtsen? And owned by the likes of stylist Robert Andrew Samways, who formerly operated from the Hotel Vancouver?

From the bumble & bumble hair products, to the custom styling stations made out of Eames chairs, to the Philippe Starck Ghost chairs, it’s an aesthetic delight.

And so to will be your hair, if regular client Tamara Taggart (CTV News) is any indication.

A Salon, Century Plaza Hotel & Spa, 2nd Floor, 1015 Burrard St., 604-697-5321.

View photos and price list at www.asalon.ca

Is Georgia Nicols just not cutting it for you? Telling you to zig when you want to zag?

Here’s a new way to plan your life: by the 28 days of your menstrual cycle.

The website and accompanying book at www.hormonology.info will have you scrambling for your Blackberry, trying to calculate your hormone levels for that key job interview next week.

Choose your wedding date to fall between days 11 and 13, it counsels, when your hormones are peaking. But beware of getting preggars on the plane to Lima the next morning—the hottest time for sex all month is on the morning of day 13. And day 23? Bridezilla alert!

Plummeting hormones on day 23 can also cause carb cravings, days four through 10 are good for girlfriend getaways, but stay far away from Gucci on day 11: peaking hormones can cause you to overspend.

So now that your sex life, diet, travel plans and wedding are all on schedule, why can’t we just get the rest of the world to conform?

Read more at www.hormonology.info

Before you tiptoe through the tulips this spring, let alone strap on those new Grecian sandals, a trip to Barefoot Venus online spa is necessary legwork.

The Alberta company's Foot Therapy line includes "Cool Your Heels" foot spray ($12.99) with tea tree oil and peppermint, perfect for detoxing feet that have been hiding in Uggs all winter.

The "All Cracked Up" cocoa butter balm ($14.99) will soften those snowboarding calluses while healing with ground cloves. And the "Playing Footsie" coconut milk foot soak ($14.99) exfoliates naturally with lactic acid.

Finish with the "Smooth Operator" oil with aloe vera and menthol ($14.99) for glossy calves, and you'll be ready to step on out.

View and purchase products at www.barefootvenus.com

If your face is the artwork (dare we say, masterpiece) then your eyebrows are the frame.

So says expert eyebrow shaper Deb, whose business cards read “sculptress.” 

True enough, but let us add:  an expert brow shaping is the poor woman’s eyelift.

This brow veteran will assess your situation (lopsided? crooked? too heavy on top?) discuss the remedy, then wax, pluck and trim accordingly. Starting with a light dusting of talc, and finishing with calming lavender essential oils, the process takes a swift 15 minutes.

And as you encounter friends who can’t help commenting on how rested and polished you look, give them a sly little wink, and see if they can figure it out.

Brow shaping, $20, at Bent Beauty Industries, 1236 Richards St., 604-694-BENT, www.bentbeauty.com.

You’ve had your palm read, you know the colour of your aura and you’re on intimate terms with your rising sign.

But have you had your face analyzed?

The latest and greatest in self-discovery, Face Talk workshops, will teach you how to determine personality traits from the width of your eyes or the angle of your chin.

Proponents say it’s useful for scoping the party for potential mates (that guy with the thin upper lip? Not for you. But Mr. Forehead? Absolutely!)

In true vitamin v fashion, we tested this service (via photograph) and learned that we were “sensitive to what is new and beautiful,” and that we “encourage others to do/look/be/feel their best.” 

Couldn’t agree more.

Read more about “Face Talk” and inquire about upcoming seminars via www.markainley.com

Dear vitamin v,

I just wanted to email you about Prescriptives' custom blend lipgloss at Holt Renfrew. Its absolutely fantastic and it gives ladies the perfect chance to create a signature lipgloss all for a little under $45. You can choose from different consistencies, shades and colours, level of glitter and sparkle, and even the flavour. My favourite is still the Bellini. They will even keep your personal blend on file just in case you need a refill!! Just wanted to share that with all the other Vancouverites out there.

Sincerely yours,
Katherine Q.

Dear Katherine,

Thanks for the great tip. Have you ever considered a career in PR? Prescriptives could use a girl like you! As for us, we’ll be heading down to the counter for our very own custom gloss in vitamin v pink for Valentine’s Day. With lots of sparkle, of course.

—ed.

Prescriptives at Holt Renfrew, 633 Granville St.,
604-681-3121, www.holtrenfrew.com