We know, we know, this time of year we should be shopping for other people.

But espace d., Yaletown’s brand new home accessories destination, is filled with such stunningly beautiful objets, we can’t help but add to our own wish list. Colourful glass boxes from littalia ($47) are begging for a spot on our desk. Textured pewter pillows from Britain’s Mumo ($130) would be the ideal finishing touch to our living room. And the inventively wrapped soaps from Paris’s cousu de fil blanc ($16 each) would look dapper beside our sink.

Sometimes it’s better to receive than to give. —Kelsey Dundon

espace d. 1108 Richards Street, Vancouver, 604-662-3008, www.espacedonline.com

In many hip 'hoods, it's easier to buy a crystal-studded chihuahua collar than a sippy cup.

New boutique Saf & Benjamin, opened by a Vancouver mom frustrated by the lack of baby and kid goods available in her Yaletown neighbourhood, stocks a fantastic—and practical—selection of Tawna Hill natural skin care products and pieces from Canadian lines, like Mini Mioche hoodies, Escargot cowboy shirts and 3 Sprouts storage bins and wall organizers.

See, there's room for the four-legged and two-legged babies... just try not to stare when you spot a poodle in a pram.

Shop the new online boutique or in-store: Saf & Benjamin, 1081 Marinaside Crescent, Vancouver, www.safandbenjamin.com

Butter London bids goodbye to Kate Middleton’s singledom.

She landed the world’s most eligible bachelor, and now Kate is landing on everyone’s best-dressed list. Girl deserves it: she’s been waiting for the Prince to pop the question for, like, ever!

To celebrate her, well, 'achievement,' Butter London was inspired to create “No More Waity Katie,” a soft rose greige with a little bit of festive lilac glitter. One can’t go royal without a little bit of sparkle! —AG

$17 at BeautyMark, 103-1120 Hamilton St., Vancouver, 604-642-2294, www.beautymark.ca

A box of chocolates he wants not.

A decorated sugar box, now that's a Valentine's present.

Surprise your sweetie with a bikini wax in the shape of a heart, or decorated with a sparkly rhinestones from Yaletown's new Sugarbox waxing salon.

Owner Jane Brooks has gone ultra-girly with this larger location, replete with gilt mirrors, refurbished shabby-chic antiques, and pink and purple walls ("I couldn't decorate my home this way," she laughs).

Neat and discreet (her "single dip" waxing policy avoids cross-contamination between clients), Brooks gets the job done at lightning speed with minimal pain.

Now all you have to do is plan the "reveal."

Bikini waxing from $30. Sugarbox, 1025 Cambie St., Vancouver, 604-569-1100, www.mysugarbox.com

A no dairy diet doesn’t mean you can’t have your whipped cream… you just can’t eat it too (it’s for your hair).

Milk_Shake conditioning whipped cream by Z.ONE Concept smells like the yummiest vanilla diner shake, but the leave-in mousse protects locks with milk proteins for strength, wheat germ for repair and shine, and a special Integrity 41 complex for helping seal in colour.

Milk. It does a bob good.

$23 at BeautyMark, 103-1120 Hamilton St., Vancouver, 604-642-2294, www.beautymark.ca

The fastest way to a man’s heart may be through his stomach, but making your way there needn’t require any baking.

Just have a jar of Farm House Fresh’s Whoopie Cream on hand. With the smooth consistency of whipped cream, the shea butter blend smells like the yummiest vanilla velvet cake. Loaded with vitamin E, jojoba and soybean oils to quench the thirstiest winter skin too.

This cream takes the cake.

$33 at Beautymark, 103-1120 Hamilton St., Vancouver, 604-642-2294, www.beautymark.ca

If eyes are the window to the soul, then your skin is the window to your lifestyle. If yours could use an intervention, no need to call Dr. Drew.  

We tried the 15-day skin cleanse SkinNutrients Advanced Detoxification Formula and felt energized, pure and pretty. The berry-rich powder was very palatable, and other than some fatique as the organ detox got underway, it was a cinch.

And a cleanse that permits dark chocolate and two glasses of red wine? Now that’s what we’re talking about.

$125 at Spruce Body Lab, 1128 Richards St., Vancouver, 604-683-3225, www.sprucebodylab.com

Read more at www.glisodinskin.com

In preparation for what’s called “seasonal lethargy,” bears put on 30 pounds of body fat a week. Heading into our own hibernation, the only bulk we care to 'bear' is chunky knitwear.

Keep the tush toned with a twice-weekly September session of Booty Camp. Located across the Lower Mainland, the girl only classes are lead by certified trainers and include fitness assessment and nutritional support on top of cardio and strength building circuit training. And enrollment comes a exercise DVD for doing on off-days.


We just finished four weeks and feel fit to bare arms beneath fall’s faux fur vests.

Camps ($159/4wks) start today and tomorrow in Yaletown, Fairview and North Vancouver, to sign-up visit www.bootycampfitness.com

If washing our face was like being a contestant on The Wheel of Fortune, we’d ask to buy a consonant, not a vowel.

Winning words like “natural” and “organic” describe the foaming face wash ($18) from Canadian skin care line Consonant. Feather light and refreshing, it’s sans synthetics and loaded with the natural goodness of tea tree and grape seed oils. Have yours unscented or with an air of citrus bergamot.

Purchase the wash as a part of their three piece 30 Day Challenge Kit ($90) and they’ll give you back your cash if you’re anything but pleased with the products. That’s good game.

At BeautyMark, 103-1120 Hamilton St., Vancouver, 604-642-2294, www.beautymark.ca and www.consonantbody.com

What’s red and white and wood all over? The new Commune Cafe at the corner of Seymour and Nelson.

The spot serves up three square meals a day and the space, designed by Evoke, is as cool as they come with cork pendant lights, red lacquered chairs around a long wooden common table and grey felt booths along the windows. Outside another 25 people-watching seats are up for grabs on a heated patio. You could take a wild Oregon shrimp and tarragon mayo brioche hoagie ($9) to go, but we suggest staying in with a glass of Blasted Church’s Hatfield’s Fuse ($7) or Pop Shoppe cream soda ($2.75) if you’ve still got work to do.

Offering free-range, organic and sustainable goods and using eco-friendly cleaning supplies, the place is a part hippie and we’re happy for it.

Commune Cafe, 1002 Seymour St., Vancouver, 604-681-2551, www.communecafe.ca