The study was done on mice who, as it turns out, have similar sex-based fat distribution pattern to humans.  But there were some definite surprises in the data, particularly for the men.

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First, fat tissue is completely different between men and women.  “”We found that out of about 40,000 mouse genes, only 138 are commonly found in both male and female fat cells,” said Dr. Deborah Clegg, assistant professor of internal medicine at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and senior author of the study.  Since the substance of fat is so different between the genders, the treatment must be different as well, and in that way, women have the advantage.  “Fat on the hips, thighs and butt is subcutaneous and therefore treatable with liposuction. However, belly fat in men is typically visceral and too deep to be treated with liposuction. The only way to reduce this kind of fat, which is considered a health risk, is with diet and exercise,” New Beauty reports.  Get on those bikes, boys!

But women got some bad news in the study as well, and dang, we knew this all along, too.  “In the female mice whose ovaries had been removed — a condition similar to human menopause — put on the high fat diet, weight gain was greater and more likely to be in the belly,” UPI reports.  So women’s fat cells relocate!  Just when we think we’ve got a solution to our “problem area,” it changes neighborhoods!

But Dr. Clegg gives us some hope.  “Although our new findings don’t explain why women begin storing fat in their bellies after menopause, the results do bring us a step closer to understanding the mechanisms behind the unwanted shift.”

Thanks, Dr. Clegg.  But at the risk of sounding vindictive, I’d feel better if those guys had some kinda “shift,” too.  Just once I’d like to see a man whose fat gut slipped to his backside.  But every woman knows – that ain’t going to happen.  It’s in our genes.

The next day was all about clothes. “We were ushered into Saks Fifth Ave. to the upper level exclusive dressing rooms. There we met our stylists and spent the day trying on shoes, dresses, pants, blouses, Spanx … and we were all given a bra fitting and new undergarments. (Wa-Hoo!!)”

So far, so good, she and her companion sister were thinking as they arrived on Monday at Harpo Studios. “Before” shots were taken in the “frumpy” outfits they were told to bring from home, and then the process began in a temporary salon built behind Oprah’s main set. From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Goldie describes, she and eight other women were “bleached, plucked, polished and waxed” for their on-stage transformation. Each woman had her own producer who reevaluated the “dramatic change” every couple hours. One poor contestant had her hair dyed three times that day.

Goldie didn’t want to dye her hair. She comes from a family of “happy, white-haired women” and was quite proud of her locks. She used to joke that the only person who could get her to dye her hair was Oprah, and now that day had arrived.

“The head hair lady, Rita Hazen and her assistants, walked around me and stared at my hair. They felt it, took notes and then came back to give me ‘the talk.’ ‘We’ve decided that your best look is blond!’ Say what??, I sputtered!” But they insisted. “They said I wouldn’t notice the root grow-out as much as a blond … it would be ‘easy’ to keep up with this look, so, I became an Oprah Blond that day. My head was burned so much from the bleach that my scalp skin peeled off after I got home. NOT glamorous at all!!”

Tuesday morning she went back to Harpo for the taping, which was a lot of parading around on the set to the applause of a wishful audience. Directly afterwards they had a brief photo-op with Oprah and then the limo driver took them to the airport and it was all over – “except for the dang Oprah Blond sitting like shredded wheat on top of my head!”

“My blond hair looked good for the camera. My sister loved it. My husband loved it. I hated it. It was harsh. My hair was dry as straw and my poor scalp looked and felt like the Mojave Desert! My husband convinced me to keep it for a year. Reluctantly, I agreed and marked the date on my calendar. Exactly one year later I stopped and have never dyed my hair again.”

Goldie explained to LookinGood that this makeover routine had nothing to do with the person chosen: it’s all about TV drama. From her description, they choose people who will look good on camera, present well and can showcase new style and esthetic technique, then they gussy them up for one day on camera – and send them home. Goldie didn’t learn a thing from the specialists. “There was no advice for you to take home,” she laughed, “except maybe that jewel tones look good one everyone.”  Big help.

What she did learn was about the process and something about herself. She hated the chemicals and what it did to her scalp and is still a bit baffled that no one listened to her during the session. She hated the maintenance of color and trying to achieve the same result each time. She hated the expense. But the biggest reason was simple: “I felt less authentic,” she said.

In the end, maybe she did end up with a makeover of sorts after all.

Diana Lewis Jewell was Goldie’s inspiration for going back to her natural gray.  Jewell will appear on The Today Show, Wednesday, June 2, 2010.

One day not long ago, a crack FBI agent found that Greig had some plastic surgery done before she disappeared.  Whitey likes his girls young and sassy, evidently.  She had a facelift, a nose job, liposuction, and breast implants, and she was only 43 years old then.  It must have been an AHA! moment when the agent also realized that it was highly likely that she (and perhaps even HE) might be a candidate for cosmetic adjustments in the future.  So, what did the Bureau do?

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They took out an ad in the April-May edition of Plastic Surgery News, a newsletter that goes out to nearly 6,000 plastic surgeons around the world!  It was a full-page color ad with pictures of both fugitives and details of all Greig’s nips/tucks, right down to the product and lot number engraved on each of her implants!

I won’t get started about implants being used as tracking devices (“Lieutenant, I think we’ve picked up a signal from her left nipple!”), but only because these people are seriously dangerous citizens.  In fact, I want to be helpful, so it occurs to me that the FBI might not know that plastic surgeons readily use the Internet now to “capture” customers.  They should simply ask physicians to be alert for particular kinds of questions in email correspondence from potential patients.  Questions like:

1)    Are you willing to do house calls?  If yes:

a.     Do you mind being blindfolded during the trip?

b.     Are you claustrophobic?

2)    If you are not willing to travel:

a.     Can you do this surgery without actually looking at me?

b.     How many exits are there in the recovery room?

3)    Do you take unmarked bills for payment?

4)    As a gesture of your commitment to doctor/patient confidentiality, please include with your reply, the location of the schools where your children attend classes.

The story of Whitey Bulger and Boston’s Winter Hill Gang is filled with treachery, murder and corrupt law enforcement officials.  There are already best-selling books and it’s almost guaranteed to make a blockbuster movie someday.  And now, with the addition of tracking Catherine Greig’s implants – well, this is just the stuff of Hollywood, don’t you think?

In her honor then, LookinGood will help you feel more foolish by offering advice on the gifts you’re going to spend money on anyway, despite Anna’s protests.

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Do: Gift them a makeup consultant.  Maybe their looks are timeless. But a professional makeup consultant will analyze her client’s skin, discuss with her about the look she wants and not only apply the makeup, but give a lesson on how to apply it to achieve the same look at home.  The deal might even include products and/or samples, or at least discounts on them. There are private makeup artists, estheticians at spas, even the department stores have makeup professionals who will apply their brand for free by appointment.   Spa and private consultants run $200-$500.

Do: Give them spa certificates.  She will be pampered and primped for as little as 30 minutes or as long as the whole day to find her outer beauty.  Prices range anywhere from $50-$500, depending on the spa and your region.  Check the website of mom’s favorite place or yours.  If you’re having trouble finding a place, or want to let her choose for herself, spafinder.com is also an option.

Do: If she has had a child or two, give her a Mommy Makeover.  First, pull out your checkbook.  Includes breast enhancement and tummy tuck – sometimes a little lipo just to even things out.   An easy $15,000 to $20,000.

Don’t: Buy her perfume.  No matter how many ads you see, do not succumb to the temptation.  Unless she tells you exactly what she wants, you will not get it right.

Anna Jarvis, look what you’ve done.

We tweeze, wax, laser, pencil, brush, shave, glue and tattoo, so somebody has to think it’s important.  So I want to know once and for all, a few things about eyebrows, and I want this information from you, my reader friend.  Men!  You are not excused from this exercise.  Click below and answer a few questions about eyebrows and I will report back the results.

Now, let’s get started by clicking here.

The bookkeeper from Braintree, Massachusetts won $100 toward any salon, spa or barber shop of her choice, and boy, was the timing perfect!  She is using the prize money for a color and cut and “maybe a mani/pedi” at Salon Capri in Hyde Park because she is “leaving the next day for Riviera Maya, Cancun…for a much needed vacation.”

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Did I mention that part of the prize is a personal assistant from LookinGood who has to accompany the winner all the time for a couple weeks?  Just kidding.  Congratulations, Donna.  And if the bill is over $100 for your color/cut and mani/pedi – LookinGood will pick up the difference.  (Unless you have your hair done by Nick Arrojo.)

Stay tuned for the next contest!

Just in case you’re not getting the shine and bounce you want when you wash your pooch, several big-name hair care companies are now offering salon-quality shampoos for Marley and you.

As dog is our witness, Kiehl’s, Paul Mitchell and TIGI all have a specific line of products for longhairs, shorthairs, wirehairs, silkies and any other breed you might occasionally stick in the tub.

According to the American Pet Products Association, pet industry expenditures in the United States will top $45 billion in 2009, including an estimated $10 billion on supplies/OTC medicine and $3.2 billion for grooming and boarding. It’s not quite as much as we spend on human grooming, but we don’t shampoo our animals every other day, either.

And with an estimated 77.5 million canine companions in the U.S., who can blame Kiehl’s, Paul Mitchell or TIGI for trying to mark this territory?

Kiehl’s offers three products, including Cuddly-Coat Shampoo and Conditioner as well as Spray-n-Play Cleansing Spritz (8 oz., $12). It was hard to tell at first whether this was for Fido or the furniture, but apparently, it’s for when your Lhasa Apso-lutely rolls in something you do NOT want tracked into the house.

Paul Mitchell’s line is sold under the name of John Paul Pet and includes shampoos, conditioners and wipes. Among the shampoos are Tearless for Puppies (Johnson & Johnson take note) and a waterless foam.

TIGI, famous for its funky Bed Head line, takes it a paw further with Pet Head, which not only has the best-named grooming supplies (Life’s An Itch, Dirty Talk, Furball …), but offers accessories, apparel and toys “only for cool dogs.”

John Paul and Pet Head are sold in most major pet-supply stores and all of the products are available online at varying prices.  And of course, just because it’s a salon-product doesn’t mean it will clean Rex any better than one of the less-expensive brands.

LookinGood’s Chief Vanity Officer, Gina, still reminds her Uncle Bill about the week he visited and went home raving about the hair product that was in the guest bathroom. When her Aunt called to find out what it was, Gina sheepdoggishly admitted it was the dog’s shampoo.

If Uncle Bill’s coat hadn’t been the shiniest it’s ever been, Gina would have been in the doghouse.

It’s not all schlocky, by any means.  Big-name hair stylists give demonstrations and do classes for attendees on all the latest hair techniques.  Nick Arrojo, Robert Cromeans, Brad Graham, Dee Adams and the elder statesman of bridal hair, Martin Parsons, were some of the feature artists. The Sassoon Academy had a huge hunk of the exhibit floor and held cutting and styling demonstrations round-the-clock.

So here’s what I learned:

1. Hair-cutting trends this year are shorter and softer, with more emphasis on natural looks that have movement.  Feathered layering was being demonstrated by several of the stylists that almost resemble short shags from the 70’s.  Easy care hair heaven.
2. We’ll be seeing more oil products in our salons, to overcome the intense amount of heat applications we women subject our hair to.  Agadir Argan Oil Hair Treatment and the original Moroccan Oil, both use oils from the nut of Argan trees in Morocco.  The hair oils are light and rich in nutrients that are absorbed quickly when hair is damp, take away frizz, and cut the drying time in half.  These products are available through salons only.
3. Hair extensions are getting shorter, cheaper, easier to use and more colorful.  “Hair stylists are using them to create volume on shorter styles and to give their customers a way of trying out new highlights without committing to a color,” says Lori Morris, Senior Editor of American Salon.  Bright blues and pinks were also on display for the daring, although Morris says streaks from the wilder color spectrum are getting more acceptable in the workplace.  She lives in New York, though, and they have a whole different standard than the rest of the country.

There were other things to see – instructors applying eyelash extensions made from mink, piercing guns and instructional DVD’s, wholesale makeup and private label lipstick, photorejuvenation machines of all kinds for skin care; spray-on guns for tans, nylons and makeup.  Oh, so many beauty aids and so little time.

I like getting a peek of what I will undoubtedly spend most of my disposable income on in the next year.  And I bet many of you do, too.

Not so fast.  One of the featured products at the Arab Health 2010 Conference last month in Dubai was “a discreet portable electronic device which tightens and tones women’s feet.”  According to the Dubai Podiatry Centre, The Footerella Device uses electrical stimulation to contract muscles resulting in,  “…a decrease in shoe size by ½ to one full size.”

Shoe size?  Forget my hips, my butt, that double chin, now I need to worry about my feet?  Oh, my “dogs” are barkin’ just thinking about it.

The Footerella takes itself quite seriously, though.  It was invented by a podiatrist, who happens to be a woman, tried and tested on patients in Dubai, and according to a press release, results in tightened and toned arches, more able to withstand the rigours of stiletto use.”  Who knew they wore stilettos under those outfits!

The device has three electrode pads that stick to your feet and stimulate the muscles while you are sitting down, watching TV, having dinner, maybe even working at the office.  There are different programs for “slimming and toning” or exercises specifically for high heels and even bunion prevention.  You start shocking your feet at the beginner level, then move to intermediate, then advanced when you’re ready for those 4-inchers.  As the website says, “What more could you want for those beautiful shoes you have begging to be shown off?”

As we know, however, beauty isn’t cheap.  The price for The Footerella in US Dollars is $544.33, plus shipping anywhere in the world.  There is one review on the website, too.  A customer wrote in, “Thanks so much! I purchased this as a present for my wife and she is really happy with it!”

I BET she is.

Wrapping yourself in a couple of tons of steel and chrome that can go from 0-60 in 6 seconds or less will do just as much for your image as anything you can shave off or laser on. With 250-330 horsepower under the hood, who cares what is or isn’t growing on the roof? And traveling along with the top down at 70 MPH, not only is it better to not have any hair at all, all the trees appear to be the same size.

Cars can do as much for self-image and self-confidence as a hairless chest and it doesn’t make it a midlife crisis. (However, hair plugs AND a hot car probably do make it a midlife crisis.)

Gillette has recognized that vrrrrooming can be as important as grooming. Its Young Guns campaign features six NASCAR drivers dressed to the nines in their black, yellow and red jumpsuits. Face it, do all the manscaping you want, but it’s covered up for most of the day. The first thing everybody sees is what you’re driving when you pull up to the curb. Step out of one of our favorites like a Corvette, Mustang or Infiniti, and it won’t matter if you’re missing a couple of teeth or wearing a pocket protector.

Of course the razors, Mangroomer, nose hair trimmers and follicle-stimulating lasers don’t come with monthly payments for the next five or 10 years, but they’re not nearly as exhilarating.

Sometimes, power tools don’t have to be about amps, milliwatts, nanometers or volts. Horsepower will do just fine. Admit it: What sounds like more fun – putting your grooming tools back in their chargers or sitting in a Charger yourself?

• How about a Classic Corvette?
• The Thrill Machine? Ford Mustang.
• The Muscle Car: Dodge Charger.