The following is a paid review:

CustomizedGirl is revolutionizing fashion by personalizing fashion. We believe in encouraging creative expression in any form, and that includes clothes. Fashion is more exciting when you can be your own personal designer. Keeping that in mind, we developed the CustomizedGirl Collection and interactive website. ~ CustomizedGirl.Com

Customized Girl offers you the ability to design your own apparel, with a girly touch. Their website is draped in red, pink and white - sure to give the clear message that this is Girls Only: Boys Are Not Allowed! Reminds me of an exclusive girls club for tshirts - although they do have a “For Him” section, as well as a “For Girls” section - after all, who is shopping for those guys out there if not for us girls, hey?

You can design your own, or check out their community gallery where you can view, and purchase, apparel designed by other users.

You can customize apparel for girls, guys and even your dog! For us humans, it looks like you can customize tshirts, sweats, shorts, panties, and other miscellaneous merchandise like bags, hats and even your own christmas stocking! Would that be great for kids? For the guys, we’re looking at shirts, sweatshirts, boxers (but no briefs!), and hats. They’ve got some cute-ish stuff for babies and kids, too.

Aren’t interested in doing it yourself, but know someone who would be? CustomizedGirl.Com does off a gift certificate option - just in time for the holidays.

Here’s a little sumpin sumpin I designed over at CustomizedGirl.com:

w00t!

Downside? Looks like you are limited to their clip art gallery only. So, no uploading and using your favorite image, photo or company/team logo - - Booo! Their clip art gallery is pretty cheesey, really - with clip art categories like love, mascots, sports, symbols, miscellaneous and states - - each category has approximately 6 - 10 pieces of clip art to chose from… so not much of a variety available here. Consumers want quality - and they want variety - especially when it comes to the creative process of being able to customize and design something unique and individual!

Upside? If you’re looking for a quick and easy (and cheap!) customized tshirt… CustomizedGirl.Com would be one place you could go on the net.

A Consumer\’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients: Complete Information About the Harmful and Desirable Ingredients in Cosmetics - You wouldn’t eat something without knowing what it was–don’t you want to take the same care with what you put on your face, hair, and body? Find out what’s in that shampoo, makeup, toothpaste, lotion, or perfume here, with more than 6,000 entries, organized alphabetically. Cosmetics are barely regulated these days, leaving it up to you to learn what those strange-sounding names mean and how they might affect you. For example, did you know these intriguing tidbits?

• Abietic acid, a texturizer in soaps, is harmless when injected into mice but causes paralysis in frogs.
• The American Medical Association frowns on medicated makeup, because their potential to do harm often outweighs their benefit.
• Mayonnaise is as effective a dry-hair conditioner as the expensive preparations.
• Milk is a good face wash, but you’d better rinse it off well, or rancidity will give rise to bacteria that will cause pimples.

Virtually every chemical found in toiletries, cosmetics, and cosmeceuticals—from body and face creams to toothpaste, hand lotion, shaving cream, shampoo, soap, perfume, and makeup—is evaluated in this book, including those ingredients marketed as being all-natural, for children, and for people of color. The alphabetical arrangement makes it easy to look up the ingredients in the products you use.

A review from Amazon.com
I use Ruth Winter’s books on COSMETIC INGREDIENTS, MEDICINES, and FOOD ADDITIVES as reference books and find them quite helpful and informative. It is absolutely amazing how many ingredients can be listed on the back of a jar of cleansing cream, a tube of hand cream, or a can of soup. Simply identifying the salt and sugar isn’t enough. We need to know about food substitutes, as well as other ingredients, many of them added to improve the appearance of the substance for sale, that can harm us and/or interfere with prescription drugs.

Now, you may be concerned about what is in your prescription medication, but if you are like most of us, you probably take over-the-counter drugs without a thought. After all, if they don’t have to be licensed and disseminated by a pharmacy, they must be okay. Right? Wrong!! There is something called a synergistic effect. For example, consumers have been warned recently about the interaction between ibuprofen and statin drugs. Unfortunately, by the time the government steps in, many people may have been harmed. It pays to be informed and Winter’s books are a good step in that direction.

I am a big fan of herbal remedies, but they need to be subjected to research and review in the same way synthetic drugs are studied. Heck, Parsley, can cause skin irritations.

If you want to acquire a little light on the subject of ingredients, consider buying all Winter’s books. She has been published in Family Circle and Reader’s Digest magazines as well as Homeopathic and Herbal publications.

Her books are so effective, I wonder how long it will be before the government kills the messenger, not by silencing Winter, but by withholding the identity of the contents of various products and reversing the `truth in labeling’ and `organic measures enacted in the past. Of course, they can and do go to the other extreme and ban items that are only harmful if they are misused.

Related Link: Cosmetics Australia Compare and buy cosmetics from Australia

The following is a paid review:

How fun is this? Have you ever wanted a t-shirt that has *the* perfect saying on it? With Custom T-Shirts by CustomInk - you can do just that. You are able to design your own T-shirt online - - and purchase it all in a one-stop shop.

They don’t stop at T-shirts, however. You choose from name brand blank goods in numerous styles and price ranges. Sweats, Athletic Gear, Hats, Pens/Supplies, Drinkwear, Businesswear, Outerwear, Bags.. even umbrellas, Christmas ornaments and cute Teddy Bears.

Visit Custom T-Shirts Design Lab to start your own custom design. Out of ideas? Or just not feeling overly creative today? Custom T-shirts offers up some design ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

You’re able to use a gallery of clip art images they have in their library - - or you can upload you r own images, logos and artwork to use on your custom T-shirts, and other items.

I used their design lab to create the following:

Ha!

Quik Info:
There is a 6 piece minimum for screenprinted t-shirts.
For t-shirts and most other products, standard delivery is 14 days - guaranteed.
The finished products look just like what you create on the site.
They accept Credit or Debit Card, E-Check and Purchase Orders

Introduction to CustomInk - from their own website:

At CustomInk.com, the web’s most advanced virtual store for custom decorated merchandise, customers are empowered to design and order customized apparel, drinkware and novelties for their businesses, teams, groups and events with greater ease, speed and value than ever before. With our patent-pending technology, dedicated staff and problem-solving mindset, we’re changing the way custom merchandise is designed, bought and produced.

CustomInk is addressing all aspects of the market for custom merchandise - from product selection to trademark usage - in order to create the ultimate custom merchandise experience for customers. In the process, we’re creating enormous opportunities for small businesses, corporations, colleges and universities, national fraternities and sororities, student fundraisers, vendors and sponsors.

This is really a great idea. I would love to see CustomInk expand on their Custom T-Shirts website by allowing users to sell products on their own websites. For instance, if I made up some “Uptown Girls” shirts and mechandise at their site — I could have a CustomInk gallery to send my readers to, where they can download and purchase the merchandise that I’ve created for my readers. That sounds eeerily like CafePress, I know - - but hey, competition ain’t a bad thing, foks - - it keeps the other guy alert and hungry, eh?

Disclaimer: I have been paid to provide a review of CustomInk’s Custom T-Shirts by the company owner. They do not require that I provide a positive review or make any other requirements for my review. This review does not go through an editorial process - I review ‘em as I see ‘em!

GIORGIO ARMANI has joined the campaign to get curvier models on the catwalk and has urged his fellow fashion designers to follow suit. “I have never liked thin girls and never sent them down the catwalk,” he says. “At my shows you will find girls in size 42 (UK size 12), outfits. Sure, I choose very feminine women with little breast and straight hips. However, there are other designers out there who like to provoke, who like to make a show so they get talked about.” Armani’s comments come in the wake of the annoucement by the organisers of Rome Fashion Week, that will take place in January, that they are demanding to see “good health” certificates from all the models taking part. vogue.com

I like it! I think it’s time we evolve beyond “Twiggy” and start seeing some REAL women up there! I’ve updated the Uptown Girls Poll to the right - you’ll see this weeks poll question:

Curvier Models on the Runway - Yay or Nay?

Your options are:

Absolutely Yes! About Damn Time!
Noway - I like stick figures modeling clothing!
I don’t really care

Don’t see an answer in there that you’d give? Leave a comment and start a discussion on what you think about it! Heck, leave a comment either way and discuss your answer. Have fun!

Polls Archive

Related In The News:
Gaultier swaps Size O models for ‘Size 20′
Lagerfeld shrugs off concerns over skinny models
This is the model who sparked size zero debate
Channel 4 to air ’skinny’ Super Size Me film

Related In The Blogosphere:
Models too thin, says ex catwalk queen - Celebrity Nation
Too Thin to be a Model - Martin Varsavsky
Weighing in (on Weight) Again - BlogHer
Claudia Schiffer talks crazy - The Superficial

The Shopping Bags: Tips, Tricks, and Inside Information to Make You a Savvy Shopper - A hip and thrifty shopping guide that combines the usefulness of Consumer Reports with the fun and flair of the hit TV show The Shopping Bags.

Appealing to the people who bought bestsellers like the Lucky Shopping Manual or Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me, this witty guide will teach you how to recognize deceptive marketing tactics and shop wisely—be it at the mall, the grocery, the drugstore, or even at an electronics superstore. Whether you are shopping for lipstick or lawn mowers, you’ll learn exactly what to look for before you buy. Including plenty of entertaining sidebars and tips from the likes of Jamie Oliver (on food) and Donatella Versace (on fashion), The Shopping Bags is the perfect accompaniment to any shopping trip.

Did you know:
o Your expensive designer lipstick may have been made at the same factory as a more affordable drugstore brand?

o Words like “dermatologist approved” and “noncomedogenic” are not regulated— manufacturers can use them any way they want.

About the Author
Anna Wallner and Kristina Matisic are award-winning journalists, news anchors, and hosts of the TV show The Shopping Bags, which has won two Leo Awards and been nominated for three Gemini Awards. They live in Vancouver, British Columbia.