![chiconomise * [verb] the act of living stylishly for less](/templates/chiconomise//images/chiconomiselogo.jpg)
Women want curves
Jul 22, 2009
It looks like the era of the stick may finally be over, as women are looking to their curvy counterparts for inspiration. According to a survey carried out by Kellogg's Special K women desperately want the hourglass figure. They found that 60% of British women consider themselves to be either a pear or fruit shape, but 2/3 of the nation want the hourglass shape. ...more
Recession Depression, by Sarah Raphael
Jun 23, 2009
Antidepressant prescriptions have risen 25% in the last year. With bills mounting, redundancies coming hard and fast and mortgages slipping through our fingers, Britain is in danger or becoming a Prozac nation. Dr Daniel Freeman, author of ‘Know Your Mind: Everyday Emotional and Psychological Problems and How to Overcome Them’, said, “We may well be in an age of...more
Let it all out, by Sarah Raphael
Jun 22, 2009
John Parkin, spiritual guru thinks that when you feel stressed or overcome by anger, you should forget all etiquette teachings of restrain, and just say f*** it. John and his wife run spiritual retreats for stressed souls in the Italian countryside in Puglia. John teaches that letting it all out by saying that naughty taboo word will help you relax and put things into...more
Gossip makes us healthier! Scientifically proved!! by Sarah Raphael
Jun 19, 2009
Us girls have the gift of the gab. Only dogs can hear us when we get together. Branded bitchy and shallow, little do they know, scientists are on our side. Research shows that gossip boots progesterone with reduces anxiety and stress. Research conducted at the University of Michigan designed an experiment, whereby 160 female students were put in pairs; half were given...more
Tick Tock, It's Baby o' clock, by Sarah Raphael
Jun 17, 2009
The average age for women to have children has dramatically increased over the last decade, with many women concentrating on their careers and waiting until their thirties to try their hand at motherhood. This option seems to be the sensible one, meaning you will have higher income to support your new family, be a more mature person and have a sense of personal achievement and...more
Crash your way into that dress, by Sarah Raphael
Jun 16, 2009
Crash Dieting has a bad reputation, we are warned that it is just a short term answer. However, new research from Tufts University in Massachusetts argues that crash dieting can in fact work better than sensible slow burning diet plans. Professor Susan Roberts says that as long as the calorie count does not go below 1,200, crash dieting can be as effective as slow plan...more
Health experts give us yet another reason not to eat sweets, by Sarah Raphael
Jun 15, 2009
So they make us fat, give us cellulite and spots; we are well aware that sweets are a guilty pleasure. However, skin experts are now saying that sugar will also make our skin age rapidly. They say that when blood sugar levels are high, and you’ve just eaten those coffee break digestives, the blood sugar binds to the collagen fibres, which, as Nicholas Perricone, skin doctor...more
Shoes will damage your health, by Sarah Raphael
Jun 10, 2009
Shoes are to women what porn is to men. Neither sex understands the other’s obsession, but both will go to extreme lengths to satisfy their needs. We battle through blister after blister, carrying weird shaped plasters in our handbags, shuffling along streets in agony and changing into flip flops as soon as we're out of sight. Galahad Clark is yet another man who...more
On your bike, by Sarah Raphael
Jun 4, 2009
Cycling to work is something politicians do during election time, or proactive women who enjoy climbing at weekends, not categorically, what the high-heeled fashionista does. In an attempt to make us girls more green, Topshop has expanded its empire even further afield, releasing a ‘Cyclodelic’ line for women. The collection includes capes, visors,...more
Give your friends the elbow; talking on the phone will damage your health! by Sarah Raphael
Jun 3, 2009
Doctors are warning against excessive mobile phone usage because of the risk of overextending your nerves and causing a painful condition that leaves a numbing sensation from the elbow to the fingers. Mobile phones have been subjected to a number of attacks from health specialists; first they claimed phones gave us harmful amounts of radiation, then it was repetitive strain from...more
Shake your ass into gear! by Sarah Raphael
Jun 3, 2009
Kenzo Takada has created a limited edition version of a Power-plate; the vibrating exercise machine that shakes your body to the core. Celebrity fans of the machine include toning mad Madonna, Jonathan Ross (although we suspect his is still in the garage), and Donatella Versace. Power-plates give a high-speed workout by contracting the muscles 30-50 times a second. ...more
The only healthy tan is a fake tan, by Sarah Raphael
Jun 3, 2009
After years of bleak, showery summers, chiconomistas everywhere rejoiced in England’s pre-summer sun last week. Most of us apply our factor 15, never sure whether to follow our live-for-the-moment hearts that know we look better with a tan, or our plan-for-the-future heads, that envisage Sarah Jessica Parker’s wrinkly old hands. This month's Which? magazine published...more
