The New York Times has a new Skin Deep out, but it's not your usual skincare article fare. No folks, that's because one Manhattan gyno, Dr. Lauri Romanzi, has been busy thinking, er, inside the box (ha) and unveiled this gem: Phit, short for pelvic health integrated techniques, "dedicated to strengthening and grooming a woman's genital area."

Um, yeah.

Basically, it's like the gym meets your Pap smear. I dunno. Is it just me or does this sound like a terrible idea? I mean, when the cost of basics like food and oil have skyrocketed, are ladies really looking to hire a personal trainer for their vaginas?

Discuss.

Image via per_anderson on Flickr

As a new pet owner, I am beyond obsessed with my new pup. What can I say? She's gorgeous, she's perfect, she's an adorable bundle of love and I'll do anything for her. And just like I won't wash my own face with just any old cleanser, my dog Violet also gets the red carpet treatment (she's a Product Fiend, just like her mom). If you're a crazy dog owner, then you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Thing is, there are lots of fancy dog grooming products available, but I have to draw the line when it comes to pet perfume and the like. Yes, sometimes I like to douse myself in Tom Ford's Black Orchid, but until my puppy learns to talk and expresses her undying love for Chanel No. 5, I have to assume that she does not wish to smell like a human (or a trollop, at that).

A "light and fun" new romp of a website called Facestat (their tagline is "Market research for the individual") offers the following desperately needed service: Upload a photo and they'll ask a series of questions based on age, gender, ethnicity, intelligence (!?), attractiveness, trustworthiness, weight, relationship status and more; then they'll give you a rundown of what peers had to say when they judged said photos. The results seem to be brutal.

I guess this might be ideal for the masochist, but for us normal, sometimes-insecure-about-our-looks folk, this is some kind of Pandora's Box of hurt feelings. I have a better idea! How about Perez Hilton starts another blog for non-celebs where anyone can post their own photos, and he and his staff can trash you via scrawling witty phrases like "hag!" over your image. Sounds fun to me!

How do you like the idea of Facestat? Lame or are you already uploading your pic?

Image via Splash

At Product Fiend, we prefer to use salves and potions to get the job done, but that doesn't mean some of us (and yourselves) have been tempted to try out some of the latest trendy, widely available procedures. After all, according to a recent article on ABC News, the number of people getting work done is still soaring. "The annual report, issued last week by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, showed that the number of cosmetic procedures performed continued its steady rise last year to a total of nearly 12 million."

That said, derms and experts agree that some of these should be avoided at all costs. After the jump, the 10 they claim you should ditch.

Face-Off is two friends, two bathrooms, and limitless possibilities. This week high-maintenance, big spender Alison swaps sensitive skin products with monkishly low-maintenance Ellen.

It had been four months since I've had any sort of grooming. Four months! That is a long, long time to go ungroomed, au naturale, unfettered and free with my pores flapping in the breeze. I feel a little bit like a hippie stereotype--not the pretty kind of hippie with long, shining hair down to her waist, interwoven with flowers, garbed (because hippies are "garbed") in floaty layers of undyed cotton, eating organic vegetables and petting deer in the golden sunshine. No, I'm the kind of hippie that smells like hashish and has dirty toes and who knows what's going on in my underpants? You don't want to know. At least I'm a vegetarian. An ungroomed vegetarian.

I moved away from my battery of aestheticians--the guy who does my hair, the lady who does my eyebrows (and my mustache), the lady who does my girl waxing, the lady who does my nails. And I have only just realized how awfully spoiled and terrible and expensive that sounds. At least I'm not getting facials every week and a massage and reiki energy work and my ass accupunctured and my colon massaged and my chi read, right? Yeah, okay, yes, I'm high maintenance anyway. Yet, I moved away from my beloveds, and I gave it all up. I just didn't want to start all over again. I spent years finding professionals, and that kind of effort is exhausting. I didn't know that I'd find anyone to match up to the team I had assembled, who kept me looking--well, as good as I ever get.

Read more at ElasticWaist.com>>