Skinny in Seconds

By Danielle Schlass Saliman
January 7, 2009

If your number one resolution this year was to get in better shape, join the club, I have a feeling it was many of ours. Thing is, you can do anything if you put your mind to it and have a little patience. But some of us (especially those of us with tickets booked to fly to Miami is less than 2 weeks!) need to look thinner, well, STAT!

Here are some of the quicker solutions we found.

Suck it in

You’ve got two options for making your top look a few pounds tighter without having to resort to corset binding. Tank tops are easy. You can wear them under a dress, sweater or layered under another regular tank top in warmer weather, and they now make ‘em to slim. Slip into the Skinny Tank, a slimming top with a discreet panel made of a nylon/spandex blend that sucks in the tummy, so you don’t have to (though trying to get into the tight lycra may help you shed the pounds alone—it’s work, trust me—but it’s worth it). Or try on one of the tanks from Yummie Tummie (Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce, and Lauren Conrad are huge fans), a little softer, it has a panel that wraps around your core, slimming and smoothing your curves the minute you put it on.

A Healthy Dose

Have but a few days to shed some pounds but want to have your cake and eat it too? Cleanse and Pure, all-natural, chemical-free plant-based ingestibles from Skin by Monica  are loved by some skinny-mini celebs like Heidi Klum, Kate Hudson, and Angelina Jolie for a reason.
Cleanse helps eliminate the toxins, free radicals, and bad fats. While Pure is a mix of good fats(Omega 3-6-9) which promote healthy metabolism, weight loss, muscle tone, and inner balance, among other positive beauty benefits. And you will see a difference in just a few days.

Face Forward

What do people see first? Your face, of course, and if you can get that looking thinner, it’s all the difference you need. Darac Beauty’s Feature Focus palette of three light-diffusing, gel/creams  will immediately take 10 pounds off your face by contouring your cheek bones, framing your eyes and hiding shadows, perfecting the skin.  And it comes with a cheat sheet making application simple. 

Makeup

Scared  of looking less than stellar in a bikini tomorrow? Mariah’s been rumored to fake a six pack with makeup, and you can too. They actually make a product called Abs in a Box Sculpting Kit, and if used  correctly, this makeup kit can shade, tone and contour your abs into a perfect and sexy six pack, so you too can get away with a flabbier bikini belly. Come on, you know you’re curious! 

Tone with a tan

Everyone knows that a tan instantly takes pounds off, but not everyone has time to lie on the beach, the bucks to spend on expensive tanning booths, or patience for spray on tan sessions. You can at least get your legs looking leaner in a jiffy with Tarte’s Glam Gams, an easy swipe on bronzer for your legs.

Arm yourself

Even when I’m at my thinnest, I still have upper arm issues (thanks for the genes, mom) and I have tried everything, but, until now, there hasn’t been much focus on making the arms look thinner. Imagine my surprise when I heard about Flabuless, actual arm shapewear that slims, conceals and re-shapes. Like a little girdle for one of the hardest to slim spots, it can provide a sleek, slender silhouette under tops, dresses and jackets. Note to self: invent an invisible one for tank-top season.

Below the Belt

Get your thighs, hips and stomach looking more svelte in no time by rubbing in some Naturally Active Skincare’s Energizing Hip & Thigh Gel from Liz Earle, a luxurious body treatment, designed to help improve the appearance of the skin leaving it softer, smoother deliciously scented, and yes, more toned. The botanicals help to naturally boost the lymph system and encourage the elimination of toxins, resulting in a subtly smoother silhouette and beautifully soft skin to boot.