Britain’s Daily Mail reports that Marie Claire magazine surveyed 1500 working women aged 20 - 40 on their shopping habits, with 40% admitting they had secretly bought clothes or beauty products which they then kept hidden from their boyfriends or husbands.  Marie Claire editor-in-chief Trish Halpin says: ‘While once it was the occasional pair of new heels, now women feel compelled to regularly hide new purchases.’  Apparently 80% of the new clothes, shoes and purses bought, meanwhile, were kept secret.

Now, British women are often surprisingly very different from American women in everything from dress to attitudes to manners (both good and bad).  But still…do you think this survey would hold true on this side of the pond, as well?  Do any of you hide your own purchases from your man?

Holy sex kitten, Miss Lively!  We shall not comment on the artfully-shaded and insanely perky cleavage at left (oops, we just did), but there’s no denying that Blake Lively is as gorgeous, sexy and cute as it gets.

On the cover of December’s Marie Claire, Blake’s chest takes center stage (let’s be real) but her shiny, wavy, flowing locks are also to die for.  Personally, I don’t like the Homeless Hippie Hair the stylists on Gossip Girl usually give Serena–she always looks like she’s one roll in the sack away from dreads–so I am firmly on board with the clean, non-fuzzy hair shown here.

For waves like this, use a flat iron with rounded edges (mine is the FHI Ceramic 1″) and quickly run it down the length of hair, twisting the flat iron away from the face once (for shorter hair) or twice (for long hair) as you slide the iron through strands.  It will give a less perfect coil than a curling iron, and creates very slight waves.  Finish with a spritz of shine spray.  And then rock a black bustier and unbuttoned pink cardigan, cause why not?

More photos of Blake Lively from the Marie Claire shoot, after the jump: (more…)