If there is one thing you can tell just from looking at the new Samsung Ultra S mobile phone, it’s that this is a phone aimed squarely at the female market.

Without putting too fine a point on it, the Samsung Ultra S is very pink. Any phone sporting this colour isn’t really expected to be seen in the pocket of your average Aussie male. Samsung has also equipped the Ultra S with a range of features that are distinctly feminine.

Amongst these is Mirror Mode, which transforms the Ultra S’s interface into a mirror (presumably so you can touch up your make up, check for food between your teeth, etc). Then there is Etiquette Pause, which allows you to turn the phone to silent simply by turning it upside down - a feature that would be handy on any phone. SOS Message is also a nice touch - you can send an immediate personlised text to a pre-set number with the press of one button if you ever get into trouble (you’d have to be careful to lock your handset at other times with this one - boy who cried wolf comes to mind).

One of the more gimmicky features is Fake Call, which simulates a call that plays back a pre-recorded message when you’re stuck in an awkward moment.

Rounding out the package are a 2.6-inch widescreen display, 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, GPS support, MP3 player, FM radio and video recorder.

The Samsung Ultra S mobile phone is available exclusively on Optus and can be bought for $549 outright (free on the $49 cap plan).

Buy a cheap Samsung phone on sale

By Caroline Warnes

Jeanswest is about to launch its new Japanese Denim Collection, following on from the Selvedge range of jeans from earlier this year.

I didn’t actually know this, but apparently Japanese denim is very high quality, which gives jeans a superior fit and longevity (I usually buy jeans on the “whatever I can cram myself into” principle).

Each pair of jeans will feature Japanese-inspired finishes, including cherry blossom graphics on internal trims, red vintage buttons and Japanese characters on the rivets.

Jeanwest is launching four styles in the Japanese range on Monday - super skinny, relaxed bootcut, slim bootcut and straight leg. All will sell for $129.

By Caroline Warnes

The new Myer spring fashion catalogue is out now and my pick of the bunch so far is this Wayne Cooper snakeskin bag.

As mentioned before, snakeskin can be a tricky thing to pull off (overdone it looks incredibly tacky), but I think this handbag just manages to get away with it.

I’m also having a little difficulty with Wayne Cooper as a label of late, as many of the designs have been striking me as a bit OTT, but the snakeskin bag is a winner.

It’s priced at $199 and is available exclusively in Myer and Wayne Cooper stores.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the Myer spring fashion catalogue for your area.

By Caroline Warnes

As briefly mentioned in Monday’s review, the Nintendo Wii Motion Plus is a new add-on to othe Wii remote, as showcased in the new Wii Sport Resort game.

Nintendo has included one Wii Motion Plus attachment with each copy of Sports Resort, which slots into your existing remote, so if you use more than one remote, you’ll probably want to buy another (the Australian recommended retail price is $34.95).

But is it worth forking out the extra cash for? The fact is that the Wii Motion Plus provides better gameplay than the standard remote. You’ll notice improvement in terms of accuracy, control and realism, and it truly shines with Wii Sports Resort.

Motion Plus is essentially a small square add-on that slots into the base of the remote, so it is noticeably longer. This can take some getting used to when you’re using the remote and may make it feel a little clunky at first.

Buy a cheap copy of Nintendo Wii Motion Plus on sale

By Caroline Warnes

Ah spring: you can feel it’s just around the corner (maybe I’m a teensy bit early), and with it comes flimsy dresses and other frippery.

And I have a small crush on this Witchery Watercolour Kimono Dress, which is brand new to the Witchery collection and will hopefully be brand new to mine before too long.

1. The colours are gorgeous.
2. Wrap-style dresses are pretty much universally flattering.
3. It has an elasticised panel along the back waistline for comfort - perfect for those heavy eating days.

This dress would also work well for spring racing. Can you believe it’s time to think about racewear again already?

The Witchery Watercolour Kimono Dress is available now and pricing is set at $179.95.

By Caroline Warnes

The new Loreal Colour Riche Shine Gelee lip colour not only sounds like some sort of expensive dessert, it’s also actually pretty kind to your lips.

Many lipsticks and lip glosses have the unfortunate effect of drying my lips out - particularly cheaper brands - so I was somewhat skeptical of Loreal’s claims about Colour Riche Shine Gelee. Apparently it’s made with nourishing royal jelly, which is packed with essential nutrients (products with royal jelly are also great for your hair), as well as shea butter.

I came across a sample of Loreal Colour Riche Shine Gelee in one of my magazines this month, and gave it a try - definitely not as drying as many other lip colours, it does give a lovely colour and shine.

I tried the Shiny Grapefruit colour, and there are 11 others to choose from, all with similar hunger-inducing names.

Loreal Colour Riche Shine Gelee retails for $23.95 and is stocked at the usual outlets - selected pharmacies (including Priceline) and department stores.

By Caroline Warnes

You could win a Blu-ray player per day until August 28 in this new competition from BIG W’s Monster Movie Mayhem DVD sale.

Starting from July 30, BIG W will give away one Sony S550 Blu-ray player each day. To enter into the draw, you must purchase any three DVDs or Blu-ray discs in one transaction then enter your details online.

Each Sony S550 Blu-ray player is valued at $649.

The BIG W Monster Movie Mayhem catalogue starts this Thursday.

And the winners are:

N. Etto, 3131; K. Daniels, 3197; J. Bush, 3185; E. Oellermann, 6030, A. Hayward, 3240; A. Makin, 3149 J. Adams, 7001; M. Ward, 3065; O. Vareskic, 2615; T. Meakin, 2463; X. Yu, 2220; T. Waddell, 2122; R. Tadd, 4569, L. Hazlett, 4157; R. West, 5159; K. Ford, 3641.

The new Wii Sports Resort game is a follow up to the ever-popular Wii Sports collection, which was originally released at the same time as the Wii console itself.

Wii Sports Resort builds on the popularity of the original collection - as well as bringing back some of the favourite games such as golf and bowling, Nintendo has added 10 new games to the mix. These new games will test your sporting skills and include archery, frisbee, cycling, canoeing, basketball, power cruising, table tennis, air sports, wakeboarding and swordplay.

Also new to Wii Sports Resort is the gameplay itself, which is far more accurate and controllable than before, as well as more realistic to play. This is thanks to the addition of Wii MotionPlus, which requires you to add a piece of equipment to the bottom of your Wii Remote. You get one MotionPlus boxed with the game, so if you use more than one Wii Remote you will need to purchase another for multiplayer games.

Wii Sports Resort’s Australian pricing is $99.95 and it is available now. Additional Wii MotionPlus attachments sell for $29.95.

Buy a cheap copy of Wii Sports Resort on sale

By Caroline Warnes

I was in Priceline the other evening buying the hair dye that I SO don’t really need when a range of cosmetics called Savvy by DB caught my eye.

Not being as obsessed with cosmetics and nail polish as I am with, say, shoes, I can usually walk past a cosmetic display without feeling the need to make an impulse purchase. But these particular items had the most attractive price tag of $3 each, so I thought why not?

I purchased myself a bottle of Savvy by DB nail polish in a lovely shade of garish pink and went home to apply it immediately. This was on Thursday, it’s now Monday and I haven’t really noticed any chipping. Plus, the colour cheered me up immensely over the weekend. What better way to add colour to a dull winter weekend than walking around looking like a packet of Hubba Bubba threw up on your toes?

The Savvy by DB range has a variety of make up products, including glosses and eye shadows, and is stocked exclusively at Priceline.

By Caroline Warnes