It’s nearly that time of the year again - when Australia comes to a standstill to watch the Melbourne Cup on TV.

This year, it could be your turn to actually be at the world-famous race and have the Ultimate Day out. If you pop into your local Terry White Chemists for your pharmacy buys*, you can grab an entry form for your chance to win a trip for two to the Melbourne Cup 2011.

The Ultimate Day at the Melbourne Cup prize is two exclusive marquee tickets, two return flights, two nights’ accommodation, Schwarzkopf hair styling, plus $500 spending money - just to make sure you really have a great time!

Picky partner, home-loving husband, bored brother, sporty dad? Whichever guy you’re buying for this Father’s Day, we know men can be notoriously difficult to shop for. So here’s our 7 best-kept secrets to celebrate your man with the perfect pressie.

1. Shop for his favourite food A home-cooked meal, how mum cooked when he was a kid …. a favourite dish, but this time cooked by you, brings those memories back. Cook his favourite food (with his favourite drink, of course) - the best present of all. Shop for his favourite drinks on Lasoo.

2. Shop for the outdoors Not all guys are sporty - but … they all harbour dreams of heroic wins on the football field, or wherever. If his life isn’t just the HD TV/remote, then sporting gifts are always much appreciated. If his glory days are long gone, then buy a pressie to enjoy the outdoors more, like a portable barbecue. Shop for sports and outdoor pressies on Lasoo.

3. Shop for the kid inside Yes, the kids get the gaming toys at Christmas and birthdays, but don’t forget he is still a kid at heart, too. All guys love gadgets to play with - so think of grown-up tech toys like a tough mobile for a tradie hubby, tablet computer for a techhead mate. Shop for gaming gear on Lasoo.

4. Shop the shoes for him Many guys feel clueless about shoes - yet they make such a dress statement about a guy. Buy a pair of best brogues to polish, a pair of RM boots to get that country feeling… even new trainers will go down well. Find more men’s fashion on Lasoo.

5. Shop for his jocks Men have been wearing underwear since 13thC, and some guys look like they’re still wearing the same pair! Shop for his inner wear - boxers usually go down well, even a men’s bikini will be a winner if his trousers are skinny. And if you want to shop for his celebrity within (see No 6), then buy one of the many celeb/designer pairs. Find more men’s fashion on Lasoo.

6. Shop for his celebrity within Who are his heroes? The celeb (or movie) he admires, TV stars he watches, sporting icons etc, all can guide you heaps in your pressie-buying spree. Find his celeb’s fragrance, his sporting hero’s biography, even a Nespresso if he likes George Clooney - or maybe that’s one better left for the girls! Find more men’s fashion on Lasoo.

7. Shop for his mind He’ll always thank you for valuing his mind …buy a book by his favourite author, a book on his favourite hobby, the book his favourite movie is based on … show him that you know, and appreciate, his masculine mind. And if he’s really not into books, then perhaps a camera for his creative mind. Find digital cameras on Lasoo.

And don’t forget to enter our Celebration of  Man competition!  $6,000 of prizes to be won, starting 22nd August, ends 30th September 2011.

All you have to do to enter our Lasoo Celebration of  Man competition, is to select a product from the weekly Secret Category, and tell us in 25 words or less (under your chosen product on the Lasoo website in Leave a Comment box) why a man would love the product you’ve chosen.

Each week, the best answer will win a $1,000 Lasoo Gift card.

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Will Deals Direct be the answer to bagging a bargain on your weekly groceries, plus getting them delivered?

We’ve been slow to buy our groceries online - and get them delivered - for lots of good reasons.  Product substitution (that you’re not told about), poor selection of delivery times (lots of people aren’t home during the day), high cost of favourite brands (much higher than in the grocery retailer’s bricks-and-mortar store!) - here are just a few of the real issues that the 2 major online grocery retailers (Woolies and Coles) just haven’t got right yet for consumers  - that is according to a large survey undertaken by CHOICE last year.

So, let’s see how Deals Direct go … they’ve just launched their Supermarket.Deals.com.au with some great grocery, laundry, pets and personal care product deals. `Love a bargain’ is the DD catch-cry, and they’ve got some great online grocery bargains to grab this week. Plus it only costs $11 to get your order delivered.

Find groceries on Lasoo now.

If you suffer from dull, dry or frizzy hair, then your prayers have been answered.

The Brazilian Blowout is a hair treatment loved by celebrities that gives you smooth locks without having to straighten and style your hair after each wash.

The treatment is a fairly straightfoward one and can take as little as an hour to complete. The special keratin substance is applied to your hair and activated with heat, helping to tame curls, eliminate frizz and generally improve the condition of the hair.

To get best results, you should finger dry your hair with a hair dryer each time you wash it - in most cases, this will leave your hair looking like you’ve spent hours styling and straightening it. Even better, it lasts between three and four months, depending on how often you wash your hair.

The treatment is available at Marc Azzi Hair in Sydney and Seen Hairdressing in Melbourne. Marc Azzi charges $270 for the treatment, although the first time you get this done you will need to buy a special shampoo and conditioner from the salon as regular shampoos can interfere with the treatment.

What do you get the man who has everything this Christmas?

Well, if he likes his beer, then you could consider this Beer Shampoo Bar.

The idea isn’t as ridiculous as it sounds. Beer has long been considered to be great for hair, making it shiny and bouncy. It’s also great for people with scalp conditions such as dandruff and eczema.

This bar is “brewed” in Tasmania and is free of synthetic detergents, so you might even be tempted to use it yourself.

The Beer Shampoo Bar sells online for $11.95.

I’ve always found that no matter which home hair colouring pack you use, the conditioner enclosed in the box always makes your hair feel fantastic.

In fact, many times I’ve wondered why these conditioners aren’t sold separately for use between colourings.

Well, it appears someone was eavesdropping on my inane internal monologues about hair care, because Clairol has apparently done just that. Clairol Nice ‘n Easy ColourSeal Gloss intensive conditioner can now be purchased at most chemists and supermarkets for the very reasonable price of approximately $6 a tube.

I am absolutely in love with the stuff. I have very dry hair, and while this conditioner hasn’t solved the problem entirely, it does seem to have helped a great deal.

The packaging says each tube contains three applications, but I think you can get more out of it as you don’t need much (unless you’ve got very long, thick hair). You should use this once or twice a week as an intensive treatment - I wouldn’t recommend using it every day (then again, I also wouldn’t recommend washing your hair every day. Full stop).

By Caroline Warnes

Perhaps I’ve been living under a rock in recent times, but I had no idea that Palmers had a hair care range.

Now I have always been a big fan of the Palmers Cocoa Butter skincare products, for a multitude of reasons - they smell great (like a chocolate shop), they’re inexpensive and they work very well for dry skin.

So when I stumbled across Palmers Cocoa Butter Conditioner at my local Cincotta Chemist yesterday, I had to buy it. And it was lucky for me that it only costs $6.50, because otherwise I would have been forced to choose between buying the conditioner and buying dinner.

Anyhow, I gave it a go this morning and I am so impressed. I have naturally very dry hair (so dry that some days it feels like I have bundles of hay taped to my head) and this stuff seems to have worked better than the more expensive salon brand of conditioner I was using before. It feels soft and somewhat moisturised, plus it has a faint chocolatey aroma.

If cocoa butter isn’t your thing, Palmers also makes shampoos and conditioners with coconut oil or olive oil for the same price.

By Caroline Warnes

Just a quick note to let you know that Cincotta Chemist is having free shipping on all Australian offers for today only.

So if you need to stock up on any beauty, skincare, haircare or other pharmacy-type products, do it today. Cincotta Chemist is one of the cheapest around, so when you take away the shipping, you’ll definitely be saving money.

Cincotta Chemist stocks Neostrata skincare very cheaply so if, like me, you’re a devotee, get in quick today. Plus there are some other great offers - 50% off the entire Dove range, 50% off all Heinz baby food jars and a buy one get one free offer on the new Berocca Twist and Go drinks.

By Caroline Warnes

I was browsing the new Price Attack catalogue this morning and came across some great offers to save money.

The first one gives you 50% off foils with a style cut and blowdry and is valid until the end of March. It can only be used Monday through Wednesday so you’ve only got this week and next to take advantage of it.

The second one isn’t valid until April 5, so save it for after Easter. You can get a free haircut with any colour service over $65, which really is great value. Once again, it’s only valid Monday through Wednesday until April 14.

By Caroline Warnes

I was literally just at my beautician when I discovered the subject of today’s blog.

This was a most fortunate event as I have to confess that up until that point, I had no clue as to what I was going to blog about today.

No, this isn’t something you can eat, although you’d be forgiven for thinking that. Milkshake Sugar Frosting is actually a brand new Australian product for concealing hair regrowth (yes, including greys!) between salon visits.

Milkshake isn’t an actual hair dye you can apply at home. It’s a loose powder that can be applied using the included brush to any areas that need it. Once you powder it will last between 8 and 20 hours, and according to my beautician, a tin will last around six months if you’re using it fairly regularly (of course, you don’t need to use it on days when your hair is freshly coloured or if you’re lounging around at home and no one is going to see you). Just think of it as foundation for the roots of your hair.

Bonus: it’s also a dry shampoo and absorbs oil at the roots in-between washes.

The “flavour” names themselves are enough to make you drool: vanilla cupcake blonde, milk chocolate brunette, raspberry creme redhead and boysenberry black. I had a smell of the brunette flavour and it smells like sweet cocoa powder.

A tin of Milkshake Sugar Frosting costs $60. It’s available at selected hair salons and name stores around Australia. If you’re around the north side of Sydney, I can tell you that it is definitely stocked at Blonde & Beyond in Neutral Bay.

By Caroline Warnes