If you’re not on Pinterest, you need to get with the programme ladies. And if you’re saying “What’s Pinterest” then you need to exit the dark ages and… get with the programme!

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard – it allows you to organise and share interesting things you find on the interweb. You can categorise your cyber boards any way you please – ‘wedding’, ‘fashion’, ‘recipes’, ‘home’… whatever.

Share ideas on ‘how to keep the kids busy’, ‘best vegetarian recipes’ or ‘planning the perfect party’. You may be totally tired of cyber-socialising but I’m telling you; of all the social media applications Pinterest is the most creative. It’s a hub of inspiration and it provides a space for you to save your ideas.

And if you’re looking for gift ideas, visit the recipient’s Pinterest account and you’ll be confronted with so much source material you won’t know what to do with it.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people – follow boards that you like and re-pin from other people’s collections.

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You could haul out all of your makeup and spend ages trying different looks – which shade of lipstick looks best with your favourite green eye-shadow? – which mascara lengthens those lashes to the max? – to use eyeliner, or not to use eyeliner? – blusher in pink or peach?

Or…

You could try out “MakeUp” by Modiface – a fab new makeup app that allows you to do a virtual makeover on yourself. Get ready for a hot date, a gals night out or a work function, with the touch of a button.

The number of times I don my makeup, and then wipe it off (in a rage) because I don’t like it – all at the last minute, of course – are too many to tally.

MakeUp allows you to ‘try on’ different hairstyles and makeup before you do the real thing. All you have to do is snap a photo and choose from thousands of lipstick, blush, foundation, mascara, eye-shadow, or liner colours you would like to test.

The new makeup app allows you to compare before and after photos side by side, and you can also save, email or post (on Facebook) the image and products you used.

But wait…

If you fancy yourself dexterous, “MakeUp Touch” – also by ModiFace – allows you to give yourself or someone else a virtual makeover, by letting you paint directly onto the face. Now, this is probably not the best ‘I’m bored on public transport’ time-filler (although I have become expert at doing my makeup in motion) but the app is a great way to share makeup ideas with your pals.

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Online shopping is huge! I remember watching news bulletins over the December period, and shop owners were stressing because people were abandoning the High Street in favour of online shopping – it’s quicker and easier… especially over the busy Christmas period.

And I suspect that the trend has stuck.

The only thing that is difficult to shop for online is clothing – you just never know how it’ll fit. Most outlets have return policies but it would be nice to buy clothes, knowing that they’ll fit and you won’t have to do an exchange. To help avoid this irritation, Tesco has launched a virtual 3D fitting room.

Basically, customers can create 3D digital versions of themselves from a photograph uploaded on to a virtual 3D fitting room page, and then “try on” the clothes from there.

The F&F virtual 3D fitting room also gives customers the opportunity to try out various hairstyles to create different looks and even the option to share their favourite outfits with selected friends on Facebook for feedback.

How it works: simply upload two photos, or (if preferred) enter body measurements, and a photo of your face.

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I love a bit of online shopping. Okay, a lot of online shopping. Products are often cheaper online, not to mention the convenience of having something delivered to my door.

And often it is easier to find certain products online than it is in the shop – beauty products in particular. Here’s how to buy beauty products online.

Daily Deals aggregator Dealzippy.co.uk reports that the health and beauty sector accounts for nearly 40% of offers posted on daily deal sites.

In June and July 1700 health and beauty deals were posted on daily deals sites, accounting for nearly 40% of the total number of deals published on sites like Groupon, KGB Deals and Living Social. Health & beauty Deals included a wide range of products and services such as teeth whitening, laser hair removal, hair salons, tanning and day spas.

The most popular daily deals within the health and beauty sector were for laser hair removal and teeth whitening. Smooth legs and a killer smile are essential for snagging blokes on the beach of course.

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I’ve long been an advocate of doing the weekly grocery shop online.

Since having a family, not only have the lists got longer and the bags got heavier, but newborn babies and screaming toddlers (or both at once) are the best excuses for staying as far away from the supermarket as possible.

Plus, I figure it makes more environmental sense for the lorry to drop my shopping off on its rounds than for me to make a special trip to and from the supermarket just for one household, and I get away without using any bags at all because the nice delivery people bring it straight to the kitchen.

So all in all, I’m an online shopping fan.

In an ideal world, though, I’d prefer not have to do the shopping at all. I’d rather have an automated stock-checking system that updates my shopping basket when something gets used up, without me even having to think about it.

Or a tiny shopping fairy in my kitchen that sends a tinkling sparkly signal to my e-basket each time an empty box gets put in the recycling.

So imagine my surprise last week when I logged on to Tesco.com to find that the shopping fairy actually does exist, and had already done half of my shopping for me!

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