Mommy needs a vacation. Mommy has no time. Mommy wants to sip tall drinks while looking at lifeguards. With XEN-TAN Tan-to-Go’s travel set you’re all set with a prepping body scrub, a dark lotion to achieve tan worthy of St. Tropez, and a tan extender to make sure all that hard work stays noticeable for a week. And—what’s life without some benefits? Tan-to-Go is a proud sponsor of the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc, so you’re making good on that pact to stay sun-smart and helping out a great cause.

Okay, so you’ve got your nights figured out, but what are you going to do all day Saturday? Recover from the night before, do some laundry, and watch an America’s Next Top Model marathon? Or learn to D.J., take your t-shirt from cast-off to on-trend, and design your own jewerly? Check out C.O. Bigelow and GenArt’s blog party on Greenwich Avenue between Christopher and 10th Street from 2 to 5 p.m. this Saturday. In addition to all the cool eats and activities, there’s family stuff and prizes all to benefit the Children’s Museum of the Arts. Go ahead, become the new MisShapes and help shape children’s lives at the same time.

The freshly hip (and very young) streetwear design label Cake has opened its website to shipping orders. Their Summer 07 collection only has 5 different T-shirts — each surprisingly unique, with a little bit of edge — but at $32 each (shipping included), they’re a real steal.

Each shirt is printed using a series of overlapping screens with a seamless layering effect of graphics and photo images. My favorite is “Models Love Cake” — playful sexiness meets irreverent style.

Keep your eye on these guys, they’re planning on expanding the label to include a full line of garments and accessories in the near future.

Listen up, ladies. There’s no need to pay more for great skin care products. Your ticket to a more youthful complexion awaits you on the shelves at your neighborhood Target. Boots, top UK health and beauty retailer, has made its way overseas, and penny-pinching Target freaks everywhere (myself included) could not be more pleased to have its affordable, quality products readily available here in the US.

The first of two products from the No7 line I tried was the Restore and Renew Beauty Serum, famously sold out all over Britian for its radiance-restoring properies. No wonder they like it! It glides on smoothly, and leaves skin feeling supple and soft. It’s the perfect makeup primer, and it didn’t freak out my sensitive skin. And with the promise that my complexion will look renewed in just four weeks, I’ll gladly slick it on day and night to watch for the results. At just $19.99, what is not to love?

Second on the list was the Intensive Moisture Face Mask. I decided to try this product during what was a rigorous test of willpower in pursuit of health, and a lighter me: A liquids only fast. Nothing looked better than this dreamy, creamy whipped topping of a moisturizer, and denied the sensory experience of eating, slathering the lofty gel/cream on my skin was just as good as dessert - and it made me look betterafterwards, instead of wider. Worn as a mask, it did wonders. It softened up my face and left my skin positively dewy. Dewy! So nice, I started wearing smaller portions of it to bed every night as a PM moisturizer, over the Restore and Renew Serum, and I’m loving the results. I’m willing to bet you will too.

Nothing smells better than one of Mom’s home-cooked meals - until the meal is over, that is! Much like the post-college grad living in the basement, lingering food odors like garlic, fish and onion in the air or on the skin wear out their welcome pretty quickly. What’s Mom to do? As far as the free-loading 20-something is concerned, Mom’s on her own. Scaring away food smells is more easily accomplished with the help of the Gourmet Kitchen Water Mint Sake line by Upper Canada. This fresh selection of kitchen cleaning and beauty products, ranging from decadent shea butter moisturizer to counter spray, combines the essences of water mint, orange, sandalwood, vanilla, and sake to cancel out menacing odors while creating a refreshing and uplifting sensory experience she’ll enjoy whether or not she’s been stirring things up in the kitchen. Plus, the crisp, contemporary look of the packaging makes this a much cooler Mother’s Day gift than that ho-hum, overdone brunch and bouquet. So give her something new she’ll really like - you really do owe her after all those years spent haunting her basement.

By Melissa Heichel