Whatever side of the fence you fall on, there's no question that keeping your fist out of the biscuit barrel and staying out of the pub are both admirable January goals.

While caffeine doesn't constitute a heinous dietary evil, it's generally advised to avoid it when trying to cleanse the temple that is your body.

Herbal teas are often poor substitutes but a pleasant surprise awaits in Twinings' new herbal infusion of spearmint, milk thistle and nettle.

Despite the no caffeine, sugar or flavourings, it's actually very tasty and you can feel your halo glow as you sip it.

HOME RULES Things you are not allowed to buy in January: champagne, scented candles, party dresses (even in the sale), half price food hampers.

Things you are allowed to buy: gym membership, selfimprovement books, trainers and homewares. The latter are permissible because if you're going to spend a month of nesting and getting to bed early, your home must become your kingdom. House of Fraser has three new collections this year. There's the Asian glamour of Shanghai, the nostalgic look of the Amalfi range and the 1930s inspired Manhattan collection. Stock up on these Bardot cushions, accessorise with a Teasmade and a Marion Keyes novel and you'll never have to leave the bedroom again.

AT THE COLD FACE Winter skin needs all the helping hands it can get, so it not's a bad idea to have Benefit's newest product, Some Kind-A-Gorgeous in your bag at all times. A sort of mix between two of its top sellers, matte skin balm Dr Feelgood and tinted moisturiser, You Rebel, this is a sheer foundation faker that will suit most skin tones, with corn starch to absorb any unsightly oily patches. If you're skin is relatively good, you can wear it on its own but it's best used as an immediate and instant face fixer throughout the day. Available from Arnotts and Brown Thomas, Euro30

YOUR LIFE ON A PLATE EYES bigger than your stomach? That's you and the rest of the world then. Portion control is one of the biggest problems that would-be slimmers face when trying to lose some weight.

You can always guestimate how much protein or carbohydrate you need but you're likely to get it wrong and weighing food is the tedious option that you'll probably abandon after two days.

That's where the Diet Plate comes in. A visual system that clearly demonstrates how much of what food you're meant to be eating, it's been given the thumbs up by leading UK obesity expert Dr Ian Campbell. Typical weight loss when using it is 2lb a week. Previously available to Irish slimmers only on the internet, you can now pick it up in pharmacists across the country, price Euro29.95.

REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST Limerick born painter Fergal McCarthy presents his exploration of memory in a new exhibition called 'Trying to Not to Forget' at the Back Loft, La Cathedrale Studios, 7-11 Augustine St, off Thomas Street in Dublin 8. "I find it curious that I can't remember the name of a person I met an hour ago but I can recall perfectly the details of a holiday somewhere or the storyline of a film I might have seen years before, " he says. Using images, texts and symbols, through images, text, symbols, his 30 new mixed media paintings chart his journey, containing information he'd forgotten, acting as triggers to his past, from books and bands to places and films. The work is stunning so go check it out today as the exhibition end this evening. Opening hours are 10am to 6pm.

LEON 'LAIR GAZING in at array of baked goods in the window of Leon, 17 Wicklow St, Dublin 2, it's as if the whole low-carb thing was a figment of our imagination. Fruit tartlets and custard slices croon their siren call and if only one other pastry was ever to pass your lips again, make it the religieuse, the éclair of the nuns, which is a cream puff filled with chocolate or coffee cream.

The café also does a fine line in sandwiches, and some very decent coffee, and its French-inspired interiors, with gilt mirror and toile de jouy wallpaper, allows you to pretend you're somewhere in the Marais in Paris and not on a Dublin side street.

This is the second Leon - the first opened on Trinity Street last year - and there are plans to open another on Exchequer Street later in the year. There go our waistlines. Tel: 01 6717331

TURBAN RENEWAL AFTERmonths of wearing beanie hats, headgear takes a more glamorous direction. This year, you shall mostly be wearing turbans. Do try and keep up. Miuccia Prada sent her girls down the catwalk in richly coloured satin varieties, while Marc Jacobs did less outré but no less eyecatching jewelled caps. It's a look that will also take its cues from a Drew Barrymore/Jessica Lange film due out later in the year called Grey Gardens. This is the story of two women, Big Edie and Little Edie Beale, who were cousins of Jackie Kennedy, living in a squalid 28-room mansion in the East Hamptons, and who were the subject of a 1975 documentary, which now has cult status. Little Edie favoured frocks, fur, turbans, all thrown together in bizarre but strangely stylish way, and she's definitely one of the less conventional fashion muses for 2007. Check out www. greygardens. com.