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Feb 07 2012 06:00 PM ET

Padma Lakshmi Credits Boxing, Sweating for Her Flawless Skin

Padma Lakshmi Danskin
Jamie McCarthy/Getty

She’s sampled chili, pancakes and a whole lot of steak on this season’s Top Chef, but Padma Lakshmi is miraculously avoiding weight gain and breakouts. How? By boxing. “A poet introduced me to it,” she tells PEOPLE of the sport, which she’s practiced for 10 years. “I just found it was a great workout, very gratifying.”

Lakshmi — who hits the gym two to three times per week with a trainer, and uses the speed bag, jumps rope and does calisthenics — credits boxing with her trim figure, as well as her glowing skin. “I think that sweating a lot and getting your circulation going influences your skin a lot, and helps everything rejuvenate itself,” she shares. (Regular facials, some Shiseido foaming face wash and a light moisturizer help, too.)

The former model showcases that skin — and her best boxing form — in Danskin’s “Move for Change” campaign, which also features Hilary Duff, Jenny McCarthy and Christie Brinkley. “The photo shoot was great,” she says. “It turned out to be a fun day.”

Feb 01 2012 09:00 AM ET

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Gwyneth Paltrow Prefers Wrinkles to Botox

Gwyneth Paltrow Harper's Bazaar
Courtesy Terry Richardson for Harper’s Bazaar

She’s been quite candid about the work she’s put into maintaining her fabulous figure, and Gwyneth Paltrow is happy to get frank on the subject of aging, too. “I’ll take my wrinkles,” she admits in March’s revamped Harper’s Bazaar. “I don’t like the Botox thing.”

What she does like? In addition to her husband and children — whom she opens up about in the issue — simply food. “I eat whatever I want,” she says. “I like bread and cheese and wine, and that makes my life fun and enjoyable.” But it’s not always about indulgence; the cookbook author often goes on detoxes to restart her system, and even sells a cleanse on her goop.com website.

Perhaps that’s how she’s always fit into gorgeous designer dresses, from her glimmering Elie Saab and short Stella McCartney to her tummy-baring Emilio Pucci and the infamous Alexander McQueen, worn to the 2002 Oscars. “I loved it,” she says of the controversial gown. “But I think the hair was a mistake. I shouldn’t have had it braided.” Read more on Paltrow in the March issue of Harper’s Bazaar and at harpersbazaar.com/gwyneth.

–Kate Hogan

STUDY UP ON HOLLYWOOD’S ON-THE-GO FITNESS TRICKS

Dec 26 2011 06:00 PM ET

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Kristin Chenoweth: I’m a Big ‘Comfort Freak’

Kristin Chenoweth Style
Frazer Harrison/Getty

Kristin Chenoweth may look majorly glam while performing on Broadway or hosting the American Country Awards, but don’t let that fool you: the petite vocal powerhouse (and voice of Listerine’s new campaign) loves nothing more than dressing down.

“When I’m on tour or performing, I’m sucked and plucked and squeezed and teased,” the self-professed “comfort freak” jokes. “So I want to do the opposite of that when I’m just me and living my life.” Though she’s partial to tees by Vince and Splendid, the 4’11″ star admits she’s petite enough to shop at GapKids — and has picked up some tips for dressing a small frame along the way.

“Never, never, never wear a high-waisted pant!” she admonishes. “I did try it, and I looked pregnant.” Her list of dos? “Solids are great. If you’re going to do stripes, they have to be wide,” she says. “And elongating — always. I like a lighter heel that blends with my skin if I’m wearing a short dress.” Read More

Dec 06 2011 10:30 AM ET

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Molly Sims on Dressing Five Pounds Thinner

Molly Sims: New Website, Style Tips and Weight Loss
Albert Michael/Startraks

Molly Sims may be an accomplished model, television actress and glowing newlywed, but even she suffers from paradoxical fat days. “If you have a body part you don’t like, instead of worrying about it, find ways to cover it up so that you can feel good about yourself,” she tells New York. “I can put on five pounds and take off five pounds and you wouldn’t know it, because I know how to dress.”

It’s understanding her proportions — and what does and doesn’t work — that has earned Sims the role of stylist in her circle. “I just convinced one of my friends not to buy this green dress she wanted, and to buy this great black Helmut Lang jacket instead,” she says. “She wears it all the time, and she called me the other day to tell me that she’d just told another one of her friends to do the same thing.”

Avoiding trends is another way to keep your look lean and flattering. “Invest in great basics,” she recommends. “Get a great jacket, a great boyfriend cardigan, a beautiful scarf, and a great pair of skinny jeans and a great pair of normal jeans. You can put some trendy tank tops and colors underneath, but if you always invest in basics, you cannot go wrong.”

Nov 18 2011 04:30 PM ET

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Kristin Cavallari: I ‘Don’t Think’ I’ll Get Botox

Kristin Cavallari Beauty
Tonya Wise/ABACA

She’s only 24 years old, but Kristin Cavallari definitely thinks about the future … of her face. “No one’s ever told me I needed to get a facelift or anything,” she tells xojane.com. “Never say never, but I don’t think I’ll ever get Botox because we don’t know the long-term side effects, and I just don’t think that can be good for you.”

In fact, the starlet has yet to cosmetically alter herself at all … teeth excluded. “The most I’ve done is Crest Whitestrips,” she jokes.

Cavallari, a practicing vegan (“Realistically it happens 50 percent of the time,” she says) who hits the gym at least four times a week, says she “craves” healthy food. “If I don’t eat healthy food I don’t feel good,” she shares.

The starlet admits that her workouts — combined with a light diet and intense Dancing with the Stars training — did once take their toll. “At one point I got too skinny and my manager had to say something to me,” she reveals. But with DWTS behind her and a trainer helping her with cardio and weightlifting three times per week, she’s on a healthier track.

Nov 08 2011 01:30 PM ET

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Jessica Chastain ‘Could Never Be a Model’

Jessica Chastain's The Help Style
Gilbert Flores/Celebrity Photo

Though she looked pretty darn model-y in amethyst Oscar de la Renta at the Hollywood premiere of The Help (left), Jessica Chastain says she can’t compete with the pros.

“There are some dresses that are so beautiful, the detail is so magnificent, but I can’t give them the justice they deserve,” she tells ASOS magazine. “It’s tough because I’m never going to look better than a catwalk model in a dress,” she continues. “I’m not a model, I could never be a model.”

Despite these self-professed shortcomings (she’s only 5-foot-4), the redhead beauty says she still loves fashion. “I always loved [it],” she laughs. “I just couldn’t afford it.”

Flash forward five years, and the star, who also appeared in this year’s The Tree of Life alongside Brad Pitt, has a healthy appetite for the stuff. “I absolutely adore [Louis] Vuitton,” she gushes. “I went to the show last year and it was such a celebration of the female body” — something she says she knows a little about. On the Mississippi set of The Help, “we would work all day, then go and eat because we had to gain weight,” she explains. “All of your clothes get too tight … But there’s something really sensual about being heavier, you feel like a painter’s muse.”

–Justine Harman

TRACK DOWN STARS’ FAVE ITEMS IN: ‘YOU ASKED, WE FOUND’

Oct 20 2011 01:30 PM ET

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Gwyneth Paltrow’s Biggest Beauty Secret? Sleep!

Gwyneth Paltrow Diet and Beauty
Norman Scott/StarTraks

We know how she got that rockin’ bikini body, but how does Gwyneth Paltrow maintain her outer glow?

“For me, sleep is a major thing,” she said Saturday during an appearance on Ask Dr. Brandt on Sirius XM Radio. “I don’t always get it, and when I don’t, I look like I’ve been hit by a truck.”

Other beauty secrets Paltrow lives by include drinking lots of water, taking vitamins “religiously” and having at least one cup of coffee — with almond milk — each morning. She follows that with a glass of homemade green juice, consisting of kale and her favorite farmer’s market goodies, and eats a lean protein with veggies for lunch. But she allows herself to cheat once in a while.
“Dinner is where I really go off the rails,” she admitted, saying that when she eats out she indulges in French fries and red wine. But at home, she cooks healthfully for her family, and tries to avoid gluten and dairy.