Labels: babor, caudalie, hair, molton brown, nuxe, ojon, perfume, primal elements, skin, wilma schumann, zents

Kevyn Aucoin The Liquid Shimmer in Gold $22: Given this palette of toasty nudes and lusty browns, this little bit of gold, dropped on the inner corner of the eye, is the perfect touch of sun to brighten an otherwise smoky eye. Designed with a brush, for easy application, in a skin-flattering, tan-enhancing gold, it's the perfect easy-to-apply highlight, too, on cheekbones for a little sumthin' 'xtra when you go out partying. And for day, a glimmer of creamy gold on the lid, with black liner, is the simplest way to wear it.

Kevyn Aucoin The Essentials Eyeshadow Set #1 $55: A set of brown eyeshadows is the makeup world's equivalent to the LBD ("Little Black Dress"). Everyone offers one, everyone looks good in one, the differences in the variations between products are often too subtle to follow, and you can only tell if it's a perfect fit until you try it on. That said, this carefully selected set of warm browns from the maestro Kevyn Aucoin is something like the Platonic ideal of brown eyeshadows (there are a couple of others, Dior Brun Casual and NARS Key Largo): a sparkly ivory, a smoky mauve-taupe shimmer, a creamy camel brown, a charcoal tempered by a little brown, and a soft melon shimmer.

Elizabeth Arden Crystal Clear Lipgloss $12.50: With so much going on, on the skin and on the eyes, all you need to polish off the look is some clear gloss, crystal clear gloss, to be exact. I love this mint-scented version from Elizabeth Arden, it's cute enough to throw in the smallest of clutches, and easy to apply without a mirror, but it looks good, not too glassy or tacky, somehow bringing out the natural color on your lips, even though it's clear.

NARS Lovejoy Blush $25: Lovejoy is a well-kept secret from the masses. All the world knows about Orgasm, and Sin, even Desire, which was featured on Allure's Best of Beauty list a long ways back. But Lovejoy is the perfect blush-cum-bronzer; you'd be hard--pressed to overdo it, even on pale skin. It's got rose and peach and terracotta and brown, with a teeny bit of gold. It's the color of those berries from the sun that you read about in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, if they were to exist. Dust it on, willy nilly, for a sunkissed glow, to enhance a fading tan, or to pick up pale skin in the dead of winter.

NARS Body Glow $59: Ever wonder how celebrities (rumor has it, J. Lo has underlings who apply bronze oil to her legs before she steps out to the all-seeing public eye) get that tantalizing glow on their legs and arms at premieres? Or, for that matter, the Brazilian glow that seems to emanate from the sun-drenched, dewy skin of swimsuit models? This stuff, Monoï de Tahiti oil, a blend of coconut oil and tiare flower and bronze shimmer, is the secret. Slather it on legs, arms, cleavage, and collar bone, and your skin will gleam like it's lit from within (even better if they take photos of you), and you'll smell fabulously tropical, of coconut and tiare. It's subtle, not frosty; in fact, you can barely see the shimmer once it's on. It's glamour in a bottle, glow in a bottle, an expensive vacation to places Mediterrranean and tropical in a bottle.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Spiced Floral Body Wash $54: Can you imagine anything more gorgeous than a huge bottle of this sitting in your bathroom? I've always found it difficult going, body washes, I can never find anything to my taste, as I have a very, very picky nose. But this luxurious lather, scented like white flowers (gardenia and freesia), is just the ticket. It's just a bonus that the hefty bottle already comes wrapped like a gift: in pink and gold floral. (Though it is called 'Spiced Floral', I must admit, it just smells like plain 'Floral', which is no bad thing, but not what the name would have you believe.)

Kérastase Resistance Bain de Force Shampoo $38.19 and Ciment Anti-Usure Fortifying Treatment $32.99: At the end of a long summer in the sun and spray (in addition to whatever processes and styling to subject it to), hair is brittle, fried, and damaged. Restore it to its original luster, with Kérastase Resistance, a system intended to fortify weak, damaged, and fragile hair. My hair isn't as damaged as that, but it's dry and colored, and the Mediterranean sun is harsh, and the Adriatic a very salty sea. Not even the most heavy-duty conditioners have made much headway against the parched, straw-like ends I brought back home to the States, so I just lopped them off. Now I wonder if that was even necessary: this stuff is really that good. My hair was stronger within three days, and it's so, so shiny! As any beauty addict can tell you, purported miracles litter the landscape, but genuine miracles are rarer than diamonds in the beauty industry. Pantene promises miracle hair, I've never seen it. But Kératase actually delivers, which is the first time I've had the honor of saying so about a shampoo. This brand is the favorite of celebrities the world over, and for good reason, their hair is the most damaged of all. It's expensive, but a little goes a long way, and the results are out of this world.

Babor Cleansing Hy-Öl (regular) $28: At the end of a long evening, you need to take ALL of it off. Enter, cleansing oils. They're oils, so they lift grime and oil and stubborn makeup better than anything else on the market, but they're water-soluble, so they rinse clean. I hear reports that they magically disperse blackheads (though that remains to be seen). Babor is a German brand, and its cleansing regimen is famed among aestheticians everywhere. One pump is enough for your entire face, just massage in, then massage in the second step, the Phytoactive (no toner required), rinse, and you're done! Clean, makeup-free skin, and during summer months, I don't even need a moisturizer. Strangely enough, I find that this actually controls oil, rather than making shine worse.

Annick Goutal Les Nuits d'Hadrien EDP $90: Ahhh... you will not believe this, but I asked for this, unsniffed, and it's Holy Grail status already. I would not say this lightly, but this is the citrus of my dreams, with warmth and richness (and I'm not really a citrus girl). Modeled to be a deeper version of the best-selling L'Eau d'Hadrien, it explodes with bergamot and cypress on the top notes, then the spicy herbal note of basil and cumin, before settling into its lemon heart, tempered by ylang ylang and vanilla and sandalwood, before it deepens with amber and musk. Predominantly, it's a spicy, herbal lemon, underscored by amber and musk, rich and seductive. I'm baffled by how perfect it is.

Essie Caliente Nail Colour Polish $7: The niceties of manicures and pedicures are lost on me, as I'm a perpetual nailbiter. But I am partial to the nailpolishes of Essie—even I know that this is superior stuff: applies clean and smooth, dries quickly to a pigment rich, shiny finish, with a plethora of shades to choose from. Caliente is a coral red, almost like a bright cherry red, but enough coral to keep it pleasingly summery.

Labels: annick goutal, babor, beauty notebook, elizabeth arden, essie, kerastase, kevyn aucoin, nars, rescue beauty lounge