Consider Black Friday and Cyber Monday warm-up for the Olympic games that are the holiday season. From the tree acquisition to the candle lighting, to gift-wrapping lines that coil around several street blocks, holidays bring about frenzy, mania and anxiety over finding the perfect gift.

As the years pass, I...

Seven years ago, I began what would be an auspicious journey -- I ripped off the Band-Aids, dove into shallow waters and decided that living life perpetually anesthetized was not a life worth living. In plainer terms, I ended a nearly two-year addiction to cocaine, and in four years time,...

Prime your debit cards for the scary frenetic shopping season is upon us. Personally, I'd rather set my hair on fire with an acetylene torch than hit department stores in the wee hours of the morning. I'm fearful of stampedes and perfectly pleasant, mild-mannered folk, who channel the demonic when...

Last weekend was nothing short of extraordinary. In the midst of baking, catching up with old friends and making my home a bit sweeter, on the television a young Jason Robards in A Thousand Clowns bellowed, "You've got to own your own days. And name them. Each one of them....

A thirty-year veteran of the luxury retail and beauty industry, Sharon Collier in 1995 joined Gurwitch Products, the company that produces, manages and markets Laura Mercier Cosmetics, a global brand of high-end cosmetics, skincare and body and bath, and ReVive, a line of luxury scientifically-founded skincare products. The two renowned...

When you enter Poppy King's world, you're privileged to capture a glimpse of one woman's life-long affair with lip color. From playing dress-up with her mother's lipsticks, to her search for the perfect matte lipstick, to launching a successful brand at eighteen, to penning a book documenting her auspicious, rollicking...

Admit it: you have a secret beauty indulgence. An extravagant fragrance that has become your signature scent, the conditioner to which you've grown loyal because of its unbelievable transformative properties, or a tub of sugar infused with decadent oils evoking Parisian countryside groves -- sometimes we scrimp and save to...

Beauty has been the central focus of the career and personal life of noted plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Gregory Bays Brown. With the creation of ReVive in 1997, Dr. Brown seamlessly merged his knowledge of science and medicine with skincare to produce a must-have line of products that...

There was a time, before we lamented our checking account balances and dwindling 401Ks, when haute spa treatments and overindulgences were the norm. We'd wrap ourselves in seaweed, experience strange ultrasonic vibrations from machines that would reduce our cellulite, and slather clay earth, which hailed from obscure, nomadic countries (the...

Gone are the days of gross consumerism and conspicuous consumption, where the $3,000 statement handbag is the norm and trend shoes are purchased in a multitude of colors. When it comes to clothing, I've never been a fan of excess, rather my beliefs are decidedly grounded in the French axiom...

Twice a year I have about 20-30 of my friends over for crumb cake, coconut banana bread, and luscious cupcakes. And while they're dropping miniature sugar cubes into their tea and marveling over the spread, I smile and knowingly nod because the fun has only just begun. The girls know...

Rachel Roy's eponymous line is the epitome of refined, feminine sophistication. From the optimistic explosion of tropical color and sequined skirts in her recent resort collection, to the cigarette pants and double-breasted flannel suits, geometric cutouts and one-sleeved sheaths for Fall 09, the collection is decidedly made for the modern...

For over fifteen years, Laura Slatkin has been a leading player in the luxury home fragrance market. From co-founding Slatkin & Company with her husband in 1992, to launching Candela Group, a home fragrance company which focuses exclusively on developing home fragrance and bath and body products for over 45...

From the recycled glass vessels with handcrafted copper crowns that house soy wax candles, to the vibrant patterns that conjure art and fabrics from the Spanish Renaissance to Moroccan tapestries that adorn their packaging, Altru, the upscale interior fragrance collection of candles, fragrance oils, incense sticks, and incense accessories,...

Carol Shaw is one of Hollywood's most coveted makeup artists. With a hairstylist father and a manicurist mother, it's safe to say that LORAC creator Carol Shaw was born into the beauty business. As a teenager, a makeover at a Beverly Hills salon (a graduation present from her aunt) changed...

Sometimes the route to finding the best skin products is about tuning out the noise and listening to yourself. Smug brands, dime-store estheticians, clever packaging (of course we want that crystal jar and the bejeweled case! It's healing properties are on the verge of mythic!), are not only confusing, but...

In this precarious economic climate, non-profit organizations are suffering. From dramatic declines in government grants and private donor funding to escalating community needs, non-profits are struggling to sustain themselves. Many have opted to consolidate resources with other smaller organizations, while some have thought of creative, strategic ways in which they...

A enigmatic force in the fashion industry, Tina Aldatz has always had a love/hate relationship with her feet. It all began when, as a teenager growing up in Orange County, she burned the soles of her feet on hot charcoal during a beach bonfire. For months, just the simple act...

The past two years have probably been the most tenuous this generation has known. For me, the recession of the early 1990s is a distant, hazy memory, but the time in which we live now is clear in its uncertainty. People are out of work or in fear of losing...

New York City songstress Lizzy Grant makes her debut into the music world with a video for her single, "Kill Kill." Armed with her three-track EP, devastatingly retro-sexy look, and haunting, soulful voice, Grant is one to watch in 2009. Lizzy Grant is the kind of singer/songwriter that walks...