Fall is a time for many things and a fresh, clean skincare start is one of them. Philosophy’s new Advanced Makeup Optional Skincare System offers an armor of skincare best sellers to fight aging– these soldiers include: retinol, antioxidants, peptides, hyaluronic acid, lactic acid, beta glucan, and sun protection.

The Advanced Makeup Optional Skincare System has several aims; among those are to help improve fine lines and wrinkles; refine large pores and even skin texture; and reduce skin discolorations. In a clinical study for 8 weeks, 100% of participants had smoother skin and 97% showed an improvement in fine lines and wrinkles.

For $98 you get a five piece set that is of terrific value ($166 value, to be precise). Here’s the AM routine:

- Wash your face with the Microdelivery, a micro-massage exfoliating face wash. This is a two in one cleanser that cleanses and illuminates by buffing and polishing the skin. It does not feel harsh on the skin at all, nor does it strip your face of essential hydration because it contains borage oil.

- Then apply When Hope is Not Enough firming and lifting serum. This is an oil free serum that contains a lot of antioxidants to protect and hydrate skin.

- Then apply Hope in  a Jar SPF 20 daily moisturizer to hydrate and protect the face from the sun’s rays.

This is the PM routine:

- Wash face with Purity Made Simple, a gentle cleanser that melts away makeup and tones.

- Apply When Hope is Not Enough Serum.

- Apply Help Me Nighttime retinol treatment for fine lines, discoloration and large pores.

There are also samples of the Microdelivery Peel and Eye Hope included in this kit.

I’ve been using this regimen for a few weeks and I have noticed an improvement in skin clarity, pores and hydration. I think it’s still too early to judge the fine lines (I have a lot of frown lines….).

I would definitely buy this kit for $98…what a steal! I think it’s ideal for those who really want to address the wrinkles, pores and discolorations issue.

Get your fix at www.philosophy.com

I have a new love in fragrance and it’s a set of four pulse point oils. In fact, I’m so enthralled by Lisa Hoffman’s “Variations” in Madagascar Orchid that I have been using them ever so sparingly — hoping that each pulse point roll on will last me an infinitely long time — or at least until the next Halley’s Comet is visible.

A Fragrance of the Year Award Finalist at the FiFi Awards, Lisa Hoffman’s “Madagscar Orchid” Variations comes in four elegant pulse point roll ons: one for the Morning, Daytime, Evening and Bed Time.

What a fragrance!!!!!! I am usually a perfume snob, but found myself jumping for joy when I rubbed this rich and lush orchid mix on my wrists. The perfume’s notes are the delicate white orchid flower, sheer jasmine, ylang dew, mimosa mood, and pink peony to envelop the senses in a floral decadence.

This fragrance is both sensuous and thick and dewy, all at the same time. It completely envelops you in a delicate yet powerful veil (delicate because of the florals; and powerful because of the effect of the mix).

The four vials complement each other (just wear them at the appropriate time) and your entire day will bloom as beautifully and gracefully as a Madagascar Orchid (shown below):

I love the gorgeous leather wallet that houses these beautiful vials as well. The leather is as luxurious as a Hermes Birkin and the stylish wallet ensures that the oils stay safe and sound in your purse while you travel.

Here is Lisa’s recommendation on how to use the vials:

Vial #1 (Morning): Light and refreshing, this variation is the perfect addition to a woman’s morning routine. It contains just enough fragrance to be noticed, but never enough to overwhelm the sensitive morning nose.

Vial #2 (Daytime): A richer, fuller-bodied version of the scent, for when most women are at their peak activity, and may occasionally feel the desire to “freshen up.”

Vial #3 (Evening): A more sensual and provocative variation, for the time in a woman’s day where she prepares for a fun night out with the girls, a romantic dinner with a special someone, or a cozy night on the couch with a glass of wine.

Vial #4 (Bedtime): A soft, powdery version of the fragrance for wear during sleep. Light, soothing, and slightly sensual, this variation allows her favorite scent to follow her to bed, without disrupting the comfort of her sleep, or anyone else’s.

The complete set of Madagascar Orchid Variations retails for $95 and refills (vials only) are $60. I consider them completely and utterly worth it. If it’s magic you’re after, you need to smell like LH Madagascar Orchid.

If you use the code BUTTERFLY on checkout, you’ll receive 15% off your order!

Everyone wants a piece of the perfume industry. That may have to do with scent triggering memories so effectively, or maybe it stems more from the lucrative business side. Three new scents by celebrities have spritzed onto the market with varied reaction.

Queen Latifah sought to capture a state of mind with her debut fragrance, Queen ($49 for 1.7 oz at macys.com.) The eye-catching red bottle contains a stand-up-and-take-notice scent. Steve DeMercado, the perfumer behind JLo’s Love at First Glow, Marc Jacob’s Blush, and others, collaborated with the Queen herself to bring about this larger than life perfume.

The top notes of golden tequila accord, Italian bergamot, and Mediterranean Mandarin cover the mid notes of baie rose, jasmine noir, cognac, and Moroccan coriander. It finishes off with Indonesian patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla absolute, tonka absolute, Egyptian incense, and musk. This scent completely bowled me over, but in all fairness, I’m a roses and lilac wallflower sort of girl. If you have a personality to carry it off, why not take this olfactory embodiment of confidence out for a spin?

Everyone’s favorite party girl, Paris Hilton, sings her song to lure us to the perfume counter where we’ll find her latest fragrance, Siren ($45 at macys.com.) Honorine Blanc worked alone to create this sugary, fruity scent. It’s not unpleasant, just misnamed. The term ‘siren’ conjures images of danger and mystery, but the top notes of mandarin, apricot, and frangipani do little in that vein. Honeysuckle, coconut orchid, and water little hold the middle ground, while vanilla beans, sandalwood, and creamy musk make up the bottom. Siren has a studied innocence about it that feels odd with its vixenish name and its namesake as well. We love Paris (or love to hate her) for her brazen escapades, not her girlish naiveté. But if it’s girlishness you seek, go on and slather on Siren.

I’ve already reviewed Jessica Simpson’s Fancy Love ($49 at macys.com), but of the recent crop of celeb scents, it’s still my favorite. Like Queen Latifah, Simpson worked with the perfumers – a whole slew, as opposed to just one – to give us goji leaf, peach blossom, bergamot, and pink champagne, followed by lotus, peonies, plumeria, jasmine, and Turkish rose. The final notes of amber, blonde woods, musk, and patchouli leave the wearer with a light, flirty scent that never overpowers. As I confessed above, I’m a sucker for flowers. Simpson has me where she wants me – online, extolling the virtues of her scent. (You’re welcome, Jessica.)

You can have it any way you want it – bold, sweet, or ladylike – thanks to these ladies and the experts behind them. Partake of them as you will, depending on your mood and preference, and enjoy!

Everyone’s heard about the power of mineral makeup. They’ve also heard of the sky-high price tags that accompany these designer makeup collections. It’s times like these that our good ol’ drugstore standbys are extremely useful. Maybelline may be famous for their long-lasting mascara, but their new Mineral Power Illuminator sure has us in its grip.

Dust it on after using tinted moisturizer or foundation for a light shimmer that doesn’t bog your skin down like many pressed powders. If you want some extra coverage that’s not so heavy that it looks like you’re walking the stage at the Miss Universe pageant, head on over to your local drug store and pick one up from the Maybelline section.

It also retails for $10.99 at drugstore.com

I do love my straight hair. Except that it’s not really straight — it’s wavy. No surprise really, since my mom has hair that’s curlier than a honeysuckle tendril.

But since I won’t do Japanese Keratin treatments, I’m always on the prowl for products that will “de-wave” my straight hair. And thankfully, this quest led me to Redken’s Sheer straight and Align 12 Straightening Lotion.

The Align 12 is a protective straightening lotion for medium hair. Its sole mission is to protect and defrizz and tame unruly hair, and it offers heat protection for your strands through its fortifying xylose and glucose sugars.

All you have to do is to rub the Align 12 to your damp hair, blow dry it (and this alone will give you hair that’s much much straighter and tamer than your natural locks) but the real beauty is using a flat iron after this for results that would put any Japanese Keratin treatment to shame.

The same thing pretty much goes for the Redken Sheer Straight 06 Gel except its for fine hair instead of medium hair. This gel features the exclusive Straight-Out complex, as well as Coconut and olive oils that act as conditioners and moisturizers.

We heart.

It’s possible to hydrate the skin, but the lips? Ah, that’s a completely different story. Dry skin on the lips is a plague we beauty aficionados seem to live with on a daily basis. Everything we slather on (gloss, lipstick etc.) have a drying effect on the skin.

So it’s important to pay attention to lip hydration but I know from prior experience that Chapstick ain’t going to cut the mustard. Even my favorite Smith’s Rosebud Salve that I apply time and time again cannot give me that soft, emollient deliciously sweet pout that I crave.

So when I discovered Lisa Hoffman’s delicious Spa Facial products for the lips, I was hopeful.

First up: the Lip Polisher ($14.95). I was expecting grains, and I received nothing but a smooth paste (full of honey, mango butter, soybean and jojoba oil). You rub the polisher on your lips to prep for the moisturizer that’s about to follow. I did notice a slight difference in the hydration level of my lips after I rubbed the polisher on. But the real delight was the Lip Moisturizer, which is probably the best lip product I have ever used.

It’s thick (the viscosity of honey) and gooey. Composed of A, C and E, olive, avocado and sweet almond oi, the Lip Moisturizer stays on your lips for hours. I applied it before I went to bed and in the morning my lips were still glossy and wet (non tacky). It hydrated them so beautifully and I used it as a base before applying my favorite lipstick. $24.95.

Every serious lip fanatic must indulge in these two products, especially at night before going to bed. And with fall and winter quickly approaching, now may be the time to invest in this delightfully hydrating duo.

The world has always loved a good romantic story: Casablanca, Sleepless in Seattle, Breakfast At Tiffany’s…and let’s not forget Scent of a Woman.

If love does enter through the nose, then surely there’s room for a fragrance that captures the power of flirting. Harvey Prince, the company that brought us Ageless Fantasy, the world’s first anti-aging perfume (the core note was pink grapefruit), has launched Eau Flirt - the world’s first flirting fragrance.

After sitting down with Kumar Ramani, Harvey Prince’s founder and CEO, I asked him whether other “romantic” brand name perfumes could not be labeled as “flirtatious” scents as well. “The companies are not marketing the other perfumes as being flirtatious,” Ramani says. He believes that while there may be notes that are floral and flirty in other brand name perfumes, they’re not putting those scents in a particular bucket.

What makes Eau Flirt truly flirtatious? The notes, for one, which Ramani says are a “closely guarded secret” on the box. Inspired by a study done by Drs. Alan Hirsch and Jason Gruss of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, Eau Flirt’s proprietary blend of lavender, pumpkin and other secret scents have been clinically shown to provoke passion in men with a whiff.

My husband loved the perfume (after all, it matters what men think, right?). He said that it smelt very “vanilla.” I dig the notes as well: I’m a sucker for anything vanilla and lavender, and the scent lingered on my skin for hours.

I especially love the packaging too – the cartoonish flirty box and the kermit-green eau de toilette bottle are unmistakable and prominent. This is definitely a strong scent, although if you spray sparingly you can dilute the strength a bit (but men love the stronger version!).

Remember what Christian Dior said: A woman’s perfume tells more about her than her handwriting.

Eau Flirt comes in 3.4 oz. eau de toilette spray that retails for $98; a 1.7 oz spray that retails for $66; and a 1 oz. purse size that retails for $36. Mini roll-ons are $19.For more information, visit www.harveyprince.com

Have you ever seen a woman who piles pounds of lip color on top of unhealthy, chapped lips? That’s the equivalent of pouring on perfume after taking a 10 mile run. Without a clean base, you don’t have that much to work with. Since a healthy pout should always be packed with moisture, a quality lip balm gives you moisture and a clean shine. Zoya’s new Hot Lips Glossy Lip Balms combine the treatment that keeps lips in good condition with fun and flirty colors that bring them to life. We tried each of the 6 shades below:

Wink appears to be bronze in the tube, but on your face it looks much more peachy.

Wink

Prowl: Our favorite of the six, Prowl is a berry-pink-purple blend. It’s very wearable on all skin tones.

Prowl

Appropriately named Paparazzi is a glossy peach shade with a somewhat frosted finish.

Paparazzi

The perfect baby pink shade, Luvie is just a bit frosted.

Luvie

We think Heiress appears a bit darker in the bottle than on the face.

Heiress

Destiny is a flirty and fun pink that’s universal for all skin tones.

Destiny

Zoya Glossy Lip Balms are a bit sticky, so flyaway hair can get caught in your mouth. However, we’re big fans of any product that combines skin nutrition with attractive colors. Luckily, Zoya Hot Lips Glossy Lip Balms retail for $6 each, so the price won’t make too much of a dent in your wallet.

For more information, visit www.zoya.com

I’ve been to countless parties and mansions over the years but I think this is the first time I’ve set foot in a Hamptons Castle. I was a guest of the iconic Sir Ivan Wilzig - former banker turned musician and philanthropist — at one of his legendary parties. This year, the mission was to recreate the atmosphere of Woodstock and to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

Sir Ivan is a banker-turned-singer, peace activist, and television celebrity. He is the eldest son of Siggi B. Wilzig; Auschwitz survivor, legendary financier and philanthropist. He decided not to pursue his family’s multi-billion dollar banking business and reinvented himself as a musician.

Guests arrive at Sir Ivan’s “Castlestock” party at the Hamptons

The purpose of the party was also raise money for Sir Ivan’s “Peaceman Foundation,” a philanthropic organization that gives money to worthy charities that fight Hate Crimes and also treat victims of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Sir Ivan describes himself as a “technippy” artist- a word he concocted to describe the type of music he sings and enjoys. He uses techno produced tracks for the beats and hippy lyrics for the vocals.

Castlestock turned out to be a beautiful flower fest with an aura and ambiance that recreated the spirit of Woodstock. There were huge plastic daisies everywhere and mats on the grass with flowers strewn over them, canopy beds with hippy-clad stuffed bunnies, and plenty of scantily clad flowered bikini women walking and dancing (think Hefner parties mingled with the vibe from Coachella).

Large plastic daisies lined the cobblestone walkway leading to the back of the castle

At the center of the backyard was an infinity pool strewn with sunflowers.

At the front of the castle was a giant plasma screen that showcased some of the golden Woodstock oldies. Guests could lounge on the expansive deck chairs and enjoy the music (music from The Who, Jimmy Hendrix and other Woodstock notables filled the Hamptons air).

A giant screen replayed Woodstock’s golden musicians/ Photo courtesy of Bryan Reesman

Guests who came to Castlestock included Countess LuAnn de Lesseps from The Real Housewives of New York and several magazine and newspaper editors. The charming Mina Otsuka was dressed as a white Woodstock bunny and entertained the crowd with her dancing for several hours.

Mina Otsuka Entertained the crowd for hours

The crowd wore “flowers” – the dress code of the event, and all guests  “sparkled in white” thanks to the black lighting surrounding the castle.

After a dinner buffet and lots of vodka shots at the open bar, guests went into the “discotheque” of Sir Ivan’s castle to hear his rendition of Kumbaya (part of his new album, I am a Peaceman). Sir Ivan, dressed in eclectic panoply of prints wore a peaceman cape doused in rainbow colors:

The back of Sir Ivan’s Peaceman Cape

I hug a “hippie” Castlestock bunny

Myself and Kristin Booker of “FashionStyleBeauty“  strike a pose

After a lot of dancing, we returned back to the city in our chartered Hamptons Jitney, totally happy and blissful having experienced surreality and beauty in Water Mill, NY. Sir Ivan recently became a TV star after appearing as a finalist on the primetime NBC Sci-Fi Channel hit series “Who Wants to Be a Superhero?” At around the same time, he performed on VH1′s “The Fabulous Life of the Hamptons,” the Travel Channel’s “Grand Castles of America” and the WE Channel’s “Single in the Hamptons.”

Thanks to Sir Ivan for a splendid evening and for raising awareness of the importance of peace in this world. For more information on Sir Ivan and the Peaceman Foundation, visit his site.

The six new creme nail lacquers for MAC by renowned nail artist Jin Soon are beyond creamy and velvety with the slightest hint of shine.

We wrote about this collection here previously but wanted you to see the swatches for yourself. This polish is very high end: lustrous, with a no chip attitude and plenty of elegance. The Beyond Jealousy screams fall runway but I’m more of a Cool Reserve kind of gal.

They are available August 27th through September.

Beyond Jealous is a hot ticket item for the fall and originally made its debut during fashion week. It reminds me of a forest green: deep, dark and delicious.

Cool Reserve is my personal favorite because I adore mauves. A beautiful pale violet, this lacquer is elegant enough to be worn to the office and is completely date worthy.

Dry Martini is a dirty olive color that is a mixture of brown and moss green. A perfect fall shade, it will complement red and wine colored dresses particularly well.