Aged and damaged skin exhibits certain classic issues (areas where the skin starts behaving differently from the skin around it), and this week I wanted to talk about the most common ones. I'm sure some of you are thinking "enough with the basics, let's get on to the solutions already." But I thought it was worth discussing these, because some

I recently had the great pleasure of having John Fussell, makeup artist extraordinaire for Chanel, do my makeup. The man is not only a wizard of beauty, but he's been everywhere, knows everyone, and is endlessly entertaining. Just talking to him is delightful — sitting in his chair is a dream.

I wasn't sure about sharing this makeover (even though

We absolutely must discuss Keira Knightley's look at the Los Angeles Film Festival, for two and a half reasons: (1) I. Love. Her. Hair. (2) The look is so classically Chanel — sophisticated, subtle. More about a beautiful girl than her beautiful makeup. (½) She's wearing "normal" heels! I didn't think they existed in

I just can't get enough of blue and green polishes this summer. Here's another take on turquoise: Nubar Blue Raspberry. This polish is sheer in one or two coats — and I think I actually prefer it that way. I find the "sea glass" effect interesting and refreshing. It's opaque in three (or four, if you prefer) — just a

I hate to admit this, but it's probably a good thing that Burberry took so long to make its way to Dallas. The waiting period allowed me to get past the first heady flush of "new makeup!", so I could calmly and rationally evaluate their products. I have to say, everything I've played with so far seems

On first "walk-by," Chanel's summer collection didn't dazzle me — stripey bronzers? I saw those last summer, right? But on closer inspection (swatching, actually looking at the promo photo), I have to say I am totally digging their fantasy of summer.

Let's start with the odds and ends. There's a lovely, neutral, can-you-believe-this-is-limited-edition eyeshadow

MAC has taken a decisive step onto the nail polish bandwagon. For the last few years, their selection of "permanent" nail polishes has remained fairly small (though collections frequently included limited edition polishes).

The brand has just announced that it is significantly increasing the number of polishes on its regular roster (and has made a commitment to releasing more limited

Last week we talked about the anatomy of skin, and how its structures protect you from the slings and arrows of daily life. Of course, there's no such thing as a free lunch, and (generally speaking) the side-effects of that protection are the signs of aging.

There are several changes that occur in skin as

Armani almost snuck this collection past me (special thanks to Cristi for bringing it to my attention).

The brand has released a little "between collections" collection, an assortment of six Rouge d'Armani Sheer lipsticks and six Glosses d'Armani.

The Rouge d'Armani Sheer lipsticks are $30 each. Brown 200 (Terra) is raisin-mahogany. Brown 201 (Boudoir) is a beautiful, warm, browned terracotta

Dallasites, the wait is over: At last, we have a Burberry counter. (And Nordstrom Northpark is the only one in Texas, for the time being). From what I've seen so far, Burberry seems to be one of those brands with a fairly stable, slow-growing permanent collection — and modest, well-edited seasonal offerings.

The summer 2012 collection includes

Chanel recently reformulated their Vitalumiere Aqua foundation (liquid gel, shake well before use) into a cream compact.

Like the liquid, the Vitalumiere Aqua compact is medium coverage, SPF 15, and "naturally luminous" — though I've heard from a few folks who say the compact offers slightly more coverage than the liquid. (The compact is $58; the

Protecting my flimsy nails and keeping myself amused with a new manicure: NCLA Venice Beach Vixen (click here to see arm swatches of all the NCLA polishes).

This polish is actually a little more muted than I thought it would be (based on the bottle, and the photo on

Congratulations, Lisa S. — you won last week's giveaway, and a ghd Peacock flat iron is on its way to you.

Here's a look at some of Lisa's favorite styles from ghd's inspiration page.

We live in an age of cosmeceuticals, but the folks selling skincare frequently speak in anecdotes (burn victims, stem cells, plastic surgeons, proprietary molecules). I'm a skeptic, and I often walk away from these conversations wondering about the science of it: How does that product work? Talk to me about active ingredients and biological mechanisms. If there was a study,

François Nars seems to love Ginta Lapina as much as I do, because she is once again the face for his seasonal campaign. (See more examples of her amazing versatility.)

To achieve the summer 2012 look, Mr. Nars darkened Ms. Lapina's naturally porcelain skin with tinted moisturizer in St.