Blog Posts by Allure Daily Beauty Reporter

My Mission: Find perfume under $33 that reeks of money.

Status: Accomplished.

Tommy Girl 10 Eau de Toilette Spray, $32. While at drinks with a hot-shot beauty exec, she boozily asked, "What perfume are you wearing, because I need it." When I told her it was TG 10, she nearly passed out. Don't underestimate the power of this innocuous citrus-y floral. It sparkles and fizzes like freshly popped champagne.

Philosophy Amazing Grace Perfumed Body Spritz, $25. With layer upon layer of pale floral and soft, musky notes, Amazing Grace is good taste, defined. Little wonder it's Philosophy's best-selling fragrance.

Marc Jacobs Perfume to Go, $22. The thing about gardenia is that one flower quickly fills an entire sunken living room with a gorgeous, rich scent. The same goes with MJ's signature frag: A miniscule dab of the stuff is all you need for an air of refinement.

Revlon Charlie, $10. A low ponytail, a pair of kicky trousers, and blast of Charlie, and BOOM: You're Lauren

"Keep it simple," is my mantra, which is why I'm such a fan of unisex scents. They're not the kind to shake you by the shoulders and announce, "I'm HERE!"

In the absence of hyper-feminine or masculine notes, you get an "Oh, that's nice" chord. And really, most days, that's all I'm looking for. Here, my top five units:

2 by Comme Des Garcons. I've tried to work with Japanese sumi ink derived from the soot of pine branches for Japanese brush painting. It's impossible. But this fragrance, inspired by the ink, is easy, resinous, and woodsy (and doesn't stain your fingers).

Le Sirenuse Sienne L'Hiver. The husband and wife team who run Le Sirenuse, the five-star hotel in Positano, is so charming and fabulous that you can't help but want to be them. A spritz of Sienne l'Hiver, one of

The colors are nuanced. The textures are silky. And unfolding the compacts trigger (almost) the same breathlessness as opening a jewelry box from Harry Winston.

I half expected Chanel's new Autumn collection, "Facettes D'Or" to shoot out beams of light as I untied the ribbon, because the entire collection dazzles: It was inspired by Gabrielle (Coco to you) Chanel's gold-walled apartment at 31 rue Cambon.

Here's a quick tour of the highlights:

Le Vernis Gold Fiction. Once it dries, this nail polish could easily pass for 24-karat gold leaf. I'd move quickly on this-we could have another Black Satin situation on our hands.

Les 4 Ombres in Reflets de' Ombre. With pans of dusky gold, brown, champagne, and blue-gray, this eye shadow quad reminds me of beautifully oxidized antiques.

Facettes D'Or Joues Contraste Gold Fever. When I see glamorous women from the 1930s, I always notice two things: One, everyone had amazing cheekbones and two, they knew how to get their glow

My new yoga instructor is operating on a higher level.

Not only can this woman twist herself into a yogic pretzel, she does it with a pair of false eyelashes that look natural, yet amplified. Did I mention she's not a makeup artist?

My latest mission is to learn how (forget the pretzel; I mean the lashes). I dialed Gina Brooke, Shu Uemura's Artistic Director and Madonna's makeup artist. Here's what she told me:

Apply mascara first. "Curl your lashes and apply mascara before, not after, putting on the fake ones," she says. "This gives you a thick, long base to work with."

Use lash clusters, not the fake-looking drag queen ones that come in a strip. "For each eye, I use anywhere between five and 15 on the top lash line, she says. A good set to try: Shu Uemura Flare Eyelashes, $16.

Focus on the center. Place the longest lashes in the center, directly above your pupil. "That's where they're naturally the longest," says Brooke. "The shorter pieces should be nearer to

While browsing the Fresh store the other day, I noticed this fabulous-looking woman racking up over $1,000 in products-she had the most amazing skin. I was fully gawking.

Obviously, I needed to know what she was buying. Turns out she was addicted to the line's Black Tea Collection, which consists of Black Tea Age-Delay Cream and the Black Tea Instant Perfecting Mask. I had to have both.

Fresh's co-founder, Lev Glazman, told me he likes to use the cream as an under-eye balm, and I can see why-its texture is ridiculously cushy and protective.

The Black Tea Instant Perfecting Mask. It has the feel of whipped potatoes, but thankfully, it smells like cucumber.

What I love is that it's so not a big deal to apply.

After all of that cheating-on-Sienna-Miller nonsense, Jude Law became a little less hunky in my eyes.

However, after catching a glimpse of the actor in the new Dior Homme Sport commercial, it's clear that he's back to his delicious Talented Mr. Ripley-like self, and I can now bring myself to look at him.

Ahh, but where Jude goes, controversy follows. NowSmellThis.com, New York Mag's The Cut, and even Perez have all speculated about whether or not the ads are doctored. I say this: If Photoshop were only reserved for actresses, not fine-boned pretty boys, wouldn't that be more offensive?

Whether you're looking at a cheeseburger or a swimsuit model, the likelihood is that it had a little primping done somewhere along the way.

Let's admire the view before Jude slips up again:

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With the focus on China now, I offer this historical skin tale: During the Qing dynasty, empresses used to send men to the top of the mountains in search of golden root, a red flowering herb legendary for its youth-inducing properties.

If only Wei East had been around then. The sought-after herb is bottled in the Golden Root Renewal Daily Restoration Wear 2-step system.

Here's how it works: Just squeeze a few drops of the Daily Restoration Wear Serum onto one of the Beauty Treatment Pads (which are already saturated with golden root and other herbs). Now massage over your face and neck and follow with moisturizer.

Immediately, your skin looks smoother and feels firmer, and it doesn't sting like a lot of those other skin-refining pads do.

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When London party girl Peaches Geldof recently collapsed, word on the street was she passed out from extreme dieting or a drug overdose. The British tabloids went bananas.

Soon after, The Daily Star reported that Peaches was knocked because she inadvertently inhaled ammonia fumes from her hair dye. And that's when we went crazy. Is dyeing your hair dangerous?

"Though inhaling too much ammonia could certainly give the feeling of being unable to catch your breath, it's uncommon for people to collapse from ammonia fumes," he says.

Phew.

In addition to the permanent and demi-permanent dyes that often contain ammonia, it's also in items we use day to day, like household cleaning products.

Though episodes like Peaches's aren't common, nervous types might want to check out ammonia-free demi-permanent dyes, which emit much less odor, says Hammer.

As for everyone else, Hammer advises using ammonia-infused products in areas with