Botox is a hot topic these days — recently, Julia Roberts revealed why she doesn’t follow the Hollywood trend and Teri Hatcher posted photos of her furrowed brow on her Facebook page to prove she’s not a user. However, other stars, such as Virginia Madsen, make a strong case for Botox injections. But we’re just not ready to have toxins shot into our face with a needle. So we decided to try Rodial’s new Glamtox Sticks ($60) — nicknamed “Botox in a bottle” — and used by the likes of Victoria Beckham and Sienna Miller.

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We often find ourselves wishing we could pull off dramatic, full eyebrows the way stars like Penélope Cruz and Salma Hayek do. But over the years we’ve plucked and waxed our brows, and can’t seem to get that glamorous look just right. To help women like us create the perfect brow, IT Cosmetics just launched the Brow Power Universal Eyebrow Pencil ($24), which works with all brow colors and encourages regrowth of eyebrows after overplucking.

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We think we saw the slightest hint of a sneer on “Queen of Curl” stylist Ouidad’s lips when we recently admitted to her that we’d had a keratin treatment, which had left our hair silky smooth and, yes, a lot straighter than it is in its natural state. Ouidad is evangelical about letting curls be curls, but we had been invited to her Santa Monica, CA, namesake salon to experience her latest service — the Luxe Mediterranean Bay Leaf Hair and Scalp Treatment — so she did her best to hide her disapproval and agreed to chat with us about its inception.

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The second-anniversary party for the green lifestyle website EcoStiletto.com was held at the Rolling Greens Hollywood nursery, and the women in attendance were as pretty as flowers themselves, attired in brightly colored skin-skimming summer dresses. (We missed the wardrobe memo and showed up in black ourselves.) We were all toting an extra handbag to donate to the new Los Angeles branch of Dress for Success, the terrific nonprofit organization that provides interview-appropriate clothing and accessories for low-income women seeking to enter the workforce. In exchange we got a recycled bag to fill with the latest green swag.

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Lana Turner may or may not, as legend has it, been discovered perched prettily on a stool at the soda fountain of Schwab’s Pharmacy in Hollywood. But, believe us, toss the keys to an Audi TT convertible anywhere in Los Angeles and you’ll hit enough lovely young things to cast any number of remakes of Friends and Melrose Place. The city that some of us call home is not an easy place to hold onto one’s feelings of attractiveness. That’s why time and again we have turned to the Beauty Prescription Quiz in the book named, no surprise, The Beauty Prescription and subtitled The Complete Formula for Looking and Feeling Beautiful (McGraw-Hill, 2008).

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We skipped a recent screening of Sex and the City 2 to attend a poolside dinner party at the Beverly Wilshire Beverly Hills hotel to celebrate the movie’s release instead. (We know — how very L.A. of us!) So, in lieu of a movie review, we’re sharing some of the great tips we picked up at the event.

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We admit we’ve been in a lip color rut of late, usually sticking to glosses in sheer pinks or corals and putting emphasis on creating dramatic eyes. But Tom Ford Beauty’s new Private Blend Lip Color might just infuse some new lip-life into our routine. The fashion designer’s dozen shades — from nude to deep burgundy — are embossed with Ford’s initials and sheathed in elegant cases. “There is no more dramatic accessory than a perfect lip,” Ford says. “It is the focus of the face and it has the power to define a woman’s whole look.”

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As we stood outside Manhattan’s Limelight Marketplace, waiting behind a velvet rope to enter the grand-opening party for a sneak peek at the newly created shopping space, it was easy to recall the deconsecrated church’s previous incarnation as a notorious night spot in the ’80s. Upon entering, however, any traces of its legendary, often seedy club past had disappeared and been replaced with three levels of glossy kiosks selling fancy food items, cosmetics, soaps, home items and clothing.

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We spent many self-conscious days as teens tormented by what seemed to be face-engulfing pimples. While growing up typically brings more poise and fewer acne outbreaks, it also can introduce new, unhappy skin issues. According to the National Rosacea Society, about 16 million Americans suffer from rosacea, a chronic inflammatory condition that typically occurs after the age of 30 and is three to four times more likely to affect women. Characterized by persistent redness, eye irritation and pimple-like bumps on cheeks, nose, chin and forehead, it is often mistaken for acne or allergies, says dermatologist Doris Day, M.D. (left), author of Forget the Facelift (Avery, 2005).

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While on a recent cosmetics-counter mission to Saks Fifth Avenue, we found ourselves at the NARS Cosmetics counter, where we discovered the new Orgasm Illuminator ($29). We sat down for a makeover, and were given a fresh eye look by the makeup artist, who then applied the sheer fluid Illuminator to our cheeks and under our brow line. When used on the highest points of the face, such as the cheekbones and forehead, the product creates a healthy glow with flecks of gold, peach and pink shimmer.

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