Years ago, when we spotted our first silver hair defiantly sticking up, a fellow brunette told us she colored her sporadic grays with a Sharpie. Deterred, however, by the threat of marker fumes, we plucked each one instead and named them for their potential causes (Mortgage, for example, was joined by Company Downsizing and Health Insurance Dispute). Now that we’re older, wiser and more gray, we let a colorist handle it — but in between appointments, that Sharpie looks pretty tempting. Thankfully, the new Oscar Blandi Pronto Colore Pen Root Touch-up & Highlighting Pen ($23) is designed precisely for this purpose — to cover stray grays and unsightly roots.

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We recently joined the stars in search of Valentine gifts, awards season outfits, accessories and the latest gadgets at the Valentine Romance Sneak Peek Oscar Suite at Café La Bohème in West Hollywood. Yummy food, an open bar and free stuff? Not even a torrential downpour — or worse — could keep celebs (or us) away from this party. Actress Maria Conchita Alonso, who broke her ankle six weeks ago, even showed up with a cast and cane!

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We’re always on the search for perfumes that can become “the one” — our signature scent that meshes with our personality. But, like that perfect pair of jeans or little black dress, we have to try quite a few to find just the right fit. So we were intrigued when we heard of Aromachology, a Toronto-based fragrance line that not only offers five scents to match various moods, but also has a create-your-own fragrance option based on a personality questionnaire.

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Our plan to simplify in 2010 includes an effort to cut the number of mysterious chemicals in our skin-care regimen. A recent search for natural beauty items led us to HollyBeth’s Natural Luxury, a line of face and body products made with organic ingredients. HollyBeth Anderson had been making creams as a hobby, but decided to launch her business when she moved back to her native Georgia several years ago, after a career spent working abroad for the French government and in Latin America. Anderson’s formulas are inspired by knowledge she gleaned from her grandmother, an avid gardener, and from herbalists she met in Latin America while working for Cartier.

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Finding just the right hair stylist is hard enough — and when we’re traveling or getting ready for an out-of-town event, it’s a daunting prospect to find a suitable salon and book an appointment. If you happen to be in Manhattan for New Year’s Eve, ordering up hair and makeup can be as easy as a phone call to Hair Room Service, recently started by Michael Dueñas, who has styled such celebs as Mariah Carey and Regina Spektor. Simply book an appointment by phone or via the website, and Dueñas or one of his stylists will arrive and cut, blow dry, set — or even color — your hair in your hotel room. Men’s grooming and children’s cuts also are available, and Dueñas has two makeup artists on staff.

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Back in the ’90s, we once sported a haircut similar to reality star Kate Gosselin’s — and considering tart-tongued scissor wizard Tabatha Coffey’s take on the style, we know we made the right decision to grow it out. Coffey, formerly of Shear Genius fame, recently landed her own show on Bravo, Tabatha’s Salon Takeover, which airs Tuesdays at 10 pm. The Australian-born hairstylist, 43, gave us some great tips for maintaining our current ‘do.

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We firmly believe in beauty recipes that have been handed down through generations, especially when they produce natural skin-care products that are economical — and that sound delicious. Return to Beauty: Old-World Recipes for Great Radiant Skin (Atria, 2009) from skin-care expert Narine Nikogosian contains formulas for moisturizers, toners, eye creams and face masks made from simple, fresh ingredients such as avocado, egg, yogurt, olive oil, mango and orange. Nikogosian — whose celebrity clients include Charlize Theron, Ellen DeGeneres and Alfre Woodard — also divulges some of her family’s beauty secrets.

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We associate L’Occitane with our sense of smell, since the retailer specializes in fragrances, as well as natural beauty products. Preventing vision loss, however, is at the heart of the company’s United to Save Sight campaign. Every year since 2006, L’Occitane has created a limited-edition product and donated 100 percent of the proceeds to charity. This year, profits from the Moments in Africa Soaps ($8), a set of three depicting scenes from African life, go to ORBIS, a
nonprofit dedicated to preventing and treating avoidable blindness around the globe.

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While searching for beauty products that benefit breast-cancer awareness causes, we came across Pristine Beauty natural skin and hair products, created by Blaire Kessler. The former model was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 31 in 2005. “I could not find any products out on the market for the issues I was having with my hair and skin that were 100 percent truly natural and that were effective,” Kessler says. “So I made my own after tons of research.”

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We’ve been meaning to update our head shot for the last couple of years, so we were thrilled when we heard that Estée Lauder would be hosting “Your Beauty. Your Style. Your Profile,” a free makeover event with complimentary photos. It sounded like the perfect opportunity — and a great excuse to check out the newly remodeled cosmetics department at Bloomingdale’s Manhattan location!

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