The Beauty Closet: Lancôme Destiny Cube

What would happen if you cracked open a Magic 8-Ball? is my daughter's favorite question. Some old stale water, perhaps a bit of food coloring, and a many-sided piece of plastic emblazoned with "yes," "most likely," and "reply hazy, try again" is what you'd get, is my typical answer.

The whole working-mom thing breaks down completely with a regularity that is impossible to blame on fate. Through some rather glamorous extenuating circumstances, mine most recently broke down in Paris, and I had no choice but to bring my children to a press conference with me. The press conference involved speeches, PowerPoint presentations, and marketing videos, but to my surprise, my exceptionally short, unaccredited-journalist sidekicks were riveted. Even the antiaging portion, which involved charts about cellular regeneration, was popular: "I loved that whole human-body part!" reminisced my five-year-old later, his eyes shining.

"My short, unaccredited-journalist sidekicks were riveted."

When this makeup compact appeared, however, the peanut gallery (myself included) went crazy. While it's not an 8-Ball—it wears its mystery on the outside, with chic words like "coquette" and "jalouse" stamped on its facets, interspersed with moons and stars and secret symbols—when you crack it open, you get both a darkish-bright and a sparkly-translucent lip gloss, the palest pink and the faintest green eyeshadows, both so wearable as to entice a non-eyeshadow holdout. Plus two good-size mirrors—leaving nothing to chance.