Beauty Closet, Santa Maria Novella Firenze Pasticchi Lozenges

"Reduces the appearance of fine lines" and "I can feel it working!" are hysterical constructs. Once, after a too-long day at the beach that ended in a very itchy sunburn, I complained loudly enough that my father exclaimed "You're hysterical!" the way they do in the movies, and prescribed aspirin.

For non-sunburn-induced hysteria, however, the better prescription would be these chic breath-freshening Italian lozenges, which, until recently, were called "Anti-Hysteria Pills." (In the interest of PC-ness, apparently, the name was changed. The anti-hysteria formula was not.) They taste mildly of peppermint and cinnamon chalk and put me in mind (hysterically) of a cerulean Sicilian lagoon.

* If, on the other hand, it is ennui that plagues you, try a dramatic reading of the '60s-era Austen-Riggs handbook Neurotic Styles ($22, Basic Books, amazon.com), which describes four distinct "personality types" (one—exclusively female, in those days—is Hysterical). You will laugh so hard you will soon be reaching for your new Anti-Hysteria Pills. Which you must call them, even if they no longer say it on the box.