Cat endlessly fascinates me with her ability to make even the small things in her life seem glamorous.  (I copied her style by also decorating my cubicle with high-res scans from art books from the 80 and 90s, all from the huge stacks she keeps under her desk.)  So today in the cafeteria, when I saw her dropping sliced cucumbers in her humongous cup of ice water, I was immediately glamorized. "Spa water!" I shrieked.  "It's the only way to make myself drink it," she dryly responded. "Water's the worst."

—Simone Kitchens, beauty assistant

I have been reminded once again that, besides the whole fatness factor, sugar makes your skin horrible, causing inflammation that gives you both wrinkles and acne. Said reminder was one of the world's most brilliant dermatologists, Dr. Frederic Brandt**.

I'm convinced on the whole no-sugar thing, I am, and I try—and I succeed for a day or so (that day was yesterday, all grilled fish and vegetables and quarts of delicate green tea), and I feel great and I'm full of resolve, and then someone brings cupcakes into the office and someone else produces a bag of Swedish fish and it all goes to hell in a breadbasket. Are there tricks I simply haven't caught onto? I've managed to get over old boyfriends, I've had natural childbirth twice, I've paid my mortgage in the face of the endless delight that is Prada, but against delicious treat—despite the fact that I feel sick almost instantly after eating it—I am useless.

Please no alternative-sweetener suggestions—they all taste like poison to me. Including the all-natural ones.

—Jean Godfrey-June, beauty director

**In a rare case of being able to preempt myself, Dr. Brandt now has a new, wildly confidence-inspiring acne line (including the brilliantly named Vacuum Cleaner pore treatment), which will be going into stores (and into Lucky magazine) shortly, but for now-this-minute is fully orderable on his website.

My father spends basically every waking hour of his life on psych wards making rounds, so he's not exactly whom I turn to for product recommendations. But, alas! Like many hard-on-their-parents daughters, I've underestimated him. He introduced me to this Biotene mouthwash, which specifically (and brilliantly) treats dry mouth (fancy term: Xerostomia) caused by (amongst other things) certain medications, psychiatric or otherwise.A It's also good for coffee-guzzling editors who stress out a lot (another cause of cottonmouth), smokers, or just anyone who can't force themselves to drink water constantly. Accordingly, it's super-breath-freshening, but mild-tasting and gentle.A I bought it at the drugstore (by the pharmacy counter, natch), but you can get it on Amazon.com for a mere $6.

—Cat Marnell, associate beauty editor

Signing a confidentiality agreement is what one does, I imagine, when one gives little Suri Cruise a blowout or sleeps with Leonardo DiCaprio. I signed mine in Milan at dinner for Dolce & Gabbana's new makeup line. The big reveal would be the celebrity "face" of the brand: everyone around me guessed Penelope Cruz, Beyonce, Madonna; darkly, my mind wandered to a corseted Ali Lohan.

We signed during pre-dinner cocktails in a lobby swarming with glamorous people wearing black, as well as tuxedoed male model-waiters asking mysterious Italian questions ("Mm-hmm!', I' answered, lamely, every time).A I also met either Dolce or Gabbana (I can't remember--I was TIRED, okay?, )--who was predictably tan, dapper, and fantastic-smelling.

Finally, we entered a grand banquet hall hung with--TADA!--massive posters of Scarlett Johansson--the "face". Half of the guests (including the Lanvin-clad French editors meant to be seated on either side of me) ignored Scarlett completely and instead charged for their place cards so they could upgrade to chicer tables. The food was unmemorable, but luckily, fashion editors don't eat. (JOKING!) (Sort of.)

The next morning I flew to Rome for the Gucci party. More on that (and meeting the ridiculously chic Frida Giannini) tomorrow. Ciao!

—Cat Marnell, associate beauty editor

A wildly exclusive and fashionable new perfume was recently presented with ONLY the glamorous box. The perfume was TK (magazine-speak for "to come" and one of my all-time favorite terms). Inside, in place of the perfume, there were cookies in minimalist clear glassines. I resisted for about two seconds and caved. But the cookies' flavor put me in mind of ... well, an apartment block in Leningrad.

My so-called diet strategy always involves a huge supply of "healthy" items that I bring to the office in hopes of resisting the chocolates and cookies I find there. But I always quickly eat all of the "healthy" items and then immediately segue back to chocolates and treats.

The chic of glamorous cookies that don't taste like much! If I'm hungry, there are the cookies, right in front of me—except, do I really want one? Not so much ...

—Jean Godfrey-June, beauty director

At four years old I fiended for Flintstones vitamins. I would go to any length to get them. I used a chair to climb the kitchen counters, stuff the pockets of my OshKosh B'Gosh cords, and slink away to gobble them in my room or, once, in a hall closet. I always felt sick afterward, but it was a small price to pay.

If this scenario is at all familiar to you, do not try Borba Skin Balance Confections Aca?- Skin Treatment Infused Gummi Boosters. They are chewy and fruity and delicious, plus they're packed with vitamins that allegedly improve your skin.

I and every one of my beauty department cohorts surreptitiously eat them all day at the office—way more than we should. Inevitably, I feel sick, but even then I like to think that my skin is going to be really, really glowy.

—Cat Marnell, beauty assistant