The problem with approximating a Kate Hudson tan, for me, is the Conan O'Brien skin underneath. There comes a point when everything starts to revert—splotchily.

Last weekend I put on a new self-tanner: easy. No weird copper-penny smell or stickiness or pilling up. By midday the color started coming in—a warm, honeyish gold. Days 2 and 3, more of the same: incredibly even, golden, perfect. Kate from sunup to sundown. I wore V-necks, boatnecks, floaty short-sleeved things that rightfully should have waited another three months. Delightful.

But then Tuesday came: subtle, ominous, small-but-significant patches of truly glaring paleness. All self-tanner is bound to have a half-life, at which point you can reapply (risking splotchiness, tanorexia, etc.), or scrub the tan away. I chose the scrub, but 10 abrasive minutes later, I looked the same: Patches O'Brien. Maybe my skin has a particularly tenacious affinity for the tanning agents, who knows. In any case, there has to be a way to do this better. Some middle ground. Some way to a graceful fade ...

—Cristina Mueller, senior beauty editor

Scouring the Web today, I noticed that Steven Alan just debuted a revamped website and, along with it, lots of great new spring pieces that are a slight departure from his signature super-charming shrunken oxfords and sweet ruffled undies. Now he's expanded the range to include striped jersey tanks, my favorite of which also features patch pockets printed with concentric squares. The effect is kind of hypnotic, and the stark black-and-white palette furthers its cool op art vibe. I'm also loving his new collection of Bermuda shorts, especially this pair in a preppy, menswear-ish plaid.

There comes a time in every girl's life when she just starts to want nice things, when the pilled-up, wool-like sweaters and three-wear discount-bin bras somehow no longer feel right, when she suddenly starts to want quality—even if it means she'll have less, and potentially more boring, stuff. This happened to me recently. I was packing up for a short work trip and I realized that the only overnight bags I have are a button-strewn backpack from college and an ill-shaped, awkwardly zippered pleather weekender (reminiscent of my enormous pleather couch—when I purchased this item I actually thought it was the real cowskin deal). Anyway. It made me start thinking about how I'd like a sophisticated travel bag, the kind that will weather beautifully and make me feel adult and even glamorous when I carry it. Right now, I've spotted this and this and this on eBay. They're all gorgeous and well-made, and best of all, if I buy any of them, I know I won't have to deal with this problem again for years.

While I love a massage, what I really love—the genuinely relaxing part—is the waiting room. The lounge chairs, the wafting music, the teas, the lemons floating in the special water, everybody shuffling around in robes like 19th-century hysterics gone to take the cure at McLean, the air misty with estrogen. Heaven. Better than the massage, the facial, whatever, no? Discuss.

—Jean Godfrey-June, beauty director

[OK. This is my third and final D.D. Ryan post. I swear.] Among the many, many beautiful pieces in D.D. Ryan's collection (she favored designers Halston, Pucci, and Ossie Clark), you'll find tons of bold prints, unusual textures, and super-bright colors. These were quite clearly clothes intended for play (one can only imagine the event that required an outfit like this three-piece gold lamé number), but there's also a selection of classic, clean-lined items that were made to last, like this red Halston work suit and these beautiful, equestrian-chic Mainbocher jackets. You can also check out rolls of original '60s fabric.

Like many people, I find myself buying slightly different versions of the exact same things over and over again. Cashmere cardigans and ballet flats fall into this camp for me; I've got loads of each, distinguished by colors and materials that run the gamut. I have a similar penchant for tops with dramatic collars (the bigger the better!) and white blouses, and it's an especially happy occurrence when the two merge in one garment, as is the case with this Alexander Wang piece. It has the most beautiful, elaborately accordion-pleated ruffle that goes all the way around the neckline, and it's made of delicate, creamy silk. The sleeves balloon ever so slightly with a little more pleating at each cuff, and the sum of all this is you end up looking a wee bit like a modern-day Mozart, in the most chic and romantic way possible. I would undo the top couple buttons to add some sex appeal, and, as you can probably guess, add some flats and a cardigan too.

I don't know what's come over me with this D.D. Ryan auction. Usually I'd see something like this, think "too rich for my blood," and move on. But instead, I'm completely intrigued. The first time I looked at it, I felt totally like a voyeur, like I was walking through the rooms of a house of a person I wanted to know. There are hundreds of pieces of jewelry in this estate sale, mostly costume, all I imagine worn to fabulous New York parties where serious fun was had. Among them, I'm fixated on these pretty, oversize Chanel brooches.

A few weeks ago, Emily Hsieh blogged about this stunning, tomato red Geren Ford dress—and one comment-poster rightfully pointed out that it would make an amazing nail polish color. So after assiduous testing, here it is, the nail version of the dress: a gorgeous, glassy, cherry-cordial shade from the new CK Calvin Klein cosmetics line—a polish that, in addition to being a spot-on match, also turned out to be impressively long-lasting.

—Cristina Mueller, senior beauty editor

Perversely, despite being plagued by my own clutter control issues, I am actually quite good at editing down other people's stuff. This skill has been put to the test a lot in the last couple of months, as I somehow ended up streamlining two friends' closets (one in L.A., one in New York) and also took a trip out to Vegas to help my father-in-law move, a Herculean endeavor composed of sifting through everything he'd amassed after 40 years of living in the same house. So now I'm turning to the totally dysfunctional, grossly overflowing state of my home closet. Of course, my fantasy purchase of 2008 is custom-designed California Closets. Ideally, I'd have lots of built-in cedar drawers, row upon row of shelving to stack all my sweaters, endless individual cubbies for all my shoes, and I've even started to imagine what accessories I'd add to trick things out even further. Topping my list of obsessions are these ridiculously pretty verbena-scented drawer liners by the Soap & Paper Factory and a complete set of these handsome cherry wood hangers monogrammed with my initials from hangers.com—both of which, come to think of it, would make really excellent housewarming gifts.

For those of you who don't know (I didn't), D.D. Ryan was a '60s photo editor and fashion designer who worked with Diana Vreeland, Halston, Richard Avedon, and Stephen Sondheim and whose social world included Andy Warhol and Truman Capote. From all accounts, she was one of those stylish New York legends, a cool lady who dressed impeccably and had lots of amazing friends. She died in July 2007.

I discovered D.D. a few days ago when I was searching for Halston on eBay. Her estate's collection of nearly 1,000 pieces of jewelry, art, furniture, clothes, and ephemera is currently being auctioned on eBay, and it is beyond, beyond amazing. In the art section alone, there are original Warhol screenprints, Warhol wallpaper by Richard Bernstein, a few Lichtensteins, and even a Picasso. But I especially like her less showy, less expensive stuff, like these quiet botanical prints. The live auction starts on March 1, so start sorting through your picks or at least taking a visual tour right now.