In this new year, considering simplifying your beauty routine by starting off your day with mascara. Why? A quick glance in the mirror may prove it's all you need. Many of us pile on eye primer, eyeliner, eye shadow, concealer, foundation and lipstick because we think we have to. But many of us can get away with just a bit of mascara and lip gloss. We don't know it because we've been taught to apply mascara AFTER we "do up" our eyes.

Finish off your simple look with sunscreen, concealer around any discolorations and lip color.

Ahhh, Gwyneth's shoulder-length bob. How I covet thee. Gwyneth managed to make this year's list of the best celebrity hairstyles. With so many celebs going from long to short, Gwyneth had quite a few transformations to compete against (wait until you see Keri Russell's new hair). See who else made this year's list. Photo: Alexander Tamargo, Getty Images

It's winter and if you're like me, you practically have to force yourself out of the shower every morning. I could practically live in mine. There's nothing like hot steam to warm me up in the mornings and right before bed. But these hot showers can lead to dry, itchy skin. Furnaces and heat in buildings is sapping your skin of its moisture and those hot showers are too. To keep skin moist, try a cooler, shorter shower, exfoliate in the shower once a week (this removes dead skin cells and allows the moisturizer to soak in better) and slather yourself in baby oil or a thick moisturizer immediately after your bath.

Here are a few of my favorite holiday tips:

1. Play up the eyes or the mouth. Never do a dark, smokey eye and a red lip, unless you are performing burlesque. Choose one or the other. For eyes, consider a smokey gray this year instead of black or brown. If playing up lips, try both lipstick and gloss. First apply liner all over lips, dot lipstick with your finger and follow with a light (not heavy) gloss.

2. Keep nails short and rounded. What's not hot? long, fake talons. What's chic is short nails that are rounded, not squared. Dark colors for nails are still hot for the holidays.

3. Don't overdue the statement jewelry. Big jewelry pieces are hot, hot, hot, but make sure you wear them correctly. Don't wear a large necklace, a chunky ring and big earrings. Choose 1-2 statement pieces and keep your other jewelry quiet and subdued. You can do either a strong necklace and tiny earrings and rings OR a statement ring and statement earrings.

4. Color your hair. If you have gray hair or blah hair, get thee to the drugstore or the salon and color your hair. If you're doing it yourself, stay within a shade or two of your natural color. Covering up gray hairs and roots will add oomph to your holiday look.

5. Go for dewy skin by applying moisturizer under concealer and/or foundation. Add shimmer to eyes, cheeks or chest area, but don't overdo it with all 3. Apply a shimmer moisturizer (Jergens Soft Shimmer Skin Radiance, from drugstores) to legs if you're going bare.

Now that it's the holidays, should you give a gift or a tip to your hairstylist, manicurist or regular masseuse? Yes. But find out how much in this article.

Harper's Bazaar is one of my least favorite fashion magazines because I can't bother with page after page of 98-pound, 6-footers all wobbly in $6,900 chiffon. Who is going to buy a $24,995 netted (read: utterly useless) black coat (page 109) that one could make out of soda pop plastic (the ones you cut up with scissors so birds won't strangle themselves in landfills).

Anyway, on the last page where Harper's features the "What's In, What's Out" section, they dub "overly masculine menswear" out for spring and suggest flouncy feminine wear instead. Yet a quick glance through their pages and you find Kirsten Dunst dressed in menswear (page 140), Victoria Beckham in not one, but two (!), menswear outfits and another rather masculine suit on page 119.

I want to know if they are in or out because this could change my plan to dress in tuxedos all spring. (Just kidding).

If you loathe panty lines and thong underwear and find yourself contemplating going commando, consider getting yourself some "Go Commandos Patches." I tried them out this weekend with a pair of jeans and I'm hooked. They are absorbent fabric patches that you attach to the inside seam of pants, jeans or tights. They act as a replacement to underwear and leave no panty lines or uncomfortable chafing (the pads are incredibly soft, you hardly notice them at all). The concept reminds me of attaching a pantyliner to the inside of your jeans. But these stay put, whereas a pantyliner won't. They even come in organic cotton.

The only downside? The price. At $16 - $18 for a package of 8 you have to consider the investment in something that's not reusable. Me? I think the comfort is worth it, and because of the price, they would make a fabulous gift or stocking stuffer. Check out the Go Commandos site.

When i was growing up my family had a brush hanging in the shower for years and no one used it. The long handle was wooden and on the end was a soft brush. Because wood is not meant to be stored in wet places, the brush slowly accumulated mildew, but no one threw it away because it was a gift from our Austrian relatives. It was like a disgusting piece of bathroom art.

Years later I found out the brush is meant to be used before a bath to exfoliate one's dry body. You simply give yourself a good rubbing with the brush and then wash off in the shower. It is apparently the best way to exfoliate, I've read many, many times.

Angelina Jolie sported this classic bun on the red carpet this week. It's not an easy bun to replicate on your own (take this photo to the salon for a holiday party). I also want to know how did the stylist manage this with no wispy hairs popping out everywhere? Could this be the handiwork of an editor? See my gallery of holidays hairstyles for more ideas for this year's parties.

Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

I'm a big sucker for The Lip Scrub by Sara Happ (it's on my list of top stocking stuffers). The stuff is magic: you apply to lips, massage vigorously with your index finger and then wipe off (or lick off) the remaining sugary bits. I got mine a couple years ago, and since then the product has been mentioned in every imaginable magazine making me feel very smug about my find.

If you can't afford The Lip Scrub, which is $22, consider creating your own by mixing sugar and petroleum jelly in a bowl and then putting it in a mini container. You may have to play with the consistency but I guarantee you'll love it. Plus, it's pretty much, well....free.

More lip stuff:
Get rid of scaly lips with a toothbrush
Is it safe to "eat" lipstick?