Check It. Favorite hand creams.

My hands always suffer from dry winter weather. My mom wisely always keeps a tube of Herbacín Kamille + Glycerine hand cream in her purse--and apparently so does Gretchen Mol.

For drugstore buys, I like Curél (which I recently couldn't find at the West Hollywood Rite Aid) and Aveeno. After unsuccessfully searching the drugstore shelves for some Curél early one morning, I ended up getting some supposedly fragrance free Eucerin (a really respectable line) hand cream. While it does moisturize well, it smells like sweat! Gross. So avoid that one.

My current favorite is the somewhat luxurious Jurlique hand cream. I have the Lavender one (which I thought would be good for bedtime applications, but I've actually been using it at my desk throughout the day. It smells so good.) but other scents they offer are Citrus, Jasmine, and Rose (I'd try Jasmine next).

Other favorites: Laura Mercier's Crème Brûlée Hand Crème smells delicious, and Kiehl's Ultimate Strength Hand Salve is super thick and comforting, if you're looking for something more industrial strength.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: jurlique.com

Check It. Laura Mercier Lip Glace.

I haven't been buying a ton of lip products lately, because I think I already have more than I could get through in a lifetime! I did however sign up for Birchbox, a monthly service that sends large samples of new products in a nice little giftbox through the mail. It's $10, and in the October (my first) a small Laura Mercier "Lip Glace" lip gloss arrived. It's my new favorite!

Long ago I had a Laura Mercier lipstick that had a bad taste, and I've pretty much avoided the line since (except for their great crème brûlée bath and body line). Something's changed since then, because this stuff tastes like cake batter! It's great. The color (Opal) is a modest pale shimmery pink (much less orangey than the photo above) and seems like it would be universally flattering. The gloss comes in 24 colors--including Bare Beige, Pink Tulle, and Brownberry--if Opal isn't for you.

Laura Mercier is available at Nordstrom and Sephora. A 0.12-ounce tube of Lip Glace is $22.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: lauramercier.com