2005 has turned out to be a larger-than-life year for the world and as a historian, I am endlessly fascinated by it. For little ol’ me, it has been equally eventful, albeit on a far smaller scale. I moved back to a heavily populated, real city (scratch that: calling LA “real” is debateable). I got two great jobs that awakened me to the fact that I truly love helping people and derive therapeutic pleasure from such endeavors. I made important decisions that will hopefully seamlessly segue me into 2006. My family and friends are doing well, and since they are the most important thing to me, I am utterly grateful. Last of all, my grandfather showed me the humble humanity that we as mortal creatures are capable of in our most fragile hour.

My dear friends, another year is coming to a close and thus, bring out the fizzing champagne and stand below the mistletoe. And on that note, allow me to kiss my favorite finds of the year.

New Category of Fragrances to Obsess Over
Chypres
From the very modern Parfums de Rosine Une Folie de Rose and Serge Lutens Rose de Nuit to classic Guerlain Mitsouko and Guerlain Chant d’Aromes, to the impossibly elusive Deneuve and vintage formulas of Miss Dior and Balmain Vent Vert, chypres have won me over for their ineffable elegance, sophistication, and unclashing sensibility. As a category, they are the Louis Vuittan Epi of perfumes.

Latest Guerlain Love
Guerlain Chant d’Aromes (vintage and parfum)
… and so my love affair with this house continues with no end in sight. What unique delicacy Chant d’Aromes conjures—an aldehydic tangle of creamy petals, velveteen stems atop the polishing flair of a chypre base. When I want a more floral Guerlain Mitsouko, this is my pick. It was one of Grace Kelly’s favorites and I can see why. It is refined, it is understated, and its structure is classically simple. And yet, there is that fantastic woodsy quality that wafts throughout, giving it character and for those of us who dig oakmoss and vetiver, smooth, glistening touches are evident. As usual with this line, the parfum version is my undisputed favorite. However, thanks to a dear friend, I have a bottle of the vintage formula, which has a similarly enticing subtle sweetness. The peach note is more prominent and plush in the parfum—simply delicious—but how I treasure my vintage bottle (thank you so much, dearest).

Best New Fragrance
Frederic Malle Carnal Flower
Rare is the case when a much anticipated fragrance not only lives up to the hype, but surpasses it in expectation. Carnal Flower, the newest perfume in the Frederic Malle line-up, did just that. It is outstanding. A hypnotic floral built around the magnificence of tuberose and jasmine with fascinating touches of eucalyptus, coconut, and orange blossom, from the first time I tested it, I was beside myself with excitement—it was not only masterful, but gorgeously wearable. The opening is brilliantly constructed—a multifaceted prism of notes that has so much going on, but oh how it sings in perfect harmony like a Mozart symphony.

Best Vintage Fragrance Find
Givenchy L’Interdit (vintage)
This is the year that I finally tried this beauty, a fragrance that the legendary duo of iconic Audrey Hepburn and trailblazing Hubert de Givenchy helped to create. Although I should be a good sport and remark that it has been worth the wait, I am going to cry, “For pete’s sake, what took me so long?” It is a mist of powdery aldehydes, peach, rose, and jasmine resting on a warm bed of amber-colored goosedown feathers. It did not surprise me that the original L’Interdit would be this elegant. What took me a bit by surprise is how delightfully warm it is, just like Ms. Hepburn.

The Soulmate
Guerlain Vol de Nuit
Just perfect. I have admired and worn this fragrance for years, but sometimes fragrances happen to you all over again, and you see something different, you appreciate how perfect of a partner they are. Indeed, you recognize how comfortable and familiar that best friend of yours is and that you probably should have married him/her 10 years ago. This past year I finally understood how much Vol de Nuit belongs to me.

An Obvious Winner
Lip glosses with working brushes instead of sponge tips
These are a godsend for the woman who is always on the go. My favorites are Helena Rubinstein Star glosses, Guerlain Kiss Kiss glosses, and Giorgio Armani Lip Shimmers.

Best Lip Gloss for Anytime, Anywhere
Helena Rubinstein Star Lab Pink
I am halfway through my tube and the Helena Rubinstein counter just packed off and left the States. Is this a problem? Not at all, cherie! All the more reason to get a flat in Paris. Whenever I wear this, my mouth looks just the way I like it—the angelic look of a baby who has just licked his/her rosebud lips. I can wear it alone or with lipstick and without fail, I achieve the perfect, natural pout. Genius.

Best Hairstyle
The swinging ponytail
I shower, towel-dry, run some gel through my hair, comb, and then pull it back. My hair life has never been this easy and low-maintenance. Because my medium-thick hair is growing quite long and I do not want to be bogged down by the weight of a ponytail that swings like a grandfather clock, I expect that in 2006, I will discover the blessings of the chignon or French twist.

Best Skincare Treatment
Korean spas
It is the end of the work week. Your eyes are sore from all of the reading, your muscles ache from all of the rushing, your brain yearns for some peace and quiet, and you continue to search for new ways to persuade out that extra beaming glow from your skin. What do you do? The answer for me has been regular Korean spa visits. While I have always been a devotee to Korean bath houses, this year, with my move to Los Angeles, I have found them particularly enjoyable. I have hung my clothes (literally) at a panoply of wonderful alcoves that are often sans glam but refreshingly authentic in a city that is anything but, and best of all, they have proven to be mighty effective in helping me maintain my skin’s balance and getting much needed R&R.

Best Community
Makeupalley and the Blogosphere
Being a member of the Fragrance Board at Makeupalley has been wonderful, and I will add, nothing short of fascinating. I have met some incredible people there and made some friends whom I hope to know for the long haul (heck, you folks are expected at my wedding, god willing).

One of the most significant happenings of the past year is that many members of the Fragrance Board started websites. To repeat, Fragrance Board individuals are an extraordinary lot, not only for their remarkable talent, but their amazing willingness to share their knowledge, help complete strangers, and inspire stomach-aching chuckling. One of the pleasures of the past year has been getting to know people through their blogs—the photos they post, the essays they compose, the ideas they share. Moving back and forth from the Fragrance Board to members’ blogs has served as a wonderful way to keep in touch with friends, get to know new people, and learn oh so much.

It never fails to amaze me at how much more helpful MUA and these blogs are than Dear Abby, Dr. Ruth, and the In Style Best Of lists. Take these Best of 2005 lists, for example. Please click on the links below and enjoy. With a raised flute, allow me to exclaim, “Happy New Year, everyone! I hope the very best for each and every one of you in 2006.”

• An Alabaster Brow
• Beauty Addict
• Blogdorf Goodman
• Bois de Jasmin
• Brain Trapped in Girl’s Body
• c’est chic
• Crazy Jay Blue
• The Great She Elephant
• Hrmph
• Koneko’s *Mostly* Beauty Diary
• Legerdenez
• Make a Mental Note
• Monkey Posh
• Mother Hen’s Place
• my life my words my mind
• no one knows why the wolf laughs
• Now Smell This
• Ombligo!
• Peppermint Patty
• Perfume-Smellin’ Things
• Scentzilla!
• She’ll be feverish after so much thinking
• Slap of the Day
• Victoria’s Own

The chill rain is falling, the nipped worm is crawling,
The rivers are swelling, the thunder is knelling
For the year;
The blithe swallows are flown, and the lizards each gone
To his dwelling;
Come, Months, come away,
Put on white, black, and gray;
Let your light sisters play—
Ye, follow the bier
Of the dead cold year,
And make her grave green with tear on tear.
-”Autumn” by Percy Bysshe Shelley

What marks autumn as my favorite season is how much I identify with its mood—sun-drenched and crisp at the outset, but as you go deeper, there comes a melancholy, a silvery grey. It is the seasonal hour of contemplation, reflection, and quietude. There is a beauty in sadness, in aloneness, a beauty to be found in a drizzle of tears. Absorb the beauty in the blue, the grey, the B flats, the C Sharps, the minor chords and requiem. Listen to the elegiacal chorus that draws us closer to our emotional selves.

As autumn leaves fall, I feel increasingly at home because I am one who is comfortable reclining in that inner chamber, lingering there a minute longer, growing from the inside-out, allowing feelings to creep and slumber, living in a room of my own.

1. By the time I finished high school, I had gone to 8 different schools. My family moved around a lot due to my brother’s health–started out in Brooklyn, trotted out to Detroit, and then settled in Los Angeles.

2. I will move to New York. I feel superlatively in my element there.

3. I will never live in a small town. The smallness of them really get on my nerves.

4. I do not get along well with people who are not open-minded. After everything history has told us about truth and certainty, I just do not understand how people can be anything but open in their thinking.

5. There are 7 medical doctors and 6 artists/musicians in my family. Thus, I will be the only non-medical doctor and lawyer in the family.

6. Since age 7, I played classical piano and had plans to become a concert pianist. I used to sleep with Chopin sheet music under my pillow.

7. … and yet, the instrument that moves me like no other is the cello. Yo-Yo Ma has said that it is the closest sound to the human voice. I also think it is incredibly beautiful to watch a cellist play, particularly a female cellist.

8. Often, if you check my handbag, you will find a copy of The Communist Manifesto. You should see the looks on people’s faces when I whip it out in trains.

9. I have a heart-shaped face complete with a widow’s peak that I pluck at.

10. I went to the Violator signing/stampede at the Beverly Connection and Martin Gore kissed me on the cheek.

11. I was a diligent member of a youth choir for 5 years. I sang 4 years as a soprano and my last year as a mezzo-soprano. Right now I sing comfortably in the mezzo-soprano range.

12. I hate driving (and yet, I live in LA… well, see #2)

13. I have never had a tuna fish sandwich. I practically have to leave the room when someone else is eating one. I do not get how people can eat tuna out of a can period.

14. The only times I drink soda are when I am having whisky or rum (although I love them neat, too).

15. I love persimmons, but prefer them hard with some crunch and slip as opposed to soft requiring a sloppy slurp.

16. I always wear sunscreen; I never wear foundation.

17. I went to a highly gifted junior high where everyone had an IQ of at least 150. They were the most unique and scary smart group of people I have ever encountered. Most went on to become remarkably accomplished and the rest went a bit nuts.

18. I am ridiculously picky about writing instruments.

19. I call myself a second impression maker. I do not make the best first impression and worry that I will not get a second shot.

20. Life without the arts is unimaginable to me.

I hereby tag the remarkable L. at Make a Mental Note.

-”The Falling of the Leaves” by William B. Yeats

Although the calendar marks September 22 as the first day of autumn, like clockwork, every year the weather cools at the outset of October, inviting that delicious crisp nip in the air, which serves as both a scent and a tactile feeling, a signal that the world is undergoing a new phase.

I love the transition of summer to fall. Leaves begin to stray and nature’s backdrop transforms into a kaleidoscopic mélange of pumpkin oranges, forest greens, cornfield yellows, and earthy browns. Breezes waft about and sunlight gains a superlative power at sunrise and sunset, illuminating the world in hyperkinetic color. Cooler days are washed by the beauty of serene melancholy, quiet but never sullen, like a single browning leaf falling from a branch.

Painting: Claude Monet. Weeping Willow. 1919. Oil on canvas. Musée Marmottan, Paris, France. From Olga’s Gallery at abcgallery.com

A crisp opening of bergamot sets off this composition, enhancing the clarity of the ensuing notes of beautiful lavender entwined with rosemary, lemon zest, and mandarin. It is wonderfully clean and herbaceous at this stage and makes me think of terribly good northern Italian food, which necessitates the finest simple ingredients of Tuscan bread, zesty cheeses, and fresh herbs. As vanilla, sweet incense, and musk bubble up from the base, they add warmth and just a hint of sweetness, providing a carefully achieved delectable quality. A truly ageless scent, Jicky is subtle and refined without ever being formal or fussy.

It is no wonder that the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, class incarnate, fancied it. I can particularly imagine her wearing it when she rode her horses, as this fragrance is a great choice when you have the wind whipping against your face. Its subtly sweet vapors collide with the refreshing bite of raspy air to resuscitate the crisp accord in an unremitting fashion.

Like all Guerlains, Jicky is available in different concentrations—eau de toilette, parfum de toilette, and extrait de parfum. The parfum is the best, as it is the deepest with a perfect balance of all the notes. The bergamot dissipates in a wink and quickly segues into the heart. Still, the parfum de toilette and eau de toilette are quite nice as well. Indeed, I think that among Guerlains, only with Jicky would the eau de toilette be a decent alternative to the parfum. Often, the parfum must be experienced in order to give a proper judgment as to whether the Guerlain in question is one’s cup of tea.

Summer shopping was not too eventful for me. I had the most difficult time finding new clothes. My best purchase was a fitted white jacket that I love for its versatility and clean, crisp fit. Truth be told, although I am not averse to the summery look, my fashion heart has always been and will forevermore be autumnal/wintry.

Still, this past summer was particularly resistible except for some adorable Nanette Lepore pieces that I nearly gave in to. While the practical aspect of my nature tells me that this is a good thing, when you’re planning a wardrobe overhaul, nothing can be more disappointing!

So there I was, both bewildered at how the MJ denim jacket has become a uniform of sorts, and crestfallen that I cannot locate a white halter exactly like the one Grace Kelly shows off in Rear Window. And then it hit me: I love fashion. I love films. What could be better than going through the film archives for fashion ideas? So here is what I came up with.

Please Note: To enlarge the images, right-click on the image, click on ‘properties,’ highlight & copy the address/URL, and then paste.

Rear Window: Grace Kelly’s ensemble is perfection—from the simple pearl choker to that incredible dress. Edith Head outdid herself.

Bonnie and Clyde: Another case of sartorial perfection. I never tire of admiring how Faye Dunaway looks in those classic berets and scarves.

Belle de Jour: As Séverine, the very bored and imaginative physician’s wife, Catherine Deneuve looks nothing short of stunning in an array of Yves Saint Laurent pieces.

Mandalay: My dear friend F. brought this gown, worn by Kay Francis, to my attention. For the Paramount starlets of yore, this is what you call a true showstopper.

I Found Stella Parish: Kay Francis in a publicity still. What Grecian flair!

Letty Lynton: Holy glamour, no? Joan Crawford in one sexy number by Gilbert Adrian. Might get the seamstress cracking on this one, too.

Anna Karenina (1948): I love the details of this gown. Vivien Leigh looks positively patrician.

Gone With the Wind: Vivien Leigh makes an entrance in gorgeously festive garnet designed by Walter Plunkett.

Laura: Gene Tierney in a beautifully cut, black-fringed dress with skinny straps and a dazzling dress clip.

The Thin Man: A toast to Myrna Loy and one fabulous dress.

Please Note: The above photo must be enlarged for a proper viewing.

Gigi: Leslie Caron in an elegant ensemble complete with elbow-length white gloves.

Funny Face: This looks like a page from a ’50s fashion spread. Hepburn and Astaire look so genteel and Thompson could not ooze more chic.

Sabrina: Isn’t she just dreamy?

Breakfast at Tiffany’s: This film showcases my favorite Hepburn/Givenchy collaboration. Everything is just jazzy and marvelous.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula: This is a wildly campy film, but the costumes are among the most gorgeous I have ever seen—absolutely ravishing, decadent, and lush.

The Wings of the Dove: This is for the fabulous Annieytown whose impeccable taste naturally leads her to the altar of costume designer Sandy Powell.

Chungking Express: The original wuxia ballbuster, Brigitte Lin has a supercool return to the big screen, charmingly clad in a cool trench and pristine satin white Manolos.

House of Yes: The hippest Jackie-O ever, Parker Posey rocks the classic pink suit and hatbox hat.

The Talented Mr. Ripley: Cate Blanchett in a palette of soft, cream-colored cashmeres.

Anna Karenina (1997): Beautifully garbed, Sophie Marceau looks absolutely stunning in this shallow, lifeless adaptation of Tolstoy’s great novel.

In the Mood for Love: Wong Kar-Wai slips Maggie Cheung into a stunning procession of cheungsams.

Gosford Park: Jenny Beavan designs draping crushed velvets and shimmering silks for the upper echelon of English society.

Devdas: Aishwarya Rai, the queen of Bollywood, is graced by breathtaking costumes in this film that serves as a feast for the eyes. For my dear friend V. with whom I would watch Indian films with so that we can gasp in unison.

Devdas: Warning Before Viewing: Your eyes may water due to the incredible degree of visual stimulation.