Getting Ready For Fashion Week? Here are some "Must-Haves" from the Advice Sisters & the Latest Enews

Fashion Week is just around the corner, but the latest Edition of the ADVICE SISTERS ENEWS has links to articles, and Winter skin care tips you might want to know about. The Enews is bi-monthly and free, but you must sign up for it: http://www.advicesisters.net/thankyou.html

You can visit the Advice Sisters Relationships Web Site and our Features Page to learn about new items and contests throughout 2007, but you'll get even more information fast, and first, through the Enews.

Here are some of the things you'll find inside this issue:

What Works Beauty, Cosmetics & Fashion Review Columns for 2007: The first Advice Sisters "What Works" Beauty, Cosmetics &* Fashion review column of 2007 is a large, double-issue, featuring the latest skin and body-care products, and romantic gifts (Valentine's Day is coming). Check it out on January 16th! Don't forget: the What Works Archives for all the columns you may have missed in past years.

Blog Name Change: The Advice Sisters Blog used to be titled "advicesistersblog." When I switched the blog to a new format, I changed the name. It is now: "Advice Sister Alison's Guide to Life, Love & Happiness" The blog http://www.advicesisters.net/advicesistersblog topics will be the same: a wide range of issues about life, culture, travel, career, relationships, style, and other things that interest us in daily life. If you'd like to subscribe to my Blog Feed, the form is at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/advicesistersblog. Kindly visit, and leave a Comment?

New Wedding Double-Take Q&A: I've added the first new Wedding "Double-Take Q&A Advice Column featuring the Advice Sisters' signature "Double-Take" (2 views for every situation) format since my sister, Advice Sister Jessica, died a few years ago. This one features too many bridesmaids for one frustrated bride! Check it out at: http://www.advicesisters.net/Weddings/dt_wedding.htmlNew Article To Kick Off the New Year: "12 Ways to Make Positive Change This Year" is an article The Advice Sisters originally wrote in 2002, but it's just been revised for 2007. This article might just give you the kick-start you need to move forward with your goals -- even before today, ends! Check it out at: http://www.advicesisters.net/WitWisdom/PositiveChange.html

WINTER SKIN CARE TIPS FOR MEN, from Tony Sosnick, Founder, Anthony Logistics

The Winter months can be overly-drying to everyone's skin, but until recently, men tended to suffer and not find a solution. The Advice Sisters consulted, Tony Sosnick, the founder of Anthony Logistics. who was kind enough to share some easy Winter Skin Tips especially for men (of course women can benefit, too):

1. “Drink a lot of water. At least 8 glasses a day. Drinking water can help the skin perform its vital processes of cell regeneration and renewal.”

2. “Use a cleanser for your face and body that is nourishing and hydrating. Look for ingredients such as Aloe Vera, Sodium PCA and Azulene.” For example, the Anthony Logistics for Men Glycolic Facial Cleaner has aloe vera for soothing, glycolic acid to ease away fine lines and vitamins A, C and E to nourish. Cleanses and buffs away surface skin cells, leaving skin smooth and ready for shaving. Helps prevent ingrown hairs and razor burn.

3. “An exfoliate or scrub works great at this time of year, to remove dead skin cells from skin that is dry and flaky. Exfoliators are not just for women, guys...you need them to help free your ingrown hairs as well. The bonus? Your face will feel smooth and moisturized.

4. “Use a rich moisturizer, preferably one with Glycerin at a high level, and SPF protection (or any humectants-based moisturizer to keep the skin hydrated.” Moisturizers made just for men are "must-haves." The objective is to protect your skin in the cold, windy winter months. A good choice is a moisturizer made just for men, and free of oil, lanolin and fragrance such as Anthony Logistics for Men Oil Free Moisturizer SPF 15). Use it daily to protect your skin from environmental damage and minimize signs of aging, while avoiding the damaging rays of the sun.

Anthony Logistics can be found at Bath & Body Works Flagship stores, Barneys, Fred Segal, Nordstrom, Sephora and www.anthony.com.

BOOK REVIEWS-MOSTLY FOR THE GIRLS:

Books are great "best friends" any time of the year but they're particularly great, curled up with a cup of tea, on a dreary Winter day or evening. From romance novels to books that help you find a new love or mend a broken heart, here are some of the newest Chick-Lit suggestions to "take you away" from the everyday:

Desire by Leda Swann (Red/Avon) *January 30, 2007, Alluring Tales Awaken the Fantasy, Assorted Authors (Red/Avon) *February 27, 2007, and Into the Darkness, by Delilah Devlin (Red/Avon) *on sale March 27, 2007 fall into a category of women's fiction with erotic themes. In these, from Red/ Avon Books (an imprint of Harper Collins), fantasy is combined with romance and adult situations. As a relationship expert as well as a book reviewer, I'm the first to admit that what's "hot" to one person might not be for the next, but women's erotica as a genre is gaining in popularity and availability. These are mildly erotic, but they are most definitely for adults, containing words and detailed descriptions of adult sexual acts and situations. The main formula is more similar to a traditional romance novel, however, with the main focus of the plot being love, not sex. These have all the mystery, passion and romance of romance novels, but with additional erotic and fantasy. Set in another time and place, or dealing with an improbable situation, women are invited to let themselves go, and lose themselves in a good story with a bit of "naughtiness" openly displayed in a lot of the pages. Into the Darkness , for example, is set in New Orleans, but the heroine, Natalie Lambert and her lover are vampires, dealing with the world of "darkness," so the reader gets a thrill, but not a chill-- that the situation could really happen. Desire features a Victorian woman "forced" to accept a life she isn't prepared for when fate lends a hand. Will love triumph in the end? Alluring Tales Awaken the Fantasy features 7 stories by different authors in a mixture of styles and settings, so there should be something to "awaken the fantasies" of most readers. If you want to read one of these, the plain, shiny red covers and simple black lettering will let you read one of these in public, and not feel foolish.

Swept Away by Toni Blake (Red/Avon, 2006) is a milder, but still sexy book of women's fiction. Katrina Spencer is a reluctant bride-to-be begs off her own bachelorette weekend in Vegas, to be alone at a deserted island hideaway owned by her family. While she is contemplating whether or not she can go through with the wedding, a former flame with a checkered past, literally washes up on the shore. Improbably, but the rest of the book packs some "heat" as they spend some steamy days and nights together that will make you want to reach for suntan lotion (and a fan)! It's not War & Peace, but it makes for good, escapist, fun.

I'm in no Mood For Love by Rachel Gibson Avon/Romance 2006) will be a Valentine's elixir for the female singleton who wishes her prince would come, but has currently found only toads. A typical "chit lit" romance, "Clare Wingate," is pretty, and young, and of course, rich. She has her career on track, great friends, and incredible clothes (designer name-dropping in chick-lit fiction is de rigueur). Wacky situations prevail, as our heroine finds her way in and out of romantic situations that are just this side of realistic. If you're not in the mood for love, I'm in no Mood For Love will make you feel positive that the princes are out there, if you give love a chance. Fun, fast-paced, "feel-good" reading whether you are single, or not.

The Prince Kidnaps A Bride by Christina Dodd (Avon Historical Romance, 2006) is a classic romance novel, complete with handsome prince and beautiful princesses, unrequited love, loss, an demanding Grandmother, and of course, romance. The heroine is Crown Princess Sorcha, heir to the throne of Beaumontagne. Although promised in marriage to someone she barely knows or likes, and responsible for the continuation of her family's royal line, her path to the throne and love, isn't smooth. This is a fast-paced book that continues to build excitement as the plot unfolds. Christina Dodd obviously knows her craft, well. The book is a feel-good. If your own love life isn't great, this is a fun , fantasy pick-me-up.

Better Single Than Sorry by Jen Scheftt (William Morrow, 2007) *on sale 1/23/07 is not a love story or a romance novel, but it is a story of love and romance (or lack of it). The author is Jen Scheftt, made famous as a reality TV "personality" by her appearance on the Bachelor (where she got the guy, but gave him up) and then, as the bachelorette, where she walked off the show, still a singleton. The focus of this book isn't how to find a man, but how to live well while you are single, whether you choose to be or not. Jen's personal experience as a single woman is honest and well intentioned, but it doesn't make her an expert on the topic of love and relationships. As a relationship expert, I have to look at all the angles, and there are some good ones in this book. Human feelings have not changed in hundreds, maybe thousands, of years. A good relationship book provides readers with information or ideas that help them think differently about their own situation and move forward in their lives. Better Single Than Sorry does that, and does it well. Get it for a friend who is stuck in a bad relationship, feeling bad about a heartbreak, or if you feel that you may "never love again." You will, and if you read Better Single Than Sorry, the next relationship could be "the one!"

Welcome To Your Crisis by Laura Day (Little Brown, 2006/paperback January 2007) I was eager to read this book, especially since it's a new year and so many people are saying "Oh, my life is such a mess!." Without any embellishments such as graphics or graphs, the 12 chapter, 162-page book is a dry-read. Although it isn't necessarily going to be the result everyone gets from reading Welcome To Your Crisis the author speaks from experience: When her marriage ended, leaving her with no money and with a newborn son to raise, Ms. Day ditched her former life and reinvented herself. A few years later, she had earned almost $4 million. Like any goal, the path from crisis (or crisis prevention) to something better isn't always easy or clear at the beginning. You're going to have to work at it. There are questions you must ask, and exercises you must follow if you really want to get the most of out this book. If you do the work, and do it honestly, you may find yourself on the way to your own, life-changing experience. Goof for women and for the guys, too.

To The Media, Authors and Publishers: Alison Blackman Dunham (aka. "Advice Sister Alison") is a life and career expert and freelance writer. If you'd like to quote or interview her, or If you would like to arrange for a syndicated version of this ENews or any of the Advice Sisters online content, please email Alison at: advicesisters@advicesisters.net

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Copyright 2007 all rights reserved by Alison Blackman Dunham, The Advice Sisters. The Advice Sisters is a registered United States trademark. No portion of this content may be copied or used in any without written permission. For information about syndicated Advice Sisters content. email advicesisters@advicesisters.net