Dear GGG, What’s the most appropriate nail color to wear for a “business casual” office environment? Can I do trendy? — Yasmine*, age 24, New York

Hi Yasmine! Business casual can vary widely depending on industry, so it depends where you work. The no-fail, safe strategy is to go with a pale pink or beige, think OPI Bubble Bath, Passion, or Samoan Sand. One coat of these sheer shades always looks elegant and (forgive the pun) polished. In industries like fashion, media, art, and design, you get a lot more leeway with trendy colors—even the dark raisin shades like OPI’s Lincoln Park After Dark (at left) or black shades (remember Chanel Black Satin?)– though you might toe the line at bright neons/greens/blues.

Remember, bold color only looks chic on very short nails; the nail should not extend beyond the edge of your fingertip. One big disadvantage of going the non-sheer route is that chips show easily—a major office ‘don’t’. As one fashionable GGG executive once said to me, “You can’t walk into a board meeting with chipped nails!”

Photo: OPI

Remember when you’d get all excited about planning the perfect outfit for the first day of school? Then you entered the work world, and the big fall debut is less about a first day of class “reveal” and more about that first chilly day when you can finally break out out your new tall boots, or colorful coat, or sassy autumnal lipcolor.

Clever marketers they are, Bobbi Brown has put that “back-to-school” feeling into makeup with its new fall “Ivy League” collection, featuring a range of preppy meets classy meets sexy offerings. Standouts include the creamy eye pencils, available in a range of rich, feathery hues like Dusk and Caviar. The muted-jewel shades blend in almost like an eyeshadow and have just enough color to brighten your eyes (and your day) but still feel daytime appropos.

For nighttime try the pearlized limited edition shadow in Golden Leaf– a goldtone neutral with a hint of smoke– or the Forest Shimmer Gel Eyeliner, a long wearing, glamorous deep green.

You’ll feel first in class (couldn’t resist ).

Photo credit: Bobbi Brown

That confident, Go-Getter Girl spirit can reveal itself everywhere from the office to the party to– trust me here– the kitchen.  Take GGG Lily Fink Harrington, who worked her way up the editing ranks at Martha Stewart Weddings for five years before leaving the in-house magazine world in search of a bit more balance. Now, Lily, age 28 and a Harvard grad, is a self-proclaimed housewife, who also happens to freelance for the likes of New York mag, all while cooking up a delightful daily blog with advice on anything a modern domestic goddess might need to know. Hanging a chandelier?  She’s got tips. Creative uses for lemons? Strategies galore. A non-stinky way to cook fish? Right here (thank you!).

Below, Lily fills in the blanks with some of her life and style faves.

Let it be known, the fourth hour of Today– starring Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford– is quite entertaining. Hoda and Kathie Lee’s off-the-cuff banter is undeniably fresh and appealing — at the same time that its tendency toward zaniness is clearly SNL fodder.  In short, these ladies do funny, campy stuff not often seen on network television. Like last week, when Kathie Lee revealed some of her favorite things– which included one of my favorite things: Clean & Clear Oil-Absorbing sheets.  On the show, Kathie Lee pressed the little blue sheet onto her T-zone, to shamelessly reveal a smattering of indelible oil marks. Ewwww, her co-host and crew cried (but obviously, the sheets worked!).

The Clean & Clear blotting sheets, which feel made from a synthetic-type material, gobble up more grease than most others on the market– all while leaving your makeup completely intact.  And, unlike some of those prestige (yet  less effective) rice papers out there, they’re cheap: just around 5 bucks at your local CVS. 

Pop them in your purse for year-round shine control.

Got dark circles? GGG Melissa Merhar-Parker, an Atlanta-based makeup artist, has this great tip for banishing under-eye blahs: orange lipstick. That’s right: if you’ve got olive-toned skin, dabbing on a little orange first will help counter blueish tones to completely erase eye circles. Listen to Melissa explain the technique here:
[audio http://thegogettergirls.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/under-eye-tip.mp3]

No surprise Melissa has master color mixing methods. She got her start as a painter, then stumbled into a job mixing custom-blend foundation for Prescriptives. After 5 successful years there, she moved to Chanel and then to a top-rated salon, and began doing fashion shoots and bridal makeup on the side. Now, in addition her wedding work, she’s a makeup concierge. She’ll assess your makeup needs (and budget), accompany you to the oft-confusing world of makeup counters, help you select just the right colors and products, and share tips for perfect application. You can reach her at melissa8884@comcast.net.