They sit on a table like a jewel, refracting the last rays of a setting sun as you peer into your closet.  The night ahead will be like an epic interlude - the glistening smiles and the warm glamor of a holiday party.  The year waits for nights like these.  Each calender day relinquishing its energy until the magic of those few evenings a year arrive.  

The beautiful bottle is the last thing you reach for after the heels, the hair, and the jewels are set into place.  The touch of fragrance that sets the moment apart from any other.  Here we’ve set aside three that are as mysterious and sultry as the night that will capture it all.  

Calvin Klein’s Secret Obsession ~ A sultry and intoxicating scent that promises an exploration of the secrets hidden between love and madness.   Exotic Plum, Mace, Rose de Damas, Egyptian Jasmine, French Orange Flower, Spicy Orchid, Ylang, Tuberose, Moroccan Cedarwood, Wormwood, Cashmere Woods, Burnt Amber, Madagascan Vanilla, Australian Sandalwood, Florentine Orris Root.  About $40 for 1.7 oz Eau de Parfum Spray

Miller Harris’ Noix de Tubereuse ~ Said to come from the endangered tuberose fields of Grasse.  Buttery top notes that create a headstrong and seductive fragrance meld with base notes of tonka bean, orris, amber, mimosa, wild green clover, and a little violet.  About $95 for 3.4oz Eau de Parfum Spray

Thierry Mugler’s Alien ~ A peculiar name for a sensual fragrance – radiant and mysterious, it promises to be the elixir of absolute femininity.  Described as having notes of Solar Accord, Jasmine Sambac, Green Notes, Cashmeran, Vanilla, Transparent Amber, it is hypnotic.  About $72 for 1 oz.

Nicole Kidman braved some raindrops quite stunningly at the premiere of the film “Australia” in Sydney yesterday.  

While she wore Chanel for the opening, “Australia” has the same costume team that worked on  “Moulin Rouge“.   Ferragamo created a range of amazing custom footwear for the film, as well a few pieces for retail.  

This sandal, inspired by one Kidman wore in the film, is currently on sale at Ferragamo stores ($950).  

This extraordinary exfoliant uses a host of delightful ingredients to gently but firmly remove the old and get down to the shiny and new.  

And Become Reveal Enzyme Peel’s ingredients are not your usual suspects when it comes to facial peels.  An artful blend of Aloe Leaf, Papaya, Vitamin E, Grapefruit, Cucumber, Lemon, Pineapple, Green Tea and more work to not only smooth but condition skin.  The fruit acids gobble up and wash away spent skin cells, while Green Tea tones and minimizes pores.   1.8 oz $49

To use, simply spread a thin layer of product on a clean face, let sit for one to two minutes.  Then massage product gently in a circular motion over entire face and neck for one minute. You will begin to feel dead skin ball up underneath your fingers – it can feel like little grains; that means it’s working!  Rinse thoroughly with warm water and enjoy your new skin!  

Wanna Try?  Our friends at Become are generously giving away 5 full sized jars of Reveal Enzyme Peel to Bloomacious readers.  Simply enter a comment on www.bloomacious.com.  Winners will be notified Thursday November 13th.  Happy commenting!

French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy says she is glad not to be Italian any more after hearing Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi joke about U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's "suntan."

In an interview with French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche published on Sunday, she criticized Berlusconi for saying on Thursday that Obama, who will be the first black U.S. president, was “handsome, young and also suntanned.”

“When I hear Silvio Berlusconi making light of the event (Obama’s election) and joking about the fact that Obama is ‘always tanned‘, it feels strange to me,” Bruni-Sarkozy was quoted as saying.

“Some people will no doubt put it down to humor, but often I find that I am pleased to have become French,” she said.

Italian-born Bruni-Sarkozy became a French national and lost her Italian citizenship after her marriage to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Italy’s left-wing opposition parties accused Berlusconi of bringing discredit on the nation with the quip. He responded by calling them “imbeciles” with no sense of humor.

Wow that really was some tornado last season on Desperate Housewives.  Not only did it level a number of houses and blind Carlos, but it swept the whole female cast over to Milan in a Dorothy meets the Wizard of Oz inspired twist of plot.  

OK the storyline may not be quite that close, but you have to admit reading the notes on the new mini series that premiered in Italy recently, “Amichie Mie” (“My Friend” for all you non Italian reading readers) that it shares more than a passing resemblance to the female infused drama.  

The series, which stars Italian Actresses Cecelia Dazzi, Luisa Ranieri, Elena Sofia Ricci, and Margherita Buy, is set in a stylish condo complex in Milan and tells the story of four friends between 35 and 40 who for various reasons become suddenly single.  

Each character learns to deal with the “fear, prejudice, difficulties, and also the excitement and joy of single life“.  The curious kicker is that the episodes are narrated by a male sex therapist / gynecologist who chimes in with his male point of view on the ladies, which quite frankly sounds a little creepy.  

Naturally a production that features 4 single women is automatically compared to Sex and the City, and Lipstick Jungle – and the Italian blogs have been buzzing with these viewer evaluations for weeks.  I  like to think that the fact that there are now so many successful and iconic gal-pal stories to compare this one to demonstrates the draw of the single 40-something woman in fiction.

You know the terms, Siren Red, Vixen Red, Devilishly Red.  And it’s obvious from the photos of Paula Abdul and Melora Hardin above that there’s nothing quite like it to grab attention.  So it’s not all that surprising that a recent study undertaken by Andrew Elliot from the University of Rochester in New York found that red is indeed alluring.  

Men, about 100 of them, mostly college aged, were shown photographs of a woman that were identical except that the researchers digitally made her shirt red in some versions or blue in others.  The men also were asked, “Imagine that you are going on a date with this person and have $100 in your wallet. How much money would you be willing to spend on your date?” When she was clad in red, the men said they would spend more money on her.  They also rated their level of attraction to photos of an identical women wearing red, and wearing blue.  The red blouse won out, according to the researchers.  

“It’s only recently that psychologists and researchers in other disciplines have been looking closely and systematically at the relationship between color and behavior. Much is known about color physics and color physiology, but very little about color psychology,” said Andrew Elliot. “It’s fascinating to find that something as ubiquitous as color can be having an effect on our behavior without our awareness.”

Although red enhances positive feelings in this study, earlier research suggests the meaning of a color depends on its context. For example, Elliot and others have shown that seeing red in competition situations, such as written examinations or sporting events, leads to worse performance.

Source:  University of Rochester, WireImage