You can complain about a lot of things when you live in Los Angeles, but the weather isn’t one of them. Inhabitants of LA enjoy almost eleven months of blue skies and balmy weather, but once the winter skies turn dark and stormy, many of us start thinking about skipping town. Take the entire family to San Miguel, Mexico for Christmas”¦or perhaps it’s the snappy urban environs of London that’s more your style”¦or if you’re really adventurous, you may’ve been dreaming of sipping espresso on the banks of the Bosphorus in Istanbul. If you haven’t already been dreaming about an exotic getaway, you will be once you visit the Traveler’s Bookcase.

The Traveler’s Bookcase is nestled into the trendiest part of Third Street, two blocks in either direction from Toast and Sushi Rook; it’s worth taking a little stroll after you eat to find this travel-focused bookstore. An independently-owned shop with friendly and well-informed owners and staff members, you’ll find yourself taking a trip back in time as you peer inside the display windows to the quaint little travel book-lined shelves inside.

The small shop is always full of customers willing to share travel tips and advice about their recent trips to exotic locales like Algeria and Chile. They swap stories underneath the four clocks on the wall that tell the current time in Los Angeles, New York, London and Tokyo. The store is well-stocked with travel guides, travel journals, and maps to just about any city you can think of from around the world. And if your idea of travel is simply to go from your office to your home, the Traveler’s Bookcase even has a few trinkets for you ““ including globes of all sizes for display.

While at the shop, check out the hippest new travel guide to hit the market, the Wallpaper City Guides by Phaeton. This pocket-sized guide is a must-have for any globe-trotting wannabe.

The Traveler’s Bookcase also carries the Jetlag travel guides which feature hilarious travel advice for countries that don’t exist — but who cares! It’s the perfect birthday gift for anyone who loves to laugh. You can even pick up travel trinkets like folding toothbrushes, sleep masks and Oscar & Den’s On the Move Travel Survival System, featuring aromatherapy oil and soothing eye gel, a perfect stocking stuffer for your favorite bi-coastal family member.

The Traveler’s Bookcase is located at 8375 W. Third Street (323) 655-0575.

The private jet emblazoned with “Here Comes The Angels” touched down on the tarmac at the Burbank Airport on Tuesday, and seventy people, dressed mostly in black with hints of Victoria’s Secret signature pink tucked into their carry-on luggage, stumbled out looking jet-lagged and shopworn. In the golden rays of the late afternoon sunshine, I wondered if I’d be able to recognize the supermodels in the crowd.

I got my answer moments later when the 27 models, including supermodels Giselle Bundchen, Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Izabel Goulet and Selita Ebanks, who will each appear as Angels in the highly anticipated Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, bounced off the plane looking, well – like supermodels with flowing hair, tight T-shirts and jeans. The lingering aroma of expensive perfume wafted through the crowd of photographers and videographers who eagerly greeted them on the red carpet.

Two days later, after a whirlwind of high-profile appearances, including accepting the key to the city from the mayor of Hollywood, and an in-store shopping event at the Victoria’s Secret store in the Hollywood & Highland complex, the models and their production team were hard at work preparing for the show in the backstage area.

Victoria’s Secret models wait their turn for hair and makeup

On the far-side of the hair and make-up room crowded with worldwide media, Italo, the key hair stylist for Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2006 was putting the finishing touches on Giselle’s hair. Italo, who is leading the team of hairstylists for the show for the second year, has thirteen people working with him. “Because we are in Hollywood, we had to go glam,” he explained. “The look this year is coiffed, touchable hair, a coquette – an update of 60s sexy – a cross between Bridget Bardot and Barbarella.”

To create the voluptuous bedroom hairstyle for the runway, Italo uses mousse on wet hair and then sets it on large rollers and clips. Later, he uses a vertical curling iron to enhance the waves and finishes it with a gloss. Whether they’re wearing a side or middle part, all of the models’ natural hair is being enhanced by pieces at the crown, but Italo insists that the look can be easily imitated at home. “The key is to let it set for at least ten minutes before you take out the rollers,” he says.

Meanwhile, key makeup artist Linda Hay was putting the finishing touches on model Raquel Zimmerman, a veteran of the Victoria’s Secret runway who is returning for her third year. Is there a difference between prepping for the show in New York City and Los Angeles? “Oh yes,” Raquel answered without hesitation. “This is much more fabulous!”

“The look for this year’s show is Babydoll with very sexy eyes. I use lots of lashes – individual lashes that I glue on by hand – layer by layer,” Hay says. With a team of sixteen makeup artists, including four people working exclusively in the body booth, this is the second year that Hay is in charge of creating the makeup look for the show. “And I’m thrilled to be back,” she says. The models obviously adore her. “Go away! We want Linda to be our mother now,” a model scolded me with a grin.

Makeup Artist Linda Hay puts the finishing touches on Victoria’s Secret models

In a room packed with more photographers and reporters than models or stylists, it was no wonder that the models, scantily clad in pink silk robes, were getting a little tired of the public displays of primping. “Do you get stage fright,” I asked Giselle as she passed by. “No, no.” She dismissed me quickly, attempting to leave the room and grab a moment of what she called “Zen time” for herself. “What question do you wish you’d be asked that no one has asked you,” another reporter prompted. “I wish you’d stop asking questions,” Giselle replied with a smile. “Ask her if she’s wearing panties,” a dark-eyed model seated in a make-up chair nearby offered. Laughing out-loud, Giselle shot back, “ask HER if she’s wearing panties.”

Never mind what any of the Victoria’s Secret models were wearing under their robes backstage – it’s a sure bet they’ll be wearing panties on the runway when they take to the stage for the show that will be broadcast on CBS on Tuesday, December 5th.

This year, Karolina Kurkova has been chosen to wear the Victoria’s Secret Hearts on Fire diamond Fantasy Bra worth $26 million. And, as if you needed any other reason to tune in, this year’s show will also feature a performance by Justin Timberlake – who probably won’t be wearing lingerie – but definitely knows how to bring Sexy Back.

Independent fragrance designer, Yosh Han, recently introduced two new perfumes at the Scent Bar in Los Angeles. The Scent Bar, which opened in December 2005, is the brick and mortar version of the very successful perfume website, www.luckyscent.com. Scent Bar owner, Franco Wright, says the wine bar design of the store was an ingenious suggestion made by his wife (isn’t it always the gals with the bright ideas?)

Adding to the casual elegance of the perfume shop’s bar-like atmosphere, Han demonstrated her fragrances for a gathering of customers and sophisticated perfume fans on the store’s counter in champagne flutes. It is for practical reasons, Han noted “if you put the fragrance on your skin, you only get the top notes and you’ll have to wait for the dry down to get the full impact.”

Photo: (left to right) Scent Bar Owner Franco Wright, Fragrance Designer Yosh Han, Scent Bar Store Manager Angela Chang, and Scent Bar Owner Adam Eastwood.

Han keeps a studio space in San Francisco, where she creates limited edition fragrances and signature scents for customers by appointment only. Her life experiences inform her work as a fragrance designer. Her mother was an ikebana master, trained in the art of Japanese flower arranging, and after a stint at an upscale perfume store in Aspen, Colorado, Han created her own perfume line. She calls the six fragrances included in her Luxury Elements Collection, a “fragrance wardrobe.” Each scent in the collection is designed to enhance a different element of a woman’s personality. Han notes, “You don’t wear the same clothes every day and you aren’t in the same mood every day, why should you wear the same fragrance?”

A passionate traveler, Han used her experiences to create two new fragrances, Winter Dream and Phenomenon. With notes of rose hips and cold weather ever lasting, the intoxicating Winter Dream was inspired by Han’s recent trip to Turkey, “I love going to new places and discovering new cultures. Turkey is the rose capital of the world and Winter Dream was inspired by the Grand Bazaar.”

Han’s other new fragrance, Phenomenom was created for a more sophisticated perfume palate. “This is for the bloggers, ” she says, referring to the members of the internet community who frequent makeupalley.com, nowsmellthis.blogharbor.com, and aromascope.com and will attend the upcoming Sniffapalooza in New York City. The intriguing Phenomenon features more unusual aromas, including osamanthus, boronia and rhododendron. “It’s sophisticated and complex,” Han says. “I really wanted to throw the bloggers a curve ball.”

The Scent Bar is located at 8327 Beverly Blvd., Los
Angeles, CA 90048 (323) 782-8300. Check out Yosh Han’s
fragrance philosophy at www.eaudeyosh.com.

“What can I do for you?”

Those were the first words out of Nelson Chan’s mouth when I sat down for a consultation with the celebrity hair colorist at the Esetica Salon in Beverly Hills. His sincere interest in my wants and needs nearly brought me to tears. Over twenty-four hours, I had endured my fortieth birthday, had a huge blow-out with my boyfriend, and been in a car accident. I really didn’t need someone messing with my hair color, but I was more than ready for a big change — as long as it looked good.

I am intimidated by the “pretty people” who shop and have their hair done in Beverly Hills. Everyone always looks so beautiful and put-together in their designer clothes, but Esetica isn’t an ordinary Beverly Hills hair salon. The atmosphere is elegant and low-key — a perfect fit, as I was soon to learn, for Nelson Chan’s personality. Esetica looks like industrial loft with hardwood floors, modern art on the walls, an old-fashioned tin ceiling, and big comfy brown leather chairs.

Nelson listened patiently as I told him about my hair likes and dislikes. He told me he was an accurate and quick judge of character, and I wondered what he had decided about me as he got to work — mixing the chemicals he would use on my hair in a stainless steel bowl like a celebrity chef on Food Network Television.

Then with the assurance of a master craftsman, and an artist’s eye for detail, Nelson got to work on my hair. As he worked, I asked him about the latest trends in hair color. “For Fall/Winter 2006, the look is bold.” Nelson said. “Hair color right now is being influenced by the look of the 70s with bold one-color tones.”

An artist by nature, Nelson received his trained at the Umberto Salon, and his work experience includes work in Los Angeles and New York. His able assistant, Darlene, told me its not unusual for Nelson to have as many as five clients in various stages of the hair color process in the salon at any given time. While I was there, Nelson was in perpetual motion, overseeing the finishing touches on a variety of hair color looks, including one woman who had flown in from Arizona just to have him color her hair.

“Nelson is an innovator,” Darlene told me. “He is constantly experimenting with new techniques and new products.” Nelson’s celebrity clients include Heather Graham, Alicia Silverstone, and Sarah Michelle Geller. On the cutting edge with the latest trends in hair color, its no wonder that celebrities seek him out.

Both women and men seek Nelson’s services. “Women want drama and bold color,” Nelson said. “Men just want their hair color to look as natural as possible.”

Nelson revamped my home-processed hair color in three-steps: a base color to cover my grey hairs, then he applied dramatic low-lights to my wet hair, and finished with a gloss to add shine. In the end, I went from a Suzanne Sommers brassy blond to a mocha frappucino-colored Sarah Jessica Parker dark blonde.

I looked and felt delicious as I breezed past the people having a late lunch at the outdoor café at the corner of Brighton Way and Camden. It didn’ matter that I was wearing shoes from Target — I had great hair. Nelson Chan made me feel like a million bucks!

Check out more about celebrity hair colorist Nelson Chan at http://www.nelsonchanonline.com. Esetica Salon is located at 9635 Brighton Way, Beverly Hills (310) 274-1553.