For the preteen set, Halloween is one of the most anticipated holidays of the year. But the event can strike terror into the hearts of those who are older and more restrained in tastes. Thankfully, with a little humor, some beauty tricks and a few inexpensive trinkets, getting into the spirit of Halloween can become more of a treat than a trick.

Glamour Makeup
If the thought of donning a costume sends you screaming for the hills, simply amp up your everyday makeup for a high-glam, slightly campy look. “Halloween is a time when women can channel their alter ego,” says Boston-based makeup artist Jody Cohen. If your usual look is nude lip gloss and a swipe of a neutral blush, just wearing a vivid Gwen Stefani-red lipstick and popsicle-pink cheeks will be enough to shock your friends and leave you feeling like you’ve donned an elaborate masquerade.

The finishing touch is false eyelashes. “Really long fake lashes in the corner of the eyes convey a sexy vampire look,” says Cohen. Don’t be intimidated by faux lashes, she adds. With a steady hand, the right amount of adhesive and a little practice, the new generation of fake lashes are easy to apply.

A Head-turning Hairstyle
A statement hairdo can take you almost all the way to a Halloween getup; all you’ll need to add are accessories. One easy look is red carpet ingenue, suggests hairstylist Philip Pelusi, who owns 17 salons in Pittsburgh and one in Manhattan. Set your hair in small or medium electric or Velcro rollers and spritz with a volumizing spray for extra volume. After 15 or 20 minutes, remove the rollers and toss the curls without brushing. Pair with something satiny or shimmery, throw on some fake costume bling and go.

Another inexpensive option: clip-on hair extensions from the local beauty supply store in whimsical colors like gold, yellow and pink. Clip them randomly around your head, slip into the wildest dress from your local thrift store and, voila, Lady Gaga. Or, channel Rihanna with a clip-on hair extension along your forehead to mimic her signature fringe. Apply pomade to the rest of your hair to slick it close to your forehead and gather any long tresses into a ponytail, then tuck them into a hideaway bun. Your outfit should be a pair of skinny jeans, high-heeled boots and faux diamonds from the costume store.

Shop Your Closet
Everything you need for a sexy and spirited Halloween is probably already in your closet. Los Angeles-based fashion stylist and vintage-store owner Brenna Egan says that with a little black dress or leggings and a black tee, you’re 90 percent there. “Grab some waterproof eyeliner and draw whiskers, cat eyes and a cute button nose to morph into a kitty cat,” she says. “Fishnets -- if you’re wearing a dress -- and platforms vamp it up.”

For an irreverent wink at Halloween, don gold leggings or tights -- you can find these at your local Target or American Apparel -- along with a gold tank and lots of faux gold bangles and necklaces. Carry a small garden shovel. What exactly are you dressed as? A gold digger, of course.

Photo: Corbis Images

As your tan fades and fall approaches, chances are your sun-streaked summer hair could use a little TLC. Follow these hair-resuscitating tips from industry pros and you’ll make autumn the season of gorgeous hair days.

Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize
“Summer hair damage isn’t going to just repair itself,” says West Hollywood stylist Mauricio Ribeiro, who operates his own namesake salon. He suggests treating parched manes with a moisturizing shampoo followed by a moisturizing conditioner. Be sure to apply the conditioner where sun-damaged hair needs it most--from the mid-shaft to the tip. “Hair isn’t as dry at the roots thanks to its natural oils, so condition there more sparingly,” says Ribeiro.

Handle With Care
To baby your stressed tresses, apply a leave-in detangler. This will add an extra boost of conditioner and also gently smooth and separate strands, so you won’t have to tug at snags with a comb. That kind of rough handling can add further damage to your hair. “When your hair is wet, only use a wide-toothed comb to prepare it for styling,” says Pantene senior scientist Jeni Thomas. “Even when it’s dry, you want to use the minimum number of brushstrokes it takes to achieve or refresh your style.”

Get Deep
If your locks still look lackluster after using rinse-out and leave-in conditioners, call in the SWAT team: a concentrated hair-conditioning treatment or mask. To get all the benefits from the nourishing ingredients, apply the conditioner section-by-section to your hair, says Dani Hauflaire, a stylist with Maxine Salon in Chicago. Start at the tips and work toward the roots. Then, leave it on for a few minutes while you buff your skin with your favorite body scrub. (Your skin can also use some extra care now!) “The steam from the shower will help the product really penetrate the hair shaft,” says Hauflaire.

Tweak Your Color
Sun exposure can leave your hair looking dull and brassy, especially if it’s color-processed. And the streaks that looked glowing against bronzed skin will wash out fall’s paler complexion. Maintain a flattering balance by adding rich tones to your hair. That means auburn, chestnut, chocolate and coffee if you’re a brunette; caramel, gold and toffee if you’re a blonde. An at-home or salon gloss will also restore shine to your hair so it gleams on even a cloudy fall day.

Cut Your Losses
Chlorine, sun, salt, ponytail elastics -- all can lead to frayed and fried ends. “Left alone, those split ends are going to continue to split,” says Hauflaire. A half-inch trim will make a world a difference -- leaving you with well-defined, healthy ends that will show off your hairstyle, whether it’s a bob, a pixie, straight and sleek or long, sexy waves.

Photo: Corbis Images

The sequence in which you apply serums, creams and cosmetics can be as important as the products themselves, so we asked a celebrity dermatologist and a makeup artist for their advice on what goes on when and why.

The Basics of Skin Care
Apply products with active ingredients that are designed to repair before you apply heavier products that protect. These “actives” include antioxidants, alpha hydroxy acids, peptides, vitamins and pigment lighteners. They contain molecules small enough to penetrate the outer layer of skin in order to get down to the deeper layers where they work to hydrate, brighten, smooth and firm the skin.

Heavier products, such as moisturizers and sunscreens, go on next because they function as shields, keeping UV rays out and moisture in, says Ava Shamban, M.D., who is the featured dermatologist on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover.” “If you make the mistake of topping a sunscreen with an antioxidant serum, the serum won’t be able to sink in since the cells are already sealed,” says Shamban. In other words, access denied, no matter how pricey or terrific the product may be.

The Basics of Cosmetics
Applying cosmetics in the right order results in a natural-looking finish and streamlines the process by preventing mistakes. “It has a lot to do with texture, such as not putting cream formulations on top of powdered ones,” says makeup artist Tonya Crooks, whose regular clients include Megan Fox and Fergie. Using a mineral powder foundation before cream blush will look blotchy because it will be hard to blend the blush. Lipstick should always go under lip gloss, so you can still achieve the shine you’re after.

Top Ten Beauty Rules of Order
Only a beauty-pageant contender would use all of the products that follow, but for purposes of illustration, here they are in their optimal order of application, after your morning cleansing routine.

1. If you use hydrating mists to plump up the skin, or gels for acne or rosacea, apply now. The mists soften the top layer of dead skin cells (the stratum corneum) and help conduct water-soluble products down to the deeper layers of skin.

2. Active ingredients in water-soluble gels and serums go on now. Examples are antioxidant serums, AHAs, peptides, vitamins C and E, ferulic acid, growth factors and pigment lighteners.

3. This is the time for moisturizer, which contains humectants to restore water to the skin and conditioners to soften it. Just as important, the moisturizer seals in the products that precede it.

4. Sun protection comes next. If your eyes are sensitive to the ingredients in regular sunscreen, use an eye cream with SPF that’s formulated to be nonirritating. On the rest of the face and neck, apply a broad-spectrum facial sunblock to fend off both UVA and UVB rays.

5. After allowing five to 10 minutes to let your sunscreen sink in, apply foundation. If you prefer the sheerness of a tinted moisturizing sunscreen, use that instead.

6. Whatever the foundation hasn’t covered gets painted over with concealer. A fine-tipped makeup brush works best to deliver concealer to blemishes, under-eye circles and red spots.

7. Translucent powder and powder blush go on next. (If you like a dewy look, skip the powder and apply cream blush instead.) Adding color to the cheeks at this step helps quell the urge to be heavy-handed on the eyes. “If you apply eye makeup to a pale face, it’s easy to overdo it,” says Crooks, “and then by the time you add blush, it all looks too theatrical.”

8. Eyebrow shadow or pencil, eye shadow and eyeliner are now up. Crooks prefers eyebrow shadows and pencils that are one shade lighter than your hair. If you use a pencil, it should be well-sharpened, hard and waxy to encourage the drawing of fine, hairlike strokes.

9. Mascara should be applied very carefully at this point to avoid smearing all of the good work that’s gone before it.

10. Lip treatments, lip liner, lipstick, and lip gloss are last, but not least. Chapped or dry lips should be prepped and plumped with a treatment cream or lotion. If you use lip liner, it goes on next, followed by lipstick, which can be topped off with lip gloss.

Here’s all that’s standing between you and your most beautiful, most manageable hair: a tiny bit of self-knowledge. Simply knowing your natural hair type will help you achieve smooth hair that holds its style through the whole day (curls that are defined and controlled, fine hair that doesn’t flop midday, etc.).

“If you understand your hair,” says Jeni Thomas, a research scientist on hair and scalp health for Pantene, “you not only know what it is capable -- and not capable -- of doing, but how best to work with it as well.” 

The Science of Hair Types
Think Avatar is the most important 3-D breakthrough? Consider this: The same kind of 3-D technology used in medicine to image and measure bone density is also being used to study the way multiple hair fibers interact. What researchers have discovered, says Thomas, is that different types of hair texture create different kinds of 3-D structures. This revelation is leading to customized product lines that can spell the end of bad hair days. 

We now know that the same shampoo and conditioning ingredients and formulations that keep curly hair shiny and healthy won’t give fine hair the body and volume it needs. Curly hair fibers form an intricate network that can act like a filter, trapping ingredients from shampoo and conditioners; what’s needed to prevent damage are products that minimize the friction between strands.

Fine hair fibers, on the other hand, arrange themselves in a parallel pattern that acts more like a funnel, so ingredients that moisturize and condition slip away rather than stick. The fix is a formula that helps those reparative ingredients grab on and stay.

The Basic Hair Types
Almost all hair -- 98 percent -- falls into four different structures:

1. Fine hair has up to 50 percent less protein than thicker hair, so it’s fragile and tends to fall flat.
   
2. Medium-thick hair can contain up to twice as many cells as fine hair, making it more rigid and capable of absorbing up to 40 percent more moisture than fine hair, which can lead to frizz.

3. Curly hair has twists and turns that can cause the cuticle to lift and weaken, leaving hair rough and difficult to control.

4. Color-treated hair has undergone a structural change in the chemical process that makes it more negatively charged than unprocessed hair -- that can mean hair that’s rough, dull and vulnerable to damage.

Why Hair Type Matters
Products formulated for your hair type will make styling easier; on the other hand, the wrong ingredients and formula will have you waging a losing war with your locks -- struggling to get the style you want, frustrated when it doesn’t hold. For example, as Thomas points out, “thicker hair tends to be more frizz-prone than finer hair, so for medium-thick hair to hold a style throughout the day, ingredients that offer hair some humidity resistance are extremely helpful.”

To keep fine hair from wilting midday, however, prep it with a shampoo containing polymers boosting its cleaning power and allowing these fragile strands to stand up to the weight of accumulated scalp oils, dirt and yesterday’s styling residue. Look for shampoos, conditioners and styling products that are especially designed for your hair type; you’ll find customized lines on your drugstore shelves.

The Right Cut for Your Hair Type

• Fine hair “Avoid overly razored cuts,” says George Papanikolas of West Hollywood’s Andy Lecompte salon, where you might spot such A-list clients as Madonna and Penelope Cruz. “Opt instead for a layered cut with blunt ends, which will leave the hair looking thicker.”

• Medium-thick hair Keep your hair at least a few inches below your chin. “You need some length to prevent your hair from getting too bulky,” says Mike Van Den Abbeel, owner of Mosaic Hair Studio in Orlando, Fla. “Long layers will also remove some weight and add definition to your style.” 

• Curly hair To avoid what veteran hairstylist Don Bewley describes as “curly hair that looks like a topiary,” ask for a cut that imposes some structure and shape on your ringlets. That means long layers -- no shorter than 6 inches -- save for a few shorter face-framing layers in front and a well-defined line at the ends.

Photo: @iStockphoto.com/fmbackx

Before you head to the perfume counter for a new fragrance, consider creating a custom-blended scent. Like your favorite long-strand necklace or your studded black leather belt, a custom perfume is the ultimate way to express your personal style.

Thanks to a growing number of fragrance bars, online scent boutiques and scent-making parties, every woman can try her hand -- and nose -- at being a perfumer. “A custom blend can be a very simple, lovely accord that works nicely,” says The New York Times perfume critic Chandler Burr. It can also serve as a signature scent for a special occasion like your wedding day or a romantic vacation. 

Do-it-yourself Scent Creation
The first step in creating a custom blend is identifying the aromas that appeal to you. Do you like the feminine smell of florals, or do you prefer a fresher, fruity scent? Do woody notes of bark or moss entice your senses, or are the exotic smells of spices like musk or vanilla more your thing?

To try different fragrance oils, visit a local fragrance bar, a market like Whole Foods or a bath and body shop. Most perfumers work with synthetic fragrance oils and natural essential oils extracted from plants and flowers. You can also order sample oils online at ScentDesign.net or SaludSpaBar.com. Small vials will cost between $3 and $10.

With your oils at hand, start by testing single scents to get a feel for the different fragrances, suggests Salud’s founder and chief perfumer, Kelly Podorsek. Dip a paper scent strip into the vial, and then take a whiff. (When your nose needs a rest, a deep sniff of coffee beans will clear any lingering scents.) After you’ve found a few favorites, start layering the different oils on one strip to see how they blend together. “Stick with three or four scents, at the most,” says Podorsek.

Podorsek suggests combining scents from different fragrance families to create a layered scent. For example, grapefruit (fruity), honeysuckle (floral) and a touch of sandalwood (woody) work well as an enticing blend. Or go simple, fresh and fruity with cucumber and melon. Custom scents can also recreate favorite memories. An avid wine lover, Podorsek recently blended black peppercorn, summer berries and musky leather to evoke the aroma of a fine Syrah.

Once you’ve produced a pleasing concoction, you’ll need to sample your creation on your own skin. “The pH balance of the skin, diet, even humidity and heat around that skin affect the way perfumes smell,” explains Burr. If you’re pleased with the results, carefully combine the different oils into a glass bottle using individual droppers. Or, have your selected oils professionally mixed by a perfumer in a store or online. A pure fragrance or essential oil formulation can range from $10 to $25 for 1/3 ounce.

Working With a Perfumer
Creating a custom perfume with a perfumer is a far more intricate (and expensive) process than doing it yourself. “Perfumery is an art form,” says Alexandra Balahoutis, a botanical perfumer who founded Strange Invisible Perfumes in Venice, Calif. To capture the essence of a person in a custom perfume, Balahoutis begins by meeting the client to discuss favorite flowers, teas, wine, spice, art, literature and more. “It’s like having a portrait painted,” she explains.

Balahoutis works with authentic essences from plants, rather than synthetic essences. Once she creates a perfume formula, it is aged and tweaked until she is able to achieve the perfect balance of scents. The process takes about six months to complete and starts at $6,000.

Scents evoke memories more than any other sense can, so whatever appeals to each of us about a fragrance may be tied to fond memories, such as a childhood trip to the South filled with the lingering fragrance of gardenias. While you may not create a masterpiece on the scale of a high-end fragrance, a custom-blended scent can capture what’s truly unique about you.