The Left Lane
Hide holiday stress with cool salon tips

Let ice cubes melt on cotton balls and apply them to the eyes for 10 minutes as soon as they are saturated. Then lightly apply either a cool eye gel or moisturizer under the eyes and on the eyelids. Work from the inner eye to the outer eye, using some pressure from the fingertips to blend. Don't rub or tug. Try using an eye-specific product because many facial moisturizers are too thick for the eye area and too much "nourishment" causes the puffiness you're trying to avoid.

"How To Be a Lady" and "Things You Need to be Told" couldn't be more different, but these two contemporary books on etiquette speak as one. Their message: Hello, you are not alone in the universe. So let's Be Nice. Or at least be straight with each other.

"How To Be a Lady," subtitled "A Contemporary Guide to Common Courtesy," by Candace Simpson-Giles, a businesswoman in Nashville, Tenn., is simply a collection of directions as to how a lady acts in every modern circumstance. And we do mean Every Circumstance: The chapter entitled "A Lady Takes Care of Herself" includes advice on everything from smoking to safe sex. Another on "Extreme Etiquette" covers meeting royalty or the pope. Simpson-Giles employs common sense and is surprisingly unpretentious.

"Things You Need to be Told," subtitled "A Handbook for Polite Behavior in a Tacky, Rude World" by the Etiquette grrls (Honore McDonough Ervin and Lesly Carlin) is, as the back blurb helpfully notes, "Emily Post for the Electronic Age." It's very pretentious (these girls would be preppies if we still had them), surprisingly practical and howlingly funny when the grrls take on such issues as "What Looks Good on No One" and what to wear to an "I'll See You in Hell" breakup date.

Have you ever wondered what Christmas or Hanukkah are like in other countries? The December issue of Parents magazine gives this roundup:

• Germany: Christmas trees are decorated with apples, nuts and cookies instead of glass and plastic ornaments.
• Mexico: No Christmas stockings here; kids knock down a pinata filled with all kinds of goodies.
• Israel: Jelly doughnuts, or sufganiya, are cooked to celebrate Hanukkah instead of the potato pancakes here.
• Sweden: Instead of leaving cookies and milk for Santa, Swedish children leave a dish of porridge for Tomte, the Christmas elf.