Why we love it: High-gloss hair is the ultimate accessory, and it looks good on everyone.

Beauty tip: Get weightless, healthy shine by using a quality hairbrush with natural bristles. (Our favorite brush is the beauty industry standard: Mason Pearson.) If you still want more shine, work a pea-sized dab of shine serum into the mid-lengths and ends of hair.

Cecil Beaton: The Art of Scrapbook is a must-have for any fan of fashion and photography. It’s an artful melange of Beaton’s photographs, letters, magazine tears and musings and is a direct glimpse of what inspired him. Here, pages from the book, as well as Tory’s own collection of Beaton tomes.

Q: There are so many parties and events this time of year. I feel pulled in too many directions. How do I decline graciously? — Cassie, Dallas

A: Cassie, It is more gracious to decline when first asked than to cancel at the last minute. Before accepting,  look at your calendar with an eye to how much you already have on every given day. If it is too much, say how sorry you are but you can not make it. One needs to take care of oneself during the holidays too! —Barbara

Check back next week for more advice from noted New York psychotherapist Barbara Liberman.

Recipes, hangouts, cocktails—the best foodies share for their favorite holiday secrets.

Holiday cocktail…
Champagne Kir Royale.

Hors d’oeuvre…
Classic salmon rillette of Le Bernardin.

Home-cooked holiday meal…
I love Christmas Eve—and we always indulge the traditional way—oysters, foie gras, caviar and then a stuffed roasted capon with chestnuts and of course a Christmas Log.

Place for holiday drinks with friends…
I really love going to the Oak Room at the Plaza during the holidays—a tradition for me.

Holiday dessert…
Anything with dark chocolate.

Holiday cocktail…
One of my favorite Blue Hill at Stone Barns’ Cocktails is Aka (which means red in Japanese). Philippe Gouze, our General Manager, created this warm and welcoming drink. It’s perfect in front of the fire and sure to impress.

Hors d’oeuvre…
I love fresh vegetables no matter the time of the year. A little salt and lemon vinaigrette, you are all set. And who doesn’t love a retro hors d’oeuvre? My mother’s Artichoke Dip is my favorite.

Home-cooked holiday meal…
Butternut squash soup, roasted lamb and mint sauce (from Dickinson’s Farmstand Meats in NY), vegetarian cous cous, a fennel and citrus salad (grapefuit and oranges with arugula) and Balthazar’s onion and potato bread.

Place for holiday drinks with friends…
Our home in Pound Ridge, NY.

Holiday dessert…
Cranberry and pumpkin tart is at the top of my list, but I also love Blue Hill at Stone Barns’ pastry chef Alex Grunert’s Holiday Stollen. Alex is from Austria and the breads taste like they were plucked from his grandmother’s oven.

Holiday cocktail…
Tangerine, Campari and Soda from Mario Batali Holiday Food.

Hors d’oeuvre…
Parmigiano reggiano cut into small pieces with a little bowl of real aceto tradizionale for dipping, boquerones (fresh marinated anchovies), good salami from Salumi in Seattle, and just-popped fresh popcorn dusted with pecorino and pimentón.

Home-cooked holiday meal…
Christmas Day tortellini in brood, followed by a ham I bake in my pizza oven and serve with biscuits and black truffle honey.

Place for holiday drinks with friends…
I love the bar in the Grand Hotel Baglioni in Bologna, I love the Four Seasons restaurant in NYC, and I love the Spotted Pig, late into the evening.

Holiday dessert…
Gina Depalma’s zeppole or bomboloni at Babbo—there is nothing better.

Holiday cocktail…
Hirezake. It is hot sake served in a cup with a lid and a seared blowfish fin inside the sake. When served, you should burn off the vaporized alcohol when uncovering the top with a match. It’s pleasantly smoky and rich.

Hors d’oeuvre…
Spicy King Crab, which is king crab meat grilled with spicy mayo on top.

Home-cooked holiday meal…
Matsurizushi. This is a type of sushi with a variety of vegetables and raw and cooked fish on top of seasoned sushi rice in a large bowl. It can be shared and enjoyed by an entire family. It looks gorgeous and tastes great! Absolutely a wonderful holiday meal.

Place for holiday drinks with friends…
A karaoke place where we can enjoy not only drinks but also singing.

Holiday dessert…
Kinako Mochi. It’s soft mochi (rice cake) coated with soybean flour and sugar.

Holiday cocktail…
An Uptown Girl from Red Rooster Harlem. It’s a nice blend of grapefruit juice, vodka and ginger liqueur. The ginger makes it great for the holidays.

Home-cooked holiday meal…
Roasted turkey is usually reserved for Thanksgiving in the US but, in Sweden, we eat this around Christmas. It was one of the first meals I made for my family. We like to pair it with red cabbage and Jansson’s Temptation, a potato-anchovy gratin.

Place for holiday drinks with friends…
I love Angel’s Share in the East Village. It’s a brilliant little place with great drinks with Ella playing over the speakers.

Holiday dessert…
I grew up eating rice pudding during the holidays and I still love it.

Holiday cocktail…
Champagne and brandy or a warm apple/pear cider.

Hors d’oeuvre…
Pita bread with tuna salad, bacon glazed on a skewer, shrimp cocktail and hors d’oeuvre-sized gourmet grilled cheese with walnuts.

Home-cooked holiday meal…
Roast ham with potatoes and jalapeño-apple sauce, served with a good salad.

Favorite place for holiday drinks with friends.
David Burke Fromagerie, NJ. Any place near Rockefeller Center after stopping in to see the tree.

Holiday dessert…
Warm pecan pie with vanilla ice cream.

Holiday cocktail…
Nothing beats a classic gin martini, served icy cold, up, with olives. One sip instantly makes all your guests feel so sophisticated that they start trading witty repartee.

Hors d’oeuvre…
Caviar, of course. If you can’t afford oscetra, buy good fresh salmon roe and serve it with sour cream on blini. It looks lovely and has a satisfying pop.

Home-cooked holiday meal…
An eight-bone prime rib roast, very rare, with gratin dauphinois and roasted Brussels sprouts.

Place for holiday drinks with friends…
By the fireplace in the cozy backroom at Locanda Verde in New York.

Holiday dessert…
Fresh coconut cake covered with billows of white frosting so it looks like a giant snowball.

Holiday cocktail…
My mixologist Todd Thrasher’s Cold Buttered Rum, his version of the classic hot buttered rum.

Hors d’oeuvre…
The Irish favorite, smoked salmon on brown bread, which I make from scratch.

Home-cooked holiday meal…
Roast Beef with Yorkshire pudding. I like sticking to the classics for the holidays.

Place for holiday drinks with friends…
We love to go to the Round Robin Bar at the Willard Hotel in D.C. after we take the kids ice skating out front.

Holiday dessert…
Anything that involves minced meat pie.

Holiday cocktail…
Grey Goose Guava.

Hors d’oeuvre…
Ahi Poke.

Home-cooked holiday meal…
Lechon de Leche—nothing like a good suckling pig to represent the holidays in Hawaii.

Place for holiday drinks with friends…
The patio of the Halekulani Hotel looking out at the Pacific Ocean.

Holiday dessert…
Lady M’s Pumpkin Nuage.

Q: How do you look chic when it’s cold? —Vanessa, Boston

A: “I love cozy sweaters with great details. Or try extra long gloves (perfect for coats with three-quarter sleeves), fur neckwarmers and chunky knit scarves.” —Tory

Illustrator, author and publisher Leanne Shapton stumbled upon a tree catalogue published by the Canadian Forestry Branch in 1917. Seeing the beauty in these straightforward landscape pictures, she translated them into her own The Native Trees of Canada. Here, a few paintings from the book.

It’s been 50 years since John and Jackie Kennedy first walked into the White House. To commemorate, official White House photographer Cecil W. Stoughton and author Richard Reeves have released Portrait of Camelot: A Thousand Days in the Kennedy White House. It includes never before seen pictures of the Kennedys off-duty, as well as a DVD of family movies.

Why we love it: The ponytail is sophisticated yet low-maintenance. Perfect for parties.

Beauty tip: Smooth fly-aways at the hairline using a toothbrush misted with hairspray. (Editorial stylists do it all the time.) Don’t forget to conceal your hair elastic by pulling a narrow lock of hair from the underside of your ponytail, wrapping it over the elastic and securing it with a bobby pin. Instant chic.

Phantogram’s Sarah Berthel rocked the house in our Lucienne shell during a special performance at Nike Bowery Stadium.

To celebrate our holiday window lighting we partnered with Dress for Success Worldwide. In 14 of our boutiques from New York to Seattle, 16 Dress for Success clients kicked off our holiday season by officially ”lighting” our Lite-Brite reindeer. We then invited the clients to select a $500 work wardrobe from Tory Burch. Thanks to everyone who helped make the evening a great success.