Photo: Greg Kessler

Q: How can I get rid of the awful end-of-summer brassy color in my hair?

A: Brassiness, or oxidation of haircolor, can be due to sun exposure, chlorine, or salt water, says Tammy Sherman, creative director at Frédéric Fekkai at the Mark Hotel in New York City. She suggests that the next time you color your hair, you choose a shade and tone that will darken slightly and neutralize; for example, if your hair is light brown, use a medium ash brown. Most colorists agree that using an ashy tone is typically the best way to combat brassiness.

Keep in mind: A good offense is the best defense. The more brassiness you develop, the harder it is to get back to the shade you started with. So be sure to color your hair (or see your colorist) regularly, especially during the summer, says Marie Leppard, senior colorist at the Julien Farel Salon in New York City.

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Photo: Ari Seth Cohen

On a spring afternoon in New York City, Ari Seth Cohen spots a chicly cropped head of silvery hair bobbing along the sidewalk up ahead. "She'd be perfect!" he exclaims. The mystery woman disappears around a corner, but Cohen isn't discouraged: He's prepared to spend hours scouring Manhattan for stylish gray coifs, bold accessories, and other hallmarks of daring senior fashion. His blog, Advanced Style, features subjects like 79-year-old Lynn Dell, the fur-and-feathers-loving owner of Off Broadway boutique, and 92-year-old Ilona Royce Smithkin, a cabaret performer with fake eyelashes; both embody a bygone glamour and indomitable joie de vivre. "My project isn't only about being beautiful or fashionable," Cohen explains. "It's about spirit."

Cohen, 30, has been captivated by older women for as long as he can remember—especially his late grandmother, Bluma, with whom he'd spend hours watching old movies and poring over faded scrapbooks. "I was struck by how elegantly everyone was dressed," he recalls of Bluma's Depression-era snapshots. "The women didn't have money, but they had amazing clothes." Not long after his grandmother died, in 2007, Cohen moved from his hometown of San Diego to New York; Bluma, a graduate of Columbia University, had told him all creative people should live there. He landed a job supervising a bookstore. And in his free time, he took long walks around neighborhoods like the stately Upper East Side, marveling at the "independent, well-dressed older people" he encountered and snapping pictures. While dozens of so-called street-style blogs were chronicling the cutting-edge sartorial statements of the city's youth, Cohen couldn't help noticing that septuagenarians were strangely invisible on the Internet. Hoping to change that, he launched his own blog in August 2008. "I wanted to create something positive and inspiring," he says, "and to show younger women that they don't have to be afraid of getting older."

In 2010 Cohen quit his job to focus on the blog full-time. These days Advanced Style attracts up to 50,000 page views daily. Earlier this year, he published a coffee-table book of favorite images; next up is a documentary about the women to whom he's dedicated his life. "We go to movies together, we talk about plays, we go to concerts. We're collaborators, in a way," he says. "Some of them refer to me as sort of a grandson."

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Don't blame your breakouts on perspiration, says New Orleans dermatologist Mary Lupo, MD. "Sweat is sterile, and even contains antimicrobial peptides that kill some bacteria," she says. You might notice more skin irritation in the summer because the heat and sweat swell your pores, causing them to trap bacteria. To help keep pores clean, use a lotion with chemical exfoliants like salicylic, lactic, or glycolic acid. Try Neutrogena Rapid Clear Acne Defense Face Lotion ($9; drugstores) or Peter Thomas Roth Glycolic Acid 10% Moisturizer ($45; peterthomasroth.com).

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We all need a spot of stillness here and there. And we probably all have an idea (maybe even a Pinterest board!) of our ideal peaceful places. I've always pictured mine as an atmospheric farm house in the French countryside, where steaming latte bowls magically appear on the rustic table, alongside jars of wildflowers. So I almost screamed when a neighbor told me recently he was headed to spend the summer at his in-laws' house in the French countryside. "It's not that great," he confessed. "Especially when my father-in-law has to drive me to the McDonald's 30 miles away to use to wi-fi." Huh. He might have a point. A moment of stillness sounds like tonic. Weeks of stillness might start to get, um, stagnant.

Besides, we don't actually need to do anything drastic like travel overseas or lose wi-fi just for a moment of stillness, as this interactive map proves.  Created by the Guggenheim Museum, this Still Spotting map allows users to upload their own peaceful places in that known mecca of tranquility, um, New York City. It's a useful tool for residents and tourists alike, compiling not only the expected parks and beaches but also quiet building lobbies, underpopulated coffee shops, and hidden green nooks. And it's a useful reminder, too -- no matter where you live, no matter how hustling-and-bustling your existence, you don't need a field full of sunflowers to experience a pause, a breath, a piece of peace. Where's your still spot? It might be under the bleachers at a Little League game. Just remember -- it's somewhere nearby, maybe somewhere completely unexpected, and it will be there waiting for you when you need it.

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Once upon a time, lobster was a luxury item, something you'd eat on a special occasion at the height of summer. These days, though, the Maine lobster population has exploded, with lobstermen hauling in record numbers. The result: rock-bottom prices. And not only are the crustaceans plentiful in the waters off the New England coast, they're also quite colorful. As the Associated Press reports, odd colors have been showing up in catches lately: orange, bright blue, yellow and white (the photos are stunning).

And when life gives you a surplus of inexpensive lobsters with the promise that some may even be cerulean, we can't think of anything better to do than make the easier-than-it-sounds Lobster Thermidor. You could also fold the sweet meat into mac 'n' cheese (rich and buttery, with a decadence we didn't know was possible). Or, take the outdoor route and grill your lobsters and serve them with chili sauce. One more idea: simply mix together a lobster salad and scoop it up with toasted slices of baguette.

Finally, open up a bottle of equally cheap summer wine (perhaps raising a glass with a lobster-tinted manicure?).

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Every two years when the whole world gets Olympics fever, don't you wonder what those amazingly dedicated and talented athletes, stars of the moment, do for the most-of-their-lives that's not the Olympics? This fascinating story in the New York Times gathers some of the bright stars of the last London Olympics, which was in 1948. It's lovely to see photographs of the athletes as they are now--in their eighties and older, and to hear about their post-Olympic lives.

It makes me wonder -- how many of the people I walk by every day might have some splendid achievement in their past, some great triumph jostling around in their hearts? And, once you've won a gold medal in, say, kayaking, what does that do to your life? Are you forever filled with the glow of achievement, peeking at your gold medal in moments of doubt? My guess is that when you've got that Olympic spirit you go through the rest of your life trying, working, yearning, going for the gold. Which is something we could all do, whether we're amateur divers, intermediate fencers, or hopelessly unathletic spectators.

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"Millions of little girls are going to sit by their television sets and see they can be astronauts, heroes, explorers and scientists."—Gloria Steinem, on Sally Ride in 1983, just before Dr. Ride became the first American woman to fly in space. Of the flight, she said, "I'm sure it was the most fun that I'll ever have in my life," and from the photo above of her at the control board of the space shuttle Challenger, you can see why. She passed away Monday at the age of 61. (NYTimes)

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For most of us, sweat is annoying. But for some, it's so debilitating that reducing it is life-changing. The most promising and minimally invasive treatment beyond antiperspirant for hyperhidrosis (the clinical name for excessive sweating) has been Botox, but the results typically last only about seven months. Last year the FDA approved MiraDry, a treatment that delivers microwave energy beneath the skin to destroy most sweat glands in the underarm area. In a study that followed 31 people, 90 percent of patients described their sweating as "never noticeable" or "tolerable" after a year. The downsides: Two treatments are required, at a total cost of $2,500 to $3,500; the procedure is painful, so most people get around 30 shots of numbing lidocaine under each arm pretreatment; and right now fewer than 40 doctors in the United States offer MiraDry. The big upside: There's hope for a long-term solution for serious sweat.

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Each week, we'll be letting you know about new releases the editors of O and Oprah.com couldn't stop reading. This Monday, we're bowled over by the new novel:

The Sandcastle Girls