Let the faithful cheer and the pundits critique. We are concerned with something that will not impact the economy, or taxes or war. It is not of national significance: it’s Sarah Palin’s hair, the likes of which have not been seen on the front lines of American politics. It dips below shoulder-length and is a auburn, with subtle highlights. Occasionally she wears it down, but mostly it’s in an updo: one casual, such as the half-updo we saw at last night’s Republican Convention (pictured). The other is a complete updo. She tries to tone it down with bookish glasses, but nobody’s fooled. Will Palin’s looks have an impact on the election? Who knows? Let’s just talk about hair. First, think Audrey Hepburn, with the quintessential Holly Golightly updo that set a modern standard (pictured). Palin’s half-updo may look casual - but it’s not: There was some precise teasing underneath the crown of last night’s look, and the back was very carefully coiffed. Her full updo isn’t tossed together either - it’s tightly smoothed and perfectly puffed and heavily sprayed, not loose and tousled like on the red carpet or catwalk. We have found many different updos for you to consider. Allure’s video of models backstage shows famed stylist Orlando Pita talking about loose updos, those with a messy, casual feel. “There’s absolutely no technique whatsoever,” he crows. Not true. Stylists say to put mousse in wet hair, let it air dry and then smooth it out as you tie it up. BellaSugar has another recipe for a do. Daily Makeover instructs one on the step by step with each of their celeb updo pictures. We’ve found a scary similarity between Palin and Drew Barrymore in 2006 (picture her with rimless glasses: yea, kinda freaky, see the picture?), and, thankfully, no similarity with Amy Winehouse. BellaSugar has a slide show of hot updos over the last few years, as does InStyle.com; Daily Makeover has a gallery of updos. Cynthia Nixon has worn a similar style, as have Halle Berry and Maria Menounos. Palin wears basic bangs with a side part for that conservative touch, but celebs’ bangs are longer and sideswept, or pulled back tightly. Besides product (mousse, hair texturizer, flat irons, hair spray), other tools to employ in an updo attempt can include a Twistie, a carefully placed pretty comb, regular hair pins (don’t let ‘em show), tiny barrettes, the perfect brush or bust out of the conservative mold with a flashy jeweled pin.

The problem with lipstick is that it doesn’t really stick. All it takes is a cup of coffee and that beautiful burgundy you carefully applied is erased. Lip stains have been around for a while, but they’re enjoying a resurgance in some of the most popular make-up lines, primarily because lips (and cheeks) really do absorb the stain, and the tint lasts longer. It eventually wears away, but not as quickly as lipstick. One of the early popular stains is Benetint by Benefit ($28). The rose-colored liquid in a bottle is a sheer tint for lips and cheeks. Benefit also has a lip balm stain ($20) that’s thicker, and a convenient Benetint Pocket Pal ($20, pictured) that has a double-wand approach with lip stain on one end and a thick clear gloss on the other. Laura Mercier has a stain that comes in six shades that is also a little thicker in texture (like a gloss), for $20. Stila has two types of stain, both in a pen-like form: the cherry crush or the lip rouge, which looks and feels like a magic marker ($20). Then there are lots of other stain-makers: DuWop (which also is a lip plumper), Tarte (also a plumper), TheBalm’s Stainiac in three shades, Laura Geller, DKNY, Vincent Longo, Nars and more. A word of warning: be careful with the stains that are in liquid form. They, well, stain - more than just your lips.

CVS Pharmacy, the ubiquitous drug store, is planning an assault on upscale beauty retailers. Beauty 360 is the name of the planned stores that CVS will start opening by year’s end, according to a story Friday at WWD.com.  Sources quoted in the story said the first two stores will open in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, will be between 2,500 and 4,000 square feet and will eventually expand to 500 or 1,000 stores. Beauty 360 won’t have the words CVS in sight, although they may be in adjacent buildings or inside of existing CVS stores. The WWD story quoted a CVS executive as saying the sleek and modern Beauty 360 stores will carry 32 brands of high-end products (not counting fragrances) currently sold only in department stores or in specialty stories such as Sephora, Shoppers Drug Mart and Ulta. CVS execs crowed about their competitive edge in terms of sheer numbers. CVS will have almost 7,000 stores by year’s end, they have 4 million customers a day. They said 60 percent of the U.S. population of women live within 5 miles of a CVS. Sephora’s Web site says that they are the nation’s leading retailer of perfumes and cosmetics, with more than 91 stores in the U.S. and 400 in Europe. Perhaps the day is coming when you’ll be able to pick up some Laura Mercier or Benefit with your batteries and cough medicine.

There are important events - four, to be specific - happening in the world of mascara. Not satisfied with the humble wand, three new products are out (or are on their way) that put a new spin on an old makeup favorite. One rotates, one oscillates and one vibrates. The fourth one doesn’t move but it’s very interesting.  The first on the scene was SpinLash, a $15 product found in drug stores or online. The bloggers at Beauty and Fashion Tech kind of liked it, saying it doesn’t spin as much as it slowly turns. It comes with its own mascara, or you can dip the wand into your favorite. Other beauty experts say it takes some getting used to, so can watch a video of it at BellaSugar and decide for yourself. However, SpinLash may need to step aside, because the big guns of beauty are bringing out their own moving mascaras. Estee Lauder launched the vibrating TurboLash ($30) a few weeks ago and it sold out fast. Lancome is right behind, with their $34 Oscillation Power Mascara that has 7,000 oscillations a minute! (It’s pictured, left, oscillating).  A few were made available, but they sold out and now they won’t hit Lancome’s Web site or Sephora.com until November. The ladies at Allure loved it, and comments from Lancome’s designer of mascara brushes (it’s true) can be found on Temptalia. The fourth mascara is from Givenchy. Called the Phenom’Eyes, it has a teeny round brush (pictured, right) that claims to separate each eyelash and grip lashes “at the roots.” It hits shelves this month and will cost $27. Opinions are mixed, but everyone agrees: Do not try to use these wiggling mascaras while driving.

You’ve admired the athleticism, strength and grace of the Olympic women (or should we say “girl”) gymnasts. You’ve studied their shiny uniforms. And admit it, you just love their cute and glittery makeup and hair. They all have the same ‘do: tight ponytail topped with a scrunchie, and ubiquitous clippies of all shapes and sizes to tuck away errant tendrils.  For a bit of Olympic style, you can stick with the basic $2 Sunchi clips, or explore a world of cutesy hair holders, like the pink sparkled star clips from Forever 21 ($4.80, right). While you’re on their site, check out the pretty bow bobby pins, the bow hair-pin set ($6.80) and even a plaid bow hair clip for $4.80. From there, we’ve found a riot of cute clippies all over the Web, like the crystal topped bobbi pin ($4.40 from Ulta), 3 leafy barrettes from Anthropologie on sale for $10, $18 star clips from Kitson and bobbi pins with butterflies from Aldo, on sale for $6. If money is no object, even when it comes to hair clips, go for the Louis Vuitton monogrammed  pair at eLuxury for $225 (pictured, left), or the $50 basic barrette from Space NK. Oh, and don’t forget the glitter: Sephora’s glitter spray comes in silver or gold for $12, Make Up For Ever’s diamond powder in a rainbow of shades is $24 and Cargo’s eye glimmer set of six is $25. If you want designer shimmer, there’s Givenchy glitter to go from Saks for $35, or if you want bare bones sparkle, Sally Beauty Supply has sparkling loose glitter for only 89 cents (but you have to go to a Sally store to buy it).

After one too many frustrating visits to the dentist, I decided 21st-century standards of oral hygiene might be beyond my reach as an unassisted mortal. Would technology help? Early trials suggest that it can. The most important part of the equation is a floss substitute like this jet cleaner ($60) by WaterPik. I had worried that a little blast of water couldn’t match the physical contact of floss, but I was wrong: Even on the next-to-lowest pressure setting (the WP-100 model can go from 5 to an astonishing 90 pounds per square inch) it was reaching where it needed to with ease. Using the thing takes some getting used to — be prepared to splash all over your countertop and mirror the first few times — but mastering a couple of common sense precautions, like turning off the water before removing the jet from your mouth, doesn’t take long, and the device is available as a self-contained cordless model ($50) that makes things even simpler. Flossing may be far more intimidating than brushing, but I went for the full Robo-smile by trying a “sonic toothbrush” ($80) as well — and, despite my doubts, must  report that it leaves my teeth somewhat closer to that “just back from a cleaning” smoothness than my trusty manual brush. Of course, since WaterPik started marketing pulsating jet products in the ’60s (under the name Aqua Tec), plenty of companies have put their spin on things: Today, you can get Oral B toothbrushes with wireless monitors ($150) or spiral streams of microbubbles ($120); you can even get a spinning-head Spiderman brush for seven bucks. All well and good, but do yourself a favor: If you’re at all vulnerable to obsessive-compulsive disorder, don’t even look at advertisements for Sonicare’s $50 UV Sanitizer.