Beauty Industry

Altagracia Valdez is dreaming of a perfect pink Cadillac. All she has to do to win it, according to her boss at Mary Kay Inc., is expand her list of conocidos. Those familiar connections, she says, can adorn Valdez's 60-year-old hands with diamond rings, pump up her bank account with enough money to pay the bills, buy a house and help her finally enjoy some middle-class financial security.

Beirut Forget getting behind on your payments. Maysa, a 31-year-old accountant, is making payments on her behind. For years the Beirut resident felt uncomfortable with her derriere. She tried dieting, exercise and weight-loss pills, to no avail. Then she discovered that her bank was offering thousands of dollars in loans for nose jobs, breast implants, face-lifts and liposuction.

Botox is known for smoothing furrowed brows. Now it's causing a few. The Food and Drug Administration last month issued a statement that Botox and another botulinum toxin drug, Myobloc, have been linked to serious respiratory and swallowing problems and at least one death. And consumers seeking to smooth their facial lines want to know: Is it safe? The primary fact to keep in mind, doctors say, is that Botox -- the only botulinum toxin drug approved in the U.S.

There may be a little less beauty in downtown Claremont if the City Council pushes through a restrictive ordinance on salons. Under the proposed ordinance, any new hair, nail, skin care, and tanning salons and day spas in Claremont Village would be restricted to second-floor or alley locations. Backers of the proposal said the rules are needed to prevent an over-concentration of beauty businesses in the downtown area.

"Restore and renew." "Significantly reduces the loss of cells in the epidermis." "Regenerate cells and repair tissue." The newest skin creams beckon with an air of scientific gravitas, holding out the hope that now, at last, medicine has triumphed over the visible aging process. With tantalizing biological references and understated packaging, the products are among the first on the market to capitalize on the public's insatiable appetite for stem cell technology.

For two decades, Ziba Beauty salons have brought the ancient Indian techniques of eyebrow threading and henna tattoos to a clientele that has included Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Salma Hayek and Naomi Campbell. Ziba Chief Executive Sumita Batra, 39, and her staff have styled models for Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone magazines and TV shows "America's Next Top Model" and "Extreme Makeover."

You MULTI-TASK all day -- text and drive, talk and type, drink water infused with vitamins. So why shouldn't your makeup do double-duty too? A new generation of foundations aims to do just that, promising more than an even skin tone and a dewy finish. Fortified with ingredients usually reserved for skin care products, these foundations say they can diminish fine lines and wrinkles, treat acne, firm the skin -- even help reverse aging.

ANOTHER evening clutch? No, thanks. The latest take on the tote? Pass. How about one of those classic crocodile satchels? Sniff. It seems rather silly to splurge on an expensive exotic skin when your own epidermis is crying out for attention. Besides, haven't you heard? The face is the new "it" bag, darling. In fact, it may be the very reason the upscale skin-care market has yet to feel the ravages of the recession.

With stock portfolios in the toilet, layoffs looming everywhere and credit hard to come by, many folks are looking for places to cut back. That includes their own heads. Consumers are slashing their budgets by skipping visits to upscale hair salons and opting for inexpensive stylists. Some are getting haircuts less often or dyeing their own locks at home.

As you may have noticed from the supermarket tabloids -- admit it, you've looked -- all sorts of celebrities are still battling cellulite, that unflattering skin condition that can ruin Hollywood reputations while making big money for beach-side paparazzi. Of course, celebrities aren't the only ones who worry about cellulite. The dimpled, "cottage cheese" patches of skin show up on women of every shape and body type.