Beauty Industry

Supercuts and Fantastic Sam's emerged in the mid-1970s by offering no-appointment-needed, moderately priced haircuts. They were an instant success with both men and women, filling the void left by the disappearing neighborhood barber and beauty shop.

Take a peek at the whimsical, pre-Nintendo world of a child, full of fireflies and mud pies and . . . cosmetics? We're not exactly talking mascara and rouge, but, rather, grooming products. Skin and hair-care items produced and packaged to appeal to customers under 12 are the newest way of target-marketing personal cleanliness for kids.

Tara Mirchandani recently visited Sephora in New York's Soho district to stock up on Estee Lauder face wash, mascara and lipstick. The 25-year-old favors the self-service cosmetics chain because she finds department store salesclerks too pushy. "Once, I went to a department store in jeans and a ponytail, and a saleslady in the cosmetics department told me what I was trying on was too expensive for me," Mirchandani said.

Estee Lauder Cos. acquired the remaining equity interest of Make-Up Art Cosmetics, a growing Toronto-based beauty brand that has been widely embraced by the urban chic. Although the deal had been expected, it occurred earlier than some analysts had predicted. The New York-based Estee Lauder had acquired 51% of MAC in 1994, then increased its ownership to 70% in March 1997. Terms were not disclosed. MAC founder Frank Toskan, who will remain head of MAC, was unavailable for comment.

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."

In 1979, Patricia French left Warner Robins, Ga., to study art in Paris. She worked as a runway model for the House of Chanel to earn extra money. "That was when I decided I wanted to be in that audience buying the clothes, not on stage modeling them," French recalls. On a recent day, dressed in a snappy powder-blue linen Chanel suit, French admitted she's now selective about which fashion shows she attends.

The Skinny on the Beauty Industry The most common procedures for those 18 and under last year were laser hair removal, microdermabrasion and rhinoplasty. This age group accounted for 1.5 % of all cosmetic work. People ages 35 to 50 made up 47% of the total, and those between 51 and 64, 24%. * 205 % - The growth rate of med-spas in the last five years. As some medical procedures became more routine so did the trend to give clients one place for pedicures and their Botox injections.

Nonita Kalra remembers the frustration of shopping for cosmetics on the streets of Mumbai a decade ago, when three or four local companies sold a few basic products. Today, the executive editor of the Indian edition of the fashion magazine Elle can buy top-end brands such as Shiseido, Givenchy and La Prairie in her hometown. And she's not the only one in India who's become fashion-conscious. "If red lips are in internationally, you will find it" in India, Kalra said.

Not too many day spa owners get into the beauty industry by way of the U.S. Air Force, but that's exactly what Joe Wong did. His unusual career path--from helping NASA develop satellite repair technology to owning a luxury day spa--has both helped him and been a challenge, Wong says. When his young company faced a crisis, the team-building skills he learned in the military came to the fore. Wong was interviewed by freelance writer Karen E. Klein.

Eighteen months ago, Fay Fox of Northridge woke up to find 50% of her hair strewn all over her bed. She touched her head and more fell out. That afternoon she got out a razor and shaved her head. Today, her chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer completed, there are traces of new growth on her scalp, but she's not sure she wants a head full of hair any more.