Beauty Industry

It all started with a bad haircut. In Spokane, Wash., where the mullet is still a socially acceptable hairstyle, Bill Nordstrom was disappointed after a trip to the barber. The result was Weldon Barber, a string of upscale men-only barbershops devoted to the customer service his family's Nordstrom department stores made famous. Nordstrom, 41, is the main investor in Weldon Barber, which opened six shops in Spokane and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, last fall.

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.

A house call from a beautician is a time-honored Hollywood tradition. In "Sunset Boulevard," Norma Desmond was pampered and painted in the privacy of her mansion. And in real life, movie star Sharon Stone receives her hair colorist at home--not out of public shyness but convenience.

Rub red lipstick across your nose and cheeks with your fingers. Now do the same for your lips. (It should look as if you stayed too long at the beach.) Dot some Vaseline on your eyelids. (If it smears, don't worry. Shiny lids are part of this look.) Let your freckles show through your makeup base--a sheer concoction of moisturizer mixed with a dab of foundation. (Individuality is encouraged here.) Leave off the eye shadow, liner, concealer and mascara.

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."

The Merle Norman Studio in the bustling Del Amo mall in Torrance is not the familiar plain-wrapped cosmetics store that dots the shopping landscape. The store--modern, open and airy with pale wood and soft lights--is sporting the new look of Merle Norman. Gone is the dated stainless steel of the '70s, the last time the company made itself over. The new prototype store is attracting lots of young customers and holding its own against the competition like the new MAC store around the corner.

The Botox price wars have begun, only two months after the wrinkle treatment won federal approval. Advertisements touting the injections for $95 and $100 have begun appearing in magazines and direct-mail fliers in Los Angeles and Orange counties, sharply undercutting the standard $350 to $500 per facial area and raising questions about the quality of the bargain treatments.

Julie Mitchell's long, wavy hair normally coils into an unruly mass. "I'd spend all this time getting ready, and I'd still be a big ball of hair walking down the aisle," said the 38-year-old flight attendant for Southwest Airlines. That was life P.P.--pre-perm. Now her shoulder-length hair hangs ramrod straight, and her daily battle with the blow dryer is over.

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.