Beauty Products

Popular health and beauty products sold on Internet auction sites could be stolen, tainted and possibly dangerous, according to a warning issued today by the National Retail Federation. Advil, Visine, baby formula, diabetic testing strips and other goods are being stolen from stores, warehouses and cargo trailers and peddled on EBay and other online auction sites, said Joseph LaRocca, the group's vice president of loss prevention.

At a national cheerleading competition last month, girls wearing short skirts and purple eye glitter competed for points at the Anaheim Convention Center. But the real contest was going on in the beauty lounge. The prize: the loyal buying habits of brand-obsessed teens. At a vanity table in a corner of the convention center, Jessica Lopez, a 14-year-old from West Covina, learned how to make her tresses stand up on end with Herbal Essences hair spray.

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.

Talk show mogul Oprah Winfrey opened her girls' school in South Africa on Tuesday, and details about the lavishness of the 28-building campus have poured in from various media reports. The $40-million Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls is spread over 52 acres outside Johannesburg. In addition to computer-filled classrooms and residence halls, there are indoor and outdoor theaters, original works of art, a yoga studio and a ... beauty salon.

The products: Pheromones are the true aphrodisiacs of the animal kingdom. Female pigs don't respond to compliments or slow jazz, but the slightest whiff of androstenone -- a pheromone produced by randy boars -- will instantly put sows in a sexual mood. Hog farmers often use batches of androstenone, also known as "boar taint," to fan barnyard desires. Thanks to a wide array of pheromone-laced hair gels, colognes and body sprays, you can buy androstenone too.

Natural nails don't have to be naked nails. Kim D'Amato, owner of the Priti Organic Spa in New York, has created a line of nontoxic polishes -- and better yet, an oil-based polish remover that contains no acetone. The products are also free of toluene and formaldehyde, both carcinogens, as well as dibutyl phthalate (DBP). And, D'Amato says, the polishes are fast-drying, chip-resistant and nonyellowing.

There's something deflating about buying a $70 jar of face cream in a grocery store. But the crowded aisles of natural food markets are exactly where beauty buffs in search of high-end organic or synthetic-free products have been forced to forage.

Bernice Lavin, 81, who co-founded the beauty products business Alberto-Culver Co. with her husband, died Monday at her home in Glencoe, Ill., after a long illness, company officials said. In 1955, Lavin and her husband, Leonard, a salesman, purchased a Los Angeles beauty supply company, discontinuing most of its products to focus on the Alberto VO5 Conditioning Hairdressing line.

When it comes to hair color in Japan, the new black is black. Riding the swell of patriotism in Japan, Shiseido Co. has rocked the market for women's shampoos and conditioners by introducing Tsubaki -- Japanese for camellia blossom -- with a marketing campaign that has some of Japan's hottest entertainers telling women that the route to beauty is to be, well, true to your roots. Ethnic roots in this case.