For every bottle of Limited Edition 100% Pure Argan Oil that is sold, 10% of the purchase price will be donated to a cause of the designing model’s choice.

Check out the deets below…

Who: Josie Maran
What: Model Citizen Launch | Meet and Greet
When: Saturday, April 28, 2012 | 6:00 – 7:00 PM
Where: SEPHORA | SOUTH COAST PLAZA
3333 Bristol Street, Suite 1001 | Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Alas. In a tucked away lab deep in the Marina, scientists, specialists, and an exceptionally gifted stylist have been laboring away at a new system putting hair color right where you want to find it. Where you’re sitting right now? Perfect.

It’s pretty genius actually, esalon.com. Customized hair color formulated for exactly your head of hair, without having to dole out salon prices, or the gas to the get there, or the time to commit. It is a web based wonder: you enter the esalon.com site, answer a series (and it’s quite a series) of questions, upload a photo if you can, and voila, your custom formulated hair care is generated as if you were in the chair. Instead, you’re in your living room. Desperately excited for your product to arrive.

Here’s what you get for $24.95. Custom blended permanent hair color, developer, coloring accessories and personalized application instructions. For auto delivery (you select the frequency) the price drops to $19.95. And I repeat, all of this can be handled without slipping out of your slippers. Color director Estelle Baumhauer has done her time in Paris, New York, and Beverly Hills, gracing the manes of Hillary Clinton, Princess Mathilde of Belgium, and Yoko Ono. Time to add your name to the list.

Seems to me in the way of coloring this is the way to go. They’ll refund you in full should you feel otherwise. It’s inexpensive, individually customized, and invented by a color wonderworking collaborative. Sometimes you get what you pay for. But it’s more fun when you cheat the system and get more. Click and color my friends.

eSalon
(866) 550-2424
http://www.esalon.com/

In the category of simply outstanding: The 1st Annual Less Is More Prize goes hands down to Indie Lee for her Squalane Facial Oil. Ingredients: 100% squalane oil, c’est tout. In a few drops this one ingredient, derived from olives, elegantly hydrates and soothes as promised.

Available: http://www.indielee.com

For minimalist innovation, the prize goes to Primavera for their Intensive Seed Oil Capsules. Smaller than a vitamin and power-packed with organic ingredients, one of these babies feeds your face while you sleep and you wake up good-to-glow.

Available: http://www.PrimaveraLife.com

For their commitment to responsible packaging, and in recognition of the matte finish that leaves your personal canvas perfectly primed, I award Clarins my promise to promote daily use of their Extra-Firming Day wrinkle lifting cream, formulated with extracts of organic lemon thyme and green banana.

Available: major dept stores and http://www.clarinsusa.com

Kudos to Tata Harper for her Core Beauty Set. The tasty trio of Refreshing Cleanser, Hydrating Floral Essence and Rejuvenating Serum are 100% natural and do indeed refresh, cleanse, hydrate and rejuvenate. The textures and scents soothe the senses, smooth the skin and deliver maximum radiance.

Available: http://www.tataharperskincare.com

The wanderlust prize for comforting cranky travelers goes to Amala for their Hydrate Spa Valise. This collection cleanses, quenches and moisturizes your face with certified natural organic ingredients and comes good-to-go for your next walkabout in an elegant hemp case of which Mies van der Rohe would approve.

Available: ABC Home, NYC and http://www.amalabeauty.com

The lifetime achievement award for simplifying regimens goes to Kimberly Sayer for creating organic skincare lines that streamline the process of getting the daily job done. The Gentle Face Cleanser, Lavender Toner and Anti-Oxidant Daily Moisturizing Cream SPF25 are all those with sensitive skin need to face each day.

Available: Whole Food Markets and http://www.kimberlysayer.com

In parting, a plea to those who provide us with products: less overwrought marketing-ese, more simple truth please.

Rosacea is known to set in primarily with woman over the age of 30. In a survey of 1,066 patients of the NRS, 41% reported that certain skin-care products aggravated their condition and 27% said that certain cosmetics caused red-hue inducing flair-ups of Rosacea. BeautyNewsNYC has rounded up some advice to heed as well as a slew of products to honor April, National Rosacea Awareness Month, and all the gals and guys suffering from surly skin.

First things first: the NRS survey names the following ingredients as potentially irritating elements that users should be wary of: alcohol (66%), witch hazel (30 %), fragrance (30%), menthol (21%), peppermint (14%), and eucalyptus oil (13%). The American Academy of Dermatology also weighed in, explaining that as the skin is essentially a portal to potential allergens, those suffering from Rosacea should be sure to avoid irritating substances such as astringents, as this will weaken the composition of the skin even more. They also warned users that “allergy tested” and hypoallergenic” are not synonymous terms, the latter a clearly undefined term created by the cosmetics industry.

Read on to revel in six soothing products that will bring your best face forward – red-free and ravishing. (We can’t help you with the blushing, naughty.)

For daily use, we love Clinique’s Redness Solution Daily Relief Cream. It offers up an uber gentle oil-free moisture that soothes and calms red-prone skin, even the more oh-my problems like broken capillaries and blotchiness. Perhaps best of all is this tricky little cream’s ability to counter future flair-ups before they ever even happen. Who says there’s no magic in this world?

Available at Major Dept Stores and http://www.clinique.com

For skin that feels so sensitive, even fingertips are wince-inducing, Murad’s Redness Therapy Recovery Gel is an incredibly lightweight option that creates a cooling sensation, instantly fortifying fair flesh against rough winds (or hands!) This gel, which relies on a delicate combination of mother’s nature bounty – including Goji berry extract and peppermint leaf – is guaranteed to re-hydrate and re-texturize irritated skin.

Available: http://www.beautybar.com, http://www.murad.com/Skincare_Products, http://www.beauty.com

Pretty party people’s skin always needs to recoup post-revelry with a little rejuvenation, especially those belle of the balls that suffer from rosacea. DERMAdoctor’s Calm Cool and Corrected cream counters facial faux pas like oiliness, blemishes, dryness and of course, redness, but also prides itself on banishing signs of aging. Suggested use is twice daily, allowing 6-8 weeks for best results with pesky conditions.

Avilable at http://www.sephora.com/Dermadoctor and http://www.dermadoctor.com

Although Silibinin and Methyl Sulfonyl Methane have a sinister ring, the coupling of these two elements, an active inflammatory of milk thistle and a non-metallic sulfur compound, creates a dynamic duo in conquering chronic redness due to Rosacea. Glytone has whipped up the Rosacure Cream Gel with a paraben and fragrance-free formula that leaves skin feeling fresh and decidedly demure.

Available at http://www.dermstore.com, http://www.skincarerx.com

It’s certainly a mouthful but Avène’s Antirougeurs Anti-Redness Dermo-Cleansing Milky Fluid is a feather-light cleansing cream, offering an ideal option for Rosacea-ridden skin that needs a thorough (but gentle) scrub down. Strong enough to remove makeup, but soothing enough to calm highly reactive skin, Avène’s Milky Fluid is comprised of 88% thermal mineral water. Flanking this fresh agua are additional hypoallergenic botanical extracts like Ruscus for improved circulation, Dextren Sulfate to minimalize the appearance of swelling, and Hesperidin Methyl Chalcone, which strengthens vascular walls.

Available at http://www.aveneusa.com

We all know the sun on our face feels stupendous, but can wreak havoc on the vitality of our visage. Ren’s Hydra-calm Youth Defense Serum packs a super punch of emollients bolstered by essential fatty acids and a Global Protection Complex that stand guard against oxidation and free radical damage. Ren’s Serum works on contact offering up protective bio-actives like Omega 3 & 7, which repairs and strengthens skin, and Bisabolol derived from calendula, which soothes sensitive skin. Apply three or four pumps twice a day after cleansing.

Available at Beauty.com and http://www.renskincare.com

That means:
1. Pay to join a dating website
2. Post a good and recent picture of yourself
3. Spend time writing a thoughtful profile
4. Take the information from a man’s profile with the same grain of salt as you would had you met the guy at a friends party
5. Reach out to men you are interested in, don’t just sit around and wait to be contacted
6. Be safe and smart, don’t give out too much personal info
7. Treat others the way you would want to be treated – karma is huge when it comes to online dating.

Patricia Leavy, PhD, an expert in gender-based studies, met her husband online and passes on her tips to meet Mr. Right in her byline article, Top 4 Tips To Meeting Mr. Right Online. One of her most interesting tips says to “overlook the unimportant stuff and focus on the big picture. Once you’ve developed your short list and you’re starting to date make sure to keep some perspective. It’s easy to get distracted by the small-stuff, like an odd eating habit or strange laugh, but these things are trivial. Focus on what really matters. Ask yourself the following: Does he seem like a good person? Does he strike you as genuine? Are you authentic when you are with him? Do you have good conversation? Can you envision having fun together? How do you feel when you’re with him? What does he bring out in you?”

According to the 2012 Guide to Dating: Everything You Need To Know, online was ranked number three in a list of best places to meet a date, just below at work/school or through a friend. In addition 40% of all single Americans use online dating services. So the next time you swear off dating websites, think again, Mr. Right might just be a click away.

KEYWORDS: dating, online, profile, website

What seems like a simple concept has caught on like wildfire. According to a recent article posted by the social media blog Mashable.com, Pinterest is gaining popularity at record speed. The two-year-old site has received over sixteen million unique visits in the month of February, which is an 866% increase from September 2011.

So how does all this buzz benefit your big day? Pinterest is making it much easier and enjoyable for the bride-to-be to take on the daunting task of wedding planning. Creating a Pinterest account give you access to a world of profiles containing thousands of wedding boards that suit your particular taste. The bride on a budget can find a plethora of DIY decoration ideas. The fashionista can search through galleries of the latest in avant-garde dress designs heading down the aisle this season. And, if you’re looking for the perfect location for your beach wedding, surf the boards for images of ideal tropical destinations. All of this material can be repinned to your page for future reference. But what makes Pinterest even more convenient is the social format. It allows you to link your account to your Facebook and Twitter accounts, where you can find others in your social circle who have Pinterest accounts. This makes it simple to share what you’ve pinned and get valuable feedback from your friends.

The ability to filter material from all over the web to your own personal gallery without collecting a magazine or clipping a page is a major time, space and energy saver. So, if your interest is piqued and you’re ready to pin, here are some easy steps on how to get started:

Set Up an Account -
Gaining access to your own account on Pinterest is currently by invitation only. But if patience is not your strong suit, feel free to request an invite from a friend who is already a member. Once you’ve received your invite via email, follow the prompts to set up your profile. This process also includes installing the pin it button on to your browser, which creates the image thumbnails for you to pin to your profile.

Create Your Boards -
Based on the topics you select, Pinterest will suggest a bunch of users you can follow to help you get started. The real fun lies in building your own boards (Victorian-style cake decorations, spring floral arrangement, antique jewelry, turquoise sleeveless bridesmaid dresses, etc.) and sharing your style with others.

Start Pinning -
Now, go to your favorite wedding magazine pages, blogs, and photography sites, click on the pin it button you’ve added to your browser and select the images you’d like to pin. You can add a bit of information about the image and select exactly which board you’d like to add it to.

Get the App -
Download the Pinterest mobile app so you can take a quick pic and pin it on the fly.

Need more inspiration? Follow us on Pinterest and check out our wedding board-
http://pinterest.com/bnnyc/wedding-inspiration/

Photographer & Founder of ArtWorks for Freedom
In her 30 years as a professional photographer, Kay Chernush has worked around the globe, but the assignment that changed her life was one working with the survivors of human trafficking. This experience inspired her to create ArtWorks for Freedom, a nonprofit dedicated to finding new ways to approach the modern slavery through the arts. In less than a year, ArtWorks for Freedom has expanded to include guest contributors in poetry, theater, music, and dance, and continues to seek new artists to support its mission.

ArtWorks for Freedom has teamed up with EmancipAsia to launch its first awareness campaign in Singapore in the summer of 2012. Next year, a new campaign will be launched in New York City, before traveling the United States. Central to the campaign is Chernush’s “Bought & Sold,” an audiovisual exhibit combining images and survivor narratives. Her large-scale photos are displayed outdoors to help people understand that slavery happens everywhere – including through sex tourism and forced servitude – even if we don’t see it.

The images in “Bought & Sold” do not reveal survivors’ identities. “Beautiful, dignified portraits don’t add to our knowledge about what trafficking really is,” she says. Instead, Chernush focuses on individual experiences. One image, entitled “Chili Pepper Bath,” is accompanied by a caption from its survivor narrative: “When he forced me in the water, it burned. I was 13, screaming, crying, begging him . . .”

Chernush knows what it’s like to be on the other end of the lens. In 2006, she published Self-Examination, a series of self-portraits documenting her experience with breast cancer. This has helped her understand the complications of photographing victims and survivors. She takes portraits of subjects for their personal use. “I don’t want them to be raped again, re-exploited by showing their identities,” she says. “Voodoo Inverso,” shown above, is captioned with the words of one survivor who was subject to a fake voodoo ceremony before being sent to Italy: “With this picture I reverse the voodoo onto my trafficker. I am not afraid anymore.” For information about taking action, and to see more images from Chernush’s “Bought & Sold” series, visit ArtWorksForFreedom.org.

Yuja Wang

Classical Pianist
Yuja Wang is changing the world of classical music one note at a time. Fearless in both musical selection and performance, her playful style reveals a deep enjoyment of music, exuding an energy that can electrify a concert hall. Watching her zip through “Flight of the Bumblebee,” a challenging piece, makes it easy to see why her performance has been described as “superhuman.” (A YouTube video of this performance went viral last year.) Her combination of technical perfection and emotional intuition makes her a standout performer.

Wang was born in Beijing, China, where she began playing piano when she was six. By the time she was 12, she had played publicly in China, Australia, and Germany. Eventually, she attended the prestigious Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, where she studied under Gary Graffman. Her first album, Sonatas & Etudes, was released by Deutsche Gammophon in 2009, when Wang was just 22 years old—she’s been with the label ever since. The following year, she won the Avery Fisher Career Grant, among other awards.

Despite being a student of the classical old guard, Wang has proved to be a bit of a rebel. Her fashion sense is just as bold as her playing, which has stirred up controversy in the conservative classical world. Many reviewers can’t resist commenting on her fashion, which is as edgy, youthful, and fun as her playing. Some concert halls have a strict dress code for orchestra members, but soloists are generally permitted to wear what they like. Traditionally, women choose floor-length evening gowns and sensible shoes. Wang prefers to buck the trend—whether it’s with a thigh-high slit or a pair of sparkly stilettos.

In an August 2011 concert at the Hollywood Bowl, Wang sported a ruched orange minidress with lace inserts and a deep V-neck. The LA Times ran a photo of Wang taking a bow beside her Steinway while a pinch-faced man in the orchestra looks on with disapproval—and a bit of Hel-lo! And that might be just what classical music needs. Wang’s new album, Fantasia, is set to release on April 10. “Danse macabre” and “Carmen” will be familiar, even to classical newcomers, while Wang’s arrangement of “L’apprenti sorcier” should be a treat for connoisseurs.

Classic Heroine
Sybil Ludington (1761 – 1839)

American Revolutionary
Late in the evening on April 25, 1777, there was a knock at the door of Sybil Ludington’s family home. America was in the midst of the Revolutionary War and late-night visitors rarely brought good news. A messenger had come to ask Ludington’s father, Colonel Henry Ludington, to organize the local Continental militia for battle. He told them that two-thousand British troops had arrived by sea at Danbury, Connecticut, where they plundered the Continental troops’ provisions had set the town on fire. The messenger was one of several dispatched to sound the alarm.

After an exhausting ride to an unfamiliar area, the messenger feared that he would not be able to find militiamen’s homes and execute the Colonel’s instructions. The Colonel needed time to plan as the troops were alerted, so he could not go himself. Sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington, the oldest of the Colonel’s 12 children, saddled her horse Star and rode through the rainy night. As Paul Revere had done in Massachusetts two years earlier, she knocked on doors along her route to alert the militiamen that the British were close. It was time to gather for battle.

The trip was dangerous, as the countryside was full of British loyalists, spies, and war mercenaries. Despite this, Ludington traveled until dawn, covering 40 miles – nearly twice the distance of Revere. Thanks to her, 400 soldiers had joined her father’s ranks by morning. The troops could not reach Danbury in time to save it, but they did skirmish with the British in the Battle of Ridgefield. Though Ridgefield was technically a Continental loss, the British never again tried to mount an attack so deep into Connecticut.

George Washington thanked Sybil Ludington for her bravery, and for the rest of the war she worked as a Continental messenger. Once American independence was safe, Ludington married, had children, and lived a quiet life in Unadilla, New York, until her death in 1839. She may not be a household name, but her inspiring story deserves to be remembered.

Executive Director and Founder, Active Minds
One spring day in March 2000, college freshman Alison Malmon’s world collapsed. Her older brother Brian, also a college student, had committed suicide while on academic leave from Columbia University. Brian had been outgoing, a stellar student, a cappella singer, and campus newspaper editor. His family had only recently learned that he was struggling with schizophrenia and depression. While coping with her brother’s death was extraordinarily painful, Ms. Malmon was also pained to think that for three years he hid his illness from everyone, suffering alone.

By the time Ms. Malmon returned to the University of Pennsylvania, her sadness had sparked an urgent passion—and she founded Active Minds (then called Open Minds), a nonprofit campus organization dedicated to supporting students whose lives had been touched by mental illness. “Regardless of who you are and what your experiences are, you need a network of advocates—a community,” says Ms. Malmon. That goes for those who sufferer from mental illness themselves, as well as those like Ms. Malmon, who are crucial to the support structure, and also need support themselves.

Attendance at meetings grew, and so did Ms. Malmon’s message: Stigma is one of the toughest barriers to wellness for those suffering from mental illness. She says, “Anecdotally, I have seen in our parents’ and grandparents’ generation, the idea that anything in the brain is seen as a character flaw, something not to be talked about. We want to open the dialogue, and be able to start a conversation about how we are all affected.” Active Minds’ tagline is “Changing the conversation about mental health,” and equipping students with the right language and a comfortable support forum is a key part of the mission.

Today, there are more than 340 campus chapters of Active Minds. Ms. Malmon, executive director, also sits on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Consumer/Survivor Subcommitee, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law Leadership21 Committee, and others; she has been recognized as Washingtonian of the Year by Washington magazine. So how does Ms. Malmon unwind after a long day? Ever fearless and graceful, she loves soaring through the air at the Trapeze School in Washington, DC, where she teaches others how to reach new heights.

Anna Deavere Smith

Writer and Actor
For Anna Deavere Smith, theater can be a powerful tool. While Ms. Smith got her start acting in soap operas, she has always worked towards using acting to promote social change. Her most notable works are her one-woman shows, for which she is researcher, writer, director, and actor. Her performances have been described as “magical,” as she fully embodies each character—all of them real people—some famous and familiar, and others unknown. Ms. Smith has pioneered a new form of art, blending theater, oral history, and journalism, to create an emotional audience experience that challenges our limited perspective on the world. She has earned a MacArthur Award, an Obie, a Drama Desk Award, two Tony nominations, and many other honors.

In the 1980s she began a long-term project to create a series of one-woman shows called “On the Road: A Search for American Character.” In the early 1990s she wrote “Fires in the Mirror” and “Twilight: Los Angeles,” the first major works of her career. “Fires in the Mirror” examined the impact of the 1991 Crown Heights Riot, which was started by a traffic accident in which a Orthodox Jewish man hit and killed an African-American boy. The incident pitted the two groups against one another and tore the Crown Heights community apart. In “Twilight: Los Angeles,” Ms. Smith explored the experiences of those impacted by the 1992 L.A. riots that broke out after the verdict in the Rodney King case was announced. For both works, Ms. Smith interviewed dozens of witnesses and community members, and each play acts as a multi-faceted crystal, with each monologue reflecting a different perspective.

Her 2009 play, “Let Me Down Easy,” delves into the experiences of illness, death, and mortality. On stage, she is a shapeshifter, physically changing her posture, voice, and facial expressions to assume the roles of bull rider Brent Williams, supermodel Lauren Hutton, and movie critic Joel Siegel, among others. Hilarious one moment, and devastatingly moving the next, her performances careen through a range of human experience. They force us to see our society in ways we recognize, in ways that are new, and in ways that push us out of our comfort zone.

Ms. Smith is also an educator. She teaches theater at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and is the founder of Anna Deavere Smith Works, a nonprofit dedicated to art that promotes social change.

Classic Heroine (1920 – 1958)
Rosalind Franklin
Biophysicist, Chemist

Most people have heard of James Watson and Francis Crick, the duo that coined the genetics catchphrase the “double helix” to describe the physical shape of DNA. But few know that Rosalind Franklin, a British scientist, was an integral part of their discovery. According to biographer Brenda Maddox, Dr. Franklin had “a particular genius … She could take photographs of crystals … and interpret the patterns.” That was her specialty.

While Drs. Watson and Crick were working at Cambridge, Dr. Franklin was working at Kings College in London with her colleague Maurice Wilkins. Dr. Franklin took the first photographs of the double helix—the twisted ladder shape of DNA—and shed light on one of the greatest mysteries in science: how DNA replicated to create new cells. She wrote two papers on her findings.

Meanwhile, Dr. Watson was frustrated, so he traveled to Cambridge to speak with Drs. Franklin and Wilkins. That fateful day, Dr. Wilkins showed Dr. Watson the best photo of DNA to date—taken, of course, by Dr. Franklin. When he saw the image he said, “My jaw fell open and my pulse began to race.” And race the two scientific teams did, until they reached the finish line simultaneously, both publishing articles in the April 1953 issue of Nature magazine.

Over the next few years, Dr. Franklin dedicated her life to studying viruses, including polio, one of the deadliest diseases of her day. It was considered dangerous research due to the risk of infection, but she was fearless, dedicating the final years of her life to her work. In 1958, Dr. Franklin died, but not from any of the dangerous viruses she was studying. She succumbed to ovarian cancer at the age of 37 years.

Four years later, in 1962, Drs. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins were honored for their DNA research with the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Committee does not award posthumous prizes, so Dr. Franklin was not named as a recipient, but her work will be remembered.

Laura Mercier Undercover Pot and Laura Mercier Under Eye Perfector

Best Package Deal: Laura Mercier Undercover Pot, $34
This convenient purse-friendly pot contains three of the award-winning makeup artist’s best foundations: Secret Camouflage, Secret Concealer, and Translucent Loose Setting Powder. Paired with Laura Mercier’s Under Eye Perfector, your bright eyes will rival Conor Oberst’s.

Available at Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, Sephora, and http://www.lauramercier.com.

Benefit Lemon Aid and Benefit Stay Don’t Stray

Best Cult Classic: Benefit Lemon Aid, $20
Created especially for ladies who forgo makeup, this top-selling tried-and-true citrus cream is specially formulated to hide embarrassing red splotches and veins. For heightened protection, try blending with a liquid primer like Stay Don’t Stray!

Available at Benefit Boutique Soho (454 West Broadway, 212-769-1111), Benefit Boutique Upper East Side (1301 3rd Avenue, 212-288-4728), and benefitcosmetics.com.

Jane Iredale CircleDelete® Under-Eye Concealer and Jane Iredale Active Light® Under-Eye Concealer

Best Holistic Treatment: Jane Iredale CircleDelete® Under-Eye Concealer, $30 & Active Light® Under-Eye Concealer, $27
Infused with natural extracts including avocado oil, rosemary, cucumber, white tea extract, and sunflower oil to treat delicate skin, Jane Iredale’s silky-smooth, weightless formulas aim to stop dark circles and puffiness in their tracks with every use.

Available at Saks Fifth Avenue and http://www.janeiredale.com.