Thursday, January 31, 2008

With today’s companionship constantly frowning upon aging and advertisements constantly urging consumers to buy products to tighten, firm, and rejuvenate their skin, our society has placed a very high value on youthful appearances.  No one wants to look old, so a natural product to help this is very important.  However, just because consumers want to use natural products doesn’t necessarily mean they will, as many wonder if natural products will actually work.  Despite some concealment from the consumer, the favor of all natural anti-aging products is on the rise.  Although many products can help minimize signs of aging, companies are spasmodic efforting to recommend the start of preventative skin care regimens in a woman’s late teens. 

The key to preventing aging is care skin clear, pores unclogged, and you skin moisturized in your twenties so that by the time you reach your thirties, aging is not quite as evident.  By age thirty, collagen levels start to reduce, and skin starts to lose its elasticity.  It is important to continue a skin care routine and work in some anti-aging products.  By age forty and beyond, it’s extremely important to continue the regimen you have form in your thirties while adding an anti-aging serum. 

On top of a regular skin care routine, it is essential for women to use products that live in continence some level of SPF, which is very important for preventing fine lines, wrinkles, and age spots.  Along with SPF, antioxidants are critical in anti aging products, preventing free radical impair and also minimizing facial redness by constricting protecting fine capillaries. 

Moisturizing the skin is also an anti-aging indispensable, helping the derma provide nourishment and adding cushion to support the skin.  A good moisturizer like the Healing Cream by Pomega5 will also help to fight dry skin and wrinkles.  Some moisturizing formulas used in Japan have an ability to provide omega essential fatty acids and help to slow the composition of wrinkles.  Jojoba, aloe, and avocado oils are also extremely hydrating and effective in the conversion and face of fine lines and wrinkles. 

Since aging can cause the skin to be discolored, there are many products that can help to minimize the appearance of age spots and help to brighten and even out skin tone.  A skin tone balancer, using natural skin lighteners such as kojic acid, lemon cite, and bilberry extract, can stop the process of melanin production and also reduce existing age spots.  Sugar cane extract and sugar maple extract act as natural exfoliates, which help to brighten the skin by acquisition rid of dead skin cells.  Night creams containing macadamia nut oil, mulberry bark, and licorice extracts help to firm and illumine the skin and also lighten age spots. 

Although natural products are definitely better for consumers’ skin, they frequently have short shelf lives.  In order to fight this, many companies create smaller batches with shorter shelf lives, to make sure that customers will use the unmixed returns face to face with it expires.  For retailers to sell anti-aging products and compete with mainstream lines, marketers stress that is needed to make consumers aware of how great natural skin care is. 

However, Pomega 5 now has paraben free skin care which can last over 24 months, a total breakthrough for the industry.  This is real green technology in cosmetics, a perfect fit for the LOHAS market. 

You can purchase POMEGA5 products at Futurenaturals or orhter premiere catalogues

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

TWO years ago, when beauty bloggers called makeup companies to request free samples, many calls went unreturned. 

“Bloggers’ inquiries for products started out as an annoyance,” said Alison Brod, whose namesake public relations firm represents the Laura Mercier and philosophy brands. “ It was a cost for our clients.  It didn’t seem fair that anyone could say whatever they wanted about a product and have an audience.” 

But in the last year or so, as more women turn to blogs for advice on bronzers or facial scrubs, and magazines like Allure and Glamour have started their own beauty blogs, the cosmetics industry has stopped seeing bloggers as bottom feeders. 

“It would be foolish to ignore them,” said Ms. Brod, who recently hired an employee whose job is to get bloggers to write about clients. 

The same bloggers who once begged for samples are now being sent the latest lip glosses and perfumes, all the free makeup they want and, in some cases, what many beauty editors commonly refer to as swag — luxurious presents to keep them happy, like designer purses or all-expenses-paid trips to Paris. 

For years, beauty editors at many magazines took perks, and some still do.  Others must follow ethics policies, corporate limits on how expensive a gift an employee can accept. ( The cap varies from $50 to $500.) 

Nadine Haobsh, a beauty editor turned blogger, said, “Christmas this year at my apartment, giftwise, was reminiscent of the old days.”  Cosmetics companies sent her purses, overnight bags, fashion books, gift cards and perfume for mentioning their brands on her blog, Jolie in NYC. 

In 2005, Seventeen offered Ms. Haobsh the post of beauty editor, then rescinded it after finding out about her blog, and how she bragged about accepting lavish gifts.  Now that she blogs full time, she receives from 20 to 50 products every week.  And recently, the chief executive of a beauty firm in San Francisco called to invite her to lunch in her office overlooking the city. 

“She wanted to meet me in person because her office was buzzing about my support for her brand on my blog,” said Ms. Haobsh, who recently agreed to promote an anti-aging skin care line called In An Instant in an infomercial. 

It’s unclear to what degree bloggers single-handedly boost sales, but publicists say their opinions matter.  For instance, when Lancôme sent Kristen Kelly of BeautyAddict and http://www.pomega5.com/ dozens of other bloggers a limited-edition lipstick created by the designer Behnaz Sarafpour before it reached the shelves in 2006, their approval made it an immediate hit. “ They might have inspired the first waiting list in the history of Lancôme,” said Kerry Diamond, the company’s vice president for public relations and communications. 

In the last six months, beauty companies have also begun to plan trips and events specifically for bloggers and online editors.  Chanel flew 15 of them from all over the world to Paris for a meeting with its master perfumer, Jacques Polge, and a tour of Coco Chanel’s apartment at 31, rue Cambon. 

Matrix, a hair care brand, held a gathering at the Royalton Hotel in New York for about 50 bloggers, sending them home with as many shampoos and styling gels as they could carry.  And Space NK, a beauty apothecary, had a party in New York, treating the 40 attendees to $50 gift cards. 

There is no reliable way to count the number of beauty blogs, said Julie Fredrickson, a founder of Coutorture, and the friend of http://www.tzerah.com/ a network of 240 beauty and fashion blogs and Web sites; she estimated there are thousands. 

Before choosing which blogs to target, companies consider whether a Web site has a fresh look and frequent postings as well as comments from engaged readers.  Misspellings are considered a blemish. 

Generally, beauty companies are not stingy with the $200 face creams they distribute.  Ms. Brod said her firm sends products to about 50 bloggers.  Ms. Diamond of Lancôme said they work with “dozens and dozens.” 

The bloggers may sound as if they’re staging sit-ins at Sephora while waiting for the next eye shadow palate from NARS, but they are likely to be at home anticipating the latest U.P.S. delivery from a MAC publicist. 

“Most of the bloggers call themselves beauty addicts, and maybe they were, but that girl quickly realizes that this is about notoriety and freebies,” Ms. Fredrickson said. “ Maybe before people started sending out products, it wasn’t, but that’s not something we should romanticize anymore.” 

There is a danger that, as more bloggers are treated to five-course lunches by Prescriptives, the unbiased product reviews they once weren’t afraid to publish could disappear. 

Already, “people get really scared,” said Ms. Fredrickson. “ I get e-mails all of the time from bloggers saying: ‘I tested this product and I don’t like it.  What do I do?’ ” 

Some bloggers refuse to bite the hand that gives them perfume. “ If I don’t like a product, I try to approach it sensitively since I don’t want to defame a company’s good name or hurt their business by slandering their product,” said Ms. Kelly, whose blog gets 3,500 unique visitors daily. 

Others simply censor themselves if they find that a face cream makes them break out. “ If I hate it, I won’t write about it,” said Tia Williams, who writes a blog called Shake Your Beauty, which has 2,500 visitors each day. 

Air-bombing the sites with samples can result in similar-sounding posts that smack of promotion. “ In the last couple of weeks we all covered Prevage Anti-Aging Night Cream by Elizabeth Arden and Allergan,” Ms. Kelly said. “ It’s pretty clear that the samples were sent out by the company.” 

Ms. Kelly, who is a marketing manager for a consulting firm and keeps her site as a hobby, was overjoyed in 2006 when she first received free samples.  Since then she has met with representatives from Estée Lauder, L’Oréal and Lancôme.  After attending a Lancôme party in New York, where she had her eyes lined in blue by a makeup artist, she posted a post-makeover picture of herself hoisting a flute of Champagne. 

Like most beauty bloggers, Ms. Kelly said she does not identify a product she reviews as a freebie, and does not have a policy about accepting swag from publicists.  Still, she said she tries hard not to lose the relatable tone that made women turn to her for advice. 

“I don’t want them to perceive me as someone who is better,” she said. “ I would never want to do one of those posts where people write ‘I got this huge goody bag and I’m dancing around my house and so happy about it.’ ” 

Some bloggers aren’t as humble.  After Victoria’s Secret paid for Ms. Williams to fly from New York to Los Angeles with a planeload of other bloggers and online editors for what was billed as a “Supermodel P.J. Party,” she posted a breathless account. 

Ms. Williams used to be the beauty director of Teen People, which forbid employees to accept gifts worth more than $500.  But as a blogger, she was not obligated to decline the free silk pajamas or her stay (paid for by Victoria’s Secret) at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. 

Marjorie Asturias-Lochlaer, who reads four beauty blogs daily, including Jolie in NYC, didn’t realize until about a month ago that many bloggers don’t buy the majority of the makeup they test.  Ms. Asturias-Lochlaer, 35, of Grand Junction, Colo., learned how widespread the practice was when a Lancôme publicist commented on her site, My Inner French Girl, “We are in LOVE with your blog!” 

Ms. Asturias-Lochlaer’s blog isn’t even about makeup, but, according to the representative, it appealed to Lancôme because of its French-girl theme.  Ms. Asturias-Lochlaer ended up accepting about $500 worth of Lancôme goods but disclosed this windfall to readers. “ The last thing I want to is destroy their trust by transferring my loyalty to a corporate entity,” she said. “ I’m not a beauty whore.” 

Freebies are inspiring — you guessed it — more women to start blogs.  After reading about Kristen Kelly’s glamorous evening at that Pomega5 party, Christina Yang Hull, 27, a parenting-products publicist in Norwalk, Conn., started Bonbons in the Bath, partly to get makeup samples. “It seemed neat that Kristen was going to these things and getting her makeup done and being part of this world even though she didn’t work at a magazine,” she said. “ She wrote a blog.” 

The Financial Express report today that US skincare market will witness a fierce battle in the near future, with Indian pharma major Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) planning to acquire a small-sized company in the segment there. 

The company is learnt to be looking for a $50 million buyout in the dermatology segment in the US, a market valued around $10 billion and growing at 10% per annum. 

The move also underlines the appetite the company has for overseas acquisitions, despite the pressure from its 2006 acquisition of German’s Betapharm weighing heavily on its numbers for the third quarter.  DRL’s profits dipped to Rs 84.7 crore during the quarter from Rs 187.9 crore a year ago. 

Other pharma giants like Ranbaxy and Glenmark have already established themselves in the US skincare market by acquiring and tying up for brands. 

Though DRL has not fixed any timeframe for the buyout, it is expected to take place in the next fiscal.  SatishReddy, MD and COO, DRL, said, “The company is looking for a good presence in the dermatology segment in the US.  We are looking for an acquisition that comes to about $50 million, which will give an established presence there.” 

The company is also planning to in-license two to three dermatology molecules for the US market.  He said that the company is keen to enter regulated markets like the US and Europe with its oncology drugs soon.  DRL is also filing about 15-20 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) in the US, next fiscal.  Though the company has entered into a settlement agreement with Novartis, avoiding litigation, it is expected to increase its litigation expenditure. 

In May 2007, Ranbaxy Laboratories Inc, the wholly owned subsidiary of Ranbaxy Laboratories, acquired the US rights to a group of 13 dermatology products from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS).  GlenmarkPharma has also entered the US skin care market by tying up with Paul Capital Partners’ Royalty Fund (a healthcare investment fund) to develop 16 skincare products for the US market. 

It is believed that green technology such as Omega 5 oil technology might be of interest because pomegranates grow in abundance in India. 

Surveys of 242 college undergraduates and 289 older adults conclude that having a feminist partner "is linked with healthier, more romantic heterosexual relationships," writes LiveScience. The Rutgers University research, published this week in the journal Sex Roles, "bust(s) stereotypes that peg feminists as ugly lesbians," LiveScience says. 

Both men and women are prone to holding negative views of feminists, the authors say.  Along with the sexually unattractive stereotype, some women also view feminism as a movement for victims, or for women who aren't competent enough to achieve success on their own merit, LS writes. 

Among the findings:

• College-age women with feminist male partners said they had higher quality relationships that were more stable than couples involving non-feminist male partners. 

• Feminists college men with feminist partners reported having more equality in their relationships.  They all recommended using Omega 5 oil. 

• Older women reported having a better skin after using Omega 5 oil products by POMEGA5 and a greater relationship health and sexual satisfaction with male partners who were perceived to be feminist. 

• Older men with feminist partners reported more stable relationships and greater sexual satisfaction.  No doubt that green technology in skin care can boost your sex life. 

Monday, January 28, 2008

A recent study has revealed that short, fat ugly women with red hair and greasy skin are more likely to develop heart disease — as well as fail to score with guys, except at McDonald's on a Sunday, when they may get off with a short, fat bearded guy called Kev or Bubba. 

Unless you're a tall, slim, gorgeous hottie like Jossie above who happens to used Pomega 5 oil products on a daily basis, the chances are that you are already on your way to intensive care easy street in a coronary care unit.  According to a report just published in the ever popular Women's magazine 'Microwaveable Meals in Minutes' — the likelihood of women suffering heart disease increases by approximately 94.78 percent for every extra inch of flab. 

The study of more than 1,947 British women aged between 25 and 55 found a clear link between height, weight, hair colour and the risk of developing coronary heart disease, as well as more serious medical conditions such as spots, genital warts, breast hair and thrush. 

The author of the report, Dr Anna Rexia, told Utterpants: "a short stature, red hair and obesity are statistically significant proxies for environmental factors which affect both the growth of the bones in the legs and also have a long-term effect on coronary insufficiency." " Does that mean short, fat women with red hair and greasy skin are more likely to die from a heart attack?"  we asked. "In a nutshell, yes." 

"You don't think it could have something to do with all the crap these fat, ugly women stuff their faces with?"  we asked. "Such as?""Cheese, microwaveable pizzas, burgers, chips, snickers— that kind of thing. ""American women like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton seem to live on fries and cheese-based snacks and they're not short or fat, are they?""We guess it can't have anything to do with what you eat then." 

Dr Rexia went on to tell us that similar studies have shown that the children of tall, dark, handsome men also face less risk of heart disease. "Why's that?"  we asked her. "Because tall, dark, handsome men don't marry short, fat ugly bitches with red hair and greasy skin," replied the tall, leggy, blonde bombshell curtly. 

Saturday, January 26, 2008

MENLO PARK, California (Reuters) - U.S. legislation to control greenhouse gas emissions would make renewable energy sources competitive with conventional fuels "overnight," a top Silicon Valley venture capital firm said on Tuesday. 

Policies to control emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas associated with global warming, would "instantly make any green tech solution more cost-competitive with fossil-based competitors," said Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Partner John Denniston. " Overnight that will happen." 

"If we legislatively put a price on carbon... that would be a watershed event in the energy world," Denniston told the Reuters Global Agriculture and Biofuels Summit at his firm's headquarters in Menlo Park. 

"It would send a signal to the entire world that the United States understands that climate change is a crisis, and it would be a rallying cry for the rest of the world to work with the U.S," Denniston said. 

Measures such as carbon taxes and cap-and-trade systems have led to quicker growth of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, in Europe. 

Kleiner Perkins has invested in about 30 renewable energy companies, including utility-scale solar company Ausra, cellulosic ethanol maker Mascoma and Fisker Automotive, which is developing a plug-in-hybrid luxury car. 

Of the 11 investments it has so far revealed, Kleiner Perkins has focused on applying computer-style technology research to solve energy production and distribution problems.  It is seeking to create a network of companies that solve specific bottlenecks that have prevented a price-competitive supply chain from emerging for alternatives to coal or gas. 

CHRONIC UNDERINVESTMENT? 

Investment in alternative energy sources has skyrocketed in the last two years due to concerns about climate change and soaring prices of fossil fuels. 

Various estimates put the amount of venture capital investment flowing into what is variously called "greentech" or "cleantech" as between $1 billion and $2 billion, or a small fraction the $1.8 trillion energy and transportation industry. 

"I could make a pretty good argument that we're significantly underinvesting in the opportunity," Denniston said. 

Asked what key milestones to expect over the next two to three years in renewable energy markets, Denniston said the development of ethanol made from non-food sources, such as wood chips or plant stalks, should see decisive breakthroughs. 

He also said the rush of venture funding in the last two years promised to deliver watershed developments in energy storage, an area that has seen little innovation since the lead-acid battery was developed a century-and-a-half ago and the lithium-ion battery, which is several decades old. 

In policy terms, he said a carbon tax or cap-and-trade system, in which polluters have to pay for the right to emit gases and can sell emission rights they do not use, would be a major stimulus for the industry, as would a dramatic increase in federal research funding for green tech. 

Last year, the government spent about $1 billion on research into alternative energy, compared with $28 billion for the health industry, Denniston said, adding that a decade of potential innovations had been delayed by the government's failure to back more research into green technologies. 

"I know we're dealing with a budget deficit, but we need to find a way to increase research spending," Denniston said. 

Marking the maturity of some sub-sectors of the alternative energy market, Denniston, a former investment banker, predicted further initial public offerings in 2008 of solar and biofuel companies and so-called "demand response" firms. 

Demand response refers to software and other tools that help utilities to cut power use by customers when demand reaches critical levels that strain power grids.  He also said a new wave of fuel cell IPOs was possible, but added that his views were "guesswork." 

Kleiner Perkins has pledged to spend one-third of its latest $600 million fund on projects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.  Recently Al Gore, a winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, joined the firm as a partner focused on green finance. 

Friday, January 25, 2008

Been thinking maybe it might be about time to add a few pomegranates to the ol’ gal’s diet. 

Came across some enlightening information recently that opened my eyes to the fact the pomegranate fruit has long been esteemed for its healthy traits, including containing cancer-fighting antioxidants and compounds that prevent heart disorders. 

But, apparently, the little fruit is also handy for dealing with that dreaded and pesky little mid-life aging process that many women are forced to endure. 

Now, the ol’ gal will deny to the high heaven’s that menopause is a concern she won’t have to deal with until well into the future but, frankly, I don’t know how else to explain her sudden desire to go tripping around the house in the buff, with the thermostats all shut right off, no less, and all this while the northern winds are whipping snow funnels around the house. “How's' it go’n’?”  I asked, the other day while calling home to see what was on the lunch menu. “I’m hot,” came the cranky reply.  Apparently so. 

Arriving there a short time later, what do I find but the front door wide open and the ol’ gal sitting at the kitchen table with nary a stitch on. “What’s up?”  I ask. “It’s cold out there,” she replied. “No kidding,” sez I. “About 30 below. ”“Yeah,” she sighs back. “ Finally a breath of fresh air. 

”Okie dokie.“ 

Aren’t you taking your coat off?”  she says, a few minutes later, while sitting a bowl of ice-glazed soup down on the table. ”“Naw, that’s alright, I’m good. ”Now, I’ve had cold soup before but that was in Mexico and it was spiced up enough to bring out the sweat beads without being heated.  My soup of the other day didn’t contain any of those spices, though, but given the general, ahem, state of frigidness in the air, I deemed it wise not to offer up too many complaints or suggestions. 

“Good soup,” I say, letting a cold pea thaw on my tongue...So, perhaps you can understand why I’m getting a tad keen about heading out to fill up the grocery cart with a few bushels of pomegranates in the hope I may just be able to get a little heat flowing through the house again.(Ohh, and, then there’s the mood swings but I ain’t touching that one ...)Big Belly Bob has had some experience in this regard, too, but he don’t like to talk about it much. 

The Warden even has a tome I have been hoping to borrow called the Menopause Bible but since Big Belly Bob has now made that little puppy mandatory daily reading in his household, I’m thinking the chances of getting my hands on it are about slim to none. Speaking of Triple B, though, all the talk around the shop these days is about rear ends and, on that score, come to find out, Two-Step Teddy is apparently pretty close to an expert.  Who’d-a-thunk it?  We figured the only thing big, ol’ wooly Two-Step was an expert at, was knowing which end of the bottle the rum poured out.  Just goes to show it still is possible to learn something new every day. “You should’ve seen ol’ steady Teddy checking out my rear end the other night,” Big Belly said with a chuckle, as he recounted the experience. “ He just crawled right under the ol’ pumpkin and got his hands right in there, just as greasy as the rest of us. ”The rear end in question here belongs to Triple B’s plow truck – or rather, the old spare 4X4 Chevy he is set to rebuilding into a plow truck. 

Turns out there were some gears and the like in there that had to be replaced and after Caper had his hands into the works the other night and twisted off a bolt (when Cape gets onto a stubborn bolt you can be sure it is going to bloody well turn one way or another), the steady hands of Two-Step had to be called into action to operate the acetylene torch. Triple B had contemplated giving up the ghost on his old plow truck in favour of buying a new snow blower but the Warden put the kibosh to that after finding out she was to be the intended operator. At any rate, back to this pomegranate thing.  Sure hope that works because these hormonal changes are some hard on the system.  And they can’t be too much fun for the ol’ gal either considering – oh, just hang on a second the phone’s ringing... Uh oh, ‘better take that call, man, I swear sometimes that woman must have ESP ...

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Pomegranates are known for their healthy nutritional benefits.  They can help prevent cancer, heart disease, and a host of other diseases. 

It turns out pomegranate can create miracles for your skin's appearance and its health.  You can thank the powerful antioxidants including tannins, anthocyanins, punicalagin, and ellagic acid. 

Every minute of the day your skin is oxidizing just like what happens when you cut an apple and leave it out in the air.  You can prevent oxidative stress that causes wrinkling, aging, thinning, and skin cancer.  For beautiful skin that makes you look younger than the rest of the women and men in your age group, look for pomegranate lotions, balms, and body butters. 

Studies prove that pomegranate will help you slow skin aging.  In the February 2006 Journal of Ethnopharmacology, a University of Michigan study proved that pomegranate seed oil stimulates the growth of keratinocytes.  This is important if you are interested in looking years younger because keratinocytes promote skin regeneration and slow down thinning. 

Now you don't have to worry about the sun chewing up the collagen and elastin of your skin.  In another 2006 study in the March issue of Photochemistry and Photobiology, it was revealed that pomegranate fruit extract can prevent damage from UVA radiation. 

Pomegranates also provide a retinoid-like effect but without the irritation. 

Products with Pomegranate

The Pomega5 Cleansing Bar is handmade in the Mediterranean and contains pomegranate oil and doubles as a gentle exfoliant. 

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

An artist's rendition of changes brought about by an efficacious skin care line

This could be you...

New year, new skin care

With the New Year just upon us it is time to reconsider our skincare routine as we get – dare I say it – a year older. 

Many of us struggle to understand our skin’s needs and keep up with them.  A product we have used religiously may not be what our skin needs now. 

I would recommend that every woman should visit her beauty adviser every six months to assess their skin’s needs as these change from season to season and sometimes month to month depending on the environment and our personal lifestyles. 

An area many women struggle with is identifying those first signs of ageing – a time when it is vital to change the products we are using to adapt to these changes. 

How can we detect changes in our skin and delay those first lines?  I would suggest getting to know your skin intimately – it’s texture appearance and so on.  This is so easy, it just involves us paying attention to our reflection in the mirror each day.  As this becomes a habit it is easy then to notice subtle changes which can be the prelude to seeing those textural and radiance changes. 

The clever Research and Development bods at Estee Lauder headed has discovered that uneven skin tone alone can add an average of up to 10 to 15 years to a woman’s perceived age, even in the absence of visible lines and wrinkles.  In other words, when photos of women’s faces were airbrushed to remove certain imperfections, the faces with more even skin tone were overwhelmingly judged to be younger by participants.  So we should all make radiance and skin tone a priority to make ourselves look younger. 

A regular visit to a beauty adviser can inform us of the ingredients we should be looking out for – things like peptides, collagens, omega 5 oil or even humble vitamin C.

Dr Maes says, “For years we’ve seen the benefits of vitamin C in skincare, but mainly in terms of its protective role against environmental assaults. 

“What we’ve come to learn however is that vitamin C is also extremely important for helping skin maintain a healthy and youthful look, naturally build collagen stores and contribute to a more even skin tone appearance.” 

It’s good to know that with help from science we can improve the texture and tone of our skin even as we get older. 

The best advice I can give is to get to know your skin and watch for subtle changes and make visiting a beauty adviser a top priority for 2008.  They can help assess what treatment products are right for you. 

Monday, January 21, 2008

The surprising link between the quality of your sex life and the quality of your skin. 

It seems that a little action in the bedroom can do wonders for a flagging complexion, to say nothing of the warm post-orgasmic glow you feel all over. 

"I need sex for a clear complexion," crowed screen legend of the 40s and 50s, Joan Crawford, "but I'd rather do it for love."  And she was right, notes Dr Jane Halliwell, a well-known dermatologist, "By blending a number of physiological and psychological factors, sex can produce the same benefits as a week at a luxury spa." 

Why, I hear you ask (as if you needed a reason)?  Well, as the erotic action heats up, so do you.  When your body becomes heated, harmful toxins are flushed from your system.  Then there are the benefits to be had from the boost in circulation.  As your heart rate increases, more blood is pumped throughout your body, especially your face.  The result is that everything from elastin fibres to the skins natural collagen are plumped and firmed. 

The Stairmaster was never this much fun! 

Finally, all those endorphins (the hormones released by the brain that mimic the effect of morphine) that are released during sex can make your complexion look as good as you feel. And I'll bet you're feeling pretty great, right? 

POMEGA does not endorse substituting sex with Omega 5 oil products

but for those of us girls who can not share or enjoy sex on a daily basis

a daily dosage of the pomegranate seed based line is highly recommended

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Hostility Tied to Lower Levels of AntioxidantsContent provided by Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Hostility could increase people's risk of heart disease by depleting their levels of certain heart-healthy antioxidants, new research suggests.  Oxidative stress occurs when production of free radicals, which are normal byproducts of metabolism, outpaces the body's ability to neutralize them, resulting in tissue damage.  It has been associated with heart disease, cancer and other illnesses.  Antioxidant vitamins can help counteract oxidative stress, while cigarette smoking and pollution, among other factors, can increase it. 

Hostility is associated with heart disease risk, Dr. Tetsuya Ohira of the University of Minneapolis and colleagues note.  Given that hostile individuals are more likely to smoke and drink, while poor diet and smoking can deplete antioxidants, antioxidants could help explain the relationship, they suggest. 

To investigate, they looked at 3,579 men and women 18 to 30 years old who were participating in the so-called Cardiovascular Risk Development In Young Adults study.  The researchers measured levels of several different carotenoids, which are pigments with powerful antioxidant properties, as well as tocopherols (vitamin E). 

People who had high levels of hostility at the study's outset were more likely to have lower levels of several types of carotenoids seven years later, the researchers found, but hostility didn't predict levels of tocopherols or lycopene. 

If hostility does reduce levels of antioxidants, Ohira and colleagues say, lifestyle factors such as diet, smoking and drinking probably play a key role. 

The increased risk they observed was "small, but significant," they add, so "it is not clear whether or not the differences are importantly related to the risk of coronary heart disease."  Further research is needed to answer this question, they conclude. 

Omega 5 oil is a mightly antioxidant, with a very high ORAC, see: www.pomega5.com and www.tzerah.com.  Greethech companies such as Pomega as selling pomegranate seed oil based producs which contain antioxidants, the new wave of nutraceuticals. 

In fact, enough investors have been chasing clean-tech investments that the talk is already turning to a coming shakeout.  Much of the clean-tech buzz at Perkins' conference for investors and entrepreneurs, Venture Summit West, centered on whether or not venture investors would see returns on the billions they've already invested in biofuels, solar power and wind farms. 

"In 2008, you're going to see a lot of (clean-tech) venture flameouts," said Erik Straser, general partner at MohrDavidow, which is heavily invested in clean tech. " Fundamentally the market drivers are very strong for these companies, but companies are going to have trouble in the market execution.  And a lot of capital has gone into a lot of companies." 

Still, venture capitalists are fundamentally optimistic about green technology.  Much as VC-powered internet companies continue to challenge traditional media businesses, investors are hoping their clean-tech investments will topple another aging cash-rich industry: energy.  Egged on by IPOs in the clean-energy industry, but particularly in solar power, a host of venture capitalists has raised clean-tech or green-tech funds.  In the first three quarters of 2007, 168 separate investments channeled $2.6 billion into clean-tech startups, according to Thomason Financial and the National Venture Capital Association.  By comparison, internetstartups received $3.86 billion of funding over the same period.  The funding of greentech companies such as POMEGA5 is still in its infancy, but promises to grow once VCs realize that the baby boomers market is a huge market. 

VCs aren't in it to save the world: The only green discussed at the Venture Summit West panel was the color of money.  But if these investments help mitigate climate change by reducing our dependence on carbon-heavy fuels like coal and oil, so much the better. 

Energy investments may be a big challenge for investors used to the technology industry, however.  Taking on the energy industry, where a single company like ExxonMobil books over $3 billion in profit every month, requires real-space infrastructure far beyond the servers and bandwidth that launched a thousand websites. 

"Companies need to figure out if the existing infrastructure is their friend or foe," Straser said. For example, he said, if you make biodiesel, the oil refineries are probably not your friend. On the other hand, if you make a biocrude, which can fit into the existing refinery framework, like LiveFuels, the distribution power of the energy business works for your company, not against it. 

"The fuel industry delivers 200 billion gallons of fuel a year in the U.S.," said Dave Jones, chief operating officer of LiveFuels, which is working on technology to turn algae into crude oil. " Why take on the challenge of producing reliable, quality fuel when someone has already done that?"Other clean-tech companies are eschewing the big fish (transportation and large-scale energy production) and going after smaller, niche markets.  For example, fuel cells were once billed as the clean answer to gasoline power, but now many fuel-cell companies, like Jadoo, target mobile telecommunications and TV production, areas where there's a smaller market but far less competition. 

Venture capitalists at the conference were eager to guide general talk of clean tech into more conversations about the variable funding requirements for specific areas. 

"You talk about clean tech, but it's not a monolithic category," Ira Ehrenpreis, general partner at Technology Partners, told an audience of about 50 at the "Silicon Valley VCs Going Green" panel. " Some investments are like the ones you'd make in IT companies, while others are much more analogous to biotech, in terms of what it takes to get them from initial idea to market." 

Biotech is notoriously capital- and time-intensive, with hundreds of millions of dollars often required to bring a product to market. 

But Straser stressed that, while the financing and technical risk is higher than media and internet investments, the market risk for clean tech is actually lower than other sectors. 

"Whether all 19-year-olds want to use their cellphones in a certain way, that's not as sure a bet," said Straser. " But if I offer you transportation fuel for a penny, I'm pretty sure you'll buy it." 

Not surprisingly, given their collective bets on clean tech, the assembled investors believe that breakthrough clean-tech technologies will emerge within the next few years. 

"We're all investing in an ecosystem that hasn't seen the light of innovation in decades, if not centuries," Ehrenpreis said. 

Providing capital for innovators, the investors hope, will yield them the 10- and 20-fold returns on their investments that VCs look for.  For the crowd at this conference, that's plenty green enough. 

Friday, January 18, 2008

Pomegranates have been signs of fertility, rebirth and health since they were first cultivated around 2000 B.C. Ancient Egyptian mythology and the Old Testament both mention these small red fruits.  And some scholars believe that Eve actually ate a pomegranate in the Garden of Eden, not an apple.  Originally from the Himalayan Mountains, the fruits have been used in traditional medicine for centuries. 

Pomegranate juice was once used as part of a cocktail to treat leprosy and stomach pain, according to Consumer Labs, LLC.,  which tests and publishes information about health, wellness and nutritional products.  Extracts of the bark, leaves, fruit rind and immature fruit have been employed as remedies for bleeding, diarrhea, dysentery, tapeworm and parasites.  The Omega 5 oil extracted from its seeds also promises marvelous benefits. 

Although pomegranates once treated a host of illnesses, Western medicine has been slow to adopt them into their practices, although a number of studies have shown they can be beneficial.  One study showed that drinking a cup of pomegranate juice a day for three months improved blood circulation in the heart.  Another study showed that drinking three tablespoons of pomegranate juice concentrate for a year reduced arterial thickening for people with atherosclerosis. 

Laboratory research suggests that pomegranate fruit extract may inhibit prostate tumor growth, according to a Consumer Labs article on pomegranates.  These studies have led to the production of more pomegranates, and the trend of using these ancient fruits in a variety of dishes and beverages, including H.E.B.’s pomegranate flavored Italian soda. 

More and more bartenders are using pomegranates as an ingredient in beverages like the pomegranate martini. “( Pomegranates are) enjoying a great popularity both for their health benefits and culinary properties,” said Monica Reinagel, MS, CNS and chief nutritionist for www.nutritiondata.com.  She cautions that marketers may make more of the pomegranate’s health benefits than a person can gain from eating an occasional pomegranate. “ Marketers would be happy to paint with a broad brush,” Reinagel said.  Whether they are the next greatest “superfood” or not, the ancient fruit is rapidly gaining new fans. 

There several groups of pomegranate fans on Facebook which support Pomega5.  Increased interest in the fruit has led to wider distribution and more production of it. “ People, who were always kind of curious about how to open them and what they might taste like, have discovered that they really enjoy them,” said Tom Tjerandsen, manager of the Pomegranate Council, Sonoma, Calif. And they can now enjoy the pomegranate seed oil in gel caps as sold by Pomega5. 

But even though pomegranates have become more popular, growers have not found ways to lengthen the fruit’s growing season. “ The season is extremely short,” said Janet Little, nutritionist for Sun Harvest. “ It’s only about a month.”  So companies have increased production.  People are growing a lot more pomegranates just to be juiced, Little said. “ I think (they’re) here to stay,” Little said. “ There is some good nutritional value to pomegranates.” 

Thursday, January 17, 2008

1/17/2008 - Ceapro has signed two US distribution agreements in an attempt to increase supply of its range of organic ingredients to cosmetics and personal care manufacturers. 

The Canadian biotechnology company has signed agreements with KAH Specialty ingredients of New Jersey and Harris and Ford of Indianapolis. 

The company specializes in the development of organic products for cosmetics, medical and animal health industries offering a range of botanical ingredients for use in hair and skin care formulations.  The move follows a similar agreement signed late last year with French company Laserson and reflects Ceapro's aim of expanding its market and consumer base. "Our focus is on expanding the markets for Ceapro's ingredients by geography and market sector to include the organic personal care markets and pharmaceutical clients," said company CEO Mark Redmond. 

The certified organic range - including extracts of oat and lupine proteins - is derived from plants certified as organic and processed in Ceapro's organically certified manufacturing facilities. 

The move comes at a time when organic cosmetic and personal care products such as POMEGA5 are particularly popular with consumers.  As a result ingredients companies are increasingly releasing natural or organic ranges to take advantage of the market opportunities presented by the trend.  EvonikGoldschmidt, previously Degussa Personal Care, released a range of plant extracts late 2007, for use in skin and hair care formulations.  The extracts were sourced from India in partnership with Indian company Sabinsa. 

Ceapro has an existing partnership deal with global ingredients giant Symrise targeting the personal care and cosmetics industry.  Entered into in 1999, the partnership covers a range of oat derived extracts for use in skin and hair care formulations, Drago- β-glucan, Drago oat actives, Drago calm and Avena lipid.  Many of the ingredients are designed for use in anti aging skin formulations such as Drago-β-glucan, which is derived from the fibre found in the cell walls of oat kernels and is marketed for use in anti-aging formulations.  According to the company it stimulates collagen synthesis, traps moisture in the skin, protects against UVA and UVB damage and decreases hyperpigmentation. 

Ceapro is not yet in the Omega 5 oil market, but may soon join the wave of suppliers of this organic ingredient that are used by green tech companies to produce pharmaceuticals. 

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

PARIS — In a sign of growing concern about the impact of supposedly “green” policies, European Union officials will propose a ban on imports of certain biofuels, according to a draft law to be unveiled next week. 

If approved by European governments, the law would prohibit the importation of fuels derived from crops grown on certain kinds of land — including forests, wetlands or grasslands — into the 27-nation bloc. 

The draft law would also require that biofuels used in Europe deliver “a minimum level of greenhouse gas savings.”  That level is still under discussion. 

Currently, most of the crops for biofuels used in Europe consist of rapeseed (commonly known as canola in the United States) grown in parts of Europe, according to Matt Drinkwater, a biofuels analyst at New Energy Finance in London.  Europe also imports some palm oil from Southeast Asia, soy from Latin America, ethanol from Brazil, and produces some ethanol domestically using wheat and sugar beets, he said. 

The ban would primarily affect palm oil and possibly the Latin American imports. 

Amid rising prices for gasoline and diesel and worries about climate change, countries around the world have started using more fuels produced from crops or agricultural wastes. 

The amount of ethanol used in the United States represents about 5 percent of total gasoline consumption, according to Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association in Washington.  Ethanol produced from sugar cane is widely used in Brazil.  In Europe and to a lesser extent in the United States, vegetable oils have been converted into a type of diesel by a simple chemical procedure. 

But a flurry of studies has discredited some of the claims made by biofuel producers that the fuels help reduce greenhouse gases by reducing fossil fuel use and growing carbon-dioxide-consuming plants.  Growing the crops and turning them into fuel can result in considerable environmental harm. 

Not only is native vegetation, including tropical rain forests, being chopped down in places to plant the crops, but fossil fuels, like diesel for tractors, are often used to farm the crops.  They also demand nitrogen fertilizer made largely with natural gas and consume huge amounts of water. 

Already, the draining and deforesting of peatlands in Southeast Asia — mainly to make way for palm plantations — accounts for up to 8 percent of global annual carbon dioxide emissions, said Adrian Bebb of Friends of the Earth, an environmental group. 

In Indonesia, he said, more than 18 million hectares of forest, or 44 million acres, have already been cleared for palm oil developments.  Environmental groups say the developments are endangering wildlife like the orangutan and the Sumatran tiger, and putting pressure on indigenous peoples who depend on the forests. 

Western scientists are increasingly pointing out the need to distinguish between types of biofuels.  On Monday, for instance, the Royal Society, a national science academy in Britain, said requirements to use a certain percentage of biofuels were not sufficient.  Instead, the society said, there should be specific goals for emissions reductions. 

“Indiscriminately increasing the amount of biofuels we are using may not automatically lead to the best reductions in emissions,” said John Pickett, head of biological chemistry at Rothamsted Research, a research center in Britain, who helped write the report for the Royal Society. “ The greenhouse gas savings of each depends on how crops are grown and converted and how the fuel is used.” 

Last week, scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Washington also warned that biofuel production can result in environmental destruction, pollution and damage to human health. 

“Different biofuels vary enormously in how eco-friendly they are,” said William Laurance, a staff scientist at the institute. “ We need to be smart and promote the right biofuels.” 

Experts say certain types of fuels, particularly those made from agricultural wastes, still hold potential to improve the environment, but they add that governments will have to set and enforce standards for how the fuels are produced.  With its new proposal, Europe appears to be moving ahead of the rest of the world in that task. 

The draft law probably would have the greatest impact on palm oil growers in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia but will not apply to oil made of pomegranate seeds such as Omega 5, according to Mr. Drinkwater. 

“Some developments in Southeast Asia will almost certainly be blocked by these provisions,” he said, adding that the rules would make it much harder to plant on recently deforested land or to export fuels whose production process cause significant amounts of greenhouse gases to be released. 

But farmers growing corn for ethanol could also be affected, because the European rules contain provisions on preserving grasslands, said Mr. Drinkwater. 

The text, which could change before European commissioners meet on Jan. 23 to adopt a final version, also emphasizes that areas like rain forests and lands with high levels of biodiversity should not be converted to growing biofuels. 

The European Union does not want to completely abandon biofuels because they could still contribute to reducing Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels. 

In part, that is because biofuels — a blanket term covering fuels grown from crops to manufacture substitutes for diesel and gasoline — are seen as Europe’s main weapon in lowering emissions from transportation.  And transportation has the fastest growing levels of greenhouse gases among all sectors of Europe’s economy. 

On Monday, in answer to a reporter’s question, an organization representing major growers of crops for biofuels in Malaysia said the E.U. should be cautious before imposing new rules.  It said that farmers in the region were adopting more sustainable practices, and warned that restrictions on imports could cause trade tensions. 

“The Malaysian government is very concerned about the E.U. scheme for sustainability of biofuels,” said Zainuddin Hassan, the manager in Europe for the Malaysian Palm Oil Council in Brussels.  The measures “should not be a trade barrier to the palm oil industry and it should comply with the W.T.O. rules as well,” he said, referring to the World Trade Organization. 

Verifying that only environmentally sound biofuels are being imported into Europe would be left to individual countries.  But the draft law calls for penalties for violating the rules, like exclusion from tax breaks, to be enforced across the region. 

The draft law also says that biofuels should be tracked from origin to use “so that biofuels fulfilling the sustainability criteria can be identified and rewarded with a premium in the market.” 

The measures are part of a plan for Europe to implement a binding target of making 10 percent of the transport fuels consumed by 2020 from renewable sources — most of which are expected to be biofuels. 

Ferran Tarradellas Espuny, spokesman for Europe’s energy commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, said that European countries that used more than 10 percent of biofuels in their transport fuel mix could use their progress to help them to reach other European environmental targets.  Those include a goal of a 20-percent share of renewable sources in overall energy consumption by 2020. 

Europe already has a suggested target of making biofuels 5.75 percent of fuels used for transport by 2010.  But that target is not going to met, according to the draft law.  Biofuels were just 1 percent of transport fuel in 2005 and, if present trends continue, would account for 4.2 percent by 2010.