During my preview, Monique Lhuillier mentioned that the strong eyes would mimic her peacock-feather palette. They did in a beautiful way. Also note the modern flapper headbands. The perfect way to top off the looks.

You might know Jen Hughes from Juut Gaviidae, where she styles hair. Or you might remember her from a profile a few years back from New York Fashion Week, where she styled runway hair.

Here she is in the Star Tribune’s studio, Air Control in hand. However, the secret to our model’s slick hair was the Smooth Infusion Style-Prep Smoother ($24) by Aveda. You see, Kylie has naturally curly hair, which Jen blew out. It was surprisingly not as laborious as you’d might expect, thanks to the dollop of product. “When she’s on vacation, it defends against humidity. If she leaves it curly, it would also eliminate frizz and prevent flyaways,” Jen said.

That head band is from J.Crew. A non-hair aside. I just loved the way that particular dress looked (it’s by Hazel, from Karma and only $102). It’s a fabulous full skirt and with the Cynthia Rowley red and pink belt ($46 from Nordstrom), it’s brightened and a very Audrey silhouette–yet modernized. Click here to see styled up for wearing in the winter.

You might have seen the fashion story in Today’s Star Tribune with the red Kjurek Couture coat. (Don’t forget about the fashion show tonight.)

We had a great time on the set–the big ha, ha was that our model, Kylie, was having her “Parent Trap” moment. We tried to give her twin a name–Kylie and Mylie?

The makeup by Malee Xiong for MAC Cosmetics was flawless. She usually works at Rosedale.
Here’s what she used: The two eye shadows are Nanogold and Remotely Gray are from MAC’s new N Collection. N stands for naked, which translates into neutrals. To go more smoky, Malee just intensified the application of each. Then the Slimshine lipsticks in “girl about town” is a new product that will be out next month. From what I can tell–it looks a lipstick, feels like a lip gloss. Then, the Mineralize Skinfinish ($24.50) is a bronzer that gave Kylie her resort-ready glow.

Last week I received an email from Deb Gallagher of Apple Valley:

Some months ago, there was an article in the Source section about a salon in the Minneapolis area that specialized in shaping eyebrows. Could you email the name of the salon? Thank you!

Deb is looking for Extrados. There are three salons–Minneapolis, Edina Wayzata. Leah Simon-Clarke is the owner/brow entrepreneur. Brown shaping starts at $30 and up.

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At last night’s panel, I had a few minutes to talk to Horst Rechelbacher about Intelligent Nutrients (IN). The new line of lifestyle products launches next spring or early summer. That will include everything from the products in the store now to haircare, skincare, and personal care–even a “sexual lubricant” (per Horst himself).

The concept of this line is that everything you put on your body should be something that you can eat and your body can digest. They’re using food-grade ingredients. “It’s not just food-based, but organic food-based,” Horst said.

It’s an idea that “is going to be normal,” Horst said. “Putting substances on the body and not getting nutritional benefit is just outdated.”

To this end, he has united food chemists and aesthetics chemists. “It has to look good and it has to function,” he said.

A variety of “Neutraceutical Foods” and “Neutraceutical Supplements” are currently available online, in a number of salons and stores, and at the IN Corporate Headquarters in Minneapolis.

Next year, the expanded line will be available through Regis salons (Regis has a joint venture with IN), independent salons, online, and possibly at Sephora. The negotiations are all underway.

As for Horst’s relationship with Aveda? The president of the company, Dominique Conseil, was in attendance.

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Last night, I attended a panel at the University of Minnesota about Not Just A Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry, a new book by Stacy Malkan.

Here’s some of what was discussed: Phthalates (pronounced tha-lates) are the major offender. They mess with hormones and can cause birth defects. Even low doses can interrupt hormones (hello, increased early puberty for girls and de-masculinization in boys). In a test by the Center of Disease Control, everyone had a higher than expected level of phthalates, especially women of childbearing age.

Malkan made the point that most people use at least five personal products–toothpaste, shampoo, makeup, all count. More than 70% of those products contain phthalates.

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The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has more information on this topic. They were also the organization, which came out with the lead in lipstick study a few weeks ago.

In the mean time, try this. Go to the Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database and search for the products in your regime. They rank thousands of products on scale of 0 (safe) to 10 (high hazard). It’s highly addictive. The anti-bacterial foaming hand soap (Bath & Body Works) in my bathroom is a 7. The hand lotion (by L’Occitane) in my purse is also a 7. Scary.

Malkan would not reveal her own list of products, though she still uses them. However, she has stopped using hair color. There is no safe hair color. Horst Rechelbacher was on the panel (more on him later) and added that bleaches are better than dark colors, but neither is safe.  

Anyway, not even Aveda products (such as Shampure) are actually safe.

Malkan recommends sticking to simple products. (L’Occitane’s Pure Shea Butter is a 0.) Beware of the new mineral cosmetics–they’re really made from heavy metals.