Smoking ban 'will benefit the skin

As well as the obvious health effects of giving up, quitters can expect to see their skin glow.

Non-smokers currently exposed to smoky atmospheres in bars, clubs and restaurants would also reap the benefits of the ban, they said.

Cigarette smoke causes the skin to age prematurely and recent studies have suggested passive smoking also leads to wrinkles.

Dr Colin Holden, president of the British Association of Dermatologists, said: "When we think of the impact of smoking on the body, we obviously concentrate on the risks of lung cancer and heart disease.

"However, strong evidence now links the habit to premature ageing of the skin, including wrinkles. These findings may provide an extra incentive for people to quit.

"The skin gets its elasticity to a large extent from collagen.

"Smoking enhances an enzyme in the skin (matrix metalloproteinase-1), which degrades collagen, so the skin loses its elasticity and develops lines.

"In addition, smoking causes blood vessels to constrict, which limits the amount of oxygen that can reach the skin. This lack of oxygen reduces production of collagen and elastin and negatively affects the skin's health and appearance generally.

"Smoking can also cause an unattractive yellowing of fingernails which makes the hands look older."

Pendant jewelry in fashion again

Look for decorative pieces to make a comeback

Remember Bakelite baubles from the '30s? Peace symbols from the '60s? Tricolor cutouts of Africa from the '90s?

Pendant jewelry -- decorative pieces suspended from a necklace, chain or cord -- seems to have been around forever. And pieces that make a strong statement are making a comeback this season.

"Pendants now have become really popular on leather or silk cords, or gold or silver link chains," says Julie Routenberg, owner of Potpourri. "But always, the interest is on the pendant."

The costume jewelry staple underwent style shifts in practically every decade of the 20th century, says Julia C. Carroll, author of "Collecting Costume Jewelry 101: The Basics of Starting, Building and Upgrading" (Collector Books, $24.95).

French jeweler Lalique popularized the use of horn and imitation glass in artistic pendants that dangled from delicate fancy link chains in the early 20th century, Carroll said. This art nouveau movement also included images of females with flowing hair rendered in gold-plated silver with semiprecious stones. Plant life, particularly scenes with dragonflies and bees, was popular during that period as well.

In the '20s, pendants remained a prominent part of women's wardrobes. Jewelers frequently set clear stones in filigreed metal. They also created plenty of Y-shaped necklaces and long tassel-style pendants.

Over the next two decades, Bakelite and other plastics became a popular alternative to hard metals, which were scarce during World War II. Zodiac signs and pendants -- made of earthy materials such as wood, feathers and shells -- were popular in the '60s, while the '70s ushered in sculptured designs and asymmetrical looks. Then the decadent '80s took us back to rhinestones as vintage and estate jewelry became the rage. Yves Saint Laurent pendants from the '80s have become some of the most highly collectible pendants, Carroll says.

Newer pieces often reflect classic styles from past decades. So look for pendants to be strong this fall, since much of the fall clothing shows vintage overtones, says Routenberg.

After show party

After show party

Elegant white jewelry

Elegant white jewelry

Cigarette ads in fashion magazines rile anti-smoking groups

Not long ago, fax machines and e-mail inboxes at Vogue, the world's premier fashion magazine, were briefly assaulted with thousands of angry letters. Not about the latest gorgeously photographed fashion trends or beauty products in its influential pages, but about a single, colorful ad: for Camel No. 9 cigarettes.

"If you draw income from the advertisement of tobacco," Heidi Thompson of Freeport, Ill., wrote in one letter, "you are as guilty as big tobacco companies in selling the health and future of so many of our youth in order to pad your bank accounts."

The letters were part of a grass-roots campaign by an anti-smoking group to get Vogue to drop ads for the new, prettily packaged Camels, which they and others feel are targeted to younger women and teenagers.

But it isn't just Vogue. Pick up nearly any fashion magazine this month — Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, Lucky — and you'll see a colorful cigarette ad mixed in with articles on beauty, fitness, nutrition and glowing skin.

You won't find them in a number of other countries. A European Union law, for example, bans tobacco print ads on grounds they glamorize smoking and promote it among young people.

But in the United States, where TV and radio ads were banned long ago and billboards more recently, print ads are the final frontier in tobacco advertising, aside from store displays and the like. And to anti-smoking groups, their presence, though waning, is especially tasteless in fashion magazines and others aimed at young women — at a time when lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women.

By JOCELYN NOVECK - AP

Riyo Mori, Miss Universe 2007

Riyo Mori: Miss Universe 2007

Beauty Paula Abdul

Beauty Paula Abdul