Lisa Price on Becoming an Entrepreneur | Newsweek Women and Leadership

EXECUTIVE LIFE
Solid Scents That Can Last
Elisa Mala 10/24/2008 12:00:00 AM
Even the most pungent scent eventually fades into the ether, which may be why fragrances are now becoming heavier—literally. Resembling lip balm, solid perfumes are long-lasting and portable. Marc Jacobs's eponymous gardenia blend is stored in a compact that slips neatly into a zip-up leather case ($55; sephora .com). London-based perfumer Miller Harris makes Geranium Bourbon Fragrance Balm ($60; millerharris.com). Some cases are more complex than the scents within; Estée Lauder's Pleasures is packed in a bejeweled spider ($250; esteelauder .com). Paying homage to its handbags, Leiber encases its perfume in a crystal encrusted minaudiere ($185; neimanmarcus.com). Yves Saint Laurent conceals a smidge of Elle in its dangling-cube charm, which attaches to a tote ($56; sephora.com). And the musky Sublime by Jean Patou is presented in a faux-diamond case that slides open ($95; zitomer.com). Pretty solid.
GOOD LIFE
Beauty: Beating The Heat With A Spritzer
Elisa Mala 7/12/2008 12:00:00 AM
Summertime and the living is … refreshing, thanks to facial sprays. Canned or bottled, aerosol or pumped, scented or fragrance-free, these hydrating mists cool parched visages.
FACT OR FICTION
Do Facial Water Sprays Help Your Skin?
Tina Peng 5/5/2008 12:00:00 AM
Evian dreamed up a creative way to sell even more of its bottled mineral water: by repackaging and marketing it as a revitalizing spray for your face. A 5 oz. bottle of the mineral water mist sells for $10 on sephora.com, which touts the product as a way to rehydrate and invigorate tired skin. Other brands say their water sprays will moisturize skin and combat fatigue. But the pricey bottles probably aren't that much better for your skin than putting regular tap water in a spray bottle, or just washing your face, says New York-based dermatologist Dr. Jennifer Levine.
GOOD LIFE
Beauty: The New Weight Of Scent
Elisa Mala
Even the most pungent scent eventually fades into the ether, which may be why fragrances are becoming heavier—literally. Resembling lip balm, solid perfumes are long-lasting and portable. Marc Jacobs's eponymous gardenia blend is stored in a compact that slips neatly into a zip-up leather case ($55; sephora.com). London-based bespoke perfumery Miller Harris makes Geranium Bourbon Fragrance Balm ($60; millerharris.com). Some cases are more complex than the scents within; Estée Lauder's Pleasures is packed in a bejeweled spider ($250; esteelauder.com). Paying homage to its handbags, Leiber perfume is encased in a crystal-encrusted Miniaudiere purse ($185; neimanmarcus .com). Yves Saint Laurent conceals a smidge of Elle in its dangling-cube charm, attachable to a tote ($56; sephora.com). And the musky Sublime by Jean Patou is presented in a faux-diamond case that slides open ($95; zitomer.com). Pretty solid.
Marketing
An Uneasy Race to Profit
Tony Dokoupil
The idea that genetic differences exist between ethnicities is the basis of a growing and controversial advertising strategy for a $2 trillion market. Much of the money is tied to skin-care supplies, such as Rx for Brown Skin, a line that debuted this fall at Sephora. GenSpec is the first "genetically specific" multivitamin for blacks, whites and Hispanics. And Nike makes the Air Native for Native Americans with wider-than-average forefeet. But experts doubt the data behind these products; New York University sociologist Troy Duster says the phony "biomarket" could lead people to "slip into thinking" that classroom and athletic performance are also explained by genetics.
MARKETING
An Uneasy Race to Profit
Tony Dokoupil
When biologist James Watson suggested that Africans are less intelligent than Europeans, he sparked an international race row that forced him into a hasty retirement. But the idea behind his comments—that genetic differences exist between people of different ethnicities—is the basis of a growing and controversial advertising model that strategists say makes up a $2 trillion market. Much of the money is tied to skin-care supplies, such as Rx for Brown Skin, a line that debuted this fall at Sephora and has abandoned subtlety to market along racial lines. The prescription drug BiDil has emerged as the first FDA approved treatment for heart disease only in African-Americans, and GenSpec is the first "genetically specific" multivitamin for blacks, whites and Hispanics. Nike, meanwhile, has just unveiled the first ethnically focused sneaker, the Air Native, a cross-trainer distributed only on reservations and designed to fit Native Americans, who, the company says, tend to have wider-than-average forefeet. Next up: a shoe designed for Asian feet ahead of the 2008 Olympics.