Showtime Style® 2006 ReviewPage 3 Next I visited Pascal Benouaiche of CO2 Collection. He was just as excited about his line as I was to try on some of his designs. He was very open when describing his collection. “What you are looking at is printed cashmere; it’s edgy and it speaks for itself. This line has been on the market for the past year and a half. I never studied fashion, but I just really loved fashion all my life, and from there I learned how to do designs through programs and computers. We sell all over the United States, Mexico, Paris, and Morocco. The clothes retail from $380.00 to $400.00, and they’re very spiritual––I am a spiritual person. So you see birds, Buddha, love, luck––it’s made to bring peace to everyone that wears the clothes. The design is done in the computer or drawn, and once drawn, you have to find the colors, the match, and the duet. It’s done in China. Our biggest buyers are people in their 20s to 70s, really all ages. We are located in Southern California at 8491 Sunset Blvd., Suite 303, West Hollywood, CA 90069.” --Pascal Benouaiche - Designer The next room had three jewelry designers set up right next to each other. The jewelry collections were from Fileena, Niessing, Isis Jewels, and ENERGETIX. Fileena Bahris of Fileena was born and raised in San Francisco, California, and later moved to Maui in 1999. “I spend all my waking hours creating incredible pieces of art and swimming with the playful Spinner dolphins. “I live in Maui, so I use a lot of elements from the earth and the sea. I try to use them from before the moratorium before 1986. It’s a very eclectic style. I also have a brand new line that I’m doing called the Shooting Star Collection. It’s made of rubies, emeralds, sapphires, diamonds, stars, moons, hearts, and Tahitian pearls, which I hand select from Tahiti every year. “I’ve been designing jewelry for ten years for myself and for the past year for celebrities such as: Bai Ling, Sharon Stone, and Charlise Theron. I’m making a piece for Felicity Huffman right now, and I did a piece for Terrence Howard. There’s a very long list of people. I also do the Star Wars Charity Necklace for Artists for South Africa, and we auctioned that off for AIDS in South Africa and that was made of tanzanite, Tahitian pearls, and diamonds. They feature it in different magazines every month. They mostly use the larger pieces like the corals, the jades, and the large rubies. Living in Hawaii, it isn’t difficult at all to come up with inspiration. I spend a lot of time swimming with dolphins. I am writing a book about the dolphins right now and I am also writing a book to empower women. It’s a fictitious story about a girl who did the same things I do. It’s called the Great and Powerful Oz. “I had designed everything. How do you tell someone how to do what I do, regarding selecting the colors and the look? It just has to be done by me. Some of the pieces start at $200 and go as high as $450. I do a lot of benefits back home. I’m doing a piece for the American Heart Association while I am here. I did a shooting star piece for the Hurricane Katrina Red Cross last time I was here. I sell the earrings at Planet Blue, but I also have some earrings at some art galleries in Hawaii. I’m just targeting galleries that would want it for the art that it is. Because it actually is a piece of wearable art that I make for you. And I name, number, and sign all of them. So they are very unique and special to the person that gets it.” --Fileena Bahris The website is www.Fileena.com. Another way to purchase is to call Fileena directly, and she can hand make a piece special just for you. Niessing is a German company that’s been around for about 130 years. They started out making wedding rings and moved on to making engagement rings. About 25 years ago they invented the tension set. At that time they started developing a contemporary line of jewelry. 18-karat gold. It’s very simple and classic. It’s very different. There were some different items, like square bracelets, platinum and gold chokers, It was all very unique and elegant. It reminds us of Nefertiti. The representative of Niessing referred to it as the "anti-bling." These pieces really do become classics and they end up being timeless. It’s for people who don’t have a different look all the time. There are 2 different lines. One line consists of precious metals and is more expensive. The lower priced line is precious steel, $200-$500. The Platinum and Gold line ranges from $1000 to $30,000, and diamonds well into the $100,000.00 range. A lot of the pieces looked Egyptian and are even welded together with gold on top of gold, the way it was done thousands of years ago. For more information on Niessing, visit their website: www.niessing.com. Niessing is located at the Beverly Center, 6th floor across from Bloomingdale’s, 131 North La Cienega Blvd., Store 605, Los Angeles, CA 90048. Telephone: (310) 659-5216. “ISIS Jewels is one-of-a-kind jewelry and original designs. I use mainly semi-precious stones. I have a couture line of precious stones: topaz, rubies, emerald. But my new product is my hair jewelry, which is sterling silver, and 14-karat gold hair spiral jewelry. You wrap your hair around it and the dynamic tension holds it in. I came up with the idea, but one day when I was shopping around with my hair model, I was at a toy store. We saw a Brats doll that had a plastic one that was similar. Apparently I am not the first person to think of it, but I am the first person to make it with precious metal. The larger hair clips retail between $50.00 and $68.00. The medium pieces retail between $45 to$60, and the smallest are about $30 to $36. They are affordable. Hair jewelry typically is the crown jewels, thousands of dollars for these gold hair picks and pins. These are more affordable for everybody. I showcased my jewelry in the Emmy suites at the Luxe Hotel, but I just launched it January 1. It’s available at Turquoise boutique in Studio City, CA and is available online at www.isisjewels.com.” --Isis Bolaños
The jewelry is plated in high quality gold or rhodium, and can be worn with other real jewelry. This jewelry not only looks good, but it is also equipped with therapeutic magnets. What is magnetic therapy? (Bingen, Germany, October 2005) Magnets were used for therapeutic purposes in China as early as 2000 B.C. Legend has it that Cleopatra wore a magnetic pendant to preserve her youth and beauty. Paracelsus, the famous German doctor, William Gilbert, the personal physician of Elizabeth I of England, and in the 18th Century, Franz J. Mesmer successfully treated pain, gout, nervous disorders, and cramps using magnet therapy. --Press release – The History of Health Jewelry “ENERGETIX Magnet Therapy is wellness jewelry. They have therapeutic powers in them, and yet they also look very stylish. They’re mostly stainless steel with gold-plating on some of them, and svorofsky crystals on some of them, and even precious stones like amethyst. We even have it for cats and dogs. It helps the blood circulation. They cost $82.00, $112.00, and stainless steel $49.00. The company is five years old. Petra During is the owner. The company is registered for class one medical devices with European Union. Magnet therapy: It can increase energy, stress, and depression. The body will take its own path. Paris Hilton and Darryl Hannah use it for herself and her dogs; Paula Abdul loves it.” --Beatrice Cederstrom Magnet therapy is nothing new, but they wanted to make theirs look nicer. Visit the website: www.energetix.tv. “Von Dutch has a very strong celebrity following and have for many years. Doing these types of events, we usually jump at the chance. It’s a great opportunity to showcase our product that has just come out, like our sunglasses. It’s a great way to get it out in the market with our celebrities who set the trends for America and the world actually. “We have a brand new line of sunglasses, very high-end. Prices range up to $600.00. They are metal frames, plastic frames, and with a wide variety to fit different styles and different face shapes. We had a trade show in Europe two months ago, and did over one million in sales just in our sunglasses alone. We are debuting the energy drink, which just came out in October and is distributed by Coca Cola. It’s amazing how quickly it can get out into the market. It is a testament to Coca Cola distribution abilities. It was our hope that our brand would be able to carry an energy drink, from rappers to celebrities. It has very holistic ingredients; it’s a lot healthier than your Red Bull energy Drink. In that sense it’s not necessarily as bad for you, and it’s twice as fast as a Red Bull. You get a lot more bang for your buck. We have our cashmere jeans which actually have cashmere in the fabric. It’s a very lightweight and breathable jean. Most people think cashmere, and they think winter. This is a year-round type of jean, very multi-faceted. You can wear it with a lot of things. You can dress it up or down. We’ve actually seen some knock-offs already. We’re switching up the style quite a bit, not so much trucker hats (which became so widely counterfeited),that we decided to lay low and change up the style. It’s now a lot more high-end designs with the attention on the design rather than the logo. We’re really proud of this chapter of the company. There is also our motorcycle, which is the official bike for Sturges, the world’s largest motorcycle rally. Last year Harley Davidson is the one who got that honor, and for us to be a 2-year-old bike company fresh and new on the market, and being selected with an honor like this, we are just extremely delighted to have had that kind of an honor. --Chris Detert – Director of Marketing & PR To learn more about Von Dutch, visit: www.vondutch.com. “Biotène is an all natural base product that uses natural enzymes which replace heavy and harsh chemicals. These are actually produced in the body. These are found in healthy saliva and in breast milk. It has an anti-bacterial effect, so there is no risk of bacteria developing, plus it’s natural so you can use it regardless of the types of medications you’re taking. We also use natural sweeteners in the product (ziotol), which can help prevent cavities, which is unique; and we also make alcohol for mouthwash so it doesn’t burn; and all of our products are manufactured here in the US. We’re distributed worldwide, and our product has been available for twenty-five years. Those suffering from diabetes, or people on a lot of medications, are familiar with our products. But anyone can benefit from our products. This is gentler toothpaste. Especially the mouthwash. Parents like to use it for their kids because it’s alcohol-free. Mouthwash per 16 oz bottle is $7.00 at stores. Ralphs and Vons carry it; Whole Foods because it’s a natural product.” --Biotène Representative To learn more about Biotène, visit: www.biotene.com. “XTREME LASHES are semi-permanent eyelashes. They do not touch the skin. They go directly on top of your eyelashes, and that is why they can last so long. The typical ones from the store that are bonded to the skin are not good for you. Our lashes are tapered and curled to replicate the natural eyelash. It’s seamless; you cannot see where it’s bonded. We also have different styles of lashes: longer or shorter on the sides. We have eyelash curlers, and these are specially made for these eyelashes. Water proof mascara will deteriorate the bonding in the eyelash, but we have special water base mascara made specifically for the eyelash extensions. We also have the curler, which is specially made. Regular eyelash curlers have excessive heat and can ruin the eyelashes. Ours does not get as hot. We have many other accessories that you can check out online at www.xtremelashes.com. “The procedure is a very calm and relaxing procedure. Most people go to sleep while getting the procedure done. The process takes between one to two hours, depending upon the skill of the technician. We do not sell products to anyone except professional cosmetologists, aestheticians, people who’ve gone to medical school, etc… So anybody who does have Xtreme Lashes brand are all trained by us. Eyelash extensions started in Asia several years back, but in America, it is relatively new with the exception of Hollywood." “The duration of the lashes varies upon each individual. Because the lashes are applied directly on your lashes, they’re going to last as long as your own lashes stay in. When your lashes naturally shed, so will these. When people ask me how long do these last, I say if you keep up with it, you can have them forever. Every three to four weeks if you get your touch ups you are going to have your lashes as long as you’re maintaining them. The procedures are $300.00 to $500.00 and up. The typical set of eyelashes is 30 to 50 lashes per eye. It goes up from there. Touch ups are $100.00 and up. The first 24 hours you have to be very careful with the eyelashes, no showers or touching your eyes. The hot steam isn’t good for the bonding. After the 24-hour time frame, the adhesive is completely bonded and you can do everything like you normally would do. You can shower, swim, exercise, etc. To take care of your lashes, you just need to be careful of the mascara and eyelash curlers you use. We have our own mascara. It’s a water-based mascara and it’s made just for eyelash extensions.” --Mike Daoudi, Director “The lashes feel weightless and provide a beautiful, lush appearance. If you want to have eyelashes applied, you should look for an experienced technician who uses only high-end products, and who has completed a certification workshop.” --Jo Mousselli - President So, in conclusion... I go to these things never really knowing what to expect. I have been to countless fashion suites, but I must say, Showtime Style 2006 was by the far my most enlightening experience. Not only did I spot celebrities at every corner, but I never received so much information about so many products and designers. I have to confess, my head was spinning when I left the Luxe Hotel that day. I needed time to take it all in. But one thing you can be sure of, I will be micro-dremabrasing, eating skin care gummy bears, letting my pooch wear doggy bling, toasting my friends with tasty margaritas, not tasting the malt in alternative malt liquor, feelin' fine in my chashmere hoodies, snoozing in my silk comforter, blocking out the rays in my hip sunglasses, attending red carpet events in my high-end jewelry, and carrying around my laptop in my awesome tote. Hey, maybe I'll even run into a celebrity or two while I'm at it. Okay, maybe not. But I can dream can't I? Written by Kaylene Peoples |
