Haven't heard of 3Lab Cosmetics? Then perhaps you are in the lower tax bracket. Since debuting a few months ago, 3Lab's high-end skin care has earned cult-status among the really rich, from wealthy Upper East Siders' to international celebrities. As photos throughout their headquarters prove, stars like Dame Helen Mirren and Martin Sheen have already gotten a hold of these goods. Others like Donatella Versace and Sally Field are so devoted that they regularly spend hundreds of dollars on it. Skillfully selling the products and the premise behind them are 3Lab's Public Relations Director, Stephanie Scott and President, Spencer Kanis - himself a celebrity in the beauty industry for his stylish wardrobe, smooth persona and resume full of blockbuster companies like Gucci and Estee Lauder. The most charismatic of the lot is David Chung, founder and CEO of 3Lab, whose personal story is as rich and rare as the ingredients found in his products.

Springing forward to good health

ALBANY, N.Y. — Spring comforts us like an electric blanket on a cold night and lures us with its bouquet.

Beauty: Shampoos that clean up (+photos)

Use the wrong shampoo and you're guaranteed a bad hair day. Fine hair can't handle large doses of moisture - unless flat hair was the plan - but naturally curly hair cries out for it. Oily hair needs a loving, rebalancing shampoo and if you're washing daily, a mild type is vital. Pay careful attention to the bottle or ask the hairdresser for help.

Frederic Fekkai is one of the hairdressing firmament's biggest stars and stylist to A-list celebrities. Naturally, he has his own range of haircare. This glossing shampoo is infused with olive oil and is recommended for normal to dry, dull hair. This really is amazing stuff, providing lots of lovely shine and making the quality of the hair feel lustrous.
From Mecca Cosmetica.

Answer Man: Trivia

"A man who could make so vile a pun," said British playwright and critic John Dennis (1657-1734), "would not scruple to pick a pocket." Some would argue that just as puns are the lowest form of humor, trivia are the basest pieces of information. But Chico Marx's "Why a duck?" routine in the 1929 movie "Coconuts" disproves the first proposition:

Smelling as sweet as a newborn baby

Now at the grown-up fragrance counter - the scent of a baby.

Several perfumers are creating fragrances that try to capture what Americans think of as new baby smell, that aroma of baby powder and lotion that conjures up memories of happy, peaceful newborn bliss.

That sweet, immediately recognizable scent can have elements of violet, cumarine and musk, says Delphine Jelk, of the fragrance lab and manufacturer Drom, and "when you smell it, you smell baby skin."

It wasn't an accident that Guerlain's L'Instant Magic has a hint of that powder smell. It's "built around white musk, and these notes are very powdery and soft. I am especially fond of these notes because they remind me of my children's' scent and soft skin when they were babies," says Sylvaine Delacourte, Guerlain creative director of fragrances.

AP IMPACT: Islamic schools lure African boys into begging

On the day he decided to run away, 9-year-old Coli awoke on a filthy mat. Like a pup, he lay curled against the cold, pressed between dozens of other children sleeping head-to-toe on the concrete floor. His T-shirt was damp with the dew that seeped through the thin walls. The older boys had yanked away the square of cloth he used to protect himself from the draft. He shivered. .

Getting under their skin

HIV is not spread by casual contact. One relative was concerned because her son was on a hospital bed next to a patient with AIDS. I had to inform her that HIV does not jump from bed to bed unless with the patient and that this is not allowed in the hospital.

Now, in the early period of the epidemic when it was foolishly thought that AIDS only occurred in the homosexual community (in February 1986, a few days before the Carnival), there was a widespread and false rumour that certain homosexual men were pricking revellers with needles at public fetes. The rumour quickly reached the Trinis in "Brooklyn" and everyone feared that it would stop the Carnival (as if that could needle anybody into stopping the Carnival. Certainly not rain!). There was national panic. The press immediately rang me and a front page headline of the Trinidad Guardian of February 7, 1986 read: "Bartholomew scotches rumours that needle pricks can cause AIDS.'' It was eventually a fearless Carnival.

Pittfield chef shows her kosher credits

Passover, which begins at sundown Saturday, is the eight-day commemoration of the Jews' successful flight from slavery in Egypt to freedom and the creation of their own nation.

It has been celebrated by Jews for thousands of years with special meals (seders), ritual foods and storytelling. There is singing, toasting, ritual eating of matzoh (unleavened bread), greens, bitter herbs and other symbolic foods.

Chef Aura Weiss was raised in a large Jewish family. In a few days she is flying off to California to spend Pass-over with them and to meet her newest niece.

But before she leaves on Saturday, she will prepare foods for Temple Anshe Amunim's Second Night Passover seder on Sunday.

"I do many things for the temple kosher-style or kosher on-premises for different occasions throughout the year," she said.