A Wall Street Journal article delves into the debate surrounding New York Fashion Week and its move to Lincoln Center, where unions are fighting fashionistas. The fashion week folks want to choose workers for setup but the union for stagehands says their members usually get jobs for work on the premises. Fashion Week starts September 9.

Click here for the full report.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick passed a law that aims to help women with postpartum depression. According to the Associated Press article,the law will force health insurers in the New England state to submit yearly reports on their work to screen for postpartum depression. Passed on August 10, it also forces the Department of Public Health to create regulations and policies to deal with the form of depression, including the development of public and professional education programs and screening tools.

Target is under the microscope for supporting an anti-gay Minnesota-based gubernatorial candidate. Now, a trio of major shareholders is among those slamming the contribution, and asking the retailer to change its donation process to prevent similar issues in the future. Click here for the Los Angeles Times report.

New research suggests that doing yoga three times a week may help calm people, as it boosts the levels of the amino acid, GABA. When interviewed, the subjects that did yoga were less anxious and reported being in a better mood. The Telegraph of London reports.

Alternative energy is the subject of much debate, with more countries attempting to find reasonably priced alternatives to fossil fuels, but one university is looking to liquor for the answer. According to a report from New Energy World Network, Edinburgh Napier University has developed a way to use the byproducts of whisky to create biofuel, in a project funded by the Scottish Enterprise’s Proof of Concept program. The technology for developing biofuel from whisky was inspired by a process developed by Chaim Weizmann, a Jewish refugee chemist that helped create the state of Israel. The university plans to create a spinoff company to make the fuel and sell it at the pumps. According to Biofuel Research Centre Director Professor Martin Tangney, the European Union aims to have biofuels comprise 10% of all fuel by 2020.

Followers of the Mediterranean diet are less likely to develop depression according to the results of a recent study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, reports NHIondemand. The Mediterranean diet is based upon traditional diet of the Mediterranean Basin region. Researchers had over 10,000 healthy, depression-free adults follow the Mediterranean diet and fill out questionnaires between 1999 and 2005. Study participants were asked to consume a diet low on meat, with a moderate level of alcohol and dairy products, and with high levels of fruits, nuts, cereals, vegetables, fish and olive oil. The researchers questioned participants again after an average of 4.4 years and found that the overall incidence of depression was 30% lower among those who had followed the diet closely. Even lower rates of depression were recognized among those that that specifically ate fruits, vegetables and olive oil. The researchers noted that adopting the Mediterranean diet is not an appropriate treatment for depression, but that the diet might serve as a preventative measure for those with a family history of depression.

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Caviar, gold, mango, grapefruit and hemp seeds. What do these elements all have in common? They are the basis for the irresistible skin care items featuring in Trendcetera.com’s party goody bags and raffle, which benefited HIV/AIDS nonprofit Sekolo Projects. If you are like us and you have multiple beauty personalities, you will be able to appreciate each one of these items and lines. Let’s take it like this, if they are cities, Elizabeth Grant is New York or Los Angeles, while Ageless by Harvey Prince is Palm Beach and Miami, and The Healing Seed is San Francisco. One is luxurious, one is ultra-feminine and the other is fabulously green. So here’s the lowdown!

While you may have heard of a few other brands offering caviar lines, Canada’s Elizabeth Grant has been in the skincare business for years. They have the luxury skincare sector down pat, having been in business since 1958! Their expansive roster includes beauty and fragrance items too, but we love the gold and caviar items. Check out the Biocollasis Gold collection and the caviar collection. We’ve seen the skin of loyal customers and we couldn’t find one flaw!

Moving south, one of our latest discoveries is the ultra feminine fragrance, Ageless, with a base of grapefruit and mango. The folks behind this claim it takes years off your life. Obviously this is a state of mind, but as they say, if you look good, you feel good, so maybe then you feel younger too. It’s all worth a shot to look your best. Ageless is a great fragrance for that period when spring won’t come and us northern residents are praying for dress weather. According to a study conducted by the Department of Psychology at Columbia University, entitled The Effects of Fragrance on Perceived Age of Wearers, 75 men were questioned after smelling Ageless, and then after meeting women wearing Ageless or one of three other fragrances. When they smelled Ageless, they guessed women wearing it would be, on average, 16.8 years younger than those wearing other scents. When they smelled it on actual women, they guessed the women wearing Ageless were 6.6 years younger then women wearing other perfumes.

The patent application (Alan R. Hirsch, investor, 2006) for “altering age perception” presents data that suggests a combination of grapefruit, vanilla and baby powder will lead a man to think the women wearing such a scent is younger than her real age. It also suggests it might aid women with low self-esteem, social phobia or mild depression. Keep in mind Ageless also has musk, cherry blossom, jasmine, peony and apple notes, among others. It is primarily a sunny scent with a fairly strong floral base. If nothing else, it makes you feel like a sexy woman!

The Healing Seed is not the first company to try and bottle the extensive list of benefits of hemp, but it may be one that has a fighting chance. Hemp is one element that has been misjudged for years. It has NO drug content, but it does have excellent nourishing fatty acids, proteins and vitamins. That’s why hemp is not only used in skincare via hempseed oil, but also is harvested to make milk and materials. The Healing Seed offers a complete personal care line from face and body products to haircare. Using organic hempseed oil, this Los Angeles-based small business makes the products without harmful ingredients such as parabens and artificial colors. The products absorb quickly and have a scent that is appealing to women, but subtle enough and earthy, so men could appreciate it too.

Where: For more information on Elizabeth Grant visit the Elizabeth Grant website. For more information on Ageless by Harvey Prince visit the Ageless website.
For more information on The Healing Seed visit The Healing Seed website.To learn more about Sekolo Projects visit the Sekolo Projects website