Beauty Blog

Vietnam has welcomed eighty of the world’s most beautiful women for the 57th annual Miss Universe competition. A place better known for war than Kalyani glamour is seizing the opportunity to show how far the country has come in terms of commerce and fashion and war has become a fading memory.

The contest is being held in seaside city Nha Trang, where there is major American air base used during the Vietnam War.

The show is being hosted by Scarey Spice, Mel B and American TV personality and talk show host Jerrry Springer, who is clearly enjoying his latest job. During an interview with the Associated Press on Saturday, he described it as ‘a plum assignment’.

Miss USA, Crystle Stewart has noted the warth from her Vietnamese hosts, despite the history of hostilities between their nations. The Texan is writing a motivational book and wants to act as role models for other countries to prove that you can get along after war. Her speach will be including the words ‘world’ and ‘peace’ then.

The contestants have been over in Vietnam for four weeks now, taking part in various charity events, meeting local dignitaries and posing just about anywhere in their bikinis.

Agyness Deyn, one of the hottest models of the moment has faced a bit a set back in her quest for domination of the modelling industry, when Burberry announced they were axing her as the face of their latest campaign. Perhaps Kalyani should have a look at her?

Deyn, real name Laura Hollins has been replaced by her former friend (the girls are said to have fallen out over it). With Agyness apparently blanking Rosie, who is rumoured to be the next Kate Moss, since she was announced as the face of Burberry’s Autumn Winter campaign. Rosie has hit back by describing Agy’s look as a ‘one-off season look’, well she seems to have stuck around so far Rosie!

Rosie has already fronted other big ad campaigns for Victoria’s Secret and D&G Underwear. She was discovered in 2003 while studying at Tavistock College and doing work experience at model agency Profile in the West End of London. They signed her up immediately and she is now set to make the big time.

Deyn, 25, will continue to front the Burberry fragrance campaign. She has recently branched out from modelling by singing backing vocals for the Five O’Clock Heroes.

Beauty Salons are booming thanks to girls as young as six wanting facials and manicures. A brand new child-only salon called Tantrum has opened on London’s King’s Road which

offers Fantasie beauty treatments, hair styling and make-up to children under the age of 10.

Child beauty has become big business. Research has shown that six out of ten girls

aged seven to ten wore lipstick and two out five wore eye shadow or mascara. These days you can even get high heels for babies, diet pills, breast implants, facelifts and padded bra all aimed at seven year olds.

Grooming has certainly changed around children. Children aged 6 or 7 are aspiring to be a lot more grown-up than they are, trying to be more like 12 or 13 year olds. Allowing childre

n to be pampered in this way can be a dilemma for parents and salon owners alike - on the one hand not wanting their children to grow up too fast but at the same time wanting their children to fit in with their peers and be the coolest girl in school.

Many salons offer mum and daughter days and pamper parties for children, which appear to

be attracting more and more children to have beauty treatments done. We are still a few steps behind the US though - across the pond beauty treatments are common place for children as young as two and has been considered normal by many parents for several years.

Beauty is booming in the UK, but TV shows on beauty don’t get the same chunk or airtime as food, fashion or interiors. There are several makeover shows, 10 Years Younger and How to Look Good Naked, which basically boil down to ‘before’ and ‘after’, so in an attempt to redress the balance, BBC Three’s Freya inspired, Beauty Season has scheduled real documentaries about the industry, offering alternative views on physical attractiveness and devoted to exploring the construction and consumption of beauty.

10 Years Younger, a show that sets out to find some poor wretched so and so, bully her into plastic surgery, dental work, new hair, make-up and complete wardrobe overhaul. And How to Look Good Naked, a show designed to encourage size-16 plus subjects to be proud of their bodies instead of going under the knife.

So the new Beauty season on BBC Three offers a refreshing look at beauty, with their new headlining show ‘Britain’s Missing Top model’. The show is watches eight disabled contestants battle it out to win a modeling contract with Marie-Claire. The contestants live together in a Big Brother-type house, and are filmed twenty-four-seven in the reality show/talent contest.

We noticed this discussion late last week, judges send home one contestant each week after having completed different photo shoot and catwalk tasks. The show raises debates about what can be seen as attractive and surround issues like choosing someone with a visible disability - an amputee or paraplegic, or someone whose disability is not visible like a deaf or partially blind person, suffering from a debilitating condition.