StylePower

Emanuel Ungaro, Designer Extraordinare: mannuel Ungaro was born in Aix-en-Provence to an Italian tailor who had immigrated from Brindisi. As a young boy, Emanuel Ungarao took to sewing. At the age of 22, he moved to Paris and three years later, he began designing for the House of Cristobal Balenciaga. After spending six years at Balenciaga's side, Emanuel Ungaro opened his own fashion house in Paris in 1965. With 40 square meters and four seamstresses, Ungaro quickly imposed his sense of colour, structure, and fashion on the international fashion scene. Power-Up with Emanuel Ungaro at: www.ungaro.com

Waves of Gratitude has a lot to be grateful for this holiday season. The company based in Derry, New Hampshire debuts its new website and new image today at www.wavesofgratitude.com to sell beautiful and meaningful Inspired Jewelry and Inspired Apparel with plans to introduce Inspired Home Accents in the near future.

Waves of Gratitude founders Cheryl Nordyke and Kim Wierman built the company on the strong belief that everyone should have the opportunity to ìwearî symbols of gratitude that have style and meaning. The mission of Waves of Gratitude is to offer products that inspire people to remember the importance of expressing gratitude. "After finding myself unemployed for the first time at the age of 42, I went searching for a piece of jewelry to remind me to be grateful regardless of my situation," said Cheryl Nordyke, CEO. "When I was unable to find anything that spoke to me, Kim and I decided to create our own products that inspire and express our gratitude."

Inspired Jewelry by Waves of Gratitude includes bracelets and necklaces, with earrings coming soon. Founders Cheryl and Kim collaborated with renowned jewelry designer Jessica Fields to develop the ‘Branches of Hope' pendant, the flagship of the Inspired Jewelry line. Fields also developed the Create-A-Wave collection that includes six unique sterling silver wave-inspired pendants that can be worn separately or in unique combinations on Waves of Gratitude bracelets and necklaces. Inspired Apparel is a sophisticated line of signature tops that feature the new company monogram. There are 19 Signature Tops in the first designer collection available exclusively from Waves of Gratitude at www.wavesofgratitude.com.

Customers who purchase Inspired Jewelry and Inspired Apparel will give back, in the spirit of the holiday season. Waves of Gratitude, a company with a strong commitment to giving back, has selected the Susan G. Komen for the Cure as the recipient of 10% net profit donation through December 31, 2009. To view the new website and new image of Waves of Gratitude, visit www.wavesofgratitude.com.

STYLE POWER LIVES FOREVER......

January is here, are you ready for the next 31 days? Be it a fashion show, a concert, wedding, soiree you name it the place - you must be on point when it comes to your style profile. Be A Power Player of Fashion this Winter..

JANUARY FASHION POWER

Emanuel Ungaro

Mila Schon

Massimo Rebecchi

Carolina Herrera

power beauty products

Lush

SmashBox

Phillip B

Christi Harris

Alima Powder

Blinc

Weleda

Bodyography

Bliss

Alford Hoff

Each month the Power Player Lifestyle reporters will place the spotlight on book authors who focus on STYLE POWER looks. Take a closer look at these books highlighted above on Amazon.com. Read a great book learn more about where you are traveling.

Alima Cosmetics

Alima Cosmetics brings you ultra-pure handcrafted mineral cosmetics, mineral makeup and natural cosmetics. Let your natural beauty shine with our mineral

Christi Harris Brows

Effortless, foolproof brow shaping and shading. We may not have control over our facial features, but we can reshape our brows—helping define and balance those attributes we can’t change.

Gardenia Perfumed Soy Candle

Wonderful gardenia scented perfumed candle from the Soap and Paper Factory at www.soapandpaperfactory.com

Fastscription™ Instant De-Puff Eye Gel

Patricia Wexler MD Dermatology Fastscription™ Instant De-Puff Eye Gel.Cooling and correcting, this miraculous gel immediately reduces visible puffiness.

Karma from LUSH

Lush dusting powders will smoothen the skin and make your body feel fresh. Karma Dusting Powder. is a combination of Spicy orange, lemongrass and patchouli powder to keep feeling great all over.

Bodyography

Beauty with a conscience is a guiding principle for Bodyography. With this in mind, Bodyography products use minimal packaging that is recyclable, and no animals have ever been used to test Bodyography products - we think they look fabulous just as they are.

Designer Carolina Herrera: Noble sensibility, combined with charm, enabled Herrrera to make the transition from her halcyon days as a chic and renowned beauty on the international scene--where she spent days with royals and nights with the Warhol crowd--to a designer with such talent and business acumen that she could not be ignored. After receiving a positive reaction to a fashion collection she created in 1980 as "a test," she moved with her family to New York from Caracas in 1981 and formed Carolina Herrera, Ltd. Her exquisitely detailed, expertly crafted creations were immediately in demand by specialty stores, and chic, sophisticated women the world-over turned to Herrera's label for the type of impeccable suits, dresses and gowns she instinctively knew how to design--the legacy of having grown up in a world where women wore only couture In a business climate that says "continue to do or die," Herrera thrives. The best specialty stores sell her fashion and fragrances worldwide into her world at: www.carolinaherrera.com

Introducing Blood Heart Group (BHG) (www.bloodheartgroup.com), earth friendly apparel that teaches, inspires and gives back. This unique concept in historic clothing is the brainchild of Professional European Basketball player Michael Gomez. It came out of the realization that history provides countess examples of individuals who have shaped the world by their strength, courage and wisdom. Gomez thought it would be a great idea to put these images on eco-friendly t-shirts – so in early 2008 BHG was born.

What the BHG acronyms mean:

BLOOD – a symbol for ‘family’ relations; to share ancestry or descendants. The reality being that as members of the human race we all share a common ancestry – we are all related and united by blood.

HEART – the center of total ‘human’ personality; reference to intuition, feeling, emotion. The center of human sympathy, compassion and caring – most of all, the center of love – the most powerful, positive emotion that humans can possess.

GROUP/GANG – stems from the root word “gonge,” – a “journey” – first used in the English language to describe a group of traveling workers in 12th c. England. Most believe a journey is needed in order to start changing back to the path of social, educational and spiritual enlightenment leading us to care about all human beings and the planet

In addition to the t-shirt messaging, Gomez created a fund, aptly entitled The BHG Fund. The main goal of the BHG Fund is to educate impoverished and economically disadvantaged youths about different cultures and people featured and highlighted on the BHG apparel lines.

Some examples of historic images featured on the BHG shirts are: President Barack Obama; Aung San Suu Kyi; Benazir Bhutto; Nelson Mandela; Jackie Robinson; Caesar Chavez; Oscar Schindler; Amelia Earhart and Marie Curie.

“In society and in the halls of academia, many of the triumphs who have helped mold, shape and save our world have been slowly pushed aside. The scope on history is very limited and often sensationalized to foster a view of a ‘national identity.’ The youth of today need to understand the importance of how the actions of our forefathers/mothers can influence everyone,” says founder/creator/President Gomez. “The BHG Fund will provide inner-city youth with the opportunity of a lifetime by teaching and immersing these kids with the rich history the images and messaging on the shirts provide spanning many cultures – it is the chance for our next generation of children to learn, visualize and dream. A portion of each purchase will be given to the BHG Fund, giving kids the opportunity to earn BHG apparel through involvement with their community while providing a basic necessity (clothing) for those in need.

Miss Oops

The mission of Miss Oops is to provide women with beauty saving, problem solving products that make life easier. The company offers simple solutions to everyday problems.

Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask

What it is formulated to do:Instantly delivers a shot of oxygen, a powerhouse form of vitamin C, time-released antioxidants, and a moisture fix, to spiff up your complexion when it's looking and feeling lackluste

Thandie Newton is the daughter of a Rhodesian (now Zimbabwean) mother from the Shona people and a British father. She lived in Zambia until political unrest caused her family to move back to the UK. She then lived in Cornwall in the southwest of Britain until the age of 11. At that time she enrolled in London's Art Educational School, where she studied modern dance. However, a back injury forced her to quit dancing. This led to her auditioning for films and receiving her first role in John Duigan's Flirting (1991). Newton made her film debut in Flirting (1991). She gained international recognition in the Merchant Ivory production of Jefferson in Paris as Sally Hemings, which led to her being cast in Jonathan Demme's Beloved (1998), in which she played the title character. She played the female lead Nyah Hall in the film Mission: Impossible II. When this film went over schedule, she had to pull out of the film Charlie's Angels[citation needed], and her character ultimately went to Lucy Liu.Between 2003 and 2005, Newton played Makemba "Kem" Likasu, the love interest, and later wife of Dr. John Carter on the American television series ER. She reprised the role once more for the series finale in 2009. In 2004 also appeared in The Chronicles of Riddick and Crash. In the latter, she played a wealthy black woman who, along with her husband, finds herself the target of a racist policeman (played by Matt Dillon). Newton was honored with a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress in 2006. She also played Chris Gardner's wife, Linda Gardner, in The Pursuit of Happyness.In addition to her film and television credits she played the title role in a 2006 radio pantomime version of Cinderella.[14]In 2007, she starred alongside Eddie Murphy in the comedy Norbit as his love interest, and opposite Simon Pegg as his ex-girlfriend in the comedy Run Fat Boy Run.Newton next portrayed U.S. National Security Advisor-turned Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in W., Oliver Stone's film biography of President George W. Bush. The film was released 17 October 2008.Newton was an introducer at Wembley Stadium on 7 July 2007 for the UK leg of Live Earth. She was due to introduce Al Gore to the concert, but he was delayed, leaving Newton to tell jokes to try and entertain the audience. Newton next portrayed the United States President's First Daughter Laura Wilson in 2012, a disaster film directed by Roland Emmerich that was release November 13th, 2009. Link to Thandie at www.thandie-newton.org

Zhang Ziyi is perhaps the most well known Chinese actress in America. Listed as one of the most famous Chinese actors and actresses in Hollywood, she is charming and talented. With the role in Memoirs of A Geisha, Ziyi has gained more positive publicity and popularity in America. At the age of 19, Zhang was offered her first role in Zhang Yimou's The Road Home, which won the Silver Bear award in the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. Zhang further rose to fame due to her role as the headstrong Jen (Chinese version: Yu Jiao Long) in the phenomenally successful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for which she won several awards in the West, such as Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, Toronto Film Critics Association Awards and Independent Spirit Awards. Zhang's first appearance in an American movie was in Rush Hour 2, but because she didn't speak English at the time, Jackie Chan had to interpret everything the director said to her. In the movie, her character's name, "Hu Li", is translated from Mandarin Chinese to "Fox". Link into Ziyi at http://csc.ziyi.org

Named one of "People" magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. (2000) Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, a city in the greater Johannesburg-area, South Africa on August 7th, 1975. Her mother, Gerda, is German, while her late father, Charles, was French (she was named after him). Charlize began her modeling career in 1991 aged 16 when she won a local modeling contest. She started modeling in Europe and came to New York a year later. She didn't like being a model though, and decided to try her luck with ballet, which had been her biggest passion as a child. Unfortunately, a knee injury prevented her from dancing. Her mother bought her a one-way ticket to Los Angeles in 1994 and Charlize started visiting all of the agents on Hollywood Boulevard but without any luck. She went to the bank to cash a check for $500 she'd got from her mother and became furious when she learned that the bank could not cash her check because it was an out-state check. She made a scene and an agent gave her his card, in exchange that she learn the language, which she did by watching soap operas on TV. Her first role was as a young mother in a park in a B-film in 1995, but it was a non-speaking role with three seconds of screen time. Her next role was as Helga in 2 Days in the Valley (1996), which landed her the role of Tina in That Thing You Do! (1996). Since then, she has starred in movies like The Devil's Advocate (1997); Mighty Joe Young (1998); The Cider House Rules (1999); The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) and The Italian Job (2003). An important day in her life was February 29th, 2004 when she was awarded with her first Academy Award for her performance in Monster (2003). Link into Charlize at www.charlizetheron.com

Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan (Birthname: Aishwarya Rai, born 1 November 1973 is an Indian actress and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and gained fame after winning the Miss World title in 1994.Rai, who made her movie debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Iruvar (1997), had her first commercial success in the Tamil movie Jeans (1998), which earned her a Filmfare Best Actress Award South. She came to the attention of Bollywood in the movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Her performance in the film won her the Filmfare Best Actress Award. In 2002 she appeared in Bhansali's next project, Devdas (2002), for which she won her second Best Actress Award at the Filmfare. After a low phase in her career during 2003-2005, she appeared in the blockbuster Dhoom 2 (2006), which turned out to be her biggest Bollywood commercial success. She later appeared in films like Guru (2007) and Jodhaa Akbar (2008), which were commercially successful and got her critical acclaim. Rai has thus established herself as one of the leading contemporary actresses in the Indian film industry.During her career, Rai has acted in over forty movies in Hindi, English, Tamil and Bengali including the international productions Bride & Prejudice (2003), Mistress of Spices (2005), The Last Legion (2007) and The Pink Panther 2 (2009) in English. Link into Aishwarya at www.aishwarya-rai.com

I-Conic Eyes Pencil Liner

Developed by international make-up artist and style icon Jemma Kidd, I-Conic Eyes Pencil Liner. Sharpen up. Innovative long-last, pro finish pencil. This sharp and define brush to line and fill your eyes, lips and brows