Mineral Makeup

There's a new rock star in cosmetics: mineral-based makeup.
Beauty marketers are rushing to mine the trend with more foundation, blush, eye shadow and other cosmetics with natural-sounding "mineral" formulations and ingredients. The products with finely ground minerals are being promoted as sheer, "natural" looking and less irritating to skin than chemical-based products.

A third of women said they wanted mineral-based makeup in a 2007 survey by market researcher Mintel.
The industry has responded with a barrage of mineral-based cosmetic products: 451 in 2007, vs. 132 in 2005 in the U.S. market, according to Datamonitor's Productscan Online.

But is it really healthy? Or is it only a new way to attract new consumers?

Dermatologist Leslie Baumann, author of The Skin Type Solution, is critical of any claim the makeup is healthier. "It is mainly marketing hype. The minerals in it have never been shown to be beneficial for your skin."

"The idea is that it's healthy and natural and beautiful — and that it lasts," senior product manager Erika Kussmann says.

=> Do we will to forget the orange face and green eyes and use more natural makeup for more natural women?

Ohio university

Here I am : Athens, Ohio, just close to the campus of Ohio University!

For sure, it is totally different from NYC... ! The first time I went to town, I wanted to buy me some clothes (or at least have a look of what I could afford) and I was really surprise that most of stores are especially for student who are studying there... that implies clothes with the logo OHIO UNIVERSITY on it! I had never seen that in my all live, that so crazy for me!

In France we also have t shirt of the colors of our school, but actually you don't buy them; you get them because you 're volonteer in a association or you were participating at a special event.

Here in Athens every student is proud to show in which university he or she is, and wear ohio clothes during normal day.

I find it both funny and also very important for the "campus spirit" : if you like the university where you are studying, you will be proud to show it. And that's also a way to attract new students...

The succes of Ikéa

"Affordable solutions for better living", this is the slogan of Ikea.

Founded in 1943 in Sweden, IKEA is now the world's largest furniture manufacturer. IKEA is a privately-held, international home products retailer that sells flat pack furniture, accessories, and bathroom and kitchen items in their retail stores around the world. The company also pioneered flat-pack design furniture at affordable prices in the world.

This success results from the identity of the brand :

Much of IKEA's furniture is designed to be assembled by the consumer rather than being sold pre-assembled. This involves two advantages : first, it permits an important cost reduction, which was repercuted on the sale prices. Then, the flat-pack distribution method allowed an easier transport from the store to a customer's home .

Finally, IKEA provides furnitures for a very large public : from a large to a smaller house, for a design and useful decoration, for people from 20 to 50 years old who can have the catalog for free!

Definitively, IKEA succeeded in both giving the opportunity for bying products as a reasonable price and allowing people from middle class to have access to design furnitures. Kamprad (the fondator of the firm), refers to the concept as "democratic design," meaning that the company applies an integrated approach to manufacturing and design (and also environmental design) : "The intended result is flexible, adaptable home furnishings, scalable both to smaller homes and dwellings as well as large houses".