What’s in a Name? Hopefully, Sales A-Peel

In the cutthroat--no pun intended--world of cosmetic procedures, a name is everything. That’s why Dr. Peter Fodor of Century Cosmetics has named a new procedure the “California Peel.” Not to be confused with a particular type of citrus, the California Peel is a microdermabrasion facial peel that does not use chemicals or lasers. Instead, a machine applies tiny aluminum oxide crystals to the skin to exfoliate the skin’s outermost layer.

The name California Peel was selected because the treatment is so quick and easy on the skin that clients can have the peel during their lunch hour and return to work. “The amount of recovery or ‘down’ time is becoming a bigger and bigger issue among clients,” says Barbara Fodor, director of Century Cosmetics.

Californians pursuing instant gratification? We’re shocked.

Have Eggs, Will Travel

You may have learned in high school biology that the human egg travels from the ovary to the uterus en route to conception. Well, most of the time. But an egg can also travel via Air Canadian, from Bagotville, Canada, to Montreal.

At least, that’s what scientists are saying in a recent report in the journal Fertility and Sterility. It seems that couples who live in rural areas but wish to undergo in vitro fertilization--which is typically offered only in large urban areas--can arrange to have the woman’s eggs removed and flown to a treatment center, where they can be combined with sperm. This is big news because human eggs are very fragile and were not thought to be able to withstand being kept in an incubator for more than an hour. In one case that resulted in a pregnancy, the researchers reported that the eggs were in transit for almost four hours.

While this advance will reduce some stress for infertility patients who live in rural areas, there is a downside, the researchers note. Flights can be canceled, leaving the eggs with no ride. And you thought missing luggage was a bummer.

Calcium Gets a Boost, No Bones About It

Perhaps no other nutrient has the glamour factor of calcium. Admittedly, Americans do have a problem getting enough calcium to protect bones. But those milk people sure have capitalized on this fact in a big way. The milk mustache advertisements with people like Mark McGwire and Melanie Griffith are everywhere.

And now, the Milk Mustache Mobile is on the road in Southern California--it was at UCLA on Tuesday--to promote milk’s calcium content.

Visitors to the milk mobile can get a free bone density test and have their photos taken while wearing a milk mustache. A few folks will be selected to star in a national milk mustache advertisement later this year.

The mobile will be at Bristol Farms’ Newport Beach store, 810 Avocado Ave., Wednesday and at the Manhattan Beach store, 1570 Rosecrans Ave., on Friday (both days from 4:30 to 7 p.m.). But here’s our favorite spot: On Tax Day, the mobile will be at the post office on Niguel Road in Laguna Niguel from 4:30 to 7 p.m.