Neutrogena has partnered with Self magazine and Jennifer Garner to unveil what the company calls The Roadmap to Healthy Skin, a viral campaign discussing sun safety and skin cancer awareness.
   The Roadmap appears in the May 2008 issue of Self, stressing the importance of self-examination to prevent skin cancer and promote early detection. Self encourages women to download a mole map, located at www.self.com, to track skin changes that could signal cancer.
   An e-card campaign enables women to send e-cards to friends and family to encourage them to perform self-examinations and to visit the dermatologist for an annual full body check. For every five e-cards sent, Neutrogena will make a donation to help support skin cancer research.
   Self.com also has an exclusive video about sun safety featuring Jennifer Garner, and an interactive map highlighting important facts about sun safety across the US.

Some of the most famous women in the world are lending a hand to celebrate Moms this Mother’s Day and also raise awareness about an important women’s health issue affecting thousands of women each year.
   Oprah Winfrey, Sharon Stone, Courteney Cox Arquette, Faith Hill, Jennifer Garner and Olivia Newton-John have signed on by autographing the Pampered Chef limited-edition Pink Kitchen Gloves (the company notes that these contain natural rubber Latex) and Pink Aprons to raise funds for breast cancer education and early detection as part of the company’s Help Whip Cancer initiative.
   From May 1 to 31, 2008, supporters nationwide can log on to www.pamperedchef.com to bid on items signed by more than a dozen famous women, many who are also Moms, including Jane Seymour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tori Spelling, Meredith Vieira, Melora Hardin, Nancy O’Dell, Samantha Harris and the ladies of The View including Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Auction proceeds will benefit the American Cancer Society.
   According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer remains the most common form of cancer among women in the United States and every woman has a chance of developing breast cancer. Thanks to early detection through regular mammograms and effective treatment, the five-year survival rate has improved to an astounding 98 per cent.
   In its ninth year, the Pampered Chef Help Whip Cancer national campaign will offer a collection of limited-edition pink products including Pink Kitchen Gloves, Mini Scoop and Measure and the Pink Kitchen Brush to raise funds in support of breast cancer education and early detection programmes. For each product purchased, the Pampered Chef will contribute US$1 to support the American Cancer Society.

More details are emerging about the Naomi Watts advertisements for Thierry Mugler Angel, from the New York, rather than French, end of the business:

Naomi Watts was the inspired choice for Thierry Mugler, over and above her beauty and her star image. Displaying a modern touch, the actress projects a personality that blends sensuality, voluptuousness and evanescence to evoke the many facets of Angel. A blond fragility, a natural tenderness, an emotional seductiveness …
   Rather appropriately, it was in Los Angeles, city of the angels, and in the Hollywood Center studios, that the commercial was shot, following a scenario by Thierry Mugler and directed by director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls). A Hollywood fairy-tale surrounded by a profusion of Angel stars.
   To immortalize this mythical moment, Thierry Mugler called on photographer Ali Mahdavi to produce the advertising visuals of his Hollywood dream. A worldwide campaign, glamorous and magical, will begin in October 2008.

Chanel has chosen Jean-Pierre Jeunet to direct the next No. 5 advertising film, starring actress Audrey Tautou starring in the lead role.
   Jeunet had directed Tautou already in the César- and BAFTA-winning Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (Amélie in English) and Un long dimanche de fiançailles (The Long Engagement). The Chanel advertisement will be the third collaboration between Jeunet and Tautou.
   Tautou, born in the Auvergne region, is best known for Amélie and the film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code, with Tom Hanks.
   The advertisement will be shown in 2009.
   Chanel is no stranger to artistic commercials. Its 2007 film for its Rouge Allure lipstick was directed by Bettina Rheims and starred Swiss model Julie Ordon.

Actress Naomi Watts is the new face of the Thierry Mugler Angel fragrance, it was announced ahead of her début at the Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
   The company says that Watts is ‘A true embodiment of the fragrance itself and all it represents’. The campaign breaks in October in the US and features Watts.
   On May 5, Watts, dressed in vintage Thierry Mugler, makes her début at the gala, representing ‘a selection of the unique works of art created by Mugler himself.’

People has released its ‘Most Beautiful People in the World’ issue for 2008 and we have a few videos from our colleagues there from behind the scenes. Special LA correspondent Julie Jordan takes us through why Kate Hudson became the cover girl and narrates some footage of shoots for the magazine.

There are only 8,000 each for him and for her of the Diesel Fuel for Life Special Edition bottles, launched December 2007—and if you search, you may still be able to find some at ‘exclusive sales outlets’. We had to mention it since we think this is the coolest looking bottle for the first part of ’08.

   Meanwhile, photographer Matthew Plummer went along to the Little Brother show in Wellington, New Zealand and took some catwalk shots—we really loved these since they aren’t your ordinary “photographers’ pit” stuff. Some of Matthew’s work will be in the next print edition of Lucire.
   Speaking of the next print edition, Elyse Glickman has an interview with very hip, celeb-favourite LA label Hale Bob—and it was interesting to note that there has been African inspiration there. It’s evident in one of the collection photographs: embellished, raw and stylish. This pic probably won’t run due to space reasons, so here’s a chance to enjoy it now.

    Finally, in terms of happenings for our team, hop over to the beauty pages: our Mari Johnson has been to the Qua Bottle Lounge in downtown Austin, Texas—read about her experiences here.

How reliable are these readers’ polls? The British edition of Glamour (May 2008) puts Kate Moss at number one for Britain’s best dressed woman, with Agyness Deyn not even making it into the top 50. It’s a switch from earlier polls, which had been putting Moss lower during the last four months.
   Britney Spears was named worst dressed, with Jodie Marsh and Amy Winehouse making it on to the same list.
   Following Moss were Sienna Miller, Scarlett Johansson, Rachel Bilson, Jennifer Aniston, Alexa Chung, Reese Witherspoon, Jessica Alba, Keira Knightley and Victoria Beckham.
   Glamour attributed Moss’s success to her Topshop range and her willingness to be experimental with her clothing.
   A month ago, the UK edition of Tatler, owned by the same group as Glamour, put Deyn at number one, and Moss at number two, though the list looks very different.
   Between the two polls, Moss, Chung and Knightley appear.

I know this is a fashion magazine, but through Elyse Glickman and Karen Loftus we cover so much of the Hollywood scene that you sometimes feel you should give a star a send-off. Therefore, today, I want to say goodbye to Charlton Heston, who passed away aged 84 with his wife of 64 years, Lydia, by his side.
   Heston had already bid a farewell to his fans after being diagnosed with the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in 2002.
   Born John Charles Carter in 1924, he studied acting and served in the USAF during WWII. He waited for his break after returning to civilian life.
   He had made his reputation playing iconic figures, such as Moses and Ben Hur, in blockbuster films in the 1950s. Scenes in The Ten Commandments, where Heston’s Moses lifted his staff toward the heavens, and the 15-minute chariot race in Ben Hur, are two of cinema’s greatest moments.
   He had also played Andrew Jackson and Michaelangelo.
   Heston might be better remembered for his influence on modern culture, from lines in Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green (‘Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!’ and ‘Soylent Green is people!’).
   Politically, Heston was a supporter of Dr Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights’ Movement. Later in life, he defended the Second Amendment of the US Constitution and was a supporter of the National Rifle Association, which he served as president from 1998 to 2003.
   Earlier, he had served as president of the Screen Actors’ Guild and was chairman of the American Film Institute.
   Farewell, Chuck—you gave us some of the best moments in cinematic history. Thank you.
   A private memorial service will be held.

It’s not the new Knight Rider (which returns on NBC this year), but Max, a talking, black 1964 Volkswagen Käfer—Beetle to Anglophones—which will front a campaign for Volkswagen of America launching today called Das Auto.
   Max will interview, in a talk show setting, supermodel Heidi Klum, TV personality David Hasselhoff—who should have no problems conversing with a black car—actor and director Leonard Nimoy, NASA astronaut Richard Searfoss, music-sharing innovator Shawn Fanning, and former basketball coach Bob Knight.
   Volkswagen wants to stress not its premium image as it has done of late, but its impact on popular culture through the message, ‘It’s what the people want,’ tying in to the origins of its name.
   The campaign breaks on TV, online, and in print, as well as on social media channels.
   Tim Ellis, vice-president of marketing at Volkswagen of America, says, ‘Max personifies Volkswagen’s past, present and vision for the future. Through him, we will reconnect with American consumers and let them know how Volkswagen understands and responds to what the people want.’
   The American public will first meet Max in a series of teaser ads in major market daily newspapers that will seed him and introduce his knowledge of what the people want. To complement the print ads, an interactive polling program will simultaneously roll out on vw.com. A collection of 30-second television spots will follow throughout April.