Mary Kay Cosmetics collected data from more than 700,000 of its independent beauty consultants to find that you can map the country by makeup. According to the company's findings, women in Hawai'i "pick bold reds and bright colors, showing they are not afraid to be different and make a statement." In contrast, West Coast women "like to keep it simple, while creating stunning, natural looks. Favorites in the West include sheer glosses, neutral pinks and highlighting whites and beiges." Alaskans go for pinks and purples. The only region that doesn't have a trademark look is the Northeast, where, apparently, anything goes.

— Advertiser Staff

CULTURE INSPIRES DESIGNS

Make the most of that family tansu, create a zen nook or build a whole teahouse with ideas from "Japanese Style: Designing With Nature's Beauty" (Gibbs Smith, $29.95) by Sunamita Lim. Through full-color photographs of houses and businesses such as the spa Ten Thousand Waves in Santa Fe, N.M., Lim illustrates how people can create sanctuaries within their own homes by using elements of Japanese culture and design.

— Lesa Griffith

FINAL WORD

"There's no Oscar gym you go to get in Oscar shape. If you get invited to the show, you go. The work is done. You know what? It beats a sharp stick in the eye that people are talking about it. That's gravy."

Denzel Washington | star of "American Gangster," in Entertainment Weekly