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Features

FEATURES

SN Style: Trendy meets Target

Elizabeth Swanson
February 6, 2007

Last year, punk-meets-girlie British designer Luella Bartley was the first to design a collection for Target's GO International campaign, in which high-end designers create lower-priced clothing that sells in stores and online for 90 days. Since Luella's hit collection, designers Tara Jarmon, Paul & Joe and Behnaz Sarafpour have all taken turns creating equally successful lines. Next on the list is Proenza Schouler, a male duo of 20-something New York designers.

FEATURES

Skatelife

Elizabeth Swanson
February 6, 2007

Underneath her wispy, bright blue skating skirt and camouflaged by her heavy, tan tights, Audrey Culver has scars up and down her legs. But she doesn't really mind them.

FEATURES

Collectors take passion beyond comics, stamps

Matt Flint
February 6, 2007

It may seem like once-popular hobbies — spending hours building model airplanes, flying kites or mastering always-impressive yo-yo tricks — have quickly faded into obscurity. But one hobby seems to be here to stay: collecting.

FEATURES

Experts unscramble breakfast myths

Elizabeth Swanson
February 1, 2007

When it comes to breakfast, dietitians say eating something is always better than nothing — even if that something happens to be a doughnut, muffin or slice of cake. This was just one of the surprising tidbits The State News found when interviewing registered dietitians Diane Fischer from Sparrow Health System and Peggy Apostolos from Ingham Regional Medical Center.

FEATURES

Staying in hostels teaches lessons, lowers travel fees

College is the time when people go out to see the world. Without being bound to a family or career, you are free to travel, expand your cultural understanding and explore the vast globe. However, being in college also may be a time of debt and tight budgets for many people.

FEATURES

Are we too clean?

Matt Flint
January 30, 2007

Incessant hand washing, fear of public restrooms, refusal to share food — living in a vacuum, all these worries would become obsolete. In reality, the world is teeming with microorganisms with the potential to spread infectious disease.

FEATURES

Fingernails, ties rate high as bacteria habitats

Elizabeth Swanson
January 30, 2007

What do fancy fake nails, shiny rings and elegant, patterned ties have in common? All are accessories — that double as inconspicuous hideaways for germs. Bacteria accumulates on ties and gets trapped underneath rings and long nails, making it easier for germs to spread, said Chris Farnum, medical director of infection control at Ingham Regional Medical Center. "There was a study published last year … an editorial talking about the vast number of organisms (found on) ties," Farnum said.

FEATURES

Experts interpret obsessive tendencies

Elizabeth Swanson
January 30, 2007

Every one of Jonathan DeGorter's DVDs has a specific place, as they're neatly arranged in alphabetical order. But one time, his friend borrowed a DVD from the systematic collection — and lost it. "No one knew who had my DVD," the food science junior said.

FEATURES

New book highlights benefits of clutter

By Sara Isaac McClatchy Newspapers Orlando. MCT — Solange Dao wishes she were neater. Her desk at her small engineering firm in Orlando has so many piles of paper on it that she has turned an adjacent chair into an additional "filing" area. "This morning I had an interview come in, and he walked in and I kind of turned around and looked at my desk, and I thought, 'He must think I'm crazy,'" Dao said. Not only is Dao not crazy — she's exhibiting good business sense, according to Columbia University management Professor Eric Abrahamson. Yes, it's January — National Get Organized Month and International Business Resolutions Month.

FEATURES

Students unaffected by pirating threats

By Eric Stern McClatchy Newspapers Sacramento, Calif. — College students who illegally download music and movies have been sued. They've had Internet access shut off or threatened, and they've been warned to never do it again. But the threat of a letter in a permanent file doesn't hold as much sway as it used to.

FEATURES

Tips to boost metabolism

By Alison Freehling McClatchy Newspapers It's an unfortunate truth: As people get older, their metabolism — the process by which the body burns calories from food — can slow down by as much as 25-30 percent.

FEATURES

Experts shed light on shelf life of beauty products

Elizabeth Swanson
January 25, 2007

Just like a curdled, putrid carton of milk immediately would be thrown away, cosmetics should also should be kicked to the curb after acquiring mysterious smells and textures. Eye products have a shelf life of six months, said Carey Nelson, the spa development and curriculum manager at Douglas J.

FEATURES

League rewards celeb critique

By Jane Ridley McClatchy Newspapers New York — Sienna Miller gets 15 points for tamed eyebrows, 30 points for braided hair, 15 points for shimmery eyes and 15 points for velvety matte lips. America Ferrera gets 75 points for her oversized diamond ring. When Meryl Streep swept into the Golden Globes wearing chandelier-style earrings and her hair in a bun with bangs, who would have thought it was the equivalent to Peyton Manning throwing a 60-yard touchdown pass? Amy Dunman, a devotee of the Fantasy Fashion League Beauty Edition, a new offshoot of the Fantasy Fashion League modeled after fantasy football, certainly did — Streep racked up 545 points that night. If Miller had been on her team, the British actress would have brought in an incredible 945 points, thanks to her striking braided up-do and bronzed skin. "Now I can't wait for the SAG awards on Sunday," says Dunman, 34, from Bernardsville, N.J.

FEATURES

Sunless tanning gains popularity

Thea Neal
January 23, 2007

Chelsea Steiner and Jeff Malkiewicz are complete strangers but, have something in common — both of their mothers survived skin cancer. Five years ago, Steiner's mother had cancerous basal cells removed from her leg.