Celebrating life comes in many forms.  Carmen DePasquale and Artistic Academy choose to celebrate hope, the hope given to lives touched by cancer and diabetes, through charitable contributions that allow treatment and research to continue in a search for a cure.

Celebrating Life

In 2008 Carmen Depasquale, president of Depasquale Companies and founder of Artistic Academy, earned the “Spirit of Life Award” from the City of Hope for his continued commitment to cancer and diabetes research. The Depasquale Companies have since put forth a tremendous effort on behalf of the City of Hope to honor this commitment. In particular, Artistic Academy has hosted two dinner shows and will be hosting a third Friday, June 18, 2010 at the Hanover Marriot in Whippany, New Jersey.

Students Rally For A Cause

The call for a cure was heard in Morris Plains, New Jersey by one of the Depasquale Companies, the students of Artistic Academy were more than happy to be a part of this commitment. The energy and life with which the students and staff took up this mantle lent a spirit to this effort that shattered expectations. These budding cosmetologists and aestheticians are taught that, through their skills and knowledge, they are empowered with the ability to make a client’s day.  The students of Artistic Academy chose to do more with their talent, they chose to make a difference.

Fighting the Fight

With the goal that only a cure will do, Artistic Academy’s student body took no prisoners in its fight. The fundraising efforts started right in the classroom through generous donations from students and their families. The students also went into the community, reaching out to beauty professionals and other businesses in the area for sponsorship and donations. The students then applied their talent in hairstyling and skin-care. The students held a number of Beauty-A-Thons, during a Beauty-A-Thon the students facilitate services for clients in Artistic Academy’s Student Salon and Spa from 10am until 10pm. All of the proceeds are donated to the City of Hope.  These individual fundraisers draw the most support, until the dinner show.

Show Time

Success is in the planning.  In the months leading up to the dinner show Artistic Academy students and staff were in the constant process of assuring that every detail is addressed for the delight of their guests and the ultimate benefit of the City of Hope.  Students and staff busy themselves by securing sponsors and donations for funding as well as favors. The students also work hard on their hair and make-up designs that will hit the runway on that special night.  Each show welcomed and entertained its guests through the night, creating a memorable experience for all. Through all of their efforts and hard work Artistic Academy was able to raise over $100,00.00 for the City of Hope.  The upcoming show Friday, June 18 promises to be the best yet!

For more information on this exciting event, please contact Artistic Academy at 973-656-1401

To learn more about Artistic Academy visit them at www.artisticacademy.com

This year, St. Valentine´s Day is on a Sunday, a perfect opportunity for passionate couples to plan a romantic escape. And while enjoying the stunning location why not prolong the weekend to the Carnival celebration on Tuesday and indulge in a romantic yet festive getaway! These two holidays allow us to begin the year in the best way possible, relaxing. Surprise your sweetheart with an evening in a luxurious suite, a romantic dinner for two, or an Aphrodisiacal Cooking Workshop.

Even in winter Algarve continues to be one of the most privileged and welcoming regions in Portugal. Knowing this, IMOCOM Hotels and Resorts has prepared romantic suggestions for passionate couples at Monte Santo, in Carvoeiro or As Cascatas Golf Resort & Spa, in Vilamoura. Discover our special Valentine´s Day offers and select your destination…

St. Valentine´s Day at Monte Santo, Carvoeiro

Monte Santo allows couples to experience a seductive candlelit dinner with live music at the Club House Restaurant, complete with a delicious menu prepared especially for this occasion.

If you prefer something more private and sophisticated, take pleasure in an evening of luxurious Suite accommodation, complete with VIP treatment. Upon arrival enjoy a bottle of sparkling wine, and a Jacuzzi with bath salts all within the comfort of your suite. Afterwards, end the evening with a seductive candlelit dinner. Prolong this unique moment with a continental breakfast served within your suite, and enjoy a late check-out. During your stay, be sure to enjoy the complimentary access to the gym, fitness circuit, heated indoor pool and Turkish bath. This offer is available for as little as €155 per night for 2 people.

This programme is valid for the evening of the 13th or 14th of February 2010.  The three course dinner includes drinks. Non-refundable pre-payment of reservation is due upon booking. Offer is subject to availability and alteration without prior notice.

Further to the accommodation with special touches of romance and a candlelit dinner, Monte Santo has also prepared an Aphrodisiac Cooking Workshop with simple recipes that will seduce your loved one every day of the year! The sign-up fee is €30 per couple. The workshop will have a limited participation so please reserve until the 13th of February.

St. Valentine´s Day at As Cascatas Golf Resort & Spa

Located in the heart of Vilamoura, As Cascatas Golf Resort & Spa seems to surround us within an ideal ambience, while offering truly romantic moments. Make this year special and surprise your loved one with an unforgettable Valentine´s Day present.

As Cascatas Golf Resort & Spa, presents a package which includes a seductive evening within a luxurious Suite, surrounded by rose-petals and complete with VIP treatment upon arrival – a bottle of sparkling wine, red berries and a small gift. Enjoy a SPA treatment for 2 and complementary access to the 7Seven Spa Vilamoura social areas, where you may experience the whirlpools, a Zen garden, Aromatic bath, Sauna, Turkish Bath, Waterfall experience, Contrast Tunnel, Ice fountain and an additional 10% discount on SPA treatments. Prolong the moment with a late check-out. This offer is available for as little as €150 per person, per night.

* Price per person per night

Exclusive offer includes:

• Welcome drink
• Full breakfast buffet
• Early check-in
• Luxurious suite accommodation
• Complimentary use of fitness facilities: gym, indoor pool, tennis courts and outdoor pools
• Complimentary Marina/Beach/Golf Shuttle
• Complimentary access to the 7Seven Spa social areas
• Secure underground parking
• Baby Must Have Service
• Luxury toiletries, bathrobes and slippers
• Late check-out

This programme is valid for the evening of the 13th or 14th of February 2010. Rate is based on shared accommodation in a one-bedroom suite. Price per person. Valentine´s day VIP includes 1 bottle of sparkling wine and red berries. Non-refundable pre-payment of reservation is due upon booking. Offer is subject to availability and alteration without prior notice.

The long Andalucian summer has just begun and this year promises to be particularly hot with Spain’s largest region hosting some of Europe’s liveliest cultural and sporting events. From music and dance, international golf tournaments, bull fighting and flamenco to the annual grape harvest for the region’s finest Sherries – Andalucia has it all! And all this within striking distance of Finca Cortesin Hotel, Golf & Spa, a new luxury boutique hotel in southern Spain.

Few festivals can compete with Granada’s International Festival of Music and Dance for the splendour of the backdrop or the sumptuousness of the venues. The festival sweeps the stunning city off its feet for three weeks between 25 June and 14 July this year. Everywhere, from tiny cafes to courtyards in the Alhambra, the fairytale Palace of Charles V, will be hosting recitals and dance performances from the likes of The London Symphony Orchestra, The Baroque Music Ensemble, The National Ballet Company and local Andalucian guitarists and flamenco dancers. What better way to discover this beguiling city than through some of the best musicians in the world?

Nor is Granada alone in offering great music and dance in Andalucia this summer. Perhaps enjoy Placido Domingo singing with the Almeria City Orchestra in June, or discover the delightfully haunting sound of Sephardic Music in Cordoba’s Botanical Gardens, also in June.

The Feria is the most important festival of the summer in Andalucia. Whilst many towns and villages hold their own, Malaga’s is known to be the biggest and best and takes place from 14 – 23 August this year. By day join the throngs of flamenco dancers in the streets, sample local delicacies from the many food stalls or simply watch the locals and their horses ride through town in traditional dress. The real party begins in typically Andalucian style – late – and is dedicated to flamenco dance and music, pena music groups, firework displays and merriment.

The Andalucian summer lasts well into September and so do the region’s cultural offerings. The beginning of the month sees Ronda’s bullfighting stadium, the oldest in Spain, host the Corrida Goyesca, a fight between bull and men dressed as Goyaesque characters. If blood sports don’t appeal then Jerez’s celebration of the grape harvest might well. The festival not only celebrates Andalucia’s most famous drink, sherry, but also the renowned Spanish riders and Flamenco, in an event rooted in the region and its people.

Last but not least, this autumn sees Finca Cortesin Hotel, Golf & Spa host the Volvo World Match Play Championship for the first time. The international golf tournament has seen the likes of Ernie Els taking the title in the past; in 2009, Finca Cortesin will welcome the best golfers in the world to Andalusia, including Tiger Woods.

Finca Cortesin Hotel, Golf & Spa is a new 67-suite five-star hotel near the tiny town of Casares on the Andalucian coast – the perfect base for Andalucia’s many cultural and sporting highlights.

Finca Cortesin offers a four-day “Golf Experience” package from 600 Euros per person. The package includes three-night accommodation with complimentary upgrade (dependent on availability) at the Finca Cortesin Hotel, two green-fees at Finca Cortesin Golf Club, complimentary breakfast, early check-in and late check out as well as access to the Finca Cortesin Spa.

For more information on Finca Cortesin and the Volvo World Match Championship please visit www.fincacortesin.com

Festival Dates
16 June – Placido Domingo with Almeria’s City Orchestra (www.placidodomingo.com)
25 June – 14 July – Granada International Festival of Music and Dance (www.granadafestival.org)
23 – 27 June – International Sephardic Music Festival, Cordoba (www.andalucia.org)
14 – 23 August – Feria de Malaga
(www.feria-de-malaga-es)
5 September – Corrida Goyesca, Ronda
(www.rondatoday.com/tourism/goyesca-feria)
5-6 September – Jerez Sherry Festival
(www.spanish-fiestas.com/spanish-festivals/sherry-festival-jerez)
Autumn 2009 – Volvo World Match Play Championship (www.fincacortesin.com)

My DNA Fragrance™ introduces First Exclusive and Revolutionary Fragrance Formulation Process using DNA blueprints to create Personalized Perfume
Beverly Hills, CA DNA identity test are becoming the new norm in determining exclusivity and many manufacturers are using it to authenticate everything from art and cosmetics to wine, making DNA testing a more and more common practice in the creation of exclusive authentic products. So why not fragrance?”

For consumers desiring exclusive personalized products, My DNA Fragrance™ introduces the first one-of-a-kind revolutionary fragrance that is uniquely formulated using each customer’s DNA profile as the blueprint to create a biologically seductive liquid treasure that caresses the secret desires of the mind. Unlike the 30,000 mass produced and celebrity endorsed fragrances on the market today, the fragrance offers you the opportunity to leave a memory of you in every room.

While US sales lag slightly behind the products phenomenal international success the Company is ahead of the wave in DNA based product launches introduced in the US and stands to gain quickly from its revolutionary DNA fragrance formulation process as it has no fragrance competitors.

When asked what he sees as the biggest challenge in bringing DNA based products to the US market; Zack Gaskin, President of GFI Laboratory stated, “One of the biggest challenges is giving consumers the confidence that their private information will remain private and that no further testing will be performed without their approval.”

Still it is interesting to note that we are literally leaving our DNA everywhere we go, whether it is in the gym, a restaurant, a public restroom, the subway, etc… We leave it in the form of sweat, tears, saliva, hair or dead skin cells leaving a trail of DNA that can be traced right back to us everyday. So why the fear?

US consumers are bombarded daily with entertainment keen on using DNA based forensics to capture criminals or fantasies about DNA cloning on television making them more cautious about waving a DNA swab freely for testing even though generally more and more consumers are participating in DNA based studies and purchasing DNA tests for paternity, genealogy, and forensics every day. International consumers have fewer reservations when submitting their DNA for testing than Americans as DNA testing has been embraced as a norm for individual identity purposes abroad and even the bus drivers in the UK carry DNA collection kits as part of their routine requirement.

Per Gaskin, “DNA holds a colossal amount of information, most of which scientists have yet to learn how to read, but getting all the information that your genetic code holds is not an easy task and much more expensive to produce than the price one pays for testing. DNA tests have to be focused on the genetic markers that have been determined to provide specific information. In the past 5-10 years, DNA testing has become a common household phrase and the blueprint of life is trusted by millions of people each year to help solve issues and provide information about ourselves that was not possible in the past.

My DNA Fragrance™ has tapped into a process that combines the fields of genomics and chemistry to produce a fragrance that is specific to your genetic code. We all have a unique set of building blocks that make up our genetic code. The pattern of the building blocks determines many things about how our bodies will function and react. In the field of personalized medicine, researchers around the globe are trying to determine from your DNA how you will react to medications and your susceptibility to disease based on your genetic code. The goal being that in the future you will go to your doctor and have a DNA screening that will provide you with specific information about you that will, in turn, provide a specific treatment that is best for you. My DNA Fragrance™ has unlocked the potential of our DNA and allowed us a premier to the future of a personalized lifestyle.”