The Left Lane

Skin care on the QT

Cosmetics counters can be daunting for anyone. But if you're a man seeking advice on skin care ... auwe!

One alternative to skulking about, looking over a shoulder to see if anyone's watching is David Haight's Web site or e-mail.

Haight is among the nation's few male Mary Kay Cosmetics consultants. He's been a consultant for seven years and he understands how men feel. And, as a guy who swims two hours a day and works outdoors as manager of the Hickam lifeguards, he also understands the importance of skin care for active men.

You can find him at marykay.com/dhaight (occasionally this site is down but his phone number is listed there, as well or you can e-mail him at fitnessdawg@hotmail.com). By working through Haight's portion of the Mary Kay Web site, you can bypass the girlie stuff and go straight to Sun Essentials and Products for Him — and nobody has to know you're using "cosmetics."

— Paula Rath, Advertiser staff writer

Tunes for trousers

Musicians don't just get the blues, they get the blues about blue jeans.

According to Cotton Inc., a trade journal, popular musicians have been singing about their jeans since the beginning of time — or at least rock 'n' roll.

Everyone from Eric Clapton ("Bell-bottom blues") to David Bowie ("Jean Genie") to Jewel ("501 Beauty Queen") has tapped into the trend. Our own favorite blue jean memory is Janice Joplin "feelin' nearly as faded as my jeans," in "Me and Bobby McGee."

The magazine also reports that 31 percent of men think a good-looking woman looks sexiest in jeans and a T-shirt. Fifty percent of all women say a good-looking man looks sexiest in jeans, too.

— Mike Leidemann and Advertiser news services