Designer turns junk into jewelry

Roberta Oaks’ creativity extends beyond dresses to grease monkey glam, jewelry incorporating recycled materials and the designer’s re-purposed junkyard finds.

Back by popular demand is her Gurl with Toolz collection of mixed metal cuffs bearing alphabets gleaned from such objects as automobile logos. Inquire about custom creations.

Oaks’ store is at 19 N. Pauahi St. and open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Call 428-1214.

Seats available for benefit event

Tickets are on sale for Hui Maka­ala’s 43rd annual lunch and fashion show featuring designs by Mon­tsuki, Amos Kotomori, Paradisus Jewelry and kumu hula Sonny Ching.

The 1 p.m. show takes place Oct. 21 in the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel’s Hawaii Ballroom. Doors open at 11:30 a.m., with lunch at noon. Before the event, browse boutique sales and silent-auction items beginning at 9 a.m. outside the venue.

Tickets are $70 per person and will benefit the organization’s scholarship fund. Call Karen Shi­shido at 551-7868 or Valerie Kato at 277-2035.

BEAUTY SPOT

Product fights collagen loss

As I tell young’uns crushed by the sight of their first wrinkles, "Wrinkles are the least of your worries. Wait till you get to collagen loss."

As long as you stay out of the sun, use sunscreen, cleanse and tend to your skin daily, you can stave off wrinkles for decades.

Collagen loss is another matter. I haven’t yet found the antidote for the deep crevasses that start forming around the mouth and nasolabial fold that separate youth from those who’ve hit 40.

But this month, Natura Bisse launched its Diamond Life Infusion. The product says it increases collagen and hyaluronic acid responsible for skin support and moisture. It also preserves the length of telomeres (the protective caps of chromosomes) to maintain younger-looking skin. Telomeres too short to divide are associated with cell death.

Michael Ann Guthrie, Natura Bisse’s vice president of retail experience, was at Neiman Marcus recently to introduce the serum and said innovations in skin care can be compared to medical advances. "We’re moving from treatment to prevention to the point where recapturing youth is possible.

"Two years ago my cholesterol was sky high. Doctors said I was like a 70-year-old, but with diet and exercise, I now have the cholesterol level of a 25-year-old. I know, going forward, that I have helped myself, and the same reversal is possible with skin."

She said the company’s study of biomarkers showed that increases in the protein progerin as we age further accelerates aging. Among Diamond Life Infusion’s ingredients is a progerin-reducer complex.

At $590 the serum doesn’t come cheap, but after trying a seven-day sample, I’m closing in on 35 again.