PAMELA CAMASSA - L'ignoto italiano bellezza

Unless you reside in Italy or follow the beauty pageant circuit, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if you’ve never heard of Pamela Camassa.

Camassa, Italy’s Miss World contestant in 2002, nobly boycotted the pageant in protest of those countries still carry out stoning executions. I like a chick that’s hot and stands for something.

Not giving up her beauty pageant aspirations, Camassa entered the Miss Italy competition in 2005, placing third.

Since then, she has made many appearances on Italian TV, most notably in the third series of Ballando con le stele (’Dancing with the Stars’).

PAMELA CAMASSSA on Italian TV (in lingua italiana)

THE NILES LESH PROJECT - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2009

FINALLY - $180 BIRD POOP FACIAL MASK ???

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Forget avocado, evening primrose oil or other exotic ingredients, the latest facial to hit New York is a mask made with bird excrement.

The Geisha Facial, available at Shizuka New York for $180, about $100 more than the shop's other facials, contains nightingale excrement.

The Japanese powder, also known as uguisu no fun, is rich in the amino acid guanine, said to brighten and cleanse skin. In the 18th century geishas and kabuki actors used the powder to clean heavy white makeup off their faces.

"I'm always trying to bring Japanese culture and tradition to my spa," said Shizuka Bernstein. "I heard my mother talk about this treatment when I was a little girl."

The Japanese manufacturers of the powder treat it with ultraviolet light to kill bacteria. Bernstein mixes the substance at her spa with finely-ground rice bran to neutralize its slightly musky odor.

She claims the mask helps women achieve a porcelain white quality to their skin.

"I was a little tentative at first," said Andrea Nieto, who recently received the treatment. "But there was no smell. It was creamy and rich."