SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- From various diets and exercise routines to complicated medical procedures such as Botox and liposuction - people go to great lengths to look better, younger and sexier. Alex Guberman, the owner of the new upscale hair salon Exclussif in San Jose, California, has a different, much simpler and more affordable idea: new hairstyle! It's a much easier and faster solution to transfer yourself into a new, sexier and younger you.

"I don't think people realize how much their hair and makeup can affect their look," says Guberman. "You can make your nose appear smaller, your eyes look larger, your skin more glowing, your cheeks perkier and your smile shinier simply by changing the style, cut and color of your hair."

Guberman opened his new salon last year by partnering up with award-winning stylist Michael Yocum, a former Joico platform artist and a recipient of multiple hair color, styling and cutting awards over the last three decades. Yocum enjoys his work and it shows. "When a customer leaves my chair," says Yocum, "I give them more than just a hair style - I give them confidence, youth and character."

In only a few months of its grand opening, Salon Exclussif is already one of the top-rated salons on Yelp with a growing number of five-star reviews. Salon customers rave about the salon stylists' abilities to perform top-quality work on different types of hair, transforming their customers' images and looks. Services range from deep conditioning, blow dry and style items, all the way to keratin treatments, color and highlights, facial waxing, makeup, and many other services. All new clients receive a free consultation where they work with salon stylists on designing their new look and a plan on its proper maintenance.

Salon Exclussif is an exclusive Joico salon that not only carries a full Joico retail line but uses the Joico products on all of the clients.

Salon Exclussif, a member of Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, is also giving back. Five percent of all service revenues are automatically donated to a charity of each customer's choice. The choices of charities for Salon Exclussif customers include Silicon Valley Humane Society, Red Cross - Bay Area Chapter, as well as American Cancer Society and Our City Forest. Salon Exclussif is also a place where customers can donate their hair to Locks of Love - a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss.

Visit http://www.exclussif.com for more information, featured video and Yelp reviews, or call 408-377-0100. Salon is located at 2039 Woodard Rd., in the Cambrian area of San Jose, CA.

Contact:

Alex Guberman
Salon Exclussif
408-377-0100

This press release was issued through eReleases(R).  For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.

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The New 'Old' Idea on Looking Young and Sexy

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Al-Fashir, Darfur, Feb 22 : A 55-person patrol of the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur returned to its home base on Tuesday after the team had been blockaded for nearly two days by armed rebels in the northwest of the troubled Sudanese region.

The mission (UNAMID) said ?a show of force and round-the-clock negotiations? resolved the incident after members of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) blocked the patrol and later held two UNAMID language assistants and a police adviser.

?Our officers and their troops demonstrated true resolve, courage and compassion,? said Ibrahim Gambari, the head of UNAMID and the Joint Special Representative of the UN and AU in Darfur, which has been beset by fighting and large-scale displacement since 2003.

?Our troops held their ground; they called in reinforcements and they refused to leave the area without all personnel back on the patrol, including the Yemeni police adviser and two Sudanese language assistants. This afternoon everyone has returned, without injury and without any conditionality.?

The incident began on Sunday when the contingent ? comprising 50 Senegalese troops, three police advisers and two language assistants ? was blocked by more than 100 JEM members in the village of Shegeg Tova as it was carrying out a long-range patrol from its team site in Umm Baru.

The UNAMID troops then refused to leave until the two language assistants and the police adviser were released.

The stand-off ended after ?substantial peacekeeping reinforcements? were sent by the mission, which also made repeated contact with the leadership of JEM.

?Our peacekeepers criss-cross Darfur every day to help bring security to civilians who continue to suffer the effects of conflict,? Gambari said.

?We have a mandate to execute in all parts of Darfur. At the same time we are supporting an ongoing and inclusive peace process, including implementation of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur. This deplorable action taken by JEM contradicts the spirit of this peace process, which most people in Darfur are welcoming.? (IBNS)

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Darfur patrol returns home safely after rebel blockade

Luis Pedrosa/iStockphoto.com

A new weight-loss pill could be coming to the menu.

A key federal panel Wednesday recommended the Food and Drug Administration approve the first new weight-loss drug in more than a decade.

At the conclusion of a day-long hearing, the FDA's Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 20-2 to endorse a request from Vivus to approve the drug Qnexa. The same panel gave a thumbs-down to Qnexa in 2010.

Qnexa is a combination of two generic drugs that are already on the market:

phentermine, a stimulant used for short periods to help control weight, and topiramate, typically used for migraines and seizures.

The FDA doesn't have to follow the advice of the panel, but the agency usually does.

The FDA rejected Qnexa in 2010 because of concerns about side effects, especially possible heart problems and birth defects such as cleft lips and cleft palates. The rejection came amid a series of rejections and withdrawals of weight-loss drugs, which put a spotlight on the FDA's handling of obesity medications.

Despite the obesity epidemic, the FDA hasn't approved a new weight-loss drug since 1999. In 2011, the the diet drug Meridia was pulled from the market at the request of the FDA because of concerns about heart problems. Only one weight-loss drug, Xenical, remains on the market for long-term use, but it is only marginally effective and causes diarrhea and other unpleasant side effects.

Some advocates have urged the FDA to consider allowing some drugs to be on the market even if they have risks, given the serious health problems caused by obesity.

During Wednesday's hearing, Vivus gave a series of presentations designed to show show that the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. The risk of birth defects, one concern, was relatively low. And obesity itself can increase the danger that women will give birth to babies with birth defects, according to one presentation.

In addition, Qnexa appears to have other health benefits beyond weight loss, such as lowering blood pressure, that could outweigh any risks posed by an increase in the heart rate seen in some patients, according to another presentation.

Vivus also outlined a plan to reduce the risk that pregnant women might take Qnexa, including regular pregnancy testing of women taking the drug.

For its part, the FDA presented concerns it had highlighted in new analyses posted on its website Friday, especially the increased risks for birth defects and the elevated heart rate. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also presented data on the birth defect risk from topiramate.

During the public comment part of the hearing, several obesity experts urged the panel to recommend approval, saying diet and exercise simply do not work for many people.

Kelly Close, who described herself as an advocate for people with obesity and diabetes, urged the panel to endorse the drug. She noted few drugs were in the pipeline for obesity. "The panel and the FDA has a chance to today to do something historic for obesity," Close said.

Joe Nadglowski of the Obesity Action Coalition, agreed. He noted that only one member of the committee had any experience with treating obesity.

"There is a significant treatment gap from Weight Watchers to bariatric surgery," Nadglowski. "There is a consequence of remaining obese."

Several health advocates, however, appealed to the panel to recommend against the drug, saying the risks outweighed the benefits.

"Qnexa doesn't give women what they need," said Kate Ryan of the National Women's Health Network, noting that many people regain whatever weight they lose while taking Qnexa once they stop taking the drug.

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Diet Drug Qnexa Gets Thumbs-Up From FDA Panel

Food and Drug Administration advisers voted against the pleas of consumer advocates on Wednesday to recommend approval of what would be the first new diet drug to hit the US market in 13 years. Called Qnexa, the pill is a combination of two older drugs – one itself a diet pill called phentermine, and an anti-seizure drug that appears to help suppress appetite as part of the combination.

Such a new drug is desperately needed, with two-thirds of Americans overweight or obese. Current weight-loss products are limited and have only modest effects. But the field has been littered with failures, as many drugs have often deadly side effects – such as the heart valve damage caused by the once popular combination of phentermine and fenfluramine—Fen-Phen for short.

Two other companies have diet drugs up for approval too, and the FDA advisers recommended extra studies on the heart effects of all the drugs.

“Of all the obesity drugs, this one has the highest efficacy in terms of weight loss, so that shifts the balance in terms of requiring a post-approval study rather than a pre- approval study,” Sanjay Kaul, a cardiologist at UCLA, said at the FDA panel meeting.

Public Citizen objected.

“Public health cannot tolerate yet another drug approval for a diet drug not accurately assessed for cardiovascular risks, especially in light of suggestive findings of such risks with Qnexa,” said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group. “The danger of another approved diet drug hitting something vital – the cardiovascular system – is no longer acceptable when it could be prevented by a large clinical trial powered to evaluate such risk prior to approval.”

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FDA Advisers Recommend New Diet Drug

The diet drug Qnexa has cleared a major hurdle toward eventual Food and Drug Administration approval. An independent panel of medical experts who advise the agency voted Wednesday that Qnexa's significant weight-loss benefit outweighed its potential risks.

The hearing was held in Silver Spring, Md. The surprisingly positive 20-2 vote in favor of approval moves the decision on Qnexa into the hands of the FDA, which will issue a final ruling later this year.

The agency typically follows the recommendations of an advisory committee but is not bound by it. If approved, as is now expected, Qnexa would be the first prescription diet drug to reach the market since 1999. The drug, made by Vivus Inc.of Mountain View, Calif., is a combination of the anticonvulsant topiramate and the appetite suppressant phentermine.

Studies show the medications produced an average of about 10% loss of body weight in the first two years of use. "The benefits of that degree of weight loss have been clear and unambiguous," said Dr. Stephen Smith, scientific director at the Translational Research Institute in Orlando, Fla., who was not involved in the vote. "We fully understand the topiramate risk, and the phentermine risk we have a pretty good handle on as well." The committee's vote, he said, "recognizes that doing nothing in obesity has it consequences."

More than 35% of American adults are obese and another third are overweight. Only one prescription diet drug is available in the United States. However, both topirimate and phentermine have side effects. Last year, the FDA reclassified topiramate as a class D drug, meaning it carries risks to a fetus but may still be acceptable for use in pregnant women despite the risks.

Clinical trials on Qnexa also showed an increased risk of birth defects -- typically cleft lip -- in women who became pregnant on the drug. The study also found that users have an increase in heart rate. These side effects led to a thumbs-down vote when Qnexa came before the FDA advisory committee in 2010. The FDA subsequently denied approval in October 2010, citing potential safety problems.

But officials for Vivus Inc. have proposed a tightly controlled system for prescribing Qnexa to prevent birth defects, including healthcare provider training, monthly pregnancy testing, a patient medication guide and limits on which pharmacies can dispense the medication, such as registered mail-order pharmacies.

"We will know who the prescribers are. We will know who has been trained," said Dr. Barbara Troupin, senior director of global medical affairs for Vivus. "We are confident the Qnexa [risk management program] balances the safeguards while allowing access for appropriate patients." Moreover, the panel strongly encouraged that Vivus conduct a post-marketing study to better understand the potential cardiovascular side effects of Qnexa.

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Diet drug Qnexa should be approved, panel says