09:54 AM CST on Monday, January 16, 2006

Today we recognize the birthday of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. One of his most memorable speeches was, "I Have a Dream." METRO reporter Angelique Tégé joined us to discuss Dr. King's legacy and to share the story of a local woman who worked to overcome discrimination. Watch METRO Sunday nights at 11:15 p.m. on Channel 8.

• Where to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday

Facing the day isn't any easier when you have a blemish, dry skin or your cheeks have lost that glow. Skin care expert Renee Rouleau checked in with her top ten beauty tips to get your skin in shape for the new year:

Don’t wash with a cleanser that creates a lot of lather

Bar soap and many foaming cleansers have high pH balances with harsh ingredients that strip the water out of the skin. And what you wash with is the most important part of your skin care routine. Why? Because if you wash with a foaming cleanser or soap that is too drying, it pulls all the water out of the skin and creates dead, dry skin cell buildup. Then you have to quickly run and put your moisturizer on to put back in what you just took out! It makes no sense! Choose either lotion-based cleansers or gel cleansers that avoid the harsh ingredient, Sodium Laureth Sulfate. These are better choices as they won’t rob the skin of much needed water. Remember the rule: more lather, more drying. Less lather, less drying.

Secret Ingredient: Use Glycolic Acid

Hands down, studies show the effectiveness of exfoliation given by glycolic acid in reducing the appearance of past sun damage, smoothing and softening the skin, fading post-breakout marks and reducing clogged pores and break outs. Other exfoliants will try their best, but glycolic is the most effective AHA out on the market. To keep any type of skin looking beautiful, incorporate an alcohol-free, pure glycolic acid serum into your nightly skin care routine.Moisturizers and cleansers that contain Glycolic Acid won’t always do the trick.

Use an alcohol-free toner morning and night

“I don’t like to use toners because they dry out my skin.” We hear this comment a lot and it’s because most toners out on the market contain SD Alcohol 40, which is extremely drying to the skin and will encourage dry skin cell build up. But toners that are alcohol-free will not strip the skin and are a crucial step in a good skin care regimen. They remove cleanser residue, chlorine found in tap water and when left damp on the skin, your moisturizer will seal in the water and the beneficial ingredients. The result is healthier, hydrated and plumped up skin.

Mineral Powder- the secret way to create the look of beautiful skin

Mineral powders were introduced several years back and are all the rage for women searching for that “perfect” foundation makeup. Natural, crushed minerals such as, mica, micronized titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, create a powder foundation that leaves the skin with a luminescent, incredible glow. It’s free of talc which means that for oil-producers, it won’t disappear throughout the day and it doesn’t give that chalky, dull-look like traditional powder foundations. Other benefits include: an SPF to protect the skin from sun damage, it’s free of fragrances, dyes and preservatives so it’s ideal for sensitive skins and it won’t clog the pores or cause breakouts as some foundations can. It gives excellent coverage and is used in place of liquid or powder foundations. So to give your skin the look of beautiful skin, consider mineral powder!

Wear a moisturizer with a sunscreen 365 days a year, rain or shine, inside or out

Studies indicate that 78 percent of the sun exposure you get in a lifetime is incidental exposure. You may say, "I'm not out at all during the day." Just walking to your car, driving in your car, and sitting in your house next to windows will give you unnecessary sun damage. Windshields do nothing to protect you from UV rays! And we know that sun exposure is the No. 1 cause of aging! A minimum of SPF 15 should be used every day, winter and summer.

Wear sunglasses, avoid using straws and avoid sleeping on your side

We know that the reason for lines and wrinkles is from sun damage, but it's also caused from facial expressions. (Think smiling as the cause of crow’s feet around the eyes.) So when drinking out of a straw, you have to purse your lips which causes unnecessary wrinkles and lines around the mouth. If you're concerned about lines and wrinkles, then drinking directly from the glass is a much better option. Unnecessary squinting when outdoors will accelerate the wrinkling process around the eyes, so wearing sunglasses is important. And one surprising cause of premature wrinkling on the face and décolleté (chest) is sleep, or more precisely, the position of the body during sleep. To prevent the crepes between the breasts, marionette lines around the mouth and wrinkles around the eyes, try to get in the habit of sleeping on your back. After the sun, sleeping on the side is like ironing wrinkles into the skin. This means that on average, you’re spending more than 2,500 hours per year potentially reversing the positive effects of your skin care treatments.

Know how to properly care for your blemishes to avoid lingering post-breakout marks

When a blemish first starts to form, ask yourself, What kind of blemish is it? A cyst? These are those hard, sore, underground lumps under the skin (most often occurring in the chin and jawline area) that linger for weeks.

What NOT to do: Don't pick! They hurt. And you know that something is under there and if you pick at it long enough, you'll get that infection out, right? Wrong! What you need to understand is that true cystic blemishes will never come up to the surface. They develop deep in the dermis layer of the skin, and they heal in the dermis layer. If left alone, the infection is not meant to come out of the skin. So if you pick at it, and pick at it, yes, you might eventually get a little something out, but by that time, you have torn up the skin so severely that you're guaranteed to have a discolored mark for months. And let's face it, what's worse? Covering up a sore bump with makeup, or covering up a scabby scar for months? Your best bet is to leave it alone. Since the infection is not on the surface, traditional spot treatment drying lotions will not do anything other than to just dry out the skin, and leave you peeling.

What WILL help: The moment you get this type of blemish, don't pick at it and apply a small amount of Renee Rouleau Anti-Cyst Treatment. This incredible best-selling product doesn't dry out the surface of the skin but rather, penetrates deep down into the dermis layer of the skin where the cyst is, and works to dissolve and disperse the infection to make it go away fast! It is the only product out on the market to effectively treat cystic acne, and it really works! Plus, you can dab a small amount in areas you're prone to getting them, to prevent future ones. Another option is getting a cortisone injection from the dermatologist, but who wants to deal with that? If they are primarily on the chin and jawline area, you might be getting too much dairy in your diet. Try cutting out dairy and see if that makes a difference.

A surface, infected blemish? These are traditional-type blemishes or “zits”. They are red and a little sore, larger in size and form a yellowish, whitehead after a day or two.

What NOT to do: These ones you don't want to pick the minute you feel it coming up but rather, wit until they are ready. Why? Because if you “attack” it right away when the infection isn’t ready to come out yet, you start injuring the skin which will result in a scar. Then what you might do, is to immediately start putting topical spot drying treatments on it. Then what happens is that it’s drying out the skin, not drying out the infection, because the infection hasn’t reached the surface of the skin yet. Then after a day or two when the infection DOES come up to the surface, you got to squeeze it and although you can get the infection out, but the dry skin is also peeling off as well. The result? A post-breakout red mark/scar that will now linger for months. And that’s worse than the blemish itself!

What WILL help: The key here is to leave it alone and don’t touch the skin until the infection has reached the surface, which is usually 1-2 days after the blemish first appears. Then you can carefully wrap your fingers and gently try to squeeze out the infection. Remember the rule: three strikes and you’re out! If it doesn’t come out after three tries, leave it alone and try again the next day. Once you do get the infection out, THEN apply a spot drying treatment because now it can really get into the skin and heal up any remaining infection. The goal of any blemish is preventing a red mark that lingers for months.

Consider permanent makeup

For most women, eyebrows get sparse as they age, leaving them with the need to use pencil to create the brows that they once had. But there is nothing worse than a woman with using a brow pencil that’s too dark, and/or inadvertently making each one a different shape or height. A popular procedure is permanent makeup or "cosmetic tattooing." Experienced permanent makeup artists "tattoo" in tiny brush stroke lines to create the look of real hairs, giving you a permanent eyebrow that doesn’t smudge, wash off or look unnatural. Eyebrows frame the face and create balance and will make the biggest improvement of the face. So a nice, soft natural-looking arch is essential for a beautiful face.

Always wash your skin and moisturize at bedtime

The latest research indicates that the skin repairs itself most effectively at night, between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., indicating the need for night cream application before midnight. For those who are too tired to wash off their makeup at night, try this! Your nighttime routine doesn't have to be done minutes before you hit the bed. Wash your face when you get home from work, or even after dinner. Do it earlier rather than later! So, washing off the day’s dirt and grime and nourishing it with good moisture and nutrients will give your skin a chance to renew while you sleep! And remember, quality moisturizers that do not contain clogging ingredients, will not suffocate your skin.

Get a professional facial

Think of facials as maintenance for the health of your skin! As the skin ages, circulation and metabolism slow down, resulting in tired and dull looking skin. One of the benefits of a facial is increased circulation and oxygen resulting in healthy, glowing skin!

You can get more information at the Renee Rouleau Web site or by calling 888-211-7560.

The holidays are over and spring break is just around the corner. Now is the time to book a mid-season getaway. Stewart Chiron, The Cruise Guy, offered up some big deals on the high seas. All prices are per person.

Princess Cruises’ Sun or Dawn Princess
Seven-night Inside Passage Alaska from Seattle to Juneau, Skagway, Tracy Arm, Ketchikan and Victoria. Prices from $899.

Celebrity Cruises’ Millennium
A 14-night South America cruise from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, Uruguay; Portobelo, Brazil; Buzios, Brazil; and 2 nights in Rio de Janeiro for Carnaval. Prices from $2,550 including free air fare from Dallas.

Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas
Seven-night Eastern or Western Caribbean from Miami to Nassau, St John/ St Thomas, San Juan and Labadee OR Labadee, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Prices from $799.

Carnival Cruise Lines’ Carnival Liberty
Twelve-night Western Mediterranean from Civitavecchia (Rome) to Naples (Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri), Dubrovnik, Venice (overnight), Messina, Barcelona, Cannes and Livorno (Florence/ Pisa). Prices from $1,599.

Cunard’s Queen Mary 2
Eleven-night Hawaiian Islands from Los Angeles to Maui, Oahu, Kona and Ensenada. Prices from $1,999.

For more information, call 800-741-1555 or visit the Cruise Guy Web site.

From futuristic cell phones and intelligent remote controls to a spouse-saving approach to hiding wires, the world's largest consumer electronics show had a lot to offer this year. David Gregg of BestStuff.com was there, and showed some of the hottest trends and technologies.