PARIS — Yves Rocher, founder of the eponymous French natural beauty company that he developed into an international powerhouse, died of a stroke on Saturday. He was 79.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy paid homage to Rocher, calling him a “great French industrialist, inventor of plant-based cosmetics and pioneer of catalogue sales,” in a statement published Saturday.

Rocher was born April 7, 1930, in La Gacilly, France. He started the first Yves Rocher production site there in 1958. To help sell his company’s first skin care cream, Rocher devised an innovative distribution system that laid the groundwork for catalogue sales of cosmetics in France. In 1969, he opened his first beauty center, on Paris’ Boulevard Haussmann.

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Singer and dancer Melody Thornton of the Pussycat Dolls is a pretty and talented girl, but on the red carpet she’s still finding the right footing… or the right stylist. At two recent events she chose great dresses, but seemed to get the beauty look backwards. I love the gloves with that dress, but she needed some color on her lips to keep her face from getting drowned in all that flesh tone. On the other hand that black sparkly number (Preen?) is very of the moment and looks great on her, but the dark berry on her lips makes her look too harsh. So I took the liberty of doing a little style switcharoo. It’s a slight change, but I think it turns the fabulous factor way up – especially for the nude dress.

Well… probably not, but maybe she should have? While I actually liked her black dipped hair, which was so widely panned, this ombre dyed hair on Dazed Digital fashion editor Katie Shillington is just amazing. But to each her own, I guess. Besides, this look has an ice queen aura about it and Barrymore seems to be much warmer and quirkier than that. I’ve really liked her style choices lately. Especially the yellow and lace Mcqueen dress* she wore to the screening of “Whip It” at the Toronto film festival. Click for a larger view.

Top photo: Jak & Jil