THE BEST BEAUTY PRODUCTS

We’ve asked local experts to recommend their favorite beauty products to add to your beauty regimen in the New Year. Below is a list of products that will help you round out skin routine for a brighter, more youthful glow.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KELLY MOORE CLARK

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A powerhouse antioxidant that boosts levels of Vitamin C in the skin while shutting down free radical pathways through a patented, rapid-release delivery system. This high potency Vitamin C Serum is designed to improve the look of wrinkles, brighten skin’s complexion and support the microbiome, while a protective antioxidant system guards against free radical damage. Available at

An anti-aging breakthrough in skin structure and shape. This mild, lightweight and tolerable formulation is indicated for all skin types and sensitive skin areas to reinforce skin health and hydrate to support the visible improvement in skin elasticity and firmness. Available at THE WOMAN’S CLINIC

A skincare cream featuring a unique ingredient that is made up of a retinoid combined with an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) that provides visible skin rejuvenation with little-to-no irritation. Improves the appearance of lines, wrinkles, uneven tone and texture. Available at SPA BELLA

A patented daytime vitamin C serum that delivers advanced environmental protection and improves the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness, and brightens skin’s complexion. Now clinically proven to reduce combined oxidative damage from free radicals generated by UV, Ozone, and Diesel Exhaust by up to 41%. Available at SPA

Restore your skin’s ability to heal itself with AnteAGE® regenerating serum. The AnteAGE Accelerator is a performance driven treatment rich in powerful moisturizers and revitalizing actives. Available at PROFESSIONAL LASER CENTER 3.

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Nu-Cil is designed to target the growth phase of the lash cycle to support overall lash improvement. Powered by NouriPlex™ technology, a unique blend of 4 key ingredients nourishes lashes for a more luscious, thicker, and defined appearance with results that continuously build day after day. Available at THE MEDICAL SPA BY ST.

Gently removes dead skin cells to instantly reveal smoother, softer and glowing skin. Physically exfoliates dead skin cells and other debris to improve skin radiance. Available at

An oil-free vitamin C serum formulated specifically for oily and blemish-prone skin types that delivers advanced environmental protection and reduces oiliness, refines skin texture, and visibly improves skin clarity and fine lines. Provides advanced antioxidant protection from environmental aggressors. Available at LOUISIANA CENTER FOR

by Guy Miller, Vice Chair Emeritus, Chennault Aviation and Military Museum

It’s the new year and this is always a time people think they need to pursue new ideas and new projects. With a new budget year in play I guess military leaders could feel the same way. The U.S. Navy already has cutting edge stealth destroyers and is testing shipboard lasers and rail guns. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get them to develop flying aircraft carriers like the one in the 2012 Avengers movie? Even the less impressive looking flying carrier from Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow would be pretty impressive in real life. Well, actually a flying aircraft carrier is not a new idea for the U.S. military although the tested concepts don’t resemble the movie carriers.

Although rare today, rigid inflatable airships were in regular use back in the early 20th century. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin developed airships that were useful for military purposes due to their range, fuel efficiency and heavy payload capabilities. The weakness of the huge airships was their vulnerability to attacks by conventional fixed-wing aircraft.

Great Britain was the first country to try to offset an airship’s vulnerability by building an apparatus that could carry and launch three Sopwith Camel biplanes beneath an airship’s hull. A mitigating factor was the Sopwiths needed to land at a ground airfield after deployment. Eventually Britain built four of these rigid airship carriers and they served until the1920s. The U.S. Navy took notice of the concept and had its own inflatable airship carriers built- the USS Akron and the USS Macon.

The U.S. airship carriers took the British concept one step further. Their “carrier” apparatus could both deploy F9C-2 Sparrowhawk biplanes then recover them again in mid-flight. Internal hangars were built on each airship that were large enough to hold five biplanes. Because Navy airships were flown over the ocean, the airship’s “parasite” planes were intended for both defense and for shipspotting reconnaissance.

Unfortunately the U.S. airships did not perform very well in Navy exercises and both eventually ended up crashing. The Akron first flew on August,1931. It crashed on April 4, 1933, killing all 76 people on board. The Macon took its first flight only three weeks later on April 21 and performed better than the Akron but it too ended up crashing on February 12, 1935. Only two of Akron’s 83 crew members died because the Navy added life jackets and inflatable boats aboard its airships after the Akron tragedy.

The U.S. Air Force also explored its own “flying carrier” concept using the massive post-WWII B-36 bomber. The B-36 could carry an 86,000 lb payload almost 10,000 miles and had a 230 foot wingspan. For comparison, the well-known B-52 carries 70,000 lbs 8800 miles and has a 185-foot wingspan. With size and range, the Air Force thought the B-36 could serve as a flying aircraft carrier for its YRF-84F fighters.

The Air Force idea was similar to the Navy airship concept- carry the YRF_84Fs internally to extend their operational range, then deploy them via a lowered boom. The fighters then acted as protection for a bomber group and also could be used for reconnaissance or offensive operations before returning to the B-36 for recovery.

What doomed the B-36 carrier concept was not any operational flaw but the development of mid-air refueling. Midair refueling dramatically increases the operational range of all kinds of aircraft including fighters deployed for bomber group protection. The flying aircraft carrier concept became less cost-effective than air-refueled fighter and reconnaissance support.

Despite the outcome of the B-36 proposal, the Air Force began looking into the carrier concept once again in the 1970s. With size, range and a payload capacity of as much as 883,000 lbs, the Boeing 747 is an extremely capable aircraft for a wide variety of applications. The Air Force decided it was worth looking into converting a 747 into a flying aircraft carrier with “parasite” fighters that could be deployed and recovered in mid-air.

Instead of adapting existing aircraft to the parasite role, Boeing proposed designing and building new fighter aircraft that were small enough to be housed within the 747 and an apparatus for the 747 to carry the fighters, deploy them when they were needed, and recover them after they had fulfilled their mission.

This 1970s concept study never really solved questions such as the actual range of a 747 carrying such a heavy payload, how the effect of turbulence from the 747’s engines could be overcome in deployment and recovery operations and how the proposed new fighters would perform in combat against the top-of-the-line Soviet fighters.

Although the 747 carrier concept never made it off the drawing board, the idea of a flying aircraft carrier was declared “technically feasible” using 1970’s technology. Technically feasible of course does not mean financially feasible and a cost-to-benefit analysis was never made.

Never saying never, in January, 2021, an X-61A Gremlin UAV was successfully launched from a C-130A cargo aircraft. The idea behind this demonstration was the efficacy of deploying and recovering low-cost combat drones from military cargo aircraft. Cargo planes could deploy drones outside of the range of enemy air defenses and the drones can fly on to complete missions before returning to their “mother ship” to be refurbished and reused at a later date. It is too early to tell if this “flying carrier” concept will ever become an operational reality.