Essence.com bolsters its beauty offerings with the first digital makeover application created for African-American women. The tool, Makeover Magic launches today and is being sponsored by the fastest growing cosmetics line for African-American women, COVERGIRL Queen Collection.

Makeover Magic, is designed to provide Black women with a virtual salon and makeup counter experience. Users can upload their photos, select from a diverse palette of cosmetics as well as relatable celebrity hair styles to "try on" before clicking to purchase. The virtual transformations make the popular celebrity styles of Beyonce or Rihanna accessible to every-day women. Operating as more than a tool, Makeover Magic facilitates a dynamic beauty community experience that provides users the option to share, post or have their looks voted on, within their social networks via Facebook and Ning compatible widget.

"Makeover Magic is an innovative tool that offers the ESSENCE.com visitor a rich user experience and virtually connects her to the ESSENCE beauty and fashion editors. The makeover tool is modern, creative and empowering just like the ESSENCE.com brand. Building confidence and self awareness through technology is just another way ESSENCE.com is bringing its audience into the future." says Essence.com Managing Editor, Emil Wilbekin.

Designed to accommodate the beauty needs of Black women, Makeover Magic offers users the best products available – including makeup from COVERGIRL Queen Collection – a line inspired by Queen Latifah to celebrate the beauty of women of color. COVERGIRL Queen Collection is dedicated to producing shade ranges and pigments designed specifically for women of color; the quality products are expertly formulated for deeper skin tones, and at a value price, are accessible for all women.

To further engage users, Essence and COVERGIRL launched an online Model Search, (ending June 18, 2009), empowering everyday woman to celebrate their unique beauty characteristics and win the opportunity to be the face of Makeover Magic as a featured default model image within the tool. Hundreds of contestants have submitted their headshots, making them eligible to win a lavish photo shoot and gifts including an array of COVERGIRL Queen Collection cosmetics.

Essence.com General Manager, Lesley Pinckney says: "Great web experiences marry easy to use, engaging technology and great branded content from a trusted source. With Makeover Magic--Essence.com is unveiling the first makeover tool for women of color everywhere. In addition to Essence.com we will be working with partners to include this widget on their site, and hopefully will roll-out this as a mobile offering by 4th quarter. This is the first part of a multi-tiered strategy to becoming the leading online beauty destination for women of color, over the next 6-12 months we will debut out additional functionality, as well as new tools and franchises to cement the expertise we’ve proved offline."

About ESSENCE:
Essence Communications Inc. (ECI) is the leading media and communications company dedicated to African-American women. With a multi-platform presence in publishing, live events, and online, the Essence brand is "Where Black Women Come First". The company’s flagship publication, ESSENCE magazine, is the preeminent lifestyle magazine for African-American women; generating brand extensions such as the Essence Music Festival, Women Who Are Shaping the World Leadership Summit, Window on Our Women (WOW I, II & III) and Smart Beauty I, II & III consumer insights, the Essence Book Club, Essence.com, and ventures in digital media (mobile, television and VOD). For 39 years, ESSENCE magazine, which has a readership of 8.1 million, has been the leading source of cutting-edge information relating to every area of African-American women’s lives.

Additional information about ECI and ESSENCE is available at Essence.com.

About Telepictures Productions:
For the 2009-10 season, Telepictures Productions - an industry-leading and Emmy® Award-winning producer of syndicated programming (having garnered 54 Emmys® in 12 years, including Outstanding Talk Show/Talk Show Host for 10 of the last 12 years), is producing eight nationally syndicated strips. The slate includes the seventh season of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, winner of four consecutive Daytime Emmy® Awards for Outstanding Talk Show and four for Outstanding Talk Show Host; the second season of The Bonnie Hunt Show, a talk-variety show that is a combination of the best of the classic format, heartfelt human-interest stories, and invaluable takeaway that real women can use in their everyday lives; the third season of TMZ, the half-hour series that brings the TMZ.com brand to television, expanding upon the website's mission as a 24-hour-per day, seven-day-per week entertainment news destination providing a fresh, unfiltered look at celebrities and their real lives; the fifth season of the Emmy® Award-winning The Tyra Banks Show, a one-hour, daily talk show serving as a young woman's guide to life, hosted by Tyra Banks; the 11th season of the hour-long court series Judge Mathis; the 26th season of The People's Court; the 16th season of the pop culture newsmagazine Extra; the second season of Judge Jeanine Pirro, a one-hour daily court program, which airs on the Fox Television Stations , featuring Jeanine Pirro, the former Westchester County (N.Y.) District Attorney and county judge, highly respected legal commentator and author, and champion of women's rights. In November 2009, Telepictures will add George Lopez's new late-night talk show, Lopez Tonight, airing on TBS to its slate. Telepictures is focused on expanding in the broadband and wireless content landscape, launching MomLogic.com, an online destination and cross-platform advertising network created as the ultimate lifestyle and parenting community for women with children. Telepictures has also teamed up with Time Inc.'s Essence Communications on a cross-divisional collaboration to launch Essence.com as the premier online destination for African-American women.

About COVERGIRL Queen Collection:
P&G Beauty & Grooming products help make beauty dreams real for women worldwide and help men look, feel and be their best everyday. With more than 100 brands available in nearly 130 countries, P&G’s beauty and grooming products delivered sales of nearly $28 billion in fiscal year 2007/08 , making it one of the world’s largest beauty and grooming companies. P&G Beauty & Grooming offers trusted brands with leading technology to meet the full complement of beauty and grooming needs, including Pantene®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Max Factor®, COVERGIRL®, DDF®, Frederic Fekkai®, Wellaflex®, Rejoice®, Sebastian Professional®, Herbal Essences®, Koleston®, Clairol Professional®, Nice ’n Easy®, Venus®, Gillette®, SK-II®, Wella Professionals®, Braun® and a leading Prestige Fragrance division that spans from point of market entry consumers to high end luxury with global brands such as Hugo Boss®, Lacoste®, and Christina Aguilera®. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G (NYSE: PG) and its brands.