email bio April 26, 2006 The inaugural issue of the magazine Bloom touches on a range of "cosmetic enhancements," including botox, weekend face lifts, fat relocation, nose jobs, lip enhancements, eyelash extensions, chemical peels, liposuction and eye creams for men.

The publication also warns about surgery vacations. You know, like those exotic trips to Brazil in which travelers get "breast augmentation followed by tango lessons" or go on "adventurous safaris before a face lift in South Africa."

The glossy magazine's launch in Colorado - in the middle of the country, many miles from Los Angeles or Miami - might lead to some raised eyebrows, both cosmetically and figuratively. But publisher Zac Folk says it can work here and the next markets on tap, Texas and Arizona, because the surgeries and treatments are gaining a wider acceptance. And judging from the thickness of Bloom, the purveyors, surgeons, spas and salons, are doing quite well financially.

Like it or not, this is big business. Americans spent $12.4 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2005, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, as more people reject the idea of aging gracefully and seek to look like the model whose flawless face graces the cover of Bloom.

"It used to be something to be kept secret," says Folk, who is 31. "Now it's out in the open. It's still controversial, but it's much more acceptable."

Folk hopes his readers will not be limited to image-conscious wealthy women in Cherry Creek. He says women, and men, from "Highlands Ranch to the Highlands" are buying in to the procedures.

"It's completely wrong if people are doing it because it will make their lives better, or their marriages better, or because your husband wants you to do it or because you want to make more money. Those aren't the right reasons.

"But if it makes someone feel better on the inside because they look better on the outside, go for it," says Folk, who has not made any cosmetic improvements to his own face. "It's not for me to judge."

Bloom's timing, however, could have been better. There are signs that interest is cooling off after an explosion of nipping, lifting and tucking in recent years. The number of cosmetic procedures in the U.S. declined by 4 percent last year, the plastic surgery group says.

And it's unclear whether advertisers will continue to direct money to Bloom in a tough media environment and whether readers will eat it up. Folk acknowledges he has no publishing experience.

Also, some undoubtedly find the cosmetic trend distasteful, and see Bloom as promotion for an industry they don't like. The line between ads and stories is blurry. Folk argues that it will be an "unbiased" source.

He adds that "beauty," rather than cosmetic enhancements, will become a more prominent part of the magazine, which will be published three times in the first year.

With the second issue that will hit soon, Bloom should break even, he said. The following one is expected to deliver a modest profit, he added. Folk targets revenue of $750,000 for the first year.

"We have more options our parents never would have dreamt of," he says. "Once, you'd be the joke of the town. Now it's different. You can openly talk about it."

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