You: Inner and Outer Beauty

In You: Inner and Outer Beauty, Dr. Michael Roizen presents an infomercial-style version of his self-help book of the same name. Dressed in purple scrubs embroidered with the words “Dr. Mike,” Roizen speaks before a public television studio audience, offering tips on maintaining healthy skin, hair, and overall mental and physical well-being, backed with slides, video clips, and props (the stage looks like the inside of a model middle-class home). Roizen and guests—including “Cosmetics Cop” Paula Begoun and co-author and plastic surgery expert Dr. Arthur Perry—deliver sensible and practical advice, such as: avoid trans-fats and simple sugars, always wear sunscreen, brush your teeth for two minutes at a time, and try to get seven to eight hours of sleep a night. While the advice is sound, it's also the kind readily available from any number of sources, including the back of cereal boxes. Roizen also employs catchphrases such as “your most beautiful day,” “your most authentic self,” and “You-Q” (his beauty-related version of the IQ test) that carry a kind of new-age-y vibe, although some viewers may well prefer his kind and gentle approach to the amped-up style of past TV personalities such as Stop the Insanity! author/fitness guru Susan Powter or Juiceman Jay Kordich. In the extensive DVD bonus features, Roizen exchanges the scrubs for a business suit to discuss stress relief, the biology of sex (“for men it's quantity, for women it's quality”), moisturizer myths, and safe plastic surgery. A strong optional purchase. Aud: P. (K. Fennessy)