Printed hair extensions, skin gels with suspended designs and other cutting-edge products offered beauty pros (and junkies) a glimpse of the future at Italy's Cosmoprof Bologna trade show.

"It's the largest beauty event in the world," Daniel Ciocan, U.S. marketing director of the show's producer, tells StyleList. Considered the Fashion Week of the beauty biz, the 43-year-old event attracts 2,300 exhibitors from around the world.

Participants include buyers, distributors and manufacturers eager to discover the latest trends and products -- and show off what's coming in seasons ahead. So before they hit beauty counters near you, check out these product highlights from Cosmoprof.

Nails Appliqués
"Nail art, foils and appliqués were all very hot. Incoco showed glittery zebra patterns. Konad debuted nail stamps. Gel lacquers are still very popular, but now manufacturers are starting to make gels that don't require UV light to set, which won't call for in-salon application. OPI is rumored to be launching gel lacquers for at-home use," said Ciocan.

Faux Lashes
"Paperself, a company out of the U.K., had beautiful lashes die-cut in unique designs, waterproof paper you can use up to four times. You can use the whole set or cut and use small pieces in strategic spots. We also saw crazy color, feathers and other unique faux lashes, plus products that enhance lash growth continue to be a trend this year," said Ciocan

Printed Hair Extensions
"Bold patterns and prints and bright colors are emerging as popular trends in hair extensions," said Ciocan.

Induction-Heated Rollers
"Cloud Nine from Italy, introduced a new type of hot roller that uses induction technology to heat each roller to 130 degrees in four seconds. When you take them out of the heater, the rollers don't feel hot to the touch," explained Ciocan.

Skin Care Suspension
"Fiolantina Poland brought innovation to the suspension of skin care formulas in cool patterns and designs within moisture gel," said Ciocan.

Plantable Packaging
"A Taiwanese green hair care company called O'Right debuted packaging that's made from 80 percent recycled materials, some infused with seeds for planting, and printed with soy-based ink, plus the bottles are reusable and recyclable," said Ciocan. Even better, the shampoo and conditioner in these bottles is made with natural and organic ingredients.

Sure, most of us think we look better with a tan, but it's just not worth it considering the American Cancer Society estimates about 120,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed each year in the United States.

We asked Dr. Dennis Gross, a Manhattan dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon, for a refresher on skin cancer, specifically melanoma, and for insight on a new drug called Yervoy from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. approved to fight it.

"It's a highly malignant cancer of the cells in the skin responsible for pigmentation. That's why it appears as an irregular black long jagged mole. It has the ability to spread to organs other than the skin, such as the lungs, brain and liver -- making it potentially deadly," Dr. Gross explained.

Yervoy, the first drug approved by the FDA to treat melanoma, "triggers the cancer patient's own immune system to make antibodies that attack and kill the melanoma cancer cells," said Gross.

"In the study, people with advanced melanoma were determined to benefit. Those individuals already had the melanoma cancer cells spread to other vital organs, which put their life in jeopardy. And the drug was shown to extend these individuals' life span approximately three months," explained Gross.

Amy Wechsler, a dermatologist and psychiatrist in New York City, added, "There's no other treatment to give patients with metastatic melanoma. It could be great used in combination with other medications that are being researched. Hitting the cancer cells with two drugs can be synergistic. Since we haven't had many breakthroughs with melanoma, this is hopeful and will raise awareness about the cancer in general."

While the approval of Yervoy may not be anything close to a cure, we asked a melanoma survivor for a different perspective on the development. Linda Babitt, a 51-year-old woman living in South Florida, is a stage 1 melanoma survivor approaching her one-year check up.

"When you are in the position of having cancer and don't want to give up the battle against it, I can imagine that I'd be all for the new melanoma drug. Any advancement is a good thing. I hope to see more of it. The biggest issue is that skin cancer needs more awareness. People are really uneducated about skin cancer; they think it's just a harmless freckle. My instincts saved my life. I almost didn't go to the doctor to get the spot on my leg checked because it wasn't the ugly brown sort of mole you think of, it was a 'pretty beauty mark' to me," Babitt told Stylelist.

Babitt saw a dermatologist, who biopsied the tiny purple spot below her knee right away. It turned out to be a stage 1 melanoma tumor in her leg. It was removed two days later and left a 4-inch-long scar, but the surgery saved her life.

According to Wechsler, the bottom line with skin cancer, is early detection, which means an early cure. "That means getting a skin exam from a dermatologist once a year, avoiding tanning beds and salons -- one visit to a tanning booth can increase your melanoma risk by 40 to 50 percent -- and wearing broad-spectrum sunscreen with a minimum of SPF 30 every single day of the year."

Wechsler prefers physical sunscreen that contains micronized zinc or titanium dioxide and provides immediate protection from UV rays as soon as you apply it. And she recommends learning your family health history, because if you have parents, siblings or grandparents who've had melanoma, you're much more likely to be at risk and need to get skin checks twice a year, as opposed to the standard annual exam. If you have a darker complexion, you actually have a greater risk of dying from skin cancer than your light-skinned counterparts, according to a study.

Created in response to stylist requests, a new styling aid from Biomega might soon have you shouting, "Shake it!" The powdery product, which is called Shake It!, blends with other products to adjust to each user's hair care needs.

"After testing Shake It!, our stylists came back to us saying, 'I can finally create customized formulas for every client!" Luis Alvarez, co-founder and vice president creative of Aquage and Biomega, told Stylelist.

The Biomega line of hair care and styling products is dedicated to maintaining hair that's regularly color- and heat-treated. The gentle formulas are free of sulfates, parabens, sodium-chloride and gluten, and they're loaded with lightweight omega EFAs (essential fatty acids).

Though Biomega Styling Shake It! Volume Boosting Activator looks like it might be a hair powder or dry shampoo, it most certainly is not. When you shake this transformative powder into your hand and combine it with any styling or texturizing product, you now have a volume-amplifying version of said product.

The more Shake It! you add, the stronger the hold and greater the volume you'll create. The powder can't be used on its own; it must be activated by another styling product.

We combined a few sprinkles of Shake It! with Biomega's new Behave Smoothing Elixir and massaged a bit into our roots, and then raked the rest through the length of our hair before blow-drying. The result was bulk that our fine, limp hair hasn't seen in years.

The best part? Our hair didn't feel sticky or untouchable. It was soft and shiny, probably due to the omega-rich oils and UV- and heat-protective ingredients in Smoothing Elixir's formula. Shake it!

Speaking of locks-enhancing products, check out how the Organix Renewing Moroccan Argan Oil collection added shine to our writer's mane.

No time to stop by the hair salon to get your roots touched up? Refuse to spend the extra cash on a service you feel you can do just as well yourself? Couture Colour is offering a solution.

Celebrity colorist Jonathan Gale (who tends to the tresses of Lady Gaga, Kirstin Dunst and Chloë Sevigny) will present the brand's new hair color products on HSN. The collection features 9 dripless, ammonia-free shades of permanent at-home color, so you can cover any grays or take your natural color a few shades deeper or brighter. And without ammonia, there's no unpleasant odor or risk of the product leaving your hair dry or dull.

"You know how you feel when you walk out of the salon -- compliments are coming, your husband notices. You feel sexy, confident. That's what you're going to get -- in your home," Gale told StyleList.

The ammonia-free formula contains Colour Boost CR Technology, a proprietary blend of ingredients packed with antioxidants, Vitamins A and E, proteins, lipids and natural UV filters, that help you perfect the most natural-looking color. Amazonian Pequi Oil and MEA (monoethanolamine) help the pigments gently penetrate the hair shaft to create an even, vibrant hue. Couture Colour LUXEBLEND Crème Hair Colour offers permanent coverage for as long as it takes your hair to grow out, or about 28 shampoos.

Tune in to HSN March 28 and 29 for the live scoop on Couture Colour.

Check out this video tutorial from celebrity stylist and colorist Eva Scrivo on a salon-worthy blowout.

After touring a townhouse full of Japanese beauty brand Shiseido's Spring 2011 offerings, we were hard pressed to pick favorites. There were so many advancements in skincare and makeup technology, plus beauty products in silky textures and mouthwatering shades.

Alas, our job (someone's got to do it) is to edit down the choices and bring you the most covetable products. Here are our top three:

Shimmering Rouge Lipstick: If Fashion Week fixture and Shiseido Artistic Director Dick Page has anything to do with a makeup item, we're likely to love it. The baker's dozen of gorgeous sheer shades in Shiseido's latest lipstick collection are infused with plumping and smoothing Super Bio-Yeast Extract -- an ingredient clinically proven to promote collagen production. Plus, there's major pearl particles which make pouts shimmer and appear fuller, and a dose of Super Hydro-Wrap Vitalizing DE that leaves lips moisturized for hours.

Urban Environment UV Protection Cream: This is not just another sunscreen to add to your current lineup. It puts run-of-the-mill moisturizer with SPF to shame. For a daily shield from sun damage, this cream packs powerful antioxidants, a DNA-protecting extract and hydrating complex that mimics skin's own moisture. Even with its high-level protection (SPF 35 PA+++) from UVA and UVB rays, the cream isn't chalky or sticky; it's simply smooth.

Refining Body Exfoliator: As we start to bear more of our arms and legs for the first time in months, exfoliating is a must. This exfoliator relies on a blend of Eastern and Western skincare approaches to make skin soft and polished. The formula is infused with the ancient Japanese fragrance Kuroho that "improves skin's natural renewal cycle," in addition to two types of scrubbing particles that gently remove dead skin cells while boosting microcirculation and helping rid the body of toxins.

Get gussied up for spring by embracing this season's best trends.