But critics said that, even without on-site cosmetics sales or specific product recommendations, the arrangement would appear to patients as an endorsement of the beauty industry.

But last year Americans spent about $50 million on them, according to Kline & Company, a market research firm that tracks cosmetics sales.

In the two years since the inception of Revlon's advertising campaign, the company has gained market share of cosmetics sales in drugstores, supermarkets and mass-market outlets.

According to analysts who track national cosmetics sales, Burt's Bees is the best-selling mass-market natural personal-care brand.

If traffic declines in department stores, cosmetics sales would probably suffer.

Also in 1961, Helene Curtis Industries began to challenge Avon in the field of door-to-door cosmetics sales.

Yet, industry analysts predict that cosmetics sales to blacks will rise 10 to 13 percent annually for the next several years -twice the rate of the industry.

Americans spent about $1.6 billion on at-home hair color in 2005, according to Euromonitor International, a market research firm that tracks cosmetics sales.

Those imponderables keep cosmetics sales humming in a bleak economy, and prompt women to suspend common sense.

The health of the beauty industry declined in the 1970s, as the growth of cosmetics sales failed to keep pace with overall growth in personal spending.