The best of EcoSalon’s stories this week.

It’s almost time for the 2012 5k Color Run – where participants are dusted (read “spattered”) with non-toxic cornstarch paint, a different color every kilometer. How do participants look by the end? Check it out – and find out if there’s one coming to a city near you.

Another colorful date for the diary: Mother’s Day. Cue the traditional commercial orgy of cut flower selling. So of those 23 trillion flowers sold every year (you heard me), how many are unethically sourced? Jessica Marati takes a look at the good and bad sides of the Mother’s Day flower trade.

There’s no green like avocado green – and if this vegan avocado alfredo sauce from Aylin Erman is half as good as it looks, it will knock your socks off.

Proving that beauty can be found even in the unlikeliest places, we present – a dermapathological art contest. Whimsical and so very colorful.

Finally, if you’re concerned with the media’s influence over those with body image issues, this should get your attention: classical nudes in famous paintings digitally remastered to fit modern standards of physical beauty. How does that make you feel?

The post The Friday 5: A Splash Of Color Edition appeared first on EcoSalon.

What do you get when you ask doctors from the world-renowned Mayo Clinic to bare their tortured-artist souls?

For the second year in a row, Mayo dermatopathologists are competing in a friendly art contest, using the images they see every day on lab slides as creative inspiration. “Every single day, dermatopathologists get to see beautiful images under the microscope, and most people never have the opportunity to see that,” says Dr. Julia Lehman, the creator of the contest. “So I thought it would be a nice way to show not only the science of dermatopathology, but also the art.”

Last year, the winning entry was “Hair Follicle Triplet,” created by Dr. Alexander Meves by introducing fluorescent dyes to a photo of hair follicles.

“Art can be seen in every aspect of life,” Dr. Lehman says. “You just have to have an open mind and be looking for it.” But while the gorgeous images from the competition highlight the amazing beauty of even the tiniest parts of the human anatomy, they’re also a great reminder of what we destroy when we neglect to wear sunscreen.

Check out all the 2012 contest entries and then vote for your favorite here.

Images: Mayo Clinic

The post Doctors at the Mayo Clinic Get Artistic With Dermatopathology appeared first on EcoSalon.