According to new statistics culled by NPD Group, Inc., Port Washington, NY, the U.S. prestige beauty industry is showing signs of stabilizing after a slow start to the year. The total U.S. prestige beauty market (defined by NPD as products sold in U.S. department stores) for the first half of the year was $3.8 billion, down 1% compared to the same period in 2007, but the declines are not as strong as they were in the first quarter of this year. In fact, the second quarter of 2008 was the stronge...