Simultaneously with the purchase, Playtex sold its cosmetics division to Revlon Inc. for $350 million, thus cutting its purchase cost to $900 million.

The bridegroom, 28, works for Clinique, a cosmetics division of the Estée Lauder Companies in New York.

She is the regional marketing director for the Asia-Pacific region at Clinique, a cosmetics division of the Estée Lauder Companies.

"I traveled the world, I learned home furnishings, I worked in product development and ended up in the cosmetics division, moving from buyer to group manager."

The Original Plans Much of that money, and the sale of several cosmetics divisions, went to pay down Revlon's debt by more than $1 billion last year.

Mrs. Cannone, 29, is a public relations associate in Manhattan with the cosmetics division of Unilever, the consumer products company.

The chemist, who holds a high position in the agency's cosmetics division, asked that his name not be used because his comments had not been approved by the agency.

Newman has three divisions: a venture capital, real estate and cosmetics division and has numerous subsidiaries.

He foresees strong growth in the cosmetics division, which he believes will eventually account for more than 50 percent of sales.

Leading the way was L'Oreal's cosmetics division, where sales jumped 11.6 percent, to 24.52 billion francs.