October 13, 2008 — EL PASO, Texas —  PRNewswire-FirstCall — Helen of Troy Limited (Nasdaq: HELE), designer, developer and worldwide marketer of brand-name personal care and household consumer products, today announced that it has acquired the worldwide rights and trademarks to the Ogilvie brand of “at home” salon hair permanent and straightening products from Ascendia Brands, Inc.

Gerald J. Rubin, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, commenting on the acquisition stated, “We are very pleased to be acquiring the Ogilvie brand from Ascendia Brands, Inc. Ogilvie is the leading brand of “at home” permanent and straightening products sold in the food, drug and mass merchandising markets. The Ogilvie brand maintains a loyal core user base of consumers who are interested in “do it yourself” products for their hair care needs.

“We believe that we will be able to integrate Ogilvie into our Idelle division of skin and hair care products in a timely manner. We believe that Ogilvie will generate approximately $10 million in sales on an annualized basis and expect the acquisition to be accretive during our fourth quarter ending February 28, 2009.

“We are excited to be adding this quality brand name to our existing worldwide distribution, and believe it will provide increasing future value to our customers and shareholders,” Rubin concluded.