Helen of Troy Limited Set to Join Russell 3000 Index

Monday June 18, 9:15 AM EDT

EL PASO, Texas, June 18, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Helen of Troy Limited (HELE), designer, developer and worldwide marketer of brand-name personal care and household consumer products, today announced that it is set to join the broad-market Russell 3000(R) Index when Russell Investment Group reconstitutes its comprehensive set of U.S. and global equity indexes on June 22, according to a preliminary list of additions posted on http://www.russell.com.

Membership in the Russell 3000, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the large-cap Russell 1000(R) Index or small-cap Russell 2000(R) as well as the appropriate growth and value style indexes. Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes.

Gerald J. Rubin, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, commenting on the Company's inclusion in the Russell 300 index stated, "We are pleased that the Russell 3000 Index has selected Helen of Troy Limited as a preliminary addition to the index this year. We believe this inclusion will broaden Helen of Troy Limited's exposure in the financial marketplace, and therefore add value to the Company and our shareholders."

The Russell 3000 serves as the U.S. component to the Russell Global Index, which Russell launched earlier this year.

Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. An industry-leading $4 trillion in assets currently are benchmarked to them.

Annual reconstitution of Russell's U.S. indexes captures the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization. The largest 1,000 companies in this ranking comprise the Russell 1000 and the next 2,000 companies become the Russell 2000. These investment tools originated from Russell's multi-manager investment business in the early 1980s when the company saw the need for a more objective, market-driven set of benchmarks in order to evaluate outside investment managers.

About Russell: Russell Investment Group aims to improve financial security for people by providing strategic advice, world-class implementation, state-of-the-art performance benchmarks, and a range of institutional-quality investment products. With more than $200 billion in assets under management, Russell serves individual, institutional and advisor clients in more than 40 countries. Russell provides access to some of the world's best money managers. It helps investors put this access to work in corporate defined benefit and defined contribution plans, and in the life savings of individual investors.

Founded in 1936, Russell is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. Headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., U.S., Russell has principal offices in Amsterdam, Auckland, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, Melbourne, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto. Russell's indexes are unmanaged and cannot be investing in directly. For more information on Russell indexes, go to http://www.russell.com.

About Helen of Troy Limited: Helen of Troy Limited is a leading designer, producer and global marketer of brand-name personal care and household consumer products. The Company's personal care products include hair dryers, curling irons, hair setters, women's shavers, brushes, combs, hair accessories, home hair clippers, mirrors, foot baths, body massagers, paraffin baths, liquid hair styling products, body powder and skin care products. The Company's household products include consumer product tools in the kitchen, cleaning, barbecue, barware, storage, organization, garden, hardware, trash and automotive categories. The Company's products are sold to consumers by mass merchandisers, drug chains, warehouse clubs and grocery stores under licensed trade marks including Vidal Sassoon(R), licensed from The Procter & Gamble Company, Revlon(R), licensed from Revlon Consumer Products Corporation, Dr. Scholl's(R), licensed from Schering-Plough HealthCare Products, Inc., Sunbeam(R), Health at Home(R) and Health o meter(R) licensed from Sunbeam Products, Inc., Sea Breeze(R), licensed from Shiseido Company Ltd., Vitapointe(R), licensed from Sara Lee Household and Body Care UK Limited, Toni & Guy(R) outside of the Americas, licensed from Mascolo Limited, Bed Head(R) and TIGI(R) in the Americas licensed from MBL/TIGI Products, LP, and Toni&Guy(R) in the Americas licensed from MBL/TONI&GUY Products, LP. Helen of Troy's owned brands include OXO(R), Good Grips(R), Candela(R), Brut(R), Vitalis(R), Final Net(R), Ammens(R), Condition(R) 3-in-1, SkinMilk(R), Time Block(R), Epil-Stop(R), Dazey(R), Caruso(R), Karina(R), DCNL(R), Nandi(R), Isobel(R) and WaveRage(R). The Company markets hair and beauty care products under the Helen of Troy(R), Hot Tools(R), Hot Spa(R), Salon Edition(R), Gallery Series(R), Wigo(R), Fusion Tools TM, Belson(R), Belson Pro(R), Gold 'N Hot(R), Curlmaster(R), Premiere(R) Profiles(R), Comare(R), Mega Hot(R), and Shear Technology(R) owned brands to the professional beauty salon industry.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to change. The forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any or all of the forward-looking statements may turn out to be wrong. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Many of these factors will be important in determining the Company's actual future results. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Actual future results may vary materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by a number of risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical or anticipated results. Generally, the words "anticipates", "believes", "expects" and other similar words identify forward-looking statements. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company intends its forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time of such statements, and does not undertake to update or revise them as more information becomes available. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release should be read in conjunction with, and are subject to and qualified by, the risks described in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended February 28, 2007 and in our other filings with the SEC. Investors are urged to refer to the risk factors referred to above for a description of these risks.

SOURCE Helen of Troy Limited