Real Beauty Fitness

by: Ruby Boyd

Fitness and beauty can be one and the same. Being fit and healthy will automatically make you look better. A healthy inside createsa healthy outside. Fitness through exercise can help you to maintain a healthy body weight and improve muscle tone. Our looks reflect the sum total of who we are and how we live, and the best we can do in life is to make the best of what nature has given is, without excuse, apology, or pretense. If we try to live otherwise, we find ourselves acting on a stage with other actors and actresses--great pretenders without real friends, without real lovers, without real relationships. While we realize that there is such a thing as "natural beauty," which is beyond all standards of culture and history in some sense, there are also "relative" standards of beauty. We all know about fads, styles, and adornments that are "in" one season and "out" the next. This includes cosmetics, hair styles, clothing, and even body weight and size. These standards may vary from country to country, year to year, or even among different age groups in the same country and year. For example, full figures are considered the ideal in some historical periods, but slender figures are valued now--at least in Western countries. The point is that cultural standards change--and we may choose to follow or ignore them--because the cultivation of natural beauty is not dependent upon fads. In order to get along harmoniously, whether at the level of dating, courtship, or marriage, men and women have to get past physical looks and into the more important qualities that make up human relationships, such as kindness, friendship, and areas of mutual interest. There is such a thing as a beautiful personality. There can be beauty in the way a person thinks. An attitude or smile can be beautiful. Love is certainly beautiful, and all of life is beautiful when we are in love. A person is truly beautiful when he or she is healthy. Any disease or illness affects all parts of the body, sometimes for many years before the symptoms are manifested. If the body and mind are not healthy, then a person cannot feel or be truly attractive. Good health brings a glow to the skin, a ring to the voice, a twinkle to the eye, and a spring to the step that no beauty school can teach.

Beauty Foods That Will Keep You Young and Healthy

by: Donna Monday

You’ve heard that old saying: True beauty comes from within. Well, now nutritional experts have confirmed that you really are what you eat. Forget French fries and fatty hamburgers. If you want to look beautiful and feel young and healthy, you’ll eat a generous variety of super foods that have been proven to work wonders on the human body. Whether you’re on a low fat diet, low carb diet, or no diet, adding these super foods to your plate should become as second nature to you as putting your lipstick on in the morning. Healthy Skin – Eat: blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, currants, purple grapes, pumpkin, carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes Healthy Eyes – Eat: broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, bok choy, kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, mustard greens, turnip greens Strong Bones – Eat: yogurt, kefir, soy, tofu, Drink: skim milk Reduce Stress – Eat: beans (navy, pinto, red, black, etc.), green beans, sugar snap peas, green peas, chick peas Boost Immune System – Eat: turkey, skinless chicken breast, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, spinach, Drink: black or green tea Sun Protection for Skin – tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit

Beauty of Nature Talent of Man, a New Ancient Art Form

by: Peter Lewitin

Beauty of Nature Talent of Man, a New Ancient Art Form Since Mankind first stood erect and developed a consciousness of the world in which he lived; Nature has been a place of many dangers. Violence and death, the need to survive, and the biological urge to reproduce, and to nurture ourselves and our offspring has always been a prime motivational factor. Being alert to our surroundings has profound implications, and is as pertinent today as it was in the distant primitive past. "He's street smart", Is one way that we designate and congratulate the modern man, who has learned to be aware of his basic world and how to survive. All living things, share this "aware of surroundings, street smart" necessity for survival. There are many things which separate us as Humans, from other living things. Most are obvious, and have been studied, examined, dissected, and extrapolated ad nauseum. However, the Human Spirit, has special abilities and insights which help to define the Soul inherent in Human existence, and is actually a definitive proof of its existence. Recognition of beauty. Not the beauty necessary for reproduction and the sexual urges which enable its success, but a more abstract and intellectual beauty. The "BEAUTY OF NATURE". An animal will stop and survey his surroundings, sniff the air, look at flowers, rocks, majestic mountains, but his motivation is survival. They are searching for a hidden enemy, or a source of necessary food. Man is different. He can look at a beautiful sunset or a majestic peak, or a natural wonder like the Grand Canyon, an out cropping of rocks or any one of a million gifts of Natures Bounty and beauty, and feel our Soul vibrate and soar in sync with the abundant largess which Mother Nature, and God, has provided. Of course we have a Soul, feel it beat in rhythm with the beauty of Nature. Humanity has always been attracted to these dramatic gifts and we create parks, and national monuments, and fight to preserve these special areas of natural beauty. The beauty of nature does not exist exclusively on this type of macro scale. There is a unique beauty of nature that exists on a very real, yet micro scale. A new Art Form. An original way to capture and worship that which "God has wrought." There are certain natural stones which have captured the originality and overwhelming beauty which is inherent on a macro scale by a Grand Canyon. Imagine, the dramatic originality of Nature, "one of a kind works of art”, available to enjoy and display in your home or office. This new art form has several methodologies. The nature of the stone makes it a work of art naturally. This can be further enhanced using certain treatments, applied to the stone strategically, to enhance the effects already within it. Stone is also fast becoming a medium of choice for the innovative artist, as this material soaks up paint and gives a depth to color that isn’t achieved on traditional mediums. Sculpture is the most ancient form of stone art; however stacked sculpture is a new form that involves adding stone to a piece to achieve a desired effect. A gift of Nature, the majesty of the Earth, to cherish and uplift your spirit, and beautify your environment. Bask in the reflective beauty of your World. Stone art provides a true Cornacopia of originality and creativity.

Beauty as a Sexual Object

by: Punkerslut

To fall in love -- considered by some as the ultimate quest in life, and prepared by others with a constant and unending flow of fantasies, dreams, and enchanting ideas. And what we find sometimes to be so uniquely freakish of a fetish of our own, so personally vaulted and denied at every conscious inquiry -- we find, in fact, that it is a secrecy of our own sexuality and our own fantasies, that disallows us from discovering that, what we find to be deviant is actually commonplace in the minds of all individuals. There is no person whose sexual ideas are unique, no fantasy of anyone that is not based on the same roots of the fantasies of others. This is sexuality, a social and emotional facet of every human. So, it must be granted as truth, that it is the repression of sexuality in our society, that convinces us that our own sexuality is a freak, a deviancy, an intolerably disgusting and improper attitude. Despite the fact that sexuality has been an intrinsic part of the lives of the hundreds and hundreds of millions of people, or the hundreds of billions of animals, there are still some puritanical ideas of people to oppose it. And, even if sexuality weren't commonplace, one would think that the argument of "so long as none are harmed, let it be," would be enough to justify it. I think that it was not a matter of argument, but one of shame and repression, that granted the puritan-minded people to believe and preach as they do. If, in fact, those of the puritanical ideas had no conception of sexuality, I do not believe they could have the will to rally against sex. If it is just a fact of life, nothing that personally effected them, then it would not be something they could muster so much unforgiving hate for. Alas, I do not think these puritanical ideas have done much of anything to uplift the personality of goodness or the character of charity. The idea that sex is an evil is not a friend of the ideals of kindness, intelligence, or truth. These puritanical soldiers have done nothing but bog down the structure of civilization, waging a war against our own animal nature. By seeing their own feelings of sexuality, experiencing the desires and urges, the thoughts and inhibitions, puritans find themselves villified with their own character, ashamed and mortified. I think that people manage to put anger, passion, and strong, powerful emotions into vengeance, when it is their own personal nature that they are attacking. The puritans have allowed themselves to be cruel, brutal, and absolutely cold blooded in their war against sex. As the blood running through civilization warmed, the extent to which they were allowed to fight has been limited and limited. Tortures and murders were an intrinsic part of the original Puritan culture, when it came to their attitude about punishing sex. It is a rather popular statement, that beaty is in the eye of the beholder. Yet everyone seems to interpret this statement differently. The fact that someone or something is beuatiful is only true because there is a critic to call it that. No artwork exemplified beauty without an onlooker, no song brought forward melody without a listener, no poem created peacefulness or rage without a reader. There can be no argument to this. We find, also, that just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is ugliness in the eye of the beholder. The same artwork that was called beautiful by one may be called ugly, disgusting, or otherwise unappealing by another. It is here that the true meaning of the phrase may be captured. The only reason why something is appealing or unappealing, attractive or unattractive, is because there is a mind in the sensory organs there to judge. The ideas of what is or is not gorgeous, enchanting, homely, or wretched are all dependent upon the viewer. Then we apply these ideas to a person. One's voice is seen as glorious in tone or rancid in quality. The face and body become a considerable work of art or a defaced panting, or something in between or to a more extreme. Judging a body and a face, though, as beautiful or ugly, is a much different action than judging a painting as either beautiful or ugly. A person, unlike a painting or a poem, is conscious, capable of emotion and happiness. All of a sudden, their physical attributes become subject to criticism and judgment. What is the purpose, though, of finding someone attractive or unattractive? The simple and obvious answer is for thepurpose of mating and procreation. Now that the reason for appeal or unappeal, in a person's beauty anyway, has been uncovered, another question remains open. If a person's outter shell can be judged as ugly or beautiful, by one person or another, and since this judgment does not help us to determine their character, should we disregard beauty and ugliness as a deterent to a person's true self? Of those individuals who call themselves Freethinkers, artists, independent minds, lovers of intelligence and friends of liberty, it is the typical attitude that a person's emotions and way of thinking is in fact a part of their intrinsic self. There can be no greater proof of this than experience: beautiful people may be cruel and heartless, as the ugly people can be intelligent and meaningful, and vice versa. A person's beauty does not determine the way they think. It does not make them more kind or charitable, nor does it instill in them attributes of vice or cruelty. This fact, I imagine will meet with no argument from those whom have experienced the world. The Freethinkers, though, have further advanced this position, by incorporating this philosophy int their personal lives. They do not judge people on their image, and accept friendship and affection from someone regardless of theri looks, and they are not less scornful of a brutal person no matter their beauty. They have taken a rational position and they must be commended for that. In another way, some of them have incorporated their philosophy into their sexuality, either consciously or unconsciously. For example, they find someone attractive based on their ideas, their character, their way of thinking and personality. One's physical body becomes esxually arrousing once they are identified with ideas of justice and goodness. They have not warded off human sexuality, so they have much more mindfulness and personal awareness than the puritans. In some cases, a Freethinker who fell in love with someone for their ideas, after the berakup, individuals they see resembling their initial love, even if socially considered unattractive, are considered attractive by the Freethinker. So it happens, that the phrase comes to us, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," and we find that beautiful and ugly are relative terms, subjective in that they are exsiting only in the mind. Our natural response to this is that a person cannot wholly be judged by their physical, since they are conscious. they are capable of thoughts, ideas, emotions. Thus we find every Freethinker and independent individual falling in love with a personality of a person, irregardless of physical appeal. There is one fact that must be treated, though. An individual cannot have sex with a personality. As much as the idea is desired, physical affection cannot be given to a thought, an idea, or a character. It is necessary that a body is there. Admiration of an individual and their thoughts is never so pure or heart-warming as when there is a face for that individual, by which emotions and even ideas can be expressed. The look of ease, of a person laying down at the end of a long day, or a look of interest and intrigue, fascinated by the current occurrences, or a look of boldness and strength, defending what we believe in and what we fight for. The analytical expression, unsatisfied with what we know, delving through thoughts, facts, memories, to develope a more just theory -- the expression of deep thought, it allows us a a greater admiration of the deep thought itself. Nothing can greater express sadness than a story one wished to levie by retelling, accompanied by tears. This is just the face alone: eyes compliment diw th brows, a mouth given a tongue, and a nose, the rest covered with skin enveloping ten thousand muscle strands, all of which can combine to tell us thoughts and emotions. Anger and aggression, sadness and solemnness, pleasure and euphoria, exhaustion and rest -- all feelings by which we can purely communicate to another by the contraction or relaxation of our face muscles. The blessing of the voice adds to whatever feeling we are comunicating, even if we are not speaking actual words. In fact, the emotion or facial expression delivers is dramatically heightened and empathically understood those vocal sounds which transcend all human language, particularly when we express a sudden pain, joy, or understanding. Then, we are to consider the rest of the body. There are few words so reassuring, as a gentle, affectionate, and understanding touch. The idea of love can be written in a million poems and a thousand essays, which help us understand it in a reflective manner, but few things are so realistically understood as love when through the physical act of it; it is so logical to believe that experience is necessary to knowledge in this situation, just as it is impossible to know the true nature of terror without going through war, or other experiences. Lips, eyelashes, and other facial features, gently caressing, touching, or nuzzling the intimate or even common parts of the body: love-making, never so real or pure as can be demonstrated through experience. Those gentle parts, the neck, the stomach, the inner arms, find themselves also to be the most intimately felt. Perhaps it is the nature of evolution: ourselves becoming most protective of our most vulnerable parts, that they can also be the most intimate parts, because we feel that we want our lovers to feel those parts which we are most aware of. The other parts, the spinal column, the inner fore arms, the hands, though we are not only protective of them, we regard them during sex as gentle and intimate. Understand, though, that up to this point, of the necessity of a body for physical expression and physcial love, I have said nothing of beauty, spoken no words on one's complection as it is concerned to sex. I have only demonstrated the purity of expression when physical, when either in body and through the face. Yet there may be something rather unsettling, or otherwise seemingly contradictory about these thoughts. Those who have based their opinion on Freethought and independence, have argued that the physical complection, of beautiful or ugly, is not accurately indicative of a person's inner character. But, on the other hand, the body allows us the most pure and affectionate method of expressing our desires. I suppose that it must be admitted that one's body and face is an important part of love and sexuality. Whether we find one's body to be beautiful or not, the existence of such a body is important. But, beauty can even play a positive role in this. A body may in fact be considered indefferent, perhaps somewhat ugly or holmely. But, once that body has a personality, an opinion, an ideal, a character, these things alone may be enough for us to find them attractive physically. The same can be said of a body we initially find attractive, but then we hear a rather unintelligent, thoughtless mind speak, a rather cocky personality, and an otherwise unattractive character, and we find them ugly physically. It is not always the case, but it happens to be true often. Thus, beauty, no matter what it comes from, a physical complection, is necessary to a meaningful relationship. Before ending this dissertation, there are still some thoughts on beauty that will not rest in my heart until I have fully explained them. As I stated before, there are many people who would find it immature or thoughtless to love or deeply care about someone just by their physical complection. But, it is almost a thing of serenity, when a young boy's passions are enveloped around just the image of a girl. Granted, he may not be thoughtful in his quest, but he is listening to his desires. The thoughts and ideas that are spurning in his mind may be misguided, but they are gorgeous, wonderful, and even comforting. Fantasies may be pplayed out where just a kindly personality is placed in the boy's fictionaly apparition of her. He will feel joy when he imagines her impressed with every aspect of him, and very loving and caring of him. The same can be said of a girl and her affection for any handsome man. With this, I end. I can only hope that I have enlightened some minds.

Beauty and Ecumenicism

by: Robert Bruce Baird

There are many vantage points from which to find beauty. The side of the mountains overlooking Lake Louise on the grass of the hotel sipping champagne with your most cherished friend is a memory of beauty that will always overcome my consciousness. The purr of my friend and companion as he welcomed me home from a hard days work or the smile on the face of most any person who 'sees' what little part of life we can partake in to help each other. There are many beauties and no real evil. This will be dealt with in greater detail under Abraxas in the concept segment. In the whole of the 'brotherhood' there are many religions and in each one; I have found the essence of beauty expressed by wise and metaphysical or soulful people. In Islam my favorite is Sufism. They make a good point about the poison of negativity and any form of thought that does personal energized harm to other life in this quote: “The soul who had to sympathize with the whole world was thus prepared that the drop of that poison which always produces contempt, resentment and ill feeling against another was destroyed first. So many talk about purification of the heart, and so few really know what it is. Some say to be pure means to be free from all evil thought, but there is no evil thought. Call it evil or call it devil, if there is any such thought it is the thought of bitterness against another. No one with sense and understanding would like to retain a single drop of poison in his body. And how ignorant it is on the part of man when he keeps and cherishes a bitter thought against another in his heart. If a drop of poison can cause death of the body, it is equal to a thousand deaths when the heart retains the smallest thought of bitterness." (56) The fear of nature or one's inner uncertainties has caused many to find evil in places where beauty exists. Once one no longer has to control nature, there is no place where beauty will not be found. It may be a bittersweet beauty such as seeing your lover find a person she wants to marry; when you are an older man with all the love in the world for a person you love in every way. It may be the joy you feel when you know you aren't going to have to schlep or drudge for money in the socially structured gambit to gain material things. The fears that create the opposite of harmony and brotherhood are the 'poisons' which no true Kelt would know as he/she spoke to Alexander about their creed and their honest appreciation for the soul in everything. Nature has no evil and the crooked bristlecone pine that dormantly awaits the desert rain has lived longer than the rash fast-growing ash that sprouts quickly skyward. In the soul that knows it is immortal the idea of change is welcome and thus the warrior’s death is too. Thus one who truly loves will let all things and thoughts go free and hope to share the beauty of 'what is'. The Cathars had great 'brothers' in the Sufis who few people in the world are ready to accept the wisdom of in that war-torn realm of misogyny we call the Middle East. In my limited appreciation for the beauty of Jesus I see him being the kind of person who learned and changed throughout each day and therefore all the time he spent on earth. Each moment is a 'Zen' opportunity for the 'greater good'. But how many of our ways of organizing social behavior really wish good for each individual? There is no beauty in more of any THING; rather beauty exists in the fullness of each and EVERY thing. Oh yes, the turn of phrases and eloquence that waxes and wanes poetic can be a joy which in the crevices of thought are beauty-full but are they really beauty when they seek to arrange MORE for the politician and his cronies or platform? Alexander is said the first to have declared himself Divine while alive. We are in truth, all Divine. It is a divine comedy to be sure, this thing we call life.

The right Beauty Supplies Will make you look Great!

by: Mike Yeager

Use beauty supplies the right way and yours could well be the face that launched a thousand ships! Growing old may be mandatory, but looking it certainly isn’t. It’s just that one has to do it right. But that’s exactly what’s difficult. The mind boggles with the onslaught of unending types of beauty supplies , countless makeup and enticing brands. Am I using the right beauty supplies? Am I doing it correctly? What about side effects? Thankfully, makeup tips are not very difficult to find. Trust the beauty supply expert. Generally, you can always trust a beauty supply expert. And thankfully, one is almost always available without much trouble. The media abounds with beauty supply tips. And then there are brands that you can trust your skin with. Or use exotic mineral beauty supplies that are a great alternative to chemical beauty supplies. They use natural ingredients and causes less damage to the skin. Over a period of time, the presence of wrinkled skin could make that vital difference between skin that used regular beauty supplies and skin that used natural beauty supplies. Beauty supplies today not only means enhancing beauty that is skin-deep, it also means preservation of skin nutrition. After all, our skin is the largest organ of our body and needs adequate nutrition like any other organ. Consistent, healthy skin care is the best way to avoid wrinkles, sunspots and premature aging. It will pay off in the end. We spend our hard-earned cash on beauty and skincare. Lets make sure that its main beneficiary is our skin, not skin care product manufacturers.

The Truth About Beauty

by: Janice Wee

What's with this fascination with beauty? The demand for beauty services in spite of the economy? Even when there is a recession, beauty parlours still flourish. Beauty products still fly off the shelves.  There is this saying that beauty is skin deep. Then again, first impressions count. Put it this way. Beauty is power. That was true centuries ago. That is true today. When a beautiful woman walks into a bar, men flock to her and offer to purchase her drinks. When an unattractive woman walks into the same bar, chances are, she would have to purchase her own drinks. A beautiful salesperson, man or woman is more likely to win the sale. Between a beautiful job seeker and an unattractive one, all other things being equal, the employer is likely to choose the good looker. Like it or not, looks do count. In the past, when women were dependent on men to support them, beauty was everything to a woman. A beautiful woman would have more suitors. She would be able to marry up. To marry a rich man who could take care of all her financial needs and that of her children. Long before commercial cosmetics existed, mothers would instruct their daughters on traditional beauty remedies. Simple beauty remedies like using mayonnaise as a moisturizer, or egg white as a firming mask were often used by women in the days before commercial cosmetics. Then along came women entrepreneurs like Estee Lauder and other women from around the world. They converted traditional beauty recipes which worked for themselves into beauty creams that they sold to other women. Every woman has a right to look her most beautiful and these women were selling others their beauty secrets. Women all over the world are willing to suffer for the sake of beauty. Long ago, in China, women in wealthy families would bind their feet. The Chinese back then view tiny feet as beautiful, so little girls have their feet bound, to prevent them from growing big and ugly. Now that long legs are considered beautiful, some women go through a very painful medical procedure that breaks their legs, and stretches their legs by a few millimeters a day through a painful device until they attain the height they want. With their newfound height, these girls can look forward to a wealthy, glamorous future as an international model. In Europe, centuries ago, wasp waists and curvy bodies were considered beautiful, so corsets were worn to make the waist look much smaller. These were tied so tightly that women faint easily. All for the sake of beauty. Now, corsets are in again. These days, women and men subject themselves to surgery to attain the beauty they desire. Liposuction to remove the excess fat to contour the body. Breast augmentation for bigger breasts that are considered beautiful. Nose jobs, face lifts, the works. Both men and women even have poison (botox) injected into their faces to paralyze their facial muscles in order to erase the expression lines we know as wrinkles. There is also a return to natural beauty remedies. This time, commercial cosmetics use natural ingredients that women have used in centuries in the home beauty preparations. With modern advances, beauty preparations are more effective than ever. Even doctors have developed their own skin care ranges. Acne can be a thing of the past with some of the latest acne treatments. Some doctors, both dermatologists and general practitioners offer facials which treat most of today's skin problems very effectively. After all, beauty is skin deep. Healthy skin is beautiful. There is wisdom in the old ways women took care of their looks. Fresh food, exercise, plenty of water, plenty of sleep, soap and water. That's all the women in the olden days had in their beauty routine. These days, add a good sunscreen worn every day to protect your skin from the sun. A good toner, cleanser and moisturizer, a regular scrub and mask and you are done.

A Beauty Salon Will Help You Look Your Best!

by: Mike Yeager

A beauty salon will help you look your very best with a price that will fit in almost any budget. A beauty salon will be able to make your hair, skin, toes, and fingernails look marvelous

. In addition, most beauty salons offer their services for a fairly reasonable price. However, sometimes it may be difficult to choose what service you want. If that is the case, simply be on the lookout for any fashion style that you like. Look through magazines and cut out photos of styles and colors that you find pleasing. Take notes so that when you do go to a beauty salon, you will know exactly what you want. However, be aware that some beauty salons are better than others. To make sure that you are in high-quality beauty salon, check to see if it has clean beauty salon equipment and a clean work area. Also, be aware that in most states, beauty salons are required to publicly display their establishment license. If the salon or barbershop won’t show you an establishment license, you don’t know whether the shop’s health and safety procedures have been approved by the state.

Time saving Beauty Salon Tips.
A beauty salon visit can be time consuming. To get the most from your visit and still have time left in your day, try these time-trimming tips. Before you leave your beauty salon, schedule your next appointment. Call ahead on your appointment day to see if your stylist is running on time. If not, you won’t have to waste time sitting at the beauty salon when you could be home. If you want to be quickly in and out for your beauty salon appointment, try to schedule the first appointment for the day.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR INNER BEAUTY

by: Hifzur Rehman

Let us talk about beauty from a different angle!
We have our own criteria for judging the beauty of a woman. We look the beauty of a lady from a certain angle and then pass the remarks whether she is beautiful or

not. It’s not fair. Let me tell every woman that she is unique and beautiful.
The business of beauty is thriving everywhere. Women are spending much of their time and money on purchaseing beauty products. Even in the third world countries, women living below the poverty line, purchase cheap and substandard beauty products, which give more harm to their skin than good.
It’s the fundamental right of every woman to look beautiful. Every woman wants to listen the sweet words “you are beautiful”. But the beauty of a woman is far from her looks or figure. Physical beauty is only one aspect while a beautiful charming personality is a complete blend of many fine characteristics such as good manners, etiquette, behavior, smile, intelligence, sense of humor, social and family values etc., all make a woman look beautiful and attractive.
Didn’t you know that there is a marked difference between a carefully hand woven expensive Persian carpet and a cheap machine made carpet. Both of these cannot be equated. A beautiful woman is like an elegant hand-knotted Persian carpet. Each and every silky, colorful thread of her character, nicely woven into her personality, gives a woman an everlasting beauty and attraction.
Looks are very important indeed but the characteristics of a person are much more important. Besides taking care of your physical beauty, why not think of improving your inner beauty. The beauty which everyone admires is becoming a rare commodity these days. While on your way to a beauty parlor keep on thinking ways of improving your inner beauty.
Take care of yourself and take care of your inner beauty. No doubt you are a beautiful person!

Beauty, Gratitude and the Open Heart

by: Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

"…beauty on your earth is a shadow of the beauty of our heaven, and it’s a bitter thing to have a blindness for beauty on earth, for it makes a longer teaching to see the
beauties of heaven." Spoken by an Irish spirit in the book The Boy who Saw True (anonymous author).

I have been counseling individuals, couples, families and business partners for the last 35 years, and am the author of eight published books. Since my work is spiritually based, I have developed many ways of helping people open their hearts to love. Opening to beauty is one of those way.

I have always appreciated beauty. Since I’ve been a small child, I’ve collect beautiful things - shells, rocks, wood, as well as works of art, and there are always lots of plants around. There is nowhere in my environment where there is not something beautiful to look at, both inside and outside in nature. When I walk through my home and the land around it, my heart fills with awe and love as I appreciate the beauty around me. I’ve done this so automatically throughout my life that it never occurred to me that many people do not open to beauty nor create beauty around them.

In working with some of my clients struggling to keep their heart open, I’ve mentioned focusing on an object of beauty, and have been surprised to find that many of them have no beauty around them - no plants, flowers, works of art or objects of nature. When they look around they see walls, appliances, computers and other buildings. Their left brain functions just fine in this environment, but what about the right - the creative, intuitive, spiritually-connected aspect?

I want to encourage everyone who reads this to consider feeding your soul with beauty. There is nothing like awe and gratitude for something beautiful to open the heart to gratitude in general. If you can love the intricate design in the bark of a tree, or the vibrancy of a flower, or the balance of a beautifully thrown piece of pottery - that might lead you into loving and appreciating the beauty of you and your own soul. It might open you to feeling gratitude for your life and the sacred privilege of experiencing your journey on this planet.

How much of your thinking time is spent being upset or unhappy about something? What if all that time was spent in gratitude for what you have and for the beauty around you? What if you were present enough in this moment to revel in the fact that you can turn on a faucet and have hot water come out? That you have food to eat and a bed to sleep on? If you are reading this, it is likely that you have a computer, which means you have more than most of the people on this planet.

Try this little experiment: find something of beauty - it can be as simple as a leaf, a flower, a photograph, a small work of art or the top of a tree out your window. Now let yourself completely open to the thing of beauty. Let yourself feel the beauty in your body - in your heart, your solar plexus, in your stomach, arms and legs, in your forehead. Let the beauty enliven your body and fill it with vitality. Breathe in the beauty and feel your body’s reaction to it. Open to gratitude, thanking God for this experience of beauty.

Notice the peace and joy it gives you to be in this moment with this simple object of beauty. What would life be like if you spent more moments like this, in the present with beauty and with all you have? How much of your waking time is spent in this way?

Beauty and gratitude are soul foods. When you choose to open to them, you extend an invitation to love, peace and joy. This raises your frequency and opens the door to your spiritual Guidance. Your Guidance is always here for you, helping you on your soul’s journey. Opening to beauty and gratitude, with a deep intent to learn about what is loving to you and others, will open you to your spiritual Guidance.

Should you make your own beauty products?

by: womanht

With the huge range of beauty products on the shelves, why do some people still make their own beauty products?
I started making my own skin care products years ago. I got

a book about natural skin care. You can actually make masks out of mashed fruit. They are really messy though, but back then, I was really broke. Could not afford to spend on good skin care so I made do with what I could get.
I mashed watermelon and put in on my face. My face felt really clean, but there was a bit of a rash after that. I also read that papaya was used in spas for back exfoliating masks. In fact, the enzymes in papayas and pineapples are often used to exfoliate the skin. These can be rather harsh though, so I never tried that on my face.
One thing led to another. I moved on to make my own creams. I went through a period of time where every body lotion I tried from the stores, from the cheap ones to the $20 ones, made my skin itch. That prompted me to make my own body cream.
The cream recipes I found were mainly for cold cream. These were really heavy, oil based stuff. I wanted something lighter. A water based lotion.
A cream is basically droplets of water suspended in oil, kept in that state by an emulsifier. For my creams, I used beeswax as an emulsifier.
I experimented in the kitchen. After plenty of failed experiments. I finally came up with lotion in a texture I simply loved.
A lotion is made of droplets of oil suspended in water, kept together by an emulsifier. I used lecithin for my lotion. Here are some of the lotions I made.
By varying the water based part, using rosewater or tea instead of plain water, you can make all sorts of lotions. Likewise, you can play around with the oil part of the formula, with various infused oils, or a few drops of different essential oils, to change the lotion or cream. You can make tailor your beauty products to your personal tastes, and needs.
I had lots of fun with that. My skin loved these home made creams when they were fresh.
I even made a batch tailored specially for a cousin, using ingredients that she loves.

Yet, I have since stopped making them.
Why?
Laziness is the main reason. Lack of time is another reason.
So much care must go into making the lotions which don't keep. For me, even if I keep the lotions refrigerated, 2 days after making the lotion, if I use it on my face, my skin breaks out. 3 days later, if I use it on my body, my skin itches.
Preservatives are put in commercial skin care products to prevent these from spoiling. Without preservatives, bacteria, mould and all these nasty things multiply rapidly, spoiling the entire batch, causing nasty reactions on the skin. These home made beauty products don't have preservatives. That meant that I had to make new batches of skincare almost everyday.

Also, care must be taken to ensure all the equipment is sterile so the final product is safe to use. Carelessness could introduce lots of nasty germs into the beauty products you make. The water and oil component must be heated to the same temperature and drops of one are added to the other while mixing thoroughly or the batch might separate.
It is so much more convenient to purchase beauty products from brands that agree with my skin condition, than to make them from scratch. That is what I have been doing lately. Plus the reknown skincare lines are way better than what I can make. I mean, with their R & D budgets, they can afford to do plenty of research on creating the most effective beauty products for virtually any beauty need.
At the end of the day, whether you make your beauty products or purchase them off the shelf, it is a matter of your personal preference.

Divine Food for Divine Beauty

by: Tonya Zavasta

The phrase "natural beauty" has been abused and misused beyond restoration. The modern use is almost never associated with its true meaning. Someone said there should be a portrait of a
healthy person in a museum so people would know what they are talking about. If we don’t know what a healthy person looks like, how do we know what natural beauty is?

In our unnatural world, the word "natural" no longer means without effort, at least not in the realm of obtaining your best look. One thing is a must in defining natural beauty: its achievement must not involve any sacrifice of health. None, period. If health is compromised in any way beauty is not natural.
Our body was created in the image of God, the Supreme Beauty. When our actions are in opposition to nature, the results are different types of bodily ills, deformities, and ugliness. Since there can be no natural beauty without eating 100 percent natural food, most of you have never seen the natural you.
There is an urgent need for another word. The contemporary meaning of natural is too far from the divine. I suggest filling this void with "rawsome", a new word circulating in the raw food community. It is a combination of two words:" raw" and "awesome" with the meaning being something between natural and divine. The diet of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds also needs to be renamed. I have often been told that the phrase “the raw food diet”, sounds like eating raw meat, particularly sushi, which is misleading. The raw food diet is so awesome that it should be called the very name it inspired- the Rawsome Diet.
Most of us feel our appearance lacks something. In reality, ugliness is more about excess. Toxic accumulations in our bodies are responsible for stealing our health and attractiveness. Beauty lies latent under cushions of retained fluids, deposits of fat, and sick tissues. Your beauty is buried alive, but in most cases it can be revived in a version that will be satisfactory to you. You must take immediate action to revitalize it. When you do, your uncovered beauty will surprise and delight you.
Eating cooked food will leave residues the body cannot utilize, and they will be deposited in places our Creator never intended. Everything not fully digested and properly eliminated, the body will treat as an abnormal substance. It will pocket these toxins as far away from the vital organs as possible--on the peripheries of the body--where it will invariably be reflected in our outward appearance. If the body cannot use it inside, it will deposit it on the outside. Nutrients from the food you eat spiral upward to the epidermis, and their quality will determine whether you will have a glowing clear complexion or skin spotted with growths, such as moles and skin sores.
Some physical characteristics of our face and body we cannot change--they were determined prior to our birth. But the consumption of the raw plant diet as an adult will make a difference in the texture of skin and hair, the health of nails, weight and complexion. All of these traits and more are determined by daily choices, with food being one of the most important and, luckily, the one we can fully control.
The Rawsome diet is the most suitable one for human physiology. It is salubrious to the body’s health and salutary to its beauty. The ability to renew cells is built into your body, and the body itself is capable of making you look more attractive. After all, we were designed to bloom continuously as old cells get replaced by new ones. The Rawsome diet makes the most of this rejuvenating ability of our bodies.
Rawsome beauty is not manufactured from the outside but cultivated from the inside by nutritionally charged food. Whole raw food restores the integrity of every cell and facilitates the optimal operation of every organ inside and out. The body, having been awakened by the improved diet, in its wisdom, will reach out to the places where health was lacking, and you will gradually see your beauty surfacing. The Rawsome diet will eliminate all the toxins on a deeper level and bring amazing changes to your appearance.
Only the body sustained on raw food will host natural beauty, or should we say Rawsome beauty. The landscape of the body will change. The surface of the skin will become soft and smooth but still firm and supple. Visible pores will diminish. A sallow skin with a yellow pallor will turn into a porcelain-like complexion. The whites of eyes, once red, will become bright with a bluish tinge. As natural collagen production improves, it will fill in the places where it is needed as in hollow cheeks. Raw food eating will clarify and refine your features and bring delicacy to your face.
On the Rawsome Diet, you will marvel at how the Master Artist will make the most of your individual features and bring balance to the entire face. Texture, hues, and shape will be harmoniously arranged into a genteel whole. Perfection and imperfection will be tied together into a unique original version of beauty.
Each time I see a woman, I study her appearance, and I see not just the way she looks but the way she could look. What I see is how far her image falls short of her potential beauty. I perceive her beauty as it would stand out after the body has cleansed itself from toxins and excesses.
From age 15 until recently, I wore my hair permed, only to discover at 45 that straight hair in my natural color was the best possible frame for my face. Did my preference change? Not at all. My face did. So let me give you a hint, if you need a camouflaging hairdo, you are not looking your best. The changes in your face brought about by raw foods will bring the freedom to arrange your hair in any way you want. When your peer group is thinking: “I am losing my looks”, you will be finding yours. At 45, I enjoy looking in the mirror while before I detested my reflection.
As the cleansing initiated by this diet is completed, you will be very pleased to see how you were meant to look. Your body will exhibit beauty and dignity. You will become satisfied, even fascinated, with your appearance. When you look your very best, you look perfect, in a sense that you are as close to the divine image for yourself as you could ever be. You accept yourself completely. Natural beauty is above conformity; it doesn’t demand to be accepted by the dictates of the beauty norm.
People who have been on the raw food lifestyle for several years begin to have a glow, the kind not often seen in middle-aged people. Optimal health is recognized by an emerging radiance. Glow is hard to fake because it is internal. It comes from an abundance of clear, pink, almost transparent cells that light up the face. Only superior blood circulation can bring this transfiguring glow. Several years on the raw food diet will make you look as though you just stepped out of a painting by Renoir--the impressionist best known for his preoccupation with light.
I have come to believe if you do not embrace the 100 percent raw food diet, you will never meet The Most Beautiful You. The best proof that the Rawsome diet is optimal for the body is it makes you beautiful. Slim face, slender waist, and clear skin with smooth coloration-these subtle changes will convince you the raw plant diet is the best for good health and graceful beauty. No woman knows her true beauty until she cleanses her body completely of all waste.
You can say there are people who are beautiful, and they are not on this diet. That is true. It is hard to believe, but even they haven't seen the best of themselves. Dissatisfaction with one’s appearance arises not from perceiving our bodies inaccurately but because subconsciously we are aware we haven’t achieved our optimal look. The Rawsome diet gives a feeling of authenticity, an assurance we have become what we were meant to be.
Raw food not only corrects beauty’s shortcomings but also lifts the limitations of one’s spirit and releases strains and tensions in both your mind and body. People on the raw food diet have an aura about them, a transcendent nobility and complacent dignity. Sickness is goodness lost, and our unhappiness is a longing for goodness. One takes in the goodness in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables and feels its purifying process on the inside. Goodness in one’s food summons up goodness in one’s appearance and character.
Do you think it is hard to follow this life style? Women have done so many outrageous and dangerous things to themselves in the pursuit of beauty, I believe they should at least try the Rawsome lifestyle, which promises to transform them into beautiful people. What a woman won’t do for health, she will do for beauty. This is the first time beauty asks no sacrifice from health.

7 Steps to Great Makeup

1. Avoid wearing too much

Makeup is meant to enhance features not bring negative attention to you. That's what wearing too much makeup will do; it will bring you unwanted attention. Don't wear too much of anything such as:

     1. Eyeliner: dark, thick eyeliner will make you look overdone and will ruin the rest of your makeup.

     2. Mascara: too much mascara looks fake and will flake. It looks especially bad if worn with thick eyeliner or dark blue eye eye shadow.

     3. Foundation: Make sure your foundation is the same color as your skin. Foundation is meant to protect and give the face a smooth look. The magic word is blend.

     4. Powder: The same holds true for powder - not too much. Also, be sure to blend your makeup so there are no obvious lines.

2. Lips

Apply lip liner to completely cover the lips, add color and your lipstick will stay on much longer. Make sure your lip liner doesn't show. Also, your lip color should match your skin tone; wear cool colors if you have cool coloring and warm colors if you have warm coloring. If you want to make your lips look smaller, keep your liner on the inside of your lips. However, if you decide to make your lips look larger, going outside the natural outline of you lips is a mistake. This can look quite messy and unnatural.

3. Appropriate makeup

Wear makeup that is appropriate for the occasion. If you are going to the beach you shouldn't wear the same or as much makeup as you would if you were going dancing. Also, when you are in daylight your makeup should be a lighter than when you are out for the evening.

4. Too little or no makeup

Some women don't wear makeup because they are not sure how to use it and are afraid of being overdone. If you are unsure, start will light colours in your shade. Start slowly and add one product at a time. Maybe start with foundation, add mascara, blush or lipstick. If you are not used to wearing makeup, using a lot a first may be a little too much for you, so start slowly. The bottom line is a little is better than none. If you are still unsure seek professional advice.

5. Overall look

When your makeup is completed it should look natural. That means avoiding colours that clash. If you have dark skin and hair you will look better in darker shades; light colours will make you look washed out. If your hair and skin tone are light, light colours will look better on you. Dark makeup will make you look older and harsh. If you have oily skin, first use oil control moisturizer and foundation. Then be sure to wear loose powder, keeping pressed powder with you for touch ups.

6. Hair color

Your hair color should also be in harmony with your skin. If you have dark hair and you want to add color, keep it close to the same shade. If you have light hair, use light colors. As you age your skin will lighten, so should your hair color. One last thing about hair color - if you do color you hair be sure you keep it up, don't let your roots show.

7. One last thing

Keep makeup looking fresh all day by doing regular touch ups. Don't let your makeup fade or crease. Smile!!!