A FLAWLESS CANVAS

To deny that great makeup looks better on beautiful skin would be nothing short of insane. In our western culture, we are negligent when it comes to our skin. In her book The Color Of Beauty, Iman said that she was taught that "the skin you take care of in your teens and 20s is the skin you inherit in your 30s, 40s, and beyond."

When I read that statement, it struck a nerve. I remembered a conversation that I had with my Aunt Sheila (my dad's sister) back in 1999 when we were roomies down in Georgia. I'd gone in her room to say good night, and there she was standing in her bathroom with a white mask on her face.

That moment opened up a ritual of weekly masks and girl bonding. We would wash our faces and put on our masks and talk. Now my aunt Sheila has the most beautiful skin I have ever seen on an individual. Her complexion is perfect, but so is her skin care routine.

Every night she cleanses her face. "I don't care what time of the night it is. I never wear makeup to bed." She learned that from her mother. She will occasionally use a toner if she feels oily and uses plenty of moisturizer and avoids her oily zones.

Now her excellent skin care habits totally rubbed off on me and played a part in my decision to add esthetician to my makeup artist resume. Flash forward to 2009 and here I am makeup artist/ esthetician with my own blog about skin care and beauty.

For Your Enjoyment

Ms. Esthy TV will be launching Spring 2009. This show is where Beauty, Passion, and Technology collide. Don't miss out... Stay close to your computers.

MUSH FEST 2007

I would like to personally thank each and every person that has supported Ms. Esthetician with your words of encouragement, wonderful reviews, emails, reading this blog and referring your family and friends. I really do appreciate your earnest efforts to make "our" business a success. You all are my eyes and ears. It is the goal of M.E. to continue to provide you with the kind of service that you love, quality work in a hospitable environment. Without you there is no Ms. Esthetician. Thank you.

It has been amazing waxing with you this past year.

STRUGGLE

A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon.

On that day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth for several hours as the moth struggled to force the body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further. It seemed to be stuck.

Then the man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth out, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of cocoon. The moth emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the moth because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand and be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened!

In fact, the little moth spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting coocoon and the struggle required for the moth to get through the tiny opening was the way of forcing fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived the moth of health.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life.

If we were to go through life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.

Give every opportunity a chance. - unknown