“One of the ways that we can begin to love our faces is to enhance them with makeup.” Sarah Ban Breathnach

Sarah has captured so beautifully in today’s reading how I feel about makeup. Like Sarah, I have had different phases in my life when I questioned the authenticity of plying myself with “war paint,” but I finally came to the same conclusions that she did:

“I began to become aware of the fact that looking your best, working with what you have, and bringing out your natural beauty with makeup was not as superficial a goal as I had originally thought. Makeup was simply a tool to help me look my best. When I looked my best, I felt better. When I felt better, I had more energy and accomplished more and was more outgoing.”

Everything Sarah says here rings true for me. It is why I love being a Mary Kay beauty consultant. Giving women makeovers, taking before and after photos, and seeing their faces light up at the transformation is so rewarding for me. Likewise, teaching teenage girls the proper way to wear makeup so that they don’t hide their true beauty is equally as rewarding. There is something so gratifying in helping people to feel good about themselves, whether it is the application of makeup or helping them to earn some beautiful free jewelry. It all makes them smile, and making people smile is who I am.

Shalom!

“The body is a sacred garment. It’s your first and last garment, it is what you enter life in and what you depart life with, and it should be treated with honor.” Martha Graham

We women have such a love hate relationship with our bodies, don’t we? We envy the best features of another while discounting our own positive attributes. We wish we had Sally’s eyes or Megan’s legs, and we fail to appreciate and be grateful for our own unique qualities.

We all have them. Each and every one of us has been blessed with gifts that make us who we are. If you look critically at some who you find especially attractive, you may be surprised to realize that there really isn’t anything particularly outstanding about them compared to someone else – what makes them appear so spectacular is the fact that they feel spectacular, from the inside out. Continue reading “April 12: “Learning to Love and Honor Your Body”” →