Why Looking your best is as easy as one, two, three…

We all grow up believing that hard work will get you far. You work hard, you get far. And for women, I don’t think that this has ever been truer. From watching our parents/parent, we are taught, you have to be a good wife, mother, sister, niece, aunt and so much more. But we are not really taught by example how to also take care of ourselves. It’s like self-care is selfish. And when kids come into the picture, many of us, for want of a better word, “let ourselves go”, in every sense. But here’s the kicker, if you have a business, your appearance, your image, your work ethic is your trademark. When someone meets you for the first time and you are selling a product, or a service, you are ultimately selling you. They see you. They make a very quick assessment based on the way you look….Is this the type of person, I want to buy from, or be an extension of me (if you are offering a service), and so you have to look the part.

Looking the part can be easier and more affordable than you think, it just takes a little bit of effort. It’s as easy as 1, 2, and 3:

1. Shop at thrift stores. Especially after the recession, many people are looking to cut back and save money. Thrifting is the best way to do it. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Often you can find never worn pristine condition item
2. Find inexpensive jewelry that you love and can accessorize with to really bring your outfit together. Whether you find these at a thrift stores or at inexpensive costume jewelry providers such as Chloe + Isabel, using jewelry to accent your outfit pieces can really bring everything together
3. In the spirit of self-care, my third tip is a little bit of self-care goes a long way. Exercising, dieting can help you bring out the natural glow from within that can then be accentuated by a little bit of light and subtle make up. I recommend setting an appointment with a masseur and or having a spa day regularly so you can relax and take care of yourself so you can look and feel your best.

Even if you don’t own a business it’s important to practice self care daily and look your best!

Take care of yourself my jewels 🙂

How YouTube Sensations Store Their Jewelry

Everybody has their own preferences when it comes to storing their jewelry. Some buy trinkets to dispaly on top of their drawers, while other buy jewelry armoires to neatly organize their jewelry. Still others buy jewelry organizers at department stores. If you are looking for a fun and great way to store all of your jewelry, take some tips from some of YouTube’s top beauty and fashion vloggers!

Belinda Selene:  http://youtu.be/h6i87BxNpVs

This fashion blogger gives fans a fun, easy, pretty and inexpensive DIY way to display and store your necklaces so that they’re easy to grab when you need them and neatly organized so that they don’t get tangled. She doesn’t like to have things in drawers where she can’t see them because she forgets she has them – a common problem a lot of us have! To have everything displayed and laid out, it can look cluttered, so she’s come up with a very eye-catching way for her problem.

The DIY jewelry board features gift wrapping paper, thumbtacks, push pins, rhinestone and a cork board to create her organizer – with all products bought either at Target or Staples. She’s able to display about 30 necklaces, which is a great and efficient way to store costume necklaces.

HollyAnnaeree http://youtu.be/AohyvlIbbNY

Lots of fans are always asking vlogger HollyAnnaeree how she stores her massive collection of costume jewelry and her video provides all of these answers. She actually uses knobs on the cabinets of her vanity room bathrooms to store lots of her necklaces on. It’s a smart and cheap way. But she had so many that she had to look toward other options to store the rest of them. After having a hard time finding something she liked and was more her style (like a store) but found two jewelry stands at the Container Store.

MissGlamorazzi

To store all her amazing jewelry, vlogger MissGlamorazzi has one of the most coveted jewelry armoires from the Pier 1 Hayworth collection, which features mirrored pieces. She’s able to hang all her necklaces and bangles in a convenient way without having to worry about them getting tangled and twisted. In her video, she shows off her collection and notes where she got each piece so you can easily copy her style if you’d like.

If you’re looking for a fun and convenient way to store all your necklaces and other jewelry pieces without having to worry about them getting tangled, then look no farther than the Kinkless pouch! Just grab your necklace by its pendent, slip it into the Kinkless pouch pocket and separate the length of the necklace and then wrap it around the Kinless to make sure it’s inside the snaps. Then just close it up by snapping the corners together and you’re all done! Fold it up and place inside a jewelry box. You’ll never have waste precious time trying to untangle any of your jewelry!

The Power of Words

The late Dr. Maya Angelo stated in Oprah’s master class, “words are things I’m convinced, you must be careful of the words you use”.  In the old testament, we are told in genesis that in the beginning there was the word, and the word was God and the word was with God, so we must be careful with the words we use……one day we will be able to measure the power of words”.  With that said, I want to share this story with you.

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?” The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

This story teaches two lessons:

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.
2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them.
Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words… it is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another.

so Today, I challenge each an every one to edify your brother and sisters.

Enjoy your week!

 

 

Flawless Remix: Thank GOD (goodness) it’s Monday

Now you don’t hear that too often.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard TGIM used as a euphemism for TGIF.  Let’s face it; we are hardwired from childhood to look forward to the weekend. That two day escape from our everyday lives and routine that more often than not, leaves us wanting more. But what if we could change our mindset to look forward to the start of the week? Our re-entry into our everyday lives. After all, we spend more of our time and lives in the work week.

Believe it or not there are some people out there who love what they do! The Barbies of the world, the Beyoncés and the Mother Teresas. Yes, they love what they do. They look forward to the start of the week. And while you may think that their lives are perfect, FLAWLESS and without challenge. That couldn’t be further from the truth; they have had their challenges and continue to have challenges.  But if we look at them closely, there are several traits that they have in common:

1. They seldom feel disconnected from the challenge that first engaged their interest. They recognize that to be who they are, do what they do, and follow their dreams, there are going to be some challenges and nobody understood this more than Mother Teresa.
2. They don’t care what you think! They won’t be stopped. If you examine the pictures of Beyonce emerging from the doors, “post the infamous elevator fight,” Beyoncé came out, game face on, and in her recent Flawless remix, even addresses the infamous elevator fight  between Jay-z and Solange.  “Of course sometimes sh@t goes down when it’s a billion dollars on an elevator”. Now that’s how you handle it.
3. They draw people to them without even trying. I have one word for this, Barbie. She has a killer fashion sense, a boyfriend that adores her. Adoring fans, killer clothes, killer jewelry (tangle free and kinkless), well killer life, period. And anyone and everyone in her life would do anything for her.

Recognizably they have a lot more traits in common than this but at its core, this allows them to have what I call, the Monday state of mind, and a winning attitude that manifests into being a winner. So let’s start off this week by saying Thank GOD (goodness) it’s Monday!

Why doesn’t Barbie recognize that Raquelle is a hater

Let’s face it. We’ve all wanted the Barbie Dreamhouse life at one time or another.  She beautiful, everything she says and does is golden. She has a killer fashion sense, a boyfriend, well at this point, life partner/hubby that adores her. Adoring fans, killer clothes, killer jewelry (tangle free and kinkless), well killer life, period.  But even the girl that has it all has haters. I can definitely relate. I’m sure we all can.  We all have a Raquelle in our lives. Someone who wants to be you, and at time, can feel like they want to skin you alive and wear your skin.  They want what you have. To them the grass is greener and your green patch is just what the doctor ordered.

But what can we learn from the way Barbie deals with Raquelle? Well there is that old adage, “make your haters your motivators”. But Barbie takes this one step further. She treats Raquelle with love, humility and kindness.  She puts no negative energy into her tomfoolery and lets her fall by her own weight.  Instead she chooses to believe the best in people and believe that Raquelle has no ill intent and keep her close as part of her inner friendship circle. We could all learn a thing or two from Barbie. This is why her life is drama free, and well perfect.

Written by Nina Lewis