Thoughts on winter...

It's taken almost a week of labor intensive makeup testing, but I've finally discovered the miracle cure for flaky winter skin. If you enoy olive oil, honey, and egg whites--also losing flakes of skin like you've just come out of a blizzard--then listen up.


Get a warm bath going, light up some candles, pick a book and toss in two cups of epsom salt--good for your muscles. Before soaking for thirty minutes or so, concoct a hair and face mask using the following instructions:

Hair: olive oil (2 tbls), honey (1.5 tlbs), and an egg yolk

Face: egg white, honey, wheat germ

Lather your hair up in, gross as it may seem, the olive oil, honey, and egg yolk, and apply the facemask--either put your hair up in a bun or a shower cap. Let the mask sit for about fifteen minutes before removing with a damp cloth and let your hair sit for about thirty before rinsing and shampooing as usual. Before stepping out of the shower, however, rub a sugar and olive oil mix over your arms and legs for extra moisture and shine. Rinse and feel relaxed.
 
Voila, natural beauty!

Share Your Beauty

Freshman year I decided I was going to be a great poet. That never actually happened but looking back on somethings I had written 2 poems caught my eyes. The first is titled "If only". It's about the power we all have to change the world by following our dreams. If any of you have read Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist you'll have a better understanding of where I'm comming from. Anywho the idea I'm trying to get across is that each of us has been given a great gift that we are called to share with the world. If we never did the world would ammount to so much less because of our fear.

If the stars in the sky

Were as bright as your eyes

I wouldn’t be afraid of the dark.

I guess then that it’s sad

That as a young lad

I’ve never been out in the night.

If there was a place

With the beauty; your face

Then forever I would stay there.

I guess then that it’s sad

That as a young lad

That place has yet to be found.

If the trees in the wind

Could sway like your limbs

Then forever would I be dancing

I guess then that it’s sad

That as a young lad

I’ve never been able to dance.

If only you didn't keep hold

Of all of your dreams in their mold

Then maybe I could have done more

I guess then that it's sad

That as a young lad

You could never know your full worth

 

Okay, this next one is about a person's discovery of their greatness and that they need no one else but themselves to do great things.

We danced

Well, we were to dance

Under the sky on a moon lit night,

Filled with every emotion but fright,

Caught in the arms of a lover’s grasp,

Warmth like being covered in a sunny cast.

Danced is what while waiting I did

For the love of my lover to come and bid

You did not come and I was alone

Dancing under a night’s starry tone

But strangely enough, I did not fear

Even though you were never near

The flow of the body

Smooth motion in limbs

Gives a sense of satisfaction

Filling emotional whims

I learned that night a most important thing

That it is only ourselves who can open our wings.

I do not have my lover’s warmth

Nor the gaze of his piercing eyes

But I have the knowledge that fulfilled are they

Who live great lover’s lives.

-maddy

Straight vs. Plus Sized

In the industry, plus-sized models are defined as anything over a size six--which, for a 5 foot, 8 inch model, [5'8'' is the average height in the American industry] puts the BMI just over 16. Starvation. The next edition of V Magazine, however, features a smattering of healthy-looking models posing next to their tiny counterparts. Our favorite Crystal Renn and Jacquelyn Lablonski duke it out in tribal-themed attire, putting their own spin on fashion. Also featured: Lizzie Miller, Tara Lynn, Candice Huffine, Michelle Olson and Marquita Pring.

Promo 2

Mad and I spent some time working on promotional flyers and handing them out at local Albertsons/ Walgreens. From what I gathered, people were excited about our message.

Our flyer reads:
"Beauty is the movement is a non-profit organization dedicated to representing and recognizing beauty in a culture responsible for glorifying eating disorders and unhealthy self-images. Our mission is to change the face of  beauty presented to young women by a curvy nation obsessed with weight loss.
But we can't do it alone.
As young women, it's part of our obligation to set facts straight about beauty. Websters defines beauty as "...a work of art, something in nature, an attractive person (esp. a woman)". Knowing this, we are called to spread the message about the freedom to be beautiful.
During this season of preparation for the coming of Jesus, focus on making a sacrifice for the sake of our savior. Rather than deprive your body, consider it a temple of the Holy Spirit--the best Christmas gift you've ever received. -BITM Admins."

 

BITM'S Beautiful Face for December

Already making knitting/ reading plans for the Christmas holidays and I'm not even finished with all of my Christmas shopping. But exciting news from Grazia Fashion about the rise of plus sizes appearing on the catwalk. With luck, we'll soon start seeing faces like Lizzie Miller modeling the latest Jean Paul Gaultier, or Hayley Morley strutting her stuff on the runway.
This month's Beautiful Face [a spur of the moment decision, I confess, to recognize natural beauty in both expected and unexpected places] is Crystal Renn--a then-anorexic model who has written her memoirs about her struggles with body image and ultimate acceptance of who she is.
And why should she struggle? She's drop-dead gorgeous!

-Happy Holidays from BITM!

Happy Christmas!

Christmas time is always stressful--exams, shopping, trying to shave off those Thanksgiving calories still and resisting the call of pumpkin pie and eggnog {both of which are my greatest weaknesses}. And in times of severe stress, self-image woes will rear their ugly heads. Rather than exert your holiday efforts in bettering yourself, however, spend some time in reflection about the reason for the season. "For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6-7). So make some time between nose-to-the-grinder studying to take a break, drink some cocoa, enjoy your Christmas time--after all, it'll only come once a year. Happy Christmas, friends!

Bring us some figgy pudding...

Not that we'll eat it or anything. Statistics now available on Elle about holidays affecting anorexia and bulimia. Studies point to the presence of family monitoring consumption of holiday goodies as a trigger for stress and consequent unhealthy eating patterns for those suffering. And that takes away from the happy in 'Happy Holidays'. 1 Corinthians says that "...Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
During this season of preparation for the coming of Jesus, focus on making a sacrifice for the sake of our savior. Rather than deprive your body, consider it a temple of the Holy Spirit--the best Christmas gift you've ever received.