I talk about beauty all day, every day. My job is to interpret, educate and inspire in people a simple beauty style. I am constantly inspired by other women; by what they say, by how they act, who they are and by how they interpret themselves. I often wonder, do they see the beauty that I see? And what does that mean to them? So I decided to make it my job to try and find out.
What is beauty? To you? What's your definition?
Send me: in the comments section, via email or social media, a 15-25 second video (or written statement. Videos are preferred) with your answer. Your answers will be compiled and used to promote a #WhatIsBeauty message on all of The Candy Bar sites.
I encourage you to send me your video! We are all beautiful and together we can inspire other women to define beauty on our own terms!
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Join the movement #WhatIsBeauty
"Maybe it’s NOT Maybelline. Maybe you were just born with it."
I like this lady. There is something about her that draws me in.
Maybe its because she strikes me as the kind of person who just doesn't give a sh*t.
Maybe it's because she's interesting and beautiful and has always been on the outer cusp of Hollywood-like she's been there all along-but not quite.
Maybe it's because she looks and acts like she knows exactly who she is.
And maybe because she just kicked everyone's ass this awards season.
Patricia Arquette is boss lady. The thing is, she always has been. Most recently as TV's The Medium, which had a 6 year run, and up next CSI:Cyber, it's safe to say she has been quietly succeeding in the complicated maze of the acting world. One of a family of Hollywood types-her famous siblings, Rosanna, Richmond, Alexis and David, are well known themselves for various reasons-acting being the common denominator. But there's something about Patricia, and Patricia right now.
I'm not talking about her Oscar acceptance speech either, although that just adds another dimension to her appeal. I'm talking about how she carries herself. She's every woman. She's feminine and relatable because she possesses an elegant beauty that can't be found in a hair and makeup room. She is a beautiful woman, of that there is no doubt, but she is a beautiful woman on what appears to be her own terms. She doesn't conform to Hollywood standards and she doesn't have to. She set the bar for herself and it works for her.
If she's selling, I'm buying. I read that she was strongly considered for the Dorothy Boyd character in "Jerry Maguire" so to Patricia I will say this, you had me at hello.....
So I had some people around me recently that got into an all and out, "I hate that beeyotch" and "She's just a bit*ch!". Drama....
I have been left to choose my words carefully to each of them and be very deliberate about not getting involved. The thing is, I happen to love both of these people and I just happen to be in the unfortunate position of being the common denominator between them. So #1 is pissed at #2 and #2 is pissed at #1 and I'm smack dab in the center of this sh*t storm. Both of them have tried to talk to me on separate occasions about the other one, at which time I have had to ask them to not involve me. And when they continue, I am left to distract myself with my mobile device or Facebook (that's what it's for, right?).
I have my opinions on the issue, but I'm not going to share them with either of them. So get this...the fact that I won't comment on the issue is causing them to throw shade at me??? WTF? I have nothing to do with the issue! It is completely between them and I have nothing to do with it and somehow I've found myself caught in the cross hairs.
Don't make me go all Theresa on you're asses! And figure the sh*it out and leave me out of it.
If it's true that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then we must really be living on two separate planets. I'm referring to business specifically, but it's also an age old question for the age old battle of the sexes. The answer, it seems is simple; men and women are different. Truth is, it's not really that simple.
Men and women approach business from different perspectives. Both genders can achieve great success, and both genders have unique strengths that can attribute to that success. Because we approach things differently, who's to say there is a template for what equates to success and what does not. Women tend to be more emotional because society encourages a more nurturing woman's role in all aspects of life. So in the workplace or in a position of power is there room for emotion? Mental toughness is a strength, yet emotion is seen as a weakness? One could argue that it would depend upon the business and the individual, but for some, emotion is what drives their success.
In sales, emotion is paramount to hook your audience. The goal is get them excited about your brand and hopefully emotionally invested in it so that they will come back to you, time and time again. Without emotion, consumers couldn't be brand loyal and vendors couldn't motivate them to trust that brand and spend their money. Picking up on client's emotional cues or hints of unhappiness and responding to them help to keep them happy and build relationships based on trust and respect.
On the other hand, when making business decisions, emotion sometimes can cause frustration and removing the emotion from the situation is best advised for making sound decisions. A "never let them see you sweat", kind of thing, and both genders sweat emotionally in business from time to time. Barking back at a co-worker or spouting off a nasty group email, which seems satisfying in the moment, in retrospect is never a good idea.
We are different, men and women, and as such we handle all kinds of situations from different mindset.
Case in point: Take a look at Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a room full of men watching the US take out Osama Bin Laden.
From an early age, our mothers taught us to act "lady like". Well, most of our mothers, but it was sort of an unwritten rule that a girl should act a certain way. They told us to act demure, speak softly and if we had a point to make, to speak succinctly and assuredly, so as to get our point across. Be eloquent and make people listen to our logic, and above all always keep our emotions in check. At least in public, for one would never want to be considered one of "those girls".
With the dawn of the new Millenium, social media and reality TV, those social mores, taught by years of mothers before us, have basically gone to the dogs...or the cats, because in this day and age, it's the "cat fight" that gets the attention. By today's standards it's the squeakiest wheel that gets grea$ed, and "those girls" are fast becoming reality starlets with publicists and posse's to prove it.I'm not saying this is the way to go, either. What I am saying is that it's a fact that a cat fight translates into TV ratings and magazine covers, and why?
Take for example the Real Housewives franchise. Bravo built an entire TV network on cat fighting, bad behaving, supposed "housewives" who look to have it all and then some. But that wasn't good enough or interesting enough, and the Bravo exec's quickly realized that it was the most controversial housewives, the ones who made those cringe worthy moments happen, that the viewers really wanted to see. They wanted to talk about their bad behavior on social media sites and in blogs and fan the flames for more bad behavior.
Probably the most notorious example of a Real Housewives cat fight moment was when controversial New Jersey housewife Theresa Guidice famously flipped a table. It was the flip heard around the world.
This clip is NSF and contains expletives.
Theresa then went on to become even more famous with her "Fabulous" empire of cookbooks and products, and she continues to cash in on her notoriety today. Look at NeNe Leakes from Real Housewive Atlanta. She's parlayed her bad girl, no nonsense, "oh no she didn't" image into a full on Hollywood acting career.
But before the bad behavior on Housewives, there was the man who built his image and fortune on cat fights. In 1991, a then almost unknown Jerry Springer launched "The Jerry Springer Show". I'm sure the intention of the show's original premise was good info, interviews and discussion, but it's producers soon realized that the shows about tawdry, controversial subjects were leading them to much higher ratings and bigger revenues. 22 years later, the show is simply nothing more than a cat fight boxing ring, complete with bells going off and hair weaves and wigs flying.
With topics like. "You Stole My Man and Then Had His Baby!" and "Bad Girls Oiled Up", it's just a matter of minutes before the fist-a-cuffs come out. Security is present, but they are more like the referee's in the ring, "keeping it clean". Springer even admitted in 2000 to Reuters in an interview, "I would never watch my show. I'm not interested in it. It's not aimed at me. This is just a silly show." Yet he cashes those silly checks.
Is the phenomenon of good girls gone bad enough to keep this detrimental behavior alive in the public eye? The answer remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure. I am part of the problem, not the solution. As long as I continue to watch these train wrecks happen, they will continue to produce them for my/our viewing. And I'm not quite sure how I feel about that.
I'm sure most people have no idea who Sara Blakely is. I certainly didn't until Sunday, but I know her product.
I know her product oh so well, as it has become a staple; a must have, a do or die fashion element in any smartly dressed woman's wardrobe. Men, ask your ladies because they know what we are talking about. Sara Blakely can count on women all over the world knowing what we are talking about-all the way to the bank.
Sara Blakely created Spanx.
At 41 years old, she is the youngest woman and self made billionaire to ever make the prestigious list. Sara Blakely did something so simple, so brilliant that I couldn't believe that there was one person behind the idea. She re-created the girdle. She modernized a device from our great-gtrandmother's era that was villified and lothed for it's torture.
Sara Blakely changed all of that. She gave us a new name, "shapers" and make them seamless with her own two hands, then patented them with a patent book she bought at Barnes and Noble. Her first account was Nieman Marcus and soon a star was born. Today the Spanx empire boasts hundreds of styles of undergarments like: Booty Booster, The Bra-llelujah, Slim-Cognito, Skinny Britches and Trust your Thinstincts.
Women all over the globe wouldn't dare to get dressed without them. Red Carpet event atendee's have even confessed to "doubling up" on Spanx, and Hollywood regularly includes Spanx products in it's various swag bag events. I, myself will admit that I cannot live without my one, coveted Spanx favorite: The Bra-llelujiah. This garment changed my life, and honestly I will not be without it. It's comfort alone is the sole reason I choose to spend $62.00 on a bra. I have almost every color imaginable and I plan on never facing a day without my Bra-llelujiah.
Herin lies the key to Sara's sucess. She tapped into something that was taboo, forbidden and shameful and she made it modern, chic, comfortable and necessary. She made sucking in our sins a shared ritual for millions of women and in the process she made millions. Or more like billions,
Selling girldles. Who would have ever thought it possible?
