February 2014

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Those wonderful inner qualities never get old! In fact, they only get better and even more beautiful as you age. Your unique traits have been growing, deepening, and strengthening their roots every day of your life. In a world where so much value is put on maintaining a youthful appearance, your list will be a constant reminder for you to honor and celebrate your authentic beauty.

Everyone you have ever loved… every laugh, tear, and sigh you’ve shared with someone… every moment of your precious life… is wrapped up in you. All these stories of living and loving create the allure of a mature face. So remember that your beautiful qualities will only increase as you get older!

Michelle

Accentuate Your Positives

Exercise for the day: (no, it’s not sit-ups)

Which feature do you love best about your body? By now, you know that real beauty means accentuating the positive. I want you to embrace yourself just as it is today. What is it about your body that you really like? Your hourglass shape? Your strong legs? Your toned arms? Your graceful neck?

Write down your best features and then circle your top three and hang it somewhere to remind yourself all day every day!

Excerpt: my book “The Beauty Blueprint”

Michelle

Tuesday’s Affirmation

For every dream you have, you need to act on it . . . but you don’t have to do all the work by yourself. Remember, one of the three key ingredients everyone needs is support.

Affirmation: I honor my values in every decision I make. I live by my mission to create a rich, beautiful life.

Excerpt: “The Beauty Blueprint” by Michelle Phillips

Lip Revival Needed

This winter has been brutal for most of us. One of the most dreaded things for me at this time of year is the feeling of dry, peeling, flaky lips. Unfortunately, winter months are hard on your lips. They are thinner than other parts of the body and have virtually no oil glands to keep them moisturized. Wondering what to do? No worries, I’ve got some TLC (tender lip care) tips to share.

Exfoliate. Yes, scrub your lips, but do it gently. Sara Happ Lip Scrub is a must have. This natural sugar scrub is literally good enough to eat. By massaging this into your lips, they are instantly drenched with moisture. It comes in a variety of flavors. My favorite, and back by popular demand, Crème Brulee!

Use lip balm throughout the day and carry them with you always. Natural Inspirations Organic Lip Balm with SPF 30 is perfect. Packed with powerful super fruit seed oils, it keeps my lips smooth, protected and moisturized.

Wear a lipstick. I have an extensive lip wardrobe with many colors and brands. My go to lip color right now is Lip Maestro by Giorgio Armani. It may look like a gloss, but it is lipstick magic!! I love how the lip color just becomes one with your lips. It is long lasting and keeps my lips hydrated and smooth all day.

When walking outside, cover your lips with your scarf. This shields them from the harsh cold and wind. Licking your lips is really bad and actually dries them out even more. If you feel the need to, apply your lip balm. Drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated. Don’t over indulge in those drinks that zap the moisture out. Theses include soda, coffee, and alcohol.

Always remember hydrated, moisturized lips always appear fuller, plumper
and younger.

by Donna Tarantino

A “Me” Wall Builds Confidence

One sure-fire way of building your confidence and taking back your power is to create a ‘Me” wall that contains things you like about yourself, photographs of happy times, prints of special places you love or things that you enjoy. Surround yourself with positive reinforcement, bolstering your confidence by hanging that special certificate you received, your diplomas, certifications, and degrees. Fill your wall with everything positive you have about yourself and … include a mirror right smack dab in the middle so you can see yourself, too ! Don’t feel that this is being egotistical or vain because it is not. It is OK to appreciate your accomplishments. When we lose appreciation for our own success, we effectively diminish our personal power. A “Me” wall reaffirms our self-esteem and re-establishes a belief in our own powers and abilities which equates to self-empowerment, not undue favor of ourselves.

Michelle

Impact and Influence

I often talk about the meaning of true beauty, beyond the superficial, and material, digging to the core of what makes some stand out over others. In my experience that can be nothing more than the man or woman who walks around with a beaming smile. Passersbys will take notice and feel a beauty that no makeup could match.

That said, have you ever heard the phrase, “wipe the smile from your face?”…meaning something that happens that could strip a happy, radiant person of their beauty?

As much as we would like to think, and for that matter should be, in charge of the beauty that comes into our worlds, there are a lot of influences that shape our existence.

Throughout our lives many things, especially people, have made impacts that have sent us in an emotional or spiritual direction. This direction could have been positive…or it could have been negative…and as difficult as it may have seemed it was what was intended for us at that moment. The challenge for us in the more trying times is how we deal with that person or event…how we choose to process how it influences us over time. Do we carry broken baggage with us on our journeys forever?

Let’s take a second to go back, not all the way to some deep dark recess of our spirits, but in the last few days or weeks. Think for a minute about someone who influenced you, positively or negatively. Was it a warm hello at your favorite coffee place or a word of praise from a boss or coworker? Or was it someone who was quick to take your parking place or close relation that said something as simple as “you’re not wearing THAT are you?”

How did you process these events? How did they affect you? Were you a person who created those influences on others?

Each of these seemingly little events in our daily lives can have huge repercussions and to work towards truly beautiful lives it’s time we take charge of the impacts and influences flowing to us… and from us and radiates that positivity back out!

Michelle

Shine Your” Million Dollar” Light

One of the things I say all the time about beauty is that if you feel amazing you look amazing .. and one of the most important facets to feeling beautiful is your self-worth. If you’ve ever heard or used the phrase, “She looks like a million bucks”…that is a value…and a worth…and more than likely goes way deeper than someone who is wearing a million dollars worth of clothes and jewelry but rather someone who holds their head up high and radiates a million dollar light.

But what can keep us from looking…and living that way? What can take our self-worth away…the simple answer is ourselves! It is called SELF-worth… and SELF-esteem for a reason. Like most things in our lives- having and living that personal value can be easier said than done.

For me the challenges with my self-worth have come when I have based it on the opinions of others. In the past I put too much emphasis on living according to the way my husband, family, or friends said I should ….rather than in the ways that were in alignment with my dreams, goals, and values. There were times in my life I was paralyzed by simple decisions…before I could do anything I had to take a survey or a poll of everyone I knew- so my choice would be “acceptable” to the majority of the people in my life.

I felt like this was what I had to do to be loved…and valued. I spent an unreal amount of energy like that to be accepted. I tried to be perfect for everyone around me. I tried to build a perfect marriage,create perfectly overscheduled kids and a perfectly decorated house. Of course, no one around me appreciated it the way I thought they would because it wasn’t their goal. They definitely didn’t appreciate a stressed out me from running myself ragged. If you’ve been there, you know the next step is resentment… “I did all this for YOU people!…and this is the thanks I get!” ??? Change?

And then you continue on the cycle of self-doubt, thinking “No one values what I do or who I am” and your worth and purpose are gone…

It’s time to break the cycle…and start loving YOU, building self-worth, personal value, and BEAUTY… from within.

Before we can head in a new direction, it helps to figure out where we are. You can start by asking yourself a few simple questions:

– Where do you think you are giving away your self-worth?

– Is there someone in your life you are giving the power away to? And how can you get it back and keep it for yourself?

– What in your life isn’t in alignment with your goals and values and is taking away from your self-worth?

Remember: “If your outer world reflects your inner self, you are in alignment and living a beautiful life!”

Michelle

SPEND VALENTINE’S DAY WITH THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE

by Joan Herrmann
I was watching television recently when it happened … I saw the first commercial for the Valentine’s Day diamond collection – you know, the gift that every woman will treasure. As I listened to the music and watched as the camera panned the romantic setting, waves of emotion overcame me like a tsunami. At that moment, in my mind, everyone in the world was in a loving, committed relationship and I was going to be the only person sitting home alone on February 14 (most likely eating ice cream).

Realistic assumption? Of course not. But for a few minutes the drama queen in me took over and my emotions ran wild. Fortunately, I was able to reign them in, but the feelings I experienced are very common.

The truth of the matter is that while there are many people in wonderful relationships, there are more people today living life as singles than ever before. So, there are more people sitting home believing that they are less of a person because they are one and not a part of two. Society perpetuates this belief.

When we are little, we are taught that we need someone to complete us. The princess is always in search of her prince. We search high and low for him, trying on every glass slipper looking for the perfect fit. Sometimes we find the right shoe, other times we squeeze a size nine into a seven. Going barefoot is never an option.

We are given the misguided notion that life is a Hallmark commercial. But… guess what? The fairytale doesn’t exist; at least not in the way it’s portrayed. There is no prince or princess that will make any of us live happily ever after – no outside person can do that; it’s an inside job.

Until we rekindle the flame of self-love, there will be failed or unfulfilled relationships and tears at the thought of being alone. The self-love I refer to has nothing to do with being selfish, it’s actually being selfless. It’s putting the time and energy into understanding who we are and what we want. It’s about finding our path and fulfilling our dreams. It’s making ourself whole so we can be in a relationship with another (or not) in a healthy way. When we’re whole, there is no jealousy, resentment or neediness. It enables us to find (or stay with) someone who complements us – not completes us.

What better time than Valentine’s Day to reestablish a relationship with yourself? Let it take root and then share it with your soul mate or your sole mate!