Category Archives: Philosphy

Receiving Gifts

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It might seem that the third love language is the easiest, and yes it can be for those of us who easily treat ourselves to items we wish for. Receiving Gifts is love language #3. Most likely if you are the kind of person who really enjoys being given a gift, and it doesn’t mean the gift has to be expensive, this is your love language. Someone who truly feels love when given gifts will cherish it no matter the cost. It is the thought that counts to someone who feels love from being given gifts.

So if you suspect you feel most love when you receive gifts, giving yourself gifts should be a breeze. Well, it can actually be as hard for some as any other love language. Again, we often put ourselves last and rarely sacrifice at the needs of our family and friends, especially when it comes to finances. Well, good thing there are so many ways to be thrifty these days (garage sales, thrift stores, coupon books galore, clearance racks.) If receiving gifts is your primary love language take a good look at your family budget and know that you should just plan for any small amount to be able to get a gift for yourself, even if it’s something from the dollar store. Some people call it an allowance, fun money or mad money, but the point is it should be just for your indulgence.

Giving gifts to yourself lets your internal self know that you are important enough  and do deserve love from yourself. Taking the time to really think about what gift you want for yourself can be a part of the process as well. Make and keep a running list of all the things you might see that are of interest to you. If you know they are out there, when the time comes for giving yourself love you will know exactly what to get yourself. And, alternatively, you could just keep it sporadic and include an indulgent trip to the mall, by yourself and you will be giving more than just a physical gift to yourself, you will be giving the gift of self. We all need some time to ourselves and this is another application of receiving gifts.

Image Consultant

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By Leta Greene

So, what is an image consultant?  If you ask my son what I do, he will tell you I do “stupid makeup”.  Well, I like to think, I am more than my son may appreciate at his observant age of seven.  Yes, I do makeup–though I don’t think it is stupid.  That is a matter of opinion and it never works to argue over differing views.  So, for those who may be open to mine: my job is about my opinion, on makeup, clothes, and attitude.  We all seen the image consultants on TV—well, I am different. For the next few weeks I will post on how I am different.  Besides the obvious one: I have no TV show.

Makeover TV shows often ambush the potential victim/ receiver of their expertise.

How am I different?  I have never jumped out on someone, with a camera in tow.  That time in high school doesn’t count, I mean professionally I have never gone up to someone, and said, “Whoa lady, you need help! Let’s go get to work, it is going to take a lot!” or any other demoralizing statement.

I will show you how beauty has more to do with what is inside than outside.  Ripping a person apart internally is just wrong.  This point is at the core of my business and personal perspective.

I was that girl; the one who had simply no idea.  There were enough people around me telling how unattractive I was.  It hurt.  It ripped inside.  I lived with me, in my head and I know what happened in there.  Acting like I didn’t care, pretending I didn’t hear it– but the worst part was I believed it.  And those judgements and views of others molded my perception of me.  When I do speeches I talk more on this, but for here, and the world wide web, these are things I share face to face.  Simply said, each of us are beautiful.  Each made by a creator, God.  And as the saying goes, ‘God makes no junk.’ It is we who pollute the beauty, by the perceptions we adopt.  The great thing about perceptions is they can be changed.

Besides my family, the thing I am most proud of, is learning to root out those destructive, negative and demoralizing statements, from my own soul.  As I got better at this, I was able to see beauty in others and in myself.  How could I ever work with a client and mock her behind her back or to her face?  It may make me unique in the world of image consultants that I do really see each of us as beautiful, before the experts descend.  It may make me different, but I would rather stand alone than with the criticizing crowd.  To criticize others is easy.

For the last nine years, my philosophy has worked effectively in my profession.  If I could make more money mocking, then that is the day that I would agree with my son, it would be “stupid makeup”.   My favorite client is the woman who says, “No, I am not worth it.” or “I don’t have time to take on me…”  I smile, because seeing the beauty which is already in her, is very simple.  We just have to start– not changing everything about how we look, makeup, hair, clothes, body language.  Start with changing your mind. Great thing about that is it’s free.  The other stuff is just on the outside.

We will work with both sides, starting with makeup.  Then, if you want, we go to clothes.  My goal? For your self perception to be clarified.  We see that mocking ourselves,  and others (while so easy to do) is really limiting our potential.  I have so much I could say about this,  I could write a book and someday I might on this topic, but really I just want you to know when you set an appointment with me either locally, face to face, or over the phone, and with the aid of technology, that you are with a friend– who wants you to see, I get it.  I get the hurt.  I get the negative self talk, how that feels safe, but what good is it?  I can tell you, it can change.  No makeup, clothing change or all your gathered friends telling you how great you look will change that, until you decide to make that first step out of your self destructive comfort zone.  It can all change.  Without being ambushed.  You have to decide, no one can force that.

Quality Time

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Love language number 2 is

Quality Time

Giving Quality time to ourselves is maybe the most difficult task we have. With so many responsibilities to our families, jobs, homes, and all the other engagements we take upon ourselves, there is not much time left for us. It is so important to take the time out needed to spend with yourself and doing something just for you. This could even mean spending time with someone you love, even someone that is not your spouse. Girlfriends are so important in our lives – even if there is just one that really makes us feel good about ourself. Quality is different than just being together. When we spend quality time we are engaged in conversation without letting distractions in. A good way for this to happen is to actually leave your house. Take your chosen friend and go to a favorite lunch or coffee spot. Even sitting at a park in nature can be calming and produce a deeper conversation where you are truly able to let go. Dr. Chapman would call this togetherness with quality conversation, but in the book he is relating it to you giving your spouse or significant other that love. I’m suggesting that you do this for you especially if this is how you feel love.

Quality activities is another way we feel love through quality time. Finding an activity that you  love doing just for you and creating the time to do it and you will be loving on yourself. Anything you have interest in is also game here. Although, starting  new hobby or activity can be frustrating, so maybe for the first little bit of giving yourself love through quality time you should just stick with something you know you love. Is it running, scrapbooking, photography, yoga. . . You know more than anyone what you love to do. Allowing yourself the time to do it, without feeling guilty, fills your love bank for yourself. If it has been a while since you’ve spent quality time with yourself, it might be helpful to start with a list of activities you think you would enjoy. When you’ve set the time up, just try one until you find the one you most enjoy and give it some focus. Maybe in the process you will feel more than love, you will gain a better sense of accomplishment. Give yourself time and those you love will benefit as well.

Words of Affirmation

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I’ve decided to post a weekly blog about a book I’ve recently finished since it has a list attached to it that is easily broken up – the information contained in it is also useful. It is called “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman. As the title states, there are five primary languages and each of us feels love more by one of them. When we communicate to others in the way that he/she hears or feels loved most we can be more effective at showing how much we love him/her. I highly recommend reading the book as it can be applied to not only our marital or committed relationships but is also useful for every relationship we care about, like the ones with our friends and the one would should care most about but is usually the most neglected – ourselves. We need to nurture and care for ourselves in order to take care of those we love. The posts here will not go into detail of what each love language contains in its entirety, but it will be more about how it relates to beauty and how we can give more love to ourselves.

So, the first on the list is

Words of Affirmation

If you are reading this and have already had a makeover with Leta you will be quite familiar with what it means. Sending yourself positive thoughts, saying positive things to yourself and even writing the positive words down will eventually help you feel more love for yourself. Words of affirmation can be as simple as pointing our that you really like the shoes you are wearing today. Yeah, maybe they are your favorites an you wear them a lot, but sometimes when we haven’t been nice to ourselves in a long time starting with something so simple can be a break through to more powerful affirmations. Dr. Chapman would call these verbal compliments.

Another way to express words of affirmation is through encouraging words. Especially useful when building up confidence to do something new or something that may be challenging or frightening to us. For example, say you’ve always had the desire to learn to play the piano but were never given the opportunity to take lessons growing up. Encouraging yourself to venture out and try this new possible hidden talent can build your confidence to actually do it and hopefully build  your love for yourself in the process as well. “Most of us have more potential than we will ever develop. What holds us back is often courage.”

Kind words are spoken by us to those we love, but not often enough to ourselves. By speaking kindly to ourselves we are demonstrating that we care about ourselves. In turn, we can give more loving care to others.

Finally, humble words are a demonstration of affirming words. “Love make requests, not demands,” Dr. Chapman states in the first line of this section in the book. As women we are often so demanding on ourselves it can wear us down and start to feed the negativity residing within. However, by letting go of some of the demands we put on ourselves and just request that we do the best we can, again we are giving ourselves love.

Friendly Beauty

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Sitting around a table of beautiful women, celebrating a friends milestone thirtieth birthday, I thought “how amazing to have this many wonderful women in my life.” Our girlfriends add so much to our individual beauty – give us security, compliments, and support. Many are there for us in times of insecurity, when we just can’t find the positive reinforcement needed to move past the negative thoughts. Even better, sharing moments of joy and happiness, making them even sweeter. Sharing in each others joy builds our own joy immensely.

Treating ourselves to nights filled with girlfriends adds perspective to the daily trials we each go through. Although each woman has a different trial at any given moment, listening and sharing with each others trials may lighten our load considerably. Creating a balance between responsibility and leisure, gives us a break and reboots, often much needed, positivity. Filling up on these positive moments is so energizing anything afterwards seems possible. On the same point, letting go of the negativity that can be brought to these evenings is freeing. Handling everyday life gets easier each time we just live in the moment with our beautiful girlfriends.

Strike Gold

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Isn’t it great when something pops into your head and you feel like you have struck gold? A quick review of a couple of the previous posts did that for me, the woman trying to be a voice for Glamour Connection. As Leta has written the two posts I speak of, this all makes sense. Simplify – the reoccurring theme that I’m speaking of – we hear it a lot these days but how often is it really absorbed In contrast, as I research topics I am finding more and more high fashion or trendy pieces out there and have thought “We (Glamour Connection) are just not like this. We have an uncomplicated eye for beauty.” And then, ah-ha. We are different. At Glamour Connection we are really interested in timeless, classic beauty. Yes, we want to stay current with what is trendy out there, but it will always be put back together classically. Simplify, simplicity, simple. Beauty can be simple and Glamour Connection is about making it such. We want every woman to feel beautiful and just by enhancing what you already have we are keeping it simple.

When Leta does each makeover she isn’t trying to make the woman feel like she needs a whole new look to be beautiful. That just wouldn’t be practical. Same idea for a wardrobe consultation – you will not need to go buy a completely new wardrobe to freshen up or even update your look. She finds the best pieces that are already in your closet and customizes what is best for your particular body type. What works for your body type will not work for every body type. In addition, the things that are already in your closet speak volumes about what style you are seeking. Women know what is comfortable for them and Leta just gives information for a beauty routine and style that is practical and shows the individual woman how to make the most of what she already has.

Why Women Wear Lipstick

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As our month long blogging on lipstick comes to a close (no this won’t be the last time you hear us talk about lipstick,) the question “why do women wear lipstick?” is forefront. Makeup, specifically lipstick, is seen by some as uneccessary and put on simply to attract and hold the interest of men. While this is not true, well not entirely true, there must be a reason behind the lipstick and other makeup we put on. In fact, there is. We like it. It makes us feel pretty and fun, mysterious and sexy. Maybe the truth really is that as girls we loved messing around our mothers makeup drawers and begged her to put even just a small dab of her lipstick on us for the day or at least until we had to leave the house. Many of us have this experience with our daughters. From very young ages – even as early as 15 months – children are fascinated by our makeup. Wearing lipstick as adults channels us back to those simpler days when all that mattered was having the stuff on our lips no matter how well it was applied, if it matched perfectly with what we were wearing or what would the other girls would think of it.

We continually look for new products, colors and application techniques to improve our look. As unique as each of us are, lipstick can be just as unique for us. It lets us say what we want about ourselves – be it confidence, sexiness, security, or even that maybe that’s all we had time to do and it makes us feel more put-together. For all you women reading this who don’t wear lipstick, we lipstick wearers might understand your perspective as well-you’re just not into it. To which we say – good, more for us. Not really. Honestly, to each his own. Women should just do what makes them feel beautiful and not follow along because that’s what society tells us we should do.

Finally, I’d like to answer the question with a question. Why not wear lipstick?

Classic Beauty – 2010 Golden Globe Awards Edition

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After any award show every celebrity television program, website and magazine gives its own perspective on best and worsts. For Glamour Connection, an emphasis on the good keeps a positive outlook on beauty. Here are a few of the highlights.

Drew Barrymore

A complete beauty, Drew Berrymore’s makeup is flawlessly simple, yet very glamourous. With the pop of a pink, berry colored lipstick, she is stunning.

Emily Blunt

Emily Blunt looks amazingly happy with new fiance John Krasinski. She brought out the pink in her dress by actually wearing lavender eyeshadow. Shading her lips slightly darker really brings her look together.

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman is such a classic beauty. Although her makeup is very basic, staying within the mostly nude shades, she highlights her eyes with dark eyeliner without overdoing it – necessitating a darker lip color.

Beauty's Ancestors

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By Leta Greene

Science says that when we were Neanderthals, we females selected one from the sweaty, grungy males, to share our cozy cave, by who brought home the most meat.  Cavemen picked the slightly less hairy, softer-sex version and  liked  wider hips for birthing little ones to fill the cave. They, and men through the ages, have liked  fat lips.  Lips! Wait! What? Why?

Fuller lips are a sign of youth. So today, a whole school of thought says, “Fuller lips equate sexy, and thinner lips are a sign of intelligence.”  I agree completely. As we age, we loose some of our lip’s natural collagen. Not only do our lips get smaller, but our pigment line also recedes.  So, at 36,  I am almost in the middle, a little sexy but also more intelligent. In my youth, I had a flatter tummy, I spent much more time on my hair and I wondered how what I was wearing would appeal to my friends or a boy? Now I see myself in a much kinder light,even though the perfection of youth is fading.

As the years pass, I feel that I am more beautiful. Additionally, I think my husband, when looking at the total package of who I am now,  would agree, I am more attractive and beautiful, despite my physical weaknesses. My lips may be a little thinner and as I draw on my lips, I don’t worry about how my outfit will be received but rather, I think about my son. As I send him off to school,  I hope he will do his best and be well received.

As I put on my makeup, I cover scars and I am aware of others that are not seen. All of them represent an experience –alife lesson. Although I am not perfect, I wouldn’t take away the things that age me, that have given me wisdom. The ideal beauty of our predecessors has altered and changed as well as what was thought to be stylish. I may not be the ideal, and that is good!

Yet, I can be my best. The scar on my face, from the bike accident of my youth, I get to cover up. The lips are  a combination of colors  to accentuate the shape. And concealer, after some necessary tears, is a good thing to have. We can bring out our best, minimize our imperfections and embrace the adventure of living. For all I do with makeup,  it is my job. But the biggest effort at the start of the day is not on my appearance, but rather on my heart and soul so as to be able to embrace those with whom I share my life.