Beauty Maintenance vs. Beauty Development
A couple days ago I really wanted to treat myself to a wonderful day of relaxation and renewal, with my biggest intention being to come out looking and feeling my most beautiful. I’m turing 32 in a coupel days, and I’m beginning to connect more to feeling like a woman. I like my life to reflect the newfound sophistication of my thirties. I started at the carwash, took a brisk walk across the street for a manicure and pedicure complete with neck massage, and ended at home by doing a home spa treatment on my hair, followed by some pretty extensive hair straightening techniques.
Well, the end result was, I felt fabulous! I smiled at my newly washed black car, sparkling in the sun as the flagboy waved me over to hop in. I drove away admiring my ruby red nails on the steering wheel. Once home, I kicked my feet up and put the deep conditioner in my hair to work its magic. Total damage: $68. Not bad for a suburban feel good day.
Just one day later, however, the hard won results of my beauty routine were soured by some unexpected circumstances. Late for a ten a.m. meeting, I crammed my toes into a pair of scrumptuous gold heels and chipped the paint on six or seven of them. When I parked my car in the restaurant parking lot, I ended up under a telephone line that must have been frequented by every seagull in town. My black car was completely splattered from bonnet to boot with white bird crap. The day finished with a rainstorm, which, since I had no umbrella, kinked my hair into a frizz usually only seen on young kittens and moldy pizza.
Translate that as $68 dollars down the drain.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to waste a penny of my hard earned income, and this sent me spiraling into contempletive self-pity.
I quickly emerged with the realization that what I had done was spend money on beauty maintenance instead of beauty development. I had not invested in my beauty one cent.
Beauty development is where its at. And I don’t mean botox and boob jobs. Beauty development is a new niche with the understanding that a woman can do things that literally invest in her beauty and her health that are not affected by things like bird droppings and inclement weather.
For example, I could have gone to my favorite local spa on the westside of Los Angeles (www.exhalespa.com) for $40, and invested my time and my energy in soaking in hot pools, lounging on fluffy cushions, and drinking anitoxidant green tea. I feel beautiful all week after spending my time that way. I glow from deep within. People comment on my beauty even days later.
Being a beauty expert has a whole new meaning in this light. My beauty is real beauty. So is yours. Beauty is cultivated and developed from the inside out.
Let me put it this way, if beauty was your house, beauty maintenance on your home is trimming your hedges and putting a fresh coat of paint on the trim. Beauty development, however, is creating a lasting memory with your family like reading a memorable story with your children by the fireside. That moment has made an investment in the love, connection, and happiness you feel together as a family.
Likewise, when we develop our beauty, we begin to shine with light from the inside out that is not affected by the clothes we are wearing, or a good hair day or a bad hair day.
In my book, The Beauty Promise (www.TheBeautyPromise.com), In chapter one, I talk about how practicing yoga creates a glow around women that is seen in their eyes and their hair and skin. A daily yoga practice decreases stress, takes years off of aging, and gives you an overall sense of well-being that cannot be gotten with beauty mainatainence.
Your beauty prescription for today:
Try taking a yoga class three times a week for a month. I recommend yoga that flows, also called vinyasa yoga, where you do sun salutations. (For more information reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga )
Beauty be with you.
Kaia
Tags: Beauty, botox, conditioner, feminine, glow, hair, nails, secrets, spa, tips, treatment, yoga
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