Model Co. and Kusco Murphy top Fahsiontribes list of Beauty Must-haves-Check out the stuff we love for your face, skin and hair-Fashiontribes blog & podcast
The nature of our job is that we feel a need to review almost every beauty product on the market. My bathroom counter looks like Sephora exploded- from about 80 fragrances to tons of eye shadows, mascaras, blushes, and nail polishes, I like to have at least 20 of each product (or so it seems) on hand to be certain I will always have the right thing. Because we are EXTREMELY LUCKY, we get stuff sent to the office to test-which allows us to pass onto you our most favorite of favorite products.
MODEL CO.-The creation of former model agent Shelley Barrett, how could you not trust a line with fans like Kylie Minogue, Kate Moss, Nicole Kidman, Helena Christensen and Eva Herizgova. With a job as an agent, Barrett got to hear tons of wish-lists- all for products that were not on the market. With the creation of Model Co., she made those products available. A cult favorite in Australia, it has finally hit the U.S.. The Lipglass is a perfect, shiny and just-sticky enough gloss in the coolest flavours ever (think lychee). Wonderfull Lip Plumper comes either tinted (we love hot chocolate) or not. The brief Cinnamon-on-the-lips sensation fills out your pout to perfection. My favorite face product has to be their Heat Caps, which are a fabulous and quick working mask that heats up and leaves your face feeling totally rejuvenated. Because I love the softness of Tiara, I can't function without it-I pull my hair of my face for mask, make-up, tanning and face wash. I am in LOVE LOVE L-O-V-E with the Makeup Travel Bag which is a collaboration with cult status fashion designers Zimmermann. The pink and white prints-with palm-tree-esque designs are amazing. I especially love the largest size, which seems to fit absolutely everything you could need forever.
KUSCO-MURPHY -Another Australian import, Kusco-Murphy is the very top (in my book) of hair products. With tons of natural ingredients, their products are really amazing to smell, and work like a charm. I find Beach Hair to be the best of beach-y products. The fact that it actually has a sandy texture makes it really feel like you are putting salt water into your mane- but with an awesome coconut scent. Rockster Hair gives you just that-the hair of your Chrissie Hyndes dreams. Bedroom Hair makes you channel every fabulous Barbarella-esque star ever. With just enough oomph to make your do tousled and big, it is totally fabulous. Hair Creme with Lavender is so amazing smelling, it is addictive. It provides just enough hold to make any style work. I love it, because it makes my hair feel extra soft. For the ultimate in date hair, Tart Hair does the trick. It gives you the perfect tousle-tres chic
MASON PEARSON-I always thought an expensive brush was a ridiculous expenditure of my monetary funds. Then I converted. Mason Pearson brushes have a life of forever. The rubber and nylon bristle combo works miracles for tangled hair. The best thing is, they come in tons of styles-the Military has no handle, the Small is ideal for a purse, the Regular is bathroom worthy (and available in pink!) and the Comb is perfect post-shower.
TARTE-Rarely do I become enamored with an entire product line. Tarte-designed so women could actually reproduce cosmetic store beauty assistant ambushes at home-has everything I need to feel all prettied up. With new items-Eyeliner and Clean Slate Primer- and classics- Cheekstain, Eyeshadow, and Glistening Powder-- Tarte covers all your bases. I like their eyeliner-it's super smooth- in waterlilies or starry night. The cheekstain, which is a push-up, so it lasts forever and is easy to put on anywhere- is in a bunch of great colours (I love Tipsy). The plum tinged West Egg eyeshadow seems to never crease on me, and the glistening powder does the dewy thing seamlessly.
Eyeliner in Starry Night (black) or Waterlilies (charcoal)
Eyeshadow West Egg (plum) or Whiskey A Go-Go (peach) 
Clean Slate Primer 
Cheekstain in Tipsy 
Glistening Powder
TINTe- You have to have the lip colour covered. I think my addiction to Tinte stems from their amazing variety of flavours. Their Lip Shine does just that- makes slick, shiny pouts. I love all the flavours-the scents make them like a grown up Bonne Bell Lip Smacker. I am addicted to the Lip Colour in Root Beer. I can't bear to be without it- and I end up applying about 75,000 times daily.
...and because the most important thing to put on your face is mascara (if you have time or patience for nothing else, use it!) my fav is:
-Rachel
August 7, 2005 in Beauty, PODCAST, WEEKLY BEAUTY BEAT PODCAST, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Fall's Hot Beauty Trends: Interview with NewYorkBeauty.com's Carolyn Brundage About the Ladylike Trend - Red Lips, Flushed Cheek, Matte; Blunders like Frizzy Hair; Fave Products & Treatments; Her Fab Beauty Websites - FASHIONTRIBES BEAUTY PODCAST & BLOG
Forget the tea leaves. In this case, the Barbie makeup head was definitely a sign of things to come.
“I spent my entire childhood with one of those…if that wasn’t predicting the future, I don’t know what was. I took the hobby that we all had – trying on makeup and playing with lotion – to the next level,” explains Carolyn Brundage about her personal obsession which she successfully parlayed into a profession.
A self professed “beauty connoisseur and consumer expert,” Brundage pens weekly columns for The Chicago Sun Times and The St. Petersberg Times, and owns a string of wildly successful beauty websites – TampaBayBeauty.com, ChicagoBeauty.com and now NewYorkBeauty.com – which are visited (and trusted) by millions of women each year. For everything on the best new spas and salons (yes, they actually visit each & every one of them), to where to get a Brazilian wax, what it’s like to get Botox, the season’s must-haves, trend lists, and a helpful weekly newsletter, NewYorkBeauty.com has the goods. “I think when it comes to beauty, everyone needs something different. We go in there, we tell you what it looks like. Whether you want to go to a spa where everyone’s frou frou and you have to get dressed up to go there or you’re the type of person who wants a laid back spa where you can walk in in your sweats – we’ll tell you that that’s the kind of spa this place is. We really give people an inside scoop.”
WIN SOME FREE STUFF
They also traffic in free-stuff – which we here at Fashiontribes are all about! Not only do they give away $10,000 worth of beauty loot monthly, each month 50 lucky readers also win a visit to a spa to be pampered from head-to-toe, plied with martinis, massaged, and sent off with goodie bags worth hundreds of dollars – all free of charge. (Simply click on the pink-clad martini-quaffing “Spa Girl Parties” icon to enter the lottery.) “When we first launched ChicagoBeauty, we invited all these fellow journalists and media members to come to the spa and get complimentary treatments, and be treated like celebrities – in an attempt to launch our site. And that went great,” explains Brundage. “But afterward, I thought to myself: why should only the press or only the people that we’re trying to impress be treated this way? They’re so much fun, and we literally treat people like they’re royalty. Everyone has such a great time.”
THE HOT BEAUTY TRENDS ACCORDING TO CAROLYN BRUNDAGE:
ACT LIKE A LADY “Beauty always mimics fashion. We’re seeing a lot less skin, so we’re also seeing that trend in makeup. For Fall, the ladylike trend is really continuing. We’re getting away from glitz, we’re getting away from sparkle. We’re getting more subdued and sophisticated.” (Louis Vuitton from Style.com)
HAVE IT YOUR WAY From lipsticks to eyeshadows, girls are customizing their makeup. “I think a really big, burgeoning trend in beauty is custom mixing, where even the average girl is taking shades and really mixing them together to really find out what’s best for them from lipsticks to eyeshadows…I like to think that we’re starting to see the beginning of a trend, where the trends are going to stop being dictated totally by the Britney Spears of the world. I would say that we’re starting to get our own sense of individuality and some confidence that we don’t need to be dictated to by pop stars and actresses which I think is really great because I’ve gotten really tired of whatever this person wears is the next big trend. It’s not even always good.”
THE EYELASHES HAVE IT From a natural daytime look to over-the-top drama, girls from all walks of life are beefing up their lashes. “I’m surprised that the eyelash trend has gotten as big as it has. People are really enhancing their eyelashes and applying false eyelashes even for a night on the town.” And with good reason – well applied lashes make eyes ginormous. “Celebrities all look like their eyes are so big. It’s because they’ve got these fake eyelashes on.” 
STRAIGHTEN OUT Thermal reconditioning, aka Japanese straightening, shows no signs of slowing down, despite its relatively steep pricetag of around $1000 and up. “What surprises me more than anything is that we really will stop at nothing to feel good about the way we look.” 
GLOSS MANIA "A few years ago, I would never have guessed that lip gloss was going to become what it was, and I love gloss now. I think that trend is kind of beginning to die down. Again, the thing that’s important to me is: Does it work for you or not?" 
A FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH “I love what’s happening with skincare because I think that we’re getting away from an era where we see women in their 50s and 60s who have kind of – not been forced – but had no choice other than to have a facelift if they wanted to look younger. And I think what’s nice is that we’ve got so many options that you can start young taking care of your skin, doing things for the way you look, and hope to age gracefully in a way that maybe our mothers wished that they could have because they didn’t have all the advances that we have.”
YOUR FALL BEAUTY BLUEPRINT:
That bronze-y J.Lo glow is now “a look gone by.” Fall’s face is matte, with a rosy pink or reddish cheek. “And what’s really nice about that is it’s very flattering,” explains Brundage. “If you’re in your thirties and you’re worried about looking younger, it makes you look younger. If you’re young you can pull it off.” The key to making this look work is choosing the right shade of blush. (Photo M.A.C. Cosmetics at MacCosmetics.com)
MATTE SKIN & FLUSHED CHEEKS
RED LIPS A femme-fatale’ish pout is surprisingly easy as long as you follow get the shade right and follow these three rules: 1) Wear lipliner. 2) Wear lipliner. 3) Wear lipliner. Either use one that matches the color exactly or go for an invisible liner DuWop makes a great one - BeautyHabit.com). Brundage's secret for long-lasting lipstick? Dab a little eyeshadow on top of your lipstick – a gold or bronze if you’re warm toned; silver if your complexion is cool. Not only will your lipstick have some majoy staying power, it adds a sexy, pouty look.
BIG LASHES With the new focus on lips, tone down the eyes. Black mascara, big lashes and a natural shadow are all you need.
DARK NAILS As part of the ladylike trend, dark nails are back. However….(there’s always a however!) Brundage warns that this trend isn’t for everyone. Unless you have “a certain kind of hand and nails” dark polish can actually be quite unflattering.
DO IT LIKE A PRO: CAROLYN’S FAVE BEAUTY PRODUCTS & TREATMENTS:
DUWOP LIP VENOM “ I love-love-love-love DuWop’s Lip Venom. It’s amazing. DuWop is one of those products where a lot of people I talk to are like, ‘I love it! It’s fabulous! It’s wonderful!’ I think it’s great. “
LANCOME LIGHT DIFFUSING POWDER “It does wonders for the imperfections that we all have.”
MICRODERMABRASION “In terms of treatments, I’m a big, huge fan of microdermabrasion. I think it’s amazing, it’s amazing for skin. It’s one of my favorite treatments.” 
FIRE-CUPPING It's what gave Gwyneth that bruised back. The practitioner uses cups and heat to (somewhat painfully) pull toxins out of the system. “I’ve been really impressed with the results. I saw a reduction in the dark circles under my eyes, which can be hereditary, but can also be from a build-up of toxins. But I saw and immediate and significant difference and that was something that really impressed me.” (Based on the sheer number of inquiries she gets at her websites, Brundage estimates that up to 9 out of 10 women struggle to some degree with dark circles under their eyes.)
COLOR ME BEAUTIFUL: HOW TO PICK HUES THAT FLATTER
GET HELP We beauty junkies like to think we’re experts, but with the sheer amount of product out there, sometimes you need to throw in the towel and bring in some backup. “There’s so much help out there when it comes to makeup – we’ve got makeup counters we can go to, we’ve got people that are constantly willing to give us help – but I think we shy away from that. We don’t want to say, “hey, I need help finding the right red.” Or, “I’m not really sure how to do my eyes,” and eyes tend to be a huge problem for people. First of all, go get the help that you can get that’s free at any major department store. There’s no shame in that. Try things on.” REMEMBER: Beauty websites like BeautyHabit.com or Sephora are great for stocking up on that perfect shade of red lipstick, but not to pick it out initally.
TRENDS THAT NEED TO GO AWAY
ICE THE FROST "I’d like to see the end of the frosty trend. I think frost, as a rule, should be avoided. So if you’ve got a frosty pink gloss or a frosty nail polish – not that there’s not an exception to the rule once in a while – but in general they aren’t flattering and they’re kind of dated looking to me. I don’t think it’s modern."
FRUMPY FRIZZIES Girls always want what they haven’t got, especially when it comes to hair. Brundage has noticed a trend of girls spending hours in the chair to achieve towering, frizzy tresses. “It’s a surprising trend that I’m not wild about.”
ROLLERS?! “I got a phone call not too long ago from a New York paper wanting me to comment on the trend of people wearing rollers in their hair. And I was like, ‘are you kidding?!’ They told me Reese Witherspoon was recently pictured with rollers in her hair, and I said, ‘I’m sorry, I just can’t go there.’” Smart woman. 
DARK LIPLINER “I wrote a column recently on the biggest beauty blunders and one of them was girls who wear dark, dark lipliner,” remarks Brundage. “Or, girls that draw in these really overdone lips where we all know that those are not their real lips.” Yikes.
THE REAL SECRET TO BEING FABULOUS
Having witnessed one too many beauty blunders, Brundage has observed that the truly chic and stunningly stylish woman understand something crucial: they only embrace trends that actually work for them. “What differentiates the “stylish” from the people who just try and never really succeed,” explains Brundage, “is that you want to embrace what works for you. So take a trend if you see a trend, and let’s say it’s dark nail polish, let’s say it’s red lips, whatever it is, if it doesn’t work for you, it’s not a good trend for you to embrace. Wait until the next season when something that will suit you better appears. You always kind of want to pick and choose based on what works for you. The most important thing is that you never want to embrace any kind of a trend that isn’t making you look fabulous – that isn’t embracing you back.”
July 31, 2005 in Beauty, PODCAST, WEEKLY BEAUTY BEAT PODCAST, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Surf Babe Beauty w/The Right Products & Props - Airbrush Tan in a Can; Coconut Perfume; Beach-y Hair; Bronzo Sensuales Sunscreen; Evolution Surf Skincare; Surf Diva Board; Surf Music & Of Course Gidget & Endless Summer. WEEKLY FASHIONTRIBES BEAUTY PODCAST
Summer brings to mind surfing & beach babes. Even if you can't make it to Hawaii, Oz or Bali, you can still bring the beach babe vibe home with the right beauty products - and of course - a few select props & wardrobe to set the scene.
LEARN FROM THE ORIGINAL SURF BABE Undoubtedly, Gidget is the protype surfer beach babe. Starring Sandra Dee, this 1959 classic tells the tale of a teen girl who starts hanging with a posse of Malibu surfers & is nicknamed Gidget (from Girl Midget). Cliff Robertson sulks and broods as over-the-hill surf bum Kahuna. 
CATCH THE MOOD Christened by MagicSurfBus.com as "the film that launched a thousand surfaris", The Endless Summer is responsible for putting surf on the pop culture map. "Footage of distant deserted coastlines and waves lining up to be ridden captured the imagination of surfers everywhere, and still does." Pick up both at their Surf Shop. 
GET A TAN, STAN Beach babedom is synonymous with acres of luscious bronzed skin. Get glowing quickly with Model Co.'s Tan Airbrush in a Can. It sprays on as a fine mist leaving you with a smooth, natural looking glow - without the giveaway stained hands or uneven coverage. Tan Tip: They recommend you self-tan within 30 minutes of showering so your skin is at its best to react to the active ingredients. Also, moisturize your ankles, tops of the feet, knees and elbows - problem areas that tend to absorb more than their weight in self tanner. Sephora.com
ALWAYS EXFOLIATE FIRST! The key secret to making your self tanning experience more about the tan & less about weird & misplaced streaks is by exfoliating. The self-heating Hot Salt Scrub from Bliss - with 70% Dead sea salts - warms as you rub to improve absorption. NeimanMarcus.comSMELL DIVINE Nothing conjurs up visions of sun-drenched beaches faster than the yummy aroma of coconut. Escential's Coconut Perfume Oil, which is also available in a handy roller bottle, can be added to one of their moisturizers, bubble baths, body washes or shampoos. Or add a bit to all of them - the secret to fragrance that lasts is layers of scent. Escential.net
BEACHY KEEN HAIR That carefree, tousled beach 'do - simply irresistable. Even if you're nowhere near the sea, reach for the Beach Hair from Kusco-Murphy (and if you don't have a jar on hand, please rectify this contemptible omission in your beauty arsenal immediately!) This cult classic contains crushed bamboo for texture and, of course, coconut oil for a day at the beach in a jar. BigelowChemists.com 
DON'T GIVE ME NO LIP Protect your pout from the brutal rays. Summer's no time for goopy glosses, and many of the ones aimed at women are too, well, goopy. There's something about summer that makes me crave the scent of men's grooming products (& the male they're attached to). Try the manly Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm SPF 24 EGentlemen.com
SUNSCREEN ME, BABY Ignorance is bliss - remember those carefree days of slathering on baby oil & laying out for hours? Ahhh. I agree, most sunscreens are nothing short of nasty, but the carrot-based (and PETA approved) Bronzo Sensuales line of all-natural lotions and balms is a great way to get your daily dose of SPF 30, without a bunch of unpronounceable additives. HerbalHealer.com
APRES SURF Evolution Surf's high tech line of organic skincare is designed "to teach you how to live in your sun kissed skin from the South Pacific Islands to the Rocky Mountains." Super pricey, but they promise immediate results. EvolutionSurf.com 
DRESS CODE No respectable surfer babe hits the beach sans proper attire. Show 'em how to stuff a wild bikini in this tiger print number from Michael Kors. Meow. Vivre.com
HIT THE WATER Designed especially for chicks, SurfDiva.com's surfboards are custom made to order in a endless variety of shapes, sizes and colors to accommodate your every mood and match all of your bathingsuits. 
DRINK UP Get in the mood with a Red Surf from In-the-Spirit.co.uk. 1 shot of Stoli Red Vodka, 1/2 shot of Noilly Prat Sweet, 1 Orange, 1 dash of Lime Juice & 1 teaspoon of Grenadine. Juice the orange & pour everything into a cocktail shaker. Shake, strain, garnish - a slice of orange perhaps & definitely a maraschino cherry - & bottoms up.
SURFIN' SAFARI Get the vibe right with a fun surf CD, surf band or even internet surf radio. By the time you work your way through this comprehensive resource, the surf'll be out again. Surfmusic.com (Learn more about the incomparable surf-music legend Dick Dale at http://www.reverbcentral.com/books/mcparland/dick_dale.html)
July 19, 2005 in Beauty, Music [1], PODCAST, WEEKLY BEAUTY BEAT PODCAST | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
FASHIONTRIBES FILES-BEAUTY BEAT-CHECK OUT FASHIONTRIBES JULY BEAUTY-FROM REN'S NATURAL SKINCARE TO THREE CUSTOM COLOR'S LOYALTY INSPIRING PRODUCTS, TO PUBLIC AND ARENA SALON-WITH A DASH OF WORRY FREE TRAVEL PRODUCTS IN THE MIX FOR GOOD MEASURE-PODCAST
Summer's brutal heat makes the beauty process slightly challenging. Lucky for you, Fashiontribes has summed up all the summer beauty necessary to make a happy girl. Check out our July issue for the solution to all your beauty woes.
In Afro Love, get the lowdown on product loyalty with COOL CUSTOM COLOR-From Replicating Discontinued Makeup Faves to Whipping Up Something Brand New-To Your Specifications Of Course-Three Custom Color Knows a Thing or Two About Loyalty. Our resident beauty guru, Sandra Ramani,
interviewed 3 Custom Color's own Trae Bodge. Trae gives us all the info you could possible desire about making sure you get what you want out of your products. Founded in 1997 by Bodge and her longtime friends Scott Catto and Chad Hayduck, 3 Custom will build to suit. From creating your own signature shade to replicating an old favorite no longer on the market, they do it all. In NY? Stop in for a custom color consultation. Check out the article for a few of Trae's favorite things, the lowdown on how to pick the right color for your skin, and the philosophy and background of Three Custom Color.
Itchin' for genius summer hair? Looking for a new do? Check out Downtown Doll's Beauty feature-GREET YOUR PUBLIC-Want a Phenomenal Haircut Without Breaking the Bank? Meander On Over To The Friendly Folks at Williamsburg's Public. Public, Fashiontribes own House Of Beauty, has a great philosophy for a salon-that is, "For The People, By The People". If you want hoity toity shenanigans, stay far away. The Stylists are totally fun and easy going, and you don't have to be embarrassed about your hair desires. Saunter in, enjoy a beer or a smoke, and enjoy the Living Room atmosphere owner James Morelos has set up, all while improving your do!
Looking for a little less chemical skincare action? Fancy Flirt features BEAUTY AU NATURAL-For the Answer to the Harsh Chemical Woes of your Skin, Meet Ren. Founded by friends, add exec gurus extraordinaire, and British gentlemen Antony Buck and Robert Calcraft, Ren was nearly a chocolate factory or an Organic Chicken Sandwich Shoppe. Thank the Lord for hormones-Buck's preggers wife was having terrible reactions to most beauty products. Providing a solution to the blend of quality in La Prarie and the benefits of more natural choices, Ren was born. Made of 97 percent natural ingredients, it's no wonder Kate Moss, Donatella Versace and Jude Law are fans.
Globetrotting the summer away? Global Chic will provide you with the solution to all your beauty dilemmas in PREVENT TRAVEL UNRAVEL-The Hottest New Goof-Proof Beauty Must-Haves&Something Pretty To Cart It All Around. We have done all the legwork in finding the creme of the crop for you to travel with. Looking for skincare? Be sure to pack an SPF, and heck out new on-the-plane saviors from Fresh and Prada. Hair feeling down and out? Lighten up for summer-let it dry naturally, preventing additional heat damage. Need convenient color? Prada and Tarte offer easy, portable solutions.
Not exactly a traditionalist? Check out Rock Punk's feature PLAYING THE HAIR GAME-At NYC's Downtown Arena Salon, the Treatments are Definitely not out of the Traditional Hair Playbook. If piece-y, fun, choppy hair is your want, Arena's Rena Anastasi and her staff are your go to guys. Specializing in friendliness and a penchant for doing anything-even the crazy, Arena does the L.E.S. justice. Going grey? They can help make the transition easier with their advanced silver technique.
Here's To Beauty Bliss!
-Blogette Rachel
July 5, 2005 in Beauty, Fashion Felonies, Fashiontribes Files, PODCAST, WEEKLY BEAUTY BEAT PODCAST | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Gabriel Cousens In-Depth Interview: Eating Live Raw Food, Taking The Right Minerals & Fasting Will Make You Beautiful in Body, Mind & Soul Explains the Director of the Tree of Life and Author of "Spiritual Nutrition" - WEEKLY FASHIONTRIBES BEAUTY PODCAST
Inner beauty = Outer Beauty. That’s what your mother always told you, and you know what? She was right. (Damn!) Researchers have found that getting correctly nourished will not only help your spiritual progress, but make you look fine as you literally turn back the clock on your appearance.
In Spiritual Nutrition: Six Foundations for Spiritual Life and the Awakening of Kundalini (North Atlantic Books), Gabriel Cousens, M.D. – a healer, a medical doctor & director of the Tree of Life Healing Center & retreat in Arizona www.treeoflife.nu – has laid out a fairly foolproof plan for beautification of your bod…and your soul. “It’s truly about how to activate all your spiritual energies which are going to activate the inner radiance, which will bring out the outer radiance.”
EMOTIONAL EATING
A primary ingredient in the looking-good equation is weight – when you feel “thin” you feel good. Yet, 80 million Americans & millions more worldwide are overweight. Why? According to Cousens, one of the main reasons so many of us overindulge is because of emotions. Depressed? Break out the junk food. Happy? Go out to eat & celebrate! Angry. Get revenge by snarfing a Snickers. Got dumped and want to avoid getting your heart broken again? Gain tons of weight and forgo any brushes with intimacy altogether. “Food is a way of being self destructive in many ways. It used in many ways.”
Cousens sees countless examples of eating disorders at the Tree of Life, and the underlying emotions typically fall into these two categories:
• Depression
• False Body Image: typically with women feeling like they need to be thin – model thin – for someone to love them. “Women have the ability to be the rainbow radiance, and that’s what attracts a man. If they understand that it has nothing to do with how thin you are, it has to do with the kind of radiance and light that you’re transmitting – that’s what really attracts people. It’s that feminine essence that lights up people’s lives.”
What this means is, while it’s tempting, do not separate your eating patterns from your attempts to lose weight – without examining why you eat what isn’t good for you, you are dooming yourself to an endless cycle of Sisyphus-like dieting failure.
EATING TO ACHIEVE RADIANCE
In Spiritual Nutrition, Cousens explains that, in order to look your best, you need to “feed” your genes to bring about maximum “gene expression.” While this might sound quite scientific-y, in beauty-speak, it simply means that what you eat really, really matters. “If you eat live foods with lots of phytonutrients, you’re going to turn on the anti-aging gene. You’re going to turn on the anti-inflammatory genes. You’re going to turn on the anti cancer genes. And, if you eat junk food, you’re going to turn those off.” By eating correctly – in a way that activates the growth hormone – genes “express” certain enzymes and proteins and create “youthing” – literally turning back the clock to a biologically younger physique.
THE SAME NUTRITION IN HALF AS MUCH FOOD
In addition to eating wholesome foods and ditching the Doritos, one of the keys to anti-aging is to drastically cut down on the amount of calories you eat. In a recent experiment, rats that had their daily calories cut 40% had whopping 400% increase in their anti-aging genes. “That’s a pretty important statement because it means we can reverse the aging process,” says Cousens. “Not that we can slow it down, that’s true, but we can literally reverse it at any age.”
Wouldn’t cutting your daily calorie intake by almost half result in being malnourished? According to Cousens, the answer is no. On a live food diet – where nothing is heated above 118 degrees – you can get all the nutrients with half the amount of food. “When you cook food, you lose 50% of the protein, 70 or 80% of the nutrients, and up to 100% of the phytonutrients. If you aren’t getting enough nutrients, you end up overeating to try to get the nutrients. So much food is destroyed by cooking, that you have to eat twice as much. Simple mathematics is that when you eat live food, you can eat half as much, and get all your nutrients.”
But don’t think eating raw food automatically means being sentenced to a life of endless carrot sticks and nasty-ass dry salads. Cookbooks like Juliano’s Raw (http://www.planetraw.com/), Roxane Klein & Charlie Trotter’s Raw (http://www.charlietrotters.com) websites like www.purefoodandwine.com (which peddle the most addictive chocolate macaroons ever) and the amazing www.HighVibe.com, there are tons of delicious options to choose from. Also, Cousens – a live food adherent for over 20 years who doesn’t belive in “dieting” and weighs what he did in high school – stresses that you don’t be a raw food-Nazi in order to enjoy most of the beauty benefits. “Don’t be extreme. Go at a rate that you can feel comfortable. First, give up meat, red meat. That has a lot of pesticides and herbicides. Then do fish and chicken, which isn’t too different. Then go to dairy. Then go to grains. Then you’re there. That may take a year, it may take two years.” Regardless, as long as 80% of your diet is living foods, you’ll be reaping the benefits – mind, soul & of course, body.
MISTAKING THIRST FOR HUNGER
Another secret to looking amazing is being properly hydrated. Other than the myriad of amazing things that water can do for your skin and your looks, avoiding dehyration is a great way to avoid eating too much. Many people overeat, misinterpreting their body’s cries for water as hunger pangs. “When you start to hydrate by drinking enough water, then your appetite goes down because you’re actually fulfilling you’re your body needs – which is water. And that’s also a very powerful way to lose weight, but also, in a sense, the hydration makes everything work – including your brain – work a lot better.”
Cousens recommends consuming “living water” that is biologically well “structured” and able to hold cosmic energy. “It’s what you find in live foods. When you cook food, you dehydrate the food on one level, and you disorganize the water – whatever water is left.” Tap water is polluted with nasties like chlorine, and it’s been estimated that up to 40% of all bottled water is actually tap water, so Cousens recommends making your own:
1. Distill the water to get rid of pesticides, herbicides, and chlorine out of it.
2. Add 1/8 of a teaspoon of Celtic salt – just enough to get 50 parts/million – per gallon of distilled water to put hydrogen, a high-electron (ie. good) substance, into it.
3. Let it sit overnight in the moonlight. “It gathers the energy of the earth in the moonlight. And that seems to activate the water. And then, you have very powerful, energized water that you can trust, and it’s a lot cheaper than buying bottled water – which you can’t trust.” At this point, your water has transformed into a “universal antioxidant” which can be used by all the cells in your body.
Apparently, water researchers have found that moonlight “activates” the water, and in spiritual circles, the water and moon are connected on “esoteric” levels and in many esoteric levels. In addition, water holds energy patterns, responding to its environment. Dr. Emoto – whose experiments were discussed and illustrated in the movie What the Bleep Do We Know?! – if you put feelings of love or gratitude into your water before drinking it, you can physically change the atomic structure of it. “It’s been proven. You can put any prayer you want. You can put love, you can give thanks, you can put anything you want in it – hopefully you’ll want to put something positive in it – and then you stir it, and that brings energy into it in different ways,” explains Cousens. “We want to put love into it, and any other prayers you put in, so you’re drinking that love and those prayers.”
YES IT’S A CLICHÉ, BUT IT’S WHAT’S ON THE INSIDE THAT’S TRULY ATTRACTIVE – AND WHAT YOU EAT AFFECTS THAT
According to Cousens, nutrients are energy – particles of light, of which most of us are severely deficient. “The more minerals we have – and there’s up to 92 minerals – the more frequencies of light, frequencies of probability, frequencies of consciousness we have that kind of open us up to receive the divine.” In receiving the divine, we express our true nature, or inner beauty. “There’s an alchemical transformation from what we call a gross body and mind into a subtle body and mind that literally radiates the light of who we always have been, explains Cousens. “Literally, your body becomes so tuned in with the cosmos that it radiates the light of the cosmos. That’s the real beauty, because it’s the inner beauty. The inner beauty is really what people go for. When a man’s interested in a woman, he sees her as a rainbow radiance of the divine; he’s seeing that, and he may convert it to a sexual thing in his mind, but truly, it’s the radiance she gives off. That’s the light that’s really so attractive to people.”
MINERAL DEFICIENCIES
One of the primary ways to express this radiance is by bringing light into our diets by having sufficent amounts of minerals. ”Minerals are frequencies of Light, frequencies of information, and frequencies of creation for the material world in the universe in which we live.” Not only is the earth – and our bodies – comprised of minerals, but they “activate all the catalysts for enzymatic reactions in the body.” They also activate all the viatimes, organs and cellular structures. “Minerals are the builders of the system.”
By eating highly mineralized food, we are able to build up our stores of minerals and enzymes; a lack of enzymes is one of the primary ways to not only compromise your immune system, but to age – quickly – as well. To absorb minerals, they need to be tiny or what scientists refer to as “angstrom” sized. Plants break minerals into angstrom-sized minerals, giving you yet another good reason to eat your five-a-day. “High minerals that really contribute to all our tissues being fully activated, and there’s a certain – literally – radiance that comes from a person that is highly mineralized. That’s where you get the beauty.”
THE MINERALS HIT LIST:
The right minerals contribute not only to your looks, but to an overall sense of well being and vitality. By eating a wide variety of raw veggies, fruit, and plenty of leafy greens, you can get most of the minerals you need. An interesting characteristic of minerals is that many of them are only activated by other vitamins and minerals – they work in concert in “synergistic patterns” – so rather than individual components, it’s best to think of them as interdependent parts of an overall eco-system.
Dr. Gabriel Cousens’s Essential Beauty Minerals Shortlist:
PHOSPHORUS: for mind and mental radiance. When you think, you burn up phosphorus, so stock up! It is activated by calcium & silicon. Sources: Lecithin, bee pollin, nuts. Note: people who drink a lot of carbonate sodas can get an excess, causing excessive excitability and lack of concentration and willpower.
SULPHUR: excellent for skin & all the connective tissues; connects body & soul
MANGANESE: opens up the heart energy; elasticity, ligaments and muscles. Deficiencies have been linked to Down’s Syndrome, and associated with nastiness and sadistic personality traits – and is remedied by also increasing silicon, chlorine, sodium, potassium, iron, and magnesium.
SODIUM: helps maintain flexibility and being limber. Deficiencies are associated with poor intellectual ability; waking up betwee 1-5 am, and frequent violent dreams involving mayhem, distruction, snakes, floods, disasters and deaths. Best source: Real Salt or Himalayan salt
CHLORINE: the body’s cleanser, especially the liver and lymph. Vegan diets “wash” it out of the system, so to replenish, try Celtic sea salt, Himalayan salt or RealSalt. Note: this is not the type of chlorine added to the water, which is linked to skin disorders like acne and eczema, and possible bladder & colon cancer, as well as heart disease. One study even found that green and black tea reacted to chlorinated tap water to form carcingenic compounds. Also, the skin can absorb 6-100 times more chlorine than by drinking it, so if your shower water is contains chlorine, install a low-cost chlorine shower filter.
SILICA: a natural, complex form of silicon, it keeps tissues elastic, ligaments strong, and skin tone radiant. Works with iodine and sodium to regulate how calcium is used – as long as the ratio of silicon to calcium remains high, it results in looking youthful. A good source: Nature’s First Law bamboo sap. Also good – flax seeds and nuts.
SULPHUR: important for the skin, hair & nails. Considered by some to be the “foundation mineral of all beauty.” Is activated by vitamin C. A great source: MSM (You’re My Everything from SimplyDivineBotanicals.com is great).
IRON: works with oxygen to create vitality; keeps the immune system strong. According to David Wolfe, almost 60% of meat eaters are iron-deficient. Because vitamin C dramatically enhances iron absorption, vegetarians tend to be less iron deficient than carnivores. The best source: chlorophyll from a raw green juice (some mad science about juice – as opposed to solid food – being held in the duodenum long enough for the iron to be absorbed.)
OXYGEN: which is very important for radiance, strengthens everything, and is anti-aging. Deficiencies are associated with cancer. Do deep breathing exercises – as in yoga asana practice. Also, eating high iron foods such as watery fruits and veggies, and liquid chlorophyll (those live green juices again!).
FLUORINE: good for the bones; when it combines with calcium, it creates calcium fluoride, a “longevity compound.” Found primarily in raw fruits & veggies. However, the minute it’s exposed to heat, it becomes unstable & is destroyed. Note: Fluorine is not the same as the sodium fluoride – a poisonous by-produce of aluminium production – that is misguidedly added to public drinking water to “protect teeth” but actually kills more people from cancer than any other chemical. No acceptable double-blind studies have ever linked it to healthy teeth; in fact, it was first used by the Nazis in the camps to sterilize, control and harm the prisoners. It is a primary ingredient in both Prozac and sarin nerve gas.
Also Mandatory for Primo Health:
CALCIUM: for good teeth and healthy bone metabolism. Note: combine with foods high in sodium & chlorine. Diary products & table salt can actually lead to calcium loss in the body – yes, milk & yogurt do the opposite of what’s advertised. Instead, opt for leafy greens, seeds, nuts, sesame seeds and dulse.
CARBON: creates cell growth
HYDROGEN: as the hydrating mineral, it carries nutrients into the cells. Good sources: juicy fruits and veggies like berries, cherries, watermelon, tomatoes, cabbage & raw veggie juice.
IODINE: controls calcium and cell metabolism & prevents goiters. Helps prevent cataracts by keeping the calcium from being “pulled out.” In addition to fresh fruits and veggies, dulse is a great source.
MAGNESIUM: keeps you relaxed & is nature’s laxative. Combined with calcium, it is anti-aging and creates healthy bones, teeth & tissues: with vitamin B6, it helps combat menstrual problems.
NITROGEN: exists in a delicate balance with oxygen, and combines additionally with hydrogen & carbon to create strong vital organs. Excesses – usually resulting from meat-eating – can lead to absent-mindedness and lethargy. Deficiencies can create fatigue to the point of laziness & lack of sexual energy. Nuts, spirulina and algae are great sources.
POTASSIUM: Creates well-being. Works with sodium to enable the body to utilize hydrogen and oxygen. Avoid common table salt as it throws off the balance of potassium & sodium. Bitter greens and watercress contain tons of it.
ZINC: healthy skin & rebuilding of collagen; works with vitamin A and sulfur to create strong hair. Also associated with sexual vitality and development, as well as the immune system. Possibly the most important anti-oxidant & impacts over 300 enzymes & enzymatic reactions. Good sources: seeds, coconut, and some nuts.
COBALT: Part of the B12 complex.
COPPER: protects against parasite infections. Found in leafy greens and almonds.
GERMANIUM: increases oxygen intake in the body and helps it detox. Found in leafy green veggies.
SELENIUM: Works with Vitamin E to improve immunity and protect against heart disease & cancer. Deficiencies associated with Parkinson’s disease, high blood pressure, infertility and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Most of the soil has long been depleted of selenium, so the best sources are bee pollen from Nebraska and South Dakota, Himalayan Salt, some vegetables, and angstrom-sized supplements.
MOLYBDENUM: activates Vitamin C in foods; fights cancer & promotes healthy cell function. As it’s not available in most foods, the best source is a angstrom-sized supplement.
VANADIUM: regulates blood sugar & helps fight Type II diabetes.
BORON: Enables the body to assimilate calcium & magnesium, making it vital for strong bones, and facilitates the functioning of vitamin D. May help prevent prostate cancer. Found in nuts, avocados, non-citrus fruits (apples, pears, plums, grapes).
CHROMIUM: works with vanadium to regulate blood sugar & combat Type II diabetes.
VITAMIN B12: Important for vegans, whose diet creates “analogs” which block and nullify the vitamin when it’s ingested from vegan sources like the blue-green algaes. Cousens recommends a living B12 supplement (they have one extracted from yeast, available at www.treeoflife.nu).
BLUE-GREEN ALGAE & SPIRULINA - E3Live is a great addition to any diet - it's one of the most live and active - as well as blue-green algae from Klamath Lake.
THE SECRET TO YOUTH? ENTER THE PLATINUM GROUP METALS
A new body of research has revealed that the so-called Platinum Group Metals – silver, gold, platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium, and iridium – have incredible heath-promoting properties in their “monatomic” state. (ie. at the atomic level, they are clustered in groups insufficiently large to turn into metal structures).
When angstrom-sized, researchers are discovering these minerals to have incredible health properties, as well as anti-cancer qualities “because the high-electron energy helps reorganize the DNA.” According to Cousens, iridium may in fact be the manna (from the Mesopotamian shem-an-na) – of biblical legend – and the fountain of youth at the end of the proverbial rainbow. Meaning “iridescent” – or rainbow – it is has shown up throughout history, and across many cultures. Ancient alchemists like Paracelsus called this “alchemical gold” the Philosopher’s Stone; in Greece, it was the Golden Fleece, while in Ireland, it lay at the end of the rainbow, fiercely guarded Leprechauns. Today, it has been discovered to have amazing cancer-fighting properties, able in some cases to revert an abnormal cancer cell back to its proper form and structure. “Researchers found that iridium and rhodium also have anti-aging properties and these platinum compounds also interacted with the DNA to reprogram the DNA back to normal.”
While a quest might be fun, if you can’t get the time off work, a more convenient way to introduce Platinum Group Metals and Iridium into your diet is with a high quality supplement called Ultimatium, available at www.treeoflife.nu.
FASTING
Cousens points out that almost 80% of all cancers are caused by environmental factors, and as we continue to lose our controls against environmental pollution and destruction – the outlook is bleak. One of the best ways to protect yourself, your health and your looks is by fasting.
One of the fastest ways to jumpstart your way to a radiant physique is with fasting. The primary benefits of fasting are:
- Fasting gets rid of the toxins that prevent you from being radiant
- By consuming less food, the body can channel that energy not only into cleaning up the body, but re-building & beautifying. “You’re literally turning on the anti-aging genes in a very short time when you’re fasting.”
- An important note on detoxing through fasting: the breast & protate are where most of the pesticides and herbicides are stored in the body, in the fatty tissues – and are the most predominant types of cancers. By fasting twice a year, you keep cleaning these areas out so they don’t turn into “a toxic storage dump.”
The Tree of Life offers a ten day detox fast and typically, within a week, people start to glow and look a decade younger. Cousens recommends at least two 7 day fasts annually – the first should be under the guidance of someone who knows what they’re doing. After that, you’ll be empowered enough to do it on your own the next time. “We have it within our power to really heal ourselves and heal the planet.
GABRIEL COUSENS LAST WORDS OF WISDOM: TAKE HEART
Even though there’s a lot of toxins and nasties confronting us daily, we are not without a remedy. “The good news is: we have a way to cope with it which naturally brings beauty and radiance, and that’s the live food and the fasting. What we’re looking at when we’re talking about eating for beauty, is we’re eating for health, we’re eating for inner radiance, and that brings the natural outer radiance. That’s really the message we have here at the Tree of Life.”
June 7, 2005 in Beauty, From the heart, Pop Culture, WEEKLY BEAUTY BEAT PODCAST | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
WEEKLY BEAUTY BEAT PODCAST: Simply Divine Botanicals Rockin' Eye Cream; Hot new Takamichi Hair in Downtown NYC designed by Sandra Van Rolleghem; Pretty Girl Lip Gloss - beloved by Nicolette Sheridan
Time to primp with the weekly Fashiontribes FASHION FILES BEAUTY BEAT Podcast!
Bags under the eyes are bags no one needs - neither chicks, nor guys. Fight the baggage with Simply Divine Botanicals amazing Pack Your Bags They're Leaving! It's filled with natural de-puffers like cucumber, colloidal gold, seaweed, watermelon and "unconditional love". According to Dr. Gabriel Cousins, a holistically-minded medical doc who leads peace meditations at the U.N. twice a year, it works on the kidney meridians to help heal matters. The mad genius behind Simply Divine, Barbara Rogers, worries about the 60,000 or chemicals in the environment, and the fact there is no regulation in skincare. "Things that they won't let you put you in food, they'll let you put on your skin, and you're absorbing ten times more of it," says Rogers.
A master herbalist with a spiritual bent, Rogers infuses all Simply Divine products with Reiki energy; according to kinesiology, tests, they vibrate at a rate of 723 (enlightened beings apparently vibrate somewhere between 700 to 1000). "Simply Divine skincare actually raises the vibration of people that are using it," she explains. "These products have their own energy." http://simplydivinebotanicals.com/
Need a new do? Check out NYC's new Takamichi Hair. Located downtown at 35 Great Jones Street 212.420.7979 http://takamichihair.com/ (ignore the incorrect address listed on the strangely devoid-of-information website). Designed in the tradition of 18th Century salons and exclusive private clubs, Takamichi Hair gathers people of distinction and offers them a space to share ideas, experiences...and get a a haircut. The space wss designed by Brussels native, architect Sandra Van Rolleghem, who has done cool spaces for Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and ritzy residences and restaurants around the world.
Got gloss? Nicolette Sheridan, the blonde temptress on Desperate Housewives, is a big fan of Pretty Girl gloss. Combining vitamins, minerals & essential oils - with fun names like Darling!; Hey Lover!; Love of My Life! & Oh Honey! - it's wonderfully heavy-duty and pretty much kiss-proof. Pucker up! http://www.prettygirlmakeup.com/
May 3, 2005 in Beauty, Fashiontribes Files, PODCAST, WEEKLY BEAUTY BEAT PODCAST | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack