Life is short

I received the following words in a Holiday card from Bruce and Elizabeth Rand and wanted to share them with you.

Remember
Life is short
Keep those you love close to you
Calm yourself and live in the present moment
Be kinder than necessary
Because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle

Have a beautiful holiday season and a New Year filled with love, laughter and peace in your world.

Giella

Custom Blend Cosmetic Pencils

Well we did it! Custom blend cosmetic pencils for eyes, lips, brows and concealer. It took a year to get the perfect formula – one that is creamy and easily glides on the skin, smudge proof with no signs of running, has excellent payout or deposit of color and will not break while sharpening. And the formula is with natural ingredients.

Now your favorite discontinued pencils can be recreated.

Our artists creativity is flowing with the number of shades in red, pink, blue, gold, green, black and purple that can be created – with and without shimmer.

It starts with a natural, plant base in our heater, and then we add mineral powders and a vegetable base conditioner. Then we mix it up and pour into a GIELLA designed molding machine the size of a pocket camera. It forms in about 5 minutes and it’s ready to use!
So very excited to be the first to offer this custom blend product!

Rahua Oil from The Amazon

I was recently introduced to Fabian and Anna from Cocoon Hair Studio (http://cocoonhair.com) in NYC. Their studio is located at 318 East 70th Street. I was very intrigued about their new product launch of hair products made with Rahua. Rahua is natural and organic oil found in the Amazon Rain Forest. Natural and organic ingredients are one of my other favorite interests.

Fabian explained how the Rahua is extracted and processed to be shipped here in the US for the Rahua hair care products. He explains how ““The Amazon basin is the true and original “beauty garden” of the world because of its plentiful indigenous plants, fruits and nuts that are high in anti-oxidants as well as hair and skin nourishing oil.”

For hundreds of years, deep in the heart of the Amazon, women from the Quechua-Shuar tribe have been foraging the symbiotically grown Rahua nut. Prepared during the rise and fall of the Amazon’s full moon, during the blossom on their beautiful indigenous orchids and adjacent to the Curaray River, Rahua® Elixir is handmade from the oil of the Rahua nut, long used by these women to promote long, healthy, strong hair. By penetrating deep into the hair’s cortex, Rahua Elixir repairs and rebuilds damaged strands in 3 minutes. When used with Rahua® Leave-In Treatment hair reaches unsurpassed length, remaining healthy and shiny.

Used by the Manta nationality to ward off “bad energy” and coveted by Shaman’s of the Latin culture for hundreds of years, Palo Santo is common to the coast of Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands and a tree that inhabits the South American Gran Chaco region (northern Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and the Brazilian Mato Grosso). The aged fallen trees are ripe with the oil of Palo Santo which has been used for centuries in teas and medicinal elixirs for its many healing properties.

He also had some fascinating stories of working with native tribes and nationalities to help protect intellectual property rights and preserve the beauty of the planet’s largest living and breathing renewable natural resource.

I purchased the Leave-In treatment and I have been using it for a month now. I can actually feel that the strands of my very thin hair are actually thicker. It’s not greasy and my hair looks more vibrant. I can only imagine it getting better after using it for several months.

The Rahua line consists of a shampoo, conditioner, oil and leave-in conditioner and can be purchased at www.amazonbeautysecret.com

And you can win a vacation of a lifetime – a trip for two at Luna Runtun Adventure Spa in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest! It includes airfare, hotel, spa treatments and excursions to the Amazon rain forest. So log on to www.amazonbeautysecret.com to find out how to enter this contest!

As the industry turns to greener beauty products, I can only congratulate both Fabian and Anna for this discovery. There’s an increase in demand for natural, healthy, organic ingredients and it feels good to be part of this supply chain.

Feasts and Fotos

Food and cooking are one of my favorite hobbies, especially being Italian. No matter how busy my days get, I enjoy cooking with wholesome ingredients and spending time with people. It's a chance to communicate, celebrate, resolve, strategize or just enjoy the day and family and friends. Enjoying a great meal is one of the simple pleasures in my life.

I don't use cook books or get to watch a lot of cooking shows but I do like to pick up new cooking ideas to incorporate into my recipes. One of my favorite websites is www.feastsandfotos.wordpress.com. The recipes are simple and easy and very descriptive. And the photography is extraordinary! It really makes you want to try the dish of the day!

I am a big fan of fish so start with this one:

Baked Fish with Roasted Potatoes and Fennel

3 cups (1 pound) red potatoes, cut into 1/8 inch slices
1 large fennel bulb, sliced thin
1 tablespoon olive oil (roughly)
1/2 teaspoon each of salt & pepper
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 garlic cloves
3/4 cup white wine
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tablespoon orange rind
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, chopped
4 6-ounce halibut fillets (or any other firm white fish)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine potatoes, fennel, 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, some salt & pepper in a baking dish and toss gently to coat. Bake for 30 minutes.

In a skillet on the stove top, heat 1/2 teaspoon olive oil. Add fennel seeds (or not) and garlic, saute for one minute. Add some salt & pepper, wine, 1/2 of the parsley, orange rind, oregano and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes.

Sprinkle fish fillets with some salt & pepper. Arrange fillets over the potato mixture and then spread the tomato mixture over the fillets. Coat a nice layer over them, enough so it starts spilling over into the potato/fennel mixture. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes or until the fish flakes easily. Sprinkle with the remainder of the parsley. Sprinkle some salmoriglio sauce over fillets (or not).

Salmoriglio Sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt & pepper to taste
Wisk all ingredients together. Easy enough!!


So log on (www.feastsandfotos.wordpress.com)and make sure to take time out every day to eat, celebrate and communicate. I live to love and love to live - always with food!

Style Rx: Dressing the Body You Have to Create the Body You Want

Bridgette Raes comes to our rescue again. In her new book, Style Rx: Dressing the Body You Have to Create the Body You Want, Bridgette illustrates a guide for using clothes to overcome body challenges and powerfully embrace our bodies. For any woman who has a big butt, flat chest, large waist, thick ankles, unwieldy thighs, short legs, or a round belly, Style Rx is the prescription you need.

The book is very "real" with over 250 photos of real women with real bodies, not professional models. And there are seventeen illustrative personal case studies.

Bridgette Raes helps women to understand the unique proportions of their bodies, part by part, rather than classifying the female body into an impossible generic "type." She prescribes cuts, colors, and fabrics that make the most (or if necessary, the least) of what they have for their best possible look. With practical advice, a mix-and-match approach, and an understanding of how to create balance, she helps tackle common body issues and finds clothes than can make women look and feel great-as simply as possible.

A little more about the Author:
Style expert Bridgette Raes is the president of the NYC based style consulting company for women, Bridgette Raes Style Group www.bridgetteraes.com. Prior to starting Bridgette Raes Style Group in 2002, Bridgette worked as a fashion designer for ten years.
Bridgette’s expert opinion has been featured in Woman's World Magazine and she has been an expert on Glamour Sizing for media outlets including The Boston Globe and Good Morning America. Bridgette’s media experience as an expert on fashion, beauty and lifestyle also includes many national and popular local news channels including shows across the country such as CNN, The Daily Buzz and more. Bridgette is currently the fashion and style expert for Smartnow.com and also writes frequently for Shefinds.com, Budget Savvy Magazine and she is a regular writer and Brideboard.com.

You can purchase the book on amazon.com Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Style-Rx-Dressing-Body-Create/dp/0399533877/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215701671&sr=8-1

or pick it up at Barnes & Noble.

A really informative book! Thanks, Bridgette.

Redefining Beauty Sleep

At a recent Council of Diva's meeting, I met Doreen Motton, founder of Neero-ana.com. Her company sells Satin Hydration Therapy - satin pillow cases. I have always been interested in such a product hoping it would make me look less "tousled" in the morning. However, I never had the time to research and find them.

So I immediately purchased a set from Doreen and was very eager to try it out. After several days, I noticed that my hair had more shine and was more manageable. And my skin wasn't creased from the cotton sheets I used to use. Somehow my skin looked better!

After talking with Doreen, I learned quite a lot about the Satin Hydration Therapy from satin pillow cases. First, they are made with the richest, most durable acetate bridal satin unlike some of the flimsy polyester pillow case alternatives in the market. Then you can choose from a calming selection of blue, green, peach, gray, blush, champagne and of course, ivory. Other color choices are red, blue, and black.

Second, pillow cases play an important role in the hydration process. Sleep is a restorative time for our bodies. It’s an opportunity for the body to cleanse, repair and rejuvenate. As the rest of your body heals during sleep, so should your hair & skin.

Here are some of her golden rules to preserve your hair and youthful look:

Rule #1: Toss the cotton pillow case. If a cotton ball absorbs nail
polish remover, imagine what it does to hair and skin!

Rule #2: Healthy hair & skin require 2 main elements: air & moisture. The Satin Hydration Therapy® satin pillow cases are anti-absorbent and replenish what you need.

Rule 3#: Moisture enriching enhancements aren't always found in fancy
jars. The Satin Hydration Therapy® beauty pillow case is your essential beauty foundation. Everything else is secondary.

So treat yourself - your hair and your skin - to looking more hydrated and supple. It really works! (http://www.neero-ana.com)