Very few of us are asking ‘what is it like to look ‘perfect’?

I find this extremely odd. Why you might say-aren’t they just paid for their looks alone?

I find it extremely odd because so may women (& so many models) either aspire to, or go to extreme physical lengths in an attempt to achieve this particular body type (regardless of whether it is their body type). They also spend millions on hope in the form of creams, cosmeceuticals and surgery to try and replicate cover girl complexions, pouts, noses and cheekbones. Models have the prototype body upon which fashion is based upon and seduce the world into spending billions on clothing. Models are the modern physical representation of female ‘perfection’.

In my industry-fashion- the top ten models become superstars whilst still in their early twenties, before they’ve even truly grown up as women, before getting the opportunities that create an environment in which to garner any sense of their real selves, never actually living without continual projection from powerful personalities, usually twice their age. Models- who are they?

I find it extremely odd that no one seems to want to ask what it’s actually like to ‘look perfect’ . To actually look like the ideal. Look like the diet that actually succeeded. Look like the face where the lifting/anti-ageing/sculpting anti-cellulite cream actually worked.

Surely there’s some curiosity to wonder what it feels like to look like the end result of what many women spend a lot of time, energy and money trying to be. The ads are everywhere, we are buying loads of this stuff, yet we’re not asking those who actually possess the mythical, physical happy-ever-after? Yes, I find it odd.

Does it actually make you happier than looking ordinary and average. Are you loved more? Is life really easier and if so, how? What does it feel like for people to make so many assumptions of you?

There are so many questions. Here, Cameron Russell opens the lid a little on a subject that could do with being explored a whole lot more.

Liya Kebede

In February 2003, Liya became a face of Estee Lauder-the first woman of colour to ever serve as representative in the brands history-  with the heading ‘cover model with a cause’, profiling her work as a Good Will Ambassador with The World Health Organisation. Her tireless efforts in raising awareness of the difficulties that women and children face in the developing world has made Liya (like Christy Turlington), better known as a role model than a model.

Here she is speaking at Women in The World.

Visit The Liya Kebede Foundation HERE

Leymah Gbowee became a social worker during the first war, helping to organize an inter-religious coalition of Christian and Muslim women called the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace movement. Dressed in white, these thousands of women staged pray-ins and nonviolent protests demanding reconciliation and the resuscitation of high-level peace talks. The pressure pushed Charles Taylor into exile, and smoothed the path for the election of Africa’s first female head of state, Leymah’s fellow 2011 Nobel Peace laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Gbowee is the co-founder of the Women Peace and Security Network Africa (WIPSEN-Africa) to promote cross-national peace-building efforts.

Leymah Gbowee tells Women of The World about creating peace in Liberia

Watch Leymah tell how she organized women to vote in Liberia

Gbowee’s activism didn’t stop after the end Liberia’s civil war. She tells Robin Roberts at The Women in the World Foundation Launch that she applied the lessons she’d learned to continue organizing—and inspiring—other women.

Buy Leymah’s book ‘Mighty Be Our Powers‘ from Amazon here

Follow Women in the World on twitter  here

‘I wish for a better life. I wish for food for my children. I wish that sexual abuse and exploitation in schools would stop.’ This is the dream of the African girl.”  

Do you think this is an Idea Worth Sharing?

If so please share via the options below

Why don’t we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies — far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity — are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. “We are educating people out of their creativity,” Robinson says. It’s a message with deep resonance. Robinson’s TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006 (985,874 views and counting).

The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? “Everyone should watch this.”

A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government’s 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education, a massive inquiry into the significance of creativity in the educational system and the economy, and was knighted in 2003 for his achievements. His latest book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, a deep look at human creativity and education, was published in January 2009.

“Ken’s vision and expertise is sought by public and commercial organizations throughout the world.”

BBC Radio 4

Watch this brilliant clip to see/hear for yourself why he’s onto something..

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How do we learn to embrace our vulnerabilities and imperfections so that we can engage in our lives from a place of authenticity and worthiness? How do we cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection that we need to recognize that we are enough – that we are worthy of love, belonging, and joy?

The Ted Talk below is about the after effects she experienced after her original Ted Talk on vulnerability  here which is a MUST-WATCH and introduces powerful, pragmatic insights from one of the world’s most engaging academics.

Listening To Shame Brene Brown

Is this an Idea Worth Spreading?

Please use the twitter link below if you think it is!

See her original Ted Talk here

Follow Brene on twitter here

I was blown away by this Tedtalk she gave and sent it to all of my closest friends.

                                                                                                                                           Photography: Boothnation

Anita is Beauty Assistant at Stylist magazine and is a beauty columnist for the Guardian where she writes about beauty for darker skins.

The piece below, beautifully written from the heart by Anita for Stylist Magazine, (click the link left to visit) caused a twitter sensation and revealed just how much women of colour appreciate being represented in the beauty world.  Check out her Guardian pieces here

I was one of a handful of non-white children in my year. Unlike so many ethnic minority children who face a torrid daily existence of namecalling, I was never bullied past an obligatory ‘Paki’ or ‘you’re the colour of poo’ comment. But those cursory derogatory remarks evolved in time, becoming fragments of self-hate that lodged in my subconscious. My deep-set feelings of otherness were compounded when making my first foray into the world of make-up. It should have been a fuzzy warmth of beauty exploration but sadly, that wasn’t to be.

Make-up trips to the small town centre in Newport, south Wales put me on edge. While my pale-skinned friends would coo over the shades in Boots, a powder compact filled with a rectangle slab of thick, heavy powder was my sole choice – it was two shades too light, a sort of tan, biscuit shade rather than my deep chocolate. I applied it on the hour, every hour. Yet, the more I patted away, the worse I seemed to look as the powder caked into every imperfection of my face.

I longed to look like everyone else, wearing pastel Barbie pinks rather than the maroon and plum shades my mum wore. Those silvery pink glosses never suited my skintone. As a retort, I’d use concealer to block out my darker-toned lips, or I’d slice up different lipsticks and melt them together in the microwave, like some cosmetic alchemist, to make paler versions of those plum shades – all to find the perfect pink lipstick for me. While everyone else looked like the models in Just Seventeen and Shout – all fresh-faced, with barely-there make-up and long, silky, straight hair – I couldn’t foresee a world where I’d ever fit in.

My mum, sensing my growing discomfort (and not wishing for any more of her Chanel lipsticks to fall fate to my experimental beauty massacre) took me to a department store in nearby Cardiff for professional advice – surely my capital city would have more to offer?

Colossal mistake. I was coerced into buying foundation shades too light (the girls on the counter had assured me it was the perfect colour for me). My self-esteem eroded more each time I had photos developed; I’d baulk at my face which resembled a Scream mask, painted tragically in my too-pale foundation, and I remember, painfully, on one occasion standing outside the photo shop, tears welling, immediately ripping up the pictures I’d just paid to have developed into the nearby bin. I watched as bits of my face languished next to discarded McDonald’s wrappers and cigarette packets. That was how I felt – utterly rubbish.

Change is due

The next few years were pivotal. I made friends who didn’t subscribe to ‘normal’ ideals of beauty. I discovered black make-up brand Fashion Fair, and although the foundations were too dark and thick (the consistency was like Nutella), the powder was perfect. By the time I went to university, brands like Nars and Mac were celebrating self-expression, colour and difference – but I was still angry that they were the only ones. My study into black feminist theory gave me further reason to push against my forced assimilation and I took every opportunity to rebel in a flurry of dramatic hairstyles, psychedelic make-up and more reinventions than Madonna.

I’m still incredibly passionate about beauty so it’s no surprise I’ve ended up writing about it for a living. But I feel like my question has gone largely unanswered – why does the beauty industry think it’s acceptable to ignore darker skins? Since Bobbi Brown created her own line in 1991, she’s always been vocal about catering for all ethnicities. “When I started as a make-up artist, I’d have to create the colours for darker-skinned models by hand – they just weren’t available,” Brown tells me. “Now the beauty industry is recognising there are many definitions of beauty, instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.”

To that end, change is not only due but imperative, as beauty mirrors the current dialogue in society with attitudes to race. And it has already started. Last year, when YSL launched its Touche Éclat shades for darker skins, with black London model Jourdan Dunn as its face, it was a milestone. In June it’s launching Le Teint Touch Èclat foundation – it’s taken nine years researching 7,000 global skintones to create the perfect 22 shades, which reflect the full range of skintones found in our diverse world. Similarly, Lancôme consulted the US research group Women of Color to develop their new Teint Idole Ultra 24hr foundation – one of the most inclusive ranges I’ve seen in 18 silky colours. As a teenager, I scoffed at the idea that creating darker shades was such a difficult process, believing instead that the beauty world assumed a handful of brands was ‘enough’ for us. But a conversation with Terry Barber, Mac’s director of make-up artistry, set me straight on how laborious and costly the process is. “Lighter skins can get away with a mix of three colours to create their matching shades. Darker skins can look ashy or muddy if the shade isn’t correctly matched. It’s not a light undertaking to cater to the world’s skintone variations.”

In the UK, mixed race is the fastest growing minority and according to McCann Global Research the global complexion is changing, incorporating more darker skintones than ever before. So it’s no wonder that brands are taking note – it makes monetary sense. “Businesses don’t have moral obligations; they’re supposed to make money,” Kay Montano, make-up artist and Chanel ambassador explains. “But now they see that investing in darker skins is profitable. It may not always occur to them, for example, if there isn’t someone non-white on the committee. I saw a body product for ‘normal to dark skin’ recently. It wasn’t meant maliciously but there’s an element of ignorance.”

Traditionally it’s been the select few brands catering to the myriad skintones that fall between black and white, but now Estée Lauder, Benefit and Chanel are channelling their efforts towards ethnic skins with more shades and richer pigments.

Make-up isn’t the only beauty sector upping its game. Mizani, a L’Oréal-owned Afro haircare brand, has expanded its distribution by 71% since 2009, and it’s set to increase a further 30% by the end of this year. The recent influx of thinning hair ranges from brands like Aveda, Nioxin and LA Science cater to anyone concerned about hair loss, but are especially useful for Afro and southern Asian hair types which tend to suffer more. The increasing popularity of hair oils from L’Oréal, MoroccanOil and Kérastase are ideal to nourish ethnic hair that’s been over-processed by extensions, straightening and bleach.

Skincare seems to be wising up too. Women of colour are predisposed to hyper-pigmentation, sun spots and uneven skintone because of the increased amount of melanin in the skin and brands such as Dr Nick Lowe, Kiehl’s, N°7 and Darphin are all launching new products aimed at fading and regulating the production of pigment-producing melanin in the skin. What’s different now is the language; they’ll talk about fading and brightening rather than racially loaded terms like whitening or bleaching.

Eastern Asian skins are also being exclusively catered for. Origins are launching VitaZing BB SPF 35/PA+++ Revitalizing Cream with Mangosteen, to meet the needs of paler skintones, while Creme De La Mer launched its new Brightening collection, designed to prevent discolouration – a key ageing concern for eastern Asian skin.

David Horne, Illamasqua’s director of product development, explains why the key to evolving the beauty industry is how we represent skintones. “It comes down to how we stereotype race. For example, darker skins often get ‘the rainbow’ or the bronzed Beyoncé treatment editorially, when they look just as beautiful with natural shades.” But it’s also the case that within certain cultures, ideals of ‘beauty’ are so woven into the fabric of society that pulling away is a mammoth task.

“Indian beauty is so heavily influenced by the perfect pale-skinned Bollywood look and Middle Eastern beauty idealises a Disneystyle, Kim Kardashian perfection – it’s been the same for decades,” says Horne. But the most radical change is coming from eastern Asia. “For the first time, the younger Japanese generation are becoming more involved in hip-hop culture, so their ‘ideal’ aesthetic is changing from pale to a dark tanned look. These changes will start to impact global aesthetic. That’s how change happens, it’s grassroots.”

New Attitude

This paradigm shift is crucial; especially as powerful documentaries such as Chris Rock’s Good Hair (2009), Miss Representation (2011) and Dark Girls (2011) have brought the issues of beauty and race to the forefront. If you’re looking for a reason to try something new, to embrace your skin colour, your curly hair or just buck against the norm, then I implore you to watch the scene from Dark Girls  (below) that led me to write this feature. A young black girl is asked to pick out ‘the cleverest’ and ‘the prettiest’ from a line-up of identical cartoon girls with different skintones from white to black. Instead of picking the one that’s her own colour, or even the one in the middle, she chooses the white one.

That shocking scene is reason enough to demand change in all areas of how race is represented in beauty – from editorial images to make-up and skincare products. It’s time that beauty brands join the revolution and help pave the way to a future of equality and acceptance – it’s not a moment too soon.

Watch the clip that inspired Anita to write this piece.

Email Anita with your beauty questions askanita@stylist.co.uk or tweet at @StylistMagazine with the hashtag #askanita.

Not content with making her magazine a mega-spreaded, creative vessel for fashion photographers, stylists, hairdressers, make-up artists and models to express themselves in a less obviously commercial way AND devoting a whole issue to black women (with British-born, Ghanaian fashion editor Edward Enninful at the helm), Franca is perhaps the only visually-influential fashion editor that is truly using her power to confront the negative by-products of our weight-obsessed culture and the rise of  ‘thinspiration‘ and obesity.

This article was cross-posted from Italian Vogue

May Franca’s even-sided wisdom and courage to confront this huge issue be an inspiration to us all.

By  Rachel Boardman M.R.N.I. Naturopathic Iridologist and Herbalist.

When I read the January Jones article sent to me by Kay (link below,), I was intrigued. The actress had done an interview with People magazine and mentioned that she’s had her placenta ‘encapsulated’ into supplements.

I’ve heard frying up ones placenta with an onion and some herbs and eating it for breakfast the day after the birth could be beneficial but I have to admit it was never for me and I never really looked into it.

I remember the sharp inhale of the press in 2006 when Tom Cruise said that this was exactly what he was going to do after the birth of his little girl.  The response was so negative that he quickly denied ever saying it.

I have also read somewhere that Chaplin, Churchill and Eisenhower had all supposedly used sheep’s Placenta creams as an attempt to stay youthful but I hadn’t really looked into Placentophagy until now.

Placentophagy is adopted by most mammals including primates and whilst some theories believe this is to obtain much needed nutrition, or help stimulate the bonding response to baby, some believe it’s just natures protection of hiding any signs of a new life from predators.

Mark Kristal, a behavioral neuroscientist and America’s leading authority on Placetophagia has been researching this for over 20 years, believing that the Placenta must offer a fundamental biological advantage to all mammals.

What this is though is still a mystery!

He believes Placentohagia is a fad that has come around every 10 years or so, from the first recorded movement; the 70’s communes. Placentas do, however, carry a special spiritual significance.

In ancient Egypt it had it’s own hieroglyph and in Chinese medicine small doses of dried placenta are used to alleviate impotency and lactation maladies.

The Pacific people have a place they call their ‘Turangawaiwai‘, which is also the name of the Placenta and they would plant this over the roots of a tree where the child  & the tree would grow alongside each other.

This I particularly loved and I would have done this for my first child had I not forgotten to take it home!

But getting back to the supposed benefits of Placentophagy though most scientist agree evidence of any of this is tenuous: Balancing hormones, preventing baby blues that 80% of women experience. Enhancing milk supply and ncreasing your energy from the inevitable sleep deprivation.  The Placenta contains high levels of Iron, Vitamin B12, and hormones such as Prostaglandin, which stimulates the shrinking of the Uterus plus Oxytocin to ease birth stress and assist in lactation but the cooking, freeze-drying, encapsulating (as used by January Jones) of the Placenta- like all food processing- greatly reduces these nutrients and hormones. Dehydrating from raw would make more sense.

*Not for the faint-hearted* Some women have bravely whisked up theirs raw in a blender with coconut water and a banana and have reported ‘the wildest rush. It was definitely physical‘.

Dr Maggie Blott, from the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, however, dismisses these theories

Having said all of this, there has been so much positive feedback from mums that I’d say if it is working for them then absolutely wonderful!                                                                               Below; placenta to go?

A woman called Selander felt that  Placentophagy worked so well for her after the birth of her baby that she started an afterbirth empire in 2006, coining the term  ‘Placenta encapsulation’ and standardized the transformation of Placenta into pills in the USA. She even campaigned on behalf a client in 2007 when a hospital in Nevada refused to hand over her Placenta.  In fact, many hospitals refuse to hand a woman’s Placenta over citing ‘hospital policy ‘.

As a practitioner I tend to agree with Dr Weil, a specialist in integrative medicine, who writes;  “cooked, freeze-dried Placenta would, in my view have virtually no effect and at $275 for 121 capsules it would be much more beneficial to take a fish oil supplement or to eat cold water, fatty fish such as wild Salmon Herring and Sardine”.  Two studies I found showed a 50% reduction in Post-Partum Depression in women with relatively high Omega 3’s. Dr Maggie Blott writes that ‘if a women is well nourished in pregnancy and after birth there is no benefit, no reason for placenta encapsulation”.

 Making sure you have enough nutrients may mean you take a pre-natal /ante-natal supplement with Essential Fatty Acids.

 Also an infusion of herbs that promote lactation are delicious and full of nutrients such as Nettle, Fennel and Fenugreek Seeds.  

I feel that having read as much as I have about Placentophagy I would whole heartedly recommend a well balanced diet in pregnancy and after. This is what is essential for you.

The original People magazine interview that caused all the headlines here

Here is my website rachelboardman.com

Follow me on twitter here

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