Four truffles, a decadent skin care line, has a visionary behind it who is using sisterhood, the common bond of beauty, and precious argan oil to elevate and empower the women in Morocco who harvest it for her Four Truffles skin care line.

This woman is Ana Soriano, and her organic skin care company, Four Truffles, sources the natural ingredients in their eco-friendly argan oil complex from only female owned cooperatives in North and West Africa.  Soriano also donates 10 percent of the net sales to local and international charities that help disadvantaged women.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with her last week to learn about what inspires this woman while we sipped lemonade and tried out her all natural, luscious products at new hot spot, Recess Organic Nail Spa in West Hollwood!

Not only do I LOVE LOVE the product,  but I love the platform and vision she has cultivated for her company!  ”I’m a big believer in paying it forward,” says Ana.  It is her belief, that by basing the company ‘s foundation on “doing good”  for women locally and globally (the company motto), that the company itself will “do good”.  After, experiencing Four Truffles myself, I have no doubts!  (this stuff smells amazing and my hands and feet were soft for days after the treatment!)

I personally love Ana’s quest for meaningful beauty; the name Four Truffles comes from what she believes are the four beauties in life: Love, Hope, Faith and Eternity.  This is definitely one businesswomen worthy of being a role model!

You can check out all of the Four Truffles products and learn more about her quest to empower woman through beauty at www.FourTruffles.com.

“Look good, feel good, do good!”  I love it…..

xoxo

Betsy

Here is the overview of the casting:

WOMEN – 25 – 50 Casting Search for Fila USA

We are casting REAL WOMEN (not actresses or models) for a Fila advertising campaign!

We are looking for:

• • Women
  • 25 – 50 years old
  • Any ethnicity

Should be a woman who is outgoing, fun and energetic AND proud and comfortable with her body!   Please wear leggings to the audition to show off your “ASSets”.

Open casting call will be held in on Wednesday, June 9^th from 8am – 6pm at Union Square Ballroom (27 Union Square West) in New York City.

Finalists will return to audition before a celebrity panel of judges that evening from
7- 8:30pm. All interested must be available for call back on Wednesday night and for a half day photo shoot the week of June 14th.

To reserve your time for the audition, email RSVP@fila.com.

**We are looking for real women, please! We do not want models or actresses (i.e., no SAG members, no one with an IMDB page or represented by any talent agent or manager).

If cast for the campaign, you will be given Fila products and receive financial compensation.

The campaign will appear in an on-line and print advertising campaign and the image buyout is worldwide for perpetuity

Portions of the casting will be filmed for a compilation video that will post on Fila’s YouTube Channel.

Fila will do a criminal background check on any finalists.

Good Luck!

xo

Betsy

I went to see Kate Nash’s last performance of her North American tour last night at the El Rey Theatre here in Los Angeles.  She was awesome and definitely fired up my liberal feminist side, rawrr!!

With her slightly purple tinted hair and confident curves, Kate is one Brit not afraid to be a woman in control of her own life.  Oh Kate, how I love you and your empowering songs about homophobic “dick heads” and what it means to be a woman in this generation!

Check out the concert last night!

P.S. The adorable girls behind her are the 14 yr old girl band SUPERCUTE!   I think they have it right, it is definitely better to be CUTE than SEXY, ladies!

Happy Hump Day!

xoxo

Betsy

November 2009 issue of Glamour magazine featured seven successful plus size models: From far left: Crystal Renn, Amy Lemons, Ashley Graham, Kate Dillon, Anansa Sims and Jennie Runk. Bottom Center: Lizzie Miller.

If so, I don’t blame you! It is not common to see a realistic depiction of a woman’s body in the media these days.  In fact, on average, we are exposed to women with bodies that only 5% of the female population are genetically capable of achieving. Five percent! No wonder the sight of something realistic shocks us and makes us uncomfortable (yes I’m talking to you ABC and FOX).   This was proven a couple weeks ago when executives at both networks deemed a Layne Bryant commercial too racy for prime time because the model exposed too much cleavage…

I honestly think they were just too uncomfortable seeing a real women with curves in lingerie, an image that is not common in visual media.  Regardless, I’m sorry ABC and FOX, but you cannot use the cleavage excuse when you air Victoria’s Secret Ads and models promoting “naked bras”… just admit it, you found the sight of a real women in her lingerie taboo and offensive!

In their defense though, I think that real women just look more “naked” in their lingerie than the prepubescent 15 year old boy bodies with boobs in the VS advertisements.  When are images of real women going to seem normal and beautiful to general society??

Sadly, I think that the epidemic of unrealistic body images and disordered eating behaviors in young women is just going to continue to escalate…Why, you ask? Because we just aren’t used to seeing females portrayed realistically!  No wonder “to be an American Women and feel good about your body requires a powerful inner strength and the will to resist an unrealistic skinny ideal” (Discovery News, April 2010).

The media’s perception of “normal” just keeps getting thinner, but don’t buy into it ladies! The models you see in magazines and in Victoria’s Secret catalogs are NOT normal. I repeat, NOT normal.  They are the top 1% of skinny alien beauties in an industry that is shrinking BMI standards in order to attain a more artistic focus  on the designer clothing they are trying to sell…and you are NOT expected to look like them!

In celebration of realistic body images, here are some of my favorite curvy women!

Scarlett Johanson

Nigella Lawson

Marilyn Monroe

Crystal Renn

I’m sorry but you cannot tell me these ladies aren’t sexy and beautiful!

xo

Betsy

Poor Heidi…

After watching some of the hills marathon and seeing the “pre-surgery Heidi” in the early episodes, I couldn’t help but feel sad for the girl.  She was so cute and fresh in early episodes and then seemed to get brainwashed into thinking she needed to look and act a certain way to be beautiful.

It could have been that darn Spencer…but being in Hollywood there is a definite pressure to look like a plastic playmate. Seriously, she doesn’t even look like herself anymore!  I think the old Heidi was adorable.  The little nuances that make us unique and different are the reasons why we are beautiful as individuals!  I have a feeling though that Hollywood left Heidi feeling like she lost her “sense of self”, which caused her to feel like she wasn’t beautiful.  In order to feel beautiful, you have to love who you areinternally, which means being  completely comfortable and confident with who you are as a person, and the message you have to share with the world!  Do you want that message to be that all you have to offer is your looks? Or your sex appeal?

Its much better to be considered adorable than “hot” ladies…believe me.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the concept of beauty today and if you think reality shows  like The Hills are glorifying an unrealistic, unattainable “perfect”…

Have a great evening!

xo

Betsy

All young women in fashion should read the interview with Kate Dillon on Models.com today!!

Vogue April 2010 by Patrick Demarchelier

Some empowering words from the fashion dynamite who was one of the first plus size supermodels…..

“It’s an industry where women can be empowered. Women get paid more than men in this industry, women have more power than men in this industry so we wanted to focus on something empowering to girls and to take that power and leverage it. I told the girls whether it’s right or not, people listen to pretty people and you have to make sure you have something to say“…

“My advice is always be yourself. If you’re going to be one of the bigger girls then be one of the bigger girls and there’s people who really want that. Secondly, make sure you have something else going on, more for your emotional life, to have vibrancy. It’s a very up and down kind of business so it’s really important to have that to anchor you to the ground.”

So refreshing to hear! Thank you Kate!

xo

Betsy

When submitting your photos to the agency for consideration, all you need is a digital camera.  There is no need for professional photos at this point; if any agency decides to sign you they will guide you to the photographers who will be able to take the photos necessary to market you to prospective clients.

When taking your digital snapshots, make sure you take the photos in front of a plain background; a plain white wall usually works perfectly.  Make sure to take close up photos, mid length photos, and full length photos.  Include smiley and non smiley photos, as well as profile shots.

Try not to be stiff when you are posing for the camera.  If you can have a different body position in each photo this shows the agency that you know how to move! It can be as simple as moving your arms or tilting your head.  Treat these digitals the same way you would treat a catalog shoot!  Also, remember to relax your lips….do not purse them into a “Zoolander” type model pose please!!   If this confuses you, take a look at some catalogs and study how the models pose and hold their bodies.

Do not wear a ton of makeup! Please try to be as natural as possible, tons of makeup and overly orange or tanned skin turns us off usually.

Wear something stylish but flattering to your body. Usually simple is better. I would recommend wearing a bikini, or a black leotard or tank top with skinny jeans and heels when submitting to agencies.   Wear something that shows off your body without looking trashy or vampy. Always wear heels in your digitals!

Please email your photos to info@fiercemodels.com if you’re interested in having me as your booker!

Good luck!

Betsy

When your agent books you for a modeling job, they will either tell you to come “Clean Face” or “Make up Ready”. I thought I would help you guys out by clarifying what this means a little bit more….

Clean Face: A clean moisturized face. No make up. Make sure you wash your face that morning with a gentle face wash like Cetephil or Jason. Then moisturize with a very light, oil free, face cream and use a light gentle eye cream ( I love Trilogy eye cream). Do not use SPF unless you know you will be shooting outside all day…

Make Up Ready: Unless otherwise directed, do not wear a lot of heavy makeup. Instead, I would just use a light concealer, some bare minerals powder and blush, light matte eye shadow (no shimmer!!), a natural color eye liner on the top lid only, and a couple coats of a mascara that will not clump. MAC has a Mascara which you put on in coats depending on how thick you want your eye lashes to be.

Use an eye concealer that is light and not cakey, I really like MAC ‘s Studio Stick Concealer because it reflects light and does not look to to heavy.

Finally, I would use a tinted lip conditioner. Do not use gloss unless you are asked to come “Camera Ready”. Beauty Cosmetics has great tinted lip conditioners made for models by a model.

If they would like more make up on you they should have someone there for “Touch ups” that will take care of the job. But generally, less is more!!

Email me if you have questions and good luck on all of your castings!

xo

Betsy