Betsy's Beauty Blog

Reisha Fryzer, owner of Farm Box LA, shares her love of eating fresh,  seasonal, organic, pesticide-free produce by delivering locally grown goods to doorsteps in Los Angeles.

I met Reisha at my local lululemon store in Brentwood.  She joked that her garage was full of vegetables. I was intrigued.  Turns out, this vegetable loving yogi is quite the woman.  Throughout college, Reisha thought she was preparing herself for a successful career in her parent’s real estate management business, however, after a stint studying French in Paris, she found herself back in LA— volunteering on a farm. 

The Parisian lifestyle of shopping daily for your meal at local butchers and farmers markets inspired Reisha.  Realizing that  more Los Angelenos would support local farms and farmers markets if the legwork was done for them, the business idea for Farm Box LA sprouted in her mind.  Reisha decided to find a way to bring the organic local food she loved to the doorsteps of her neighbors on a weekly basis. 

Now her week consists of visiting local farms and farmers markets, picking out the seasonal selection herself, and boxing (yes in her garage) personalized packages for each of her customers.  And if you find a delightful recipe suggestion included in your Farm Box, don’t overlook it—Reisha earned her chef certificate at the Epicurean Culinary School.

A woman empowering her community by working in the dirt to support local farmers— that is beautiful. 

Stacey Stilts travels the world seeking out the ultimate in natural and organic ingredients to carry in her posh beauty boutique, Green Line Beauty.  Stacey’s passion for natural beauty stems from experience working for Hain Celestial, along with a childhood growing up on her family farm in Missouri; “It’s a setting where your life’s success relies on Mother Nature, and I can’t imagine living any other way,” says Stacey. 

Visiting Green Line Beauty, one will find products free of parabens, petrochemicals, chemicals and toxins, with no artificial colorants and fragrances. By offering only the safest, and most advanced options, Stacey hopes to do her part in educating beauty goers on the effectiveness of all natural products. Favorites include  Juice Beauty Cleansing Gel, and Sircuit O.M.G. Serum.  323.933.5369; greenlinebeauty.com.

New fitness classes in Los Angeles focus on the detail.

Hot 8 Yoga

Debuting in Santa Monica as the first hot yoga studio, Hot 8 Yoga offers diversity in classes, and luxury with amenities: padded studio floors, personal lockers for members, clean towels, and spacious, beautiful bathrooms—complete with showers. The finishing touch comprises iced hand towels for wiping off sweat, and chilled cucumber water for re-hydration.  Hot 8 Yoga focuses on strength, flexibility and balance, with a holistic approach to nurturing the spirit. 310-866-5280; Hot8Yoga.com.

Circuit Works

Raphael Verela, a six-year United States Marine Corps veteran who created Optimum Boot Camp in 1996, is the founder of Circuit Works in Venice Beach and in Brentwood.  The hour long workout switches from aerobic cardiovascular to anaerobic resistance exercise every 60 seconds; this method increases the fat expenditure of the body by more than 500%.  Nutritional coaching, meal plans paired with meal deliveries, and personal training, are just some of the many measures Circuit Works takes to ensure fitness goals are met.   310-826-4100; circuitworksla.com.

Vulnerability derives from the Latin word vulnerare (to be wounded) and describes the potential to be harmed physically and/or psychologically.

Growing up, we are socially trained that showing vulnerability is bad, that it is a sign of weakness.  It is my opinion however, that having the ability to allow yourself to show vulnerability takes courage, and is a strength in life that most lack.  Who are the vulnerable?  Only those brave enough to accept and tell the story of who they are with their whole hearts—those are the vulnerable.  When you forgive yourself and accept who you are with your whole heart, you develop the compassion to be kind to yourself.  And that is important, because when you stop being so hard on yourself, and you start treating yourself like you would a best friend, you start liking yourself more—making it easier to show vulnerabilities.  When you are not afraid to show vulnerabilities, your ability to connect with others comes much more naturally. Because you now have a habit of being kind to yourself, you’ll pleasantly realize you now have a habit of being kind to others.

Exposing vulnerability is no easy task. It requires a ton of courage. The courage to be imperfect, to fail, to be misunderstood…and most importantly, to be loved—by yourself.  Once you develop this rare strength, (vulnerability), suddenly there is a strong peace within yourself.  And once you have created peace within yourself,  you have just created peace within the world.  

This is why I believe that what makes you vulnerable, also makes you beautiful.  They go hand in hand.

Love,

Betsy

Through developing young women (and men) for careers as models, I quietly observed their lives and noticed a trend in what differentiated the beautiful and happy, from the beautiful and miserable.  In this discovery, I began to notice a real quality to an industry that most find very unreal and superficial. 

That real quality was a certain type of people.  The people involved who lived with so much passion for what they did, who wouldn’t settle for anything less than fabulous, and who had the courage to grab life by the balls and just go for it!  Sounds fun, right?  Easier said than done.  Traveling 4 days out of the week (what most full time catalog models do), not having the stability of a 9-5, or knowing when your next paycheck may be, takes a LOT of faith, and strength.  And where that strength comes from, is a place of belief… and from a feeling.  A feeling that you are doing what you were put on this earth to do, and the belief that you will not fail! This is the quality that dramatically shapes the difference between the beautiful and miserable, and the beautiful and blissful.

So I encourage you to figure out what you think your purpose is. Then really believe in it and let go of your “other safe plan”.  Safe plans I like to identify off the top of my head include:  a relationship you’re staying in because you’re afraid of being alone, a job that is draining all of your mental energy… and causes you to daydream about what you really wish you were doing, or a city you’re living in because its all you know…but you just have a feeling that there is something else out there for you.  Let go. There is.  The unknown is only really scary before you get there, trust me.  I’ve put myself in plenty of scary situations in life…scary, vulnerable situations where I had no idea what the outcome would be and I was in complete survival mode.  And it was terrifying… but I always “just had this feeling” that’s how it had to be.  And you know what?  The greatest experiences I’ve had in life so far have always stemmed from these decisions.  Making my life, and me, feel more beautiful.

Love you all!

Goodnight  :)

Betsy

Image Source: Original sample from rising star Illustrator Mona Daley, represented at Dasgrup.com

Most of us have been through it if you’ve had the experience of moving to LA. The smog, the stress, the partying…whatever you want to blame it on, but most people’s skin completely freaks out once you move there!

Come my favorite hair and make up artist Sunnie Brook Jones to the rescue!! She has this FAB new blog where she discusses everything beauty.

Here is an excerpt from her latest post about how she cleared her LA induced acne…

She told me I needed to start using a Glycolic treament 2-3 times a week and a heavier moisturizer. The reason I had those bumps was because my pores were getting clogged as my skin was trying to hydrate itself but producing too much oil.

I asked if they had a return policy – I was tired of my shelves being full and my pockets being empty! She said yes and I skeptically took out my wallet. Here’s what changed my skin. Epicuren. I am now a lover of this line, especially these products … .

I love her insight, and I also love Epicuren!!Thank you Sunnie! xoxo

Betsy

Last year, model Crystal Renn appeared in five major ad campaigns and seven French Vogue spreads, walked two Chanel shows, and worked with top photographers including Steven Klein and Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. Perfectly normal for a top model, of course, except for one thing: Renn has 38-inch hips, making her roughly a size 8, which is considered plus-size in the fashion world. As recently as a few years ago, her best hope for work would have been catalogue jobs.

At some point, if Renn’s schedule allows, he hopes to help her get her own plus-size clothing line. “It is on our list, right before world peace,” he half-jokes. “We talk about it.” But before that: “We want the first cover of American Vogue for a plus-size girl. And we want to get rid of the word plus.”

“The Rise of the Plus Size Model”- The Cut

(Source: New York Magazine)