Beauty Culture Magazine

Beauty Culture Magazine is looking for stories and photos of the Real Beauties in your life. It can be any woman who has influenced you for the better, once or throughout your life.

If you know of an inspirational young woman whose story you'd like to share for our new Beautiful Beginnings feature, feel free to submit it now for our next issue!

As the editor of Beauty Culture, I am striving to emphasize that the true meaning of beauty isn't found in a bottle, jar or magazine, but in the conditon of our hearts.

Click here for details on submitting stories, topics or comments to Beauty Culture Magazine! Sorry, we cannot accept copyrighted material or images.

I took an informal survey of everyone on all of my mailing lists, and asked them for their own personal glimpse into real beauty. I expected to get varied answers, but by and large, the response was pretty much the same, for both men and women ABOUT men and women in their lives.

They described in detail how these beautiful people had touched their lives. Some of them said the person would not be considered physically attractive, that their beauty emanated from a deeper place inside, where they had found contentment and acceptance with themselves. This, in turn, shown out from them like a beacon and touched the lives of others around them. As a dear college pal put it, "Knowing you are more than a body is my definition of beautiful."

We've all heard the joke about the person 'with a nice personality', the kiss of death in any blind date situation. But I think I infinitely prefer someone who can carry on a conversation that doesn't revert to narcissism and bad pick up lines. I like people with opinions they have researched for themselves, not just regurgitated from the last CNN sound byte; people who are truly witty, and can be funny without doing so at the expense of others. But to do those things, you have to have 'a nice personality'.

I must say that I have been blessed in my life to know so many beautiful people, from all walks of life, all ages, genders, religions and so on. While researching this piece, I found the following definition:

"Beauty is the phenomenon of the experience of pleasure, through the perception of balance and proportion of stimulus. It involves the cognition of a balanced form and structure that elicits attraction and appeal towards a person, animal, inanimate object, scene, music, idea, etc."

My questions are:

How much of the experience is determined by love, or the lack of it?

Or is it purely a matter of cultural preferences and/or upbringing?

Can it be altered?

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

The basis for any beauty regime is proper nutrition, especially when it comes to your skin.
There is nothing more attractive than smooth, glowing skin, and this is made possible by watching what you eat and making positive changes in your lifestyle. You may even save a few bucks on cosmetics!

Why does what you put in your body make a difference?
Because when your body is full of toxins from eating processed foods, trans fatty acids, and sugar, drinking alcohol and taking drugs has its effects your body's ability to flush itself out. This shows up as acne, sallow skin, wrinkles, and so on. Like it or not, no amount of lotions, chemicals or surgery can have the same positive long term effects as a healthy lifestyle.

First, drink plain, fresh water (NOT flavored water) and increase your fiber intake.
This makes sure that all of your cleansing organs (intestines, kidneys, adrenal glands, thyroid and liver) can do their job properly and flush toxins from your system. Your skin will become clear and glowing when your system is clean and eliminating properly.

Feed your body fresh food like fruits, vegetables, juices, whole grains, lean meats and poultry, oily fish such as salmon (for Omega 3 fatty acids that help keep skin hydrated), virgin oils and fats.
A basic rule of thumb is if it's processed, fried, breaded or comes in a can, avoid it! Use sea salt as opposed to table salt, which has no nutrients and does nothing but raise your sodium levels.

Lose the soda, including diet soda, and other sugary drinks. Lose the artificial sweeteners, too.
Carbonated drinks leach calcium from your bones, putting you at risk for calcium deficiency and osteoporosis. Artificial sweeteners are full of toxins that can overload your system, causing headaches and other side effects. Raw and maple sugars are better for you if you need a sweetener, but limit your intake.

Cut back on the amount of sweets you eat overall.
This doesn't mean no sweets ever, but keep it in moderation, and choose unrefined sugars whenever possible. Sugar is in almost every processed food you can think of, because it's cheap and used as a filler. Read the labels in your cupboard if you need proof. Cut down a bit at a time if you have to, but make it a priority to eat as little processed sugar as possible.

Avoid fad diets, and make healthy eating a regular habit, not a temporary solution.
Try to eat as healthy as you can wherever you are. Rapid loss or increase in weight can stretch your skin, and it will lose elasticity, causing wrinkles and skin flaps.

Lack of sleep, stress, smoking or being exposed to second hand smoke, drugs and drinking will also take a huge toll on your skin.
Do your best to cut back or eliminate them all together, you know your Mom would approve!

Be sure to get some sun, but wear a hat to avoid burning, and limit your exposure time, especially if you have a fair complexion.
Wear sun screen, even on cloudy days, to all exposed areas of skin. Regular exercise will not only increase the blood flow and circulation of your skin, it will increase your energy levels and give you a sense of well being. Try to move with a purpose everyday for at least 15 minutes, take a walk or take the stairs. It's a journey, but you will find you can enjoy a healthy lifestyle no matter where you are, or what level of health you are at right now. Just take it one day at a time.

NOTE: Don't forget to get the OK from your health care professional before making any changes in your nutrition, exercise and medication regime.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

1. Try everything twice.
On Madame's tombstone (of Whelan's and Madame) she said she wanted this epitaph: Tried everything twice...loved it both times!

2. Keep only cheerful friends.
The grouches pull you down. (keep this in mind if you are one of those grouches!)

3. Keep learning!
Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain get idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud.
Laugh until you gasp for breath, and if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with HIM/HER.

6. The tears happen: Endure, grieve, and move on.
The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. LIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love.
Whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health.
If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips.
Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

11. Forgive now those who made you cry. You might not get a second chance.

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