Mirror Mirror on the Wall

dermHA loves to share thoughts and comments about beauty and its impact on our lives.  Please take a moment to hear GG Renee's musing on the 'Power of Pretty'.

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“Almost always it is the fear of being ourselves that brings us to the mirror….”

I’ve never liked my toes or my knees…I have my reasons. My arms and hands are so long that my fingertips are ridiculously close to reaching my knees when I stand with my hands at my sides. My forehead selfishly stole a good inch from my scalp that it really didn’t need. I’m in my thirties, but I still have acne-prone skin. And somewhere inside there is still a 13 year old, insecure girl who wants bigger breasts, clearer skin and smaller feet. This girl in me wills me to compare and contrast myself to other girls and wonder what it feels like to have all the physical qualities that I have told myself will make me feel more desirable. I know this girl very well. We go way back.
I have recently acquainted myself with a newer part of me that is spreading a different attitude and becoming the Girl to Watch among all the little girls that make up the woman that is me. Word on the street is that nobody can do what I do quite the way I do it. My long body, sensitive skin and big head are mine to love and carry with grace. I’m finally believing the idea that there is no benchmark for beauty and that how I feel about myself determines how I look. It’s my business to feel good on my own terms without apology or fear of judgment. This is the hottest trend , the fashion must-have, the magical beauty secret of all fabulous women: Believe you are beautiful and beautiful you will be.

Let’s not make it more difficult than it needs to be! Who is the fairest of them all? The one whose mirror reflects self-love, self-awareness and the boldness to live out loud.

GG Renee

GG Renee loves to write and advocate for the success and emotional well-being of the modern woman. She infuses the concepts of self-love and personal development into everything she creates. Based in the Washington DC area, she does relationship management for a financial services company by day; while her free time is spent studying the complexities of love and life. She is a peace warrior, a dancing queen, and a scribe hopelessly devoted to personal freedom. GG is one half of the duo behind the happiness blog, Peace Love and Pretty Things. She also shares her personal journey of transformation on her blog, The Write Curl Diary.

Jana's Journey...

My skin care challenges go back to my teen years. In high school I went to doctors and took medications and managed to get it somewhat under control. However, during college, my skin went haywire. I went to tons of doctors, had numerous medical grade skin peels, changed my diet, took medication and anything else people told me might help change the appearance of my skin. I keep my hair in my face as much as possible to block people from seeing my skin. I eventually even stop trying to put myself together, what did cute clothes and shoes matter, once people saw the pimples, bumps and discoloration of my face, I knew that would be all they saw. It really hurt my self-confidence and when my skin was at its worse, I retreated from the social world. Eventually my dermatologist put me on accutane for almost ten months, which finally cleared up the acne. However, I was still left with splotchy discoloration on my face and neck.


I had my acne under control for a while when I was introduced to dermHA and Millie, but I was still bothered by the discoloration that had not receeded. I tried all of the time to scrub off the dark marks, but it never worked. Millie gave me one on one attention, wanting to learn everything about my skin care routines, skin care needs and ultimate goals. She had such a thorough knowledge of skin health and skin care and was able to tell me what my skin needed to achieve my goals. After an extensive evaluation and treatment session with Millie, I made a conscious decision to 'listen to Millie' from then on because I knew that her knowledge and her desire to provide others with beautiful skin would help me achieve my skin care goal of clear, healthy skin. I had been to some of the best dermatologists in the country and never got the kind of personal attention that Millie gave me. The regimen and behavioral recommendations were specific to me, my history and my needs. Millie did a great job of explaining the whys of everything. She knew about products, not just her own, ingredients, skin care tools and everything connected to skin health and beauty.


I immediately noticed that my skin felt different. From the day I meet Millie, I made the commitment to wash my face every morning and every night and to use sunscreen and moisturizer. Now, I will not leave my home in the morning without using the dermHA HA Therapy Plus. It doesn't feel greasy or heavy. I've been using it and the other products Millie recommended for six months and the discoloration is fading and my tone is even. I think I have a glow now and my skin looks healthy. I no longer feel that I have to put foundation on my face to be presentable, I can just put on my moisturizer to refresh and I feel ready to go!


Feeling beautiful,

Jana


Jana is a teacher, wife and mother and eats healthy and exercises to complete her healthy living goals. Jana is also the coordinator of the REVHS AVID program, an innovate education program that helps promote academic achievement and college readiness for low to moderate income families. Jana has won numerous awards for her work with AVID and is an incredible role model and community leader. For more information about the AVID model go to http://www.avid.org/

Erica Terry Derryck Reflects on The Power of Pretty

Primping Our Souls...




Pretty is as pretty does. Beauty is only skin deep. Be more than just a pretty face. All these adages pay proper patronage to our supposed moral code, but blatantly belie the truth. In reality our attitudes on beauty are generally cute from far and far from cute. The ugly truth is that we spend a great deal of time and effort tearing ourselves and one another down because of appearances.

How many times have you berated a perfect stranger for thinking she's cute; or judged a fellow female harshly for her weight, style of dress, hair color or skin tone? This is to say nothing of the damage we inflict on ourselves. How many of us have skipped a night out on the town because of a few extra pounds or the unwelcomed arrival of a zit? Have we refused the offers of a potential suitor who measured up in every other way except for being cute enough or tall enough or fashionable enough?

Despite how self-assured we may appear, or how pro-woman we try to be, we all are susceptible to being shallow sometimes. Our best defense is to own up to this weakness. If we don't, then we can't possibly gird against all the ways in which our best intentions to look past appearances to find the beauty within are subverted by unattainable standards of beauty promulgated in every sector of our society.

We have whole aspects of mainstream culture where the only requirements for getting ahead are a pretty face and a thin body. These so-called success stories populate our magazines and dominate our movie screens. Lackluster talent and poor performances are repackaged and sold to us as aspirations for success based on looks alone. It's hard to swim against this tide.

Merit and hard work, moral fiber and goodness are sloppy seconds in a world of instant gratification where the only fixins for success you need are the trappings of beauty you can buy online and in a plastic surgeon's office. But beauty and looks alone should not be the key ingredients for fame, fortune and success. Happiness and contentment form that foundation. Character and good judgment count. Empathy and intelligence should spur you ahead in life, not thin thighs and high cheek bones.

But we're never going to move past the lip service to make all the old sayings ring true unless we are as vigilant and deliberate about grooming our inner beauty as we are in maintaining our outward appearance. This means we have to primp our souls as much as we do our weaves. We have to excise the dead weight from our lives as readily as we cut our split ends. We have to make sure our hearts shine as brightly as our teeth or our shoes!

We have to challenge the women we love to do the same. If you can keep a weekly hair appointment, ask yourself why you can't mentor a young lady once a month? The next time you plan to meet up with your girlfriend at the nail shop, consider a trip to the local soup kitchen instead. For every time you tell your sister or your daughter how beautiful she is, make sure you tell her ten times over how smart and kind she is too.

It may seem uncomfortable and forced at first, but no more than the first time you curled your eyelashes, permed your hair or donned a pair of Spanx. If you do it often enough, it will eventually become second nature. Like looking into the mirror before you leave the house-only this time you'll see past what's staring at you to catch glimpses of your true humanity. Before you know it, you'll be reveling in the fruits of this labor. It will be measured in the way your daughter walks taller when she enters a room, the confidence that gives you the moxie to ask that guy out, and the strength that tells you to do more than just think you deserve a raise, but to ask for it too!

Erica
wife, mother, communications maven...

Erica has worked in communications her entire career, filling the roles of writer, editor, producer and communications director in such venues as ABC, MTV and the Fresh Air Fund. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and received her Masters in Journalism from the University of California at Berkeley. Erica loves to travel the world, but currently resides in The Bay Area with her husband and her two children, and serves as the Communications Director for the San Francisco District Attorney's office.