February 2012

We often talk about what toxins we may be ingesting by eating food or drinking alcohol and soda, but let’s look at what toxins you might be ingesting by lathering on cosmetics! Many women suffer from all sorts of hormonal issues, not to mention lethargy and cancer, so we need also consider what our skin is eating. Your skin is considered to be the largest organs in the human body and if the famous saying rings true and I believe it does, ‘Beauty really is skin deep,’ then we need to stop slapping on chemicals. A recent report stated that the FDA finds lead in 400 lipsticks! Perhaps it’s the perfect time to consider a cosmetic detox!! I’m in! Are you? Is the pretty packaging really worth it? Is it really worth it to have a nice looking bottle that promises eternal youth on your shelves? What you are buying is crap as some some of salvation that supposed to make us feel better. But is it? I mean it’s so crazy it’s ridiculous when you think about it. And numerous companies are laughing all the way to the bank. Figures reveal that women fork out a staggering £100,000 (or approximately $150, 000 plus) on cosmetics over their lifetime, according to a new study.

I use an aluminum free deodorant that I absolutely love. It’s called Lavera and it’s organic and divine! It comes in rose and vanilla and makes me smell and feel scrumptious. I’m on a mission to get my man on it too! I also use it as perfume and get an extra dollop of divine scent from pure essential oils (NOTE: you must avoid certain ones though when pregnant), rather than designer perfumes that are full of god knows what. The cosmetic business can be very unsexy, unloving and just a money grab from women who want to look and feel beautiful. It could be doing more damage than you realize.

I have no issue or judgment about desiring to look and feel fabulous. It’s a high priority for me because it can make life more juicy and pleasurable when beauty is nourished and bathed in self-loving rituals, NOT harmful acts. I enjoy beauty – other people’s and mine. But beauty to me goes way beyond the physical. Every woman whether she realizes it or not wants to invoke the Goddess archetype that lives inside of her and I believe there is many benefits, but at what price? And are we really invoking our Goddess when we poison ourselves with products that are quite simply way below the standard of any woman? Are we really cultivating beauty? I think not!

My books and coaching programs teach you how to reclaim and cultivate sacred, sensual, endless beauty and feminine power by removing all the hidden toxins in your life. Imagine a super power bottle of your favorite toxin free perfume with a genie that lives inside to grant you your wishes and it never runs out! That’s what the Bodylove Diet is all about! Unfortunately many women don’t fully comprehend or ever experience the power of their own beauty. It has nothing to do with what you buy over the counter. As soon as you trust that beauty and love already belong to you by reclaiming your divinity from within, you can start to become more conscious about what you spend your money on, and in the process help to heal and nourish mind, body and soul.

The famous Dove campaign had some good intentions, but was it just another marketing ploy from a billion giant (UNILEVER) to get us to buy more crap products?! Essentially the message was identical to Bodylove but where are their ethnics? I don’t sell toxic crap. Just because they have a few naked women above size 10 who are comfortable to show their so called flaws (God forbid women have an ass and curves – how revolutionary and creative – please note my sarcasm), doesn’t mean that their products are any good! We need to see past the gloss, and question the real motive. Unfortunately, it’s usually just about getting your dollar and tapping into your fears and insecurities to capture you as a long term client. Don’t get me wrong. I am not a communist! Money is great. Money brings freedom and opportunity and I’ve been working with women for years on asking for more money and helping them remove the shame about building lucrative businesses. In fact I call my business coaching division of Bodylove Diet – RICH CHICKS.

But what really constitutes richness? It is both how we make money and how we spend it and how we live. At the end of the day, it’s a mind set about personal worth and our values. It’s about wanting more and claiming it. More freedom, more choices, more health, abundance, love and happiness and yes in summation more beauty.

If a company is telling us we are all beautiful every shape, age and size, but are then simultaneously selling a toxic product…then it’s not worth your money. Slow down, read the labels, be discerning about your dollars and what you put on your skin… As L’Oreal tells us – You’re worth it, right? We owe it to ourselves and our legacy. Advertising companies know that women are the number one consumers and buyers so collectively we can change the world by carefully choosing how and where to spend our money. The spending power of Aussie mums alone (imagine if we added single women and women without children to the mix) has been calculated at $132 billion a year, according to a report on their importance to the economy.

We can make an incredible change by realizing just how much power we have to both ensure companies produce ethical products and how business is done. As a result, the quality of our health and happiness will fall into alignment. As soon as we spend our dollars on products that are loving, ethical and truly healthy and beautiful, businesses will be forced to meet our demands. They don’t seem to listen much to words and protests unless a huge law suit is set to destroy their business, but they will listen when we stop buying crap. From the food I eat to what I put on my skin to the clothes I buy and the restaurants I frequent, it’s comes to quality over quantity for me. I don’t need more stuff, more crap, big meals, or another room full of clothes. What I do need is high quality products that truly feed and nourish my mind, body and spirit. Less is more and quality is of paramount importance. I would rather buy a $10 to $16 deodorant over a $100 bottle of perfume any day or a $200 plus anti-ageing crème…You’ll never catch me buying one ever! I’d rather slap on some coconut oil or concoct a sea salt facial scrub!

When we buy products that are sub par and harmful we are in effect investing in these companies, and fueling their power and igniting the capital they have to further brainwash us into believing their products are good. We are also harming the environment and often blindly diminishing our health. Let’s look at some of the powerful slogans they use to confuse us. They are clever, I must say. All they do is come up with a female liberation type campaign like L’Oreal – Because You’re Worth It. Olay – Love The Skin You’re In and I will go back to food for a second – Skinny Cow Ice Cream! Have you ever seen a skinny cow? Dairy and sugar and additives ain’t going to make you skinny, healthy or happy, babe, so if you’re not losing weight, there’s a big clue. Dairy and processed sugar needs to go bye bye for optimum health and lasting weight loss.

Caring, it turns out, is a competitive advantage, and one that takes effort, not money. – Seth Godin