The 80′s definitely influenced my wardrobe decisions, until recently thanks to Indigo Zuri the Colour Gurl herself of p2styles.  More on that a chance encounter a little later.*

The OMGs (Original Mean Girls)

After my fashion faux pas in Mrs. Ellis’ second grade class things would never be the same again. My very fashionable seamstress mother managed to mismatch brands and had me in a pair of adorable hand-me-down Jordache jeans and a super cute plaid Osh-Kosh B’Gosh shirt.

Somehow we didn’t get the memo that wearing more than one name brand was an offense that deserved to be pointed out by the pseudo-fashion police Latricia and Nakia (looking back their outfits were tired). Ring leader Latricia made it a point to tell the class that I was perping, and everyone laughed at me (even my secret crush Dashon laughed).  Really!?! Well considering I was the n.k.o.t.b. and she had like a hundred sisters.  I let it slide, but that event changed the way I dressed. That was until Ms. Indigo came along and freed me from my perped-out fashion prison.

She told me that it was AOK to mix and match brands, and that being matchy matchy was a little sanitized (my words, but you get the point).  I’ve been learning how to dress my body the size it is now, instead of the size it was before.  It was hard because my eyes are drawn to the 6-8′s, and I never really paid the 12-14′s much attention.

What I’ve learned from this lady is that every well dressed person has a wardrobe with purpose.  Something that is premeditated, planned out in advance.  Strategy…Then a light went off in my head, once she put things in business terms I could totally understand. According to Indigo here are the top five things every wardrobe must have

1. Little Black Dress or LBD as she affectionately calls it
2. blazer
3. black skirt or pants
4. crisp white blouse
5. pumps

Your Bonus 5

Open neckline tee-shirt, cardigan, dark jeans, great coat, leather jacket

Get A Second Opinion

*How I met Indigo.  In 2009 I was one of the hosts to a Beauty & Fashion Tweetup, and Indigo came to event.  It was funny because just the day before I’d met with another image consultant after winning a gift certificate from a networking event.  I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the diagnosis from the other consultant. It was pretty bleak, and I felt like total poop after I left my consultation.  For two reasons…

1. I knew that I wasn’t her target demographic
2. my money was hilarious at the time.

So the next day when Indigo mentioned that she was an image consultant.  I went in hard on her, mostly because my ego was a bloody mangled mess from the day before, and I’m kinda hard headed and have my own ideas.  She stood her ground, was knowledgeable and could see that I was deeply hurt by the previous experience. I appreciated her willingness to take me by the hand and walk me through the process, and That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Worked with an image consultant?  Share your story.

Congratulations you are having a baby, and while the past 37 or so weeks were spent prepping for your bundle of joy.  Now it’s time to take the attention off of the baby, and pack your bag as you head off to the hospital to deliver.  Here’s a list of things that I came up with, so that you wouldn’t have to.

Personal Care items

body wash, lotion, deodorant,  tooth brush and paste, a gloss or balm for dry lips, sanitary napkins (the extra absorbent kind), breast pads, nip stick, comb and brush, ponytail holders, shampoo and conditioner

Wardrobe

Go for comfy, and stylish in the lounge wear department, preferably something that buttons in the front so that you can have access to your boobage should you need it in a hurry.  The reason I say this is because for the next several weeks your going to be sporting your granny’s panties, bound and gagged in girdles, and a wearing nursing bra. Not exactly Victoria’s Secret…which could be the reason your packing your bag in the first place, but that’s a very different blog post.

Please bring several of the items listed in the paragraph, a girl needs options…after all you and baby will have quite a few visitors, and you’ll want to look your best.

Slippers and a robe are always nice to have, socks for potentially chilly feet.

Crossword puzzle, Sudoku, or playing cards to distract you as you wait patiently for your bundle of joy to arrive.

Your phone book.  You’ll need it to give your family and friends the great news.

Don’t forget your camera.  You will need pictures to capture your babies first moments on earth.

Pen and paper.  Just incase you have to write something.

Off the top of my head…this about covers it.  This list is for Mama’s only, we know baby will be taken care of.  If I’ve left anything out please share your thoughts and comments.

With everyone tightening their belts and bracing themselves for the worst.  “Luxury” services have taken a hit, but here is my guide to staying beautiful in today’s economy…I am  keeping you smooth and hair free.

1.WAXING
Thousands of dollars less expensive than laser hair removal, and less time consuming than daily shaving.  Waxing is an excellent alternative method of hair removal.  It leaves your skin smooth and hair free for weeks. As urban tales of the euphoria experienced by devout bikini/body waxers continues to dominate national headlines.  Investing in yourself RIGHT NOW is important as it helps boost your self confidence.  It does so by eliminating one less thing you dislike about yourself.  Body Waxing will give you a smooth start, in today’s economy.

2. WHAT THE PLUCK?
Get your hands on two pair of Tweezerman tweezers.  They are my all time favorite  for two reasons:
1. They are an awesome product.
2. They come with a lifetime warranty.
You can send in your dull tweezers to be sharpened, and you’ve got a second pair on standby to tweeze away those stray hairs.

3. SUGAR SCRUBS & CREME
Sugar scrubs are highly under-rated products that are a quick fix to having skin as smooth as a baby’s bottom.  They exfoliate dead skin cells while leaving your skin smooth and hydrated.  In my opinion Bella Lucce’ crushes the competition with their succulent hand-made high-end all natural scrubs.  You can finish off your treatment with a body creme that is the perfect compliment to your scrub of choice.

I can sum up my entire experience at America’s Beauty Show 2011  in one word…AWESOME!!!  As always I am never disappointed.  The glitz and glam of the hair indy has become  a staple of this show, but this weekend there was a new sheriff in town…Whose name is Synergy, and she was loving her some Ms. Esthetician.

Taking it all in
America’s Beauty Show will always hold a special place in my heart, because it was were the platform bug bit me, I met my friend, turned play play big sister Danyale  and totally fell head over heels in love with waxing.

I arrived Saturday Afternoon spent some quality time with Ms. Smart cookie herself Bridget Cavanaugh (aka B.Cav. it’s a RockStar thing), had lunch and then hit the show floor. I literally stood a few feet away from Ms. Tabatha Coffey as we exchanged quick hellos (this moment was made possible by B.Cav). The Exhibits were bigger and louder than last year, people were excitedly buzzing around, and I felt at one with the universe.

I Really, Really Love This Indy

ME and DaRico Jackson

My inner cheerleader is such “The Spartan” that I have to laugh at myself.  I know for sure Mr.DaRico Jackson got a chance to experience it first hand, thanks for playing along Mr. Jackson;). I love the fact that he plays shy when it comes to his Rock Star status, and that he too is a Michigander (Michigan is a mecca of talent) .

With the stars right where they were supposed to be…B. Cav and I jumped into a limo w/ complete strangers and came out BFF’s, no seriously (that’s how we roll).

ME and Michelle B of Naturally Curly

Ms. Naturally Curly.com herself (Michelle B.), and naturally curly’s advertising extordinare  Megan D. just so happened to be in that limo.  I had the opportunity to tell them face to face just how much I appreciate what they have done, by empowering curlies of all types, and I got my paws on a stack of ambassador cards…Yay!!!

Had the honor of attending  Vidal Sasson The Movie premiere. Bumped into the wonderful and hard working ladies from Modern Salon Lauren Salapatek, and Alison Shipley, I sat a few rows in front of Robert Cromeans at the Vidal event.

Then on Sunday I met and hung out with the wonderfully

from L:Kim E. Eboni T. Tiffany T. and Wendi L

amazing owners of Mixed Chicks A Curly Revolution and Mike of Jane Carter Solution, at Schedulicity’s VIP Par-Tay (to name a few), and lets not forget my rekindled a friendship with Ms. Eboni Talley of The Tally Experience.  BTW for those of you that were invited to the Schedulicity VIP Party and didn’t come, your loss…We had fun, didn’t we?!

Side bar: When I say re-kindled I am using the term loosely.  Ebi (as I call her) and I go way back…We’re from the same town, but I hadn’t seen her since our high school graduation, many moons ago.  [Insert Social Media]  we’ve reconnected and BOOM there you have it.

My Reason For…

The tweet that started it all!!!

A very wise person once told me  ”You don’t have to be liked by everyone, just the right person”.  His words couldn’t be more true.  I am so excited that Michael Wilson Schedulicity’s director of new media found my tweet that fateful Sunday.

I was so over the online scheduling/phone answering company that I was using at the time…With their high prices and poor customer service that I was looking for a change.  I was ready to dump their behinds, but didn’t have a back up plan, so I turned to twitter.

I needed a company that appreciated their customers and weren’t afraid to show it. [Insert Schedulicity Here] Pretty much the rest is history.

Excerpt from ABS2011 Blog post...I told you all...The best is yet to come from Schedulicity.

I believe that the culture of a business is a direct reflection of the people in charge, in particular the CEO of a company. Schedulicity is an awesome company full of amazing people, and I can’t sing their praises enough.  Mr. Jerry Netuno is the man w/ the master plan aka their CEO and such a brilliant business man to surround himself with the most amazing people.

Their business is online scheduling, but what they really do…Is impact peoples lives, and as a result.  I had the privilege of speaking at my beloved America’s Beauty Show, with my good buddy  and Schedulicity’s director of new media Michael Wilson.  Which I am over joyed to announce it went really well,  ok I am being modest  They loved us and we were loving on them right back….Muah xoxoxo.  I am already making plans to attend next years show.

If you attended ABS2011  what was the highlight of the show for you? please share your story by commenting below.  For pics of my awesome weekend please click here

Season 3 of Tabatha’s Salon Takeover is here to help you whip your salon back in shape.  The Deadline for applying is May 7. Visit Casting Duo to download your application.

Do you have a stock pile of beauty products that could win the war on U.G.L.Y (I’ll leave that to your imagination), single handed?  I know I do.  Hey I am in this business, and I am still suckered into buying things that I don’t really need.  It’s like we are trained from the cradle to the grave that the fair maiden with the largest product collection wins.

Beauty is really pretty simple.   It is in the eye of the beholder, void of boundaries, and not a ton of unnecessary products.

I would define it as: a state of being that starts from the inside out, but I’ve noticed that we generally pay more attention to our outside.  So let’s start there.  Here are a few suggestions to help simplify your beauty routine.

1. Milk Cleanser- Guinot and Simone France make really awesome milk cleansers.
2. Mineral Makeup- I am new to the world of mineral makeup. Actually I avoided it because I thought it was messy, and that the color didn’t last very long. That was until I was discovered by Niko Papadatos of Niko Cosmetics while shopping at America’s Beauty Show (it’s  a funny story).  They’ve silenced the naysayer in me.  Way to go Niko Cosmetics.
3. An eye treatment system.  Guinot’s youth boost for eyes offers a 14  day solution to those pesky fine lines around your eyes.
4. A good mask goes a long way, and Aveda’s intensive hydrating mask is no exception.

The days of complicated beauty routines are long gone.  What products do you use to simplify your life?

Is it just me–well this week it probably is–but has anyone else noticed that companies large and small are building brand awareness and creating a culture for their business at the same time?  For instance they have their own vocab that’s unique to their brand, some awesome tees that the staff wears, they may even have out-of-this-world email marketing campaigns (that are just too funny), and a way to make you feel right at home (by letting you throw peanuts on the floor).

It’s All Good

Since I started my journey as an entrepreneur I’ve found myself paying close attention to things like branding.  I’ve gotten pretty good at predicting who will do what, and how.  I know that when I call Moosejaw Mountaineering to ask a question, any question, the person on the other end is going to answer the phone something like this:   Thanks for calling Moooooooooooooooojaw (I lose it every time).

Or if I go to Texas Roadhouse one time or three hundred times in a row  they are going to ask me the same silly question:  Is this your first time here? I don’t know, it could be a PMS thing, but as of yesterday I think I’d had enough of that. Why shouldn’t a brand recognize that I’m a repeat customer?  That is very annoying to me, and this could possibly be the reason why…

I have a natural gift for remembering small and obscure details about people, and let’’s mention the fact that I make a concentrated effort to listen to the other person as they speak, pay close attention to what makes them tick, and that I really truly am a people person, most of the time. Now there is the zero tolerance for caca-de-vaca, which adds a little extra spice to the mix, but all in all,  I really enjoy interacting with people.

Back In The Day

For those of you who don’t know,  I am a former sales associate, turned server, turned esthetician. I tried my hand at pushing papers back and forth, but my real passion is the consumer.   I am no saint, and yes there are consumers I’d rather not deal with, but all in all I find real happiness in helping people.

Being in the service indy has been very good to me.  It has afforded me many opportunities.  I’ve met really cool people, traveled to nice places, and made some decent money along the way.  Let me give you an example: I was able to pay off all of my debt including my car while waiting tables in Atlanta, attend cosmetology and massage therapy school, meet and marry my hubby* (poor thing married the help, lol), travel to a few cool places, ohhh and meet Mr. Cuba Gooding Jr. (when I bartended/waitressed at the Bucket Shop Cafe, in Atl).

Brand New

The companies that I gravitate towards have a few things in common, and exceptional customer service is one of them. Oh, and they are fun.  Here are a few companies that I really like:

Moosejaw Mountaineering: I am not even an outdoorsy person, but they make me consider it.

Schedulicity: They make it easy for clients to do business with me.

Sole Sister Shoes, Rochester: Diane is a Shoeologist, and accessories expert.

Jacobson Department Store: If only for a moment to go back in time.  This is where I got my start in retail.

Are there brands that you love? Feel free to post them.

Oh, and this list may grow throughout the day;)

*Before my hubby I’d never ever dated a customer. Some wise person once told me “You don’t eat where you take a dump” (I know I can’t make stuff like this up).  So after we started dating, to keep it strictly business he stopped coming to the restaurant where I was working.  I just thought it was better that way.

I thank the lawd above that I  am an open minded esthetician,  and because of my willingness to try new things I was introduced to the concept of sugaring on twitter by the rock star sugaring experts @myshoba.  If you don’t know by now, I am made up of a 84.5 percent skepticism, and the remaining 15.5 percent is I love being in the know.  Yes, I am a walking contradiction, but who isn’t?

Something else you may not know about me is that, great marketing makes me weak in the knees, and  Shobha is a very well marketed product.  They are clear on what they provide and give you a ton of information on their services and products.  I couldn’t resist trying out their sugaring gel, after they won me over with their kick-booty brand.

What’s the Big Sticky Deal?

Sugaring aka sugar waxing is also a form of hair removal.  It is very similar to strip waxing in that is applied to unwanted hair and is removed with a strip.  In this case I was given super cute denim strips to remove the sugar gel.  Surprisingly enough it worked  for removing the hair on my lower legs, and they were very, very smooth.

The Skinny: I did notice that when sugared the hairs on my mom’s chinny chin chin, they were less impressed and were rather defiant to the entire sugaring process.  So I had to revert back to waxing those bad girls.  After about 3 weeks of smooth legs it’s was time to re-sugar.  I wax my lower legs every 6-8 weeks.

Mind Over Pain

Sugaring still stings just like waxing does to me, but may offer a less irritating experience to those that are allergic to the pine resins that are in traditional wax.  It’s all natural you can make a sugaring paste using these ingredients sugar, honey, lemon juice and water.  Consistency is key, and since I am anti-DIY I recommend buying your sugaring gel from a reputable company like Shobha.

It was fun trying something different, but as far as Ms. Esthetician is concerned I am going to stick with wax.

I’ll leave you with this video of sugaring done by one of Shobha’s experts.

America’s Beauty Show lived up to every ounce of its anticipation.  I was not disappointed; actually it made me really proud to be a part of such an amazing industry.  I had the wonderful opportunity to listen to Scott Cole of Paul Mitchell speak at the student assembly.  After, as Desiree and I were walking down the hall, we stopped and had a chat with him and took a pic.  How cool is that, uh totally.