ANSR Acne Care System

ANSR Acne System

Authentic Beauty just started carrying the ANSR Acne Care System & everyone who has tried it has loved it! Last Friday, we had our Sept. Champagne & Shadows, and we set up a station where everyone could try this nifty little gadget before getting their make-up done. I got so much great feedback!

Now let me back up & explain what ANSR does. ANSR was formulated to treat blemish outbreaks while helping to restore the skin’s balance of natural oils. To facilitate this, use ANSR once or twice daily in the morning and/or evening. Just make sure you have clean skin and then, use your ANSR: BEAM to administer healing blue and red light waves. The blue light kills acne causing bacteria & the red light helps improve skin texture and tone, and reduces fine lines, wrinkles, pore size & redness. Sounds great right? And the lights utilize harmless LED (low-emitting diode) photolight, generating very little heat. Although the BEAM light is intensely bright, it is neither a laser nor UV light, so it won’t burn your skin or eyes. However, as with any flashlight or bright light source, staring into the red and blue LED lights for any length of time is not recommended (duh). The BEAM has been extensively tested by TUV America, a globally recognized testing, inspection, and certification organization, to ensure the safety and construction of our handheld device.

But bottom line, this thing works. There’s no smoke & mirrors. One of my clients who attended Champagne & Shadows was very skeptical of ANSR and if it would work or not. She had some hormonal acne on her chin and around her mouth that was slightly scabby because she had picked at it. This client normally has pretty clear skin, but it was around that time of the month for her. We used ANSR around the affected areas, and by the end of the event that night, she told me she could see an improvement and I could too! I was thrilled because this is someone who uses minimal products on her skin and has had the same skin regimen since she was 13 (she is 27 now). She bought one and right now, we are offering the ANSR for $150 as an introductory special.

Believe me, that is a great deal if you’ve ever had to go to a doctor’s office or spa for clinical lasers, which are much more expensive. And clinical laser treatments are not only expensive, but the high-powered lasers may be overly aggressive, often creating redness and slight pain. Studies have shown that lower-powered, in-home phototherapy light waves used consistently every day are very effective in treating the skin. Consistency, when it comes to phototherapy is more important than intensity. To learn more about the ANSR offered at Authentic Beauty, visit www.ansr.com.

Body, Beauty & Bravery

Body, Beauty & Bravery

There’s really nothing like feeling beautiful, is there? When you feel pretty, nothing can get you down. Well, or for a moment you feel like nothing can get you down, even if you are really down & out. That’s why I’m such a big proponent of Make-up Therapy. What is that exactly?

Well Make-Up Therapy came out of my friend Leslie Koerdt’s bad day. She came into the studio just pretty frustrated, settled into a chair to chat with me while I worked on someone else, and Leslie Hines, AB’s Creative Director just started playing around with some looks on Leslie Koerdt (I know they have the same name!). After Leslie Hines was finished experimenting with some looks on Leslie Koerdt, she announced that she felt much better about her day and herself because Leslie Hines had just given her quote unquote make-up therapy! An idea was born!

I thought I’ll bet a lot of women would benefit from make-up therapy & so I am going to offer that service at Authentic Beauty. It’s coming soon people! And speaking of Make-Up Therapy, this past Saturday at the Cure Childhood Cancer Luncheon that my friend Chris Glavine invited me to really sent that message right to my heart! The girls at Authentic Beauty and I were asked to do the make-up of the women who lost their children to cancer and to women whose children were suffering with cancer. These women had not and/or did not have time to even care what they looked like. So when each one sat in our chairs, that time was for them to be pampered. After many of the women had been made up, they literally cried with joy that they looked so good and that someone had actually spent time on them.

Not that looks are everything, but it’s a fact that women feel better about themselves and their situations if they feel beautiful. Again that’s evidenced when I did make-up for  V to the 10th, the 10th year celebration of V-Day and the Vagina Monologues for the women who suffered in Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. They were struggling to salvage the last of their belongings & their families, and were fighting Mother Nature, but they found some strength deep within themselves after one of us from Authentic Beauty had done their make-up. Ultimately, the Body, Beauty & Bravery workshop we offered last night at Authentic Beauty is about everything I have talked about…and more. It’s one thing to feel beautiful & look beautiful, but it’s another to take that to a whole other level. That’s where Project Authentic Beauty comes in.

I met Allison Cross of Project Authentic Beauty in spin class years ago when I worked in East Cobb. Allison and I hit off and we were fast friends. I told her I was launching my make-up studio, she told me she wanted to work with me in some way. Now Allison was a part-time counselor at Ridgeview and had never done any public speaking, but was speaking at her church and asked me to come. At the church, she spoke of her experiences counseling girls at Ridgeview with severe eating disorders and also spoke of living in East Cobb where there was so much pressure on women and young girls to look good, meaning really thin. Allison saw there was such a disordered image of one’s body through the media. The media has really set unrealistic expectations of how young girls & even grown women should look.

By the end of Allison’s talk, people in the audience were crying, so deeply moved by her experiences. There were also people up in arms about protecting their daughters. The 45-minute talk turned into a two and a half hour talk. The audience literally followed Allison to her car asking how can we help, how can we have you speak at our children’s schools, etc. about the epidemic of disordered body images? Since then, Allison has spoken at many schools to parents & young girls about this issue. She has also spoken to the Georgia School Counselors Association. See: http://www.myimagejourney.com/cms/authentic-beauty/project-authenticbeauty/

This is such a problem today & my mantra & Authentic Beauty’s mantra is that YOU are beautiful! Always remember that!

Events, events & more events!

Events, events & more events!

I am so relaxed from my short vacation to Rosemary Beach, but now I’m ready to get back to it! And that vacation couldn’t have come at a better time because this week and next is jam packed full of events! On Wednesday, Sept. 16, we’re going to be working with my friend Kerry Gelnik on the M. Caruana Premiere fashion show and doing all the make-up, which should be a blast. It will be held at the SieMatic Atlanta Showroom at 3050 Peachtree Road at Two Buckhead Plaza.

Thursday, Sept. 17 will be a full day at the studio as we are doing our annual fall make-up trends class, starting at 7 p.m. We will show you how to apply the four looks of fall’s Urban Forest. The Cure Childhood Cancer Silent Heroes luncheon is on Saturday, Sept. 19 at the Grand Hyatt. We will be making over all of the mothers of children who have cancer at the event. Our dear friend Chris Glavine is involved with this fantastic charity and she asked us to help. I want to thank people like Chris who help make our world a better place! For more information, visit www.cure.org.

The Body, Beauty & Bravery Media Awareness workshop will be on Wednesday, Sept. 23, and we are thrilled to incorporate Project Authentic Beauty’s core message into this. We are also so happy about attending the Tootsies fall runway show benefitting the Chelko Foundation. The Chelko Foundation was established in 2005 to commemorate the life of Paul Chelko’s wife, Debbie, with a mission to empower all women through art, education and partnership to create a better life for themselves & their children. Two of my favorite people are involved with the Chelko Foundation-Jessica Dauler and Richie Arpino. Wrapping up next week, we are having a Champagne & Shadows at the studio on Friday, Sept. 25. More details to come!

The Most Amazing Facial Cleansing Tool

The Most Amazing Facial Cleansing Tool

The Magical Clarisonic

There are few things that I can honestly say changed my life. Included in that short list is the Clarisonic. I had a good friend of mine e-mail me that a friend of hers insisted she had to get one. And let me tell you, this is a friend who saw buying $6 Oil of Olay facial cleansing cloths as an investment! A Clarisonic is $195, but believe me, worth every penny.

How you ask? Clarisonic is the sonic technology proven to gently yet effectively loosen dirt and oil to clear your pores. The Clarisonic Skin Care Brush uses a patented sonic frequency of more than 300 movements per second to clean, soften and smooth your skin. In just 60 seconds a day, the Clarisonic micro-massage action cleans more than twice as effectively as manual cleansing. In addition to cleaner skin with the Clarisonic, you’ll notice a reduction in the appearance of pores, improved skin tone (so you use less foundation), a reduction in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and improved absorption of serums and moisturizers. It’s a safe, gentle and natural way to cleanse your skin without any harsh abrasion or chemicals. It also increases the circulation in your face making you look more naturally radiant all the time. Ok back to my story.

At that point, I wasn’t convinced the Clarisonic was amazing, even if it was one of Oprah’s favorite things,  so my assistant Stephanie brought one in for me to check out. If this chick who is sooo not a gadget girl had one, there must be some merit in it, I thought. A minute later I was convinced that there was a whole lot of more to this sucker than I originally thought! I washed my face with it & in an instant I knew I had to have one, as well as make them available to all my fabulous clients! My skin felt & looked incredible. I was so thrilled & couldn’t wait to get some in. Of course the rep got me a great deal and I sold 57 of them in the first month alone! My teenage daughter has one & her acne is under control because of this baby. By the way, if you are a good parent, you’ll get your child a Clarisonic. Actually you need to get yourself one too! We have them available at Authentic Beauty & if you mention this blog, you get $10 off.  Visit the Authentic Beauty Website to read more or to order one from our online store.

The Collective Soul concert & VIP after-party

The Collective Soul concert & VIP after-party

There were certainly a lot of events going on last weekend in Atlanta over the Labor Day holiday! One such event that I was fortunate enough to attend was the free concert our hometown band of Collective Soul put on at Centennial Olympic Park & the VIP after-party, held at Drinkshoppe at the W Downtown.

First of all, the concert was fantastic! The guys really were having so much fun & I could tell were so happy to be doing something so great in their hometown. Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Sports Council really did an amazing job with putting this together, and they pulled it off without a hitch. You could hardly even tell there were so many events going on downtown because they were all running so smoothly. And the concert pulled in so many different fans and people from various walks of life. It was so great seeing such a diverse crowd getting along & enjoying the band.

Collective Soul’s new album dropped on August 25 & they played many new songs from that as well as some of the classics. Ed was in rare form! He seemed really thrilled to be out there performing for his lovely new baby, Lennon. Speaking of, when we were on our way to Drinkshoppe after the concert, we ran into Ed & Michaeline with Lennon. Ed was carrying the Pack and Play which, I must say was slightly comical, yet heartwarming. Here is this bad ass singer who just performed a phenomenal concert in front of thousands, and he’s carrying his baby’s things. It makes you think that no matter how big a star someone is, they are still just a husband, a father and a friend, just like everyone else.

Unfortunately baby Lennon didn’t make it to Drinkshoppe, but some of our other favorite people did! I enjoyed spending time with Blaire and Michelle Caplinger, Q-100’s Jessica & Jeff Dauler and Jenn Hobby, as well as CBS 46’s Corinna Allen, Fox 5’s Suchita Vadlamani, Daily Candy’s Tiffany Davis, fab photographer & hairstylist, Richie Arpino & his partner, actor & Metrofresh owner, Mitchell Anderson, and Atlanta Falcons, Brian Finnerman and Tony Gonzalez. Former Falcon Warrick Dunn also made an appearance. Another one of my favorite socialites, Vincent Martinez who pens the fab Fashionado blog attended the Grey Goose sponsored fete. Check out his site at: www.fashionado.net.

Right now I am enjoying a well-deserved vacation at the beautiful home of my friends, Sean and Renee in Rosemary Beach. Their house has actually been featured in Better Homes & Gardens Magazine. Thanks guys for forcing me to take my first vacation in three years!

Fall Make-up Trends

Fall Make-Up Trends

Gone are the relaxed days of summer and here we are yet again ushering in the cool, crisp days of fall. And with the slight change in weather come the latest make-up trends of the season. Leslie Heines, Authentic Beauty’s creative director has pinpointed four key looks under the “Urban Forest” umbrella, which can be found in the Sept. issue of Jezebel Magazine.

They are, Fog, Fire, Phenomena and Gravity. And while these are really four looks that lend themselves to any type of coloring, I subscribe to the viewpoint that we should own your look and not let your look own you. If you are inspired by a particular trendy look, then interpret it for your coloring. What you see in a color palette for fall in a store does not mean that those colors are going to give you the same effect.

You should let yourself be inspired by trend make-up, but integrate it into your classic look that you know works for you. So we suggest you shed the bronze of the summer and embolden your eyes and lips with the stronger colors of fall. And with that being said, the Gravity look of a terra cotta/monochrome style with pops of color is proving to be huge this fall, says Leslie. “It’s a sort of 80’s look, but a little more blended, and not so dramatic.” Following along with that look, Leslie also notes that a dark berry almost black lip has been showing up on the runways. Of course, the black lip is not really realistic for those of us who aren’t models or celebrities, but keep in mind to go as dark as you can possibly go to stay on trend; however make it work for you!

For the Fog face, Leslie suggests using a misty gray or silvery eyeshadow instead of doing a full blown smokey eye. This look was featured at the Ucce Fashion Show at the St. Regis on XXX. It is complemented with a pale, more pink lip. The Phenomena look features a bold and mossy green eye and surprisingly, a green nail polish. This yellow based green is not a muted khaki or olive nor is it a bright kelly green; think more matte. Both the Gravity and Fire looks feature variations on peach shades on eyes and cheeks. And speaking of cheeks, fashion magazines have been showing a more sculpted cheek which does not necessarily translate down well to the everyday woman. Lean toward a more subtle sculpting and ultimately you’ll a more wearable everyday look that is polished and flattering.

Additionally, bold brows are back, so embrace them with open arms. The look of thin, stylized brows really is done. Look to bulk up lashes with loads of mascara or if you’re feeling ambitious, buy some Latisse and apply it nightly to stimulate lash growth. But if you’re slightly impatient like me, just buy some individual lashes and stick them on the corners of your eyes to open them up without waiting for them to grow. But whatever you do this fall, own your look.

Fashion Cares 2009 Recap

Fashion Cares 2009 recap       

             Atlanta sophisticates, take note. Fashion Cares 2009 was amazing and the girls of Authentic Beauty had an absolutely incredible time. We started out the night in our Red Carpet Ready Media Beauty Suite we shared with the fantastic RuMM Color Studio.

            We worked on the lovely ladies of the media, including, CBS 46 Better Mornings’ Corinna Allen, Q-100’s Jenn Hobby, Daily Candy’s Tiffany Davis, Nedra Rhone, the fashion & shopping editor at the AJC, Jennifer Brett, the AJC’s Social Butterfly, Elizabeth Thurman of Women’s Wear Daily, Alisha Henderson, Star 94’s newest personality, Vicki Locke of the Steve & Vicki Show on B 98.5 and freelance maven, Emily Foley Reynolds.

            We went a little outside of the box with Corinna’s make-up because of her funky and fabulous dress, made by local designer Vanessa Vinci. Vinci custom makes each of her dresses for clients as well as sells off the rack. Corinna’s ankle length bright blue gown made out of 100% recycled materials complemented the bold eyes I created. Ladies, don’t try this at home! We layered two eye pencils under three blue eyeshadows creating an indigo look of sorts. We also rimmed the bottom of her eyes with white pencil and loaded up on the mascara. The result was incredibly hot and sexy, just like Ms. Corinna!

            Gorgeous Jenn Hobby, one of Q-100’s fantastic radio chicks on The Bert Show, got a soft and sultry smokey eye, which smoldered against her sleek gray dress and flawless skin. We had to talk Tiffany Davis, Daily Candy Atlanta’s pretty editor, into sticking with the bold and bright lip I suggested. It really looked so hot against her fab Yoana Baraschi orange dress from Rhinoceros Boutique. Tiffany, I’m so glad that you kept the look! Thank you, you looked great! Elegant beauty, Nedra Rhone of the AJC, sparkled with a simple yet classic look that complemented her incredible bone structure. And Star 94’s Shop, It Makes Sense girl-Alisha Henderson looked outstanding in a dramatic smokey eye with a nude lip. 

            After fixing up all of our favorite media, we moved onto the pre-show cocktail party where I met honorary chair, Anne Barge of Anne Barge Bridal and we chatted it up with Vincent Martinez of Fashionada. We flitted our social butterfly wings around and talked to our fave, Richie Arpino, as well as Laura and Rutherford Seydel, Jessica Dauler of Q-100’s Jessica Shops and Fashion Cares co-chair, Sacha Taylor and her husband, former Lt. Governor Mark Taylor. We were so excited when we were able to sit in the middle of the runway with a great bird’s eye view of all the super hot fashion and our favorite models, Inez and Salmay, who was on the show, “Make Me a Supermodel.”

            I worked on Inez at the Ucce Fashion Show at the St. Regis and she is truly an Authentic Beauty. Inez, please be the next face of Project Authentic Beauty! We love you girl! We also sat right across from Don Purcell, the manager of Jeffrey Atlanta and special VIP gust, Fred Schineder of the B-52’s. By the way, at the VIP after-party, we rocked out with Fred on the dance floor to Rock Lobster. So much fun! Also a sidenote, I was so shocked to see Fashion Cares patrons talking during the show and actually getting up and walking on the runway during the show to get where they were going. C’mon ya’ll, we’re supposed to be genteel Southerners. I hope I don’t see that next year! But overall, we had a great night and can’t wait until next time!

All You Need is Love & a Little Lipstick

All You Need is Love & a Little Lipstick recap

Thank you everyone for coming to our great & very successful event on Thursday, August 20 at Whiskey Blue! We celebrated Alyson Hoag’s, the founder of Authentic Beauty, birthday, and learned about how Project Authentic Beauty and the Chelko Foundation are freeing women from self negativity and stress. We had a wonderful silent auction, mini make-over’s, fab hors de’ oeuvres from Urban Flats, cupcakes from Little Cake and special guest Sauda Fuller sang the Project Authentic Beauty theme song by India Arie called “Beautiful Flower.” Thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors.

As many of you know, Project Authentic Beauty is committed to providing a holistic beauty curriculum to girls and young women, and also encourages healthy body image, provides the tools for the girls to express their inner beauty as well as navigate the beauty product aisles. PAB believes that every woman is beautiful and an image journey helps us communicate that message.

An image journey teaches women and teens to author their own look and allow it to reflect their personal style. Instead of feeling used by the beauty industry, each girl is taught to feel empowered in her own beauty through her image journey. So thanks Whiskey Blue and a special thanks to the Diplomats, a male social group we shared Whiskey Blue’s space with. We really appreciate your support! We know you have wives, sister, aunts, mothers and daughters who would benefit from Project Authentic Beauty. Until next time, check out Aly’s column in the next issue of The Piedmont Review. See you at Fashion Cares!

Pictures from the party can be found at:  www.kathrynmcelvyphoto.com.  Click on “online proofing”.  Your password is ab

Welcome Back

Alright, it’s been forever. I thought I would blog on the website (http://www.myimagejourney.com) but I hate the way the blog looks. There are some very cool entries from V-to the 10th, including a video of me from Skirt!

It’s been an amazing year. Thank you all for your wonderful support. The doors are now open to the studio. We are located at 4674 Roswell rd in Sandy Springs, GA. It was been quite an experience launching a company. I will be writing about the whole thing!  AND I have so many thoughts on beauty, authenticity etc. Expect some good stuff. STAY TUNED!

Sunday at Sundance

So much for my good intention to write everyday. I arrived FINALLY and got set up on Thursday night. On Friday it was very very slow and I was beginning to think I had made a mistake by coming. I didn’t even want to blog. I was in bed early and set my intention to have Saturday be amazing.

I walked in the door Saturday morning and people were lined up waiting for me. I began prepping several people who were either being interviewed or who were interviewing. Unfortunately I didnt catch who everybody was but I did end up doing Beth from the REAL WORLD who just started her own show. I have a picture I will upload later. I saw Miss America, Cassandra, an actress in the Quentin Terrantino movie, and an interviewer from Hollywood tv.

Shortly after lunch the promoter of my event ran in and said pack up you are being permantly moved to the Getty Image Studio. I packed up and got my stuff together as quickly as I could. When I walked in it was pandomonium and I wasnt allowed to turn on my makeup lights. How was I supposed to see to do makeup? Helen Mirren was walking out as I was walking in.