I’ve always been an optimist. If this were not the case, it’s possible that Dermalogica as we know it might not have happened! And you’d be microfoliating and Power Rich-ing with someone else. By the way, I am so grateful that this is not the case.
So, I do look forward into the eyes of 2012 as one would look into the eyes of a newborn baby. I believe that virtually everything is possible.
And here’s some good news to start off the year: you do not have to be good at everything. You only need to be good at what you’re already really good at. Whatever this is, love it, cherish it, nurture it, own it in 2012. Take it to a new level of mastery in the New Year. Doing so will make you happier than you were in 2011. It may even make you rich, possibly in cash as well as in more intangible ways.
The common wisdom is that we should strive to be well-rounded. Another word for this is “balance.”
I think that balance is an impossible proposition, really. Whether you’re a single working person, a new parent, a small business owner, whatever, I believe that it is more innately human, and ultimately more rewarding, to recover and rebound from extremes. To me, the good life is all about resilience.
Of course, I am in favor of eating vegetables, lots of cardio, hand-written thank-you notes, and getting plenty of sleep. Of course I believe in thoroughly removing all makeup before bedtime. Ditto for daily flossing, quitting smoking now, drinking plenty of water, and never exceeding the speed limit.
Does your life really work this way, though? Mine doesn’t.
From a career standpoint, as well as from a personal standpoint, here’s my advice for 2012: don’t bother with things you don’t care about. Don’t fret about this idea of balance; instead, focus on your strengths. This does align, I suppose, with the idea that whatever we focus on becomes larger and stronger. So don’t obsess about what you don’t have, and what you are not.
If you’re just not really a dog person, fine! If you really don’t get excited about fine wines, okay! If you’re great at math, but can’t make toast or boil an egg, it’s all good – because chances are there’s a diner down the street.
Love what you love. One really great way to expand this love is to share it with others. I encourage you to share your strengths with other women, in particular, in 2012. This proposition has many implications in many areas of life.
Consider tutoring or mentoring one or more women, in your workplace, in your community, at your child’s school. Explore the idea of barter. Lessons in Excel in exchange for a deluxe latte coffee-drink every Monday morning, or vacation pet-sitting? Why not?
Yes, here is a refreshing reversal: an opportunity for a younger, less experienced person to mentor an older person—since younger people often have mad tech skills to share. Imagine!
Then, imagine even more. Imagine what else is possible when you focus on your strengths.
Marie Claire Australia says Overnight Repair Serum “addresses all of your complexion concerns in one lightweight oil.” Have you made this antioxidant rich oil part of your nighttime skin care regimen?
Winter is often a time of reckoning for many women. One morning in February, we look in the mirror and literally wonder aloud, “What happened?”
There are several reasons for this. One reason is literally the light of winter. It is oblique, sharp and high-contrast, while the light of summer is more diffused, sort of like putting gauze over the photographer’s lens. The harsh light of a winter morning exposes every pore to merciless scrutiny.
Another perceptual issue is the fact that most of us are at our palest in winter. I personally am not a fan of the tan, at all. I think every person should enjoy and celebrate the actual color of her skin, from alabaster to espresso.
But the fact of the matter is that many Americans are a bit tanner in summer. Exposure to the sun, as well as vacation spray-tans and bronzing products, add golden and warm-brown tones to even the pastiest skin. This effect does distract from purplish-blue undereye shadows, fine surface fissures, reduces sharp contrasts and visually creates a smoother look in terms of perceived pigment distribution – although I am not an advocate for basking.
So, winter is the time to get it right, and lay the foundation for healthier skin as the New Year. The real issue is two-fold. Cold temperatures cause the skin to contract, and cold reduces circulation. This means cell turnover slows, as do other body processes. So, cold weather may slow down lymphatic drainage, making us feel sluggish and look puffy. And, a slowing of the overall system reduces the rate of cell turnover, resulting in more cell debris on the surface of the skin. This can make skin look ashy, pasty, dusty and dull.
The other problem with winter weather, though, is the drop in humidity. Even in sunny Southern California where I live and work, it’s dry as well as chillier. And this loss of air-humidity means that skin feels dry, too.
Here are a few key moves to keep your winter skin healthier:
1 – Tepid water only. Heat may be appealing when you’re chilled to your core, but hot water contributes to dehydration. A steaming bath may also trigger flushing, including Rosacea symptoms.
2 – Moisturize – especially before you go outdoors. No, moisturizer does not freeze! Dermalogica’s clients across Scandinavia will attest to this. This never happens. So be sure to guard your skin with a shield of hydration. Sounds like a given, but we’ve gotten the feedback that some people actually skip moisturizer when it’s cold outside, fearing that their product will ice up like a skating rink. Not gonna happen.
3 – Cleanse carefully. Your skin continues to produce sebum and waste products, and shed cells, even if you’re not feeling warm and sweaty. So, cleansing is always the first step to optimum skin function. When facing the challenges of winter weather, it is more important than ever to avoid harsh products, especially deodorant bar soaps. These are generally alkaline, and the perfumes are irritating to the skin. Don’t use these on your body, and definitely don’t get them anywhere near your face! Cleanse face and body with a gentle botanicals-based liquid cleanser, pat dry (don’t rub), and apply moiturizer from toenails to hairline. I also think that antibacterial cleansers are overkill, unless you’re about to perform surgery.
Five former Miss South Africas are now actively involved in joinFITE! These fabulous women dedicated to making a difference are featured on the January 2012 cover of South African magazine Longevity. Dermalogica South Africa team was on location with these amazing women at the Sun International Table Bay Hotel, where they offered Skin BarSM sessions and Face Mapping® sessions to the women before they went into make-up for their photos. The session was captured renowned South African photographer Gerda Genis.
Longevity has partnered with joinFITE and will direct R1 (South African currency) to joinFITE for every copy of Longevity magazine sold in January.
Dermalogica also hosted a cocktail event for Longevity readers in November, which included a panel discussion about skin health through the ages. South African doctor and TV show host Michael Moll emceed the event, and the panel consisted of the five former Miss South Africas, medical experts including plastic surgeons and dermatologists, and Ursula Quinn, our Senior Educator in Johannesburg. Dermalogica had Skin Bar® stations set up at the event, and our team performed Face Mapping® on over 50 guests! Some lucky guests even won gift baskets featuring joinFITE products and details on how to get involved. Listen as the former Miss South Africas discuss joinFITE in their own words by clicking the links below.
I recently had the pleasure of joining Ali Brown as part of her annual “Shine Conference” in Dallas, where I was invited to speak and participate. Dermalogica’s women’s global microlending initiative, joinFITE, was spotlighted before 500 attendees, all of them dynamic women who are dedicated to entrepreneurism.
The theme of the conference was “Embracing Change.” And no one epitomizes this more than the electrifying Ms. Brown herself, who brings a sparkling million-watt smile and a sizzling billion-watt brain to the party. She’s written several business bestsellers, and her company, Ali International LLC, has been listed in the Inc. 500 as one of the world’s fastest-growing companies. Business News Daily has dubbed her “The Entrepreneurial Guru for Women.”
She’s a self-made success zeitgeist, leading, coaching and counseling women about how to create the lives they want.
Ali is a supporter of a dynamic national organization for women where I also mentor, Step Up Women’s Network (suwn.org). On the topic of change, one of Ali’s recurring themes really resonates for me: that women are creating a new paradigm in business, which literally will alter the course of history — and save the world! — because it is more sustainable than the prior masculine model. Men are welcome to follow, join and learn, and I can think of no more energizing example and teacher than Ali Brown.
Check out her no-nonsense inspirations — which are often hilariously funny, as well as pointed and smart — at alibrown.com, and her blog at forbes.com (Forbes called her one of the “Women to Watch”).
Jane Wurwand was honored to speak at SHINE, the premier conference for women entrepreneurs! Writer Alison Storm attended this 3-day power conference in Dallas, Texas – in addition to hearing Jane’s inspiring presentation, she met one-on-one with Jane to uncover her personal story of entrepreneurship, and what inspires her to new levels of success.
In the new year, people often make resolutions. “This is the year,” we often tell ourselves, “for a big change!”
Perhaps the most common NYR: to find a new job. A better job. Or just a job. Of course, in our current economy, this resolution may be somewhat tempered by the cold reality of less hiring. Still, employees may aspire to something… better.
It’s easy to conclude that the problem may be your employer. Just as there is no perfect mate or perfect marriage, there is no perfect workplace, and there is no perfect boss. If you can land another offer, it’s possible that a different job and a different company culture may suit you better—in which case, go for it, congratulations, and I wish you every success!
But here’s my news flash for the New Year: creating your own greater job-satisfaction may be possible right where you are. It requires that you see yourself differently, and see your job differently. When you do this, it is possible that you will create different results in the corporate culture around you.
A woman I know, a writer, spent many years working in ad agencies and PR agencies. She described feeling like a large, agile, trained, captive killer whale at a place like Sea World. “I live in a cement pond and perform tricks for food,” she told me one day over a martini or two.
You may know how this story ends, as these stories always end: the trained killer whale bit her trainer in two. Bad whale.
This is the problem with how most of us think of our jobs. We are conditioned to seek external rewards and incentives.
But get this: Dan Pink, author of four best-selling books on motivation, says “Tangible rewards tend to have a substantially negative effect on intrinsic motivation.” Money, in particular, he says, tends to de-motivate. It’s never enough.
In fact, Pink says “meaning is the new money.” What people really need in order to achieve and succeed is a sense of connection to something beyond self-interest. Something more meaningful.
In 2012, try looking at your work with new eyes. The word that’s got my mind buzzing is “autotelic,” meaning that the activity is its own reward, and the goal is self-fulfilling.
We’ve all had the experience of having our restaurant meal served by someone who genuinely seems to take joy in bringing us our food. Sure, this inspires us to tip well. But the truth is, people who love their work aren’t doing it for the tips.
We’ve all felt the difference of being greeted and assisted by a customer service person who genuinely addresses our concerns, attentively and effectively. Their task may sound like a nightmare job: handling our luggage at the airport, or working at the DMV. Again, this is because whoever that person is finds some intrinsic pay-off in the job itself. These people work with pride, and a sense of joy.
Do you?
If you’re disconnected from your job, it’s human nature to say that this is because it’s not a good job. So, you play Farmville instead of working. You re-tweet and text and FB instead of working. Maybe you, oops, how did that get there?, may even find yourself slipping some office supplies into your gym bag. You paste magazine photos of beaches inside the drawer of your desk, thinking, Some day, some day.
Some day is now. You may be experiencing disconnection, and dissatisfaction, because you’re waiting for rewards, like my friend Shamu, waiting for a fish to be tossed to her from the side of her sad cement pond.
Find your meaning now. Where is it? The answer may surprise you.
simply the best: NewBeauty loves oil free matte block spf20
NewBeauty readers, experts and editors united to vote for the 100 best products of the year, and Oil Free Matte Block SPF20 takes home the award for The Best Sunscreen for Oily Skin. What makes this award-winning product so amazing? It “safeguards even the most oily and acne-prone skin types from damaging UV rays without feeling like it’s clogging the pores.”
Today names antioxidant hydramist a favorite thing!
Antioxidant Hydramist was named a favorite thing of Kathie Lee Gifford on Today! Introduced to the product by her make-up artist, KLG recommends spritzing this amazing age-fighting product over skin throughout the day to fight skin aging. It’s also ideal during travel to keep hydration levels up (be sure to pick up the TSA-friendly travel-size!).
‘Tis the season to give to others. Worldwide, the holidays are known as the giving season. People’s happiness during this time of year is measured not by the gifts received, but by the gifts given. Giving gifts, in some sense, is our attempt to connect with each other and express deep bonds—which are intangible—in tangible terms. There is nothing more magical than seeing a smile on a loved one’s face when he or she opens a thoughtful gift or bites into a tasty treat this time of year. And in the true spirit of the holidays, it is important to give back wherever possible. This is where the real connecting and bonding take place. I encourage you to find a philanthropic cause that provides meaning in your life. For Dermalogica, and for me personally, it has always been about women entrepreneurs.
As 2012 dawns, joinFITE, the global philanthropic women’s empowerment initiative powered by Kiva and championed by Dermalogica, nears its one-year anniversary. To date, the program has funded more than 8,000 microloans made to entrepreneurial women in small businesses across 52 countries. Below is the current breakdown of joinFITE microloans by continent:
North America:602
Central America:628
South America:980
Africa:1,923
Eastern Europe:236
Middle East:512
Asia:1,119
While these numbers are encouraging, it’s now time to really turn up the heat – the goal is to fund a total of 25,000 women entrepreneurs in the next 12 months.
You may ask yourself, why choose to align yourself with a cause that focuses on women entrepreneurs? Well, the obvious answer is that I am a woman entrepreneur. I founded Dermalogica 25 years ago when the unemployment rate was 10%, so helping to empower future entrepreneurs is a cause that hits very close to home for me. The World Bank recently conducted a study which concluded women perform 66% of the world’s work, produce 50% of the world’s food and invest 90% of their income into their families. And according to Kiva, women entrepreneurs who have received a microloan have a repayment rate of 98%. After hearing these statistics, the question for me is simply “Why not invest in women?”
The beauty of joinFITE is that the initiative does not require any huge leaps of imagination to make a difference. joinFITE can be personalized based on where you feel compelled to help, whether it be in your backyard or across the world. Even in the United States we have women who are being empowered by joinFITE loans. With today’s economic climate, the need to receive a hand up is felt even in our own backyard. I recently met with two joinFITE microloan recipients in San Francisco, both of whom were able to gain greater financial independence as a result of the program.
joinFITE makes it easy to unlock a code that triggers a donation from Dermalogica, but you as the redeemer of that code have the power to select the recipient based on the country and industry of your choice. As a result of this simple act, which bears no cost to you as the code redeemer, you will help a woman entrepreneur become financially independent and you will learn her story – the type of business she has and how it will benefit her family.
In this interconnected world, no man, or woman, is an island. People thrive on the help of others. It has been proven that children learn faster in the presence of other children and injured soldiers heal at a faster rate when in the company of other people. We are hard wired to be interdependent and to rely on others, especially in times of need. Helping friends, family or strangers fills us, nourishes us and sustains us with a sense of purpose broader than ourselves.
This holiday season, if helping to empower a woman entrepreneur is a cause that brings meaning to your life, I encourage you to seek out a joinFITE recipient in the location where you want to make a difference. Some people find it gratifying to fund a recipient in the city where they currently live, or in their hometown. Or if your travels take you across the world, redeem a joinFITE code to make a difference even before you land. My attitude is that it doesn’t matter where we start; it’s simply important that we start somewhere to keep the ripple effect of change moving forward. So whether it is your own town, a city you have come to know and love, or the next country you plan to vacation to, unlock a code today to a woman entrepreneur. And, if you happen to travel to the city where she lives, visit her business when you get there to say hello. It will change her life, and it may just change yours, too.
Unlock your free code today! Simply click the “Lend Your Hand” button at http://joinFITE.org/lendyourhand and follow the three easy step by step instructions.
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I’ve always been an optimist. If this were not the case, it’s possible that Dermalogica as we know it might not have happened! And you’d be microfoliating and Power Rich-ing with someone else. By the way, I am so grateful that this is not the case.
But the fact of the matter is that many Americans are a bit tanner in summer. Exposure to the sun, as well as vacation spray-tans and bronzing products, add golden and warm-brown tones to even the pastiest skin. This effect does distract from purplish-blue undereye shadows, fine surface fissures, reduces sharp contrasts and visually creates a smoother look in terms of perceived pigment distribution – although I am not an advocate for basking.
She’s a self-made success zeitgeist, leading, coaching and counseling women about how to create the lives they want.
Jane Wurwand was honored to speak at SHINE, the premier conference for women entrepreneurs! Writer Alison Storm attended this 3-day power conference in Dallas, Texas – in addition to hearing Jane’s inspiring presentation, she met one-on-one with Jane to uncover her personal story of entrepreneurship, and what inspires her to new levels of success.
