Friday Funnies: Makeover Spoof with ExoticJess - #love2011

This week the theme of The Love Project has been Beauty, with an assignment to get a makeover. For those of you who haven't participated yet, you might be interested in this very informative video!

Operation Beautiful - #love2011

I don't think there has been a single day that has gone by since I started The Love Project, that I haven't found or been told about some cool inspiring website. Of course many of them have come from a beautiful source of love: None other than the Love Project MVP, girlnutkin (featured in that photo to the left. Isn't she beautiful?)

Well, lovely girlnutkin turned me on to Operation Beautiful. I will have to add this Website to my Website Wednesday post!

From the Mission page:

The goal of the Operation Beautiful website is to end negative self-talk or “Fat Talk.” If this little blog only does one productive thing, I hope it helps readers realize how truly toxic negative self-talk is — it hurts you emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

Caitlin Boyle, the site's owner and author of "Operation Beautiful: The Book" challenges her readers to a simple task:

Operation Beautiful is simple: all you need is a pen and a piece of paper. If you want to join the mission, send Caitlin an e-mail at OperationBeautiful@gmail.com with a photograph of your Operation Beautiful note or a description of your experience, and I’ll post it on the Operation Beautiful site for thousands of others to read and enjoy!

Oh, I like Caitlin! She gives out assignments, too! I'm on it, Caitlin!

Check out this inspiring video:

Website Wednesday: Beauty Blogs and Products - #love2011

Oh my goodness! There are so many beauty sites on the Web that if I listed them all here this post would go on forever!

Of course, my hope is that some of you readers will start submitting your own posts based on the assignments from The Love Project and I can start listing those on Wednesday. But... you seem to be shy. Where are all the bold bloggers out there?

In the mean time here are some blogs and products to check out:

Operation Beautiful - An inspiring site which tasks people with leaving surprise notes for others to find, reminding them that they are beautiful, exactly as they are.

The Chronicals of a Fierce Fathlete - A fun site recommended by the ever-faithful Love Project MVP, girlnutkin. The ups and downs of health, beauty, and other musings of a modern day woman who has a brain and isn't afraid to use it!

Daily Makeover - This is a fun site that lets you get a virtual makeover! Try it! (For those of you that didn't want to spend the $$ on a real makeover, this can be an alternative to this week's Love Project assignment!)

Best Beauty Blogs on the Internet - This post lists 21 blogs about beauty with links and descriptions.

The Beauty Blog Network - Where you'll find a whole network of people who blog about beauty.
1001 Forever Beauty Tips - Secrets on makeup tips, body, hair, hand, legs & skin care, Also beauty recipes, weight-loss, nutrition, exsercises and more.

Collection of Beauty and Skin Care eBooks

Must-Know Guides to Women's Healthy and Beauty

Dove Evolution YouTube - Campaign for Real Beauty #love2011

This week on The Love Project we are talking about Beauty. Check out this video and Dove's campaign for real beauty.

My Blow-dry Job at Tapestry

Even though I happen to be quite happy with my hair and my regular hairstylist (Sunny Sandford of T-Cuts) the other day I was talking to a friend about The Love Project Makeover Assignment and he recommended I try Garrette Terrebonne, a stylist at Tapestry Salon & Day Spa.

Well, I actually was having my photo taken (I'm going to be in The Yellow Scene next month!), so I gave the salon a call to find out if Garrette was available, thinking it was a long shot, but... what the heck? Turns out he had had a cancellation and was open at 3pm!




Garrette agreed that my hair was already in good shape (Yay!) but said he "gave a great blow dry" and that he could make me look like a Victoria Secret model! (No wonder women come from miles around to go to this guy! Not only does he give a good blow dry, he knows we love to hear flattery!)

Garrette was funny and told me how he used to have a client who was a 76-year-old former model. She told the receptionist that she wanted a standing appointment for a "blow job with Garrette." (It's not clear whether the omission of the word "dry" was accidental or purposeful!)

The salon was beautiful and I felt like a pampered queen. The receptionist, Christan Lewis, was cute and perky. She was very interested in my blog and told me she had a blog as well: Life of Lew Who.

I visited her blog this morning and was very touched by the depth in her writing. Since this week the theme of the Love Project is "beauty" I'll pass along an excerpt from her last post:

Today I conversed with over 30 people obsessed with perfecting their outside appearance but lacking the most important thing- RESPECT for others. Today I met a man named Bruce who noticed, out of all the people in the entire restaurant, that we were having a rough day and decided to put a smile on our faces by complimenting the bartenders rather impressive jew-fro. And this very evening, I watched a man lay on his back in the middle of the parking lot cursing at the moon for existing.

And though all of these people have different purposes, definitions and personalities they all have one thing in common- They’re only human.

As Christan alludes to in the first line of that excerpt, beauty means nothing if it's only external. It must come from within.

But, hey. Right now I'm enjoying my Victoria Secret blow dry job! We'll work on the character stuff another week!

Assignment #3: Get a makeover - #love2011

We are starting Week #3 of The Love Project and the theme of this week is Beauty. Here is your assignment for the week:

Get a makeover! This can be a tiny thing or give yourself a whole new look. Experiment. Try a different hairstyle. Throw away all that old half-used makeup that you never wear and invest in some new! Maybe buy yourself some new clothes or accessories. Then go back to the Week 1 assignment and look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself how beautiful you look! Leave a comment or write a blog post about what you did and how it felt. I'll feature blog posts on Website Wednesday so be sure and tell me about it.

Extra credit: Take a before and after picture.

Note: Photo image was from lastminute.com , a site offering spa services, and vacations!

Beauty, as we all know, is only skin deep. Just because someone is beautiful on the outside, does not mean they are beautiful on the inside. Though the opposite can be true, I truly believe that people who are beautiful on the inside exude a natural beauty that draws people in. Therefore, if we work on beautifying our characters, chances are we're going to heighten our attractiveness-factor much more than if we just invest in makeup and hair-styles.

All that being said, when we feel good about how we look on the outside, we tend to have more confidence, smile more, and feel happier. And that sense of confidence and happiness with ourselves is probably what attracts people -- more than the hair or makeup.

The key here is not to feel like you need to cover up who your natural self is, but to be your best self so that you feel good about the face you present to the world. Even if you are perfectly happy with how attractive you are (which is great!) it's fun to experiment with a new look or to buy yourself something pretty or sexy. Don't think you have to be in a relationship to do this. Do it for yourself!

Is there a part of your body that you're not entirely happy about? What can you do to turn that around and make that more appealing? Do what you need to do so that when you look in the mirror each morning you think to yourself: I am looking GOOD!