So personally I’m not one to be about the glam all the time. Let me say this right. It’s not that I do not like the glam nor partake in it, cuz I am glamorous! I mean a wear make up everyday for work and even on my simplest days there’s some blush on me. But I’m frugal and more of a DIY kind of glam. It is a skill I acquired since young because well, we was broke most of the time. We and even when I got older could not afford going to the salon regularly or spending money on frivolous things like make up, salon, nails, expensive perfumes and lotions, and etc. I have always had to budget everything in order to make it work on my own. I have been supporting myself solely since I was 18 years old that I went to college. My mom was a single mom and did the best she could. She could not afford many things! Literally I could only go shopping on her income tax return, and doing my hair was only for special occasions. So I learned to do everything myself. I learned to do my hair myself, to do my make up with cheap make up myself, to ‘glam’ up with fake $1-$2 jewelry from 181th St. and that’s that. Still til this day you go to my closets and you will find all bargain clothes, accessories, and make up. But hey I make it work. I have my own style and I do it well. Must be true if I get so many compliments, which I’m not bragging, but I do. Especially that I was always a big girl. My way of compensating to the world was always looking great, in standing out with my stylish combinations and always polished face.
And I tell you this because at the end of the day, although I made it work, there’s a difference! There’s a difference when you get your eyebrows done by a professional than doing it yourself…(i.e. my tend to be always over plucked brows….yikes!). So I’m not saying I buy into all of it now, because I don’t. I still can’t afford to be paying for make up applications, and buying expensive make up and jewelry and clothes. So I bargain shop! I find great ways to learn, keep it fresh, and upscale my materials and looks to stay trendy. One of those ways is to connect to ladies that know what they are doing and participate in things that will teach me how to do it so I can continue it. “give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime”, Jesus on some bible verse that I do not know exactly.
So why do I tell you this?! I tell you this because I have been out there promoting my business and have come to realized that the most poppin and inundated industry is the fashion and beauty industry. Any networking event you go to there are 5 out of 10, if not more, that are in fashion or beauty, either are make up artists, sell make up, nails, hair extensions, hair stylist, jewelry, clothes, even personal styling. The thing that sets them apart is the girl, the woman behind the product/line. It is the love and warmth of the woman. Are the products you are selling natural, animal tested? Is it a woman owned and or run business? Is it an independent entrepreneur? Is it a woman that wishes to inspire and empower women? It all makes a difference in my book. And of course are they good at what they do? Working with women like Carlina Zacarias of Carlina Zacarias Make up, who also aspire to help other women grow through her Latinas United NY collective are the product lines I stand behind. Glam Life Lounge taught me that this weekend with their Glamsgiving event! Jenn Michelle owner and founder of Glam Life Lounge put on an amazing Glamsgiving event at her salon in Maplewood New Jersey! She had women owned businesses as vendors selling amazingly crafted and created products from jewelry, to clothes, to shoes, glasses, lipsticks, and more. She also had discounted services all around for those ladies, like me, that need to get glammed up on a budget. But let me tell you, what I learned. I learned that getting glammed up is more than just looking pretty. It is something so intimate to empowering and increasing self esteem and confidence in women. I mean truly!! Taking the time to fix yourself up and see yourself in this new fresh light does something to you! It gives you an umf that is so needed. Granted one should be confident and feel secure without the make up and etc. But wow! When you see yourself polished, it’s like yes I can see on the outside how I feel in the inside. Like for me I got my braids and eyebrows done, and I felt exactly that! I felt like ok now my eyebrows and polished hair look like I feel…fresh, toned, and tight! And I tell you at this time in my life I needed it. When you feel a little down, a little pampering goes a loooonnngg way. It tells you, and “you deserve this”, “you are strong, beautiful, worthy, enough, and you deserve this!!!”
I appreciate ladies like Glam Life Lounge that take the time to give back the gift of self empowerment, self appreciation! She carefully selected vendors that put out brands that mean something. For instance, KissdbyTee cosmetics, that have a line of 16 hour wear matte liquid lipsticks and highlighters that are made with all natural ingredients! I mean for real!! 16 hour wear! (see my IG for demo). Leola Made clothing boutique that is of this inspiring mother of two following her dream. Hand made candles by inspirational coach Tiffany of Harmony Scents! She does crystal and sound healing, and has amazing visualization workshops to help you manifest! I’ll be checking her out next Sunday Nov. 25thout in Brooklyn, be sure to check her contact info below to follow and join! We had the lovely Keisha “Kei” Reeves, chief experience curator of Events by Kei an amazing event curator that creates magic! Powerful women, interested in propelling other women forward! Giving the gift of empowerment, inspiration, and well making things pretty!!! Glam Life Lounge created magic with their one stop shop salon! She has an amazing expert skilled team that does hair, braiding, eyebrows, lashes, nails, facials, make-up, and more. I mean really it’s like a woman’s dream in there! You enter there and you literally leave a new, fresh from head to toe woman ready to kill it in the world, pumped up with confidence and looking of it not only internally, but externally now too!!!
As I stated it truly is the woman behind the craft that makes all the difference! It is the vision and mastermind smart business and also generous strategies of Jenn Michelle and her team that make her salon stand out, deliver exquisite and warm service, that leave women leaving feeling ready to take on the world!! And that ain’t no fluff ya’ll…I tell you I’m not one to buy into, but rather participate in the building of inspiration, empowerment, and uplifting environments, because after all, together we rise!!!
Credits & Contacts:
Glam Life Lounge
IG: @glamlife_lounge
Emily Crystal
Hair stylist & Braiding
IG: @emilyycrystal_glamlife
Jenn Michelle
Glam Life Lounge Founder
IG: I_am_jennmichelle
Carlina Zacarias
Founder Carlina Zaharias Make up
Owner Bellina Lashes
Founder Latinas United NY
IG: @carlinazacariasmakeup
@bellinalashes
@LatinasUnitedNY
www.carlinazacariasmakeup.com
Takeda Shockley
KissdByTee Cosmetics
IG: @kissdbytee
E: kbtcosmetics@gmail.com
Leola Made
Clothing Boutique
E: contact@leolamade.com
Events by Kei
Experience Curator
IG: @keireeves
E: hello@eventsbykei.com
Tiffany
Visualization & Manifest Coach
Harmony Scents
Get Connected!!!
“Live, Love, & Light!”™ Together We Rise!™--Reaching Heights LLC