Makeup, jewelry and clothing are simply tools that can enhance (or when used improperly, detract from) a lady's God-given beauty. Here's an inspirational place for healthy and budget-friendly beauty tips, book and product reviews, and even some fun give-aways, all designed to help you let your Inner Beauty shine!
I've been guest-blogging over at Glory and Strength this year, exploring the characteristics that set apart my life if I'm striving to live for God. This month I tackled "faithfulness" and wanted to share a sliver of the article here...
“Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
If faith is about pleasing God, that's one intimidating order. At least the first step isn't too hard, simply believing that He is! The next step is not merely to believe there is a God, but to follow up on that belief by actively seeking after Him. A good test to see if I am pursuing God with right motives is to consider if my life is regularly demonstrating the nine character traits listed in Galatians 5:22-23 often referred to as the fruit of the Spirit. These qualities such as love, joy, patience and kindness signal to the world that God matters in my life.
Where I trip is in trying to live out a good life for God on my own strength. Have you ever felt the more you try to do things right, the more you kept blowing it, sometimes in bigger and bigger ways? If I am striving to follow God, shouldn't making right choices come easier with time?
Drop by Glory and Strength and click on "Growing in Glory" to find my latest reflections. This month we are talking about love - not the roll-your-eyes mushy, romantic kind, but the real down-to-earth, loving-in-the-midst-of-life's-messes kind. Here's a little taste to get you started. (And don't forget to keep reading to the bottom of this post to grab a great discount code for Affordable Mineral Makeup too!)
Love goes beyond “live and let live,” but takes the next step. When I’ve been wronged (I’m not talking about abuse here, but the daily messes of living life with imperfect people), I can show my friend God’s love by not waiting for her to make the first move. I can offer forgiveness even before she apologizes... Laying down my life for someone means I am actively on the lookout for my friend’s best interest.
Galatians 5:22-23 calls these times when I allow God to lead my decisions, attitudes and actions, the fruit or evidence of God’s Spirit in me... I’m not going to do a perfect job at showing God’s love each time I have the chance. The goal is to keep practicing, keep striving to bloom with time and practice... I can ask God to help me see opportunities to offer love to others because of Him, and then lean on Him for the strength to love even when it’s hard.
Please come read more about love at Love Fruit then tune in again next month to reflect with me on how we can find true joy. :)
For more thoughts on love by By Ida Mundell of "Eat Drink and Be Jesus," check out Love is a Sacrifice on (In)Courage. :)
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My heart is in sharing beauty with women, first heart beauty, but also affordable, healthy ways to care for our physical bodies that God calls the "temple" of His Holy Spirit when we allow Him to live within us through grace. To this end I am happy to represent Affordable Mineral Makeup™ as a beauty adviser and to offer this high quality line of pure mineral products to my readers.
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With this code, qualified orders (over $19.95 and properly following instruction for submitting freebie requests) will also receive three free gifts with your purchase! Your gifts are one 5-gram sifter jar with your choice of product (up to a $7.79 value) AND two mineral samples of your choice (valued at $2.49 each). To redeem the free gift offer, please list your requested free product selections in your order comments (not added to your cart!) when you place your order. Promotion items cannot be shipped separately.
Please visit http://www.InnerBeautyGirls.com and click on the "shop" link to get started by viewing our catalog. (I greatly appreciate when my return customers remember to always come back and start at my consultant link so that the computer knows to credit me for your purchases.) Thank you for your business and support!
I bet when you hear the term “Gluten Free," you don’t automatically think of your makeup, do you? Well, if you’re gluten sensitive you may want to. Makeup can have gluten in it.
What is gluten sensitivity? Read here for more information. The symptoms are usually skin rashes, itchiness, headaches, bloating/cramping. Gluten is very hard to digest and can be found in wheat, rye, barley and oats.
Gluten can be found in your makeup and other beauty products in the Vitamin E, Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Oats and Triglycerides are all sources of gluten that most people wouldn’t think about when purchasing makeup and body products.
Vitamin E is used as an antioxidant and is usually derived from wheat germ. Products that contain oils in them are usually preserved with Vitamin E to prevent them from going rancid. They can also be hidden in such oils as Olive Oil, Palm Oil and Coconut Oil.
Oats are another common ingredient commonly used in beauty products, such as soap and facial products.
If you are gluten sensitive you need to be aware of these ingredients that most people may overlook in cosmetics or body products.
There’s no definitive information regarding cosmetics / body products being harmful to those who are gluten sensitive but think about this; your skin is the largest organ of your body. It usually absorbs what you put on it and thus goes into your body system. So, that would suggest that if you’re gluten sensitive you might have reactions (skin rash/itchiness) from products that contain gluten additives.
- Special thanks to Tara Burner, owner of Affordable Mineral Makeup™ for this informative guest post. Information in this post is copyrighted property and many not be reprinted without the permission of Affordable Mineral Makeup™.
A big thank you to Lisa Brewer Buffaloe for allowing me to repost a beautiful story from her blog at at LisaBuffaloe.blogspot.com as we start to wrap up Virtual Spa Weekend. For those feeling especially tender over infertility or loss, I do want to give a head's up that the following story includes an amazing encounter between a father and son, however I think it will be a blessing to most who wish to read it. It was a good reminder for me about seeing the beauty in this world through God's eyes. :)
In the book Jesus Life Coach by Laurie Beth Jones, the author lays out some interesting points.
“Psychologists have documented the fact that it is not the actual events that harm us, so much as the perception of the events. In the stunning movie Life is Beautiful a father finds himself and his young son thrown into a concentration camp in Germany during World War Two. Trying to shield his son from the horror of their situation, he tells the boy that it is all a game, and the first one who gets scared, loses. Somehow he is able to continually convince the boy that none of the cruelty they are seeing is real, but only a play that is taking place. He even predicts the ending, saying at the end of the game a big tank with smiling men is going to come into the camp and declare the winner. When indeed the tank of the Americans pulls into camp, the little boy runs leaping and yelling in joy to greet it. ‘We won! We won!’ The father’s change of perception shielded the child from immense mental and emotional harm. Jesus does the same for us. When he says that ‘every tear shall be wiped away,’ he is teaching us that somehow we are in a play that is going to have a happy ending no matter what it looks like now.” Laurie Beth Jones *
Our temporary living arrangements are in an apartment on the third floor of a huge complex. If I open our blinds, it seems a thousand eyes will peer into the window. To the left of the kitchen table where I sit and type on my laptop is a patio that overlooks the parking lot. However, if you look further you can see a beautiful mountain range. No matter where I drive around town, I can see the mountains providing a visual of Psalm 121, “I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” (Psalm 121:1-4 NIV).
Regardless of our current situations, life here on earth is temporary, and Christ followers are guaranteed a happy ending. Our Heavenly Father provides the constant and consistent love and help we need.
When you look through the window of life, what do you see? Do you focus on the parking lot or do you notice the beauty of the mountains?
With the proper perspective, life truly is beautiful.
Thank You, Father for this beautiful life.
* Jesus Life Coach, Laurie Beth Jones, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN, 2004, pp 111-112.
When Lisa says, "Regardless of our current situations, life here on earth is temporary, and Christ followers are guaranteed a happy ending," I am reminded of another quote I recently read on Jason Mitchener's website, Forward Habit. Jason writes, "So often we treat this earth like our home. We focus on our life here like it's our eternal residence. We foolishly act like a traveler spending a week in a hotel room and using his time to put up new curtains, lay down carpeting, and pain the wall." That word picture really sticks with me and reminds me to enjoy the beauty of life while remembering that "every good and perfect gift is from above" and that true beauty and value can only be found in Jesus.
I am pleased to share with you, my wonderful Virtual Spa Weekenders, this guest blog reflection on beauty by Carissa, who is also generously sponsoing both a Tupperware and a Lia Sopia give-away this weekend. :)
Can you picture the most beautiful place you have ever seen? For me it would be the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. I remember the very first time I saw those grand mountains and still remember the awe I felt as I viewed the mountains from the road.
I can only imagine what heaven will look like. To say it will be 100 times grander and more magnificent just doesn't seem to be enough.
Do you think about heaven? Do you anticipate heaven? I think sometimes I forget I am just passing through earth, my home is waiting and it is beyond the most beautiful picture I have here on earth. My earthly body will be beautifully transformed into my heavenly body and be free from any sadness, pain or hurt. What a glorious day that will be!
Carissa is a 29-year-old member of Hannah's Prayer who was diagnosed with PCOS in February, 2004 after a year of trying to conceive unsuccessfully. With the help of medical professionals she was able to conceive her first child, but that pregnancy sadly ended in miscarriage on April 22, 2004. Since that loss the Lord has blessed their home with 4 living miracles, 2 of which are naturally-conceive twins! Though she has been blessed abundantly, Carissa's heart remains soft for women living through the heartache of infertility and she also has a passion for helping home business women find sucess working from home through her Work at Home Marketplace website.
Tupperware consultant Carissa is offering one $25 Gift Certificate to the randomly selected winner from all who comment on this Virtual Spa Weekend post. Earn your entry by posting your best Tupperware or beauty tip or story and earn additional entries by sharing the link to this post on your own website, blog or social network, then coming back to leave an additional comment for every way you have helped promote Carissa's give-away. :) Entries accepted until midnight on Sunday and winner announced early next week.
Carissa's Beauty Tip is that Tupperware Modular Mates work well for organizing all your make-up and jewelry. The Ovals are the perfect bathroom size for storing all the bathroom and beauty supplies. Of her home business she says, "I started with Tupperware in 2006 first as a discount consultant and quickly realized how I could make some extra income by doing catalog parties and internet sales. Since then I have a team and a goal to become a Director and drive a new car!"
OK, by now I hope everyone knows that we have an exciting Virtual Spa Weekend starting this Friday afternoon. I would love your help spreading the word! In thanks, I'm offering one person an $18 pink beaded necklace from Gurrlie Girl. This necklace consists of 6 beautiful strings of beads, each over 4 feet long, knotted together to be worn as a set. They can also be untied and used as a faux scarf either as a grouping or in individual strands. Very feminine!
So how will the Virtual Spa Weekend give aways work you ask? Well, let me tell you. :)
Through out the weekend there will be a seires of posts. Most will be beauty tips from me, and a few will be guest blogger spotlights from Hannah's Prayer memebers, small business representatives, and women interested in beauty, both the inward and outward kinds. The pink Gurrlie Girl necklace will go to someone who has commented on any one of these beauty or guest blogs all weekend long. You may receive one entry for each general comment you make, starting with this post and going through Sunday evening. You will also earn additional entries for doing specific things like sharing a link to the Weekend on your blog, Facebook or Twitter, then coming back and posting your link in an additional comment for each promotional activity you have done. In fact, you can start spreading the word about Virtual Spa Weekend right now to start earning entries!
There will also be give-aways for everything from chocolate and home decor, to jewerly and Tupperware. When a post is made offering a specific give-away, you must reply to that individual thread to be entered in that contest. At the end of the weekend I will randomly draw names from each set of contest entries and announce each winner early next week. Be sure to include your email address or other way for me to contact you when you leave your comments or I may have to select alternative winners if I cannot let you know that I've drawn your name. I'll put prize winners and contest sponsors in touch with one another next week for mailing information to get prizes to their new homes. :)
The first weekend in May, Hannah's Prayer Ministires (Christian infertility and pregnancy loss support ministry I helped launch nearly 15 years ago) will be holding a retreat in OH. There will be about 40 ladies gathered to encourage and support one another. The theme of the weekend will be "Beautiful In His Sight" and the guest speaker is Ginger Garrett, author of Beauty Secrets of the Bible (as well as a devotional book on infertility and several award-winning Christian fiction titles). I know it will be a wonderful, blessed weekend for all who attend!
Unfortunately, there are hundreds of women who are regular participants on the Hannah's Prayer Community Forums who are unable to attend for a variety of reasons (mostly, the prohibitive cost of travel) but would really love to be there. As the excitement builds on our Forums for the ladies who will be attending, the disappointment for those who cannot is growing as well. And so I'm going to be hosting a Virtual Spa Weekend here on my InnerBeautyGirlz blog from May 1-3.
This event will be open to everyone, but especially geared toward the ladies of Hannah's Prayer. I am looking for home-spa ideas, beauty treats and suggestions, guest blogger articles on beauty (with fun tips for our bodies, but also a focus on inner beauty), and product donations for drawings and give-aways throughout the weekend. Since my target readers that weekend will all be dealing with infertility or the death of a baby, I need to specifically avoid child-related posts and products (like using examples from motherhood in your stories).
Please share your suggestions for this event! Have a beauty topic you would like to write a guest blog about? Have a product you would like to donate as a give-away (and get your business featured in the process)? Have any creative ideas and suggestions for creating an at-home-spa experience? I would love to hear from you!
For instructions about how to participate in Virtual Spa Weekend and earn contest entries, check out the Early Bird entries post. :)
Something many of you may not know about me is that I was raised in Japan for seven years of my childhood. So is it especially fun for me to share today's blog with Camy Tang who describes herself as "the loud Asian chick who writes loud Asian chick lit." She used to be a biologist, but now she is a staff worker for her church youth group and leads a worship team for Sunday service. She also runs the Story Sensei fiction critique service. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels every Monday and Thursday, and she ponders frivolous things like dumb dogs (namely, hers), coffee-geek husbands (no resemblance to her own...), the writing journey, Asiana, and anything else that comes to mind. Visit her website at www.camytang.com for a huge website contest going on right now, giving away five boxes of books and 25 copies of her latest release, ONLY UNI.
Welcome, Camy. Thank you for joining us to share your reflections on beauty!
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Thanks for having me here, Jenni!
I love the verse for your Inner Beauty Girlz website, 1 Peter 3: “Beauty should not come from outward adornment... Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.”
It took me a long time to understand my inner beauty and to be happy with who I am. For most of my teenage years and even my twenties, I spent too much time being embarrassed for being awkward, nervous about making a social mistake, shy to put myself forward.
I knew my self-esteem was low, but I thought it was “natural” or that I needed to exert myself more in order to raise it. I knew that my self-esteem ought to be dependent solely on Christ, but I didn’t know how to go about doing that, and couldn’t get what I knew in my head to make an impression on my heart and how I felt.
It wasn’t until I reached my late twenties that I started to understand how to let Christ determine my self-esteem. I’d been under the misapprehension that I needed perfect social graces to be acceptable to other people. That mistakes on my part would make people think of me as strange or odd, and at all costs, I didn’t want to stand out or be thought of as a weirdo.
But slowly I started to understand who I really was, who God had made me. Slowly I started being happier with exactly who God had made me—a bit awkward, with an unusual sense of humor, a bit out of the ordinary.
And that was okay.
I made an effort to stop being nervous about social mistakes I made. I learned to ignore my mistakes or laugh at them. And I discovered that while some people DID think I was odd, I started making friends with people who DIDN’T think I was odd.
God sent me friends who loved who I was—awkward, strange, a bit of a dingbat. He gave me people to be my sisters in Christ, and a husband who completes me in ways I didn’t realize I needed him.
I have found my inner beauty, and realized it was there all the time, the beautiful person God had made me to be. When I could accept who I am, and stopped trying to be who I was not, He drew people to me who also saw my beauty. He helped me see myself as His child.
And because of what He’s done for me, this is my prayer for all my readers, too—that they will co me to see themselves as God made them, and to accept who they are.
Please take a moment to enjoy this fun look at "Solomon's Beloved" as presented by Vonda. It starts out a little slow, but stick with it and you will soon be laughing! If you can't view it here, watch it on uTube at Solomon’s Beloved at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEmhI8FL_ZI. Of Solomon's Beloved Vonda writes, "She’s so much fun! (And people think we Christians can’t have fun! A lot they know!)"
(If you are reading this via email and can't view the video, be sure to drop by the Inner Beauty Blog to see this funny, can't miss skit for yourself!)
ABOUT THE BOOK: Seeing through the Lies: Unmasking the Myths Women Believe
We have been seduced by half-truths and whole lies since time began. Remember the garden? In Seeing Through the Lies, author and speaker Vonda Skelton humorously addresses the disappointments women experience as they search for truth while believing a lie. Each chapter opens with amusing anecdotes from real life and ends with answers and guidance straight from God s Word. Exploring topics such as pride, fear, motherhood, and the busyness of life, this book offers practical steps for peeling away the layers of deceit and finding the joy of living in real truth. Through honesty and humility, Vonda takes women on a hilarious journey through all things female and brings them to a soul-searching point of decision. Readers will identify with both the positive and negative examples of women in the Bible, and will be encouraged by Scripture, as well as quotes from notable men and women. Each chapter ends with five steps for exposing the lie and embracing the truth of God s Word.
Are you striving to be a woman of excellence, but feel you're landing somewhere between mediocre and unfit? Do you want to be your husband's lover, but feel more like his mother? Are you convinced that busyness is next to godliness? Are you trying so hard to be everything to everybody that you feel like you're nobody to anybody?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you're not alone--you've simply fallen victim to the lies of Satan! But you don't have to be seduced by his masquerade any longer. Join the fun as we take a hilarious journey through all things female on our search for real truth in a counterfeit world.
From spider veins and webs of deceit to cartoon characters and feminist funnies, Seeing through the Lies: Unmasking the Myths Women Believe will help you recognize the lies and take joy in the light of His Truth.The suggested Bible readings, small group discussion questions, and meditations on the very words of Jesus will help you discover not only the lies that bind you, but the keys that set you free.
Listen, girlfriend, it doesn't matter who you are or where you've been or what you've done, God is ready to give you a fresh start on a new life--one that can only come through the acceptance of His unchanging truth.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Vonda Skelton is an entertaining speaker with a heart for women and their families. Her first women's book, Seeing through the Lies: Unmasking the Myths Women Believe, "takes a hilarious look at all things female as we search for truth in a counterfeit world." Her first two books are part of the Bitsy Mystery Series for children 8-14 years old. The third book in the series, Bitsy and the Mystery at Hilton Head Island, will be released in the spring of 2008.
An RN and freelance writer, Vonda's articles frequently appear in magazines such as HomeLife, Christian Single, Focus on the Family publications, and New Man Magazine. An award-winning playwright and lyricist, her scripts have been performed in churches around the country. She is a frequent instructor at writer's conferences and enjoys mentoring and encouraging new writers.
As one who tries--and often fails--to be like Christ, Vonda is thankful God continues to take her messes and use them for His glory!
Vonda is on a "blog tour" this month. She has asked each blog tour host (that would be me in this case) to collect all the names from the comments left on their sites (that would be this www.InnerBeautyGirlz.blogspot.com) for Vonda's blog tour, and draw one finalist. Vonda will put all the blog tour hosts' names in a hat and draw a finalist as well. Then all of the finalists from the various blog tours and from the blog tour hosts go in the hat one final time and the winner will receive this great gift selected just for you by Vonda. This is a GREAT prize! The drawing will be held April 2, 2008. The winner will receive:
Designer Gift Box (looks like a piece of luggage with the words "Faith, Family, Friends" on the exterior).
One copy each of three books by the author: Seeing Through the Lies: Unmasking the Myths Women Believe, Bitsy and the Mystery at Amelia Island, Bitsy and the Mystery at Tybee Island. A stretchy bracelet with Sterling Silver Beads, Gold Swarovski Pearls, Turquoise and Blue Zircon Swarovski Crystals and Sterling Silver Masquerade Mask Charm. Bookmark custom-made with Sterling Silver Beads, Gold Swarovski Pearls, Turquoise, Blue Zircon and Clear Swarovski Crystals and Sterling Silver Masquerade Mask Charm on a 4.75 inch Silver Plated Bookmark. Gold Tri-fold picture frame.
Pewter-colored oval picture frame.
Jeweled decorated cross.
Peanut caramel clusters.
Caramel Truffles.
Mini-Yankee Candle.
Three-pack sample tea bags.
Sample Columbian Supremo Coffee.
Oh My! Itty Bitty Chai Packet.
So please let me a comment today to enter this great drawing!!!
In the fall of 2011, Jenni experienced six strokes, impairing her ability to walk, see, hear well or use her left hand. After nearly 2 months in the hospital and rehab, Jenni is now at home. She is posting updates at JenniferSaake.com.
