Feeling Beautiful?

For those looking for some great new reading, there is a young Brisbane woman, Sophee McPhee, who has just launched a magazine called QCG Magazine (Queensland Calander Girls).

The magazine is refreshingly distinctive, targeting a more mature audience and focusing on celebrating real women. Based on the inspirational and heart-warming box office hit, Calendar Girls (starring Helen Mirren & Julie Walters), QCG Magazine was developed to connect, inspire and celebrate all women. Their philosophy is, "skin - not plastic", and the pages are filled with real stories from real women.

Whilst reading the magazine I was consistently reminded that age really is a mindset, so is confidence and beauty. Inner beauty and confidence will carry a woman through her whole life. It will allow a woman's life to continuously unfold into an exciting adventure, propelled by her life experience and wisdom. It is a woman's mindset that masters a meaningful life, not her outer beauty.

Our society as a whole tends to be obsessed with all things youthful - this information is not new. Women wear the brunt of this bias more than men though. Does no longer looking youthful mean women can't be beautiful? How sad if this is what we allow ourselves to believe.

Annie Infinite from The Zen Bull recently submitted this article about women and beauty. I'm happy to see women like Julie Carrington and Sophee McPhee really working hard to shift these biases.

"As women grow older there is a strange phenomenon that happens to them. Julie Carrington of The Jewellery Gallery says that it is like a 'cloak of invisibility' is thrown over them. Women start to feel invisible because they no longer get the looks they used to when walking down the street.

"Women lose their confidence in their beauty and begin to feel less beautiful. As women age they look into the mirror and see only the parts of themselves that they don't like."

Feeling beautiful at any age has become the focus for new workshops held regularly by Julie and her partner Lea Sanson. They welcome women who want to reclaim that lost feeling of beauty.

There are few things more alluring than a woman who is sexy, bold and full of confidence. She feels good and that confidence shows. Julie says,"Woman ARE beautiful at any age and we want them to feel that beauty each and every day. We want women of any age to step out of the house each day and boldly strut their stuff."

Using confidence building strategies, a mirror and beautiful jewelry adornment, Julie and Lea help women transform their perception about their age and most importantly their beauty.

"When a woman is dressed in something that makes her feel amazing and then we add an adornment to the outfit, she transforms right before her own eyes in the mirror. It is all about seeing the whole woman, the whole picture - rather than focusing on the bits we don't like. Suddenly women can come alive. They stand with their heads high and get a little strut into their walk and you can see that they're feeling bolder and more beautiful in just a couple of hours."

Julie and Lea have a few tips for women who want to start feeling beautiful right now:
• Dress the part. Pick clothes that flatter your figure and make you feel like the bold, beautiful woman you are. Try not to squeeze into clothes that no longer fit or are unflattering, even though perhaps in fashion.
• Go for glamour. Purchase a few staples for the season and dress them up differently depending on your mood or the occasion.
• Adorn yourself. Find amazing jewellery to compliment the outfit you have chosen. It only takes one amazing piece to draw the eye where you want it and you will find yourself being complimented all day long. What a wonderful way of downplaying those places you are not so proud of.

This is the key to feeling and looking amazing explains Julie - accentuating the positive and downplaying the negative. "Seeing yourself as a whole picture when you look at yourself in the mirror is a big part of feeling beautiful. How often do we look in the mirror and only see the parts we don't like? "

Seeing the whole person, the full effect will allow you to get out there and let the world know that you have the leading role in your life.

"Strutting your stuff is really important. When you walk into a room looking confident, you'll be amazed how quickly you'll begin to feel sassier and more confident than ever before."

Wallflower anyone? I don't think so...

By Kylie Welsh