Happy Belated Birthday, Marilyn!

Source: Wikipedia

Yesterday would have been the 88th birthday of one of Hollywood´s biggest sex symbols of the 50s. Marilyn Monroe.  

Yesterday I saw lots of posts on the internet about her, showing her off during her best years. She had a turbulent love life and a very tight relationship with  psychiatrists. Maybe without all the problems that come with glam she would´ve lived longer. Who knows. As I was watching some of her videos on YouTube, I couldn´t help but notice how the conception of beauty in the media has radically changed in the last couple of decades.

Not only big fashion labels make it almost impossible to fit in their best garnments (and actually look good), also technology gives society – especially to the younger generations of women and the older generation of men - a hard time since 1988 (the year in which Adobe bought the rights to Photoshop from Thomas Knoll, its early developer).

If I compare what used to be sexy in the 50s and in the 60s, and what is thought to be sexy today, I can´t help to wonder „What the hell has happened to us“ !

Women like  Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot and Sofia Loren have written the history of beauty on the big scream. Sensual, curvy, woman like and sexy, those women should be more someone we look up to then today´s almost anorexic super models. Here is the cover page of People Today (June 18, 1952) showing what in the 50s was the portrait of a perfect woman

Source: http://www.pinterest.com/estudiop2013/marylin-l-magazine-covers/

I hear teenagers in stores being upset if they don´t fit size 32 pants (xxs), and them complaining about not looking like model Bianca Balti (L´Oreal Paris Make Up Line 2014) when putting on make up.  Others look at big celebrities and think they were born this way! Don´t forget that they spend lots of their freetime (and some of their money) on nutritians, surgeouns (yes, eyelids and eyebrows don´t lift up on their own, lips don´t become bigger with age, and skin does not become smoother as you get older!) and on lots of other little things which make them appear beautiful!

Do you really believe a Mascara will give you cover page eyelashes? If yes, then you must be pretty naive. Not only there are different make up techniques used for photoshooting (the kind of make up which is really not made for daylight but rather for flashlights) but also there is always an extra technology touch to make those thighs look apart, and those breasts look higher.

Here are two photos which I took from the following link (which you can definitely check out to find some unveiled beauties J )

collegetimes.com/2014/03/19/the-truth-behind-celebrities-without-photoshop

Pls don´t get me wrong, I love Mariah, but she has her bad pictures, too. 

Can you see the difference? I can. And I want to teach my kids (if I will ever havy any) what real beauty is about, I want to teach them the power a smile can have, but most of all, I want to show them that they can still be in shape and beautiful without giving up all the nice (and tasty) things in life!

So happy belated birthday Marilyn, and thanks for reminding me that beautiful does not equal anorexic!

PS: Want to see how things can really go on if you overdo surgery? Take a look at Donatella Versace. And yes. Versace. With this last comment I wish you all a good night :) xx

NUTRITION: Organic; yay or nay? A brief personal thought

In the past few years I noticed an increase in products with a green "Bio" labels printed on them, in literally all Grocery´s stores I have visited, even at lower priced supermarkets such as Lidl or Aldi. 

At the beginning I thought this was pretty much about money-making, strategically well thought, expensively marketed products and I never really gave it a deeper thought. 

Recently though, as I started meditating more (you should definitely try meditating too! It´s such a great way to keep a positive aura, and keep the stress away from you:) ), I started to change my nutritional habits (less sugar, less trans fats, more proteins and healthy carbs) and decided to start taking care of my health. I am not "old" yet, but it is never too early to start. 

Attention to labelling increased during the past years, more and more companies now print exact labels in regards to ingredients and nutritional facts (e.g.: Carbs per 100g, Kcal etc). Regulations have been changing in Europe and North America, making it a must to list certain ingredients. 

The buyers´awareness of health has also been increasing, I see more and more people looking for healthier food around me and in stores. 
I believe I belong to this group of buyers. I want to see less chemicals in what I eat, I don´t want to eat a fully injected, pumped up apple - That´s why I, in a lot of cases but not exclusively, turn to Organic Food if possible. 

But what is organic food exactly and is it really a ? There have been lots of arguments as to whether organic food is better than non organic or not. Well, I believe it is and here are my top 3 reasons for this.

First of all, the regulations in regards to chemical usage in fertilizers is stricter, maybe you can´t completely avoid chemicals, but you can certainly choose to reduce them by carefully selecting what you eat!

Secondly, artificial food additives are a no go in organic food, this is already good enough of a point for me.

Thirdly, if you are a meat lover (I am not, but I know many who are!) you should definitely go for organic meat rather than non organic, at least in my opinion, as the animals are  grown differently and also fed differently. If you decide to kill animals to satisfy your appetite (ok, I do eventually eat meat too, trying to go down to no meat though...so this point refers to me as well) at least make sure that they are treated and killed with some remains of dignity, I think they do have sensitive souls too (even though a running chicken might not look like such a sensitive creature at first, I still try to keep my thoughts equal for all animals, no offence to anyone..). 

If you are convinced and want to take Organic to a further level, then go for small local producers of organic food, at least for some of your groceries. It might end up being slightly more expensive (if you don´t have that extra dollar, then just never mind, just go for non organic healthy stuff:) ) but at least you will be supporting the local economy in a way or the other. You might not change the world, but it is still a good deed isn´t it? 

Want to know more? Follow this link :)

http://www.organicconsumers.org/