Recently, I was home on a free afternoon. I could either work on pulling weeds first, or do laundry and watch T.V. I decided to do the latter because who really gets up in the morning and say ” Oh boy! I get to pull weeds today!” While channel surfing I landed on one of the T.V shopping channels that had a popular skin care/cosmetic line doing a product demonstration. The program was on for about a half an hour and it said that it had awesome breakthroughs for aging skin. I have to admit that I was very skeptical about this, but like people who stare on the freeway at the remaining wreckage of a car accident I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. The person went on to say that people that are 30 needed to start the aging skin routine so that they can ward off wrinkles/discoloration/sagging for as long as possible. Good Grief! I am 32! Does this mean that I have lost out on two whole years of possible anti-aging? Will I look 2 years older than someone who uses it right on their 30th birthday? And I thought all I had to do was use sunscreen, avoid baking in the sun(which is not hard in Seattle) and use antioxidants along with the other things Paula recommends (which I know is all I really need but I was getting sucked into this presentation).

The person who represented this line continued to stress the importance of using each product in the routine and she said that she used them on a daily basis. I can understand why so many people are so hooked on this and proceed to purchase the kits that are on this program. The representative of this company had flawless beautiful skin, looked like a supermodel and talked about how all of her clients/friends in Hollywood swear by these products when they can afford much much more. They think ” If I use her products, I will have skin that looks like hers, marry a rich man, move to a nice neighborhood, and have beautiful friends that take my skincare/makeup advice” (well, maybe I exaggerated a bit.)I kept count of all of the products that she said that she personally used and it ended up being close to 25 different items just in skin care on a daily basis. I don’t know who has time for this! I would have to quit my job to take care of my skin if I was to do all the steps she does, and this is not something that my disability insurance covers!

They went on to show the “dramatic before and afters.” Honestly, the way the representative/esthetician/makeup artist, applies product to the person’s face rivals a boxer in the ring. She would be a worthy opponent for Oscar De La Hoya. Ever notice how they cut away during the time that we are waiting to see the dramatic “after?” Well, trust me, they are applying a lot more than just more of the product that they are hocking. They are applying the equivalent to exterior house paint to cover the bumps and bruises that the poor model endures while these people rush to apply products. This is so that they can show that even a busy person has time for 25 steps in the morning.

The buzzer of my dryer startled me back in to reality. Good thing that my load of laundry had finished as I had all I could take of horse thievery that I was watching. Now, if only the T.V shopping networks just had something that would pull weeds for me?

G’day mates! How ya goin? No worries, everything has been like a dog’s dinner and I’ve been running around like a blue arse fly! (Australian slang is just a trip).

I’m in Melbourne now. It’s been quite a weekend. My time in Korea ended up great; what an experience, and Paula’s Choice Korea has been a wonderful launch. I’m so flattered that Korean women have taken to my products with such enthusiasm! I am thrilled with the businessman heading up Paula’s Choice Korea and am confident he will continue to be successful given his Web savvy and intuitive nature concerning the cosmetics industry.

I spent the weekend in Melbourne with our Australian distributors for Paula’s Choice talking a lot of business and doing a lot of drinking, especially some outstanding red wine; Australian Syrah is the best. Australia continues to be a great market for Paula’s Choice since so many of the locals are familiar with my books (all my books have been best-sellers in Australia since I published my first one there in 1989) and many subscribe to Beautypedia.

We went to an animal sanctuary today (Sunday) and we saw kangaroos (we got to feed a group of them, just precious), wombats, koala bears, emus, and a bird of prey show that had the birds swooping over our heads.

I also went to a footie game on Saturday (Australian-rules football); This is their version of our football, but it is more a mix of soccer and, well, I’m not sure what, but it was very interesting and the stadium was huge and packed, such energy. There were over 75,000 people in attendance and this is just the beginning of the season. Sports of any kind is a religion in Australia. My Australian distributor belongs to a footie club and we had lunch with this large group of sports enthusiasts and they had me speak for 20 minutes. In the 75-year history of this organization I’m the first woman speaker they’ve ever had. It was a resounding success; everyone laughed at all my jokes, including the need for a burka to cover cellulite.

I’ve attached a picture of a bookstore carrying my books here. I have a book signing there on Tuesday evening and then off to Sydney. I have a total of 30 media interviews throughout the week and then I plan on sleeping all day Saturday. I come home on Sunday (a 16 hour non-stop flight to LA) and boy am I ready to be home! I’m having I’ve-been-out-of-the-country-too-long-traveling-the world-airport weary blues!

All the best!

I’m in Seoul now. Boy is this a different part of the world! The pollution is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Because Seoul was so heavily bombed during North Korea‘s attack in the early 1950s, everything here is completely rebuilt and new. It is like a huge (and I mean really, really huge) cement, steel, and glass, high rise jungle with over 10 million people–but it is immaculate: no one honks, everyone is polite, and virtually no homeless people or slums. This is about as 180 degrees from Mumbai as you can get!

One thing I have a VERY hard time getting used to is how passive the men and women are (completely unlike Americans, Australians, or Europeans). They are reticent to speak out, to move, or take action when you ask them to do something or they see something needs to be done. No matter what the circumstance, they always, and I mean always stand back, almost afraid to move, especially women, and always to check to see if anyone would object to what they might do or say. Of course I’m being a very assertive American woman and often have to say to the people working for me, just go ahead, please do that NOW for me.

I’m a bit of a celebrity in Korea. I had a press conference today with over 30 reporters. On Sunday I did a lecture to over 400 Korean women. After the lecture they stood in line waiting to get my autograph and their picture taken with me. It’s just amazing and incredibly flattering. Moments like this make all the hard work and days of non-stop traveling worthwhile.

My translators are great; they are working very hard and are sweet putting up with me. It is not easy for them to translate from English to Korean. The word order is out of synch with English. In order to say “Don’t waste your money on expensive skin care products”, the word order in Korean would be “Money waste not, skin care products expensive”.

Paula’s Choice Korea is doing great; they are growing at a phenomenal pace. This country is wired with a capital “W”! Everyone is on the internet and Internet shopping is more active here then almost any place in the world.

We watched a traditional Korean concert last night, which was fascinating. The twangy music is hard on these American ears but the audience was quite enthusiastic.

Oh, and the food here is amazing here! The variation of cooked and pickled vegetables is remarkable.

I’m here until Thursday and then off to Melbourne and Sydney for a week. It’s a 13 hour flight from here to Melbourne and then a 16 hour flight back from Sydney to Seattle. I’m tired just thinking about it. Thank goodness for Ambien.

I’m off to do more interviews, then get my hair and nails done so I look good for the interviews I have lined up for tomorrow. One thing that hasn’t changed over the years is the amount of time it takes to get ready for an interview.

 All the best!  

 

My phone doesn’t work well here at least as far as messages are concerned. I’m doing great though: no mosquito bites, no problems from the malaria pills, and no stomach upset from all the shots and immunizations required before traveling to this part of the world.

It has been a fascinating learning experience and I mean really, really, really fascinating. On some level I could just be in New York or Hong Kong or Sydney, but then on a closer look the poverty and the plethora of buildings that are falling apart just takes your breath away and overwhelms your heart. I have never seen poverty like this. And the heat in their spring!  You can barely walk outside without melting. It is almost painful!

The business meetings have been incredible but not what I expected in the least. From a business perspective this country seems simultaneously behind the times and up to speed in the millennium. From an Internet perspective they are somewhere in the mid-90s. But the economy is growing by leaps and bounds and as a result there is an amazing amount of progress and development but there is also an immense amount of confusion, political turmoil, unbelievable unemployment, there is need for far more development, and bribery is still a way of doing business. So why am I bothering? Because feedback from businesswomen in India and from consumers has been loud and clear that they want Paula’s Choice products available locally. How amazing!

In order for me to sell Paula’s Choice here I would need to manufacture my products here. I’m trying to figure out how to do that, which has been a 180 degree shift from what I originally thought (meaning my plan was to ship my products here from our Seattle warehouse). Importing is beyond costly (duties, special regulatory requirements that don’t apply to local products) and there are skin care products in this country selling for $3 U.S. funds (they are really awful formulations but they are cheap to make).

My boyfriend who hails from Mumbai has been helping quite a bit. He has been coming with me for most of my meetings. His being able to speak the local language (either Hindi or Marathi) is extremely helpful. There are many times that English just doesn’t work despite the fact that everyone speaks English for the most part. The fact remains that many people are still most comfortable speaking their native tongue. Sometimes it is word choice but often it is just pronunciation; sometimes it is the way they shake their head (I think they are saying no and they are just shaking their heads—imagine the comical situations that can lead to!).

I find the Indian people quite formal and extremely polite and considerate. They also have a great, quirky sense of humor which is wonderful (everyone gets my jokes and they are willing to laugh out loud which is just great).

I’m still not sure I can do business here with the same high standards I hold myself to in other countries, but I am convinced that it is so worth it to continue the investigation and give it a try. The emerging middle class and the desire for information is a pulse you can feel. Women here are amazing. I’ve met with many female business owners or in high-level mid-management positions. They are assertive, smart, savvy, and intense but very service-oriented. They hold to tradition but long to be global. And it is interesting to note that no matter where I travel, the demand for effective, well-formulated skin-care products remains a universal desire.

On a side note, other than culture shock, one particularly unique aspect of Indian society is that everyone (and I mean everyone) lives with their parents until they get married, and often even then they remain with their parents, never moving out.

I clearly stand out here like a sore thumb (at least when I’m dressed up for meetings and wearing full makeup), not in the hotels, but in meetings or driving through the city. The people seem to think I’m a Bollywood celebrity. I went to a Hindu temple last week. They have separate entrances for men and women I went up to the altar and handed their “priest” money and received Darshan (candy, a coconut, and a flower—I have no idea what the coconut was for but the candy is something very typical) he also put a bindi on my forehead (a red dot made of some mixture of seasonings). I wore it all day! It looked great. A gorgeous fashion statement!

On Saturday I’m off to Korea. That should be fascinating as no one speaks English there and I have a big presentation I’m doing for the media and then to a group of over 400 Korean women!

Namaste!

Quick, let’s cradle our faces in our hands and gently pull back the skin at the bottom of our jaws towards our ears and see who we once were.  You know you do that.  We all do.  Who are we seeing when we stretch our jowls back through time?  To a time when we never thought to push the skin forward for a secret glimpse of who we were to become.

 At first, I see the smoothed gentle skin of my younger face.  Then, I see the me behind my eyes.  The me that Freud referred to as self.  Not the anatomy is destiny, me. It is when I let my jaw down, so to speak, that I look at the older, stranger me I am becoming.  My soul seems to age in dog years, while my body catapults forward in people time.  It really is okay, though.  I know there are options such as Restylane, Botox, and face lifts, but that is a step in the direction of Cher and Joan Rivers I’m not willing to take just yet.

I remember seeing my first serious wrinkle.  I was looking into a rearview mirror to put sunscreen on my face right before a five-mile run. Yes, I know.  You wouldn’t believe that by looking at me now.  But then, I was thirty years old and I noticed, for the first time, on the right side of my mouth a crease, a deep crease, an etched crease, a crease that seemed big enough to need its own tube of sunscreen. 

It surprised me.  “Wow,” I remember thinking, “when did that happen?”  But it was a singularity, a oner.  I didn’t get the foreshadowing.  So, I went for my run while my one-wrinkle face had begun an agenda all its own.

We do indeed focus on our aging skin.  And we all know we have better things to think about.  We all know this attention is existentially foolish.  We all know it’s self-indulgent vanity.  We feel a bit ashamed and a bit shallow.  There are far more important issues.

It’s petty, of course, this preoccupation with our post-menopausal, estrogen-deprived, sun-damaged skin.  Very un-Zen-like.  It’s so hard, however, to watch our beauty leak out through the sieve of time, to watch it sustain the relentless erosion of youth with peaceful detachment, especially when we live in a culture dominated by the priceless commodities of beauty and youth.

Phew, I’m out of breath just writing that last sentence.  And I probably just lost another few skin cells.

Young people, however, really are beautiful. And they’re all around us. We have to watch them for the rest of our lives.  And there will be more and more of them and fewer and fewer of us for the rest of our lives.  It’s like watching your best friend walking around with your ex-boyfriend, who dropped you.  You want him back.  You want to touch him.  You know it’s not fair.

Jaw up.  Jaw down. Yet, I am mainly content and at peace with my saggy skin.  My soft, fluid skin.  My moveable feast of flesh.  And while I know there is blight in the world that makes my facial woes truly insignificant, I’m having dinner tonight in my safe and quiet home with my dog and my husband, not in that order, knowing full-well that wrinkles are a luxury.

At least once a month everyone at PCI gathers in our lunchroom to surprise someone of the staff whose birthday happens to be in that month. Sometimes they do not suspect it and are truly surprised and others (like me) really do know what is going on. The fun is not in the actual surprise rather it is how we get someone into the lunch room.  Sometimes it is as simple as “We need you in the kitchen” or as complex as “You received a delivery and it is in the kitchen.” or ” The garbage disposal is broken can you fix it?” My favorite was one that we did not use. It was Paula’s birthday and we had decided to lock all the doors and turn off the lights (she had gone out to lunch and was in the process of returning to the office and we thought it would be cute for her to return to a “closed” office.) Bryan suggested that we put a sign up “Caution Biohazard: Closed for Skin Care Repairs.” I think Paula would have thought that was funny, because she usually does. Once you get her going, she can laugh until tears spill down her cheeks and wreck her makeup. 

We also have a list of all employees’ favorites as far as cakes or pies. While nothing can compare to my Mother’s homemade Chocolate Soufflé some of the Costco cakes that we have had were really good! It always amazes me the different types of people and their discriminating tastes. Some are ”frosting inclined” and others not so much. I remember past birthdays where people specifically requested a corner piece so that they can maximize the amount of frosting they would get. Now, that is obsession and I am not talking about the perfume!

There is also the part about singing Happy Birthday. The hardest part is when we have a lot of birthdays to sing. For example something like:  Happy Birthday Dear Bart, Deborah, Kate, Patrice, Roxanna, Karoline, Ann, Pablo, KoKo and Mark (Pablo and Koko our a few of the 11 dogs we have here in our office). A Verdi opera would be less challenging to sing some months (believe me, I know.) Also, if we leave the door open sometimes the customers on the phone can hear it. I had one customer ask what all the noise was in the background. I was pretty new at the time and so I told her it was the radio. She told me that I would lose my hearing if I kept listening to music so loud!

So next time you call in and hear a lot of noise in the background just ask whose birthday it is at PCI and I promise to to let you know!

Over the years that I have worked for Paula’s Choice many customers have asked “ You must use only her products right?” While I do use several of Paula’s products and follow her advice, one item in my cosmetics wardrobe that is not a Paula’s Choice product is mascara.

I’ve been wearing it since I was 11 and found a tube on my mom’s vanity table. I noticed it made my eyes appear larger, which was a great help given that I wore giant red Sally Jesse Raphael style glasses which made my eyes appear diminutive at best. Combine that with shoulder length mall hair, jelly bracelets, frosty pink lip gloss and I was quite a sight to behold.

Until recently, I had never found a mascara that truly performed for me in all aspects. Most had provided thickness but not much length, or length but not much thickness. Call me greedy, but I just really want a mascara to do both. Last December, while doing some Christmas shopping, I stopped into a local Sephora to check out a mascara I had heard about called Blackout by Dior. It was $25 and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend that much money on a mascara when Paula suggests several which cost much less. I justified this purchase on the principle that a $25 mascara is infinitely cheaper than a Hermes Birkin Bag.  I know Paula would cringe, I didn’t check her review of this product and I spent well over the amount she considers necessary. Thankfully Paula is patient and rarely cares about her employees straying from her path.

I tried the mascara the next day by itself without liner but with a bit of concealer and powder on my eyelids. I had to run to the grocery store for some last minute baking ingredients. As I am pondering the difference between pre-sifted and non pre-sifted flour a customer had asked if I wore false eyelashes or had eyelash extensions. When I told her they were not she asked which brand of mascara I used. This was the first time I had ever had someone stop me in all my years of wearing mascara, so it must be doing something right! The compliments did not end there, I probably did more business for Dior then some of their sales reps!

I’ve since purchased this product two or three more times while, of course, still trying the ‘latest and greatest’. It’s nice to know my Holy Grail of mascara is attainable for less than a designer handbag.

First let me start by saying that at Paula’s Choice everyone in Customer Service is trained and wants to answer questions in as helpful, polite, considerate, intelligent, and personalized manner as possible. Having said that, as the customer service manager and member of this team for more than eight years, the question of my team’s competency is one that has bothered me over the years until a recent experience helped me understand just why a consumer might ask.

When I called my local cell phone company to get information on current plans and upcoming new phones, I was met with the standard “Thank you for calling [xyz company], how may I help you?” but it seemed to go downhill from there. As I asked the questions about what new plans and phones were available, I was advised that “all of this information is on our website” and then there was silence. Was that just a recording I heard? I wasn’t really sure so I replied, “Okay….Is the number I’m calling right now not for questions only to place an order?” Although slightly modified, I just asked the very question I had come to dislike over the years (it was like a light bulb turning on), is this just an ordering line or can you answer questions? What else is customer service for is not to ask questions and have someone with knowledge and patience to take care of you. If the phone number is an ordering phone number, just tell me that up front don’t waste my time redirecting me.

To test if I could get the help I needed, I changed my question to; “Can you just tell me when my contract is up?” I wanted to see if the risk of losing my business would stir a better response. She knew that answer right away and then said “is there anything else I can help you with?” I’m thinking you haven’t even helped me yet, and you’re not getting that I’m so frustrated I’m considering changing providers. Believe me, my team is never going to do that to any Paula’s Choice customer.

So for future reference, please know that when you call Paula’s Choice, our team does take orders, BUT we also answer questions and most importantly we DO care and appreciate that you chose our company to serve your skincare and cosmetics needs. Thank you again for choosing Paula’s Choice! We look forward to speaking with you.

I don’t often get press releases. Most companies, actually 99% of all cosmetic companies, don’t want me to know they are launching a new product because they don’t want to risk a negative review (who does?) Given that most every skin-care product on the market can’t live up to a fraction of the claims on the label, why risk close scrutiny when the scrutinizer isn’t tied to advertising dollars? If you think about it, even the cosmetic companies don’t believe their own claims or a company like Lauder wouldn’t be selling over 300 antiwrinkle products from the numerous lines they own from Clinique to La Mer. If one product could live up to the claims on the label, what is the need for all the other products sold at the same counter or the new ones they will be launching next month or the month after with the same exaggerated claims? But I digress.

When I do get a press release I automatically assume the company really doesn’t know what I do (which is often the case and then once they find out we never hear from them again). That might be the case for this company who sent me the following press release:

“I thought you might be interested in this new underwater cellulite treatment: Regardless of weight, diet and exercise routine, 90-95% of women will be struggling with cellulite this bathing suit season and all year round. Cellulite Reduction Water Therapy, a new non-invasive treatment offered at The Medical Spa at Nova in Ashburn, Va., uses warm water under pressure to break down fatty deposits and increase blood flow, effectively reducing cellulite. This 60-minute treatment is a targeted underwater massage performed in a hydrotherapy tub. The result is the breaking up of fibrotic connective tissue. The underwater massage also assists and enhances the body’s microcirculation and lymphatic drainage system by disposing excess metabolic water fluid. Because the massage is gentle, it is suitable for fragile or brittle skin or skin with vascular problems.

First and foremost their numbers are meaningless, 90% to 95% of women? Where did they get that number from? The actual statistic is that 85% of women have cellulite but not almost every woman born (isn’t 95% of women close to everybody?) worries about cellulite, but that’s a minor point. Second, there is no research showing this method of massage or any massage method is effective for dealing with cellulite. If you could get rid of cellulite with any cosmetic method who would have cellulite? No one, right? But that is clearly not the case, at least based on the number of letters I receive from women battling cellulite.

The other point is that fat has nothing to do with cellulite, though the idea of breaking down fat with massage is nice, if that was all it took to lose weight who would be overweight? It is important to realize that normal weight women, thin women, and extremely thin women can all have cellulite, ergo the statistic that a vast majority of women have cellulite. Blood flow doesn’t affect fat or the appearance of cellulite either; again there isn’t a shred of research supporting this nonsense. What is most ludicrous is the notion that fibrotic connective tissue is the problem. Fibrotic tissue or Fibrosis is the formation of scar-like, hardened formations in skin tissue. There is no research indicating that the healthy skin on 85% of women’s thighs is fibrotic.

Given the almost universal complaint  of cellulite from women of all weight and sizes, a hormonal issue is believed to be the cause of this condition. Since women are genetically predisposed to have babies, as a result their skin is structured to expand to accommodate a growing fetus. The skin’s laxity doesn’t keep fat in place allowing it to poke through weak areas of connective tissues fascia and collagen.

Once again, someone is ready, willing, and able to sell women some kind of “snake oil” promising to rid them of their beauty woes, when all they can deliver is a way to throw money down the drain. Well, that and the disappointment that comes when the consumer realizes her cellulite is still there!  

A Beautypedia subscriber contacted me recently to inform me that the ingredient list we had on the site for N.V. Perricone’s Neuropeptide Eye Area Contour was incorrect. Such communication is always appreciated, and sure enough, she was correct and we updated the information on www.beautypedia.com Don’t Go The Cosmetics Counter Without Me—one of the best features of Beautypedia: real time updates!). whole year! Can you imagine? Perricone has never been a doctor prone to providing accurate, substantiated information about his products, but knowingly keeping an incorrect ingredient list on his site for so long, I mean really, isn’t that inexcusable?

As you might have suspected, the plot thickens: although the company didn’t say this directly, it appears the reason the incorrect ingredient list stayed on the site was that it was much more impressive than the real one, at least if you bought (literally and figuratively) into Perricone’s claims about neuropeptides as today’s hottest youth elixir. The outdated ingredient statement listed “neuropeptides” as the main ingredient, a seemingly impressive point and one that helps justify this product’s hefty price tag ($195 for 0.5 ounce). But the new ingredient list has his overly hyped peptides in a very different place: almost dead last. So it turns out for nearly $200 you’re getting less peptides than in $20 bottle of Olay Regenerist Daily Regenerating Serum.

Another revelation: the original ingredient list for this product listed the peptides as “CLB-253 Neuropeptide” and “CLS-72 Neuropeptide”, while the current (correct) ingredient list more accurately identifies these as form of the commonly used pentapeptides, which hardly justifies the price or gives credence to the age-reducing claims. If I had purchased this product I’d be extremely disappointed in the bait-and-switch tactics employed, not to mention the meager amount of bells and whistles this eye-area anti-wrinkle moisturizer actually has. Chutzpah, thy name is Perricone!