Meet Paula in Toronto, ON where she will be exposing the truth behind common beauty myths and signing copies of her latest editions of, The Original Beauty Bible and Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me (Brand New 8th Edition).

Thursday, May 6, 2010
6:30pm

Indigo Books Music & Café (Yorkdale Shopping Centre)
3401 Dufferin St.
Toronto, Ontario

Join us for your chance to:

• Find out how to look younger without spending a fortune.
• Learn why typical acne products can make breakouts worse.
• Discover the reality vs. the hype behind organic and natural products.
• Ask The Cosmetics Cop your skin-care questions.
• Get FREE samples of Paula’s Choice products.
• Win a $100 Paula’s Choice gift certificate!

RSVP Here or on Facebook

Call in & ask Paula your skin-care questions during her live Internet talk radio show,
Be Beautifully Informed with Paula Begoun,
The Cosmetics Cop.

Every Thursday beginning
6pm PST, 8pm CST, 9pm EST

• Best & worst products for the week.
• Behind-the-scenes look at cosmetic tips, advertising, & procedures.
• Call in & get personalized advice from Paula.
• Select callers can win free products on every show!

To tune in…
Call (347) 426-3783 to listen live & ask questions at show time, or listen to live & archived segments online .

Traveling from London, to Amsterdam, Edinburgh, and now Monte Carlo is like going from Mars to Neptune and then onto Uranus and finally Venus. Each locale is a completely separate world with little comparison other than an ancient history spanning from Roman times to Medieval and now into the current world of political and financial turmoil. That is where the similarities stop and start; otherwise, each place has such a distinctive character you’d never mistake one for the other!

What I find most interesting is that in every other place I’ve been I feel like I blend in to some extent (though of course once someone starts talking to me it is clear I am as American as apple pie and Tiger Woods—he has been in every newspaper all over Europe), but I definitely do not belong in Monte Carlo. Money—and I mean serious money—spills over from every nook and cranny. It practically rolls in on the Mediterranean waves like a tsunami! This is tax haven heaven for the world as Monaco has no income tax or capital gains tax. That’s enticing enough to make me think ‘Paula’s Choice Monaco’ has a nice ring to it!

Money not only talks here, it walks all over the place and does so in 5-inch tall Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choos. All of the clothes you see on runways or in Vogue adorn these size 0, modelesque young women on the arms of incredibly wealthy men, or fathers, or, well, who knows what the relationship is. Long-legged, perfect women, in unbelievable outfits along with $20,000 Valentino handbags is a site to behold. I’m not sure whether I feel jealous or relieved; the clothes certainly weren’t made for me and the shoes would kill me as soon as I stood up! I’m not sure, but I suspect this kind of lifestyle comes with a price that involves some sort of soul-demeaning competition that can be easily toppled. For most of the women, all of this ostentatious display is almost certainly dependent on the good will of men, and we know how reliable that is!

Back in my own idyllic state, Harsha and I are in a lovely room at the Fairmont overlooking the sea (actually it’s right on the Mediterranean, with towering, rocky cliffs framing the background). Monaco is a teeny country with no borders but you absolutely know when you are here. The town is centered on the famed Le Casino which is simply magnificent: like a gaudy Versailles with a stuffy crowd. It wasn’t the swank experience I was hoping for and no one looked like Sean Connery or Cary Grant. I felt far more comfortable coming back to my hotel that has a small Vegas-style casino to gamble there. I understand a Vegas crowd, they laugh and the dealers are charming and helpful (I still lose money but at least I’m having a good time during the experience). In contrast, Le Casino seems designed to take your money and run, minus the fun in between.

Of course, we do venture outside our hotel. In fact, the ancient villages we traveled to were wonderful. Eze and St. Paul de Vence were striking examples of walled citadels built on precipices with 360-degree views of the surrounding hillside painted with adobe homes, Italian cedars, and pine trees. St. Paul de Vence was especially amazing as it is an art community that I could have spent all day wandering the spiraling stone-clad streets looking at the blown glass, oil paintings, and history poring from the steep alleyways.

For the most part, we have been relaxing. Late mornings, leisurely breakfasts overlooking the changing mood of the weather, reading the newspapers, and having long talks. Surprisingly, there is a cosmetic dermatology conference in town that I decided to attend. It was a great experience. How unexpected, and it dovetailed perfectly with my BlogTalk Radio show for this week (yes, even on vacation I am still keeping you “Beautifully Informed”).

Harsha and I are going to the tennis open here in Monaco on Saturday. The names of the players are the who’s who of the tennis world and Harsha can’t wait. He loves tennis and he has taught me to appreciate the game.

For now, that’s about it. I’m off to see what the Europeans know about anti-aging (I suspect not much; these are deeply sun-damaged faces akin to the Miami crowd). There are over 100 cosmetic companies with booths at this event, none that I have ever heard of before. Being a cosmetic cop has no end in sight but at least my downtime is filled with memorable moment after memorable moment. Viva Monaco!

I have been gazing at the city of Edinburgh from our room and I can tell part of my soul feels settled. My dream of going to school here to study writing (which never happened for many reasons) has been resolved, the regret and questions of what could have been are answered. It would have been something to be here in my youth, but my life has been just as interesting (and I am indeed a writer and a prolific one at that, though not the type of writer I fantasized becoming), and there is no answer to the question of what might have been. The prophetic words of Robert Frost have been whispering in my ear the whole time:

The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Let me start by saying I’m a bit homesick but so far it has been a great trip. It’s been busy! Starting on March 15th when I arrived in London and then jetting to Amsterdam I met with over 70 reporters! The best part: I got to spend time with my distributors who own Paula’s Choice Europe and Paula’s Choice United Kingdom. These women are wonderful and their hospitality made me feel more at home.

After all the interviews and meetings we got to spend a couple of days walking around Amsterdam. As many times as I’ve been here, the mix of old world charm and tumultuous history always surprises me. Even though the city is now muddled by marijuana cafes and the infamous red-light district, it is all confusing, strange, and magnificent all at the same time.

On a more mundane note, I did something to injure my back. I’m fairly certain it was the hotel bed in Amsterdam but my back is in excruciating pain. Can you believe it?! I’m eating Advil for breakfast, lunch, high tea, and dinner!

As we left the runway in Amsterdam en route to Scotland, I felt a renewed sense of anticipation despite dreading what sitting for the flight would do to my back. Luckily, all the flights to Edinburgh went fine and as usual Harsha (my boyfriend) is a wonderful traveling companion. We’re staying in a beautiful hotel!

Edinburgh is a wonderful city, though weather-wise it is just miserable! With the gusting winds off their Sound and the North Sea, it’s worse than Seattle. It does have a haunting, stately beauty with handsome stone facades and towering parapets surrounded by rolling city streets and hills in the distance. Without question, there’s a sense of time standing still as you gaze upon centuries-old buildings surrounded by Scotland’s fabled landscapes.

Holyrood House, the royal palace in Scotland was interesting. It’s so stark and simple in comparison to mainland Europe or Russian palaces. The history here is fascinating. The relationship to the English and the rest of Europe is steeped in brutal, bloody politics played out in war, marriages and alliances consolidated around money, position, religion, and country of origin. The combinations and permutations are mind-boggling.

We had one gorgeous (though really windy) day and took the advantage to drive out to the countryside and see the town of St. Andrews and their famous golf course. We sat and had a scotch in a proper British club overlooking the course and the North Sea in the distance. It was a gorgeous drive getting there (and I do enjoy a good scotch): idyllic rolling hills lined with perfect acres of farmland. Sheep and their spring lambs along with Angus cows dot the landscape like a movie set: it can’t be real. I kept thinking I would see Brigadoon around every corner.

Tomorrow we take a train ride out to Inverness in the highlands for a few days and then onto Monte Carlo. (My dream of having a cigar and a single malt 30 year old scotch in the Highlands is nigh!).

I want to thank all of you who responded to my request to help me figure out exactly how to describe my skin care and makeup company, Paula’s Choice, to other people who don’t know my products, books, or bulletins.

All of your comments were thoughtful, insightful, flattering, humbling, and truthful. Most of all they stimulated a meaningful contemplation of what my business is all about.

My marketing team and I have spent quite a bit of time discussing what you have contributed. It has brought a keen understanding of how those of you who shop Paula’s Choice, read my books, or use Beautypedia.com experience what we have created.

After reading all of your absorbing and fascinating comments, I think I can sum up my company and life’s work like this:

Paula’s Choice is a specialized range of skin care and makeup products I formulated after 32 years of research and writing 18 books analyzing the facts about skin care and makeup products.

Because my only mission is to help you find the best products to take care of your skin I am the only cosmetics company in the world that recommends products other than my own.

Come visit us at PaulasChoice.com and find out what you are missing!

I was sitting on an airplane (once again) when the woman next to me asked what I do for a living. Somewhat evasively I told her I owned an Internet company. I rarely start off saying I own a cosmetics company because inevitably the questions that follow leave me feeling awkward and sounding juvenile. It’s not that I’m not proud of what I do; rather, I don’t know how to succinctly, logically, or with any panache explain what Paula’s Choice products are all about. That could be about to change with your help, so please read on!

It’s silly for me to not just say from the get-go that I own a cosmetics company because, as usual, this woman asked, “What kind of Internet company do you own?” I gulped and responded that I own a cosmetics company. She said, “Oh really, what kind of cosmetics?” I said, “A skin-care and makeup company.” She asked, “Whose products do you sell?” I answered, “I sell my own products, the formulas I developed.” Then, in understandably typical fashion she asked, “What kind of products are they?”, and that’s when I get stumped.

When a woman asks me what makes Paula’s Choice special or what kind of products I sell I know what she really wants me to say. I’m supposed to respond by saying my products are all natural, or organic, or herbal, or plant-based, or contain essential oils, or contain vitamins, or some miracle ingredient from some exotic locale that only I know about, and of course the products get rid of wrinkles, stop aging, work like Botox, or cure blackheads, or oily skin and on and on. Of course, I can’t say any of that. Aside from being completely useless, simplified, inane descriptions, none of those tidbits other cosmetic companies spew like a bad case of food poisoning have any basis in creating a superior or even decent skin-care routine.

So because I can’t use the same misleading information every woman is waiting to hear, I just sit there and say something like, “Well, they’re my formulations based on what the research says is good for skin.” That goes over like a lead balloon. Even I think it sounds dull and uninteresting.

Then it dawned on me in a recent meeting with my customer service team that no one in my company, not even me, can explain or has a concise understanding of what makes Paula’s Choice products unique, and they are absolutely unique. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I realized they’re unparalleled in the world of skin care. I can say that confidently because I’ve reviewed thousands upon thousands of products, more than enough to know what’s brilliant and what’s terrible for skin. During that meeting the most outstanding thing happened: I finally grasped how to view and relate what my products are all about. Here it is:

Paula’s Choice is a range of skin-care products that work together synergistically in comprehensive skin-care systems to address a wide range of concerns including wrinkles, acne, oily skin, dry skin, rosacea, and sensitive skin. All of our formulations are state-of-the-art, based on published scientific research, designed to give skin exactly what it needs to be as beautiful and healthy as it can be.

Does that make sense? What do you think? If you were sitting next to me on a plane and I explained my products in this manner, would that make sense to you?

Let me know, I really want to grasp this. It’s about time, don’t you think?

We arrived in Kathmandu Saturday evening and went directly to the Hyatt. The Hyatt here is a beautiful hotel, a respectable blend of contemporary construction and Nepali design. I still can’t believe we are in Nepal—it is surrealistic to say the least. Sunday morning we woke up early and drove to a viewpoint in the hills, a small town called Nagarkot, to see a section of the Himalayas. It was amazing, though the ride up was nothing less then terrifying, cars and buses play an outlandish game of chicken at every turn with only inches of shoulder area abutting a sheer drop off. These drivers are crazy! I’ll gladly accept a ride in a New York City taxicab any day of the week compared to this terror!

From Nagarkot we toured a couple of town areas. City streets here are almost identical to India but a bit cleaner and less densely populated. Kathmandu has a population of about 6 million spread out over twisty, dusty, pot-holed streets in a valley surrounded by foothills with peek-a-boo views of the snow-capped mountains, amidst cascading, steep plots of farmed land. Regrettably, like many major cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Hong Kong) smog hangs thickly over the landscape like a veil of stagnant, gray-stained air that never dissipates.

People here in Kathmandu look mostly Indian with a smattering of East Asian features. The language is similar in script to Hindu and Harsha can read it but the manner of speaking is hard for him to understand, I liken it to the way I feel when I’m trying to understand Australian slang.

There are three historic town squares in the area. We drove to one after we left Nagarkot called Bhaktapur, an ancient area where 400- to 500- year-old buildings hug the street and Hindu temples adorn every corner. In India the Hindu temples are stone and marble monument-like buildings; here in Nepal they are modest, mostly brick and carved wooden structures that are minimally restored (and in risk of falling apart), fashioned in a somewhat tiered pagoda style.

I have finally become a bit adept at understanding Hindu lore, and it is beguiling. Nepal, in contrast to India, is fervently religious (non-Hindus cannot enter those temples) and processions in their town squares occur randomly throughout the day. Buddhists are in smaller numbers but their stupas are attended by devotees with adoration and patience. It was particularly interesting when we passed one school where all the students were lined up outside in straight rows, solemnly praying for the gift of education. Fascinating.

Later that day as the sun was setting we stopped at one more section of Kathmandu called Pashupati where more then a dozen Hindu temples are crammed together along a small river bed. In the center of this area an outdoor platform is used as a crematorium and it is continually ablaze with wood stoked pyres sending the dead to their next reincarnation. None of that seemed disturbing until I saw one of the attendants sweep the smoldering embers and remaining pieces of burnt logs into the river below. Along with endless piles of garbage littering the water the amount of dangerous pollution being thrown into the city’s water supply was painful to see.

That night we went to bed early so we could get up early for our next excursion. In the morning with some trepidation we took a flight to get an aerial view of the Himalayas. Shortly after take off, up close and personal, the sheer faced, rugged tops of the mountains appeared. With utter bewilderment we tried to comprehend the panorama before us. We gasped and strained our necks to behold the implausible. Spellbound, we stared at the stretch of Himalayas we slowly flew past. Geologically speaking the 2400-mile long Himalayan range is very young which explains their gargantuan size. Pyramidesque vaulted formations are endless, like fingertips reaching up to touch heaven. Then finally, after about 25 minutes of flight time, Everest in all its 29,000 feet of pinnacled glory comes into view. It indeed stands above the rest: a haunting shadow embedded in a landscape of glacier and rock. For me what was most astounding was realizing that Washington’s Mt. Rainier would barely be a blip in the Himalayan expanse. Envision that Everest is almost three times the size of Mt. Rainier, but even more astonishing is that several of the other mountains are at least twice to two and a half times Rainier’s size. If there is any sense of being at the top of the world it is surely here and if God is listening, at this height, it is a toll-free call.

I’m back in Mumbai now waiting for my plane to go home. After 5 weeks of being on the road I am ready to leave and head back. I long for Seattle, a comparatively quiet, organized part of the world where stop lights and stop signs have meaning, pedestrians have the right of way, people don’t spit on the ground among other bodily functions inches away from you, and cows, camels, and monkeys don’t have access to the streets.

It has all been a richly diverse, intriguing experience but truly there is no place like home.

I rarely write travelogues as I travel so much, but I’ve been to so many exotic places lately and there is so much I want to share!

It’s been several weeks since I first hit the road. London was my first stop and it was great. The weather was unusually mild and when I wasn’t doing interviews I walked all over the place. I saw two new London stage musicals; Priscilla Queen of the Desert and a show about the Rat Pack’s performance in Las Vegas. They were both wonderful!

From London I went to Mumbai to meet my boyfriend Harsha who picked me up at the airport. You only have to walk outside of the Mumbai airport to know you are not in Kansas anymore! The rush of people, cars, and heat overwhelms and astounds you from the get-go.

For the first few days in Mumbai I spent most of the time sleeping (I was exhausted) and spent some time with Harsha’s mom (we actually got along nicely). I took her and her best friend out to dinner and while I barely understood a thing they said (the Indian accent is still tricky for me), they were a hoot and we laughed and laughed (of course I have no idea about what).

After our time in Mumbai we went to Goa, just south of Mumbai. Goa is one of India’s coastal resort areas. It is a small state, only 1.3 million people and has a strong Portuguese history. There are lots of churches and people who have Christian names instead of traditional Indian names. The beach there was lovely and our room at the Hyatt postcard-perfect. Restaurants in the hotel were pricy but the beach shacks (a short stroll down the shoreline) served really cheap, but really great, seafood. The downside? The weather was just toooooo hot and muggy for me. I mean really, really hot and muggy. Thankfully there was a good storm one day which was gorgeous. The seas changed from a calm pool to turbulent crashing waves and the air cooled a bit!

The beginning of the second week we left for Udaipur which is the desert region of India where most of the palaces of the Rajahs were built. It was fascinating and magnificent to see a completely different facet of the country. The weather was perfect! Dry, warm, desert air, along with incredible views. All of this amidst a thriving small town that, while still impoverished, is beautifuly rich in tradition. With village life all around, our hotel at the Oberois was truly magnificent! Truly one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever been in.

It was hard to leave Udaipur but we packed up three days later and were on a plane to Delhi. Delhi is a completely different part of India and 180 degrees from Mumbai (think New York in comparison to Washington D.C.). Delhi is the seat of parliament so it’s organized around huge, magnificent embassies, hotels, and government offices. The mall area is definitely reminiscent of D.C. Once you pass through the area known as New Delhi, you head into the old city where the small crowded streets, outrageous traffic, crowds, and village life begin again.

Delhi proved to be too much city life for us (as did Mumbai) so one day later we departed for Agra to see the Taj Mahal. We hired a car and driver to get us there on one of the most tumultuous road trips ever. The 6 hour trip, including brief stops at a couple of shrines, was one of the most mind-boggling experiences ever. The same madness and turmoil of the city streets are on the main roads and highways that link cities together. It is a never-ending game of dodging hordes of every obstacle imaginable and some I never knew existed.

The most intriguing site during this 6-hour road trip was the Hari Krishna temple in the town of Mathura. While there, we were met by pleasant devotees in orange saris and pantaloons who wanted us to buy their books and yes, they chanted on and on. It all felt very San Francisco, circa 1970. The town of Mathura is thought to be the birthplace of Krishna and temples punctuate the landscape like a series of rolling hills and mountains.

Late in the morning the next day, we saw the Taj Mahal which was just astounding. One of the most pure, colossal pieces of architectural precision I’ve ever seen. The turrets, domes, mosques, and white stones merge in a flawless feat of engineering triumph that is both jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring. Flawless in almost every respect it is a stunning work of art. The passionate brilliance becomes etched in your mind starting at the very first moment it comes in to view. It is an enduring image, completely penetrating in a mystical way that isn’t easy to explain.

An hour outside Agra is a town called Fatehpur Sikri where the capital of the region moved to after being centralized in Agra. Fatehpur Sikri is an astounding walled city dating from the 1500′s complete with a moat and royal residence. Inside the imposing red sandstone walls are ramparts, palaces, homes, and apartments built for a completely unique style of court life. The palaces included a home for the king’s three wives, one who was a Hindu, the other a Muslim, and the other a Christian. This Muslim king believed we should all live together as one religion sharing one air to be close to the one Lord. He actually gave each of his wives the ability to follow their beliefs with complete freedom. This king is know for trying to create a single religion that incorporated the belief in one God, fairly radical for the time, or any time for that matter.

Today, we drove back to Delhi and caught a plane to Kathmandu in Nepal to see the Himalayas and Mt. Everest. It was only a one hour flight from Delhi. I can’t begin to explain my excitement. The idea of seeing the Himalayas and Mt. Everest made me feel giddy like a teenager. Shortly after takeoff in the distance, appeared the towering, exalted, picturesque mountains of the Himalayas. Barely able to breathe I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I live in Seattle surrounded by mountains but these jagged, monoliths etched from God’s hands made everything else seem insignificant. Tomorrow we are off for some sightseeing and a plane ride over Everest.

Harsha and I travel great together. It has been an open-ended kind of schedule where we literally take it one city at a time and then we decide whether we want to stay or go. Once we determine where we want to venture next we make the necessary reservations. Making it even more wonderful is that we tend to have the same pace. We seem to have the same need for down time and naps and little need to see everything at each stop along the way. He is also completely accommodating when I’m not comfortable about something and I do the same for him. He also can take charge in a way that makes me feel safe and protected and he doesn’t mind when I need to take charge. That is just the best!

We also love food (that isn’t the best, at least not for my hopes to lose the weight I’ve gained, but damn it is fun). Eating has been a delightful, exceptionally spicy, aromatic adventure. We eat different styles of Indian cuisine wherever we go, though now we are looking forward to Nepal cuisine. Wherever we go we prefer local places serving hot, pungent dishes (well, relatively local; so far my tummy and, well, the rest of me is doing pretty good).

India is an amazing part of the world! One of the most distinctive, unique travel experiences I’ve ever had. Some of it is being with Harsha (it helps having someone who speaks Hindi—not to mention someone I love) but mostly it is a country with little parallel in the world. The main cities are a confluence of the modern business world, vibrant young people along with a huge film industry as pervasive as Hollywood is to the United States (ergo the name Bollywood). All of this is inextricably mixed with rampant extreme poverty and rural, archaic, village life.

Outside of Mumbai there really are cows in the street (lots of cows and big bulls with horns) along with goats, camels, donkeys, pigs and the occasional family of monkeys. Elephants too (well, one elephant) along with wild boars and their baby boars in tow. Sadly, there are also way too many stray dogs. Staggering destitution is everywhere (though particularly sickening in Mumbai where vast slums of the most inhumane conditions abound).

No matter where you go, you see a procession of mismatched, endless buildings; some new, some decaying, flanked by small, closet-sized shops crammed together between food stands and abandoned shacks. On top of this, the meandering streets have the most insane traffic I’ve ever seen. Everyone and everything in the streets are jockeying around the animals, cars, bicycles, motorbikes, buses, trucks and farm equipment. All of this along with small motorized cars called rickshaws which are stuffed with passengers, vendor carts that are pulled by horses or camels, and endless parades of people punctuated by women dressed in bright colorful saris. It is all utter chaos that absolutely no one reacts to other than with a cacophony of incessant horn blasts. I mean no one bats an eye or even grunts at the infinite number of times they come within millimeters of hitting someone or being hit (well except for me that is, my startle response is being exhausted).

I have one more installment after I leave Nepal. But for now that’s all the news fit to print. Thanks for joining me on my journey!

E xciting News! Paula will be giving a free presentation on skin care myths in the cosmetics industry. She is armed with the most current research from her latest editions of The Original Beauty Bible and Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me and will be signing copies for attendees.

• Find out how to look younger without spending a fortune.
• Learn why typical acne products can make breakouts worse.
• Organic and Natural products – the reality vs. the hype.
• Book signing.
• Get FREE samples of skin care products.
• Win a $100 Paula’s Choice gift certificate!

Friday, December 11th, 7:30pm-9:30pm
Barnes & Noble
Brier Creek Commons
8431 Brier Creek Parkway
Raleigh, NC 27617

RSVP Here!