Stay Healthy and Safe - DVT Style

Dear Friends and Readers-

During this time of the pandemic blues - 8 weeks in for many of us here in California…I have felt that writing about makeup and beauty seemed somehow silly amidst all the pain and suffering that is happening in the world right now. For me at least, my world has become very small, centering around news, cleaning, reading books, looking for work, and thinking about reaching out to people both near and far in my life - I guess you could say that what I am looking for now is some type of connection with others as well as myself.

It has been difficult for me, to write as of late, and that is why there have been no posts. I don’t know that anything I could say could make any real difference at this historic moment in our lives. So I have kept quiet and haven’t written anything, because I felt that anything that I could say would appear trite and vacuous.

And then, because I had the time, I read a book that I have been wanting to read for awhile: Dita von Teese’s, “Your Beauty Mark: The Ultimate Guide to Eccentric Glamour”. . If any of you don’t know who she is, Ms. Von Teese is the world’s foremost burlesque star, and the most famous one since Gypsy Rose Lee. Every day Dita Von Teese makes a conscious effort to live her life in glamour and her book is about her journey to get there. One of the things that I love is that she gives a detailed road map on how to attain her look - or better yet your version of her iconic look which is part Betty Paige and part 50’s Hollywood star.

There are so many amazing things to be found in this book: from beauty and makeup lessons, to perfume and clothing. But for me, I think the two most important lessons that I have taken away from this book are: 1) finding the beauty in the unique and unconventional and 2) how Dita discusses the truly American idea of reinvention. Ms. Von Teese writes about the notion of reinventing one’s self starting with Hollywood’s golden age stars, such as Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth and Marlene Dietrich to today’s icons such as Madonna the queen of reinvention, and Dita herself!

We read how Ms. Von Teese reimagined herself from Heather Marie Sweet of Rochester, Michigan to Dita Von Teese: world renowned burlesque star. She took what made her unique and her unique take on glamour and made it into a multi-million dollar business.

Now you may ask what did I get from all of this especially now during a pandemic? Well for one thing reading her book brought me joy! No small feat in these dark days. And it also made me think about reinventing myself in small ways through out my life. Now when I go to walk my dog I dress up! No, not in heels and a ballgown, but I try to look put together and dare I say it: nice. I put on a bit of makeup (including red lipstick!) and do my hair. And this is from a gal who would go out in the world with almost no makeup on. She helped me to remember why I love clothes, shoes and lipstick - and how looking put together in our daily lives can actually lift our mood. During these dark times, I had stopped playing with skincare and makeup - or more accurately had stopped getting pleasure from it. Maybe that is what I think is the most important theme from all of this: re- finding our joy with ourselves and with life. Instead of hiding from the world (or virus) and living in perpetual fear.

Dita helped me to do that.

Now you may wonder what any of this has to do with an organic makeup and skin care blog….. Well like Marilyn Monroe before her, who religiously used the Hungarian skincare line: Erno Lazlo to keep her iconic glow - Dita uses another Hungarian skincare brand: Eminence Organic Skincare to keep her pale, skin, smooth, clean and clear. And she believes in tons of sunscreen too!

Now let’s be honest, I don’t think I am going to get a stripper pole in my living room any time soon - but I do think I am going to work on being the best me that there is with the things that I already own that bring me joy: finding that perfect shade of red lipstick in my lipstick box, polishing up those shoes that are dusty, writing my blog posts, walking my dog Chloe, and enjoying spring and my husbands jokes.

So there.

I guess in my desire to not write anything silly, I have actually done just that - but I am happy I did. Maybe we need some frivolity at this moment. Even though many of us are far away from one another, due to miles and social distancing, we can experience joy with ourselves. As Oscar Wilde said: “To love oneself, is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” Let’s remember to love ourselves right now, so that we can all love the world a little better when all this is done….

Thanks Dita!

And you may ask what is my dog walking lipstick of choice? RMS Red…Retail: $28.00

Stay Healthy and Safe - DVT Style!