Permanently Beautiful

“Personal beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of reference,” said Aristotle. The Greek philosopher certainly echoed the sentiments of that long-ago era when form was as highly valued as function and the legendary beauty of Helen of Troy caused epic political rifts. But there is still truth to Aristotle’s words of ancient wisdom, and perhaps a useful lesson for the many people who may find themselves on the job market in the coming year.

Today, particularly in business, we have learned to look beyond exterior form to value people for their skills and abilities. Yet, beauty will always be a valuable asset in business. First impressions are vitally important, particularly when seeking a job. A good first impression can help you get that all-important first interview that gives you the chance to show a potential employer what you have to offer. A pleasing appearance puts people at ease and predisposes them to think positively about you. And knowing you look your best gives you an aura of self-confidence that makes you stand out above the competition.

Business styles come and go. Shirt lengths may yo-yo up and down and colors palettes change like fall leaves, but like a classic Chanel business suit, beauty never goes out of style. Permanent makeup enhances your natural beauty, giving you the confidence to go after the job of your dreams. And once you get the job, with permanent makeup you’ll have the confidence of knowing you look just as fresh and beautiful after a long day in the boardroom as you did when you first stepped out of the shower.

In a recent interview, Oscar winning actress Meryl Streep confessed “I sit at home and wait for the phone to ring.” It seems an odd statement from a woman who has reigned at the top of Hollywood royalty for decades. But that’s just the point, confides the 59-year-old star of the just-released movie Doubt. Fewer roles are coming her way. After 40, Hollywood considers its no-longer-youthful stars “washed up.”

One glance at Streep is enough to confirm that this beautiful woman — the confident star of Mama Mia! and The Devil Wears Prada – is far from washed up. Her beauty seems to come as much from her regal presence and strong sense of self as from any physical feature. Streep recounts a story from her Yale Drama School days in which students were asked how to play a king. Rejecting student suggestions to speak in a deep voice and act assertive, her teacher said, “The way to be king is to have everybody in the room quiet when you come in. The atmosphere changes. It’s all up to everybody else to make you king.” It was a powerful message that has guided Streep throughout her career as the recognized Queen of Hollywood.

Permanent makeup has much the same effect. By knowing that you present to the world your most luminous self every hour of every day, you exude a powerful sense of self confidence that turns heads. People may not exactly know what it is about you that attracts their attention, but Meryl Streep would know. It’s that same regal inner poise that she achieves whenever she walks into a room.

Everyone wants to see the hot, new, 5-star show. When you want to impress, you make reservations at an elegant 5-star restaurant. When you crave luxury, you book a room in a 5-star hotel. Five stars denote the best of the best. It’s the ultimate superlative. When something is ranked 5 stars you can be assured that it is the ultimate, most superlative in its class, the true peak of perfection.

In the world of beauty, permanent makeup is the ultimate 5-star gift. The gift of permanent makeup trumps that other pantheon to beauty — a luxurious day at a premier spa. The relaxation of a good massage begins to fade the moment you leave the spa. The clean, silky feel of a wonderful facial is gone by the next morning. The beautiful radiance of professionally applied makeup is washed away at the end of the day. But the luminous gift of permanent makeup is beauty that lasts forever. With the gift of permanent makeup you look beautifully radiant every hour of every day.

Clients of The Whitney Center for Permanent Cosmetics give us consistent 5-star ratings. Here’s what some of our clients have said about their permanent makeup experience with Melanie Whitney at The Whitney Center:

“Melany is truly a skillfully gifted artist. her work is subtle perfection. My friends still haven’t figured out why I look so wonderful!”

“I love my eyebrows! I was so impressed that Melany took so much time ‘planning’ them before she started the work. She’s truly a real pro.”

“My experience with Melany was exceptional … I love my results!”

Give your special someone — or treat yourself — to the ultimate 5-star beauty gift. Contact The Whitney Center for Permanent Makeup today to find out about gift certificates or make an appointment.

The popularization and affordability of plastic surgery has made the body “the new attire, a mutable status symbol subject to trends in proportion, silhouette, technology and disposable income,” Natasha Singer wrote in a recent New York Times article. Plastic surgery has medicalized attractiveness, she says. “Appearance technology” allows people to mix-and-match body parts to recreate themselves in an attempt to achieve “perfect” beauty.

Popularized by Extreme Makeover, Dr. 90210 and other reality television shows, plastic surgery is no longer viewed as risky. Media saturation has normalized public perception of what is, in fact, a delicate surgical procedure requiring skill and experience. Unfortunately, the desired results are not always the results achieved. It can be impossible to create from ordinary human flesh the idealistic beauty some people seek. “There comes a point when you are putting too much time and money into your vanity,” says Peri Basel a marketing consultant to the plastic surgery industry. “For me, the vanity issue is: Where does it stop? If you are going for buttock implants, do you really need that?”

The economic slowdown may be cooling the public’s ardor for plastic surgery. In a recent survey by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 62% of doctors reported a decrease in business. In what Singer terms Botox backlash, some prominent Hollywood stars are eschewing cosmetic surgery to embrace a more natural look. Permanent makeup is one way to maintain control over your appearance without resulting to expensive, invasive plastic surgery. A softer, gentler, more affordable approach to enhancing your beauty than plastic surgery, permanent makeup artistically emphasizes your natural beauty, eliminates embarrassing flaws, and ensures that you always look your most beautiful.

Stumped about what to give the love of your life for the holidays this year? Still poking through stores looking for the ultimate “perfect gift”? Frantically searching the Internet for a unique gift that will WOW your special someone? With only 8 shopping days left, time is running out.

Jewelry and perfume used to be gift-giving staples men could rely on. But jewelry, while lovely, usually spends more time in the drawer than it does adorning your beloved. And the discomfort of allergy sufferers has nixed perfume from the workplace, making it an occasional weekend treat for your favorite lady. People are looking beyond the ordinary in their search for an extraordinary gift this season. With so many people suffering from the effects of the recession, ostentation is out and practicality is in. Even the Queen of England, mindful of her subjects’ suffering, has admonished the royal family to avoid flagrant spending.

Everyone is looking for thoughtful, useful gifts that will please the recipient without being insensitive to the economy, the environment or the host of other important issues we worry about these days. Given such strictures, it’s a daunting task to find a gift with the desired ability to make your favorite person gasp with delight and flush with pleasure. A gift of permanent makeup will do just that.

The ultimate gift of beauty, permanent makeup enhances the beauty of a woman’s natural features and can hide the small flaws and imperfections. In the artistic hands of highly acclaimed permanent cosmetics technician Melany Whitney, brows, eyes, lips or the entire face can be made permanently beautiful. The gift of permanent makeup guarantees that you look your most beautiful every moment of every day.

Visit the Whitney Center for Permanent Cosmetics to arrange a holiday gift certificate for your special someone. (We offer permanent makeup for men too!) The unique gift of permanent makeup is certain to make the special person in your life gasp with delight when she or he opens your gift. And that will bring a smile to your face too.

People choose to undergo plastic surgery to look younger and feel more beautiful. And much of the time people get the look they’re hoping for. But as your doctor will warn you, scarring can and often does occur. Even the most expertly performed face-lift surgery can leave visible scars. Though usually small, these scars are right where you don’t want them, where everyone can see them. Men who seek a more youthful appearance with hair transplants often find the scars left at harvesting and transplant sites to be as unsightly as the baldness they seek to cover. Let’s face it, evidence of plastic surgery is embarrassing, not beautiful.

Permanent makeup uses paramedical cosmetic tattooing to camouflage plastic surgery scars. People see the youthful, new you; not the embarrassing scars left by surgery. Prominent plastic surgeons regularly recommend paramedical cosmetic tattoo expert Melany Whitney to their patients. Highly trained and Board certified, Melany is a nationally-recognized expert in the fields of permanent makeup and paramedical cosmetic tattooing. By expertly implanting pigments within the skin layers, Melany is able make scars seem to disappear and correct embarrassing imperfections. Permanent makeup provides a beautifying finishing touch to surgical procedures.

Melany’s years of experience as a practitioner and trainer of advanced micropigmentation techniques combined with her talented natural artistry allow her to achieve the successful results you desire. Many clients schedule permanent makeup sessions with Melany when they schedule their plastic surgery. As one of Melany’s recent clients said, “A face-lift made me look younger, but permanent makeup made me feel pretty again.”

We put on makeup to make us look and feel more beautiful. How heartbreaking then when that which is supposed to make us more lovely actually makes us embarrassed and ashamed of our appearance. That is the sad experience faced by the many women who suffer from chemical allergies. Many of the common ingredients in our most popular cosmetics can cause severe chemical reactions in those who are sensitive. Unsightly blemishes, itchy red rashes, and even scaling or peeling of the skin can occur. Many women have tried brand after brand of cosmetics without success. Often makeup that seems promising on first use becomes septic over time.

That’s the nature of allergies. For those with a sensitivity repeated exposure to chemicals exacerbates the allergic reaction. Some women find themselves changing their entire stock of cosmetics every month, hopeful of finding a compatible product. Unfortunately, these women begin to experience similar problems with the new brand within two to three weeks. It’s not only frustrating, but can be extremely expensive. Just think what it would cost to replace your entire makeup bag every three weeks.

Permanent cosmetics offer women with chemical allergies and other skin problems a happy solution. Permanent makeup enhances and emphasizes your own natural beauty without the application of chemical-containing  cosmetics. Utilizing specialized cosmetic tattooing procedures, permanent makeup safely implants pigment within the skin. In the hands of a highly skilled and artistic technician, permanent makeup achieves the beautiful natural look that is the goal of the world’s top makeup artists — the look you’ve been dreaming of.

“Lost time is never found again. Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of,” said Benjamin Franklin, one of our country’s founding fathers. A philosopher and inventor, the Revolutionary War statesman also penned of many of the axioms that guide our lives today. Heralded as the most accomplished American of his age, Franklin exerted major influence on the formation of American society. Given the rich complexity of his own life, it is no wonder that Franklin valued time and refused to squander it on the inanities of life.

Franklin’s admonishments are as true today as they were more than two centuries ago. Our lives are so complicated by the pressing demands of family, work and community that it is impossible to accomplish everything we want to do. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to complete all the items on our daily to-do list, never mind finding the time to pursue our inner-most hopes and dreams. We spend so much time living that we forget to LIVE!

Take putting on your makeup. You may spend half and hour preparing yourself to meet the world. Just putting your best face forward requires the application of cleanser, moisturizer, concealer, foundation, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, blush, lip liner, lipstick and lip gloss. Naturally, there are periodic touch-ups during the day and a complete overhaul if you go out in the evening. Then there’s the tedious nightly process of removing everything and rejuvenating your skin. Franklin would be appalled by the amount of time we squander in the name of beauty.

Think what you could do with that time. Think of how much richer your life could be if a quick cleansing and moisturizing was all it took to put on a perfect face. Permanent makeup can decrease the time you spend just living and give you time to LIVE!

The common sense physicians who gained a popular following — and regular appearances on Oprah — when You, the Owner’s Manual hit the New York Times best sellers list, have come out with a new tome about beauty. You, Being Beautiful by Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz has arrived in bookstores in time for holiday gift-giving. Subtitled The Owner’s Manual for Inner and Outer Beauty, the book follows the same highly readable format and employs the same entertaining writing style as the authors’ previous “manuals” while exploring the science behind the physical and psychological factors that make us feel good about ourselves.   

Packed with tools, tips and quizzes, the introduction begins with a You-Q test to determine how satisfied you are with yourself. The authors then explain how to make changes to your body, your health and your inner self that will improve the way you feel about your personal beauty, inside and out. Taking a holistic approach, Roizen and Oz focus on three dimensions of beauty: looking beautiful, feeling beautiful and being beautiful. The book goes beyond the regular eat right and exercise advice to touch on cosmetic enhancements, emotional intelligence, nurturing relationships, creating positive energy, coping with stress, and the eternal search for happiness.  

If you want to surprise the beautiful light of your life with an exceptional gift — or give yourself a well-deserved present — consider wrapping up a copy of You, Being Beautiful with a gift certificate for beauty-enhancing permanent makeup from the Whitney Center for Permanent Cosmetics. It’s a thoughtful gift that will give someone you love joy for years to come.

Those who say beauty is only skin deep don’t really understand the full concept of beauty. Webster’s defines beauty as “qualities that give pleasure to the senses or exalt the mind.” Each of us has our own personal sense of beauty. We realize that we cannot all be an Olga Kurylenko and a Heidi Klum, but in our own unique way, each of us is beautiful. We may have been blessed with long, lush eyelashes or full, pouty lips or our features may seem quite ordinary. Beauty is much more than the perfection of individual features. True beauty comes from within. It stems from an acceptance and appreciation of who we are and generates the self-confidence and inner poise that kindles the light within each of us. Even the most ordinary of features appears extraordinary when bathed in that inner glow. Perhaps that is why we feel un-beautiful when we believe one of our features is lacking. Our self-confidence stumbles in the face of a perceived flaw and that precious inner light dims.

Permanent makeup can correct those little flaws that nibble at our self-confidence and diminish our inner sense of beauty. Pale, thin or non-existent eyebrows can be artfully arched. Thin lips can be made full and rosy. An irregular lip line can be beautifully defined. Dull eyes can be made dramatic with permanent eyeliner, eye lashes and eye shadow. Sallow cheeks can be made high and rosy. Whatever individual feature diminishes your personal sense of beauty, it can be artfully corrected with permanent makeup, restoring your self-confidence in your appearance and rekindling your inner glow.

This holiday, give yourself the gift of beauty. Don’t allow a minor imperfection to diminish your sense of self. Make an appointment for a permanent makeup consultation and allow the renowned skill and artistry of permanent makeup expert Melany Whitney to restore your aura of personal beauty.