I go to this gym and, pretty much every day, the same girl checks me in.  She’s always smiling, always happy and always looks like she’s glowing – really.  Her face is glowing.  Her hair is shining.  She just embodies healthy, natural beauty.  I was curious if it was just all great genetics or if she had any tips or tricks…turns out, we’re all in luck because I asked her and not only did she have tips and tricks she generously offered to share.  Not only that, the tips are wildly easy and inexpensive – true DIY beauty that you can indulge in with, for the most part, just a few simple staples that are probably in your kitchen right now! 
 
So, who is this girl?  Her name is Jackeline Velasco and she’s a 19-year-old student and natural beauty guru.  Her tips come from her mom and grandma in Colombia, and from her own trial and error.  I asked her for her top tips for face, body, hands, nails, and hair and here’s what she told me:

1. FACE

This one is my favorite.  I tried it and it’s messy but I loved it!  Jackeline creates an oatmeal honey mask by taking plain oatmeal and crushing it between fingers.  She adds enough honey to make it a kind of goopy paste and spreads it over a clean face (avoiding the eye area and dabbing leftover oatmeal powder over the top) and leaves it on for 30-45 minutes, then rinses it off with lukewarm water.  It leaves your skin quenched but matte and velvety soft to the touch.  Jackeline says it also helps prevent breakouts and recommends doing it once a week in the summer and twice a week in the winter.

1. HAIR

Jackeline has very long, very shiny hair (see photo!  I’m not lying) and her trick for keeping it so healthy is a 2 time a week hair mask she makes in her blender out of alove vera and honey.  She mixed equal parts in the blender until they liquefy  (you’ll know it’s right when the consistency is like water) and drenches her hair in it.  She even leaves it on overnight sometimes, though she cautions this can make your pillowcase a little messy.

1. EYE LASHES

Each night before bed, Jackeline dabs a small amount of olive oil (yes, olive oil!) on her lashes!  She says it conditions the lashes and encourages them to grow long and strong.  I thought this would be weird but I tried it and it really does seem to work.  You need very, very little oil and you can’t see it and smell it.  This one wasn’t messy at all.  Very easy!

1. NAILS

OK, I have to admit I felt dubious about this one due to the smell factor.  Jackeline suggests cutting a garlic clove in half and rubbing one’s fingernails into the garlic, using it like you would a nail file.  Leave it on 15-20 minutes and then wash your hands.  It strengthens the nails and cuticles, she says.  I haven’t tried this one yet but I will say Jackeline’s nails look great and she does not smell like garlic.

1. HANDS/FEET

Finally, the sugar scrub remedy for dry hands and feet!  Jackeline says to mix sugar and any brand of lotion/daily moisturizer until the consistency of the lotion is sandy.  Rub it all over dry hands and/or feet, massaging for 5-10 minutes and then rinse off.  This is similar to the salt and oil scrubs I have blogged about before but a little lighter so perfect for those of you who felt like the oils were too heavy.
 
We taped the behind the scenes interview for this blog and the raw, unedited interview footage will be up on AAFL TV (subscribe for free at www.YouTube.com/asamfilmlab).  A more formal and “pretty” TV interview will be coming soon in 2016…stay tuned!
* https://youtu.be/Rmi4WErNqRk

To I have to begin with the disclaimer that I have not yet had the pleasure of a visit to BSpa, however, their CEO very generously offered to sponsor a filmmaking competition - the 72 Hour Shootout - that I run through the Film Lab to promote gender and ethnic diversity.   As a result of that, I did some research into the spa and its founder and learned, to my delight, that their sponsorship of diversity in film was only the tip of the iceberg.  When you think of helping the needy, you think of the essentials like housing, food and clothing, right?  That's what I think of and, obviously, those things are critical...but what about something luxurious...like a spa day?  Probably not the first thought you would have.  Diana, BSpa's CEO, did think of that, though, and she is currently working on the creation of a program through which her customers could, through their purchase of facials, contribute towards BSpa donating a treatment to help someone feel good about him or herself and rebuild his or her self esteem and self worth.  I thought this was a pretty spectacular idea so I asked Diana to answer a few interview questions for "Ethical is Beautiful,  Be Beautiful."  Here is what she had to say:

 What does the phrase "Ethical is Beautiful.  Be Beautiful" mean to BSpa?
To us, the phrase " Ethical is Beautiful.  Be Beautiful" means having integrity and doing the right thing is essential to have a beautiful world. As humans, we have a social responsibility that can inspire people to do beautiful things. 

We believe beauty shouldn't come at a cost of life or love or the environment, which is one of the reasons we love BSpa, which is cruelty free and celebrates simple, good-for-you ingredients.  Can you tell us a little more about how BSpa works hard to be sustainable, responsible and cruelty-free beauty?
It all comes down to sourcing out all natural ingredients from ethical and sustainable companies.   We only source out natural ingredients that have no harmful chemicals such as parabens, have no animal testings, no antibiotics, no GMOs and have the highest quality grade. We try to work directly with farms where they support and give back to their communities.  These companies practice fair trade and respect their employees. 

BSpa is starting a program to bring the luxury of spa services to the underprivileged who otherwise could never hope to enjoy these kinds of services.  Please tell us more about that program and its inception.
One of our missions is to give back to our communities by offering a facial treatment to someone who deserves it but cannot afford it.   We would like to offer a program where our customers have the power to participate and pamper someone in need.  Every facial membership purchased, we will donate a treatment to help someone feel good about him or herself, rebuild his or her self esteem and self worth.  We all need to feel beautiful not just from the inside but also on the outside sometimes, whether we can afford to or not. 

BSpa recently supported the 72 Hour Shootout, which is an annual filmmaking competition promoting diversity in media.  What went into BSpa's decision to support diversity in media?
Diversity is important to us because we service to women and men of all skin types and conditions.  It does not matter where you came from and what color of your skin is.  Diversity is what makes our planet special and filled with amazing gifts, therefore we support this type of framework where we can cultivate a harmonious environment.  True Beauty comes from within and does not discriminate.

Hopefully, we will learn more about the finalization of Diana's program to provide spa services for the disenfranchised, how she will select those to receive the services and how those of us who purchase spa services can participate and help!  Stay tuned here for updates as they arrive.  To learn more about BSpa:  http://bspasalon.com  

Recently, I had a pretty interesting  Friday night.  It was early evening and my significant other, dog and I decided to grab some last minute groceries at a local market.  The market happened to have a seafood section with a tank of live lobster (which always makes me sad - it's a longtime dream of mine to be able to free them all and put them back in the ocean without being arrested or paying for them since the money would just go to refill the tank with more doomed lobsters) and I noticed one lobster was outside the tank, lying on its side on the counter, making little bubbles to try to hydrate itself and looking really sad, not the least because it also had one of its legs lying in front of it, removed from its body.  I was really upset by the sight and we asked the store employee (politely) why the lobster wasn't in the water with all the other lobsters.  The store employee said someone had dropped the lobster on the floor and somehow ripped off a leg (?) so health code regulations prohibited them from selling her.  They had, the employee explained,  put the lobster on the counter to throw away later since they couldn't sell her for food.

We said we would take her and the now pretty weirded out and confused store employee said, "But you can't eat it now and we have to throw it away and it's probably dead now anyway."  I could see the lobster looking around and making bubbles and I knew she wasn't dead.  My significant other explained kindly, "We don't want to eat the lobster.  We want to release her."  The store employee was totally befuddled by us but somehow we managed to liberate the lobster from the counter.  We found ourselves on the street in the middle of a very windy and very rainy night in the middle of Manhattan with a really distressed lobster.  We ran home and fed her edamame (I have no clue if they're supposed to eat edamame but I felt like she needed something) and the lobster started to revive a bit and get a little more active.  We cut the rubber band off her claw and she was very happy, moving it around and, interestingly, not trying to snap at us at all.  

​We did a online search and found out putting her in the bathtub was out of the question because fresh water is apparently lethal to lobsters.  I was like, "Holy moly.   We're going to have to find a way to get to the ocean."  However, our very kind doorman assisted us with more online searching and we learned that the East River is salt water - it's a tidal basin and lobsters can survive there(!).  Who knew?!   

So, my significant other and I threw on boots and headed out into the rainy night - taking the dog with us at my insistence because I thought why not?  I soon found out why not.  The dog hated the rain.  The lobster also hated the rain.  We had the lobster (and a bunch of edamame) in a paper bag that I was basically clutching to my chest to try to stabilize because it was so windy.  We found our way to the River but everywhere was fenced off and the walkways were so high above the water, we felt like to throw her down from where we were would kill or at least injure her.  We finally found an area, gated in, with a bunch of fences around it that appeared to have some sort of ladder into the water down some pilings on a dock.  This was when I realized an angry wet dog, squirming lobster, bag full of edamame, and a bright cherry red trench coat were not the best things to have with you if you want to scale a couple of fences, waltz past some security checkpoints (for the record: I did not sneak anywhere.  I walked through and waved hello to the guards)  and then climb onto some pilings and down a rusty wet ladder in the rain and wind, with a very concerned lobster in your hand.  Nonetheless, we managed it. We eased the lobster into the water and she swam away. I hope the pollution doesn't do her in and that she'll be ok. 

The whole thing felt pretty awesome.  Way better Friday night than clubbing for sure.