WHAT'S BEHIND YOUR FACE?

Your brain controls your face and (I believe) the way people respond to you.

Overheard just outside a dressing room at Marshall Field's in Chicago - in the 1970's: "Do I look too fat in this (stripe) dress?" My grandfather, who was waiting for me to purchase a coat, watched the scene (a young woman showing a dress to her husband) and said, "never ask a husband if you are fat . . . he'll believe it!"

I thought about that for a while then asked, "what should she have asked?"
"Does this dress make me look too sexy?"
"He'll believe that, too . . . and. . . with a more interesting outcome!"

For years I've watched women in dressing rooms look at themselves and frown or make unpleasant faces.
For years I've watched men outside of dressing rooms look at themselves and smile.

The difference is brain-trained self-esteem. Men have more of it (in my unscientific thirty years of research)!

Over the years I've learned that what you think . . .you believe. . . and (eventually) see.

Example: On a show I enjoy watching, "What Not To Wear," a young woman about 5'3" weighing about 105 pounds thought her bust was too large to wear t-shirts and cashmere sweaters. To the camera's eye (and mine) her bust was small. She believed her bust was too large and it was difficult to get her to embrace tight fitting clothes. It was clear that in her brain (and probably somewhere in her past history) she was told that she was too large in the bust for her small frame. She believed it even though it wasn't true.

You control what YOU think. . . AND. . . what those around you think . . .of YOU!

Fiction: I look fat in blazers.
Fact: Blazers are boxy and frequently don't fit women with curves.
Fact: Blazers are angular in their design. I am curvy. To fit a curvy shape into an angular shape means that creative adjustments are necessary.
Solution . . .shoulder pads added to (most) blazers allows the perfect amount of room for curves.
Language . . .Blazers look great on me!
Public Feedback . . ."You look great . . . where can I find a blazer like that!?"

Use your brain! Clothes do not lower your self-esteem . . .you do!

No garment tells my brain what I should think about my physical appearance.
No garment (or person) should tell your brain what you should think about your physical appearance, either!

Train your brain to understand your physical self more objectively.
I have narrow shoulders. Shoulder pads make it possible for me to wear angular designs!

Use your brain to train yourself and others to look and respond to you positively.
"This jacket fits perfectly, don't you think?"

Use language to reinforce what others see.
This jacket, dress, coat works great on women (like me) with my curves!

Walk out of every dressing room with a big smile on your face . . . and don't ask your husband, girlfriend, colleague, mother, father, sister, brother or sales clerk, "what do you think?" SHOW them what you think by using your brain first (objective thinking) and then your face (smile).
The response/s you will evoke . . ."you look amazing" . . .or . . ."that jacket looks amazing on you!"

If you need a little help training your brain to understand your physique a little better . . .don't hesitate to call on me!

What's behind your face? I hope it's LOVE.

FACIAL HEIR

You inherit your face!

Take a look at your family tree and search for relatives that have a face similar to your own. What do you see? What "secret" makeup tricks did those people use? How did they wear their hair.

I'm sure you've heard the comment: "Ugh! When I look in the mirror I see my mother looking back at me!"

Well that has certainly been true for me! Thank goodness! My mother was a beauty and knew how to take care of what she was given (great genes - inherited) up to and (almost) including the day she died.

Our faces weren't exactly alike . . .she didn't have my eyelids (they came from my father's side of the family tree). For example, mother loved the way I wore eye makeup and wanted her eyes to look "just like" mine. Of course, she tried it . . .in spite of the fact that I said "it won't work" . . . and little by little she understood the limitations of her "facial boundaries" and embraced her (lovely) differences.

Watching her grow older (with my eyes and ears fully open) helped me over the years. "Stay out of the sun." Advice she didn't follow . . .I did it . . .and it made a difference. "Don't wear powder - it'll dry your skin." I don't because it did on her! "Take a walk every day . . . it gives your skin a glow." "Fruits and vegetables are better than lots of meat and French fries!"

"God has given you one face," she would say as I longed to be tan without freckles, "take care of it!"

Use the organ just behind your face to listen and learn from those who looked a little bit like you in past generations - it's called a brain.

Make conscious choices to study the components of your face . . . review its boundaries . . . play with the dimensions using makeup. Have a good laugh . . .and maybe even a good cry.

Step One
Purchase the right mirror

Step Two
Put the mirror in a good light

Step Three
Look at your Face. . .love your face . . .embrace the way your face looks.

Step Four
Take a close-up photo (commonly referred to as a "before" photo)

Step Five
Email photos of you (and your ancestors) to me with questions: suzie@suziewoodwardmorris.com

I'll give you "Step Six" . . .

Remember you may be someone's facial heir . . . what will they learn from seeing you?