Since I received so many powerful and inspiring responses to my last post, “On the Corner of Mean”, I thought I would try and focus my posts this week and through the New Year on those things in life that lift us up, During this holiday season I feel it especially important to find ways to gift others and ourselves with “antidotes to mean”.

Again in the way Accidental Icon seems to attract goodness into my life, during a photo shoot I met a happy, lovely woman named Candice Forness who was doing my make-up. I was especially intrigued by her colorful tattoos. After giving me a mini face massage and bestowing compliments on my skin, she pulled out the most luscious shade of red lipstick (Armani Chinese Lacquer Lip Maestro) and commented she had just received it and had not tried it yet. After she applied it and it seemed the perfect shade of red for my skin tone, she closed it up and told me to put in my bag, it was meant for me. And that generosity is the essence of Candice Forness.

Recently, she contacted me with an invitation to succumb to her talents and charms and try the gift of a special “lifting” facial, the Miracle Lift. Based on Ayurvedic principles it combines acupressure, Swedish Massage and lymphatic drainage for a holistic facelift. The massage first relaxes and then “retrains” the muscles in your face. Wrapped in a blanket I felt warm and comfortable and as she worked on my face. I learned about the training she undertook. The researcher in me was enthralled with how she had to do “case studies” as part of it. The underlying principle here is that when you age your muscles tend to weaken and gravity takes over. This face massage is like having a personal trainer for your face and is aimed at strengthening your face muscles to keep on doing some heavy lifting on your behalf. I like things that intuitively makes sense and this does to me. You get the added bonus of Candice herself who is full of optimism and caring.

Always a sceptic, especially as you know, about any beauty product or process that includes the word “miracle”, I can tell you honestly I was impressed by what I saw when I sat up. The puffiness was gone and I do not think I have looked so serene since I held my baby girl in my arms 32 years ago. I have to say I did look and feel…well…lifted.

Candice recommends six to eight once a week sessions to get retrained and then once monthly moving forward to maintain gains. You can contact Candice via Instagram @candiceforness or make an appointment through Shen Beauty in Brooklyn. We and those we care about could all use some lifting up and climbing to higher ground about now, making this the perfect gift for self or others..

 

What do you do to lift yourself (or others) up when you need to?