smart | life


What is beauty, anyway? Taking the A photoshoot reveals just what the beauty industry doesn’t want you to see


plunge Moving in with your partner? Make sure you broach the tough financial topics first


Tannis Miller bares all: taking a photo with no makeup at all, a neutral look, a glamorous look, and a Photoshopped look as it would appear in print. Both of us had been published in numerous fitness magazines


enjoyment. Freckles are perfection, and stretch marks are nothing more than a direct reminder of a beautiful life that was brought into this world. Overweight, underweight, tall or short, we are all


B


beautiful and we never think otherwise, not even for a second. Judgment and comparing don’t exist in society, and neither do shortages of confidence. Unfortunately in today’s world, the above beliefs


don’t commonly exist. Sadly, we are inhabitants of a media-driven society where beauty is often cookie- cutter, and in fact, the opposite of diverse. We are more often than not too short, too tall, too fat, too skinny, too wrinkly, too freckly, too blemished, and just plain not beautiful enough. Tis, I believe, is largely provoked by worldwide marketing tactics. Anti-aging products and cosmetics companies


eauty is diversity. Wrinkles are always considered smile lines reflecting years of laughter, and curves are remind- ers of health and contentment that reflect many years of


and advertisements over the years, and now with Twist Me Toned, spend a lot of time designing presentations for young female high school students regarding what’s real and what’s not. What’s cool is that we often use our own modeling images as examples. Although I love makeup, I feel it’s refreshing to


break free of it sometimes. In an attempt to help women of all ages identify with what’s beautiful and what’s fake, we just couldn’t pass this project up. In both of our four panel posters, Ainsley and I begin without a stich of makeup, as natural and vulnerable as one could be (nothing hidden here). Te second photo is where I’ve added just a touch


of makeup for a “no makeup” makeup look, and the third a more glamourized and dramatic look. Te final photo is more or less what a magazine


are billion-dollar industries, and fat-loss pills and supplement companies are at the top of the financial totem pole due to nothing more than selling dreams. Dreams of success, and dreams of beauty. Advertisements for clothing, fragrance, and surgical en-


hancement companies use already impossibly thin and beau- tiful models and snip, chop and Photoshop until they are un- humanlike and even unrecognizable to the models themselves. A breath of fresh air


Last summer, my business partner Ainsley and I were


fortunate enough to have been contacted by a photographer (Lloyd of Habster Photography) who longed to do a very special photoshoot with both of us, with me doing double-duty as the makeup artist. What he wanted to shoot wasn’t typical to us and we were at first taken aback when he requested that we arrive without makeup for some completely natural shots. He said he had an idea, and reluctantly but shortly thereaf-


ter, we started tossing around concepts and we were on board. Together, we decided we wanted to create a strong portrayal of what real women looked like compared to the made up and edited versions we are all brainwashed to consider the ideal standard of beauty.


Twist Me Toned Tannis Miller


or advertisement would use; the glamourized look with the addition of some photo editing the photographer had done to blur away any typical marks or creases that weren’t considered “beauti-


ful” by cultural standards. As you can see, the first photo and the final photo are quite different, but still the same person. It really shows the true power of makeup and what editing can do. Te women in magazines do not exist


Tis should get you thinking, how often are you compar-


ing yourself to the women in magazines? Coming from two of them, the women in the magazines do not exist. And guess what? Neither do their flawless complexions and cellulite-free legs-for-miles. When ideals of beauty are a mythical combination of figments


of technology and artistry, how fair are we being with ourselves when we set the beauty bar? Learning to embrace your features rather than see them as flaws is the true first step in achieving happiness and balance within yourself. Because a healthy mind is a healthy body, and beauty is always diverse. Really. Tannis Miller is a personal trainer and business owner at


Twistmetoned.com, and an experienced self-taught makeup artist and beauty guru. Tannis’ work has been published in and on the covers of It’s Love Winnipeg, Status Fitness Magazine, and Inside Fitness magazines.


don’t forget all about what those sunny rays used to do for you. “Because Vitamin D is


Are you getting enough sun? I


t’s that time of year when you just want to curl up and snuggle with a warm blanket and a cup of tea. But


so cheap and so clearly reduces al l-cause mor- tality, I can say this with great certainty: Vitamin D represents the single most cost-effective medical in- tervent ion in Canada,” says Dr. Greg Plotnikoff, medical director for the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. Here’s what you need


(like at this frigid time of year), you can also get them in supplements. Vitamin D’s job is to maintain normal blood levels of phosphorous and calcium. It helps calcium to be absorbed which helps form and keep your bones strong. There has been recent re-


Alive & Aware Patti Sliwany


to know about that clever Vitamin D Vitamin D2 is made by plants; and Vita-


min D3 is made when the skin is exposed to the sun. Foods can be altered to have Vitamin


D2 or D3 in them. As always, the natural source is the best, but if that’s not possible


January 2015


search that shows that Vita- min D can help protect against a whole host of issues like high blood pressure, cardiovascu- lar disease, skin, kidney and blood diseases, diabetes and endocrine disorders, mental disorders, cancer, and some autoimmune diseases. They are also finding that


there is a huge population that is Vitamin D3 deficient


that needs to take supplements since they don’t get enough sun exposure. (Sound familiar?) In the summer, try to make a special


effort to go sit outside in the sun and read for 30 minutes a day (like you need an ex- cuse!). Or if you’ve got a busy work sched- ule, you can get a walk in in the morning


The big step. Photo by Nan Palmero. By Brian Denysuik


may find that you each hold completely different views about the importance of budgeting – and even when you do make a budget together, you may disagree on what is or is not a priority. Tese are the times that will try your relationship, but the good news is: you can get through it with a little help from this checklist. Be honest


O First of all: be honest with each other.


Discuss all your assets and debts so there are no unpleasant surprises. You then need to decide whether to share financial responsibilities and to what degree. One person may be bringing a lot more debt to the relationship, which is why it is im- portant to have this conversation early in the relationship. Talk about history


Make sure to discuss your individual OK, the winter months make that tough, but you can supplement the rays with Vitamin D3


before you go to work, and before the sun comes up and it gets too hot. In the wintertime, you can stay where


it’s warm – cozy and hibernating under heaps of blankets while taking supple- ments – but in the spring and fall, you have absolutely no excuse! If you see you are not getting enough sun exposure, even in the hot months, don’t be afraid to keep taking your supplements. It is important that what you are taking is


Vitamin D3 and not just a D supplement. If you are taking Vitamin D3, it is important to know that there are other vitamins you need to take in order to be able to absorb and metabolize Vitamin D3; those include magnesium, Vitamin A, Vitamin K, boron and zinc. Patricia Sliwany is a board-certified holis-


tic nutritionist, and founder of Alive & Aware Holistic Health. Alive & Aware offers work- shops, lunch-and-learn series, and three- to 12-month individual or group coaching initiatives for those who want to take charge of their health and prevent disease. To find out which program meets the needs of you or your organization, please visit www. aliveandaware.ca, or contact Patti at patti@ aliveandaware.ca or 204-997-2031.


www.smartbizwpg.com


credit history, too. Your ability to borrow as a couple will be greatly impacted by your past spending. Don’t panic if your partner has taken out a lot of credit in the past; this is your opportunity as a couple to explore options for getting to a place of financial stability. Talk about setting a budget and goals for clearing debt, and decide on a ratio of responsibility for that debt.


Play to your strengths While it is important that both of you


contribute financially to your budget and the paying off of debts, you should also play to your strengths. Te person who is better at managing monthly bills should take care of that side of your finances; however, it is important that both peo- ple in the relationship share the overall responsibility of maintaining the budget. Compromise and communication are


key to a strong financial relationship, so make sure you discuss and come to an agreement on where your money is go- ing and when. A relationship takes work, but by having this honest conversation early on and staying on track with budg- eting and spending, you may find that your relationship – and your wealth – is stronger for it. Brian Denysuik is a local credit counsel-


lor and a registered insolvency counsellor at Creditaid who has been working in the financial services industry for over 30 years.


Smart Biz 15


ne of the biggest sticking points for couples is finances. No matter how much you have in common, you


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20