Happy New Year! May it be as lovely and beautiful as a flower. Cheers to my first blog of 2021.
I enjoy hard work, challenges, and love learning new skills, even flower growing. My neighbor, Janet, gave me the most beautiful Amaryllis, here, that I watched grow from a seedling, and my older orchid bloomed the loveliest velvet flower, here. It’s fascinating to watch the plants grow. I have a new Christmas cactus, red, and it has thorns. I never had one of those with thorns, that I discovered picking it up. Ouch!!!
After five years I got my rights back for Indigo Sky from my publisher. The book belongs to me now.
Did you know when a publisher publishes your book, they own it. I’m not free to do anything. I had to ask permission for ads, for re-writes, for distribution, and so on.
Now I own the book and making a lot of changes that I knew I wanted to make. I’m re-writing Indigo Sky. And it’s lots of fun.
Some say to change the title, some say don’t bother to change the title. I had to change the cover though because the existing cover art belonged to the publisher. I have my new cover ready to go and will share it with you here soon. I’m more than halfway through the re-write. I’ll put out a request for updates on the reviews and in return, I’ll provide a free copy of the book.
I’m done writing my brother’s memoirs, he’s working on finishing, which gives me time to go back to writing mine.
I’m busy, so in order to get my memoirs written without distractions I signed up for a memoir workshop. Part of the requirements is to write at least fifteen pages every week for eight weeks, which will get me on a roll. I’m writing each chapter as an essay. I have a page full of subjects.
Over the last twenty years or so, my friends have encouraged me to write about my life, about how I found the Lord, and how I managed my careers–music, art and design, writing, and teaching.
I’m all ears to hear what you have to say.
Gail Ingis Claus is an author, artist/painter, and interior designer.
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and The Holiday Season is usually the time of year when we love to add a bit of sparkle and color to our beauty regimens. Let’s get dressed up even though we might be spending this Holiday Season at home. Take pictures, videos, and hop online to celebrate with everyone. And what better way to look your best than by using healthy and clean beauty products. That’s why I’ve been using BeautyCounter for almost four years.
I want to share with you a brief history of BeautyCounter, founded by Gregg Renfrew, and why it’s revolutionizing the beauty industry.
Gregg Renfrew, Founder of Beautycounter
Gregg Renfrew: Like many of you, I’m a wife and mom—and, like many of you, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. As I applied sunscreen, lotion, and any number of beauty products on myself and my kids, I never thought for a second they might not be safe: After all, I thought, we live in a country that regulates everything. So imagine my surprise when I learned that when it comes to the personal care industry, that’s simply not the case. Companies are allowed to use harmful ingredients and make their own judgments about safety. And so I started Beautycounter, a company devoted to progress. Here you’ll find a wealth of empowering information about ways we can all make the world healthier, along with safer products you can trust. Because we all deserve better. Our vision is bold; real answers are never timid. Help us put truth back in beauty.
Our Mission To get safer products into the hands of everyone. Decades of studies indicate that serious health issues (including but not limited to asthma, cancer, and infertility) are on the rise and are due in some part to our ongoing exposure to toxic chemicals—whether it’s in the shower, on our commute, while we eat lunch at a local restaurant, or when we clean our kitchens at home.
There are more than 80,000 chemicals on the market today. Many don’t have any safety data. This is particularly true of those used in the skincare and beauty industry. What’s worse is that the Food and Drug Administration (the agency that regulates cosmetics in the United States) allows companies to use chemicals known to be extremely harmful in the products we put on our bodies and on our kids’ bodies every single day, day after day, and to make their own judgments about safety. It’s time for a change.
The United States has not passed a major federal law to regulate the safety of ingredients used in personal care products since 1938. Over the past two decades, the European Union has banned more than 1,300 chemicals in the product formulas of personal care products and restricted the levels of over 250 more in such products. The United States has only partially banned 30 to date.
We deserve better, and we’re doing something about it. At Beautycounter, we’re committed to a health and safety standard that goes well beyond what’s required by U.S. law: We’ve banned the use of more than 1,500 questionable or harmful chemicals through our “Never List”— all while ensuring our products perform and that they’re as indulgent as any other shampoo, lipstick, or oil in the market. It’s not easy work, but it’s well worth it. This is about progress—not perfection. Because every little bit counts.
Learn more about the impact the environment is having on your health.
And just in time for The Holidays- BeautyCounter’s 15% off Black Friday Sale is ON!!!!! Almost everything is included…including gift sets!!! Free Shipping on orders over $50 too. I would be honored if you shopped from me. 🥰
🛒🛍
Give a gift of BEAUTYCOUNTER products. Beauty inside and out.
Gail Ingis is an interior designer, artist, and multi-published author. She is also a wife, mom, and grandma. She takes care of her skin using BeautyCounter. You can contact Gail at gailingisclaus@gmail.com.
The COVID pandemic, while challenging and exhausting in so many ways has had one positive effect on me and, I suspect on you too. It has helped me “embrace” my gray hair – the color represents those years of trial and error–and all the little pieces woven into my hair. I recently went back to the hairdresser for the first time since COVID, and I decided to let my “golden years” show. 🙂
“Please do not touch my roots,” I said to my hairdresser, “I just want hi-lights. I want my gray hair to be my face frame.” My older brother, Jay, (he’s 88) has a head full of the most beautiful light gray hair with streaks of white. If I let mine grow, it could be similar, we are alike in many ways. And I’m not losing my hair anymore. Imagine that? Bleaching my hair since I’m thirteen, honest, my mom didn’t like my hair getting dark–then I adopted the system, coloring my hair for so long.
The saying You are only as old as you feel, or look. That is a fact for me. My health and appearance are important. I stay active and walk every morning with my hubby Tom. I enjoy ballroom dancing and sometimes Tom does too, although our dancing shoes are back in the closet for the time being because of COVID.
Beautycounter products are my go to for my skin and hair. Beautycounter’s new serum in the yellow bottle is made to act like Botox for those fine lines, and even for some of the other lines. Apply the serum before your Beautycounter face cream and makeup. But the difference is – it’s not harsh on your skin and it’s environmentally safe. I’m a consultant passing on great products for my friends and family. Today, with everyone concerned about health and the health of our families – what we put on our skin matters. And what we put into the environment matters too. Beautycounter is fast becoming a leader in healthy, safe and beauty products that make a difference and don’t forget the safe shampoos and conditioners, and sunscreen. Take a peek at Beautycounter’s Summer Skin Saviors – I’m sure you’ll love them as much as I do.
The best part of beautycounter is that it’s more than great products, it’s a movement.
Summer Skin Saviors
Warmer weather calls for lightweight yet powerful #betterbeauty-to refresh, protect, and perfect your skin.
Gail in red
All the products here are fabulous, with no fragrance, and no harsh chemicals. The yellow bottle is the “All Bright C Serum.” You can order through me beautycounter.com/gailingis or let me know what you would like, touch base, give me your cc, and I’ll order for you.
Are you interested in looking your best at any age and using products that not only are good for you but not harmful to the environment? You can reach me at gailingisclaus@gmail.com. And I’ll give you more details and background about these wonderful skincare products that have contributed to my well being. Come be part of my team.
Roses are red . . . We’ve all heard that little ditty numerous times. But have you ever wondered what makes red such a powerful color? Why does red make a bold fashion statement? Why does it look great as a feature wall in your home? Why does red pop on a book cover?
Amy Butler Greenfield’s fascinating book, A Perfect Red, traces the history and cultural impact of the color red. And guess what? It all began with a little red bug called cochineal. Vast fortunes were created and international intrigue bloomed as countries battled to figure out how to beat Spain’s hold on the trade of a red dye. So valuable – it was traded on commodity exchanges in the 17th century.
And of course I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how much I love red as an artist and painter. I often weave red into my paintings, like the one shown here.
And if you’re curious – here are some other fun facts about red:
Threads of Wisdom 36×36 Oil Ingis Claus
Clever red fingernail polish names: Red Abandon, Little Red Wagon, Don’t know . . . Beets me, Wanted . . . Red or Alive. Life is a Cabernet, An Affair in Red Square, and Breakfast in Red.
Remember Dorothy’s beautiful, magical silver slippers from The Wizard of Oz? Not silver, you say? Well they started out as silver in the novel but when the new Technicolor process was used in the film version, the moviemakers wanted a color that popped—so, of course, they chose red. Ruby red.
Charles and Ray (Bernice Alexandra) Eames: Together the husband and wife duo created some of the 20th century’s most enduring designs. Charles and Ray Eames are known for their classic modern furniture and for their pioneering work with materials such as molded plywood, which they created by pressing sheets of wood veneer against a heated mold. Through this work, in the 1940s the couple developed their iconic LCW (Lounge Chair, Wood), which has been called the best design of the 20th century. The Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair Wood Base, currently sold by Herman Miller, is striking in red. Today, the chair sells for north of a thousand dollars and is made in the United States.
While writing my 2019 publishedUnforgettable Miss Baldwin, I saw red everywhere. My heroine has red hair, she blushes a pretty shade of red, her lips are full and red . . . Red has seeped into our language: seeing red, caught red-handed, down to my last red cent, red herring, a red-letter day, like red to a bull, red tape, go beet red, in the red, red-blooded, red-carpet treatment, red-light district . . . well—you know. And of course, my sweet Tom and I love to paint the town red.
I’m currently writing an essay based on my memoirs and how red integrated my life.
What’s your favorite red—either in your home/office or in your personal life?
Dear Artist, and to all my wonderful friends in the arts:
In Canada, doctors are prescribing museum visits with the cost of admission covered by universal healthcare. “We know that art stimulates neural activity,” says Montreal Museum of Fine Arts director general and chief curator, Nathalie Bondil. The program, piloted last year, is an extension of the museum’s work with their existing Art and Health Committee, where they participate in clinical trials studying the effects of art on people with eating disorders, cancer, epilepsy, mental illness, and Alzheimer’s disease. This “museum as hospital” idea also has legs for older people, the physically disabled, and others with mobility issues. Because looking at art bumps cortisol and serotonin levels in the brain, it produces an effect in the body similar to exercise.
Mike Kelley 1 (2007) at the Cleveland Clinic by Jennifer Steinkamp (b. 1958)
Steve Travarca photo
This past Wednesday, the British Medical Journal published a longitudinal study tracking the correlation between arts engagement and mortality. It turns out that hitting a museum just once or twice a year can lower your early death rate by 14%. Culture vultures fare even better at 31%. On top of this, studies from Denmark and Great Britain have found that paintings — especially abstracts — in hospitals improves patient satisfaction, health outcome, length of stay, and pain tolerance.
While experts hammer out what kind of art heals best, the big hospitals are hiring their own curators to test the notion of “hospital as museum”.
“We set out to try and change the paradigm of what it’s like to be in a healthcare setting — that in some way, it might be inviting and enriching when you come to the hospital for whatever reason, whether you’re working there, a visitor, or a patient,” says Joanne Cohen, executive director, and in-house curator at the Cleveland Clinic. And while some scholars fear that abstraction is too ambiguous for patients experiencing states of unfamiliarity, vulnerability and stress, Danish architecture and design professor Michael Mullins says that size and placement of work, color, contrast, shapes, and movement are factors just as important. While working on a recent project for a hospital in New York, the only request I received from the gallery was, “no green, no red.”
Pumpkin (2014) at the Cleveland Clinic by Yayoi Kusama (b.1929)
Steve Travarca photo
PS: “I am convinced that in the 21st century, culture will be what physical activity was for health in the 20th century.” (Nathalie Bondil)
Esoterica: When I was about 20, the hospital in which I was born purchased some paintings for their palliative care floor. At the time, my work featured cloudless, gradated color field skies, with kids floating and flying dreamlike above a thin strip of flat, white snow. For some time, I wondered if the paintings would be helpful or upsetting to those in the hospital facing the end of life, especially when I seemed to be at the beginning of mine. Years later, I received a letter from someone who had spent many months with my paintings while saying goodbye to their loved one. Their words left me grateful and connected and honored to be a part of such an important time. “Hopefully, it comforts.” (Joanne Cohen)
Recovery College (2016) in collaboration with Hospital Rooms and South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS
by Tim A. Shaw (b. 1982)
Thank you to: Sara Genn
The Letters: Vol. 1 and 2, narrated by Dave Genn, are available for download on Amazon, here. Proceeds of sales contribute to the production of The Painter’s Keys.
“Imagination is not a talent of some men, but is the health of every man.”
The Letters: Vol. 1 and 2, narrated by Dave Genn, are available for download on Amazon, here. Proceeds of sales contribute to the production of The Painter’s Keys.
“Imagination is not a talent of some men, but is the health of every man.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
In case you missed this one, this blog is a repeat of the third in a series about skin care products. I believe that beautycounter (one word,) a young progressive company, has made a difference in waking up an unregulated industry. I am pleased to represent beautycounter. My most important job is to share with my friends, family, colleagues and everyone I meet about using skin products that are not laden with harsh chemicals. Naturally, beautycounter manufactures products with no harsh chemical. For your perusal, the NEVER LIST.
Those with chemicals such as parabens (a preservative widely used in cosmetic products), benzophenones (used as UV filters) and bisphenol A in their urine were found to have abnormal amounts of the reproductive hormones estrogen and progesterone.
The mixture of chemicals found in beauty products could harm women’s fertility or even cause breast cancer, a new study has found.
Researchers at George Mason University, in Virginia, discovered links between chemicals widely used in cosmetic and personal care products, and changes in reproductive hormones.
Excessive estrogen has been linked to fibroids and irregular menstrual periods, while too little prevents eggs maturing and being released from the ovary.
Too much progesterone is associated with both
breast cancer
and unusual vaginal bleeding, while it is thought bisphenol A (BPA), known
as the ‘gender-bending’ chemical for its effects on male breast
growth, could cause fertility problems.
Dr Anna Pollack, assistant professor of
global and community health at George Mason University, said: “This study is
the first to examine mixtures of chemicals that are widely used in personal
care products in relation to hormones in healthy, reproductive-age women, using
multiple measures of exposure across the menstrual cycle, which improved upon
research that relied on one or two measures of chemicals.
“What we should take away from this study is
that we may need to be careful about the chemicals in the beauty and personal
care products we use.
“We have early indicators that chemicals such as parabens may increase estrogen levels. “If this finding is confirmed by additional
research, it could have implications for oestrogen dependent diseases such as
breast cancer.”
A chemical mixture approach, was recently published in the science journal Environment
Readers Digest: Matthew Cohen/Rd.com
Sure, synthetic fragrances might make your
products smell undeniably delicious, but they’re one of the top contenders to
cause an allergic
reaction to your skin. “Fragrances are usually made up of other harmful
chemicals, like parabens, benzene derivatives, aldehydes, and more that are
linked to cancer and nervous system issues,” explains Dr. Engelman. “Short
term, they can cause irritation and redness on the applied area.” She
recommends looking for these terms to clue you in that a product contains a
fragrance: parfum, perfume, linalool, limonene, eugenol, citronellol, geraniol
or cinnamal. Fragrance-free products are mostly labeled as so. “Eight
Hour® Cream Skin Protectant Fragrance Free is a great way to boost moisture
and strengthen the skin barrier without putting yourself at risk,” says
Engelman.
Like many of you, I’m a wife and mom—and, like many of you, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. As I applied sunscreen, lotion, and any number of beauty products on myself and my kids, I never thought for a second they might not be safe: After all, I thought, we live in a country that regulates everything. So imagine my shock when I learned that when it comes to the personal care industry, that’s simply not the case. Companies are allowed to use harmful ingredients and make their own judgments about safety.
And so I started Beautycounter, a company devoted to progress. Here you’ll find a wealth of empowering information about ways we can all make the world healthier, along with safer products you can trust. Because we all deserve better. Our vision is bold; real answers are never timid. Help us put truth back in beauty.
My take
Beautycounter, a young innovative, think out of the box company, is always adding new products for the health of us all. I believe in their philosophy, safer formulas for Every Body Head-To-Toe Essentials. Your Essentials w/o Harsh Chemicals-Explore Safer, Effective Makeup. Your family deserves the best.
The latest from the Beautycounter company is their Counterman line. My hubby, Tom Claus, uses my products, night and day creams, intense rejuvenating creams, and more, but men’s skin is tougher than a woman’s, Counterman has arrived and is the answer to men’s healthy skin care.
Tom Claus
According to Beautycounter, when they cast their Counterman campaign, they sought guys who embodied their standards—men who stand for something, who approach life with intention, think outside of the box, like my hubby, Tom, a scientist, having worked in discovery for new drugs for diabetes. Tom has had dry, scaly skin and has been using creams for his face and scalp for years. He’s been using CeraVe, and didn’t realize that it has harsh chemicals like parabens, (methyl-isobutyl-propyl- and other). Even baby sunscreen has harsh chemicals. Imagine smearing creams all over your babies and kids, and washing their hair and yours with shampoo laden with harsh chemicals? Check out Beautycounter’s ample never list and look at the ingredients on the packaging of the products you use.
Having several men in my life, a husband, three sons, two sons-in-law, and seven grandsons, I’m excited for them to climb out of their box and look at the big picture. It’s never too soon to learn how to keep you, your family and your men handsome and healthy.
Beautycounter mission: To get safer products into the hands of everyone.
Decades of studies indicate that serious health issues (including but not limited to asthma, cancer, and infertility) are on the rise and are due in some part to our ongoing exposure to toxic chemicals—whether it’s in the shower, on our commute, while we eat lunch at a local restaurant, or when we clean our kitchens at home.
There are more than 80,000 chemicals on the market today. Many don’t have any safety data. This is particularly true of those used in the skin care and beauty industry.
What’s worse is that the Food and Drug Administration (the agency that regulates cosmetics in the United States) does not have the authority to remove harmful ingredients from the products we put on our bodies and on our kids’ bodies every single day, day after day.
beautycounter cleanswapheader-these are some of the products available separately
For the sake of all of us, our good health and wise choices, I am doing my blog about skin care products that have no harsh chemicals.This information was taken from a New York Times interview with the founder of beautycounter.com.
In 2011, Ms. Gregg Renfrew founded beautycounter (one word), manufacturer of cosmetics and personal care products. But instead of creating just another makeup brand, Ms. Renfrew made several unconventional decisions.
First, she made a list of more than 1500 potentially harmful ingredients that she vowed never to use in her products. Next, she turned the conventional business model on its head, shunning department stores in favor of a network of independent consultants. Finally, she embarked on a campaign to introduce new regulations to the personal care industry, noting that the last law governing it was passed in 1938.
How did Beautycounter get going?
I watched “An Inconvenient Truth” and had become impassioned with the environmental health movement. I was washing my children with a natural foaming oatmeal body wash by a name brand, but when I went on the Environmental Working Group’s database, it rated it an eight out of nine for toxicity. I thought I was using natural oatmeal body wash, and in fact I was putting toxins on my babies. I was just outraged. And I became truly obsessed with this.
Mini color intense lipstick vault
At the same time, I was looking at where direct to consumer was going, and where I saw the biggest white space was in beauty. No one had pioneered meaningful change in that industry. It took me a couple of years to concept the idea, the selling model, create the products from scratch. I went in thinking that we could just use white-label products and change a few ingredients. That was not the case.
You’re very focused on bringing more regulation to your own industry. That’s unusual.
Most people still believe that the Food and Drug Administration is protecting them in terms of personal care products. And most people believe that the products on the market are safe. But the F.D.A. is not necessarily screening ingredients for safety, which is very different from the food industry. The F.D.A. can be protective of the consumer in certain industries, but in our industry, we are woefully under regulated, and they don’t have the power to recall products. And this is one area where you have bipartisan support. Everyone agrees that we need to update the laws. It’s been 80 years now.
So what ingredients do you use and not use?
There are mostly natural ingredients that are safer, but some natural ingredients are not safe. There are heavy metals in the ground that are not safe for your health, and there are perfectly benign man-made ingredients. We have something called the Never List, which is a list of ingredients we chose not to formulate with.
To get safer products into the hands of everyone. Learn More
Taken partly from an interview with Ms. Renfrew by David Gelles at the New York Times. Gelles is the Corner Office columnist and business reporter. Follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter. @dgelles
Come now Christmas morning, white snow falling, the star in the night sky gone, but the King remains, always in our hearts. The celebration of love, forgiveness, and hope resounded at the Black Rock Church in the songs of this special time of year. Everyone sings and rejoices, no matter who you are, all love the music, the lights, the smiles on everyone’s faces.
This post is applicable to us all. I get these letters frequently, and from time to time love to share with their permission, which is ongoing.
The Letters: Vol. 1 and 2, narrated by Dave Genn, are now available for download on Amazon, here. Proceeds of sales contribute to the production of The Painter’s Keys.
Dear Reader,
A few years ago a thief looked in a gallery window and saw what he thought was a painting by a relatively expensive, dead artist. Using an accomplice to distract the dealer, he grabbed it and fled. It turned out to be one of mine. I know the disappointment he must have felt because the painting soon appeared in a nearby dumpster. This is an example of someone trying to steal something that might have been successfully fenced in an auction or another gallery. I fooled ’em.
“Charing Cross Bridge, London” 1901
by Claude Monet (1840-1926)
stolen in 2012, possibly destroyed
The theft of Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Madonna, from the Oslo Munch Museum is a theft of a different stripe. Impossible to resell, these works can only have been stolen because they could be. In a way, it’s good to know that there are people in this world, like artists, who want to see if they can get away with things — to test the limits of their cleverness. Apparently, it’s also got something to do with stealing the magic that is art. British psychoanalyst Darian Leader explains the phenomena in Stealing the Mona Lisa. His book tells of the poor Italian house painter, Vincenzo Peruggia who, in 1911, merely tucked Mona under his smock and put her in the closet of his humble room. Later he confessed he did it not for money but for the love of a woman.
“Woman-Ochre” 1958
by Willem de Kooning (1904-1997)
stolen in 1985, recovered 2017
Leader also suggests that a painting needs to be properly stolen in order for it to become an icon and irresistibly desirable to a wider public. Further, as most of the thieves are men, the stealing of female imagery takes the psychoanalyst into some sticky stuff. Leader says, “An image is a human-capturing device.” Apparently, thieves as well as artists know this. But maybe some moneyed connoisseur knows it too and is privately slavering over Madonna and Scream along with a Schnapps and a good cigar in a paneled inner sanctum. Meanwhile his clever hit-men are blowing his cash in a bar. Leader concludes that no one does the big jobs for the money.
Of particular interest in the Mona Lisa case, gallery-goers lined up for years to file past the empty space where the painting once hung. That’s sort of modern — conceptual — when you think of it. One thing I do know is that art makes some people go funny and do crazy things. Like the guy who threw mine into the dumpster.
“The Concert” c.1664
by Johann Vermeer (1632-1675)
stolen in 1990, not recovered
Best regards,
Robert
PS: “The Mona Lisa is a magical prize, an amulet to ward off a feeling of insufficiency.” (Craig Burnett)
Esoterica: Stealing, like art itself, is an art. Stealing art is one of the highest of the stealing arts. Books are written and films are made honouring this tradition. To have one’s work stolen is a compliment and can be a big career move. Try to get your stuff stolen.
The Letters: Vol. 1 and 2, narrated by Dave Genn, are now available for download on Amazon, here. Proceeds of sales contribute to the production of The Painter’s Keys.
“What’s new is this amazingly efficient distribution system for stolen property called the Internet — and no one’s gonna shut down the Internet.” (Steve Jobs)
Gail Ingis Claus is an author, artist/painter and interior designer. Her upcoming romance The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin will be released in spring 2018. Her current historical romance, Indigo Sky can be purchased on amazon.
Charles and Ray (Bernice Alexandra) Eames: Together the husband and wife duo created some of the 20th century’s most enduring designs. Charles and Ray Eames are known for their classic modern furniture and for their pioneering work with materials such as molded plywood, which they created by pressing sheets of wood veneer against a heated mold. Through this work, in the 1940s the couple developed their iconic LCW (Lounge Chair, Wood), which has been called the best design of the 20th century. The Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair Wood Base, currently sold by Herman Miller, is striking in red. Today, the chair sells for north of a thousand dollars and is made in the United States.
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