A Message from Your New Beauty/Health Advisor

This is Mariluz Fontanez, cosmetologist and your new beauty health advisor here on Lumigrate. I am delighted to have been invited to write in this forum. As a professional makeup & hair stylist, I've dedicated over 14 years of my life polishing and mastering makeup artistry and hair design. I like to describe my style as "avant garde", cutting edge, innovative and creative. Always trying to reinvent myself as an artist and offer my clients the latest techniques and products in the market.

Just seven months ago, on Friday, March 5, 2010, I woke up feeling "flu like symptoms" that sent me to the doctor. My blood work results came back stating I had tested positive for the Epstein Barr Virus. I thought after 4-6 weeks I would be back to normal like my doctor said but instead I continued feeling extremely ill. My body felt like a "train ran over me", my skin was so dry -- I even developed psoriasis.  My hair lost its shine, my nails were brittle and at some point they fell off like flakes. I felt as if I was rapidly aging. It was so depressing to see myself in the mirror and see just a shadow of what I used to look like. 

As a professional in the beauty industry, I am expected to always look my best. I was determined to get to the root of the problem and regain my health. I went to every specialist and was tested for every single symptom I was experiencing. After ruling every possible illness out, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. 

My quest to wellness had just begun, and like many others, I had a voracious need to learn more about the syndrome. I looked for information online, bought all the books, saw all the videos and joined support groups. I would go with a list of questions to my doctor's visits. 

I immediately understood that fibromyalgia was MISunderstood and there were way too many "Why's?" yet to be answered.

This is when I decided to take matters into my own hands; to listen to my own body and find my own healing. One thing that was way too clear to me was the need to change my diet and old habits. I knew I needed to detoxify my body. Going the natural route and taking a more holistic approach made immense sense to me. As I was researching online, I came across Deirdre Rawlings, N.D., Ph.D. and her book "Food that Helps Win the Battle Against Fibromyalgia" I tossed every junk food, soda, sweet, processed and filled- with-additives food I had in my pantry and took the book with me to the farmers market!

My  body almost immediately began to respond to the new healthy food choices. The vitamins and supplements were a great addition as well. It was no longer a diet, it became a lifestyle for the whole family. My skin and hair was renewing itself. Those were the most evident changes that proved to me "I must of been doing something right!". 

Although I'm still learning to manage my symptoms, I know I'm taking control over this syndrome by making smart decisions. 

It became my goal and personal advocacy to educate people about fibromyalgia. This is when IFAC (International Fibromyalgia Awareness Campaign) was born. The theme "Beauty from Pain" was my inspiration. 

It is all about turning a negative into a positive...to bring "Beauty from Pain".  

My job is so rewarding. It allows me to help others feel good about themselves and boost their self-esteem. It is also an empowering and influential position because people usually look for your professional advice and tend to "follow it to the T".  This is a constant reminder of keeping informed and educated as to which products to use and recommend to my clients. 

Just recently I had a very uplifting and insightful conversation with Mardy Ross about synthetic cosmetics and its toxic elements. High levels of toxins in the system seems to be a common denominator among those who had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. She instilled the need in me to pay more attention to the products in terms of ingredients, whereas I was looking at them more in terms of resilience, longevity, consistency, high pigmented coloring, waterproof resistance, and appeal --- everything a Pro looks for to achieve the "perfect" application.

I was so grateful to be reminded that it's never too late to learn no matter your expertise and years of experience. Fibromyalgia syndrome has come to open my eyes to a whole new dimension of beauty. It has made me even more conscious of the need to pay attention to what we put into our bodies, not just what we eat but also what we expose our skin to.

Ever since the conversation with Mardy, I have become so enthusiastic about finding the BEST organic products out there to begin using on my path to healing.  I also want to make the transition from the products I have been using and are highly demanded by my clients to including endorsement of Nature- Eco friendly, organic products.  I would like to translate this vision into IFAC - the International Fibromyalgia Awareness Campaign (join us at facebook:  http://www.causes.com/causes/514018)  along with the "Beauty From Pain" awareness campaign.  Please follow the following link to YouTube to view our video on Beauty from Pain at www.youtube.com/watch.  I am discovering a whole new perspective by creating conscience about makeup and hair products. 

I currently am studying and reviewing new products to put together a makeup tutorial and skin/hair products review video for all of you. 

My goal is to continue to provide the same quality and artistry required to recreate a professional look with products that are actually good for your skin. 

I want to remove the stigma organic products have of being "boring products" for a more mature consumer and bring edginess and a high sense of fashion to these products so they could appeal to all these young girls who run to makeup counters and drugstores driven by magazines' ads totally clueless of the side-effects. It's all about creating awareness in a very attractive, creative way.

The following is a list of the topics I will be discussing in this forum. I encourage you to make this as interactive as possible. I am here to answer all your beauty/health questions.