A Luminous touch!

Some of my little secrets to looking youthfully luminous is to always remember the value of being a purist at heart. I read labels, I research chemical contents, and more importantly I try my best to adhere to products that are made in a natural, organic and chemical free way. 

As a lip balm maker I like to try other lip balm products with that same harmony. These days we have many more options to looking beautiful and staying young the natural way... I love Aveda’s lip balms and all of Josie Maran's fantastic make up line. Lately, I’ve been using Jane Iredale Chocoholicks lip balms. On an evening out these balms set the mood just right. The smell is so rich with flavors such as cocoa, butterscotch, strawberries... it’s become my nightly sweet treat. Jane’s products are based on micronized minerals and are made without fillers and binders (such as talc and mineral oil) and without chemical dyes or preservatives. I use my own lip balm as a base, and add these delicious treats on my lips. not only does it smell good, it gives you a stand out sexy shine...  Try some.. Chocoholicks is the balm.

Secret tip: Jane’s “ in touch” cheek blushers make my cheekbones radiant.

The road to somewhere.... 
  “it’s not about first impressions, it’s about the lasting ones”.  by maharlika sage

It was week of new beginnings; I set forth on my public relations mission and headed to the Siggraph/Blur after party.  It is THE annual AFTER- party in the visual effects world.  Over the past few years, I’ve surrounded myself with the upper echelon of techies. They fascinate me; the world of the digital unknown has its appeal.  It lured me in as a representative and a voice, and now as a writer.  Going to one of these techies parties was a complete first, and yet it felt familiar.  The familiar part was not the visual effects aspect, but the music and performances felt very close to home, and that’s what drew me in.  Crystal Method was headlining, and though I wasn’t one of their biggest fans back in the day, I was excited to hear them and shake some grooves.  The ultimate deal breaker of a good party is whether they can surprise you, and that they did. The always stunning and mind boggling Lucent Dossier opened for Crystal Method much to my surprise.  I was stunned at their choice in performances and while not knowing much about their past parties, I think they stepped it up a notch in originality.  Lucent Dossier is quiet special and raises the bar of any good party.  There aerial act requires the strength of Gods and are composed with careful symmetry and delicacy.  Each bewildering move charms and captivates our eyes as we follow each movement in wonder.  The fire spins deeply throughout the performance with precise motivation and willful skill, the group of techies gazed with amusement as sugar plums of digital imagination danced quietly in their head.  If this party was indeed another secret induction to further my knowledge of the techie crowd, this performance was certainly a step in the right direction.

In the days following, I began my usual rumblings for adventure.  We had hoped for a weekend journey to my favorite neck of the woods in the Kern River, but heard noise that a large fire had struck closing many roads and camp grounds.  This was very upsetting news as I have spent much of my childhood exploring Kern’s mountainous region and the river that runs through it.  For sometime now, I’ve had a fascination for hot springs and swimming holes, so instead we opted to go on a day tripping adventure in Ojai.  We wanted to make our adventure easy and close to home; Ojai is about an hour and half away, so it’s definitely a perfect place to grab a little nature.  Since summer has not so much arrived on the southern left coastal area, the sight of bright blue skies as we entered the fwy into Ojai made us happy.  As we traveled up the mountain of fresh greenery, I felt at home with orange trees and vineyards.  Traveling up the slightly winding hills, we looked for Matilija Creek .  We noticed cars at the side of the road and decided to stop and gage where we were when the sound of water, faint as a whisper, told us we were on the right track.  We hiked down a small slope to find small pools of water on granite slabs beginning to merge into bigger pool until we found the superb pool of clear fresh river water and local townies and their children cliff diving off the rocks.  Finally, a very warm summer day, spent basking in the sun and swimming in fresh water!

I managed to have another summertime moment at the beach on Sunday fun day, playing paddleball and drinking home-made spiked lemonade, then meeting up with friends for a late happy hour treat at the New Venice Ale House at Rose/Pacific .  They don’t quite have it together as of late; the staff was slow.  I could have taken two naps, before seeing any food on the table.  But, the big plus is the thirst quenching Ales; the Humboldt County Tangerine Wheat was crisp and refreshing. It will be a local hang for sure in the coming months! Check it out!!


My latest update:
Blog-a-sphere!
I am working on separating all my loves..... my blog sphere will soon be separated by three different blog sources.  I am keeping my Is the balm— for only my lip balm and beauty inspirations updates ( as it should be), I've realized most my writings on this site are not related to lip balm and have now become a site about my my social activities. though, it's been a great source of promotion for my lip balm and myself. I now going full force with my writings and blasting off in that direction whole heartedly. with that in mind....

I am in the process of developing two more blogs called, Venice Social Life, which will be all things social but everything I love the most; Food, Fashion, Music and Nature. Digital New Press—which will be geared toward Visual Effects news and updates...  My Tilt Media Relation firm website will only serve as a splash page for the Digital New Press links... that site needs to be completely updated, as i have done more PR/Media relations work than what that site has lead on.  I am hoping all this will be up in the next 2 weeks.  I am working on the designs and with a few other contributors to get this all going smoothly. More updates will follow in the next few weeks on the actual links.  ~Sage2