I wanted to focus on the aspect of health for this month’s fashion column.
I have been interested in the fashion and beauty world since I can remember — when I was 9 years old watching Madonna videos and paying close attention to all the fine details of her wardrobe and hair, at 12 years old fingering through Vogue magazines obsessing over Kate Moss and all the other ’90s super-models, then into my early years of cosmetology school and AVEDA concept salons to this current day of running a salon and doing editorial shoots for my online boutique. And all the while I have always felt “my” most beautiful when I was eating right and exercising. I have worked with and alongside some very beautiful and talented models, designers and photographers since being in this beauty and fashion industry, and the older I get — and the older my peers get — the more I recognize and appreciate the importance that health has on staying and being the most beautiful you!
It’s really very simple, ladies: To keep healthy and glowing skin and toned bodies we need to be drinking plenty of water and doing some sort of exercise on the regular that is making us sweat and circulate whatever we are putting into our bodies. We should be eating our greens daily and making other healthy food choices — and don’t forget to balance those vices!
I want to give a shout out to Ozark Natural Foods — where I purchase most of my healthy food, weekly — for always having the best health food choices and local produce! The two models I used in this shoot, Taylor Swafford and Mary Margarette Harris, are off to a good start in life with eating healthy and staying active by playing soccer, basketball and running track for their school teams. They are radiant because health is beauty!
Melissa Arens
mel@mayapplesalon.com
Photos: Hayley Mitchell @hayleymitchellphotography
Hair, makeup & styling: Melissa Arens
Clothes: Thrifted in Detroit by Melissa Arens
Models: Taylor Swafford and Mary Margarette Harris
