Changing the Face of Beauty

Unconditional Beauty:  Beauty Without Consequences

Recently, I participated in the Mrs. MN 2017 Pageant.  I am happy to report that I earned 2nd runner up, but more importantly, it was the nudge I needed to get my non toxic beauty care programs going!  Here is the blog post with a bit of the details.

Amanda Elaine Soulvay Plevell
PLATFORM: "Unconditional Beauty: Beauty Without Consequences"

I am passionate about natural health, empowering women, being a woman girls can look up to, and the education and healthy care of children.

I am grateful for the new opportunity to work with women again, this time in the capacity of the Mrs. Minnesota Pageant. I realized early on that I could only participate in the Mrs. Minnesota competition if I participate as myself and who I am, in a way that I could be proud of and as model of what I believe in. Knowing this, identifying my platform was easy. My Platform is on "UNCONDITIONAL BEAUTY" : Beauty Without Consequences.

To make a long story short, my family and I went through a lot in the last years involving my heatlh. One thing led to another following an emergency c section and the consequential poor health following to the point where a combination of medications took away my legs and I ended up in a wheelchair. I had shriveled to 88 pounds, my hair was falling out, I had huge welty cystic acne from the toxins trying to leave my body. I did not feel beautiful. That is a story in itself! But to heal myself I did what I knew to do. I looked at every toxin in my life, determining to bring health back. This included toxins in my food, toxic emotions, toxins in my environment, and toxic skin care products. I determined to be as healthy as I could be, eating and living clean. I could see the light shining through me as I was healing. In addition to witnessing this, I also experienced in my work that women would come with a variety of health concerns, and the path to wellness always started with removing toxins in their lives and nutrition.

I chose to do the Mrs. Minnesota International Pageant because I look for any opportunity where I can support, inspire, and stand for women and children. Personally in the beginning, I wanted to do Mrs. Minnesota because I was just so grateful watching my body make it's transformation back to health. It showed! As I was getting my body back, I had to build it myself, and I had to push to re-learn how to walk, and my hair was coming back, and my skin glowed with health, it wasn't pride, it was gratitude I felt, and still do. I love my body now out of gratitude that it is still here for me. I am so grateful to show what tenacity, strength, and God can do. Being part of Mrs. Minnesota International is just a testimony to that.

I chose Unconditional Beauty: Beauty Without Consequences because it is something that women can have authority over. It is one place they can start and something they can do for themselves, and because every consumer choice creates change for the world. Women can affect what they put in, on and around their body's and that of their children and these things will accentuate or deter the health of ourselves, our communities, and our world at large. Women are the decision makers for the most part for the health of their families and communities. Health in beauty is one thing they can easily begin with.
"Most people trust that their cosmetics and personal care products are regulated and screened before being brought to market. Unfortunately this is not so. In fact, the FDA holds no authority over cosmetics regulations." from safecosmetics.org
In my opinion, beauty cannot come at all costs. We need to treasure and honor women more by not killing themselves to be beautiful. We need to see the beauty that is natural to women, compound on the uniqueness and be beautiful from the inside out. We need to be real women that young girls can really look up to.

When you have a purpose, you pursue it and find places it can ignite! The Mrs. MN International Pageant system is the perfect system to partner with, as it is indeed an influencer of women and their choices, and the standards with which women believe in. This includes young girls and up and coming aspiring ladies of the pageant. Girls look up to the beautiful women they see in these pageants and we can make a drastic difference in their health and in their belief of their own value. The influence this pageant system has is extraordinary on the lives of women and girls and the choices they will make for their future