b5media

December 5th,2005

Blogger Interview: Christina Jones

By Rhys Alexander

Christina is one of our lovely new ‘imports’ and we’re thrilled to have her. As the author of eBeauty Daily, she is truly qualified to blog about beauty, as she possesses oodles of it both outside and inside.

With her charming exterior and caring nature, Christina never fails to impress with accomplishments in both her professional and personal life. Get to know her better; you’ll be glad you did. Here’s Christina!

So Christina, what got you interested in blogging about beauty?

I love telling people what to do. Ha ha! My best girlfriend will probably tell you that is true, but really, I have always had a fondness for doing makeovers, from a very young age, and that, combined with my computer obsession led me straight down this beautiful blogging road.

Behind the lipstick and the mascara, who is Christina?

Really, I am a pretty average mom of 3, wife and general caretaker. I have a ridiculous number of pets to take care of, that I dearly love, along with a ridiculous number of hobbies. A girl’s gotta do something while everyone else is at work and school! For some reason, I have always enjoyed hobbies with lots of “tools” required, and beauty just fits right into that. I also love to garden, to draw and paint (I am bad at both, but it is lots of fun!), do a little carpentry/home improvement, and then there is that shady hobby of taxidermy that I love. I even sheared my first sheep last year. Note that all of these things require lots of little tools and a good bit of imagination. I am not sure what that means about me, but I am sure there is something psychological there.

How did you get into blogging? Tell us about your other projects!

I have played around with it since AOL Journals came out, quite a few years ago. Prior to this year, I really used them as what they were originally intended for, which was a sort of a storage place for saving interesting places on the www. I honestly can’t remember exactly where I figured out that blogging was such a nifty thing to do, but I know that as I was in the process of figuring that out, I ran into Shai all over the place, and started stalking learning from her, and so here I am!

I have little half started projects all over the place that aren’t worth talking about yet, but my main functioning project is the one at MRSA Resources, where I run a website to help educate and support patients with Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an antibiotic resistant bacteria that nearly killed my husband a year ago. I have a news blog there, a wiki, a forum, a wellness group and a weekly chat. I am in the process of re-launching my Nail Tech Secrets project in a blog format, an idea that just came over me and feels like it is just the right thing to do.

What do you think makes someone truly ‘beautiful’?

The only answer to this sounds so canned, but it really is on the inside. Haven’t you known someone that at first you really thought was unattractive, but after getting to know them a little bit, you just don’t see them that way at all? Confidence is very beautiful to me as well.

What does it take to make someone truly ‘ugly’?

The same is true with ugliness. I can honestly say that it is very hard for me to see anything attractive in someone that has an ugly personality, no matter how beautiful they may look at first glance. Narcissism is very unattractive to me as well as a lack of ethics and (we need to make up a good word for this) the kind of person that has to make you feel like crap to make themselves feel better about themselves. Insecure is not quite the right word (but is definitely the problem) – psychic vampire is closer but still not right — the more correct words I can think of are not in my sweet southern girl vocabulary. Ha!

If you could only use one beauty product for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I am not sure I could pick one. I have never thought about it, but maybe mascara—or lipstick—or moisturizer—or concealer. If I want to live a long time I should pick sunscreen. But with only one product who wants to live that long?? I think I better pick the moisturizer, since I go on and on about it so much in the blog.

What are three essentials that every woman (or man) should have in their make-up bag?

Ok, here is where the other 3 items from above go—mascara, lipstick and concealer. You don’t need to carry your sunscreen around with you too much. Men need their sexy cologne, their deodorant (ha!) and a razor. With those, they won’t be doing without anything. Life isn’t fair.

Not only is your site gorgeous and well-written, but I love that you cover things to make people feel good, and raise their confidence, rather than just ‘surface’ beauty. Is this your idea of what beauty entails?

I do love pink, raaaally, I do (thank you again, Ingrid!). Yes, I can only go on and on about superficial things for so long without touching on things under the surface. I have seen far too many really beautiful women spiral down into insecure shadows of themselves because they did not have the confidence that inner beauty gives you. I have no desire to get too philosophical about beauty on this blog, or anywhere really, but I do think that along with taking care of our outer self, you must take care of your mind and spirit to be truly a beautiful person.

Anyone who looks at your picture can see that you are beautiful. (It’s true!) Were you always this way, or were you a ‘late bloomer?’ And has it affected your interest in beauty at all?

What a question. Thank you, that is awfully kind of you to say. And I guess the way that my looks have affected my interest in beauty is that I have always thought I was rather odd looking and have always done what I could to look as good as I can. I have struggled in several areas for my entire life, and new areas to battle creep up all of the time as I age. Deep down inside though, I have never beaten myself up too badly for any of it, and nor have I remained close to others who are negative, so my self image has always stayed pretty strong. And that is very important to me. I just hope I age gracefully.

What are the make-up essentials we need to create the ‘looks’ for this winter?

Trade in your lip gloss for a dark wine matte lipstick and buy some beautiful false eyelashes and good mascara. This will get you through the winter looking very up to date.

What are three words that describe you?

Messy, loyal and gullible.

Could you share a favorite childhood memory with us?

This one’s for you, Rhys. Probably starting around age 4 or 5, I have the fondest memories of my father and I watching the old black and white horror movies. I have always loved horror movies so much until my husband got sick last year, and now they scare me to death. Very strange in a way, but real life horror changes the way you think. More beauty related, I remember at about age 11 or so, cutting my own hair for the first time, and coming downstairs to go to school sobbing with a towel around my head, scared out of my mind to show my mother what I had done (made quite the mess).

Of course, the beauty and fashion industry has undergone a lot of bad press for placing ‘impossible’ standards on young women. Do you think anything needs to change within the industry, or do we need to change our idea of what beauty is?

I guess there will be plenty of people who disagree with me, but no, I think the industry is just fine. I really am of the mindset that humans make their own choices, from many factors besides what they see on TV and in magazines (and video games, and music and whatever else). I guarantee you that for every girl that has made the choice that having no life is better than being one ounce larger than the supermodels, there are many times more people that aren’t affected at all. What I really think is that the people that do appear to be that affected by these things have some other underlying issues that need to be dealt with. You cannot blame all of society for the errors of one person’s ways. I am stepping off the soapbox now, I hate the soapbox.

Are there any developments in the industry that you’re excited about right now?

I am really always happy to see formerly in-salon products come out to the public. Microdermabrasion products and tools are one thing that I love, and am so glad they are more generally available now. The key with anything new is to educate yourself, so you use it properly without hurting yourself.

Do you have any favorite products or brands to recommend?

I would think you would be tired of hearing about them by now! I generally love anything by Paul Mitchell, especially their earliest products. I love Proactiv skincare, it is truly amazing for people with troubled skin, whether they be teenagers or adults. I used to have a perfect complexion, but it went berserk when my second child was born, and has just been even harder to deal with since moving to the sweltering, pore-clogging heat of Texas. Proactiv is almost miraculous.

Are there any important ‘rules’ to follow when choosing make-up colors (such as certain colors for certain skin tones) or can someone make anything work with the right attitude?

Oh no, there are definitely rules. Most of them will come naturally to you, as the colors that look good on you generally are the ones that you are attracted to. If you don’t think you are on the right track, I have done several posts on color on eBeautyDaily that you can find with a search.

Can we expect a book on all things beauty from Miss Christina anytime soon?

Honestly, probably not. I don’t want or need the hassle of the literary world. I really enjoy what I am doing now. What is most likely to happen though, as the blog gets more information in it, and searching for something specific becomes a little more difficult, I may put something out in an e-book format — 1000 Bytes of Beauty, or something along those lines. Maybe.

Is your daughter Zoe (pretty name!) interested in make-up yet? Would you let her wear any?

Oh please. She is 11 and her best friend is a mini Paris Hilton. She is at the sparkly lip gloss and blue eyeshadow stage - I don’t mind a little of that on occasion - and she adores the Jessica Simpson Dessert Beauty line. There’s nothing like going around smelling like a yummy cupcake! Now if she was looking into foundations and black eyeliner, we would be having a little talk. Right now, I am just trying to get her to wash her face every night, establish some good hygiene habits, and learn to see how important it is to take care of yourself before we move on to the hard stuff.

Wow, you opened a salon in your home! How was that experience?

That was the perfect situation for me. I was able to stay home with my children, even when I became a single mother. I was able to schedule appointments late at night, and had many of them before 6 am in the morning. What started out as a part time job while I was going to college really has served me well my entire life. I have never regretted any of that.

And lastly, what would you like people to ‘get out’ of eBeauty Daily?

I would love for people to get a lot out of eBeauty Daily, actually. For starters, I love to help people with their individual problems, help them with sorting through the huge variety of products out there, and share some useful tips to help keep some money in their wallet. Please keep the questions coming, I love them-they are very motivating to me. I realize that being beautiful is not necessarily the answer to everyone’s problems, but to learn how to feel better about yourself, both on the inside and out, can really go a long way towards steering your life in a better direction, and that is what I would really like to see someone get out of this blog.