All products by Revlon. Age Defying CC Cream, $13.99;
PhotoReady Skinlights Face Illuminator, $12.99; ColorStay Eyeliner Pencil in Black, $6.79;
ColorStay ShadowLinks in Eggplant, Onyx and Petal, $2.99; Bold Lacquer by Grow Luscious Length & Volume Mascara, $7.99;
Brow Fantasy in Dark Brown, $7.39; PhotoReady Cream Blush in Charmed Enchantment, $12.99; ColorStay Moisture Stain in London Posh, $9.99.
Photographed by Geordy Pearson.The perception I want to change about birth
“The popular image of birth is that it's something that is really horrible and really painful. I’ve worked with women across the world, and every woman who is about to have a baby is scared. It’s okay to be scared, but I think we encourage women to be scared so that they’re in a vulnerable place. People approach birth as a medical event where you go to the hospital, do your thing, and that’s it. I want people to approach birth with an understanding that it’s really intense and really hard, but it doesn’t have to be horrible.”
Why it’s important that women have access to my services
“Labor and birth involves a lot of decision-making: how you should have your baby, where you should have your baby, whether you should have an epidural or not, whether you should have a home birth or not, how much weight you should gain. People are constantly telling you how you’re supposed to be, and there’s no right answer! My work as a doula is about being the person in the room who is not judging and is providing a space for you to do whatever you need to do. I think that’s really rare. Women have been giving birth outside the Western, hospitalized way for thousands of years, and I think we can tap into that wisdom to help women give birth safely and on their terms, whether that means using different herbs, positions, or something else. It’s not just about what a doctor says. I’m helping someone make their own decisions and that's provocative — it’s microrevolutionary to make your own decisions in health care.”
When I feel my most beautiful
“I like to do things that are a little outrageous, like really intense eye makeup that makes me think, 'I’m sort of afraid to go out like this, but I’m not taking this off; this shit is good!' We’re visual creatures; we respond to people who stand out. I also like to dance. When I get really dolled up and I’m really physical and present in my body, it makes me feel really beautiful. I think that when you’re physical — whether that means dancing or having a baby — you experience your body in a different way that’s giving you joy, which I believe translates to looking and feeling really pretty. Beauty is authenticity. I think when people are feeling really good in their skin that’s when they’re the most beautiful. So, undoubtedly, at the hundreds of births I’ve been to, in that moment when a women meets her baby for the first time and has worked her butt off to do it, she always looks absolutely gorgeous.”
