danapop

As many Facebookers so eloquently put it-not every brunette looks like Kate Beckinsale. Natch.

A couple of weeks back Facebook decided to make it Doppelgänger week. Grr. I didn’t participate.

Reason? I always get frustrated with these sorts of things because my girlfriends and sisters get compared to really gorgeous celebrities.

Like these:

And, me? Well, here’s who I’ve been told I look like:

So, lemme get this straight … an 8-year old precocious tomboy with the old-lady name of Ramona, a celebrity who often looks as if she just finished sucking on a lemon, and the mousy daughter on Life Goes On.

Awesome.

But, celebrity analysis always wants to put me in a different category (err nationality) all together with these as my top matches.

I give you Lucy Lui and Lisa Ling … um gorge, but I’m not Chinese-American. Although, admittedly I get mistaken for other nationalities often–Chinese being the most common, as well as, anywhere in the Pacific Island region. Post beach vacation I apparently look like a native from Guam.

My twin sister did a fellowship in China several years back and when she showed her flatmates a picture of our family the first response was her friend pointing at me saying, “She one of us.” Screw you Scottish ancestry. You ask, “Am I Chinese?”  “Why yes, yes, I am.” But apparently one with a penchant for tart citrus and 10-speed bicycles.

Co-ops and collectives are nothing new. Forms of them date back to the both the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions in the 18th and 19th centuries. But, lately, there’s been a bit of resurgence,  and I’m not complaining.

I like the idea of a joint venture of like-minded folks and ideas. Particularly in this economy, the business model has morphed, and if you haven’t changed with it, you just might be folding. My friend, Amy Leavell Bransford of New Moon Skincare so gets that.

Amy is a lot of things (wife, momma of two adorable sons, daughter of the great environmentalist and musician Chuck Leavell … yes, that Chuck Leavell - the Rolling Stones keyboardist and of the Mother Nature Network). But, one of the things I admire most about her is her business sense. She is one the best estheticians in Atlanta and is the only Dr. Hauschka trained and certified person in the state of Georgia. Recently she launched Aviary, her idea of a beauty collective … this little house of creative, organic beauty has some very busy birds…
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While I won’t admit to being a full-fledged product junkie, I have been known to blow a perfectly good afternoon wandering through the aisles of Sephora or Ulta.

That’s why I’m surprised that I’m likely the last person to find out about this rocking company called Bella il Fiore…the company is one part makeup, one part lingerie, one part bath and body – all parts hip and girlie. The perfect posting for any pre-Valentine’s Day gift hint lists.

Bella il Fiore founder Jennifer Maloy and I had the opportunity to chat – here’s the Q&A.

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