Episode 39 transcript: WHY Beauty Starts from Within with Christina Flach

Podcast introduction:

[00:00:00] Christina: I think it's super important not to worry about trends. And about what you see on Instagram and Facebook or TikTok. I think it's super important that you know your face, know your, are you an executive? Are you a mom? Are you an artist? Whatever your lifestyle is, do what makes your face look the best and not worry about trends.

[00:00:20] Aneta: We often hear people wishing us a long, happy, and healthy life. But what if the length isn't what matters most? What if instead, it's the breath, depth, and purpose of each day that matters most? Welcome to the Live the Width of Your Life podcast. My name is Aneta Ardelian Kuzma. And join me weekly as I interview guests who made changes in their own lives to live more fully with intention, gratitude, and joy. Be prepared to be inspired by their stories of how they shifted their mindset. Took courageous action and designed the life that they always wanted to live. Welcome back. Thanks for joining me again today.

[00:00:58] Aneta: Today my guest is Christina Flack. And Christina is a world-renowned celebrity makeup artist with experience working with celebrity clientele, magazines, and big-name brands. She has been featured in Vogue, People, Time, and Elle, as well as campaigns for Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Macy's, and Bloomingdale's.

[00:01:18] Aneta: She's also the creator and CEO of her own makeup brand. Pretty Girl Makeup. Christina also writes articles detailing the must-know tips, tricks, and hacks of the makeup, wellness, and nutrition industries. And I've included all of the links, including a special discount code that she's offering to this audience for her company. We talked about so many things today. I found Christina was so down to earth and I loved how she talked about building a life and career around the life that she wanted to live. She is a mom of five. She's a philanthropist. She is a makeup artist and a CEO, and she just really has a big, abundant, beautiful life.

[00:01:57] Aneta: We talked a little bit about her positive mindset and why sometimes beauty really does start from within the different things that we can do to take good care of ourselves, to be healthy, to have beautiful skin. We talked about why we should not follow trends, but instead follow a more classic look for us. And she also talked about the new company that she's starting called I'm Too Busy, which I'm very excited to check out when it's live. So I think you're really going to enjoy our conversation today. Take a listen.

Podcast Interview:

[00:02:26] Aneta: Hi, Christina. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm so happy to be here with you.

[00:02:33] Christina: Well, thank you for having me. It's such a pleasure to see you.

[00:02:36] Aneta: Yes, you too. And I wanted to start off with people who don't know you. You are a world-renowned celebrity makeup artist. You also have an amazing website, but I want you to share your story and your experience with those that maybe aren't as familiar with you and your journey.

[00:02:58] Christina: Yes. So I am a celebrity makeup artist. I'm also the creator and c e o of Pretty Girl Makeup and also the new company I'm starting called, I'm Too Busy. I am a mother of five. I am a philanthropist. I am the on-air beauty expert on California Live on N B C, and let's see, what else? I think that's everything.

[00:03:22] Aneta: You think that is so amazing? So I want you to talk a little bit about how did you know that you wanted to be a makeup artist, and what sort of drew you to the industry? To start off with.

[00:03:36] Christina: I really didn't know that this was going to be like my job in life, and I certainly didn't know I'd have this makeup company when I was young, but I do recall when I was young, I did makeup on my mom who had had brain cancer, and she was going out with my dad and I wanted her to look and feel like the best version of her. And she was incredibly beautiful. And how after dealing with chemo and radiation, your skin's discolored, you lose your hair. And so with her few beauty products and my few makeup skills, I managed to make her look and feel. So much better.

[00:04:10] Christina: And so that always, it's one of the things that I love of my job even to this day, is making people, I had a woman come over yesterday to get her makeup done for a shoot and when I look at people after I get their makeup done and they look in the mirror and they're like, I didn't know I could look like this.

[00:04:26] Christina: It is just the best feeling, making someone feel so good about their appearance because it does make people feel more confident to go out into the world and do things. We're all visual people and so when we're feeling confident and happy and beautiful, we're going to radiate that out into the world.

[00:04:44] Aneta: I love that so much. And how old were you when you first picked up those brushes and were working on your mom that day?

[00:04:52] Christina: Probably like 14. I don't know. Pretty young. But then it was just, I was playing tennis competitively and in tournaments and in college and I didn't even know that this was a job. So, it worked out great because I had all these kids, it was a job that I was flexible with my schedule and I could help out in the class and drive on field trips and be home a lot. So it was a perfect career for me. And so having the makeup company, I work out of my home and so it's just one helps the other. Being a c e O of a makeup company gives me a little more credibility being a makeup artist. And the same with being a makeup artist. It helps the credibility of my company.

[00:05:31] Aneta: Absolutely. And I love what you said here. You talked about being a mom of five and I read your recent blog, which is around that you're happy as a creative, and you talked in there too about just being able to design the life that you wanted to live. And so it's interesting that you see yourself as a mom. You wanted to spend time with your kids and be available for them and your career and what you're choosing to do as a creative allows you to do that. So talk a little bit about that distinction, because sometimes people go all in on their career and then they hope that the rest sort of falls into place. But did this naturally evolve for you in this way?

[00:06:16] Christina: Yeah, I think being a mother was just like the most important thing for me. Raising healthy, happy, successful children that are productive and thoughtful and kind was super important. And I know that I never thought that my career was more important than my kids. And I know they don't think that I ever picked my career over them. Now that they're older and out in the world. Now I can pick my career. Not that I'm picking it over them, but they don't need me the way they did when they were young.

[00:06:48] So I don't think my career would've given me the joy that my family gives me. That being a good mother and I wouldn't want to miss special things with my kids because of my career. I was never that person. So, I mean, for some people that's how they live and that's great and they're crazy successful, but crazy successful wasn't really my goal. It was just raising them to be good productive adults and happy, and I think they are. And so now I can kind of focus a little bit more on my career a little bit more intensely. So that's why now I'm able to do these segments on NBC I'm able to write articles.

[00:07:30] I'm able to do all these photo shoots all over the country and start a new company. But I think it's important to live the life you want to want to lead. No one's going to make your life for you. Your happiness is pretty much your job. It's your obligation to yourself to make yourself be happy. And if there are things that aren't working, then there needs to be change. And I learned this year that getting uncomfortable being uncomfortable creates really great change. I would never have been comfortable going on TV like I am on California live and doing these beauty segments. Before I would've been like, no, no, no. I'm behind the camera girl. I'm not in front of the camera girl.

[00:08:09] But now that I've done it, my friend Berlin, who's the host, he's like, you've got to get comfortable being uncomfortable. You can do this. And I'm so glad I did because I feel so much more confident in myself and in front of the camera. And it's challenged me and I'm, very grateful that I have done it. But it was terrifying. And live TV is terrifying. I think it's always going to be a little bit intimidating because there is a lot of pressure. Any mistake's life and it's not going to get erased. There is no editing.

[00:08:39] Aneta: There is no editing. Not like the podcast, but also, it's interesting, so, You started off working in doing a makeup artist, and then when did you start your company? Pretty girl makeup.

[00:08:53] Christina: Long time ago. In 1999.

[00:08:56] Aneta: And why did you just decide to create your own makeup? Was it something that you weren't finding in the industry, or were you creating something that didn't exist already?

[00:09:07] Christina: I was a mom driving around all the time within a constant battle between my water bottle and my lip gloss, and I just couldn't, I wasn't winning and I just was like, God, every lip gloss I try, either comes off too fast or is matte and drying and looks terrible and my lips feel atrocious. So I thought, how hard can it be to just create my own? So I created with a beauty chemist. We formulated the lip gloss and the lip plumper and the other products. But it took so much longer than I had anticipated and I just thought, this will be so fast and it'll be done.

[00:09:41] Christina: And it's like, no, the formulation of just the texture of it took forever. And then once you have the texture of the formula, then you start mixing the colors and figuring out I was self-funded with Pretty girl and I didn't have a billion dollars to just put into this. And so I wanted all the colors to look good on all skin tones. So it took over a year to formulate that. But it all worked out and it's been great and I've had great experiences along the way with my makeup company. It's changed. I've had eyeshadows and blush and, spa products.

[00:10:11] Christina: We've had sugar scrubs and bath bombs and candles, and right now I've shrunk it down to just lips because I'm starting this new company called I'm Too Busy. And I'm too busy, kind of came about because. I work with all kinds of men and women and they all ask me the same thing, like, what exactly do I need for skincare? Like, do I need 20 products? I feel that people are intimidated by all these products. And they're also tired at the end of the day, or they're in a rush in the morning and they don't have time to do 17 steps. So we formulated a three-step program. And it's reverse cleansing. So it's so interesting.

[00:10:50] Christina: This beauty chemist that we're working with in New York. He asked me, so how do you start your day? And I said, well, I splash cold water on my face. He goes wrong. And I'm like, what do you mean wrong? He's like, no you need to protect your skin with a barrier because there are chemicals and chlorine and different things in the water that is not great for your skin. So we're putting, steps one and two are a cleanser and a moisturizer. You add a tiny bit of water and then put that on your face and then put the water on so it's protected. I'm like, I thought I knew everything about skin. Yeah, who knew? So that's interesting. And then the third step is protecting and rejuvenating the skin.

[00:11:28] Christina: So I think that three steps are a lot user-friendly for people to be willing to commit to. And then for the makeup, I've had a ton of people, and I'm sure you've had the same experience. You go into a department store and you go to the makeup counter and they're showing you all these amazing, fantastic products that you don't need and you don't know how to use. But you buy them because there is a gift with purchase and they make you look cute and all that, but then you get home and you are like, what do I do with all this? I don't even know what to do. So I just want there, and I just feel like it's hard to have brand loyalty, with your customers if you're selling them stuff that they don't really need and don't use, So I want there to be just like, be able to do your makeup in five minutes. And I know that sounds like crazy. But you can, after you do your cleansing and you're moisturizing, putting some concealer on, filling in your brows, putting on your sunscreen or foundation. Some eyeshadow liner, mascara, cheek, lip, and you're done like five minutes, you can be done.

[00:12:32] Christina: And I want everyone to be able to just look like your best version without spending, making this huge commitment of time because we are all busy. But I do think it's important if you're taking the time to eat well and rest and exercise, why wouldn't you take five minutes to make yourself look the best you can look? And because we're all visual people and you're going to feel more confident when you're feeling good thinking like, I hope they're not looking at the bags under my eyes, or the zit or, my eyelashes that are like not there, or my brows. So I've had so many experiences with different clients telling me that.

[00:13:09] Christina: They've had a makeup consultation with me or a shoot with me, and I did their makeup differently and I had a really amazing call, I mean a experience with this teenager named Ivy last year. And I taught her some basic makeup, how to get the right foundation and just do her eyes, and two weeks later, she called and said, you're not going to believe this. We talked about goals and you dream big and do what you want. I said, yeah, why? What happened? She said you won't believe it. I applied for this art program study abroad in Prague and I got it. I'm going. And she goes, I never ever would've done this if I hadn't felt so confident and good about myself after this time with you. She goes, you changed my life. And I'm like, that's crazy. But that's so great.

[00:13:54] Aneta: It's so true that when we're confident, we tend to maybe put ourselves out there a little bit more. Maybe we're not listening to the fear. And all the reasons why we can't do something, but. I really like this idea for your company. Like, I'm too busy. I wasn't sure where you were going with that, but I love this idea of saying, we are busy. We want to maximize the time that we have, and first take this really good care of our skin. So it's like the protection, the taking care of it, and then choosing a couple of things and makeup in less than five minutes, that is going to make us feel confident.

[00:14:30] Aneta: It's going to make us feel good. But then you're not carting around a bunch of stuff either. I mean, that's the other thing exactly too. When you're traveling, it's like nobody has room or wants to bring all their stuff with them all the time. Tell me, if you were to go back, and I hate to go backward, but I do think it's important here as you reflect on all your experiences taking care of people with skin issues or people with even great skin, what are some tips that you absolutely want everyone to know? Any age things that they could be doing to take better care of their skin, maybe from a preventative perspective, but also if you have some damage, things that we could be doing to sort of bring some vitality back to our skin.

[00:15:10] Christina: Well, I speak a lot about beauty from the inside out, and obviously it's about getting rest and exercise and taking care of your skin. It's super important at the end of the day to wipe off your mascara and your makeup. I don't care if you get a makeup wipe or get some, coconut oil or some apricot oil and wipe it off and get just a rag and just wipe it all off like that's start with that.

[00:15:35] Christina: Drinking a lot of water. Hydration is super important. Protecting your skin. I can't stress sunscreen enough. Face, neck and chest, and hands, and you need to reapply. Very important. I drink a lot of green juice every day. I make it, I throw it in the blender and people will again say, but I travel. I can't do that. It's total bs. I travel a ton. I am on photo shoots, I'm whatever, but if I'm on a photo shoot and I'm leaving from home, I will take the extra time, pack my green juices, pack my two big water bottles for the day, some almonds or whatever I'm going to have on set so I don't eat a bunch of junk.

[00:16:14] Christina: Because there's a craft table, there's all kinds of yummy food. That doesn't exist for me because of the sugar, it's like if you start, it doesn't stop. So what you eat is super important. And I think filling in your eyebrows, it really does make a big difference. Eye cream and concealer to hide the dark circles and discoloration on the lids. Very important. We all have it. My most beautiful models, celebrities. Everyone has discoloration. People are intimidated. Like you see these beautiful people on TV or on Instagram, and that's what they're showing you. They're not showing you what happened, what took to get there.

[00:16:51] Christina: Just know everyone's got the same problems of zits, wrinkles, everything else, but, be happy and have love in your heart and laugh. You should be doing what you like every day. Waking up and excited and enthusiastic about, okay, where's my day taking me? What am I going to do? And if you don't like it, make a change. I don't feel like there are failures. Trying gives you an exit of not doing it. Setting a goal and doing it, not trying. Decide what you want to do and do it. The only failure is just not doing it. Because you're going to have bumps in the road. I've had so many I can't even tell you, but they're lessons. And sometimes we think these things are happening to us, but they're happening to us.

[00:17:35] Christina: And so, When I feel that something like it just means, okay, now I need to turn right instead of left, or I need to do something else. And be open to different opportunities. I never thought that I would be doing this thing on n NBC or writing for magazines or doing these podcasts. But I'm open to whatever the universe is bringing me and enjoying it. It's fun. I get to meet new people and have amazing conversations. I just think this is how I like how my life is.

[00:18:04] Aneta: Well, of course, it sounds so amazing that you have this wonderful balance between your personal life and your work life. So how do you strike that balance? So you can tell that gratitude is something that you talk about, you're exuding that sense of gratitude right now. But how do you find balance? Because a lot of people struggle between being able to ensure that they're placing enough focus on the things that are important to them personally, and also being able to maybe grow their career or maintain it, like what has worked for them.

[00:18:34] Christina: I think having, just setting goals, but also just knowing at the end of the day, being kinder to myself. I think that really was a game changer and not beating the hell out of myself. One of my really best friends, Diana Stobo who's a CEO of a company and a celebrity chef, because I was beating the hell out of myself one day, and she said, you would never speak to anyone the way you speak about yourself.

[00:18:58] Christina: It is unbelievable how harsh and cruel you are to yourself and I was so shocked, and then I thought that's true. I would never speak to you the way I would be clobbering myself. And so I just feel like at the end of the day, I'm proud of whatever I did and accomplished, tomorrow's a new day. And if I get too tired like in the middle of the day or whenever. If I just feel like, okay, I'm just not flowing, I'm just, ugh, I'm stuck. I will go out on my deck and just breathe some fresh air or go for a walk or go for a hike. I just break it up. I will shift. I'll have to shift the energy because sometimes it's just not there. And that means maybe I'm tired, so go, just take a minute.

[00:19:44] Christina: And I think just being a CEO or high-level anything is a marathon. It is not a sprint. I mean, think about a professional athletes, the kind of care they take of themselves and their career, let's just say is average eight to 10 years, right?

[00:19:59] Christina: Well, if you're working, you could be working 35, 40, 50 years. So you have to be realistic about what you can get done in a day and feel good about it and know, okay, tomorrow's a new day, I'm going to get more done. And some days things just get accomplished even though you're spinning your wheels. More things will get done the next day and just be okay with that.

[00:20:22] Aneta: Yeah. So I love this notion of taking care of ourselves and one of the pillars of resilience is this awareness. And so, as you talked about it shifting the energy, it starts with identifying like, where am I feeling? How am I feeling today And what do I need more of? Do I need more rest? Do I need more energy? How did you start to incorporate this into your life? Were you always this aware and centered, or is this something that has been more recent?

[00:20:52] Christina: I think I've kind of always been this way and more or less, but I think I learn more every day about being a better version of myself. And I have, my friends are kind of like-minded, so they'll say like, self-care isn't selfish. And I'm like, it isn't like going to work out for an hour isn't selfish. No, because the better version of you is to take care of everybody else. So, little things like that. I think as we get older, we just start being a little bit wiser and just kind of accepting life. Sometimes you do need to take a minute and I had this woman, she was a sports writer in San Francisco. She came over to get her makeup done for a photo shoot yesterday. And she was so interesting. She was really nice and hearing about what she did for a living and then she said, I got to tell you. I looked at like 12 different makeup artists in the Bay Area and your website was better by far than everybody else's.

[00:21:45] Christina: And I thought really? I was so shocked to hear that. But like, wow, okay. So I took a minute and was, okay, that sometimes you need to just kind of think, yeah, I worked really hard at that and I did well, and when I look at my segments that I'm doing for California Live, I just think I've worked really hard on that and I'm proud of it and when someone compliments you and said, wow, that's really great well, thank you. I worked really hard and yeah, I did accomplish that and I'm really proud about it, but it was a lot of work. It's okay to just acknowledge someone praising you instead of being like, oh no.

[00:22:23] Aneta: Yeah. What do you think? I see that all the time. Do you think that women are more likely to not take the compliment or to feel uncomfortable when someone says something? That's kind to us.

[00:22:38] Christina: I think so. I don't know why, but I think that's probably true. I think it's hard for us to be like, yeah, I did this and I don't know why it's strange, but I think as I'm getting older, I think I'm receiving compliments a little bit better. And I think it's important to feel proud about your work that you've worked hard and accomplished something, because meeting these goals or these stepping stones that we have in life and saying wow, I did that, or I accomplished that feel good about it.

[00:23:08] Christina: Because it is a lot of hard work and it's hard to keep going sometimes when you feel like, believe me, I know I sound positive and happy. Believe me, I have sad days. I have hard days when I'm frustrated or like not feeling confident or not. I have all the same emotions that everyone feels. But I also know that things shift quickly. So if I'm having a moment where I'm kind of down or depressed or sad or angry or whatever, I just know like, okay, go take a breath. Go do something else. Tomorrow's a new day. And sometimes it's like, okay, this day has to end. I'm going to sleep. Or I'm going to go watch TV or I'm going to go read my book. This just has to end. I can't do anything more today.

[00:23:49] Aneta: So speaking of self-care that you talked about, what are some of the things that really have worked for you in order to feel your best mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally? What are some of the go-to things that you just think everyone should consider from that beauty from the inside out?

[00:24:09] Christina: Well, eating is super important. Not drinking alcohol a lot. Balance, you should have a piece of cake once in a while, but you can't do it every day. I think the green juice and the water, I think a hint that I give people because they have a hard time. I can see when people when their face is dehydrated, I can tell in their lips, and I can tell in their skin.

[00:24:28] Christina: And so if I ask them, so are you drinking water? No, not enough. Okay, well this is my little water hint. Every time you go get in the car, take a water bottle with you, fill it up, put it in a mint tea bag or if you need some caffeine, put in a green tea, tea bag. A little bit of salt, just like a pinch so you can absorb it, and some lemon. And so if you get, just think about how many times you get in the car a day. If you drink a water bottle, every time you get in the car, there's water that you don't have to think about. That's really important.

[00:24:57] Christina: Protecting your skin getting rest, enjoying life, laughing, doing things that bring you joy. It really shows because when someone's happy and positive, you can just tell that people want to be around that they gravitate to positive energy and someone that is happy. I mean, I know that I get a lot of jobs because I'm not a pain in the ass. I arrive on time and I do my job and I help other people and I'm grateful and I'm easy to work with But that brings me more work, which brings me joy.

[00:25:30] Aneta: Well, you've arranged it. As you said, created the life that you want. It works. You've got the balance. So without naming names, maybe can you share one of your most fun projects that you worked with, either with the company, I know you work with a lot of the companies, but you work with individuals as well. Is there something really fun that was sort of a highlight of your career that you would be willing to share with us?

[00:25:56] Christina: Well, I have a bunch, but I'll give you a few so doing Rita Moreno's Makeup for People Magazine was great. Condo Lisa Rice Time Magazine. I have had, Tyler Florence has been my client for 16 years and I love him to pieces.

[00:26:11] Christina: He's like my best friend slash brother, and we've done series together, we've done photo shoots together, and he and I always have so much fun. We just laugh. It's great. Isaiah Washington was amazing for Kitchen Talk. He was great. I really have had great experiences with all these clients. Jalen Brown, who plays for the Celtics. I did a photo shoot with him right before he got signed. Hillary Swank, that was fantastic. I mean, I've just had so many Maria Bartiromo is my new client. I just got in January and I love her. I've worked with her in San Francisco and in Los Angeles, and so I love her.

[00:26:51] Christina: So it's fun getting to work with the same clients. Next week I'm doing a commercial with Guy Fieri and Sammy Hagar. Which will be great. And William Shatner the following week, so that'll be interesting. So I really enjoy all these experiences because I get to travel, I get to be somewhere different, and I get to work with all these really cool people. And they're fun and they're nice. So it's a perfect fit for me. And then days I'm not doing that, I'm doing podcasts or I'm doing NBC or I'm working on my company. So it's always different.

[00:27:27] Aneta: What would you say to someone who's young and maybe who wants to get into this line of work? What advice would you give to them to help them in their career?

[00:27:37] Christina: Well, I would start making sure you have a good makeup kit and it's not anything of your personal makeup. It's designated just for work. And keeping it pristinely clean, reach out to different photographers. It's a lot of work. I've done so many photo shoots for no money because I want, like, now I do it because I want the creativity of being able to express myself, artistically without the confinement of a company telling me how they want it to be. So, testing, you can get a portfolio together to get an agent, but you have to do a lot, you need a lot of images.

[00:28:14] Christina: So you'll do, a test with a photographer, a model, a stylist, and then you do the hair and makeup. But I did a lot of that for free for a long time and it pays off and it's not being a makeup artist when you're on set, it's not like, oh, I'll do the makeup and I'm done. You have to be checking on the client, making sure there's not a lot of hair. It's a lot of work and you also have to be comfortable knowing that you don't know when your next job is. Like even now at my level, when I'm working with these next jobs, but after that I have no idea.

[00:28:48] Christina: So you have to be kind of okay not knowing that your life isn't stable. My sister is an executive at Costco. She would have a heart attack with my life. We talked about it last night at dinner. my sister knows when she's going to work, when she's getting off, and when she's going on vacation. I know none of this. Okay. I don't know anything, but I'm okay with that. I like it. I'm kind of a gypsy and I like floating all over the place. But You have to be okay with having not a stable career. It's just, maybe you're going to have to have a second job. So I kind of do, I have my makeup company and then I have my photoshoot, so I have plan A and plan B.

[00:29:28] Aneta: So it sounds like you know yourself and so maybe some of the advice, like know whether this lifestyle is for you. It may not be the stable career that you would get collecting a paycheck every two weeks, but there has to be a love or a passion for what you do because as creative, I'm imagining that, are you creative in other aspects of life as well? So beyond the makeup, are there other things that you just feel like you're a natural creator and you dive into some other stuff?

[00:29:56] Christina: I think so. Like I love flowers. like I have flower arrangements all over my house. I love that. I like decorating my house. I like moving things around. I love to cook, so I am pretty visual kind of like I love to cook, I like to entertain, I like to present food a certain way, and have the table. So I'm very visual. I like things that are pleasing to the eye. I also think being a makeup artist, like next week I am going to LA and I have a photo shoot that I have to be there at 4:00 AM which means I have to be up at three.

[00:30:26] Christina: So you have to know that your schedule is kind of weird. With Maria we were in Beverly Hills at the Milkin convention, and she has a show at 6:00 AM in New York, which is 3:00 AM in California. So I was up at 12:30 to get her ready at 1:15. It doesn't happen a lot, and I really don't like that part of it. That's why I don't do feature films. I don't want to be away from home for months on end. And I don't want to work in the middle of the night. It's like, I know myself very clearly. As normal of a weird life as I can have, I like having that. I like it. Today I went to my Pilates and, I like a normal schedule. For as weird of a life as I have, but being up all night, I have no interest.

[00:31:11] Aneta: Well, and that's true. I think sometimes people don't consider that. There are many different ways to do the same thing that you're doing and you can select what works best for you. So I'm 51, so I'm in my fifties. And so for folks that might be in their middle age, especially women right now, are there trends or things that we should be considering for ourselves beyond the eating healthy and drinking water? Are there certain makeup trends or things that we need to be considering in order to look our best as we start to age or mature as we like to say?

[00:31:46] Christina: Right? So I think it's super important not to worry about trends. And about what you see on Instagram and Facebook or TikTok. I think it's super important that you know your face, know your, are you an executive? Are you a mom? Are you an artist? Whatever your lifestyle is, do what makes your face look the best and not worry about trends. If you look at my portfolio on christinaflach.com, you'll see that pretty much all of the faces just look pretty. You don't really go, orange, blue, green. I don't want that. I just want you to see like pretty skin, bright eyes. I think it's always important to fill in the brows and you know, get some concealer on and add the mascara and just, just like classic makeup.

[00:32:30] Christina: I think you will always be on point if you just do what's just basic, nice, fresh makeup and not be worrying about trends. I mean, they're fun and if you want to do it for a special event, I personally don't care if we're seeing a black liquid liner on pale skin with blonde hair in the middle of the day. I think it looks terrible. It's something for night, once in a while. And also, we did an on-air beauty challenge, and the challenge was because I've noticed this with people. People that are, normal people, celebrities, athletes, whatever, but they really, people get attached to a certain way they do their makeup and are really physically uncomfortable doing something different.

[00:33:16] Christina: I have had people, it's so funny, I've had people hire me many a time and they tell me exactly how they want me to do their makeup instead of Why don't you try experiencing my interpretation of your makeup? Like, why are you hiring me to do what you're going to do? That's absurd. So the beauty dare challenge was, let's say you wear very heavy makeup every day, tone it down a couple notches, and if you wear very minimal makeup, tone it up. Take it up a couple of notches and see how you feel, and how every people view you, and just to see why are you so uncomfortable with doing something so different? So it's people are very attached to their look more than one would think.

[00:34:00] Aneta: We do get stuck. I think we get stuck and we're used to seeing ourselves in a certain way. And so sometimes even choosing a different color lipstick could be so off-putting, right? But I love that challenge. I'm going to take that challenge on and think about that for myself as well. Do thid challenge.

[00:34:21] Christina: Yeah. Think about it. And do it. Have your friends. Do it, say hey, what let's just try this. Try it for a day, try it for a week and just see how you feel. It's good to change things up a little bit. It really is. I get people that go, oh, I've been doing my makeup since the same way since high school, and I think, okay. Well let's try something else. And why are you so uncomfortable trying something else?

[00:34:41] Aneta: Who do you think always looks amazing? Is there any celebrity or anyone that you just, whether you work with them or not? So many.

[00:34:48] Christina: Yeah, so many. Who do I think always looks good. I don't know. There's so many people that I think look great on the red carpet. Rihanna, beautiful. Helen Mirren, gorgeous. And there's just.

[00:35:03] Aneta: Gorgeous.

[00:35:04] Christina: Yeah. There's just a lot of charon gorgeous Scarlet Johansen. I just think these classic beauties that aren't doing anything, that extreme, you just look at them and go, wow. They look just beautiful. Their hair's gorgeous, their makeups, just nothing crazy. It's just. A pretty face. And so I think I love those faces the most that are just, nothing really is sticking out that much. Just everything looks great. And happiness and joy in their eye, really, it does come through when you see someone that looks happy and laughing and I think that's super attractive.

[00:35:41] Aneta: Right. It goes back to what you were saying before, working on the inside, allowing that to shine through. So going back to everything you said, you're philanthropist, you're the mom. You have two companies that one that's been going on for a while, another one that you're starting. What else was next for you? Because it sounds like, pushing yourself out of your comfort zones is something that you have learned to appreciate. So anything else that you're willing to share?

[00:36:08] Christina: I think taking some downtime. Enjoying life more of my personal life. I don't do that enough. I need to do that a little bit more, but I'm working on it and I'm taking steps towards that. So I will hopefully the next time we have a chat, I'll tell you, I was in Paris. I went to Italy. I'd like to have more adventures in my personal life. I think that would be really fantastic.

[00:36:31] Aneta: Yeah, it's a great aspiration. So, one of the questions, Christina, I ask everyone is tied to the title of the podcast, and so what does it mean to you to live the width of your life?

[00:36:44] Christina: Well, I think that it's important to me to give back for all these amazing things that I have in my life. And so I started two educational funds at the Northern Light School in Oakland. It's a private school for underprivileged children and I tried to raise a lot of money for them. My son Ben. There was one for my son Beau that passed away and one for my husband Ken Flach, who was a professional tennis player. He was a former number one doubles player in tennis with his partner Rob Seguso yes. So he passed away five years ago. And so I have been raising money for the school. My son Ben, who was Bo twin. This past October raised $60,000 playing golf, and he's raised over 120, I think in the last seven or eight years for kids to go to school.

[00:37:37] Christina: And so I'm really proud of that. And so I really wish that that would be something I would like to do, be able to have more money, to donate more money and there's a school the Edna McGuire School, mill Valley, California. My friend Lisa Zimmer and I started the Bo Friedman outdoor classroom in honor my son and I am very passionate about education and nutrition and so I love that there's this outdoor garden and there's chickens and fruit, and they cook and they do science experiments and they do a farmer's market, and I feel that children will eat better if they're exposed to clean, healthy food from a young age, they will make healthier choices in middle school and high school if they've had that experience at a young age. So that's super important to me. So all those things kind of very near and dear to my heart.

[00:38:29] Aneta: I love that. So it sounds like for you, living the width is giving back, being of service to others, adding value. And leaving a legacy. Christina, thank you so much for spending time with us.

[00:38:41] Christina: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

[00:38:43] Aneta: Yes. And I'm so excited to learn more about your new company. I'm too busy, and also to try your products and I'm always looking for something that's good, that's sustainable, that's clean, and that fits into my lifestyle as well. So excited to give that a chance.

[00:38:59] Christina: We're also giving a discount on pretty girl makeup.com. 25% discount code with discount code. Pretty girl.

[00:39:07] Aneta: Oh, wonderful. We'll make sure to include that in the notes. Which people love. Thank you for your time today. Thank you for all the great work that you're doing. And for giving back in so many ways. It was a pleasure to meet you.

[00:39:21] Christina: Thank you. You as well. Have a great day.

[00:39:23] Aneta: You too.

[00:39:24] Aneta: Thank you for listening to today's episode. If today's conversation inspired you to dream again, break out of your comfort zones, or reflect on what it means to you to live more fully, then please follow this podcast because every week you'll hear more stories from people just like you, who took imperfect action towards their goals, created more joy, and are living the life that they always dreamt of living.

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