Live Ever After: June 2011

Today, I would like to highlight a dear friend who is a wife and mother. I love when women take hold of their dreams and bring it into fruitation. She has just opened a line of Spa Products and already business is booming. I know her to be true to whatever she sets her mind to do. You can visit her website, below her introduction and comments from consumers.

Who am I?
by Monique McCullough on 04/12/11

Hey everyone!

This is a big deal for me. I'm embarking on a journey thats a lifetime in the making. Creating these products has been life changing. I've been asked what inspired the SpaDiva line. Several things. I Love the Spa Industry!!! I was blessed to work in it for several years as a massage therapist and a Director. I was able to work with amazingly talanted people who taught me so much. I have created treatments and tested hundreds of products. I've become a bit of a product JUNKIE!!!! I'm also very, very picky!!! Just ask my husband and my bestie Kami!!! I love my Family and Friends deeeply and want them to have the absolut best! I am terribly concerned about what I put on my skin and hair or what I use on my family. This line was born from a desire to have and share the safest and the best products that I can. Having said that I'm curious to hear from you. What motivates you? What do you want or need in your skin/hair care products? In your life? What gets you moving? Let me know what makes you a SpaDiva!!!

Comments (6)

1.	Tanya Ndip said on 4/13/11 - 08:00AM
	Monique, I am so pleased you have found your niche for marketing your amazing products! The site looks awesome. I'd like some packages for Mother's Day! I honestly believe your blood line traces back to Eygpt. I think is the way you carry yourself and how you present yourself. You are definitely from Royalty and so glad you are providing folks with products that enhance that inner beauty. May everything you touch and create turn to gold. God Bless you , Tanya Ndip
2.	Veronica Hickman said on 4/25/11 - 12:03AM
	I must agree, anything dealing with the word Spa I love! Today we live in such a rush society that everything is microwave-quick. The idea of having products that are made from all natural ingredients puts my mind at ease, especially knowing that the person (Mrs. Monique- The Spa Diva!) in charge has a sincere interest in making the best products ever! I am on for the ride! Watch out World there is a new Diva in Town!!! God Bless! Veronica Hickman
3.	Crystal Marrow said on 4/25/11 - 01:11PM
	Hey girl Love the site love the product. I am so happy you are able to do something for self and bring everyone alone on the ride.. I think it's great when you can focus on the things that god has created, that's pure and place it in a bottle.
4.	Ida Norman said on 4/25/11 - 11:04PM
	You Go Girl! Thank you so much. Your product has assured me that if you have a passion for something you will put your best foot forward. I can say you have done it. This is the best and only product that does not leave my hair dry and brittle. And I am talking for the last fifteen years. I have been shopping around for something that would agree with my hair. This is it. I actually like the way my hair feels, clean and baby soft. Thank you so much. Ida Norman
5.	Faith Jeanty said on 4/26/11 - 07:39PM
	I just absolutely love your tea tree scented hair butter! Because of the pure ingredients it allowed me to not only use it in my hair but on my hands. It is smooth, creamy and long lasting. My husband even loved it. I will definitely be ordering more.
6.	Mously Le Blanc said on 4/29/11 - 07:06PM
	Congrats Spa Diva!!! You really have created some AMAZING products. I loved the Coconut Cream Body Scrub!! It has an amazing scent that even my husband loved- and he hates coconuts!! The scent is so soothing and relaxing. I always use it when I feel stressed out need a quick fix to calm me down. The scrub leaves my skin feeling so smooth and hydrated- ALL DAY LONG. The scrub was effective in removing layers of dead skin but wasn't harsh on my skin at all. It was gentle and yet so effective. Thanks again Spa Diva for making amazing products that really make you feel like you've spent a day in the Spa without having to paying like you did. :o) Platinum Spa Diva Spa Diva/Mom Diva

I was thinking the other day, how did wearing a veil during a wedding ceremony get started? I always assumed it was symbolism for discretion or to create mystery and a dramatic edge to walking down the aisle. Once the veil is lifted this is the reality of who you get; all my love and sacrifice, thus the vows. This is the point to no more hiding or holding back. We are about to become one.

My on-line research gave some interesting facts how the wedding vial came to be. There is controversy of where the idea originated. One tale is that it started in arranged marriages when the fathers of the bride would cover the daughter. During bargaining with the prospective suitor, it kept him from backing out of the deal. The daughter would be revealed only after the the wedding ceremony.Then the veil was lifted to reveal his bride.

Some believe the veil originated in Ancient Rome where bad spirits are attracted to the bride so the veil obscured her features to ward them off. Roman brides used a red veil and Greek brides often used a more yellow colored veil. Others believe the veil originated in the Near East for protection against natures wind and sun, to protect and keep her modesty and to protect her husband from being killed due to her beauty. For Christians in the 13th century common women and prostitutes were forbidden from wearing veils. In England bridal hats and bonnets were worn then later the veil was rekindled and worn as a short tulle veil with the hat. According to Ann Montserrat, an English historian, wearing the veil over the face returned to style in the 1860's.

She also stated, “There is a superstition that an old veil is luckier than a new one, and that luckiest of all is a borrowed veil, especially if on loan from someone who has been happily married, or from a member of the bride’s own family. But superstition is no match for fashion.”-Ann Montserrat. It is recorded that the longest veil was worn by Princess Dianna at 25 feet until Star Jones made wedding veil history. Her veil was her two feet longer than Princess Dianna's veil. It is now known as the longest veil to be worn by a bride and thus named the "Star Cathedral Veil".

In Medieval times the veil protected the bride from evil and was a sign of modesty and purity. In biblical times there is a scripture that I always enjoyed reading as I find it romantic. It is about Isaac, who it is believed, was getting along in years, so his elderly father Abraham sent his senior servant in charge of all he had, to go and get his son Isaac a wife. After the senior servant found sweet-hearted Rebekah and convince her to meet Isaac, she gets on her camel for the long journey. This is the account of her response upon seeing Isaac (Genesis 24:62-67):

⁶² Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. ⁶³ He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. ⁶⁴ Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel ⁶⁵ and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”

“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.

⁶⁶ Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. ⁶⁷ Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Isaac was probably praying and hoping for a wife as he went out into the field to meditate. He sees them approaching. Rebekah sees him and he must have taken her breath away as she climbed off of her camel and whispered to the servant who was with her, "Whose that?" When it was confirmed by the proud servant that "this is who I was telling you about" She made a significant gesture and pulled her veil over her head to cover herself. (Sounds like the whole process of our modern day wedding ceremony)!

Very interesting huh? Today, in my opinion, the veil is the crown of the wedding gown. I leave you with an image of a beautiful modern day bride in her stunning veil: My good friend Lady Jennie from A Lady in France.