Our Town: Tahoe business owner helps women gain 'BeautiControl'

Nancy Oliver Hayden
Tahoe Tribune


Linda LaFavor-Coyle's world revolves around image, self-esteem and helping women feel good about themselves. She does this as a consultant, executive director and senior trainer with BeautiControl, a skin care, spa and image company. The Minneapolis, Minn., native, who says she is 50ish, has been a resident of South Lake Tahoe since 1985. She came to visit friends, and as so many people do, fell in love with Tahoe and moved here.

She was working as a clerk at the post office in 1988 when she saw an advertisement for BeautiControl in the Tahoe Daily Tribune. The company was looking for people to be beauty consultants in the area, and she became the first one at Tahoe. It was a perfect fit, since LaFavor-Coyle has a background as a make-up artist. She started attending cosmetology school while she was still in high school. Upon graduation at age 18, she received her cosmetology license and worked as a hair stylist in a neighborhood beauty salon for 10 years.

She went to Hollywood in 1979, where she attended the Joe Blasco Make-up School and was a make-up artist for TV and film for a few years. She then returned to Minneapolis and worked for Target as a make-up artist for the company's TV commercials for several more years.

LaFavor-Coyle started her business at Tahoe by inviting friends to a party and teaching them about skin care, the importance of sunscreen and how to "do" their make-up in five minutes. She is now a manager and leads a team of 480 women all over the U.S. She travels to meetings and training sessions to motivate and support them and stays in touch via e-mail, telephone and personal contact. Her business has grown to include a mobile spa program, where she goes to clients' homes and offices. She provides mini-spa treatments and teaches women to relax and pamper themselves.

Another facet of LaFavor-Coyle's business is "Tahoe Weddings A Go Go," where she provides in-room hair and make-up service for brides. She said this is the easiest, most fun thing she does - and it's all girl time.

Her success with BeautiControl has earned her several trips. She was one of 100 consultants out of 150,000 in the company who earned a seven-day trip to Monte Carlo in 2006. And because of her company car allowance, she hasn't made a car payment in 15 years.

She and her husband of 10 years, John Coyle, enjoy riding road bikes and competing in century road rides. They have two furry, feline "children," Lucky and Smoky, who are 15 years old. LaFavor-Coyle is a member of Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe and Barton Memorial Hospital Auxiliary. She is also certified for the American Cancer Society "Look Good, Feel Good" program for women with cancer. She teaches them how to take care of their skin and hair, including tips on applying make-up and using wigs.

Here are LaFavor-Coyle's answers to the Tribune's questions:

1. HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED WHEN YOU DIE?
"As a woman who helped other women build their self-esteem on the inside and out. I love to be their cheerleader and say 'yes, you can do it.'"


2. WHAT IS SOUTH LAKE TAHOE'S MOST PRESSING ISSUE TODAY?
"I would say the housing market. When I see a for sale sign, I want to say, 'Don't leave Tahoe. Do whatever it takes to stay in this beautiful place.'"


3. IF YOU COULD CHOOSE ANY AMERICAN CITIZEN TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, WHO WOULD IT BE?
"My world revolves around supporting and encouraging women, so maybe it's time for a woman president?"


4. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT?
"John and I just bought a fifth-wheel travel trailer and enjoy traveling with friends and meeting new people. I intend to 'spa' the RV parks. We enjoy being outdoors, riding bikes and wine tasting. We plan to travel in the RV when we retire."


5. IF YOU COULD CHOOSE ONE THING TO DO OVER IN YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
"Oh, my gosh! I'm happy with my life. I feel like I've accomplished more than I ever dreamed I would, and there is nothing I would do over."


6. WHAT LIVING PERSON DO YOU MOST ADMIRE?
"My youngest sister, Brenda Montgomery. She has a gift of bringing out the best in people with her fabulous management and life skills and making everyone feel special. She is my mentor."


7. WHAT HISTORICAL FIGURE DO YOU MOST ADMIRE?
"I would say Mother Teresa. For her to be able to do something so important, especially as she advanced in age, is remarkable."


8. IF YOU COULD SPEND AN HOUR WITH ANYONE IN THE WORLD, WHO WOULD IT BE?
"That's easy, it would be Lance Armstrong. He could teach me everything he knows about road biking. I'd like to learn his discipline of how to just keep going on those hard hills."


9. WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE: WIN AN INDIVIDUAL OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL OR A PULITZER PRIZE?
"I can't choose, so how about both. To be able to push yourself athletically as far as you can to win a gold medal would be such an adrenaline rush. And I'd love to be so talented with words and be able to share that with the world that I would win a Pulitzer Prize."


10. IF YOU COULD BE IN ANY PROFESSION OTHER THAN YOUR OWN, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
"Don't laugh, but at one time I thought of being a police officer. I think I would be good at handling situations and helping get the bad guys off the street."

Could you last a day without make-up?

From The Times on March 27, 2008
It's National No Make-up Day today - a command best not obeyed
by Sarah Vine

Today, apparently, is National No Make-up Day. Not in my house it isn't. Aside from the fact that my colleagues have done nothing to deserve the sight of me without my under-eye concealer, it is a ludicrous concept. You may as well have a National No Shoe-Wearing Day, or a National No Shouting on the Today Programme Day. Inconceivable, not to say inadvisable.

According to the organisers, we need it because we women are too dependent on make-up. Damn right we are - just as we're dependent on breathing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving Mother Nature's work a little touch-up now and then.

But no, it's for our own good, see. Time to throw off the mask, to let our skins breathe (not true, by the way: today's modern formulations don't clog up the skin), to be “more courageous in baring all”. Hmm. I've seen where this “baring all” gets us, and it's not pretty. How To Look Good Naked may make great TV, but in truth most people don't (look good naked, that is). There's a reason clothes were invented, and it wasn't just to keep the cold air out. Let's not apply the same misjudgment to our faces.

The British have always had an oddly puritanical attitude to make-up. Many women I know consider it somehow at odds with their feminist principles. Personally, I don't see it that way. Make-up gives me confidence, and confidence is good. Besides, many men claim that they prefer their partners without make-up - so you could argue that the wearing of it actually constitutes a small act of feminist rebellion.

Ultimately, however, it's all about how you wear it. A tacky gash of scarlet and Ashes to Ashes-style blue eyeshadow isn't going to fool anyone. Modern make-up, properly applied, looks neither tarty nor obvious. It's about looking yourself, only slightly less frazzled. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Wearing no make-up for once, HANNAH BETTS fails to get attention

My name is Hannah and I am a cosmetics addict. I have worn make-up every day since I was jailbait young, a not so fresh-faced 11. It started with Lolita lipgloss and continues, at just short of 37, with a routine that encompasses foundation, concealer, powder, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, rouge and lip balm. Women tend to have a thing. Make-up is my thing. I don't do hair, nails, or particularly compelling outfits. However, I do reserve my right to go about with emerald eyelids.

We slap sporters are accused of vanity. Yet surely it is greater vanity to inflict one's unedited features upon the world? It is assumed that we are man-motivated. Yet chaps profess to despise cosmetics and are never happier than when informing me that I look more desirable without them. More- over, many's the time I have been chastised by weekend feminists who believe that I am letting down the sisterhood.

To all dissenting voices, I say: “This isn't about you.” Make-up is my public face and my private pleasure.

My day sans slap has an inauspicious start. The spectacle that confronts me in the mirror at 7am on Monday confirms my impression that not wearing make-up is for those who spend their weekends in the lotus position. I spent the weekend carousing, hitting the sack at 3am in the wake of a teary argument. My skin is greenish chalk, while my eyes have gone beyond the proverbial hole in the snow and are suggestive of domestic violence. And did I mention that I have my period? Cosmetics are the means by which I would wrest back control, only today all control is abandoned. I knock back three Nurofen, apply teabags to my lids, slather on my bodyweight in eye cream, and - that's it - unfinished face finished.

Four hours writing at my desk, and my features are becoming vaguely less Hammer House of Horror, but, still, as I prepare to leave the house, my virginal face propels me into crisis. Everything is thrown out by it: my clothes - too ballsy; my scent - too provocative; the rest of me - too bedraggled without a “done” focus as anchor. I look nondescript, characterless, bland. I am also ghoulish pale, reminiscent of those painful years before I discovered rouge, when schoolboys would follow me about humming The Addams Family theme. A neighbour mouths: “Poor you,” assuming lurgy.

I go for a working lunch at London's hottest venue, the Connaught, with three of the capital's most glamorous and imposing PRs. The consensus is that I look young, but not good young. “Kind of Dickensian, laudanum-addict young,” as Kate puts it. Curiously, the lower half of my hitherto blemish-free face is breaking out in boils. “It's the detox,” notes Paula. “Your skin can't have been exposed to the air for years.”

I sidle off to purchase a new phone. The pubescent who couldn't wait to get his clutches on my contract when I accosted him with full maquillage rebuffs me. But, then, I have the sweaty-palmed demeanour of a shoplifter, skulking about, refusing to meet anyone's gaze.

I pride myself on my ability to flirt with man, woman and child, but, by supper, all charm has escaped me. I fail to secure anyone's attention: the waiter's, fellow diners', even my own. My 25-year-old ally tells me that I look cooler, edgier than usual. A trip to the nightspot Bungalow 8 is aborted after I suffer an attack of the vapours.

Next morning, I have a power breakfast with a prominent editor, restored to my beloved ladyboy mode. I ask my date what she would have thought had I turned up naked faced. “But, why would anyone do that?” she demands. Why, indeed?

I can cheat and get away with it, says make-up novice CAMILLA CAVENDISH

When my commissioning editor asked me to do this piece, I was surprised. “But I do wear make-up,” I protested. “I wear mascara!” She raised one carefully crafted eyebrow. And I realised that my involvement in this project might be her friendly way of telling me that the look I have worn since my teens - a flick of the comb and a 30-second whirl with Lancôme Black/Brown - may no longer be as appealing and carefree as I like to think.

It's partly indolence, not wanting to spend time pondering the cosmetics racks in Boots. It's also that these racks are largely indecipherable to me. I missed out on the stage when other girls were learning about concealer and lip-liner. I was playing the piano seriously when I was 16, and my piano teacher used to brandish her scissors at the slightest hint of a fingernail, so I never made it into the world of nail polish and manicures either. I usually end up rubbing most of it off because it looks so vampish.

I do care how I look. It's just that I have always regarded make-up as cheating, somehow. It is only recently that I have begun to realise that many of the women I have admired as effortless beauties are actually dab hands with the bronzer. My own recent experiments with bronzer came to an end when a male colleague became concerned that I had a rash, because of the line where I had forgotten to blend it in.

So when the lovely Paul from Bobbi Brown rang my doorbell, I was determined to memorise every brushstroke. And boy, were there a lot. There was concealer and corrector and blusher, all in delectable little black pots. It took a long time. But it felt fabulous, being adored and adorned. As Danny positioned the lights and flashed the camera, and Nicky expertly tweaked my hair, I felt like a B-list goddess.

The first person to see me was my husband. He glanced in, laughed, tried to stifle the laugh and went off to an important meeting. The next was my three-year old. “Why have you painted your hair?” he asked, frowning. After several repetitions of this toddler non-sequitur, I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. But of course I couldn't cry. I felt I couldn't even blow my nose, in case I erased my face.

I liked the flushed cheeks and startling blue eyes of the creature in the mirror. But she did look as if she was trying a bit too hard. Everyone said how “natural” I looked. But my cheeks felt as though they were wearing stage make-up. My skin felt tickly.

On the other hand, it was a face that clearly deserved to be dressed up for. I found myself pulling on a much smarter jacket than normal, and some kitten heels that I hardly ever wear. Leaving the house, I braced myself for pitying stares. But apart from a few vaguely appreciative looks from builders, there was no reaction. Entering a smart restaurant in the West End, a waiter rushed to open the door for me. I was lunching with a business contact I see about twice a year. He said: “You look different, somehow. Is it your hair?”

It gradually dawned on me that what I thought of as war-paint was expertly subtle. At Broadcasting House, where I was doing an interview for a programme I am presenting on Radio 4, no one gave me a second glance. Ingrid, my producer, who has known me for two years, didn't bat an eyelid.

Later that day, I gave a talk to some people in the City. One financier came up to me afterwards. “You're a great-looking woman,” he said. “Did you ever think about TV? Your looks won't last for ever, you know. You should get on with it.” So thank you, Paul, for creating the delusion. It still feels like cheating. But if I can cheat and get away with it, why not?

______________________

BeautiContol Online available at guaranteed lowest prices. Everyday is a BeautiControl Day!

An Inside Look at China's Most Beautiful Industry

BeautiControl Cosmetics

from CBN News

Most people are probably not very aware of the subtleties involved in the marketing of their favorite make-up or cosmetics cream. But many women don't just buy a tube of lipstick or mascara; they're buying a feeling of confidence that they can get after finding "just what they need" that will make them look and feel more beautiful.

Tiffany Ding understands the way that creating the right atmosphere for cosmetics can make all the difference. When she studied at Cornell and the London School of Economics, she noticed a huge gap between cosmetics stores in the U.S. and Europe versus those in China.

She said that stores like Harrod's and Selfridge's in London were, "a really, really good shopping environment, nice music. You can stay in this shop for one day, and you don't feel that it's enough." In contrast, she says Chinese stores at the time, "just give you the products, and no more service, and no more envionment. I thought, why? I thought I should change a little bit. When I came back, I found out cosmetics companies in China really need these kinds of change."

In order to change the cosmetics shopping atmosphere, Ms. Ding launched her own company, RetailLook, where she serves as a liasion between American and European luxury designers and Chinese department stores. She designs and builds cosmetics displays for brands like Chanel, Clinique, Estee Lauder, and many others in a way that allows these brands to showcase their products in a way that's visually appealing to Chinese culture.

In just three years, Ding's company has grown 150 percent, and she's launching her own factory soon. She expects to grow her business alongside China's booming cosmetics industry, and plans to produce about 60 percent of cosmetics displays in China's department stores in her factory.

She's been impressed by the huge change of China's cosmetics industry over the past few years, and looks forward to growing alongside it. Today, she has seen a drastic change in China's cosmetic sector, and says "in the U.S., the department store environment is not as good as China now. In terms of the store and visual merchandising China is much, much better than the U.S."

It's also much more expensive than the U.S. Many luxury brands cost more in China than the U.S., even though they're often selling the same products. Some women can save for three or four years to buy even one new product. In the 1990s, China's beauty industry had an average growth rate of over 40 percent each year, and even though things have slowed down, most analysts expect China's cosmetics industry growth to exceed that of China's overall economic growth.

The emphasis on beauty and appearance reflects a completely different China than that of 40 years ago, when androgynous Mao suits were the only fashion option available.

Today, many women, old and young, are eager to try the latest, most fashionable beauty products. Ding says that some women will even pay for upcoming creams before they're in stock, just so they can have the most up-to-date look. For many women worldwide, the beauty marketing doesn't just represent an artificial perception, but goes deeper.

"Cosmetics companies deliver the message, don't just look beautiful, but do more," says Ding. While most people don't really think that a new lipstick or the right shade of eyeshadow can change your life, if people feel great about their appearance, that confidence can spill over into other areas of their life.

There can definitely be a beauty trap, with harmful plastic surgeries or low self-esteem. Generally speaking, most women don't feel better about themselves or their apperances after reading the latest fashion magazine or comparing themselves to unrealistic supermodels.

On the other hand, Ding's business is a clear example of how viewing a strategic niche in China's markets can produce gorgeous results.

Times are tough, so women are shopping — for lipstick

Beauty therapist Julie Edwards applies lipstick to Yenni at the Crimson Phoenix in South Melbourne.
Photo: Ken Irwin

by Rachel Wells

from The Age


INTEREST rates might be rising and food and fuel prices soaring, but it is going to take much more than that to wrest a woman away from her favourite lipstick. Industry experts, including Steve Ogden-Barnes of the Australian Centre for Retail Studies at Monash University, say cosmetics is one category that is "recession-proof". "When things get tight, people might put off buying the new plasma or the new sofa, but there is no way a woman is going to leave the house without her make-up on," he says.

In fact, there is a widely held belief that when times get tough cosmetic sales not only survive but thrive. They call it the "lipstick indicator". Originated by Leonard Lauder, chairman of the Estee Lauder Group, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks when lipstick sales in the US doubled, the theory goes that when things get tough women seek comfort in feel-good items. And while they may not be able to afford a $3000 handbag, they will fork out up to $30 for a lipstick.

Amy McCartney, 28, was in Myer yesterday surveying a "show-stopper copper" eyeshadow on a ground-floor discount stand. Eyeshadow and foundation are her weaknesses, she says. "I like the way they make me feel — I need it. "We have a mortgage, but interest rates going up will not stop me buying make-up."

For those who believe in the "lipstick indicator", things don't augur well for the Australian economy. Jo-Anne Mason, director of leading beauty industry analyst BU Australasia, says that despite the latest interest rate rises, cosmetics sales are strong. Recent sales figures showed strong growth, with some key brands rising 30% to 40% compared with last year.

Last year, the Australian cosmetics market was valued at $2.7 billion, with sales up 5.8% on the previous year, according to Ms Mason. And more growth, about 4%, was expected this year. "Despite the downturn, there is a commonly held belief that cosmetics do well in tough times because if we can't afford the big things then we'll spoil ourselves with little luxuries," Ms Mason says. "So you may not go out and splurge on a new outfit, but a new Christian Dior lipstick will make you feel great."

Mr Ogden-Barnes says cosmetics have such brand loyalty that most women do not "trade down" when things get tight. This was true for Ava Gordon, 22, of Berwick, who was shopping in the Bourke Street mall yesterday. "No way would I stop buying make-up," she says. "I don't need to wear it for work but I do. I would rather stop buying lunch than go without my make-up and perfume." Ms Gordon said she buys new products once a month and spends between $100 and $200 at a time: "I really like perfume and that tends to be expensive. If I want a pick-me-up I might buy a lipstick."

David Jones chief executive Mark McInnes says he believes the store's cosmetics category will "continue to grow", despite predicting a slowdown in other departments. He says cosmetics are the only category that is "completely downturn-proof". Inside David Jones' Bourke Street store, Elizabeth, 60, of Geelong, had bought some eyeliner and mascara before meeting her daughter at the football. "Make-up makes me feel good and I am old, don't forget," she says with a laugh. "I need it".

Natasha Iskander, of South Melbourne fashion and beauty boutique Crimson Phoenix, agrees. She says that while fashion sales have slowed sales of cosmetics have surged. "Clothing has been pretty slow the last few months with people really beginning to pinch their pennies both ways … but we've found there has been a real spurt in make-up sales, particularly those little items that don't cost much but can make you feel a bit special."