Tuesday 21 October 2014

Oscar De La Renta Dies at age 82 - October 20, 2014

I had the pleasure of working side by side with Oscar on several occasions over the years from Singapore to Toronto promoting his couture collections and his globally beloved classic fragrance OSCAR.  

He was gracious, funny, passionate and serious; not to mention the obvious, talented and a fashion icon.  He made me laugh incessantly backstage with his quiet sophisticated demeanour. Mr. De La Renta always remembered me despite his universal recognition which made me feel special.

On a very special appearance at CityTV with Marilyn Dennis, Oscar made a point to mention (on live national television) that the size of the dress I had to squeeze myself into was so small that he could see the Cheerio(s) I ate for breakfast.  That became the on-going joke that went from backstage to on-camera and was an endearing characteristic of his charm.

Oscar De La Renta leaves behind a fashion legacy that spans from 1963 to 2014.  De La Renta was recognized as a Commandeur to the Legion D'honnuer by the  French governement and was awarded several titles of recognition, honours and was dedicated to his philanthropic endeavours.

Monday 20 October 2014

Meet the CONTACT SQUAD 2014 - PRO Training

Melani Chong announced as a Professional Team Leader for The Contact Squad 2014.


CONTACT is an energetic, hands-on workshop where you will gain the tools needed to perform, audition and execute your fine-tuned skills better than ever. The first-ever CONTACT is happening October 26 & 27 at Clancy's Boxing Academy in Toronto (100 Sunrise Avenue #119). The CBA studio is an amazing new boxing studio that offers a ton of space and great amenities. Please check out the CONTACT website for more information about the workshop series.

WHO IS IT FOR?

Performers - You are an actor, host, musician, dancer or model looking to improve your  on-camera skills, physical fitness and build your core strength!

Athletes - You are an athlete looking to transition into hosting, acting, commentating or to simply improve your post-game interviews!

Melani will be discussing on-camera posture, modelling, training & industry, beauty, image, personal care and championing your master plan.  

"I think a multi-disciplinary approach to all professional and personal growth is key to success. Everything comes from your core - your strength, your confidence, your message and your resilience. Success can emerge effortlessly with a well-developed core and CONTACT will allow every participant channel their inner winner.  I think everyone should experience CONTACT just to get in touch with their physical and psychological strengths to enhance their professional and everyday lives"  - Melani

Other PRO Team Leaders & Panelists include key speaker Jacqueline Walters (4x National Kickboxing Champion), Jim Van Horne (Sports Announcer), Martin Reader (Beach Volleyball Olympian), Alex Stines (Athlete/Stunt Coordinator) and Susan Antal (TSN Director) and many other dynamic PRO's. See all PRO's here.


More about the CONTACT SQUAD:
Andre Agate is co-founder of The CONTACT SQUAD.  He is a former NCAA Football player and has been a Certified Training Specialist and International Model for over 15 years.  As a personal stength and lifestyle coach, he has used his industry insight to help prepare others for modelling and performing opportunities.  He is no stranger to the long hours and dedication that goes into getting and maintaining relationships in the entertainment field.  Andre Agate is the co-creator of the of the Sledbarrow and CrossBell.  His training sessions are designed to challenge and inspire you to be a better you.

Mercedes De Castro, co-founder of CONTACT SQUAD, was an actor and gymnastics coach and is now a Casting Director with over 20 years of experience in the Entertainment Industry.  SHe ahs made it her business to match talented performers with intriguing roles for CBC NBC, GLobal, The W Network, Bravo! and beyond.  Mercedes has cast fr NAtioal and International TV shows & development pitches and knows what directors and producers are looking for... she will help you connect with the lens.



About MELANI CHONG:

Melani Chong has built an extensive career in the fashion and beauty industries as a professional model for Ford Models. For over 20 years, she has appeared on the covers and in the pages of top magazines and walked runways all over the globe. She has also appeared as a guest host and correspondent for FashionTV & ET Canada and has contributed to several Canadian publications as a beauty and health expert. As a model, a certified chemist and the founder of a cosmetics company, MC2Beauty Inc., Melani is now sharing her expertise and knowledge with others through her blog and through one-on-one consulting and mentoring with actors, models, athletes and young women.

Melani loves getting active with her two sons and, in her free time, she enjoys travelling, snowboarding, beach volleyball, running and is an avid rock climber.

Checking back in on MELANI CHONG & FASHCAM

Here's a peek back at FashCam Focus (Summer'14) with Jackie Shawn interviewing Melani Chong and discussing growing up on a farm, green products and the future of cosmetic chemistry...

Wednesday 15 October 2014

The Prom Show at the Canadian Beauty Innovation Awards #fun


Beauty and Health enthusiasts of all ages and professions from across the GTA will enjoy 3 days of innovative beauty showcasing at the Canadian Beauty Innovation Awards October 17-19th. The Prom Show is proudly supporting the CBIA by bringing the topic of teen Beauty and Health to the expo. 

According to the 2013 Canadian Community Health Survey, 1 in 5 Canadian youths, aged 12 – 17, are considered overweight or obese. The Prom Show is committed to helping our audience change this alarming statistic and help infuse a healthy level of self esteem and knowledge in our teen audience.
ThePromShow.ca will be participating in the Canadian Beauty Innovation Awards created by the Canadian Beauty Group in Toronto on October 19th, hosting a presentation on #TeenEsteem from 1 – 3pm, which incorporates The ‘Smoothie Project’ and fitness programs for youth. More information can be found at http://www.thepromshow.ca

For Tickets to the CBIA and The Canadian Beauty Ball please click HERE.


"One great place to see new and innovative brands is at the Canadian Beauty Innovation Awards (CBIA)."   - Melani Chong, Managing Partner of The Prom Show, Founder CEO of MC2Beauty Inc.
___________________________________________________________________________________________




Wednesday 8 October 2014

Assessing what our cosmetic future holds - Sustainable Cosmetics Summit in Paris - Cell Technology

Sustainable Cosmetics Summit  to Discuss Green Ingredients, Marketing & Consumer Behaviour*

MC2Tech & MC2Beauty Inc. - Oct 8, 2014
LONDON -- The European edition of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit will cover developments in green ingredients, marketing and customer behaviour. Attracting the heads of major global companies that impact the cosmetic and cosmetceutical industry, the summit will be hosted in Paris on 24-26th November 2014. 

For the first time in Europe, the summit will discuss ways to encourage sustainable purchases and responsible consumption of cosmetics & personal care products. This union will directly influence the beauty and personal care markets here in North America and then eventually South America.
Marketing and customer behavior will be featured in the context of green cosmetics and environmental impacts. Although the natural & organic cosmetics market has shown high growth, the market share remains low. Many of our cosmetic and cosmeceutical trends come from Asia and Europe where the technology and research starts. Natural & organic products comprise just 3% of European cosmetic sales because of concentration of demand; a small consumer base is responsible for most purchases. 

The summit will also ask what can be done to encourage responsible consumption?
Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart, co-founder of McDonough Braungart Design, professor at the University of Applied Science (Suderburg, Germany) and co-author of book 'Cradle to Cradle', will give the opening keynote. As cosmetic firms announce bold sustainability plans, Braungart will advise how we can wisely produce a well rounded product that meets the needs of manufacturing and consumer mandates. According to Braungart, cosmetic & personal care firms need to innovate with product design if they are to use resources more efficiently. He encourages companies to consider the Cradle-To-Cradle Design Approach to create ‘closed loop systems’ for cosmetic ingredients and finished products.

MC2Tech and MC2Beauty utilize a cradle-to-cradle philosophy when developing and manufacturing products.
Other big players to attend and contribute to the positive role of fair trade, sustainable economics and green finance are Alexandra Palt, CSR & Sustainability Director of L’Oreal, will give details of its Shared Beauty For All sustainability plan.

Devising a sustainability plan; how does the cosmetics giant plan to reach 1 billion new consumers by 2020 whilst reducing its environmental footprint by 60%?
The summit will give an update on the growing palette of green materials, placing emphasis on new technologies, how plant cell technology is generating novel actives for cosmetic applications and other experts will give details of new technologies for sustainable processing, the potential of bio-inspired molecules, the need for sustainable palm oil alternatives, and creating novel green materials.

The 6th European edition of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit will be hosted in Paris on 24-26th November. The 2nd Sustainable Beauty Awards will be co-hosted alongside the summit, on 24th November.  Look out for future updates from the summit.

About the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit

Organized by Organic Monitor, the aim of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit is to encourage sustainability in the beauty industry by bringing together key stake-holders and debate major sustainability issues in a high-level forum. The 6th European edition will be hosted at the Paris Marriott Champs-Élysées hotel on 24-27th November.

About the Sustainable Beauty Awards

The aim of the Sustainable Beauty Awards is to give recognition to cosmetic and related firms who are pushing the boundaries of sustainability in the beauty industry. The awards reception will take place on 24th November at the Paris Marriott Champs-Elysées. Entries for the five award categories are open until 15th October.  Learn how the industry and brands are pushing the limits of our technology and consumer offerings.


*Source: Organic Monitor


Tuesday 7 October 2014

Beauty Professional ALERT - Inside industry news - QUE Gov't Reports

Quebec Govt. Reports High Marine Pollution Caused by Plastic Microbeads Used in Cosmetics*
MC@Tech | MC@Beauty Inc. - Oct 7, 2014

Researchers from McGill University and the Quebec government have discovered microplastics (in the form of polyethylene 'microbeads,' less than 2 mm in diameter) widely distributed across the bottom of the St. Lawrence River, the first time such pollutants have been found in freshwater sediments.  It is crucial to be aware of the types of beads you are consuming - there are many safe dissolvable and biodegradable options - polyethylene is not currently considered one of them for this particular type of cosmetic application such as sloughing or exfoliating.

The microbeads likely originate from cosmetics, household cleansers, or industrial cleansers – all products in which they are commonly used as abrasives. Owing to their small size and buoyancy, they may readily pass through sewage treatment plants. Microplastics are a global contaminant in the world's oceans, but have only recently been detected in the surface waters of lakes and rivers.

Researchers lowered a steel grab from a boat to collect sediment from ten locations along a 320-km section of the river from Lake St. Francis to Québec City. 

Microbeads were sieved from the sediment, and then sorted and counted under a microscope. "We found them in nearly every grab sample taken. The perfect multi-coloured spheres stood out from natural sediment, even though they were the size of sand grains", said the lead author of the study, Rowshyra Castañeda, a former McGill MSc student (now at University of Toronto).

At some locations, the researchers measured over a thousand microbeads per liter of sediment, a magnitude that rivals the world's most contaminated ocean sediments. "We were surprised to find such concentrations at the bottom of a river", says McGill professor Anthony Ricciardi, who supervised the study. 

"It was previously assumed that floating microplastics are flushed through rivers to the sea. Now we have evidence that rivers can act as a sink for this pollution."

The prevalence of microplastics in the St. Lawrence River raises the possibility that they are being consumed by fish and other animals. The environmental effects of microplastics are poorly known; but the surfaces of such particles attract chemical pollutants, including PCBs, which can be transferred to animals that ingest the plastics. "At present, we cannot predict the consequences of the accumulation of these non-biodegradable particles in freshwater ecosystems" added Ricciardi, whose lab is investigating whether the microbeads are being consumed by fish in the river.
With growing recognition of microplastics as an emerging threat to waterways, some U.S. states (Illinois, New York, Minnesota, Ohio, California) have recently adopted or are considering legislation that bans the use of plastic microbeads in cosmetics. No such legislation has yet been proposed in Canada.
Source: McGill University
*specialchemistry4cosmetics




Tuesday 30 September 2014

MC2Beauty Scholarships - The Prom Show 2015 - #thatssoprom



In June 2014, I had the honour of participating in some pretty special prom and graduation events in Toronto.  Prom and graduation season is a time to celebrate accomplishments and milestones; it's a bridge from youth to adult that is ideal for creating memorable moments with friends and family.

The young ladies of Massey Centre are a group of special young moms achieving their goals and beating the odds.  The Prom Show and MC2Beauty hosted a fun and inspiring mini-workshop with talks and stories that inspire their personal engagement, fashion, education and career advice.  Our message is about encouraging confidence and self-expression, and we have partnered with community organizations such as Massey Centre to acknowledge accomplishments by exceptional youth.  MC2Beauty presented an Educational Scholarship to several girls this grad season to continue their education in the beauty and technology fields.  We have been tracking with these girls and their advancement.

The MC2Beauty and MC2Tech Inc. Scholarship for Continuing Post Secondary Studies was created to support and incentivize students from varying backgrounds to continue studies in cosmetics, technology, fashion & beauty industry and business studies in their post-secondary endeavours, and to encourage students to follow their professional dreams and achieve their goals. Recipients of the Scholarship demonstrate the potential to become future leaders, decision-makers and opinion formers.  The Scholarship program is focused on emerging leaders throughout Ontario who wish to further their academic studies in the fashion & beauty industries. The MC2Beauty & MC2Tech Inc. Scholarships are for high-calibre graduates with the personal, intellectual and interpersonal qualities necessary for leadership. 

About MC2Beauty™ & MC2Tech™:  MC2 is a Canadian cosmetics, toiletries and fragrance house that specializes in pure and organic skin care solutions and technologies and that is dedicated to becoming a leading supplier utilizing the most current technology and cosmeceutical science. 



____________________________________________________________________________