Posted by author Martha Frankel (www.marthafrankel.com)
To get to my bedroom you have to walk down a long hallway, which is covered from floor to ceiling with photos. You know the kind, mostly snapshots of friends and family; weddings and holidays, but also the dogs when they were puppies, my house before even one daffodil grew in the gardens, friends with bellies out to there and then, in what seems like a nano-second, their kids graduating from grammar- and then high-school. I have one rule about the wall; once a picture is stapled up there, it stays forever.
Every part of that wall should make me feel good. I am surrounded by people I love, and who love me back. My life is full and, for the most part, happy. But if I stand there long enough, I start to think about taking down this photo or that one, the ones that clearly show me looking too fat, or with a bad haircut or color, or with an outfit that makes me look idiotic (that pink metallic shirt again!).
And then I met Janea Padilha.
Janea owns the J Sister Salon in midtown
Janea is the most self-confident woman I have ever been around. She is street smart and generous, and knows so much that you start to think of her as a cross between Dear Abby and a Jedi Master. For instance, Janea taught me how to put on eyeliner by laying a mirror on the bed and leaning over it, so you never squint and the line is always perfect. She taught me how to walk around on a day I don’t feel my best by pretending everyone else in the world is blind. She showed me how to dress with style. And then she gave me some great sex tips. And this was only our first meeting.
Janea’s clients adore her, and go to her for not only waxings but the sort of therapy that only someone whose life is full of women can impart. Janea tells them to have sex with their husbands more often or not at all; she teaches them how to really mourn so they can on with their lives; she shows them how to dress for their age and when to show skin and when to cover up.
I look at those photos in a different way since working with Janea on Brazilian Sexy: Secrets to Living a Gorgeous and Confident Life.
I am standing taller, and am less willing to make myself the butt of a joke. I don’t think that my life will only start when I lose ten pounds or start a more intense workout program. Janea has taught me that being sexy comes from within… and having a Brazilian doesn’t hurt, either!
Martha Frankel is the co-author of Brazilian Sexy and the author of the memoir Hats and Eyeglasses.
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