This past Saturday, January 22, 2011, patrons were welcome to take part in complimentary services that were offered during the Diva Day event, such as facials, massages, glamor photos, and even their pick of tasty chocolaty treats…did I mention the champagne?

Deb Rohzen, owner of Simply Smashing!

What’s great about the Diva Day event, is that it is held and run by five local business women who not only want to bring beauty, comfort and sass into the lives of others, but they do so while promoting a worthy cause: breast cancer awareness. Deb Rohzen, owner of Simply Smashing! stated that, “through Diva Day, not only do we promote local businesses started or run by women, but we also promote local artists, jewelers and designers, while at the same time bringing more awareness to breast cancer.”

Carla Schwartz of Spirit of Health - Therapeutic Massage

Carla Schwartz, who offered complimentary massages to guests as they walked in the store, has participated in over 20 breast cancer walks in the city. Any tips she received from the day’s event went towards her raising money for the breast cancer walk that she will be participating in again this year.

Liza Jensen, owner of Bella Diva

Liza Jensen, owner of Bella Diva, a beauty society that caters to women looking for specific skincare and makeup products, and co-host of “Diva Day,” offered free facials at the event along with sample skincare products. Initially starting “Diva Day” in her home about a year ago while holding Bella Diva parties, she too was enthusiastic about the prospect of women helping women in business and in life.

Jeanette Hartley of Desserts by Jeanette

Jeanette Hartley, another local business owner, tempted guests with her sumptuous desserts, which included: Chocolate-dipped strawberries, cookies, brownies, red velvet mini cupcakes, and many more chocolate treats that were hard to pass up. Once you tasted one, you wanted to taste them all…at least I did. All desserts are homemade by Jeanette and can be custom-ordered. Jeanette’s sweets are perfect for clients looking for special cakes or desserts that are unique and beautiful edible works of art.

Jeanine Brown, a professional boudoir and wedding photographer, was offering fun and flirty glamor photo shots for any woman wanting to unleash her inner diva. All photos were taken on a plush black velvet couch with hot pink velvet throw-pillows, a peacock feather fan in hand, and a pink boa wrapped around each willing diva. Now what woman can resist all that glamor?

Bella Diva Cosmetics and Skincare Products

So if YOU want to be a “Diva for a day” while also supporting a great cause, then please make sure to visit the following websites for more information about the next “Diva Day,” or if you want to learn more about the women profiled and their businesses/services:

Fabulous facials by Bella Diva featuring Beauty Society: http://www.facebook.com/belladivabeauty or https://www.mybeautysociety.com/lizajensen

Simply Smashing shopping: http://www.simplysmashingstyle.com/

Spirit of Health: http://www.spiritofhealth.net/

Desserts by Jeannette: http://dessertsbyjeanette.com/default.aspx

JB Photography: http://www.jbrownphotography.com/, or http://www.jbrownboudoir.com/

Being a diva never felt so good!

Event Review by Sophia M. Papadopoulos

Ever wonder where those earlobe-adorning medleys of jewels, stones, and beads encrusted in ornate metals are derived from?  You might be surprised to know that earrings have been around for over five centuries. These dangling beauties originated in Byzantium but did not become popular in the West until the sixteenth century.  In the thirteenth century, earrings as we know them today were  flat in shape and style.  Throughout the years, as their use became more widespread and they became a symbol of status and beauty, their shapes and sizes morphed into beautiful little portable pieces of earlobe art.

Earrings: a symbol of status

Aside from their decorative use, earrings were also articles of function.  In the Middle East around 3000 B.C.E. earrings were worn as an indicator of one’s religion, tribal, or political association.  They were also a reference to an individual’s status in their community and were worn as a symbol of pride for those who possessed great authority and power, while being a brand of shame for those of inferior status, such as slaves.

Earrings out, bonnets in

Although earrings were more elaborate in nature and popular in use in the second century A.D., they began to lose their popularity during the Middle Ages in Europe as hats, wigs, and collars gained popularity.  Earrings did not come back into vogue until the seventeenth century, when Italian wives had their husbands purchase these small symbols of status and sophistication.  One century later, however, earrings once again lost their luster as bonnets became the new fashion trend.

20^th century flair, fashion, and glamor

The arrival of the 1900’s brought its own air of elegance.  As hairstyles became full of long locks piled up high, the invention of the clip-on earring manifested.  With the innovation of both the movie and modeling industry, earrings also became a fashion statement in their own right.  As movie starlets and super models lent their famous earlobes to these pieces of ear-glitter, more and more women, young and old alike, wanted to emulate their favorite movie star by wearing the same earrings, while at the same time creating their personal fashion style.

Men, pirates, and earrings

Men, on the other hand, had the choice of wearing a single earring; an option that dates back to Biblical times.  In later centuries, pirates and explorers alike made the earring a symbol of rebellion, adventure, and held it as a statement of refusal of their particular society’s strict norms and conservative ways.

Earrings as a means of expression

Even in the Middle Ages and Renaissance period, they used earrings the way we use them today.  Not only are they a fun and fabulous way to dress the naked earlobe, they are also a means of expressing oneself both personally and fashionably.