viva magazine earth 2016

EARTH 2016

E X C L U S I V E

VANESSA WILLIAMS

SURRENDERS TO LIFE’S SIMPLE PLEASURES

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COASTAL DESIGNGET IN THE MOOD

FOR SPRING

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8 VIVAMAGONLINE.COM / EARTH ISSUE 2016

CONTENTSE A R T H I S S U E 2 0 1 6

10 Editor’s Letter

12 Contributors

13 Giveaway

14 Behind the Scenes

15 Balanced Living

17 Eco Chic

68 Grocery Basket

78 Inspired Living

82 Horoscope

In every issue

17

80

58

DepartmentsBEAUTY & FASHION22 Get the Look

24 Sweet Harmony Inject edge into your look

30 Beauty Terminology

HEALTH34 Health News

38 Canadian Pharmacists vs. Medical Cannabis Industry

40 Upcoming Ingredient Chaga

42 What’s Up, Doc? Focus on the inner ecology of your home to create a positive impact on your family’s health

44 It’s That Time of the Year Keep allergies at bay—naturally

46 Health Cabinet

COVER STORY50 Saving the Best for Last Vanessa Williams surrenders to life’s simple pleasures

FOOD58 A Touch of Royalty Put your royal touch on these delicious desserts

66 Potato Power Take your french fries to the next level with this recipe

YOUR LIFE74 Earthy Coastal Design Get in the mood for spring with these simple design ideas

76 Filter, Filter, Filter Find your match online

80 Travel Experience Lexington, Kentucky

50

EARTH ISSUE

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I grew up a few miles outside a tiny farm town, not a neighbour within sight of our rural prop-erty. There’s a wonderful sensory leveling that occurs when surrounded by the very subtle. Without the megaphone of the city, whispers are robust, soft fragrances fi ll the air and the shift in hue from the green grass to the leaves seems impossibly complex. This early appre-ciation for quiet change has developed into an immense love of spring, and I think it makes me a better designer.

I live in the city now, and have for more than half of my life. Most of the year is a buzz of manufactured experiences that leave little chance to notice nature—or to even hear our own thoughts. For a brief time between the grey silence of winter and the rush of summer activity, I get to recon-nect with the underappreciated quiet. The sound of chirping birds is a new song in our morning routine. The trees, still without new leaves, seem di erent some-how. Upon closer look, they are covered with fresh buds, waiting to make their debut. Everything is new, more vibrant and full of the promise that warmth and beauty are imminent.

In this issue, there is a terrifi c story on allergies, a hot topic this time of year. My rural childhood had me chewing on clover and frolicking in wildfl owers. As luck would have it, recent studies link early exposure to known allergens to a resistance later in life. One of my favourite books, The Sweetness of a Simple Life by Diana Beresford-Kroeger, o ers tips for healthier, happier and kinder living—a bible of sorts for jumping into spring and nature sure-footed.

It’s an exciting time we live in, having the benefi t of modern technology and medicine while the collective academics are looking more at traditional approaches, our diets and the undeniable links between the diseases of this era still without defi nitive cures.

I’m obsessed with physical health, for sure, but I became a designer partly because I also appreciate the e ect our physical environments have on our lives, both practically and emotionally. I share a fun article in this issue on coastal design and getting in the mood for spring on page 74. This style is all about a connection with the outdoors, throwing open the windows and kicking o the winter quilts.

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V I V A / C O V E R S T O R Y


VANESSA WILLIAMS SURRENDERS TO LIFE’S SIMPLE PLEASURES

BY BONNIE SIEGLER

ALL CLOTHING: V. BY VANESSA WILLIAMS

bestSAVING THEFOR

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anessa Williams has wound up exactly where she wants to be. At 52, her numerous achievements include platinum records, star-ring television and movie roles, and Emmy, Grammy and Tony nominations as well as V. by Vanessa Williams, her own fashion line that debuted in March 2016.

“I got an inquiry asking if I would have interest in having my own clothing line and I’ve always wanted to design fashion,” says Williams. “This collection is a combination of me as a pro-fessional, me as a mother and me as what I wear for comfort around the house.” Williams discovered her power dresser style while starring as Wilhelmina Slater on “Ugly Betty” and Renee Perry on “Desperate Housewives.”

Currently, sans theatrical makeup and coi�ed hair, the work-ing mom of four children is dealing with a guestroom flood in her Westchester, New York home. “Thank goodness my hus-band is here so we’re tackling it together,” Williams exclaims. As her Grammy Award-winning song suggests, it seems like the former beauty queen has saved the best for last—both per-sonally and professionally—tying the knot with accountant Jim Skrip last year.

“I always knew there would be another chance for me to find love again and that I had to be patient,” she says. “I feel there are no such things as coincidences. The fact that I met my hus-band who’s from Bu�alo, New York, in the middle of the Nile in Egypt is pretty extraordinary. I’m in constant amazement of how wonderful life is and I continually get a chuckle out of it.”

Williams’s Westchester residence is only eight kilometres from the family home where she grew up practicing French horn and piano. She says her childhood was filled with music and creativity. Both of Williams’s parents encouraged her musically, but were also demanding academically.

“It was a fantastic structure,” recalls Williams. “I think I’ve become a woman who’s not afraid of life’s obstacles and chal-lenges due to growing up with parents who were very clear in making their children’s lives independent. Learning how to do things for yourself at an early age just makes you a more grounded person.”




FINDING LITTLE JOYSPart of Williams’s strategy to staying grounded—whether she’s working in Hollywood, on Broadway or relaxing at home in sub-urban New York—is reducing daily stress and finding satisfy-ing activities. She seems to surrender to the simple pleasures of casual home attire, backyard barbeques and being a mother.

Williams’s perfect day begins at home. “I do my morning crossword puzzle out in the sun with a great cup of chai tea or a good cup of co�ee, having all my kids home, plus my new husband,” she says. “My mom lives next door, so I am having her swing by and then probably, I cook. My kids love my lasa-gna but my son has taken my mac n’ cheese and perfected it with added lobster. It’s now his signature dish.”

WORKING IT ALL OUTWilliams embraces the positive aspects of maturity but she’s no pushover. Her down-to-earth approach in life a�ects how she takes care of her body, too. Feeling strong is a vital part of her self-image. She keeps her 5-foot-6-inch figure healthy by tak-ing DHEA, bioidentical hormones and a series of drops recom-mended by her doctor to boost thyroid activity and adrenals.

“I love one-on-one exercise with my trainer,” she says of her workout strategy, “but I try to do something for an hour almost every day whether it’s a cardio-aerobics class, kickbox-ing, treadmill, biking on a bike path or just getting out for a walk. I go stir crazy sitting around doing nothing. All the pre-viously mentioned activities allow my brain and body to get fed and I can approach the anxiety and stress in life better when I feel healthy.”

BEAUTY REGIMENWilliams’s anti-aging arsenal includes mud masks and creams

from the Dead Sea—her beauty in a bottle. Additionally, the singer-actress-fashion designer enjoys her ATP radio wave microcurrent machine.

“It tightens, firms and stimulates collagen,” she says. “Technology has added huge benefits to the beauty age. From laser technology to cryotherapy—we’re embarking on an age where beauty will not just be going to a plastic surgeon for a facelift.”

In addition, Williams believes that beauty comes from within. “Nutritional eating is very important for outward beauty,” she says. “I’m not vegan, but I’ve become fully aware about geneti-cally modified organisms (GMOs), juicing, cleansing and how important your food is to your overall health.”

Williams’s kitchen counters are filled with bananas for smoothies and banana bread, apples, and locally purchased ciabatta bread, which her family especially enjoys with olive oil and sea salt.

“I also have fresh, flash-frozen organic salmon, trout, and shrimp shipped to my home.”

NEVER DOUBT YOUR POTENTIAL“I was basically a laughing stock 32 years ago in terms of being a credible artist, but I always knew I had what it took to be successful and one day, people would find out,” says Williams.

In her book, You Have No Idea, which she authored with her mom, Helen, no stone was left unturned. From becoming the first black Miss America in 1983 and the controversy that followed, to her many successes in life, the book showcases Williams’s resilience and tough character that has made her the woman she is today. Any sequel?

“I haven’t thought about that,” says Williams. “It would prob-ably be titled One Never Knows — Does One.” VM

I think I’ve become a woman who’s not afraid of life’s obstacles and challenges due to growing up with parents who were very clear in making their children’s lives independent.


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