Nightime skin routine

Polar Bundle! December's Exclusive lipgloss and liner + a splurge!

holiday glamour hacks when you are short on time!!!

In a PINCH this holiday season? Here are some tried and true tricks! Shape wear, statement earrings or necklace, jersey wrap dress, fun texture (faux fur, scarves, metallic or sequins) and GREAT makeup on POINT!!!

Shop here: www.youniqueproducts.com/leslielewallen

Sharing is Caring. We are ALL in sale -- whether we like it or not!

I was watching the movie “Joy” one afternoon, a cute movie with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.  My house guests from Thanksgiving had left, and I was cleaning the house and semi-watching this movie.

I had no expectations of falling in love with this seemingly depressing movie!!!  However, Joy, the main character, in the movie invents a self-wringing mop, and is trying to sell it.  She winds up meeting Bradley Cooper, who is in charge of the “new” QVC.  During an exchange in the movie, he’s explaining to her that people do not listen.  That it takes them NINE times to start – to BEGIN to listen. THAT is why QVC is on 24 hours a day! WHAT the WHAT!! Brilliance!!!  

In LIFE, and in business, it takes us TIME for our message to get across!!!  It took me over 6 hours of being in Labor and Delivery Triage last year, and consistently telling the medical staff that something was wrong before they STARTED to listen. By that point, my daughter had flat-lined and I was 5 minutes away from losing all the blood I could. 

The same is true in marketing and life.  It takes TIME for our message to get across!!!  People don't listen!!!  We need to be telling/sharing ALL the time.  But we don’t! Why?  First, we are afraid of spamming our friends. I was afraid of looking "high maintenance" to the hospital staff.  I didn't want to bother the staff, just as I don't want to "bother" my friends about my amazing business!!!  What I've learned is that type of thinking is DEATH.  Literally, or figuratively with respect to one's business.  Have confidence in your life. In your opinions, in what you share.  Don't shy away if you do not see immediate results in ANY situation!!!  Like Bradley Cooper's character in Joy, said "people don’t listen immediately." It takes TIME and consistency! So when you have already given up, you have just missed the mark when people started to begin to listen to you!   Had I given up last year at the hospital and gone home when the doctor told me to, my daughter and I would be dead.  Just like our businesses, if you stop talking and give up, you DIE!!!!

Speak up for yourself. Demand attention.  SHARE.  Be confident and be bold.  MAKE people not you. You never know when it's life or death!!!  

Lazy Girl's guide to nighttime skin care

Road to black status or whatever success destination you seek

Road to black status or whatever success destination you seek

brow importance - FRAME that beautiful FACE!

Prepped and primed!

My tips and tricks for looking GORGEOUS all year round!! PREP and PRIMP!

Yin and Yang

So...I'm not one for a lot of granola, tree-hugging and recycling stuff (I say that, and please note I have a composter in my backyard, and encourage my boys to "pee" on the bushes as a natural deer repellent.).  I'm real. My priorities are focused on the LIVING human beings that I've given life to -- not soda cans that you all have produced yourselves.  I digress.  YIN and YANG.

What's IMPORTANT vs. what is NOT. To me, this is what Yin and Yang mean.  What is important, vs. what is not a priority.

At 42, I still have the same 24 hours in the day as I did when I was 21.  We ALL have those same 24 hours.  What changes is not time, it's not even US that changes...it's our PRIORITIES.


In my 20's and young 30's my education and career were my priority. In my 30's, my family and career were my priority. My mid-30's to 40, my priority was my family -- that's it.  My family. At 39, I learned I lost myself. I didn't know what to look forward to.  I lost "my girl." Thank goodness, God answered my prayer and gave me something -- a sisterhood -- a global business -- a hook--to hang my hat -- to save me from myself.

At 40, I thought I had it made.  Global business woman.  Mom of school-aged children.  Finally the hard work paid off.  Easy coasting from here on out....right??? Nope!!! Curve ball!!! Baby #4 on her way!!

Vivienne Louise. Her birth, her entrance and the impact she's made on our lives ever since has been a constant reminder that God is in control.  Her story is powerful. It's not my story anymore...it's her story.  She was meant to be.  I was meant to live longer.  I believe that. The doctor told me that. She said: "You must have some important work to do here on earth..."

I've dealt with a lot of junk in my life.  A LOT.  This year is poignant.  My oldest is going into 7th grade. The year EVERYTHING changed for me. The year boys and girls were cruel beyond words to me.  The year that those kids felt they had permission to treat a human being horribly for the next few years without a second thought.

As I fixed his shirt, and gave him a hug, I held on a little tighter.  When I picked him up from practice that night and he said with perfect innocence: "Mom!  People like me! When I walk in the room, I make them smile!!" I could not help but cringe. I was about to warn him not to be "too confident" for fear that what happened to me, would happen to him.  In an instant, I was that same 7th grade kiddo he was.  I was that same loveable, charismatic kid that the others wanted to snuff out.

I had to contain my own demons. I had to say "NO" to my inner negative voice, and celebrate HIM.  I didn't warn him.  I'm going to HOPE what happened to me, doesn't happen to him.

He is contagious.  He is amazing.  He is someone everyone wants to know.  Because HE is loving. Because he is SMART.  Because he is the son GOD entrusted to me.  I'm so proud. I hope he navigates this maze better than I did!!

This is entirely too long, but those of you who knew me back "when."  Take a look at your kids.  Give them the love, the understanding and the empathy they need. And then...GIVE THE KID you think you HATE...the same empathy.  Just for a second.  Please.  Just breathe...you might discover a different perspective.  In all honesty, it was the parents of these bullies that were the worst. They hated me.  Hated the confidence I had, and the willingness to stand up for myself.  They passed that hate and insecurity along to their kids.

I "looked" like I had it all together in middle school and high school. My appearance and clothes were my shield.  I didn't want the bullies to win!!! But inside I was breaking. I was hurting. So much so, that 30 some years later I still struggle. So be easy on that cheerleader. Talk and listen to your kids. Encourage them to stand up for others.  Talk to them about those bullies too.  They are hurting on the inside, or they wouldn't be insistent on hurting others.

YIN and YANG.  Take the good with the bad.  ADD the GOOD to the BAD.  Always find a better way.  ALWAYS. I chose this picture, because THIS night we were asked if we'd have another.  I said: "NO. We are done, but if God has other plans, then so be it."  So there it is.  God had ALWAYS had other plans. If he's this Good to us here on earth, then PLEASE be this good in Heaven!!!

True beauty

Ok. I want to talk about TRUE beauty. What is it? Where does it come from?  I’m no expert. I battle with my own demons all the time, but here’s what I’m learning as I get wiser. Here’s what freedom I’m finding in the years under my belt. Beauty radiates from WITHOUT. What you think and feel INSIDE is what is put out to the WORLD. 

My body is not perfect. I have thigh dimples (thank you “friend” in high school for pointing out the obvious).  My stomach has some extra lbs. or LOVE language hanging on.  I have some passport stamps on my body from every journey into motherhood.  4 live births, 1 loss and YEARS of trying.  Those journeys leave a mark in your passport! I’m proud. I’m a traveler. I’ve journeyed far and love the ground I’ve covered. I’m like a perfect weathered leather suitcase. The one that is loved and worn in with years of LOVE under the belt.  New can be nice, but new isn’t always comfortable.

But let’s pause. Let’s reflect. Who do we LOVE? Who do we admire? Who do we gravitate toward? The skin and bones skeleton of women with no personality?  Or do we LOVE that women, who is sexy, self-confident and radiates love and beauty from within? We love what makes us COMFORTABLE.  For goodness sakes!! Kiddos love to SNUGGLE the boobies! The soft squishy parts of us that make us LOVING.  No one wants to snuggle up to a hard cold rock (unless you are Bella and have fallen in love with a vampire.)

We love REAL. We love the Velveteen Rabbit.  We love HONEST (in an non-huring way). We love the kind of woman, who, regardless of whether there are rolls when she bends over to pick up her 4^th child, or waves at a friend as she’s driving with her top on her convertible down…these are women LIVING life.  Not apologizing for it – LIVING it.  Marilyn Monroe was supposedly a “curvy” woman.  Supposeldy a size “8” or higher.  All I know is she w  She was multifaceted. She had LAYERS of intrigue and mystique! She was comfortable in her skin, or if she wasn’t, she led a life like she was!!  We love those “plus size” (shoot me for using the term), actresses who are REAL!!!!  Because they aren’t trying to hide behind perfection. They aren’t trying to hide behind a skeletal semblance of a woman!

Life is short. It is. Stop SELF-HATING. Stop the race to try to reduce your size below your skeletal frame.  Control is not attainable!!  It’s not!! Control isn’t even  MANAGEABLE to be honest! –We can TRY live the PERFECT life – staying out of the sun, working out, eating right etc. etc. and then DIE in a freak accident.

I’d like to posit:  it’s the WAY in which we live our year and the WAY in which we own our bodies (not our bodies owning us), that is the most ATTRACTIVE.  I have to say, there is nothing sexier to me in my life, than seeing my husband in the pool with my kids playing with them. I do not CARE how he looks.  I only care that he’s there.  It’s time we set the egotism aside. It’s time we focused OUTWARD rather than inward and make some significant changes.

So when you are tempted to criticize: “I can’t believe she’s wearing this,” or “I can’t believe she has that many kids,” or  “I’d NEVER do this, say that or wear that,” or “I can’t believe she’s really selling makeup… let’s remember that it criticism is easy. Loving is harder. Loving someone else means that you can love your own flaws enough to love someone else’s’ flaws.  Loving someone else means you are confident in your OWN inn beauty to let someone else’s light shine bright!

True beauty

Ok. I want to talk about TRUE beauty. What is it? Where does it come from?  I’m no expert. I battle with my own demons all the time, but here’s what I’m learning as I get wiser. Here’s what freedom I’m finding in the years under my belt. Beauty radiates from WITHOUT. What you think and feel INSIDE is what is put out to the WORLD. 

My body is not perfect. I have thigh dimples (thank you “friend” in high school for pointing out the obvious).  My stomach has some extra lbs. or LOVE language hanging on.  I have some passport stamps on my body from every journey into motherhood.  4 live births, 1 loss and YEARS of trying.  Those journeys leave a mark in your passport! I’m proud. I’m a traveler. I’ve journeyed far and love the ground I’ve covered. I’m like a perfect weathered leather suitcase. The one that is loved and worn in with years of LOVE under the belt.  New can be nice, but new isn’t always comfortable.

But let’s pause. Let’s reflect. Who do we LOVE? Who do we admire? Who do we gravitate toward? The skin and bones skeleton of women with no personality?  Or do we LOVE that women, who is sexy, self-confident and radiates love and beauty from within? We love what makes us COMFORTABLE.  For goodness sakes!! Kiddos love to SNUGGLE the boobies! The soft squishy parts of us that make us LOVING.  No one wants to snuggle up to a hard cold rock (unless you are Bella and have fallen in love with a vampire.)

We love REAL. We love the Velveteen Rabbit.  We love HONEST (in an non-hurting way). We love the kind of woman, who, regardless of whether there are rolls when she bends over to pick up her 4^th child, or waves at a friend as she’s driving with her top on her convertible down…these are women LIVING life.  Not apologizing for it – LIVING it.  Marilyn Monroe was supposedly a “curvy” woman.  Supposeldy a size “8” or higher.  All I know is she was incredible.  She was multifaceted. She had LAYERS of intrigue and mystique! She was comfortable in her skin, or if she wasn’t, she led a life like she was!!  We love those “plus size” (shoot me for using the term), actresses who are REAL!!!!  Because they aren’t trying to hide behind perfection. They aren’t trying to hide behind a skeletal semblance of a woman!

Life is short. It is. Stop SELF-HATING. Stop the race to try to reduce your size below your skeletal frame.  Control is not attainable!!  It’s not!! Control isn’t even  MANAGEABLE to be honest! –We can TRY live the PERFECT life – staying out of the sun, working out, eating right etc. etc. and then DIE in a freak accident.

I’d like to posit:  it’s the WAY in which we live our year and the WAY in which we own our bodies (not our bodies owning us), that is the most ATTRACTIVE.  I have to say, there is nothing sexier to me in my life, than seeing my husband in the pool with my kids playing with them. I do not CARE how he looks.  I only care that he’s there.  It’s time we set the egotism aside. It’s time we focused OUTWARD rather than inward and make some significant changes.

So when you are tempted to criticize: “I can’t believe she’s wearing this,” or “I can’t believe she has that many kids,” or  “I’d NEVER do this, say that or wear that,” or “I can’t believe she’s really selling makeup… let’s remember that it criticism is easy. Loving is harder. Loving someone else means that you can love your own flaws enough to love someone else’s’ flaws.  Loving someone else means you are confident in your OWN inn beauty to let someone else’s light shine bright!

Minimalist Mom

So today I "got" it.  I got why soap operas and light weight materials have been so successful with women over the years.  It's not because women themselves are mental lightweights.  It's because they are attempting to multi-task a bazillion tasks, which don't allow them to ever watch an episode fully.  Ergo...the next episode must repeate itself somewhat in order for the 10% attention span of the female watcher to comprehend.  Her attention span is limited not because of her learned abilities...but rather, the multiple demands on her attention.

Try cooking dinner for a family, while changing a diaper, holding a bottle, doing homework, checking the internet for homework for your 6th grader, and checking your back office of your business ALL at the same time.  Oh...and the dishes and several loads of laundry going simultaneously.

What to do? Simplify what you can.  Here's what I've found.  I find a "uniform" helps. Not just with my kids.  I LOVE the fact that my boys wear a uniform because it takes the choice and the argument out of the morning!!  SO...I have a uniform too!!!  When I was pregnant, I rotated about 4-5 basic outfits all the time, changing out the jewels and the shoes!  Before I g

ave birth, I knew I'd need another "uniform."  Living in the frozen tundra, I knew I'd need a comfy, yet versatile outfit for everyday! I chose a black velvet pant suit with a cowl neck. The elastic waist was perfect for postpartum, and the shirt easily lifted up for nursing. Plus...the velvet fabric was warm and luxurious.  I change my look with "accessories."

Having a "go-to" outfit every morning eliminated time. Time of thinking, choosing etc. I just PUT IT ON.  Then...I'd have time for my FACE and hair. I wanted people to notice ME and not my outfit!!

Find your "uniform" a great "go-to" outfit in one or several colors. A great coat.  Great shoes and great jewels...eliminate the unnecessary choices and focus on living LIFE!!!

Minimalist LIFE and maximize LIVING!!!

Churro lessons

This past weekend, my oldest son and I traveled to NYC.  We had a blast. In less than 48 hours we crammed as much as we could into sightseeing, bonding and having fun.

We started our trip with some good old NYC negotiations.  My son's jaw dropped as we buzzed out of La Guardia airport for our "ground transportation" to our hotel in Times Square.  Being the good attorney by trade that I am, I did my research before our trip. I knew the standard fee from the airport to Times Square was about $45.00.  My son watched me negotiate. I was firm. I was in control.  I was nice.  He watched another passenger negotiate, but be rude. He saw the fallout from that as well.

The next day, in Central Park, he wanted a churro.  I gave him a $20.00 and went on to take some pictures. When he handed me $7.00 in change I flipped my lid.  I asked him how much the churro was.  He got flustered. I told him he just got taken advantage of. I asked him to go back and get appropriate change. He was too embarrassed.  I get that. I went back...all 5'3" of me and asked the churro man how much he charged, and why on God's Green Earth did he overcharge my son.  Watching my son's face during this encounter was priceless.  He got to see me -- his mom-- be "bad ass" (for real, he used that term).  He told me he was scared for the churro man.  But he learned a valuable lesson.  He learned to be educated. To stand up for oneself. To DEMAND respect and fair dealings.  New York.  Great place to learn such lessons.

The art of "the deal" or negotiating.  It's a THING. A big thing. In life, we will get what we ASK for. What we believe we are worth ASKING for.  What we have the courage to ask for!!!  Such a great lesson to learn and RE-learn at 40+ something!

I had an amazing trip with my son! I love him to the moon and back!  I LITERALLY ran around the town (sometimes blocks in high heels).  We laughed, we cried and we CLAPPED at some amazing Broadway shows.

This past weekend is one I'll NEVER forget!!!