Best of The Glow Girl 2019

It’s hard to believe that in a handful of days, we will be entering a new decade! As I reflect on this past year and how grateful I am for each of you and this glowing, growing community of amazing women we are building together, I want to take a moment to say thank you. None of this would be possible without all of you. Thank you for following and helping me to build this platform that empowers us to live, look and feel fabulous inside and out. I truly love advising on the best products and services in beauty, wellness, style, and travel; sharing information from my own research and experiences to save you time, money and legwork. I know this isn’t a one-way street and I appreciate your tips, lifestyle hacks, and engagement too!

Photo snapped at the Shift, Mind,Body, Soul Retreat in Maui Hawaii.

This past year has been incredibly rewarding! The Glow Girl brand is spreading its wings and growing quickly. I think it all stems from building authentic relationships, first with you, my audience, and also with the brands and partners I love so much! While the majority of my content is editorial (not paid), I occasionally work with sponsored content to keep The Glow Girl going strong. When I work with sponsors, I approach many of my favorite brands directly requesting to collaborate. You will see these marked as sponsors within my blog or my social feeds and can always be sure that I am using and loving their products—I would never jeopardize my relationship with all of you to promote something that I do not support and use myself. That being said, I’ve had the joy of collaborating with so many incredible brands this year like KIND SNACKS, Ritual, Soothe, StriVectin Rachel Zoe Box of Style, Tru Niagen, AYR Skincare and more!

Photo Credit: Stefanie Marie

Collaborating on projects with other supportive women is also super important to me—it’s so rewarding to share accomplishments and work as a team, plus we are always stronger together! This year, I worked closely with Olie Biologique, “best in class” in the world of face oils, to develop the new Golden Ray Glow Drops. #obsessed! Another highlight for me was working with my blogging bestie Janet Gunn, The Grateful Gardenia. From doing some mini infomercials together to her inspiring me to create a few how-to tutorials on IGTV (more of these to come in the new year), I couldn’t ask for a more supportive friend and cohort.

Photo credit: Stefanie Marie, With Janet Gunn, The Grateful Gardenia

I’m also grateful for my incredible contributing editors Elissa Goodman, Lauren Roxburgh, Suze Yalof, Janet Gunn and Anita Rosenberg for sharing their expertise and content on The Glow Girl platform. In addition, I’ve had the pleasure of co-hosting several events this year including a wellness Movement Medicine event with Lauren Roxburgh, educational skin/body care events with Dr. Ava Shamban, and events in NY and LA for the launch of the Golden Ray Glow Drops. One of my most special event highlights of the year was having the privilege to help promote and attend the Shift Mind Body Soul Retreat in Maui (full blog post coming in the New Year)!

Photo credit: Kelly Fogel. At the Shift Mind Body Retreat. Pictured here Nicole Fogel, Erin Lotz, Elissa Goodman, Peter Crone, Lauren Roxburgh, Janet Gunn.

From my first segment for Access Live on Age-defying Women to being an inspirational speaker at the FierceCon conference, I’ve pushed myself out of my comfort zone and as a result have grown from these experiences. Being featured on the homepage of renowned online style magazine Who What Wear, and being dubbed by them as “the most stylish 54-year-old on Instagram,” was another high point. In fact, four of the seven features I wrote for them in 2019 made my own top 10 list below!

As we bid adieu to this decade, I’ve pulled together my top 10 most popular posts of 2019 to share. In the coming year, I’m looking forward to providing more valuable information that helps us to continue glowing wiser together, leading more enhanced lives, and looking and feeling 10 years younger. Bring on 2020!

1. Who What Wear Feature: I’m 54 and Always Get Complimented on My Thick Shiny Hair- Here Are My Secrets

2. 8 Simple Ways to Boost your Metabolism with Celeb Nutritionist Elissa Goodman

3. Who What Wear Feature - A 54-Year-Old Shares 9 Beauty Products That Make Her Look 10 Years Younger

4. Introducing Golden Ray Drops

5. Who What Wear Feature: A Chic 54-Year-Old Shares Her Under $125 Vacation Wardrobe

6. Who What Wear Feature: I’m 54 and These Are the Trends I Will and Won’t Wear

7. The Best in Clean Skin Care and Beauty

8. What’s in my Makeup Bag Now

9. Meet “The Body Whisperer” Lauren Roxburgh

10. Trip to Rome and Southern Italy

What is a Glow Girl?

“A Glow Girl is a woman who feels good in her own skin. She practices kindness, gratitude, and self-love. She embraces new trends that work for her and has a passion for style, health, travel, and wellbeing. She does what it takes to feel and look her best at any age!”

xxMelissa

Mantra Mondays with Janet Gunn, The Grateful Gardenia

If you have been following my blog and my Instagram over the past few years, you can see that I have a blogging bestie who I enjoy spending time with, both in my personal and professional life! If you don’t already know her, say hello to this special glow girl, Janet Gunn, Founder of the incredibly inspiring blog The Grateful Gardenia. We met at a charity luncheon three years ago and have been working together, partnering on projects ever since.

Janet is beautiful inside and out. She started her blog from a place of gratitude and shares her everyday tips and tricks on how to lead a more fulfilled, beautiful life. She also creates the most gorgeous style, beauty, and travel content through her Instagram, stories, articles, and videos, helping women to enrich their everyday lives. I adore her aesthetic and impeccable taste, plus she does everything with grace and style. 

A former Texas girl and Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, Janet has a very colorful resume; having worked as a flight attendant, actress, jewelry designer, and now an LA lifestyle influencer with incredible fashion style. Her latest partnership is a co-branded fashion line with designer Franne Golde.

Check out and shop the Franne Golde X GG designs here!

Recently, Janet launched an inspirational weekly newsletter that you can sign up for to arrive in your inbox every Monday called #MantraMonday. Below are some quotes from her Mantra Monday Instagram posts.

What is #MantraMonday? It's an opportunity for you to kick off your week with some good vibes! Janet takes time each day to get in touch with everything around her, finding a mantra that allows her to connect with abundance. She shows us that by making this connection with the universe your positive affirmations start to play out. Here are some of her favorite mantras, book recommendations, meditation programs, motivational speakers and teachers, and anything else that might energize your week! Subscribe to the #mantramonday newsletter here!

Shop some of Janet’s favorite reads below!

Follow Janet for encouragement on feeling alive, inspired and empowered, whatever your age. I know you will feel her infectious personality through her blog and her social platforms as much as I do. 

The Grateful Gardenia
@JanetGunnGratefulGardenia
IGTV

xxMelissa

Gift Yourself or Someone Special an In-Home Massage This Holiday Season

It’s a super busy time of year where we all seem to be burning the candle at both ends, making sure we have everyone covered for the holiday gifting season! I’m always looking for creative gift ideas and was excited to find out about Soothe, a leader in spa-quality, in-home massages offered when and where you want. Who wouldn’t appreciate the benefits of a relaxing massage, especially when it can be enjoyed without ever leaving the house?! I have many people on my list who would love the chance to hit the pause button for a moment, but between work commitments, social engagements, and travel schedules, it can be a challenge.

Photo credit: Stefanie Marie

Scheduling a massage with Soothe is quick and easy, and can be done from a mobile phone or laptop. You simply open the app or website to choose your appointment day and time, then select what type of massage you want—Traditional Swedish? Deep tissue? 60, 90, or 120 minutes? Decisions, decisions! They also offer a sports massage, as well as couples and prenatal options. A therapist can arrive at your doorstep in as little as an hour!

When giving as a gift, there are a few delivery options. You either personalize an e-massage card to print, or they can email it to your recipient on the date of your choice. If you want to give a wrapped gift, you can also choose a beautifully-packaged massage card by mail.

Click HERE and use the promo code GLOWGIRL to get $25.00 off when you book a massage. Or, purchase a massage card this holiday season for your loved ones!

Photo credit: Stefanie Marie

I had a great experience using Soothe and plan on becoming a regular. My therapist arrived on time, was very professional, and came fully prepared with everything needed to set up a hygienic, spa-like experience in my home—massage table, clean sheets, oils, lotion, and music!

Photo credit: Stefanie Marie

All of the licensed therapists are fully background checked annually, and have completed hundreds of hours of massage training. They are also fully insured with a multi-million dollar protection policy in case of an unexpected injury or home damage. It set my mind at ease knowing that Soothe places trust and safety at the forefront of its business model.

Photo credit: Stefanie Marie

When my session ended, it was a treat to feel relaxed and rejuvenated in the comfort of my home. The healing touch of massage is beneficial to relieve stress, reduce toxins, improve sleep, and enhance immunity. Treating yourself and those you love to the benefits of a Soothe massage is a great gift that is guaranteed to always fit! And, they are available in over 70 cities and four countries!

As the world’s leading on-demand massage platform, Soothe has fully-licensed and certified therapists bring the spa experience directly to your home, hotel, or office. With therapists available from 8am-midnight, seven days a week, this is the perfect solution to ease scheduling woes and meet wellness goals.

Click HERE and use the promo code GLOWGIRL to get $25.00 off a massage this holiday season, so everyone on your list can appreciate a gift of wellness and relaxation.

Thanks to Soothe, finding time for self-care is easy. I love that I can get an amazing massage on demand, and also give it as a gift to someone special. It’s a win-win solution for this high-stress time of year.

xxMelissa

Photo credit: Stefanie Marie

*The post is sponsored by Soothe. All opinions and thoughts are my own.