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The Woman Behind the Scenes of a Medical Breakthrough

Adrienne Papp — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 08:59:37 +0000

Samar Obagi ( Mrs. Obagi) is becoming a Lady

Westsider, Lady Samar Obagi, Tells Her Inspirational Story. A MUST read!

By Adrienne Papp

On a prominent corner of Canon Drive stands one of the most impressive properties in all of Beverly Hills, a gleaming white complex that serves as the world headquarters of Dr. Zein Obagi, the centerpiece of his dermatological and cosmetic empire.

Samar Obagi is the guiding organizational force behind the empire that now includes international distribution of the new ZO line of dermatological products and managing the extensive research and ongoing seminars that have carried the Obagi name to the forefront in the science of healthy skin.

Samar came to the United States as a young girl in search of opportunities in higher education. Born in Damascus, Syria and married at the age of 17, she had relatives in the U.S. and began her education at California State University Long Beach where she obtained degrees in engineering and computer science, and got a Master of Science Degree in electrical engineering, – even though medicine was her original inspiration. With her strong scientific background in engineering she began her career as a flight test engineer for McDonnell Douglas, the first woman to ever hold the position at the company! “ I was the only woman in the field at the time,” she recalls.

Lady Samar Obagi

Her meeting with Dr. Zein Obagi came about through her sister, who was good friends with the doctor. While married to her first husband with whom she had a baby, when Samar developed some hereditary skin issues, she decided to pay Dr. Obagi a professional visit for advice and was taken by surprise when the noted dermatologist expressed an interest in her in the highest of ethical ways, staying modestly in the background. (We only wish gentlemen like this existed today!) The timing happened to be good, as Samar was in the process of ending her first marriage. “Having that bad experience, I thought that I would never get married again, but somehow I thought that if he asked me to marry him I would say yes,” Samar recalls.

Never one to hesitate when he decides that something is right for him, Dr. Obagi expressed his intentions in a few honest and very straight forward words to Samar, (just like he does his practice that I have witnessed over and over again: always upfront, direct, and to the point,) – and the result was that they ended up getting married in a large ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 1991.

Today Samar manages the large Obagi business empire, and supports his every effort as the Director of Operations in research and education for his procedures, which are based on his unique philosophy and a comprehensive system of treatments that are used around the world by millions of dermatologists, plastic surgeons and anyone who has to do with the concept of healthy skin, which all by itself is a NEW DISCOVERY of the 21^st Century by Dr. Obagi. Samar also handles all of the marketing and public relations functions, and is the Chairwoman of the Company for the new line of ZO Skin Health products.

“He is really a revolutionary in terms of promoting healthy skin,” Samar says. “Before he came along dermatology was only concerned with treating diseased skin. He originated procedures like very precise peels that are based on serious research and his own unique artistry, and the results have been astonishing.”

Although Dr. Obagi has achieved great success, he originally got a lot of resistance from the profession due to ignorance and envy. Today his work is so well recognized there are some places like the Philippines where to promote healthy skin is to “Obagi,” it, meaning that his name is being used now as a verb, not as a product label! That’s all a result of Samar’s dedication to brand-building efforts and her marketing savvy, building the Obagi name as the world’s foremost dermatologist into an international icon.

Recently Samar herself was recognized for her contributions in support of her husband’s dedication to skin health and beauty, receiving the honor of knighthood, as presented by the Imperial and Charitable Order of Constantine the Great and Saint Helen at a recent Investiture ceremony held on October 22, 2011 in Pasadena, California where Dukes, Princes and Dignitaries attended the medieval-type of ceremony. On hand for the ceremonial honors where the Obagi’s friends from Norway, Jarl Bunaes, Unn Bunaes, Bjorn Bunaes, Anne Bunaes, as well as some of the Obagi’s children Serene Obagi, Sandra Obagi, and Zein Obagi Jr. (It must be noted that a naturally striking beauty like Serene in her late teens now, can be found maybe once every ten years if we are lucky! She certainly follows the footsteps of her mother, but has such a stunning appearance that the room went breathless. All of the Obagi’s off-springs are to remember, but Serene being in her young adult age is too unique for anyone to EVER forget! In medical school with a supermodel appearance! I wonder how many times in a century that happens!)

Lady Samar

Now, Lady Samar Obagi’s induction into the oldest and original knighthood makes her part of a world-wide organization that has historic roots going back to the year 312 A.D. (thus being the first Order even in the World and invited by the Pope himself for its 1,700 year anniversary next year!) The current order of modern Knights and Ladies, such as those honored by the Order of Constantine the Great and Saint Helen, who is considered the Mother of Christianity, are people selected from all walks of life and professions who have demonstrated a dedication to exceptional chivalric values, including dedication, ethics, commitment, education, the need to contribute to a greater good, and even the arts and medicine, which is what Dr. Obagi does with the human skin and which Lady Samar has been promoting in the world. Mrs. Obagi’s becoming a Lady, or as more commonly referred to in America, Dame Samar Obagi, not only recognizes her for her unparalleled abilities all by herself as an independent and very intelligent woman, but all the while it’s maintaining a sense of those great traditional noble values that have become more necessary today that ever. Samar’s husband Dr. Zein Obagi has been given the title “Sir,” while Mrs. Samar Obagi received the title of “Lady.”

For Sir Dr. Zein Obagi and his wife, Lady Samar, the honor of Knighthood is an appreciation and recognition of their ongoing commitment to making the world a better place to live. Their efforts in promoting the science of healthy skin has tremendously improved the self-esteem and enhanced the physical appearance of appreciative clients around the world. One of those people who got their “brand new skin” is me and although I am passed the age of “no return” (as they would say without Dr. Obagi,) I am now required to show my identification card just about wherever I go. When people see that I am indeed 46 years old, they almost faint taken that they did not even want to serve me a glass of wine. To achieve such dramatic results is ART by Dr. Obagi! And, to achieve the worldwide recognition is ART by Lady Samar!

As Dr. Zein Obagi continues his mission to revolutionize the science of promoting healthy skin, wife Dame Samar is a stunning example of how successful his methods can be. With a lovely, youthful face that doesn’t require any makeup, Samar is a classically beautiful woman who proves that healthy skin is really the most beautiful cosmetic of all. “I’m just delighted that things turned out the way they did,” she says, barely looking 25 while almost twice that age with NO makeup whatsoever!

And now that the children are raised, she is in the process of pursuing her real passion of becoming a doctor herself and is enrolled in medical school at UCLA in Los Angeles. It’s a lifelong dream she is now in the process of fulfilling. “My father always wanted this for me, and I wanted it for myself. I feel like I can finally do that for him and for me as if we were one.” As I listen to her my eyes dwell up with tears. Here is a stunningly gorgeous woman with such drive, ambition, and true dedication that one just wants to hug her for the inspiration she gives to others! A ravishing woman of her own, with a beautiful soul dedicated to the well being of all those around her is something that touches all of us to our very core! If only SOME would be like her, we ALREADY would have achieved half of what the world needs: compassion!

At the age of 49 not looking any older than 25, being probably the “oldest” medical student, Lady Samar Obagi is an inspiration to women everywhere for her inherent intelligence, dedication and beauty, a shining example of what the word “Lady” truly means!

Dr. Obagi and Mrs. Obagi

About the Author of This Article: Lady Adrienne Papp is a recognized journalist who has written for many publications including Savoir, Beverly Hills 90210, Malibu Beach, Santa Monica Sun, The Beverly Hills Times, Brentwood News, Bel-Air View,Celebrity Society,Celeb Staff, It Magazine, Chic Today, LA2DAY, West Side Todayamong many others. She is the President and CEO of Los Angeles / New York-based publicity company, Atlantic Publicityand publishing house, Atlantic Publisher. Adrienne writes about world trends, Quantum Physics, entertainment and interviews celebrities, world leaders, inventors, philanthropists and entrepreneurs. She also owns Atlantic United Films that produces and finances true stories made for theatrical release or the silver screen. Spotlight News Magazineis owned by Atlantic United, Incwith Adrienne Pappbeing the majority shareholder.

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The New Trilogy That is Taking Hollywood by Storm: Siren

Adrienne Papp — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:29:03 +0000

Justin Burgess, Director of Siren

By Adrienne Papp

NOTE: ( The reproduction of this material is strictly prohibited without publisher’s consent as per copyright laws)

Maybe nothing in the history of human creativity has had the enduring dramatic power of the classic stories told in Greek mythology. The characters and themes in these immortal tales have informed and entertained humanity for centuries, and have provided the story structures that have become a part of our life experiences ever since.

It’s no surprise then that much of our enduring entertainment, including fiction, poetry, dance and film, is based on classic Greek mythology. Those heroic stories are the foundation for virtually every form of artistic expression, a connection that has lasted for many hundreds, if not thousands of years.

Which brings us to an exciting new incarnation of classic Greek storytelling, a filmmaking venture called Siren, which incorporates the classic mythological elements of the Iliad and the Odyssey in a contemporary setting, and humanizes the stories in a way that everyone can relate to.

Siren tells the story of a young woman, Kira, who has a rocky relationship with her mother, Claire, and whose world is turned upside down by tragedy. Kira, played by Dina Cataldi, loses her mother and only then finds out she is a Siren. The Sirens, a group which included her mother and now includes Kira, have the duty of protecting the goddess Persephone, played by Eileen Alana.

Eileen Alana, Actress

At Claire’s funeral, Kira meets her estranged uncle and is informed about a world that is invisible to mortals. Kira rejects this news, but is then thrown into a scenario of challenging dramatic events, where she begins to discover more about her identity and her new role as a Siren. The events have been instigated by Persephone after she decides to leave the bondage that her husband Hades (Mark Tallman) and mother Demeter (Maria Di Angelis) have imposed on her for the past 2,000 years.

It is through the help of Leslie that Persephone is able to escape both the Sect, a dangerous and possessed group of demons who are loyal to her father Hades, and the Scopuli, the powerful army controlled by her mother. Upon Persephone’s escape, Hades and Demeter violently reignite their rivalry, which jeopardizes the fate of the world. Hades coerces the Greek hero Odysseus (Anthony St. James), to help track Persephone down and bring her back. But Hades intent is treacherous, as he decides to kill his wife, usurp her power and use an ancient power to resurrect all of the Gods.

Jaeme Griffin, Producer

Siren contains dramatic themes of self-discovery and a longing for freedom that everyone can relate to, and combines the powerful elements of Greek drama with a humanity that brings all the characters to life as fully realized beings, a connection extending from antiquity to the modern day. Never before have the classic elements of tragedy and redemption been told in such a beautiful and emotionally touching way. Siren is the story of a woman finding her freedom and empowering herself. In breaking through, Kira also is able to free her parents from the eternal mythological cycle, as she finally bridges the gap between immortals and normal human beings.

Siren tries to bring these life lessons to its audience, portraying the feeling and emotions that are common to everyone, but with all the action and passion that are found in a heroic movie. “Siren combines the sweetness of self-realization and freedom with an action story. There is literally something in this story for everyone,” says Director Justin Burgess.

Though the story is classic and the actors all highly talented and committed to the project, it’s never easy getting a production like Siren to its intended audience. Intended to be a trilogy, this high concept film is projected as the first installment in a 3-part series that would put it in the same high profile category as films like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, or The Matrix. “This material is so strong that it will not only change the way that people look at Greek mythology, it will also change the way they look at the current day and the way that films are made,” say Burgess. “There really hasn’t been anything done like this before, something that captures the full spectrum and spectacle of action films, including intense drama, and yet also has the sweetness of a chick flick. Siren seamlessly incorporates all of those elements.”

Dina Cataldi, Actress, Characters Creator

The characters of Siren were created by Dina Cataldi, who was inspired by the idea of projecting the stories of classic Greeks myths into the modern day. Working with assistance from director Justin Burgess, who got involved to fulfill a promise to direct her, they have been able to create a world of action and drama that also includes many emotional human elements. It’s a project whose time has come, and judging from the dedication involved in the production, the final result will be something unlike any other film project. “We had to approach this effort fearlessly,” says Burgess. “I told the team before we started that we can’t be involved in this as just friends, we have to become family. That means in the sense that you wouldn’t do anything to hurt your family or let your family down, we will not disappoint each other in the realization of this film. We are all committed to putting this story out as a first rate viewing experience, something that you will be talking about long after you leave the theater.”

There are countless stories in the filmmaking business about success through perseverance, actors like Jeremy Piven and a stream of projects that were unsuccessful until they were able to find exactly the right role or combination of elements that allowed them to break through and become successful. Siren is a project that intends to overcome all obstacles, an inspired concept that has been buoyed up by the sheer enthusiasm and talent of its actors and production staff, and it continues to gain momentum. Jaeme Griffin, the executive producer, considered by director Burgess as a “parachute of all times” has been demonstrating to overcome insurmountable obstacles almost daily. She is the dream of all production team. “ I never think in terms of problems, but rather solutions. Everything can be talked about and everything has a solution to it with the proper communication” says Jaeme. (Listening to her, it feels like there is no one who would not need her!)

Siren Production

With a strong premise in terms of the film’s theme, a robust script that involves five lead characters and fifteen supporting actors in the cast, and the exotic-but-familiar context of Greek mythology, Siren has a lot going for it. “We’re actually taking mythological characters and continuing their story in the modern world,” Burgess explains. “This film features heroic female lead characters who are involved in a typical underdog story; it’s the person who you least expect to win the day that comes through in the end. This is based on textbook Iliad and Odyssey themes, and is also an action film with enough female-oriented human drama to play on the Lifetime Channel after the big screen.”

Sirenis slated to run about 2 hours and 17 minutes, and a teaser with some of the film’s action elements has just been finished. In the teaser, we see a version of how Hades is brought to life (on a reduced scale) and the longing of an imprisoned Persephone looking for freedom. We also see a pivotal character and sub-plot between Castor (Martin Harvey) and Sophia, as well as some of the action elements that will be fully developed in the feature version of the film. “Creating the feeling of the immense power of Hades was the best way to get some of the feel of the film across, and this short piece is visually striking due in no small part to the production efforts of Mitchell Lipsiner and Wilmar Luna,” says Director Burgess.

Maria Di Angelis, Actress

The first installment in the Siren trilogy is budgeted at approximately $40-58M, with a projected worldwide gross somewhere north of $600 million. “That’s not a bad return on investment,” Burgess says. “We’re very committed to making sure the vision we have makes it intact to our audience and it’s almost like this project has become its own force of nature, where people just show up out of nowhere when needed and it just continues to gather momentum. I’ve never been involved in a filmmaking experience like this before; the commitment and energy with this group is completely unique.”

With its universal themes and epic scope, Siren is conceived as a film that will stand the test of time, classic themes being told in a classic film style fully mounted in a contemporary setting. Its humanized mythology projected into a modern context offers the broadest possible appeal, and the film is certain to resonate with a broad spectrum of movie lovers everywhere.

There are a number of Westsiders in this movie, including Adrienne Papp of Spotlight and Atlantic Publicity, the number one firm on the Westside of Los Angeles.

“ We are all here to make this movie known to all who look for class, experience, and a real touchable charm that is so hard to find these days. Something you can hang onto and think about after you immersed yourself in this classic yet modern drama,” says Adrienne who lives in Santa Monica.

Siren Teaser

Martin Harvey, Actor

Mark Tallman, Actor

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The Definition of a Modern Knight: Sir Dr. Zein Obagi

Adrienne Papp — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:19:27 +0000

Dr. Zein Obagi is being knighted into Sir Dr. Zein Obagi

By Adrienne Papp

Dr. Zein Obagi, MD, a world-renowned dermatologist and true visionary in the science of skin care, has received many honors in his life, but has also been recently recognized for the greatest honors of all: Knighthood! He is now part of a historic regal tradition that goes back 1700 years in recognition for his ongoing contributions to the science of medicine in skin health, and also to mankind.

Since creating the dermatological concept of improving skin health in 1983, where before the emphasis had simply been on treating diseased skin, Dr. Obagi’s innovative skincare solutions and techniques have fundamentally changed the way people now think about skin and its health. Instead of only treating damaged skin, or using superficial creams, Dr. Obagi has focused on creating and maintaining healthy skin continuously with a complete portfolio of a skincare concept and solutions called ZO Skin Health. These new scientifically accurate solutions, combined with Dr. Obagi’s techniques, now offer real answers for skin that will remain continually youthful, – a contribution that has earned him Knighthood and the title of Sir Zein Obagi, MD! His products are not commercialized, or full of empty “promises,” but ones that truly work and what MOST well known doctors offer in their offices simply because they know these are the BEST they can find anywhere. You can see the results on your skin and how it wakes up the cells! Your skin actually reacts visibly, while department-store-sold cosmetics, even though brilliantly marketed, are not allowed to stimulate the cells enough for them to actually react and start working!

Sir Dr. Zein Obagi has received Knighthood

Some of the revelation of Dr. Obagi’s success can be attributed to his breakthrough discoveries in what was once referred to as a “blue peel,” and which he now calls the ZO Controlled Depth Peel. This is a very intensive and never before procedure that is designed to go under the epidermis to remedy any unhealthy skin condition, such as a rough texture or severe wrinkling. Although the concept of this process has ancient origins, going back to the Egyptian Pharaohs in a very primitive form, it was Dr. Obagi who made the peel process a very precise and scientific one, resulting in a perfect, beautiful, glowing complexion customized for each individual patient.

However, the word, “peel” is widely misconceived today, not only by the wrong use of not only the expression itself, but also of the true meaning of the procedure. For “scrubbing” just the surface of the skin is not a peel, and it is certainly not what Dr. Obagi is talking about! That surface “peel” as they call it is nothing more than a microdermabrasion, if even that! One can do such “scrubbing” at home with the ZO skin care line. The blue peel however goes much, much deeper.

Sir Dr. Zein Obagi, a Certified and Official Knight

The key ingredient in the ZO Controlled Depth Peel is trichloracetic acid (or TCA). It has previously been used in dermatology for removing unwanted skin conditions, but in a very uncontrolled way. Dr. Zein Obagi took this ingredient and used it in a highly scientific approach to get down below the epidermis, using precisely measured concentrations of TCA and application times. “Depth of the application was the key,” Dr. Obagi says, “and through much research we were able to control the use of the treatment to many different levels of the skin. What amount, what duration, to what depth? All of these questions were crucial, yet none of them were answered at the time. Nobody knew. I then added some color, the color blue as in the blue peel, so that we could see very clearly where it was working. I myself was the first patient, so I knew exactly what was happening, and how the skin would react.” And, this very fact is indicative of just who Dr. Obagi is, both as a doctor and a person. It is not another patient Dr. Obagi wants, it is his continuous quest and commitment to new heights and discoveries in science, which drives mankind further ahead: out with the old paradigm and in with the new! Better solutions and resolutions that actually work! That is why people come and visit him from around the world!

But just doing a very precise peel directed at a specific skin level isn’t enough to guarantee beautiful results. Before the treatment, Dr. Obagi’s patients also undergo a full one-month TAILORED treatment to prepare the patient for the peel procedure,- taken that we are all different. Dr. Obagi does not have a “one fits for all”, nor he would want to. This is partially why he is more successful than anyone else. As a footnote: I have worked with Dr. Obagi for years and just had the blue peel for the first time. After the peel I saw my physician unrelated to the matter, but who sees me at least once a year! Unbeknownst to him about the blue peel, he said: “your skin does not even look like you are 21 years of age. It looks better than 21. Much better! What happened?” This statement coming from a doctor I highly respect, and who has known me for 18 years not only made my day, but when they would not allow me into a red carpet event I was invited to, and refused to serve me wine at the age of 46, it was a blessing I cannot describe!

Selena Obagi, Lady Adrienne Papp and Sir Dr. Obagi

There are several layers of the ZO blue peel process, namely five. Dr. Obagi decides based on each person what depth is needed. Mine was depth number four. A ZO Controlled Depth Peel process is followed up with stimulation, which encourages the skin cells to regenerate themselves and replace the older cells that have been removed during the treatment. “We provide treatment both before the peel and afterwards to ensure maximum effectiveness,” Dr. Obagi says. “This is very different from others offering a peel with a very superficial and unscientific approach. Only the ZO Controlled Depth Peel is a precise process that offers maximum effectiveness. I would say that if a patient was to have one of my peels every 4 to 5 years, and take care of their skin otherwise, their skin would never age.” (This is statement I know to be true looking at my own face. Dr. Obagi’s Controlled Depth Peel actually saved me from an eyelid surgery.)

Dr. Obagi is the only doctor in Beverly Hills who has received the honor of Knighthoodat an Investiture ceremony in Pasadena, California. His Knighthood makes him part of the oldest original Order in the World going back to the year 312 A.D originating from the Roman Empire!

Classic tales of knights have long been used in movies using George Lucas’ version of Jedi Knights in the movieStar Wars, or the movie First Knight starring Richard Gere, which retells the timeless tale of King Arthur and the legend of Camelot starring Sir Sean Connery as King Arthur, Richard Gere as Sir Lancelot (knighted by the King, just as today) and Julia Ormond as the king’s young wife, Guinevere. In the film Arthur is reluctant to hand the crown to Lancelot (that is the power of a Knight carried through history,) and Guinevere is torn between her loyalty to her husband and her growing love for his rival, the young Knight, Lancelot. Lancelot must balance his loyalty to the throne with the rewards of true love. A very humane story, yet a very applicable one. A knight, who becomes a “Sir” balances his contribution to the world, while adding to it his commitment to those who look up to him for guidance and answers! Just like we do to Dr. Obagi. I trust him with my life and so does every one of his patience. There will be no artificial look with Dr. Obagi, nor some quick fix that lasts for a week. It will be young, fresh, healthy skin that will glow till the rest of your life if you take care of it!

The Investiture Dinner on October 22, 2011 in Los Angeles

Classic knighthood ideals always aspire to courage, loyalty and honor, and traditionally noble titles come from heads of royal families, called a “royal house,” a dynastic family holding hereditary royal titles and privileges usually based upon modern or ancient geographical rulership, even if that royal dynastic family does not currently rule a nation in modern times.

In America our fascination with knighthood can be seen in colloquial titles bestowed upon celebrities like Elvis, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Michael Jackson, and the naming of mononymic star, Prince, although not in an official and REAL ROYAL WAY! This type of “royalty” here is a mere matter of speech. When movie actress Grace Kelly became Princes Grace of Monaco, America celebrated. An example of the most recent royal sensation, our infatuation with Kate Middleton, a commoner who became a Princess, only adds to the ongoing enchantment of the role of royalty in the modern day. But, what Sir Dr. Obagi achieved is the same as Sir Richard Branson, a brilliant adventurer, as he calls himself, and of course a great entrepreneur; Sir Ben Kinsley, Sir Paul McCartney and the list goes to those the World knows by heart!

Although the USA has no formal association with knighthood or royalty due to its short history (the country being only about 300 years old) while Europe has thousands of years of history with monarchs, it has been decided that private citizens in this country who are exemplary can be honored with knighthood for their chivalric contributions to the betterment of mankind. Other examples of this include the honorary knighthoods granted by Queen Elizabeth II to former Presidents Reagan and Bush and to retired/retiring Generals Norman Schwartzkopf and Colin Powell. A legitimate noble title always has a legitimate royal source called a Fonhonorum (Latin: “source of honor,” the “fountainhead” from which the legitimate title is issued).

The current order of modern Knights and Ladies are people selected from various professions who have demonstrated a dedication to traditional chivalric values, including dignity; honesty; ethical conduct; education; in cases, military service; discoveries; contribution to the world at large; and in general goals that are noble in nature – all the while maintaining a sense of those great traditional values that have become more necessary today than ever before. These honorees, like Sir Dr. Zein Obagi, have been given the title “Sir,” or for women “Dame,” as with Dame Elizabeth Taylor, or Dame Barbara Walters, as more popularly expressed in Europe: “Lady” expressly for these noble values.

Regardless to which Order one belongs to, the modern Knights and Ladies of the 21st Century are by sworn oath required to uphold certain traditional and historic values, which however they have already demonstrated during their whole life. That is why they qualified to this most exceptional honor. During the ceremonies of investiture, the members pledge themselves to the Duke, Grand Master, and to the Constitution of the Order to follow its ideals of personal honor and courage thus setting examples in the world.

Sir Dr. Zein Obagi Lecturing to thousands of doctors worldwide

Though based in old world values, forward-thinking technologies are also part of the heritage of royal orders. A recent example is the work of England’s Prince Charles not needing to be knighted, as he was born into privilege thus carrying the royal title already, is strongly committed to historic projects like restoring old castles in Europe while at the same time promoting the most recent green technologies like solar energy, organic farming, hydrogen energy sources and other self-sustaining principles. He is currently developing a high concept eco-friendly model village for poor people in India that will include schools, shops, and 3,000 homes, allegedly inspired after seeing the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire. This multi-million-dollar venture will be placed on a 25-acre wasteland on the outskirts of either Kolkata or Bangalore. Features of the town will include oversized roofs with overhanging palm trees to collect rainwater to use for showering, shade and natural ventilation systems to combat the high temperatures.

For Sir Dr. Zein Obagi, Knighthood is an appreciation and recognition of his ongoing commitment to making the world a better place to live in, and helping countless amount of individuals around the World through his work! His vision has been resulting in millions of people now having access to treatments that allow healthy, beautiful skin they only dreamt about. By offering this innovative advancement in the science of healthy skin, he has tremendously improved the self-esteem and enhanced the physical appearance to the gratefulness of his clients internationally!

As Sir Dr. Obagi continues to explore the scientific possibilities of improving the appearance and health of skin, the Order of which he is now a part also remains actively committed to making the world a better place to live. Since 2005, the Order of Knighthood has raised and donated many hundreds of thousands of dollars and will continue to do so to help the less fortunate, which was the original idea already at conception. The Order now has a growing presence in 13 countries and has been publicized in the press around the world. Next year the Order will visit the Vatican to celebrate the seventeenth-hundred anniversary of its founding in 312 A.D. While no longer required to maintain a “battle-trained horse, three lances and armor in good repair,” the Ladies and Knights of this Imperial and Sovereign Order will continue to grow and prosper expanding their influence and chivalric values everywhere.

I had the honor and great privilege to be appointed in January of 2011 as the exclusive worldwide publicist (or as in the old language, Public Officer) to the Order. Only through personal recommendation can an extraordinary person be invested into the Order as a Knight or a Lady. And after my 15 years of knowing and understanding the work of Sir Dr. Obagi and his lovely and dedicated wife, Lady Samar, I am proud to announce their honorable recognition as extraordinary citizens of the World!

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How the Reality of Death Motivated Steve Jobs’ Life…

Adrienne Papp — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 04:39:12 +0000

…And Changed the World!

Steve Jobs

By Adrienne Papp

In 1976, two young college dropouts with a vision, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, created the first consumer-oriented personal computer in a garage in Mountain View, Calif. They had sold a van and two calculators to raise $1300 to start the business, which they called Apple. Like a lot of other entrepreneurial stories, this one had less than a modest beginning, yet Apple, through Wozniak’s genius for computer design and Jobs’ product vision ended up becoming the single most valuable company in the world in many sense of the word. But the legacy of Steven Paul Jobs of Apple can’t be measured strictly in terms of just dollars and cents. Not only he was a Buddhist, which made him see the larger picture and not just the daily tasks, but also he lived with a goal and mission in mind every day. The legacy he leaves behind is more about the vision and inextinguishable flame of the creative spirit, which all by itself is genius that drove him on a narrow path hardly understood by many. The determination and commitment that this very narrow path calls for is not for everyone. But this very depth of consciousness, which made him reevaluate his course continuously and live up to his own, rather than other’s expectations, is what made Steve Jobs the single biggest genius of our time changing not only the course of technology but mankind.

When Steve Jobs died on October 5, it was a reminder that true greatness can often come from the most unexpected places. He was born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco and was given up for adoption by graduate student Joanne Schieble. Insisting that her son be raised by college graduates, the baby boy was to be adopted by an attorney, but when the couple decided they wanted a girl, her son was adopted by the family of Paul and Clara Jobs of Mountain View, a working class couple with no college background.

Committed to sending their son to college, as mandated by the birthmother, the Jobs devoted their life saving to sending Steve to Reed College in Oregon. That didn’t make sense to Jobs, as he noted in a famous commencement speech given at Stanford University in 2005:

“I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.”

Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak

One of the classes he took was calligraphy, which had a direct influence on the interface we now see on our personal computers:

“Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating. Ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.”

If Steve Wozniak was a true computer genius in terms of circuit board design, it was Jobs who had the vision to see how that could be translated into products that were easy to use and able to transform our personal lives. Jobs could take an idea and run with it and create something that would be, in his words, “insanely great.”

The creative legend of Steve Jobs, Apple, and the personal computer began in 1979, when the 24-year old entrepreneur visited Xerox PARC, the research arm of Xerox Corporation and experimental laboratory of technology concepts in the Silicon Valley. There he observed new concept that was the forerunner of the modern mouse. At Xerox PARC, the mouse was a clunky device in a primitive format. But Jobs realized its potential and transformed it into something elegant and functional. Now it’s impossible to think of operating a personal computer without one.

Steve Jobs has been called the Edison of our time, and while Apple may not have been the first company to come up with a breakthrough concept, it was Jobs who had the vision to craft the technology into something with an almost mystical sense of cool. Apple didn’t invent the mp3 player, a company called Audio Highway did. But when Steve Jobs said during a product introduction in 2001 that “to have your whole music library with you at all times is a quantum leap in listening to music” and then pulled the iPod out of his jeans pocket, it became obvious that this was a defining moment in technology, that in creating the iPod Jobs had transcended all existing technology. It first occurred to me about 16 years ago when I was buying a million CDs just to be able to combine a library of music I liked by recording one or two songs of each CD to a cassette tape at the time. I thought to myself: am I the only one who does not want to listen to a whole CD and needs to keep on changing CDs to get the music she wants?

Likewise, Apple didn’t invent the online music store, someone named Ivan J. Parron did. But it was Jobs who brokered the deals with record companies to allow iTunes to become the number one music retailer in the world after its introduction in 2003, eventually selling more than 10 billion songs.

And then there is the iPhone. Apple didn’t invent the first smartphone. IBM, Nokia and other companies had the technology first. But under Job’s direction Apple’s iPhone redefined what a phone should be, a touch screen device that allows you to carry your “life in your pocket,” as he said when he introduced it in 2007. Personally, although I consider myself very lucky and blessed in life with a tremendous amount of joy, trials, triumphs and tribulations, I still say that the best thing that has ever happened to me was the IPhone.

Jobs and Wozniak

The lesson we can take from Steve Jobs’ visit to Xerox PARC and the products he created based on formative technology is that being first isn’t nearly as important as being great. It’s always better to be the best and Jobs’ defining genius came from taking ideas in their initial, primitive formats and transforming them into unique products of elegant functionality.

As he continued to refine the technology and products that would change our lives, he came up against an adversary that he couldn’t outthink or transform. Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent surgery in 2004, and eventually needed a liver transplant. Those encounters with his own mortality helped shape his views of life and death, a perspective he shared in a remarkable 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University. It wasn’t a rousing speech full of encouragement and rah-rah spirit. Instead it was serious and philosophical, as Jobs urged the graduates to remember that the future is uncertain and that death could be just around the corner, and that life should be a journey of following your heart. In the speech he said “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

His burning desire for greatness began early as Jobs told the students “When I was 17 I read a quote that went something like, ‘If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you will most certainly be right.’ It made an impression on me. And since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I needed to change something.”

Adrienne Papp, Jennifer C, Stephen Wozniak, Bob O and Mrs. Wozniak

Parts of this speech are as important as any of the consumer products that Steve Jobs gifted us with during his brilliant career. He will be remembered for words like these long after the life of his creations: “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose! You are already naked; there is no reason not to follow your heart. No one wants to die … and yet, death is the destination we all share. Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It’s life’s change agent.”

He added: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”

Steve Jobs parting words to Stanford’s graduating class of 2005 were “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

I believe that Jobs’ biggest contribution yet to the world were these words: “Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It’s life’s change agent.” I believe that living with this simple axiom every day would make every single person bring out the best she/he can be on Earth. With this one sentence Steve Jobs summarized what I am trying to convey in my writings, what Oprah Winfrey is talking about every day, what quantum physics teach us, what the chaos theory, which we still just starting to understand explains, and what every working man and woman in whichever profession is trying to do every day IF they are conscious enough: become the best they can be! That is the biggest contribution to mankind a human can achieve! Stay hungry for it! Or, as Jobs put it: Stay hungry! Period!

Every Day Counts

The great test of genius is its longevity, and as some of the most famous people in the world offer words that celebrate the life of Steve Jobs, from Presidents to Bill Gates to Mark Zuckerberg to George Lucas, the people who have helped define our modern world, it is the message that Jobs himself left that rings out the loudest and will be remembered longest:

“Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition,” he said to those Stanford grads, “they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” And, if these metaphysical words (also wrongly used at times as “spirituality”) do not ring a bell with you from a straight out scientist with world changing technology inventions then nothing will ever do!

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Beyond the Breaking Point

Adrienne Papp — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 04:31:26 +0000

Surviving an Abusive Mother and Getting a Life Abundant

Debra Pauli

By Adrienne Papp

Life, even under the best of conditions, is often extremely harsh. Even those who live a charmed one suffer their share of pain, disappointment and loss as life takes its toll on even the most privileged among us. As if there was always something to “pay for.”

But imagine what it would be like to start out a life in an atmosphere of total fear, humiliation and hopelessness, to be deprived of the joys of childhood, to be brutalized and taunted from birth and treated as evil by the people who were responsible to love and nurture you — your parents? That was the torture inflicted on Debra Pauli from birth, a case of parental brutalization so severe that it has been documented as one of the worst child abuse cases in U.S. history, which puzzles the mind even more: an innocent baby is “made to pay” for something that she does not even know about. Instead of unconditional love, she receives unconditional hate.

“My Mother had no time or tolerance for her daughters, me or my sister Danielle, who was born eleven months after I was in 1962. Both of us were kept isolated in separate small closets as infants and in the basement as toddlers. The meager food we received was placed in a bowl on the stairs, as if we were pets.”

Physical torture was continual and included cigarette burns and the use of pharmaceutical drugs (four doses of valium per day) to keep Debra quiet. “I was fed an assortment of pills beginning when I was about two years old. My mother had convinced a doctor that she needed adult prescription drugs for her stress, which then she used these drugs to keep me sedated,” Debra says.

Debra Pauli lived every day of her childhood being demonized by her mother and was psychologically and physically tortured well into adolescence. Yet through sheer willpower she was able to survive the horrendous abuse. It’s a story that has drawn a lot of national attention, a childhood drama worthy of an uplifting Lifetime Channel biography. And the best part is that there is no tragic ending. Instead, Debra Pauli was able to triumph over her nightmares and become recognized as an inspiration and champion for victims everywhere, an author, motivational speaker and role model for us all.

Debra at Her 50th Birthday

How is this possible? How can someone with such a horrific history become such a guiding light for abused and downtrodden souls everywhere?

Debra’s early life has been published in a series of candid autobiographical books, searing personal memoirs that reveal a life of unspeakably sadistic treatments as a child. Hers was a nightmare that began at birth as Debra was branded “The Devil’s Daughter” by her paranoid schizophrenic mother.

But that’s all behind her. The most important part of her life is what’s happening now. She has been able to share her survival story and healing process as she has become recognized by the public as a respected and truly extraordinary woman who has the strength that is almost impossible to obtain and yet maintain, especially at her age, and on top of it all, she was able to rely upon this higher calling her entire life! Against all odds, Debra Pauli faced daily torture, along with numerous near death experiences from birth, yet somehow survived to be able to share her message of hope with us all!

“One day I heard a tiny but powerful voice inside me say that things would be all right, a voice telling me that ‘It’s not you, it’s her, your mother” Debra recalls. “If it hadn’t been for that message, I don’t know if I could have survived my crazed mother. Something deep inside me told me that there was something better for me, that my mother’s hatred would not destroy me. My mother could physically and emotionally torment me, but she would NEVER take away my will to survive, but only make it stronger.”

When she finally gained freedom from her horrendous home life, Debra ran into a new set of problems, getting pregnant in her freshman year of high school. “My first husband was also physically abusive,” Debra says. “In my ninth month of pregnancy, he pushed me out of a moving car. During an argument, he leaned over while driving and opened the passenger door and shoved me out. I rolled down into a ditch while desperately trying to protect the life of my unborn child.”

With an indomitable will to succeed, Debra finally got her GED and, though busy raising four sons and taking care of her family, still found time to pursue a higher education, earning a 3.7 to 4.0 GPA and degrees for Graphic Arts/Word Processing and Psychology/Sociology thru a State University. She was finally on track to a healthier, more productive life. There were still numerous pitfalls to be overcome, however, and, after a divorce from her first husband, Debra was to suffer through two more disastrous relationships, including a sham marriage to a man who turned out to be a closet homosexual.

Tormented by the memories of daily childhood terror, torture and near-death experiences, Debra began exorcising the demons of her early life in a series of books, including A Survivor’s Closet, And Then There Was Light – My Spiritual Cleansing, and Why We Cry for a Soul Set Free. The books are brutally honest accounts of Debra’s childhood, and were part of the process of liberating herself from her horrors.

The unlikely ending to this horrific story of torment and abuse is that today Debra has become one of the most sought-after motivational speakers in the country. Through her cathartic presentation of raw passion and brutal honesty, she is a living example of perseverance as the key to survival. Her searing life story is testimony to the incredible amount of courage needed to survive even catastrophic child abuse cases. Triumphing over her imposed demons, instead of escaping into drugs or alcohol, she has become the successful role model who now inspires others to overcome life’s harshest realities.

Against all odds, Debra Pauli is now a highly successful businesswoman, best-selling author and life coach who can teach others, as individuals or in groups, not only how to survive harsh realities, but also how to become successful, decent, passionate and loving humans. Her story is one for the ages, and is now attracting the attention of Hollywood for development as a feature film or television mini-series.

Through her efforts to honestly expose her life in books, speaking performances and seminars for small, medium and large corporations, Debra Pauli has become an inspiration to us all, a legend who can show us that, no matter how big our life problems are, we can not only survive, but also make our dreams come true.

Debra Pauli’s story gives us hope and courage. Her triumph over horrific adversities is a message that she now shares with people in desperate need of a voice of encouragement or better known as “One Survivor’s Voice for Millions of Silent Victims”. Through her books, speaking tours and a feature film in the making, we can all be grateful that Debra Pauli is not only a survivor, but also is able to share a personal message that can make the world a much better place for us all.

About the Author of This Article: Lady Adrienne Papp is a recognized journalist who has written for many publications including Savoir, Beverly Hills 90210, Malibu Beach, Santa Monica Sun, The Beverly Hills Times, Brentwood News, Bel-Air View,Celebrity Society,Celeb Staff, It Magazine, Chic Today, LA2DAY, West Side Todayamong many others. She is the President and CEO of Los Angeles / New York-based publicity company, Atlantic Publicityand publishing house, Atlantic Publisher. Adrienne writes about world trends, Quantum Physics, entertainment and interviews celebrities, world leaders, inventors, philanthropists and entrepreneurs. She also owns Atlantic United Films that produces and finances true stories made for theatrical release or the silver screen. Spotlight News Magazineis owned by Atlantic United, Incwith Adrienne Pappbeing the majority shareholder.

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World Famous Revolutionary Dr. Zein Obagi Changes the Textbook Definition of Skin Care Forever!

Adrienne Papp — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:23:28 +0000

Beautiful, Healthy Skin by Dr. Obagi

By Adrienne Papp

In any culture where image and beauty are of considerable importance, maybe nothing reveals so much about a person’s health, self-confidence and wellbeing as the condition of their skin. Nothing, not the type of car we drive, or the kind of clothes we wear, or the part of town we live in says as much about us as the appearance of the radiant and youthful glow of a healthy skin. A healthy skin that has never been defined before the same as it is today.

Skin care has been made into a trillion dollar fancy industry that’s been created by the enormous cosmetic giants through the sales of millions of expensive luxury products that are largely just superficial topical solutions giving temporary improvement, if even that, but in truth, they worsen the skin on the long run. In the vast majority of cases, these skin conditioners, and other treatments, no matter how expensive, have really offered inconsequential results.

But there is an alternative to the slogans and claims promoted by the cosmetic industry, a new and very real science that has been developed by world renowned Dr. Obagi, to offer solutions to those who suffer from wrinkled, sagging, discolored and otherwise unhealthy skin, but also to those who simply want to achieve and maintain a healthy and glowing appearance at ANY age! Dr. Zein Obagi of Beverly Hills, and doctor to many of our famous dignitaries and movie stars, is the creator of a new approach to not only treating the many unhealthy conditions that can affect skin, but also a visionary who has created never seen before brand new product lines, therapies, and a pioneering proven science and healthy skin concept thus mastering a way for the skin to be rejuvenated in every human being regardless of color and race. His concept is a revolutionary discovery that may change the textbooks of dermatology forever. What is healthy skin? Nobody has ever answered it before Dr. Obagi developed his now recognized and worldwide-adopted concept! Scientists and doctors had been too preoccupied with disease and never defined healthy skin before. Somehow we used to get it backwards, like with most everything: let’s treat or mask the symptoms, but not really look at the cause and dig deeper to look at the real culprit and stop focusing on the superficiality.

: Dr. Zein Obagi in his Beverly Hills Clinic

Dr. Obagi’s quest for healthy skin really began at the age of fifteen, when his 16-year old sister was badly burned with scalding water and suffered months of recovery in the hospital. “I noticed the doctors were not able to do very much for her. They were resigned to just letting the body heal itself, and then maybe they would be able to do some grafts,” says Dr. Obagi. “It seemed like they really had nothing to use in helping her skin heal. That gave me a lot to think about.”

As he completed his medical education, Dr. Obagi became a pathologist (studying the causes and treatment of disease) and then moved into the field of dermatology while he was serving in the U.S. Navy. At that point in his career, dermatology was solely devoted to the treatment of skin diseases and other conditions that have created unhealthy skin. “I had a way of thinking that was novel in the field,” he says. “I’ve never accepted conventional thinking, and I started to approach skin from the perspective of creating the healthy skin concept, when there is no disease present. This was unheard of at the time. There was simply no definition of what a healthy skin was. All textbooks were only talking about various diseases. Nobody cared about healthy skin. I felt it was odd. ”

There were certain accepted old-school paradigms back in those days that limited the approach to treating various skin types too, including the treatment of non-Caucasian skin. “ Back then the thinking was that you couldn’t safely correct certain diseases-affects skin, using peels or laser in black, or Asian skin; everything was oriented primarily to treating Caucasian skin. Nobody even knew what healthy skin was. “

That changed when Dr. Obagi took on the famous case of a middle-age brunette in 1983, who had been given a chemical peel treatment that turned her face black. She had exhausted every resource and her story was picked up on TV, where Dr. Obagi’s daughter saw her and wished that she would come to see her father so that he can treat her. Within weeks her skin had been repaired, and Dr. Obagi suddenly became the one who was making TV news.

Dr. Obagi Lectures Worldwide

“I saw then that most skin treatments addressed only the surface and the symptoms with limited benefits, ” he says, “and I began studying and analyzing all types of human skin, from light to dark, thick and thin, oily and dry, strong or sensitive, and created a new standard of analysis through histology and pathology that defined the wide variety of skin types in humans, and more studies on what should be used, and the amount needed to achieve the best results for various skin types. The “how much is enough” factor was unknown at the time.”

That new standard of skin analysis became the beginning of a new science in the treatment and revitalization of skin based on a definition of what healthy skin should be, a comprehensive standard for skin classification and the consideration of color (melanin), thickness and sensitivity as part of its condition. Through his research, Dr. Obagi was able to determine that after just the age of 10, skin begins to weaken and change, as it is affected by the sun, diet, hormonal changes, stress and other environment issues. Hence the cells under the surface become lazy or dysfunctional. How do we regulate these cells below the surface?

Now that he had created a new standard that defined skin in its wide variety of conditions, Dr. Obagi determined that the first step in the restorative process involved removing surface damage and then stimulating the skin to renew its natural health. One of many of his first experiences was that he began treating his first patients for conditions that included excessive oil. In order to achieve a state that complies with his definition of healthy skin, which is based on measurements of smoothness, thickness or thinness, evenness of color (melanin), looseness or firmness, sensitivity or tolerance and freedom from discharge. “The oil in skin is an irritant, something left over from the days when we had fur,” he says, “and when we regulate and normalize oil secretion, the skin becomes healthy again much faster, and can prevent acne at its early stage.”

Through tireless research and experimentation, Dr. Obagi began to develop a group of products and series of treatments that would produce the condition of healthy skin in all of its natural beauty. “After we remove the damaged skin, we have to use a treatment that goes beneath the surface to stimulate the skin’s ability to reproduce itself at the cellular level. And that took some time, since the treatment had to be very very precise, depending on an individual’s skin thickness and other factors.”

Mrs. Obagi Runs the Obagi Clinic in Beverly Hills

What Dr. Obagi has also found is that by the age of 25 the skin cells have a tendency to go to sleep and stop producing more collagen or elastin. “The cosmetic industry thought the answer was to put trace amounts of certain skin products in a cream, but that has no effect because no cream that sells commercially can include enough active ingredients for fear of skin reaction, despite the fact that what we have to do is wake up the cells themselves so that they make more collagen and elastin naturally, which requires a certain amount of active ingredients and not just trace elements” Dr. Obagi says.

The discovery of an active ingredient that actually caused the skin to wake up and start rejuvenating itself came almost as a surprise. “We discovered that when we used active Vitamin A a month or two before doing a laser or peel treatment to shed damaged skin the results were superior to treatments opposing to not using the right amount of active Vitamin A. And over time, with repeated experimentation, we found out that active Vitamin A is the very essence of life for human skin cells.”

A veritable fountain of youth for your skin, this new process had irrefutable results, and became an essential part of a tailored treatment program that was now creating beautiful, healthy, youthful skin in Dr. Obagi’s many patients. He never uses a “one fits all” approach like the cosmetic companies on the department stores’ expensive shelves. He sees every patient individually and prescribes a custom tailored skin regimen including the appropriate amount of solutions and for the appropriate length of time.

Russel Armstrong, Taylor Armstrong, Samar Obagi, Dr. Zein Obagi

But even as he announced his results, this new paradigm for skin rejuvenation also caused a stir in the field of dermatology. “When I first started introducing the concept of healthy skin and the new therapies to the medical community, some resistance started to surface at early stages.”

In 1992 Dr. Obagi’s presentation to the Academy of Dermatology was a historic moment in the practice of dermatology in the United States, with the field of doctors splitting off into two camps, one that refuted Dr. Obagi’s research, and the other group who saw great promise in it.

“The doctors who were impressed with my results began to show up in numbers in my clinic for learning of training on the concept of skin health. As the results became more evident to everyone, the criticism began to quiet down. Eventually I was invited to speak in various national and international meetings.”

Dr. Obagi’s new discoveries and techniques had now become a revolution, with 18 symposiums and thousands of dermatologists and plastic surgeons becoming educated in the technologies that Dr. Obagi had developed. “I wanted to show that everyone could get these results, and I created very specific parameters in the treatments that defined proper technique, especially in terms of the depth for safe peels. Everything had to be very precise.”

As he developed a comprehensive line of treatments for availability throughout the industry, Dr. Obagi also wrote a book, which became a defining standard among dermatologist and plastic surgeons around the world, Obagi’s Skin Health, Restoration, Treatment and Rejuvenation. With his revolution in skin care now taking off, Dr. Obagi continued to lecture, published his ongoing research while also training the doctors who were to become the new vanguard in dermatology science.

Eventually Dr. Obagi’s also started an even more revolutionary newer product line what will be the next generation in skin care products, a line of therapies that he calls ZO Skin Health.

ZO Skin Health (the name comes from his initials,) is the future of skin care products, a complete resource for the therapeutic and aesthetic treatment of skin. “We have a comprehensive program, based on a new generation of products that is the result of our constant research and progressive thinking about how to create healthy skin. We use these products in a very thorough 5-part process: cleanse, activate, stimulate, calm, nourish, and protect. There are a variety of products that raise the bar for skin therapy, including many that offer the prescriptive use of active Vitamin A. The old school, as represented by the cosmetic industry, bases its therapy on one single premise: moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. But when you add these treatments topically, the skin cells that naturally hydrate stop working completely. They sense the addition of the product, and stop creating it naturally. My process is much more thorough, much more therapeutic and designed to stimulate the natural creation of new skin cells.”

With his recently introduced new product line and his now universal acceptance as a true visionary in the field of skin care, Dr. Obagi continues to make major strides in making the world a more beautiful place to live in by creating radiant, healthy skin. As an alternative to the multi-billion dollar industry that promises so much and yet does so little, Dr. Obagi and his very own ZO Skin Health products are offering real science, real therapy and real hope.

In addition to his triumphs in the field of skin care, and due to his revolutionary discoveries, Dr. Obagi will be recognized in the Fall of this year as the result of his humanitarian and scientific contribution to the World with the greatest honor obtainable: a passage into the Knighthood of the oldest Imperial, Charitable and Chivalric Order that goes back all the way to 312 AD and involves European Royalty, Dignitaries and Nobility. He will be known to the World as Sir Dr. Zein Obagi after the Investiture when his supportive, beautiful wife, and right hand in his practice, will also be bestowed the title Lady Samar Obagi. Interviewing Dr. Obagi does not leave a hint of doubt in my mind as the Public Officer of the Order that there is nobody more deserving of this highest of honors and lifetime achievement recognition than him.

Dr. Obagi Opening Offices Worldwide

The Order is a direct descendant of the Byzantine Knights who were appointed by their leaders in recognition of their valiant deeds in battles, protecting their emperor or other high-ranking nobleman and were appointed to help the less fortunate. This chivalric title requires the highest of ethical and moral conduct and stays with the person till the rest of their lives. The earliest of knights were proclaimed the defenders of the empire well before the crusades from 312 AD after the battle of the Melvin Bridge. The Order is set to visit the Melvin Bridge next year along with a visit in the Vatican on the 1700 th anniversary of this most Regal and Supreme Order.

Modern Knights and Ladies are not going into the battlefields anymore in the literal sense, but are selected from all professions in recognition of their unique contribution to the betterment of mankind. The Order has evolved into groups around Europe and due to its exquisite existence, there only 72 knights in the entire United States who are dedicated to a return to the chivalric values of old traditions carrying history into the new millennium. Charity, education, scientific discoveries, military and navy service (a young Dr. Obagi served in the US Navy as well,) and even the arts are part of the Order’s mission, maintaining these great traditional noble values that are needed today perhaps more than ever in the history of mankind.

Dr. Obagi has dedicated his life to making others happy, changing their destiny by helping them regaining confidence and self-esteem; he has been helping those from around the World with birth defects or other hopeless skin diseases, in certain cases even if they could not afford it! His humanitarian contribution is not only exemplary, but also forward-looking, and is the expression of a noble man who is rare to find, but who has the ability and willingness to change the world for those who ask him! Dr. Obagi’s heroic pledge is to be followed by those who share in his passion. He is a decisive leader, a visionary and a fighter for the truth, a better and healthier world! He will go down in history as a Knight of the modern crusader of chivalry for his fellow men while remaining a humble advocate for the most needed change in our lives!

Mrs. Samar Obagi

About the Author of This Article: Lady Adrienne Papp is a recognized journalist who has written for many publications including Savoir, Beverly Hills 90210, Malibu Beach, Santa Monica Sun, The Beverly Hills Times, Brentwood News, Bel-Air View,Celebrity Society, Celeb Staff, It Magazine, Chic Today, LA2DAY, West Side Todayamong many others. She is the President and CEO of Los Angeles / New York-based publicity company, Atlantic Publicityand publishing house, Atlantic Publisher. Adrienne writes about world trends, Quantum Physics, entertainment and interviews celebrities, world leaders, inventors, philanthropists and entrepreneurs. She also owns Atlantic United Films that produces and finances true stories made for theatrical release or the silver screen. Spotlight News Magazineis owned by Atlantic United, Incwith Adrienne Pappbeing the majority shareholder.

Dr. Zein Obagi

By Adrienne Papp

Skin Care will never be the same! Dr. Obagi discovers what we never knew about healthy skin and changes the new Millennium for all of us!

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The 2011 Gracie’s Choice Awards

Adrienne Papp — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 04:28:22 +0000

Presented by the Alliance for Women in Media

Chelsea Handler

By Adrienne Papp

Imagine a world where:

Every girls grows up with the self-esteem she needs to reach her full potential…,

Every woman enjoys feeling confident in her own beauty…,

We all help to build self-esteem in the people we love the most…,

That was the vision that this year’s sponsor, Dove skin care products proposed as part of their support of the 2011 Gracie Awards. As evidenced in this inspiring star-studded celebration of feminine power, this is a great time to be alive for women. In spite of many economic challenges, the progress made by so many disenfranchised groups in recent years has been breathtaking. And in a ballroom at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles it was thrilling to see so many women being honored for their creative efforts in communications programming created by women, for women and about women, across wide platform of media.

Erin and Juliana

The 36^th Annual Gracie Awards, held on May 25 2011, is a way of celebrating so many of the accomplishments of women in entertainment media. Presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation and sponsored by Dove skin care products, Disney, HBO, CBS Radio, TNT, the Ford Motor Company, Wells Fargo and a host of other sponsors, the Gracie Award show is an extravaganza toasting the best and brightest women in media, a broad cross section of female talent from all walks of life, individuals who have made exemplary contributions in their respective fields.

Hosted by Patricia Heaton of ABC’s hit show “The Middle,” the 2011 Gracies was a virtual Who’s Who of professional women in media. Among the awardees were the CBS “60 Minutes” interview with Academy-Award winning director Kathryn Bigelow, Meredith Vieira as Outstanding Anchor News for the NBC News produced Today Show, TV star Joan Lunden for Outstanding Talk Show, the ubiquitous Betty White as the Outstanding Female Actor in a Comedy for “Hot in Cleveland,” Claire Danes for Outstanding Actor in a Drama for HBO’s “Temple Grandin,” and Shaun Robinson, who received the Dove Real Beauty Award presented by Lauren Harper and Holly Robinson Peete.
It is the Gracies Awards and an ever-increasing number of female-centric programs that recognize women in the arts, education and entertainment that help make the world aware of the accomplishments that women have been providing all along. In spite of the glass-ceiling syndrome, which is now cracking and is in the process of disintegrating, women have made incredible but sometimes overlooked, inroads in modern culture. Kathryn Bigelow, it should be noted, became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director,the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing, and the BAFTA Award for Best Direction for her war film The Hurt Locker, a trifecta that has never before been accomplished by a woman.

Meredith Vieira

Laura Ziskin, although not a recipient at the show, should be also mentioned alongside this group, as she recently passed away from breast cancer and was an incredibly strong force in Hollywood. Ziskin is perhaps best known for producing the three Spider-Man movies starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst that grossed $2.5 billion at the box office worldwide. In 2002, she became the first woman to produce the Oscar broadcast solo and also produced the 2007 ceremony (and was the women who convinced Woody Allen to appear on the show). In 2008 Ziskin, along with other entertainment notables including newswoman Katie Couric, co-founded Stand Up To Cancer, an advocacy group for cancer research. At the age of 61, she passed away far too early.

There was so much to be proud of and so much recognition for the accomplished women in our world, which however would be impossible to list within the scope this article. But what is important to take away from a show like the Gracies is the strong spirit that is present in the vast community of women who put their soul and intelligence into projects that make everyone’s life so much richer. From the women who broadcast the outstanding sports program on ESPN, to investigative reporting that gets inside the most important stories of our time, to biographies and comedies and reality shows, women are no longer just the worker bees behind the scenes. They have now stepped into the spotlight and are the ones who have become the creators, the voices, the messengers that bring a kinder, gentler, more intuitive approach to the entertainment, news and educational programs we benefit from.

The amazing and exemplary women who were publicly recognized at the Gracies Awards have been recognized for their greatness because they refuse to be relegated to secondary citizen status and strive for the self-fulfillment they receive by being true to themselves. A public awards show like the Gracias and the light it shines on these women can be an inspiration to the younger generation, a clear indicator that the traditional roles that women were relegated to don’t have to be accepted anymore. Along with the elegance and grace of the event a new and exceptionally talented young fashion designer, Rachel Weathersby stood out of the crowd, not by her personal presence, but by the dress I wore made by her. She is the only female designer known today who preserves the trends of times and brings about the beauty of the royal ages before us into an elegance that is not only timeless, but memorable.

It must be noted that the Women in Media alliance is getting more and more recognition. The 36^th Annual Gracie Awards will air on the Hallmark Movie Channel on August 8, 2011, during prime time, and then again as a daytime encore on August 12.

Christy Turlington

The Gracies is a call to women everywhere to follow their own individual path, listen to the personal voices that speak to them, tell the stories, write the books and make the movies that they imagine in the depths of their creative spirit. If women do this, they will bring about a whole new world! And, in that world, men and women will both feel much more appreciated!

About the Author of This Article: Lady Adrienne Papp is a recognized journalist who has written for many publications including Savoir, Beverly Hills 90210, Malibu Beach, Santa Monica Sun, The Beverly Hills Times, Brentwood News, Bel-Air View, Celebrity Society, Celeb Staff, It Magazine, Chic Today, LA2DAY, West Side Today among many others. She is the President and CEO of Los Angeles / New York-based publicity company, Atlantic Publicity and publishing house, Atlantic Publisher. Adrienne writes about world trends, Quantum Physics, entertainment and interviews celebrities, world leaders, inventors, philanthropists and entrepreneurs. She also owns Atlantic United Films that produces and finances true stories made for theatrical release or the silver screen. Spotlight News Magazineis owned by Atlantic United, Incwith Adrienne Pappbeing the majority shareholder.

Adrienne Papp wearing a 17th century classic creation by Rachel Weathersby

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The Tool of the 21st Century: Creating with Conscience!

Adrienne Papp — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 02:41:35 +0000

Book by Pam Drinnon

Renowned Author Pam Drinnon shares her wisdom.

By Adrienne Papp

It’s been said that spirit sometimes speaks to you in mysterious ways. For young Pam Drinnon, it was a profound spiritual experience at an early age that changed her life forever; an out-of-body transformation that left her inspired and ultimately gave her life true meaning.

We all have read stories on unusual phenomena, there are even TV series now about out of body experiences, but for Pam the reality of it was undeniable. It set her life on a course of service to others, which ultimately should be the goal of all mankind. Mankind should be kind to mankind!

In 1966 Pam Drinnon was a young mother mired in an unhappy marriage. Her parents had both died when she was in her teens, she was utterly unprepared for marriage after becoming pregnant at 17, and had nowhere to turn. As the pressures of making a living and taking care of two small children took their toll, Pam became overwhelmed with feelings of rejection and sadness. At one point her husband simply stopped talking to her as a method of punishment. “My husband was very non-communicative and never before had I experienced someone completely shutting me out like that,” she says. “I began to wish that I could die. Although I had my children, I felt they would be better off without me. My life seemed to be a black hole which I could not escape from.”

One night her despair nearly broke her. Pam began praying, repeating the Lord’s Prayer and the 23^rd Psalm to herself, the only prayers she knew by heart. The repetitive prayers became a mantra and she finally drifted off into the blessed relief of sleep.

Then, as she felt herself peacefully drifting off, something magical happened to Pam. “Suddenly I’m was lifted up out of my body, and held in the arms of an Immense Presence, like a father holds his child. The Presence felt huge,” she recalls. “I wasn’t afraid, but I couldn’t get myself to look at the Presence holding me. I thought somehow that I was not allowed. Then I felt an enormous love engulfing me. Feelings of extreme joy and ecstasy washed over me – wave after wave. It was a physical feeling that penetrated me to my very core. More waves of love came and saturated my entire body. The love was so intense it felts orgasmic; I didn’t know how long I could stand it. All I could do was cry and cry, as waves of love washed over me.”

Then, in the blink of an eye, Pam felt her spirit being carried upwards to the heavens. “I opened my eyes. I still couldn’t look directly upon the Presence, but we were suspended in space. I was awestruck by the sights around me,” she says. “Hundreds of bright lights in small groups surrounded us. As they came closer I was able to make out faces and bodies, all aglow with brilliant white light! I knew they were Angels, an enormous host of them, and with heavenly voices they begin singing (or toning) a form of celestial music that I will never forget. Very powerful and inspiring, it was almost tangible as the sound waves rippled through me. The music was so glorious! I wept tears of pure joy; I knew I was where I belonged and knew I would suffer no more.”

Pam Drinnon

It was that experience, a feeling of pure spiritual bliss, which put Pam Drinnon on a lifelong path of trying to connect to ‘It’ again and share it with others.

“I desperately wanted to get back to that feeling again,” she says. “I now know with certainty that our spirit can never die, that it lives on beyond the life of the body and someday we will be together again. I decided I would do whatever it took to get back there again. I didn’t realize until years later that the experience had opened a door way for me to contact my Guardian Angel. Because of my despair and deep desire and heartfelt prayers I was shown how to connect with my Higher Self or Guardian Angel.”

Years later, in 1985 while living in California and dealing with the pain of arthritis, Pam had a second experience when she took an elevated dose of niacine, which caused her heart to go into arrhythmia. “One moment I was feeling nauseated and the next thing I knew I was in a strange room with a group of men. They all were wearing black hats and coats – to me they resembled Druids,” Pam remembers. “Then I entered a pitch black void. The only sound was that of crackling electricity. I was zipping around, out of my body, and suddenly thought that I must have died. I was sad that I wasn’t going to see my children anymore. Then I saw their future lives flashed before me, both my son and daughter, and then my own life flashed before me. I saw experiences I would miss unless I continued to live. I prayed to God to bring me back, and I felt movement in my body, and then I was back at my sister’s house on the floor. After that experience I was certain God had a plan for me,” she says.

Searching for answers to these miraculous experiences, Pam began studying spiritual and analytical information on the subconscious. “I was always interested in hypnosis and the subconscious, and I wanted to help people connect with their Angel, or higher consciousness. Everyone has a Guardian Angel, which is a manifestation of your higher self,” she says.

Pam started studying hypnosis and physical therapies like shiatsu massage and started attracting clients who were interested in past and present life regressions. She also attended spirituality seminars and shared her experiences with Edgar Cayce, and began studying meditation with Steven Sadleir and reading books like Power vs. Force by David Hawkins. “This was fascinating to me because it had to do with muscle testing, something I had experienced in my kinesiology studies,” she says. “With this procedure you can calibrate levels of consciousness; I tested out at 680, which is very high; and it meant that I have the potential to help raise the consciousness of many people around me.”

As Pam continued her work helping people open up to their higher selves, she began holding “Power Reflex” workshops, using the principles she had learned in Power vs. Force. She was also introduced to the ancient Hawaiian healing practice of Ho’ohponopono in 1997 while living in Los Angeles, and studied under the renowned Kahuna Ihaleakala. “I was attracted to their thousand year old Philosophy based on reconciliation and forgiveness. I also learned that they have a similar belief about our Guardian Angel, a spirit that incorporates both male and female properties.”

Now, after more than 25 years of conducting workshops and seminars, Pam continues to expand her role as a spiritual teacher. Due to her unparalleled God given talent and her commitment to this most important work, she has new doors opening for her. She is now working on a book summing up what she has learned over the years about Angels, the Sub-Conscious Mind, healing people’s lives and the practice of Huna (Ho’ohponopono) , and has recently launched an Internet-based radio show, The I Am Well Show, that she hopes will reach an ever-expanding audience.

“There is so much need for this and people are looking for spiritual answers. I just feel so blessed that am able to help and I am ready now to spread this message,” Pam says. “I know my purpose in life is to serve people every day. I feel this higher consciousness, this life force, God’s love, -whatever you want to call it, – working through me, and I feel like every day I am alive is a miracle.”

Maybe all of us learning from Pam will one day be able to awaken and feel our lives as blessed despite the hardship at times. And, maybe, just maybe, we finally will understand that we create our own reality and that life itself is a gift. Pam is not only here to help us better understand our own reality, but her healing power alone makes the person in her presence realize the truth. And, the truth is divine, for divine is the only real! As Pam touches people’s lives, the world is changing, even if just one person at a time!

For Internet programming information:

“The I Am Well Show” with Pam Drinnon http://www.blogtalkradio.com/renford click on the Searchers Roadmap to find when her shows air.

About the Author of This Article: Lady Adrienne Papp is a recognized journalist who has written for many publications including Savoir, Beverly Hills 90210, Malibu Beach, Santa Monica Sun, The Beverly Hills Times, Brentwood News, Bel-Air View, Celebrity Society, Celeb Staff, It Magazine, Chic Today, LA2DAY, West Side Today among many others. She is the President and CEO of Los Angeles / New York-based publicity company, Atlantic Publicity and publishing house, Atlantic Publisher. Adrienne writes about world trends, Quantum Physics, entertainment and interviews celebrities, world leaders, inventors, philanthropists and entrepreneurs. She also owns Atlantic United Films that produces and finances true stories made for theatrical release or the silver screen. Spotlight News Magazineis owned by Atlantic United, Incwith Adrienne Pappbeing the majority shareholder.

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The Fresh, Young Talent All Label Designers Envy: Rachel Weathersby

Adrienne Papp — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 03:54:38 +0000

The Creative, Timeless and Artful Designs by Mme. Weathersby®

Design By Rachel Weathersby

By Adrienne Papp

The American Midwest isn’t normally associated with the rarified atmosphere of high fashion and haute couture. Places like Indiana and Wisconsin – even Chicago – are more known for their solid industrial work ethic than their contributions to the rarified realms of fashion and art.

Which makes a designer like Rachel Weathersby all the more interesting. A product of northwestern Indiana, Rachel grew up a lover of the classic arts, with interests in literature, classical music and opera, old Hollywood movies and architecture. None of that was particularly appreciated in her neighborhood, but Rachel was undaunted and became an award-winning pianist. “I also read constantly as a young girl and had my mother take me to the library,” she says. “I always felt a little out of place, like a fish out of water. I never really felt I had a comfort zone, but I was drawn to the world of design, and initially wanted to be a fashion editor for magazines like Vogue and Allure.”

After being accepted to Parson’s School for Design in New York, Rachel made the move to the big city to continue her formal education there, but as fate would have it had to return to Indiana just two weeks later.

Mme. Weathersby®

Rachel may have thought she had missed her opportunity to succeed in the world of design, but it was back in Indiana that her own instinctive creative talent began to flourish. “I have always been interested in beautiful imagery, whether in art, a historic symbol like a coat of arms, or glamorous gowns worn by movie stars. Sometimes I’d be looking through a book and I’ll see something that was visually interesting to me, maybe a gown that Jean Harlow wore, an architectural shape or a piece of classic jewelry, and I’d play with it and bring it into a design for a dress or a pair of shoes. I used to watch a Canadian program called ‘Fashion Television’ with Jeanne Beker. I loved the way they presented their collections and I just knew I could do the things they were describing, but with my own personal style.”

Rachel’s first foray into fashion design was a result of her becoming inspired by a peacock purse she saw at a fashion retailer. “In 2005 I decided to do my own take on a beautiful purse that just captivated me. I had a vision of what I could make it look like, a personal twist, and I decided to create that.”

Mme. Weathersby® Inspired by Princess Amelia Josepha of Bavaria

It took about a year to perfect, but when it was finished the very first creation for a line to eventually be called Mme. Weathersby® was a stunning purse covered with shimmering iridescence of peacock plumage, complemented with a beautiful polished bamboo handle. It was simple and elegant, and, with the myriad of colors the feathers gave off, infinitely varied in its beauty.

“That first design gave me a sense of confidence,” Rachel says, “and then things just started to take off. The purse took on a life of its own and began to find a market and get out into the hands of individual customers.”

In 2008 Rachel began showing her first collection, which debuted at a trade show in Texas and was picked up at several high-end boutiques nationally. But, even though the creativity was clearly there, Rachel ran into problems in terms of distribution. “Sizing became an issue. I found out that there were different scales in the way that fashion is sized, and I had to make sure that I was consistent with those standards, so that created some problems.”

With her uniquely personal vision, Rachel has now become recognized as one of the most interesting fashion designers in the industry. She has developed a style that is based on the classical elegance of designers like Yves St. Laurent and Christian Dior, and wants her creations to have enduring value. “I don’t want to be a trendy designer,” she says. “I want my clothes to stand the test of time. When Yves St. Laurent creates a design, it’s something that could be easily worn twenty years after they were introduced, maybe with a little alteration, and not seem out of date. In that sense I want to create classic designs that are both unique and also reflect and enhance a women’s beauty. If you spend money on one of my designs, you’re going to be able to wear it ten or twenty years from now and have it feel completely contemporary. My designs are definitely classic, but with a twist.”

17th century Riding Jacket by Mme. Weathersby®

From a stunning ballroom gown with full train made completely of black leather, or playful pink, to shoes inspired by beaded choker chains, and jewelry, called by many shoe art, through a line of graceful and regal baby too cute to resist, Rachel Weathersby’s fashion sense includes something for almost everyone. “I was trying to make a line of high heals for women, something very elegant and yet comfortable,” she says, “and someone suggested that I make these for children too.” What came from that suggestion was a dazzling collection of tiny footwear that uses combinations of sumptuous fabrics, elegant embroidery and whimsical designs in a line of tiny shoes that looks like they’re right out of fairytale books. They completely transcend the idea of what baby footwear can be, and will be treasured for years as childhood keepsakes.

“I found a factory in Italy that understood the concept I had in mind and now they’re doing beautiful work with the baby shoes,” Rachel says. “These pieces were so well-received that I

will likely branch out into a full collection of children’s clothing as well.”

It seems like there’s no area of an elegant lifestyle from purses to shoes, to dresses and sunglasses that can’t be improved by Rachel’s unique vision: One of a kind, unparalleled and remembered in its timeless style forever! In the highly competitive world of fashion design, the Mme. Weathersby® label is just beginning to gain widespread recognition, and Rachel thinks she has much more to offer. “My goal is to bring classical elegance back to fashion and into areas even beyond the realm of women’s clothing. Being continually inspired by the arts, I can range in style from something like the use of bright colors and whimsical butterflies to the dramatic flair of a formal ballroom gown with full train in black leather that looks like something out of ‘The Matrix.’”

Rachel Weathersby

With her unique vision, Rachel plans to eventually enhance other aspects of our lives, including men’s fashion, interior design, furniture, perfume and bath and body essences. “When I look at other designers, I have to admire what Ralph Lauren did,” Rachel says. “He created an entire lifestyle out of his brand, even to the point of offering a full line of house paints. That’s a brilliant way to share your creative sensibilities with other people.”

In her bright future, Rachel sees herself as continuing to do the things that she loves the most, including designing haute couture for placement at high end department stores in the U.S. and retailers in Europe, but also moving into broader fields of various classy and timeless design. She’d also like to franchise her fashion brand in ways that will offer a wider distribution, more affordable prices, but also with the strict attention to details that are the hallmarks of her work.

With her creative vision in full bloom, Rachel Weathersby and her very own Mme. Weathersby® brand are destined to become household names in both the international and national fashion industry, but also home décor, perfume and haute couture. And, as she continues to make creative inroads in fashion and design, our lives will all benefit from the classic elegance and beauty she so generously shares: regal, stylish and timeless. She is generous, honest and passionate about her work. A rare combination in a uniquely talented, never before young designer, who at the same time is very humble in her ways. When Hollywood meets talent, class and creativity the outcome is enough to take over the World of Fashion. It is explosive and unstoppable, – quite literally! That is Rachel Weathersby summed up in a few words!

About the Author of This Article: Lady Adrienne Papp is a recognized journalist who has written for many publications including Savoir, Beverly Hills 90210, Malibu Beach, Santa Monica Sun, The Beverly Hills Times, Brentwood News, Bel-Air View, Celebrity Society, Celeb Staff, It Magazine, Chic Today, LA2DAY, West Side Today among many others. She is the President and CEO of Los Angeles / New York-based publicity company, Atlantic Publicity and publishing house, Atlantic Publisher. Adrienne writes about world trends, Quantum Physics, entertainment and interviews celebrities, world leaders, inventors, philanthropists and entrepreneurs. She also owns Atlantic United Films that produces and finances true stories made for theatrical release or the silver screen. Spotlight News Magazineis owned by Atlantic United, Incwith Adrienne Pappbeing the majority shareholder.

Mme. Weathersby®

Baby Shoes by Mme. Weathersby®

Lady Shoes by Mme. Weathersby®

Baby Shoes by Mme. Weathersby®

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Abraham Pelham: The Hottest Red Carpet Fashion Designer Today

Adrienne Papp — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 02:53:37 +0000

Abraham Pelham

By Adrienne Papp

“I don’t believe there are obstacles in life, just difficulties that have to be gone around or overcome.” Abraham Pelham

The world of fashion design, with its dizzying array of haut couture, splashy photo magazines, red carpet and runway extravaganzas, is without a question the most exciting, inviting and glamorous one in the world! Everyone dreams about it, everyone wants to be part of it, but at least watch the breathtaking creations of fashion designers as the stars walk the red carpet and we enter the dream world with them: their butterfly moves as they showcase the rich couture, which never ends, yet we always crave for more. That is on the outside.

On the inside, the world of fashion can be one of the most fickle and competitive businesses on the planet, in which to sustain a long- term career is sometimes almost impossible with the exception of its mega talents longevity. In fashion reputations can be made or ruined overnight, the pressure of production, and new, fresh ideas more than difficult, and anyone sustaining a career is a God given raw talent who was born to make us glamorous and happy. What would make a man and a woman happier than pure beauty, which a designer can bring out of us with his unparalleled talent that has a soul all by itself. As at its core, fashion design is always about the quest for beauty, the ultimate expression of elegance, the emphasis of the very beautiful female form along with the human spirit. “Let me see what you wear and I will tell you who you are,” is what I say even to my friends.

The world of fashion is what attracted Abraham Pelham at an early age, who came to the upper echelons of it on a path that took him from his native country of Liberia to New York City and now finally to Paris, where he has made a name for himself as one the most unique and creative talents to come along in years.

“Growing up in West Africa presents a lot of challenges, and when I had polio at the age of two there were only a couple of choices for a kid like that, either stay at home or be out on the street,” Pelham says. “But I decided at an early age that I was going to make a life for myself and be the best at whatever I would do.”

Luckily, Pelham had a mother that was a major source of inspiration for him. “I learned a lot of things artistically from my Mother,” he says. “She was my inspiration, and as she and other women in the area were able to travel and bring back western clothing to Liberia, I learned how to make handmade clothes in western styles. There was just something very exciting about taking the fabric and transforming it into something stylish and pretty and I knew at an early age that this was something that I was going to do.”

Despite his being confined to a wheelchair, Pelham began some exploratory travelling through connections with Liberia’s diplomatic corps. “I don’t believe there are obstacles in life,” he says. “I think there are just difficulties that have to be gone around or overcome.” This statement that I love so much is indeed very interesting and unique to hear expressed so clearly from an artist as talented as Pelham. Right in this belief lies his enormous success with the determination that is an element in all megastars’ life. We sometimes make the mistake of looking in from the outside and imagine a life of glamour, happiness, ease and champagne with strawberries every day for those rich and famous. Yet, the most horrendous difficulties are overcome by those who triumph over all “obstacles,” because as Abraham says these are only challenges and once viewed as such your entire thinking has changed right there. And that thinking is all you need to succeed!

His travels finally brought him to New York and Pelham submitted some of his design sketches to the Fashion Institute of Technology, which recognized his talent and accepted him as a student.

“I got a lot of exposure in New York and was able to work with a lot of talented people,” Abraham recalls. “I was also able to develop a clientele there, through the international community at the UN. A lot of the wives of the diplomats became clients.”

Not a surprise! Pelham’s style and elegance combined with a modern twist, yet a classy touch is unparalleled.

Other major fashion industry players were beginning to take notice too, and Pelham was offered a showcase at Henri Bendel, placing some of his designs in their display windows. “What excited me about that was the fact that I was creating something for someone I didn’t know, and they were very happy with it and came back to me. That was a true validation, like a light going off. I knew then that I might really have something to offer the world.” And, of course he did and has been ever since!

Suddenly, within the circles of the fashion world, and its consumers, fashionistas, such as myself a lot of word of mouth was being circulated about Abraham Pelham, and his name was creating a buzz throughout town even in the media. “My name was becoming known, and I was able to do a collection for Bonwit Teller and they got excited about it,” he says. “I had designed a collection of suits and blouses, and the head buyer fell in love with them.” Other fashion moguls, including Nordstrom, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue, also began to take an interest.
As his reputation continued to grow, Pelham was contracted to create a line of custom, made-to-order dresses for special occasions, and word got around quickly among New York’s insular social elite. As he expanded his influence to the retail fashion industry, creating uniquely interesting designs for a growing client base, Pelham’s work also got noticed in the press, with a feature write-up in the New York Times announcing his arrival as a major player in the design world.

But as his reputation and success continued to grow, Abraham found himself becoming more and more frustrated. “It was nice to be successful consulting with a variety of clients, but I wasn’t getting any credit,” he says. “They loved the work, but my name wasn’t associated with any of it.” And that, as one artist would say to another, is ripping the soul off the very essence of its creations: self-realization!

With his growing frustration, Abraham Pelham began sizing up his options, and in 1997, after doing a charity show for an Ethiopian foundation at the Louvre to rave reviews and a mention on CNN, he decided to move to Paris. “I was thrilled to see that what I was doing was noticed by the press,” he says. The I

nternational Herald Tribune used a large portion of its front page to say “Abraham Pelham is fulfilling a lifetime dream by staging a Paris show using elongated African motifs on chiffon capes and subtle tribal markings at skirt hems…he gave an ethnic touch to the currently fashionable abstract decoration and brought two continents together.”

That show turned out to be a courageous and significant career move, and in 1999 he did his first show in the City of Light. Despite some difficulties with France’s old guard Syndicate de la Haut Couture, the event turned out to be a big success, with 600 people showing up and Pelham’s name mentioned alongside other major designers like Givenchy in the local press, including this quote from Audrey magazine: “Abraham Pelham’s most important quality is his pragmatism. Pelham goes straight to the point with an exercise in style on a white blouse that brings to mind Givenchy’s 1950’s ‘Bettina Blouse’ and which he uses to bring a fresh and proud approach.”

A Previous Show

“It was a show called ‘Josephine Baker,’ reflecting the excitement and style of that era,” Pelham says. “I just happened to be doing the right thing in the right place at the right time, and it really started the ball rolling in Paris.”

Inspired by his initial success, Pelham worked tirelessly on new designs and began to develop a lot of support from within the industry. He was now officially on the map. “People now had their eye on me to see if I was in this for the long run,” he says. Pelham was also noticed, despite being limited by his wheelchair, for his energetic involvement every part of the creative process. During a show he could be seen wheeling himself around backstage, adjusting details, adding last minute touches, making sure every detail was just right.

Pelham held his second show six months later, called “The American Girl in Paris.” “I was from America, now in Paris,” Pelham says. That show created an enormous buzz in Parisian design circles, earning him a major upgrade from the three pages in a design magazine he received for his first show to full 10-page feature spreads in industry publications and even The New York Times, which said “Abraham Pelham is unusual. He moved from New York to Paris 18 months ago and showed his second collection of elegant slit skirts and sexy organza blouses during couture week in the Place Vendôm.” Collezioni magazine chimed in saying “Shirts enjoy the limelight: close fitting, with long sleeves or with American style shoulder, tucked into long slender skirts. The designer is a perfectionist of real elegance.” Abraham Pelham had now clearly arrived and was someone to be reckoned with.

“What distinguished me is a very definite style,” Pelham says. “My look is very feminine, very sexy and close to the body, using very sensual fabrics, the very best available from Italy. I was reinterpreting classic beauty in a very contemporary way, enhancing the elegance of the human form with a body forming mixture of fabric and a lot of transparency.” That style was described in this quote from Image magazine: “Abraham Pelham will breathe fresh oxygen into a craft which for years has existed under the threat of gasping its last. The American couture designs for women who love to wear clothes revealing a lithe silhouette, who adore the sensuality that oozes out from purity.”

With each show now an opportunity to set a new benchmark, Pelham produced new collections with wildly creative themes every six months, with a list of themes that speak to his ongoing quest for originality: “Urban Safari,” “Basquiat” and “The New Eve.” The French magazine L’Officiel referred to the way Pelham uniquely combines fabrics to enhance sensuality in his designs for Urban Safari by saying “Abraham Pelham combines styles. In the trend of the times in a very Couture spirit he signs a collection that is freely inspired by the safari style. Organza, lace silk chiffon, raffia and sophisticated fabrics underline the pure lines of the shapes.”

Fashion magazine Collezioni was also caught up in the excitement Pelham was creating, saying of “The New Eve” show that “Eve, the first woman ever to be created, is the muse that inspires young designer Abraham Pelham. His dresses are somewhat of a temptation. Simply cut and essential, but also filled with charm. He favours light, almost ethereal fabrics.”
“I have to stay creative,” Pelham says, “and these shows are how I find ways to outdo myself. I have to come up with something that no one else is offering, that is uniquely expressive. That’s what editors and clients are looking for.” As a result of his vision, Pelham now has developed a select group of fans and clients in countries all over the world, including celebrities and even royalty who follow his every move.

With a well-established design house in Paris, Pelham’s next move may include a line of niche fashion and accessories designed specifically for sophisticated corporate and professional women. “These will be for women who don’t have time to consult with a lot of fashion sources, but who want the very best and want it to fit perfectly,” he says. It’s the kind of line that might serve as the foundation of the next phase of Pelham’s long-term plan. Another aspect to the plan is red carpet ready evening gowns that in my opinion will turn heads, shake up “old” Hollywood glamour, and most definitely initiate change with a royal and befitted elegance while presenting a rich and ever feminine flow to his never seen before creations of the ultimate red carpet design! Regal and classy, yet sexy and memorable seem to have been missing from the red carpet lately with a very few exceptions of course. Looking at the sketches that Abraham presented to me I can be the forerunner to say, “ watch out Hollywood, a brand new style and a remarkable talent is going to sweep you off our feet!” Abraham Pelham reminds me of a modern Coco Chanel. Coming from very humble beginnings and becoming the single most influential fashion icon in the World even to this day! That is where I see Pelham headed. That is the influence he has had so far and the best is yet to come!

“My business is currently in transition,” he says. “I am continuing to develop collections for my clients and high end retailers, but I am also looking at a five-year plan that includes a series of retail outlets under my name featuring unique custom designs and one of a kind haut couture. I see these going into major fashion centers like New York, London, Paris and Los Angeles. These will be places I can showcase my quest for elegance through original designs, the finest fabrics and impeccable cuts. That is what people are looking for. When it comes to the future I see so much more to come. I’m always dreaming, and looking for something that’s not already there, something new and exciting, something visionary. That is what continues to inspire me.”

And, that is what inspires the rest of us to look for the breathtaking work of this fashion genius that just by his words inspires women to want to look their best and wear the best!

I myself was excited about the offer Abraham’s friend Amanda Vo made to me presenting herself as a representative of Abraham. I paid over $ 3,000 for an evening dress that I was asked to wear. To this day I do not know or have heard as to what happened to the piece(s) and what I paid for and where that payment is.

About the Author of This Article: Lady Adrienne Papp is a recognized journalist who has written for many publications including Savoir, Beverly Hills 90210, Malibu Beach, Santa Monica Sun, The Beverly Hills Times, Brentwood News, Bel-Air View, Celebrity Society, Celeb Staff, It Magazine, Chic Today, LA2DAY, West Side Today among many others. She is the President and CEO of Los Angeles / New York-based publicity company, Atlantic Publicity and publishing house, Atlantic Publisher. Adrienne writes about world trends, Quantum Physics, entertainment and interviews celebrities, world leaders, inventors, philanthropists and entrepreneurs. She also owns Atlantic United Films that produces and finances true stories made for theatrical release or the silver screen. Spotlight News Magazineis owned by Atlantic United, Incwith Adrienne Pappbeing the majority shareholder.

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