I may write about ways to make ourselves look and feel good but when it comes to my near 7 year old girl, I am adamant about protecting her from absorbing negative statements about the female-beauty relationship. Because, they are ALL AROUND US.

The beauty industry is built on our insecurities and I believe there is a way to turn that around.  I am all about teaching Aria that beauty comes from within. I cringe at the thought of her thinking that her sense of self and confidence starts on the outside. That being said, I am not afraid to be honest about how relaxing a mani-pedi can be or how great it feels to get my hair washed and cut!  I am obviously someone who loves the ritual and all the sense-stimulation of grooming.  And I want to teach that to Aria. She will not be able to avoid any of it, so I am embracing it, armed with a sense of power and knowledge. She truly believes that putting on nail polish is a form or artistic expression and has nothing to do with "looking pretty!" 

I always stress that pampering is a time to relax, to feel nurtured and taken care of, and the goal is to have quiet time and to FEEL GOOD.  I don't talk about it as a means to LOOKING good and especially not for someone else.  I brush her knotty hair and say "wow, look how yummy that feels, so smooth and soft!" and I have her concentrate on the senses and textures, not on how it LOOKS.  There is a way to steer our girls into understanding that there is grooming to feel good, taken care of and nurtured and grooming to please others, fit in and morph into someone we are not.  Seeing as we will always be bombarded with a world full of images that make young girls and women feel less than, I say we take back our power, not by avoiding it altogether and sheltering them from the stuff but by embracing the culture of beauty in a healthy way.  That it is about HEALTH and TAKING CARE OF ONESELF. I go to the gym every single day. My daughter knows this. I do not want her to see it as a compulsion but rather, mommy loves to exercises it makes her feel good and it keeps her heart pumping strong, and the stronger it is the more love she has to give!

I was obsessed with Little Play Spaces FRENCH CAFE last year. We wore it down to the bone.  And we already had a castle.  So this year my BIG Hanukkah gift to Aria is the the retro inspired Beauty Parlor and Spa.

It's made entirely from cardboard. It's 3 sides fold out and flip-up to form a Velcro attached enclosed space with roof. The mint green exterior has vintage-feel color stickers that harken back to the kind of salon our mothers would have frequented, and we wish were still in existence. .

Inside there is an illustrated shelf with more perfumes and shampoos and pop-up shelves and cubbies for storing (hiding!) all of Aria's junk!

There's a 'Styled By’ plaque for whomever that day's stylist is and a scalloped mirror and a tri-fold ‘spa menu’ with such treatments as 'Foot Massage' and Princess Curls and extra spaces for kids to dream up their own treatments and pricing.

This is the kind of toy that every family member can enjoy.  Younger girls can makeover their dolls and older girls can use their resourcefulness by adding stacks of towels, a bowl of fruit, cucumber water and making appointment books.  

With the Little Play Spaces Beauty Parlor, every day could be Mother’s Day (well for a while, anyway).